Supernatural: Legacy - Let's Make a Deal

A golden opportunity, it seemed.

Well, that was a rather positive outlook on the matter. There was hardly anything good about this situation. But there was finally a chance to get an idea for what they were planning.

They'd been quiet for too long. It was only a matter of time.

Jericho watched silently as a black car pulled out of the darkness and into the light of the nearby motel. He allowed himself a thin smile.

Good. Hunters had arrived. That would make it easier to keep his hands out of the matter. Officially, anyway.

--------------------

Jordan Blake entered his motel room and sighed, setting his bag carefully on the dresser before sitting down on the bed.

The job had come at a good time. The psychic training had been taking a toll. It would be nice to get back to basics.

He snorted and fell back against the pillows, staring up at the ceiling. Things must be bad if he considered hunting "basics."

Jordan allowed himself a moment more to relax, then forced himself up and set out his things and the materials he'd obtained on the job. He'd look over them tomorrow. For now, it was best to get a good night's sleep. He had a long day ahead tomorrow.

[OOC: You can skip to morning and post Mati meeting up with him.]

Mati stared at the newspaper, then he glanced at the back seat. "Why are you asking me to look into this job?"

There was a girl, who looked about the same age as Mati. She gently crossed her legs and then fold her arms; taking defensive stance. "I thought you want to find your family? My boss said demons are looking for your mother and they are looking for her harder than angels looking for your father." Mati blow out his front hair. "What if I don't want to take this job? I really don't want to meet demons... and angels! You know what? In fact, I don't want to bump into angels... demons, at least, don't look at me like I am some kind of anti-Christ." The mysterious girl frowned little, "What do you mean by that?" Mati sighed, "Well, you guys have more negative rumors about me than demons have on me."
The girl shook her head, and just disappeared.

"And here I thought we were finally forming friendship..." Mati commented, shaking his own head. Mati stared at the newspaper once again, and let out long sigh. The girl was right though, after the recent job, he couldn't get a good sleep. He missed his family, he needed some kind of news about them... If he could get hold of this demon, and see how far they are with the search of his mother... Well, if they had none, that would be the best news actually....

Mati sighed once again and dialed MoL, "Hey, Pip. I wish to be on lawyer's case. Tell the partner, I will be there in the morning."

With that he started the car and hit the road.

Next Morning

Mati reached at the motel, and knocked on the door. Pip told him that his partner for this job was Jordan. Mati smiled weakly, for once he was with a person who knew what he was.

But something made him feel uncomfortable. He looked at the direction where his observer supposed to be, but it seems she was still annoyed by his behavior on previous day.

May be she was trying to be nice and Mati responded in 'ungrateful' manner?

Mati blew his front hair, scratching his back hair. Waiting for Jordan to answer the door knock.

"Mati!"

Jordan smiled widely as he regarded his unexpected partner, then pulled him into a gruff, back-thumping embrace.

"How's it going?" he asked, ushering Mati into the room. "Any word on your family so far?"

Jordan sat down at the table, spreading out the materials he'd obtained on the case. But first things first. They had catching up to do.

"So far nothing," said Mati giving his favorite partner a gentle smile. For some reason, when Mati was with Jordan, he was able to smile much frequently than when he was with others.

"How about you?" Asked Mati, indicating that it was Jordan's turn to tell Mati about what he had been doing.

Inevitably, the conversation would round back to him. Jordan didn't like it, but he did trust Mati.

"Well, as good as can be expected, I guess," he said, shrugging. "I've been back to Missouri Moseley, trying to get my power in check. I'm not too worried about killing people in my sleep or anything, but I still don't have it really under control just yet. It's going to take some time."

He looked away, knowing that he had to address the other detail.

"My family... well, I haven't made it back there yet," he admitted. "One thing at a time, you know?"

He smiled weakly. Mati would love nothing more than to find his family, and he was actively avoiding his. No doubt the other hunter would think badly of him for it, but it couldn't be helped. He wasn't ready to face them.

"Anyway, you have any details on the job?" he asked, getting back to the materials he'd obtained. "Here's everything I could compile from doing some web research."

There wasn't too much different from the reports the Men of Letters had given. Coburn, Stratton, and Mayfield had been virtual nobodies after graduating. Then, quite suddenly, their business had exploded into being - powerful, prestigious, and wealthy. That had given them a nice life, until Coburn's unfortunate death-by-mauling.

"Yeah, take it slowly. Rushing doesn't help." Mati gave Jordan a gentle nod and a smile.

He also nodded at his question about the job. "Yeah, I read few of them already and I think I know what we are dealing with. To be honest with you, that is the reason why I decided to take this job too."

Mati sighed, "We are dealing with a crossroad demon. I don't know if it is still lingering around here or disappeared, but I am actually here to get him."

Mati paused for a moment, then he said it heavily. "I need to ask him about my mother."

"Crossroads demon?"

Jordan nodded thoughtfully, thinking on the details of the case.

"It was ten years from their big success to Coburn's death," he said. "And the mauling would fit right in with a hellhound attack."

If the demon had claimed its soul, however, there wasn't much to be done. Or was it possible that it still had business left in town?

"We should talk to the other partners," Jordan said, indicating some of the news reports. "Maybe they were involved in the original deal, maybe not. But they seemed pretty scared after Coburn's death. They may have something to hide."

It was a start, at least. They had to make an effort, especially if it might give them some light on Mati's family situation.

Jordan stood up, fishing his suit out of the closet. He held it up, memories of their job interview and brief stint as teachers at Mary Margaret Girl's Academy flooding back.

"Still got that suit?" he asked, grinning.

[OOC: We can skip forward to being at the law office building waiting for an appointment with the other two owners.]

Mati and Jordan were in front of the building; Mati were wearing little bit different suit, much better in quality than last time. Well technically, it had to be different cause he had to wash the previous one.

Mati looked at his partner, "Well, I hope they are friendly with F.B.I.. Or whatever we would call ourselves..." Mati adjusted his collar, "Well, you ready?" He asked Jordan.

Jordan smiled ad nodded.

"Ready if you are."

They made their way inside, where the receptionist directed them to the top floor. Another receptionist on that floor directed them down the hall and into a suite, where yet another receptionist directed them to the seats to wait.

"Well, you'd need demon funds to pay for all these receptionists," Jordan muttered, rolling his eyes as they waited. After over fifteen minute of waiting, part of which Jordan suspected was deliberate stalling, they were finally allowed in.

"Gentlemen. I'm Bryan Mayfield. This is Miles Stratton How may we help you?" said the one man, offering them a perfunctory smile. He had fair hair and a goatee. His partner, Stratton, was clean-shaven and dark-haired, and made no such effort at niceties.

"We wanted to discuss your late business partner, Richard Coburn," Jordan began, interrupted almost immediately by Stratton.

"What about him?" the man asked, his sharp gaze on the two of them. "I didn't know the FBI dealt in wild animal attacks. Or is the bureau short on cases lately?"

"Miles," Mayfield said, his blue eyes turning warningly on his partner. Jordan watched the two of them, the glanced at Mati, eyebrows raised discreetly.

"Well, I will be straight forward with you." Mati cleared his throat, "We believe that some body used that animal to attack your partner." Mati studied Miles and Bryan expression; if they were with the contract just like their late partner, they should show sign of surprise.

"And I believe you know that person too."

Was he being too straight forward? May be, but at the moment, if they both want to live, they should know time is essence and when a F.B.I coming out to you with that comment, it meant he knew something they don't know and it also indicated that he might be able to help them.

The reaction was instantaneous. Both men paled drastically; while Mayfield became withdrawn, Stratton looked livid.

"What do you mean by that?" Mayfield asked quietly. Stratton cut him off.

"This is outrageous!" he seethed. "How dare you accuse us! We're highly respectable businessmen!"

"And how did you get to be that?" Jordan asked. They both stared wordlessly.

"I... don't know what you mean by it," Stratton said at last, drawing himself up. Mayfield glanced at him, then back at the officers.

"Are we being accused of something, officers?" he asked placatingly.

"No, you are not." Said Mati dryly, "But, I want you to know that if you want our help, you need to tell us everything you know. Even it sounds crazy, I am willing to hear your story." Mati leaned back comfortably to the business chair. "But, of course, we could give you extra day to think about it. However, dragging this won't help."

Yes, dragging this won't help them; it won't help Mati either. The soon he knew the name of the crossroad demon, the sooner he could summon it and get information about his mother.

And of course, helping these two lawyers might come as bonus.... Then again, do they deserve to be saved? They cheated their way to fame, way to earn money and way for happiness...

......human souls are precious...that's what Matityahu's parents thought him.... So can't say no to saving their souls right?....

Stratton's anger seemed to abate somewhat, replaced by hard suspicion.

"I don't know what you're playing at," he said quietly. "But you're no federal officers."

He snatched up the phone, ready to kick them out. Jordan felt his temper flare. Whatever things these men were experts at, keeping a poker face wasn't one of them. Were they really this thick?

The phone was suddenly yanked out of Stratton's hand and slammed back down onto the receiver. Stratton stared at it, stunned.

"No need," Jordan said coldly, standing up. "We'll see ourselves out."

--------------------

"I lost control. Sorry."

Jordan sighed. It was always harder to control when he felt emotional.

"So, now what?" he asked as they reached the car. On the one hand, leaving the men to their own devices had a certain appeal. They'd asked for it by dealing with demons in the first place. But the Men of Letters were always highly interested in demon activity, so they had to make an effort to know what was going on.

Besides, he knew how important this was to Mati. As the first lead to his family in who knew how long, it wasn't surprising that Mati would be determined to follow it.

Ultimately, Jordan felt that if the stakes were all Mati's, then the decision should be as well.

--------------------

"Are you sure that was wise?"

Mayfield looked nervously at his partner, clearly shaken by the meeting they had just had. Stratton looked stony.

"We were told not to say anything about it," he said firmly. "We don't want that to come back and bite us."

At the word "bite," Mayfield noticeably paled.

"But Richie..."

"We don't know that it had anything to do with it," Stratton said impatiently. "It could be coincidence."

"It's been ten years," Mayfield interjected.

"Yes, and I expect they've had more important things to do in ten years than keep track of us. Besides, we're lawyers! Contracts are what we live and breathe. Don't worry about it."

Somehow, it didn't seem as though Mayfield would stop worrying at all.

Mati smiled at his partner, assuring him that it was alright. "It's okay. Did you see their faces? One of them will look for us." Mati said it confidently. "Well, I hope that is..." He added... this time he had sign of uncertainty.

Mati had dropped a name card as he left the room. One of the two who wanted to live should be able to spot it. Well, the person who kept looking down should be able to find it. Anyways, it was not guarantee that person will give Mati a call...

"May be we should keep an eye on them... do they live close to each other or far away from each other?" He asked his partner.

Jordan smirked, definitely enjoying the look of surprise on Stratton's face.

Still, they were being a lot more stubborn than expected. This could make things tricky.

Jordan checked his references, then shook his head.

"No, different neighborhoods," he said, handing Mati the print-outs. "Stratton's got an apartment over on Maple Street. Mayfield's in a development by Lancaster Avenue."

He looked over at Mati, shrugging.

"I guess we could split up, stake out each spot," he offered. "I'll take Mayfield."

It would have been too hard to resist going in and telekinetically dangling Stratton from his heels till he talked.

[OOC: If Mati's okay with a stake-out, we can skip to that point.]

Mati blow his front hair, his eyes still looking for any supernatural activity.

Too bad for hellhounds that they were not invisible to him; Mati's eyes could see things that ordinary human cannot and especially as he inherited his mother's eyes, he saw lots of things pretty easily.

Well, some might consider it as a curse.... then again, Mati was the combination of demon and angel... he might see things not angels nor demons usually see....

Mati shrugged his shoulder and brought his thoughts back to the job.

There was a motion that caught Mati's eye. Was it a hellhound?

No, it was Stratton. He was leaving his apartment building, dressed in a dark coat with his hat pulled down to obscure his face. But it was definitely him.

He checked to see if anyone was watching, then quickly took off at a brisk pace down the sidewalk. Where could he be off to at this hour?

The answer became apparent after soon enough. Stratton reached a crossroads on the edge of town. At this time of night, no traffic disturbed him as he moved cautiously out into the middle of the crossroads and stood there, looking about.

"Damn it," he muttered under his breath. "How did Richie do it again?"

He paused, then ultimately decided to throw subtlety to the wind.

"Hey, I want to talk to you!" he called in a loud whisper. "I want to make another deal! We can work this out, right? There has to be a way to renegotiate the contract!"

Stratton looked wildly about, waiting to see if anyone would arrive.

Nothing.

Snarling, he made to leave when he caught sight of something. He turned, freezing at the image of two hellish red eyes staring at him from out of the hedge, a guttural snarl accompanying them.

Mati followed Stratton carefully and silently, and he made sure he was quite far away from him until he shouted out to make a deal with a crossroad demon. Mati shook his head, and commented. "Wow... Unbelievable...." Then he saw hellhounds, and he could see that they were ready to pounce. Mati quickly intervened, holding the angel blade at one of his hands, and he had one hand shotgun that was loaded with rock salt "Sorry, I am against animal cruelty, but I got to make your boss mad." Then Mati surrounded him and Stratton with the goofer dust, creating a circle. "This dusty circle going prevent them from attacking you. Now, tell me the truth, if you want to live." He said to Stratton, "Or I am letting that hellhounds in."

He gave a serious look at Stratton, then he looked at the dogs. Well he had to take care of them one by one. Or he had to summon one for himself....which he rather not, he promised his mother he won't summon it.

Stratton was dumbstruck by Mati's sudden arrival and stared from him to the hellhounds. The beasts drew in closer, their eyes flashing menacingly.

Stratton could not understand their growls, but Mati most likely could.

[That prey is lawfully ours.] they said. [Give him to us.]

Stratton whimpered pathetically, eyes darting about. His had clapped to his mouth, stifling a cry.

"I don't want to die," he groaned. "There has to be another way! Another deal! There's always another deal!"

His eyes darted frantically to Mati, and the look of desperation was almost palpable.

"Take him instead!" he shouted, shoving at Mati to force him outside the circle.

"Idiot!" Said Mati as he was pushed by Stratton, due to sudden action from the coward, Mati's foot broke the circle.

"Now you better run cause they don't like waiting!" Said Mati firing a shotgun at the one dog instantaneously and quickly fired another shot.

"Run! If you want to live!" Talk about idiocy.... But then if he want this demon little mad, he had to kill one of the hellhounds. There was no way he could take two at once, but he could definitely make a job out of one. Well, trying to save this ungrateful lawyer was not to his liking, but guess he got no choice.

Stratton didn't need telling. He ran for all he was worth, feet pounding the pavement. He had to make it to his car. He could outrun them, escape, find a way.

He reached his car, frantically trying the key in the lock. He could hear his own frantic breath as he stabbed hopelessly for the keyhole.

Then the snarl came from behind. He turned in time to feel something slam into him, crashing his body into the car before dropping to the ground. He screamed in terror and pain as he felt claws, teeth, the unbearably hot, sulfurous breath.

Then, nothing. For now, anyway. This was only the beginning of his torment.

--------------------

The hellhound Mati had been dealing with cried out and recoiled from the sting of the of the rock salt pellets. But just when it seemed prepared to strike again, it suddenly stopped and backed off.

Mati could see why. The other hellhound backed away from Stratton's body, the light of the man's soul gleaming from within it.

It had done its job. There was no reason to remain. The two shrank into puddles of dark shadow, returning back to the place from which they had come.

"Dammit." Mati cursed it out loud, Mati quickly dialed to Jordan. "Hey, how's your side going? Stratton is gone, that idiot tried to make a contact with the crossroad demon once again and it didn't go his way. I couldn't protect him. I am coming to your side."

Mati started his car, "That demon better have something or else." He commented and drove where his partner looking after the another contractor.

This time, Mati won't show any hesitation.

Jordan sipped a cup of coffee, the smell lingering tantalizingly through the car. So far the evening had been quite uneventful - downright dull, to be honest. But that didn't mean things couldn't turn on their head in an instant. He had to be prepared.

His eyes flickered down to the shotgun loaded with rock salt resting on the passenger side, as well as a small sack filled with salt, an iron bar, and even a bit of holy water.

Yep. Prepared.

His phone rang, and he gave a little start that almost sloshed the coffee out of his cup. He glanced down, saw the name, and quickly answered.

"Hey, Mati? How's it going?"

His expression fell at the sound of Mati's news. So, one of their leads was already dead. That was unfortunate.

"Well, all's clear here," he said, taking another look at Mayfield's house. Not that he could see a hellhound anyway.

Mati did his best to get there soon, Stratton's soul was demon's and the demon would likely go for Mayfield's really soon.

As soon as he got there, he met his partner. "Jordan, come on. We got to stick with the target." Said Mati, "Demons don't play fair. We should go and see if he is really alright." He looked at Mayfield's once again and looked at his partner. "For how long had he lights on in his house?" He asked, looking at his own wrist watch.