An offer you can't refuse. (Taggity Gabbers) [COMPLETE]

Taped to the outside of Gabby's hotel room door was a small crisp-white appointment card....



And sure enough, when Gabrielle would flip the card in place of the fancy red note before was an address to a local cafe and words scrolled at the bottom 'Don't be late.' From where or how the card came to be on her door was clearly uncertain, but worst yet it somehow knew her full name. What else did this stranger know? There was a magical aura about the card, one that felt of darkness, but there was no seal or signature to the magic. In fact, great measures were taken to keep the true conjurer from being discovered. Clearly, who ever had designed the card intended on remaining a anonymous. There also lingered the faint scent of perfume, a flowery scent that stood out even without enhanced senses.

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Meanwhile, on the opposite side of town...

As for Nicole, the day had started out just like any other. She woke up late, lazily lounged about the cramped quarters of her empty room while thumbing over the thin glass electronic news-reader. She looked over the days report on weather and the front page events for the city, as well as obituaries before she grew tired and laid it aside. Rising up to stand from her cozy nook by the taped up window, Nicole stretched her arms high above her head then looked out at the bright light shining through the mesh of plastic. Her tiny room stood on the top floor of a surviving clock tower on the east side of town that supposedly had once served as headquarters during the war but now, for the most part, it was empty save for a few quarreling impoverished families. Nicole liked it because it was free and most people considered it to be off-limits because of the ancient blockade set up out front. She knew well enough it had never been headquarters for anything, but let them wonder...

Dropping her arms from her stretch she strode the short distance of the room to her trunk and popped open the lock, fumbling throw a mess of clothes and trinkets. She dawned a a quick pair of jeans and jacket, with a few other misc. accessories before grabbing her bag and locking up her trunk. Once that was all completed she stepped out, locking the padlock on her make-shift door before heading down the seemingly endless flight of stairs. As she descended, it gave her time to think over her plans for the day, since she had none that she knew of, and by the time she reached the blockade outside she had decided she would head over to her favorite cafe downtown before wondering about the city in search for obvious people in need.

It wouldn't take her long to make her way into the city, preternatural speed had its advantages, and by 12:45pm Nicole was settling into a cozy chair next to the cracked window that once read 'Dry Cleaners' but had been sloppily repainted in army green to say 'Twilliger's Eatery' instead. She had ordered the daily special, which was the only item on the menu at the place anyway. Today's special was Twilliger Stew, and as Nicole leaned forward to rest her face against the palm of her hand she tried not to picture the rodents that might possibly be in the steaming silver industrial sized crock-pot on the far side of the room. Instead she focused on the passing people, most of which hurried along as if they had something important to do.

Inside, the cafe was sparsely occupied with a couple near the make-shift register and a clearly destitute woman with a dying cat - Or at least it might have once been a cat - cradled in her arms. And than there was the greasy woman behind the counter who stirred the boiling special of the day. " Get that mangy mutt outta here!" Mrs. Twilliger grumbled for the bizzionth time, a demand that came every damn day. A command that would clearly go unheeded as the mangy woman didn't so much as pause from her never ending petting streak that had formed a bald spot on the back of the poor animal.

Only once had Nicole bothered to try to speak up, mainly because she was tired of hearing the same conversation daily between the two, and to her surprise the two woman turned to give her the ugliest look before they both spat in her direction. From then on she swore they must be related somehow, and not only that but she never bothered to intervene again. Besides, it was not worth it. Nor was it worth it to stop others from attempting the same, and seeing their shocked expressions to the messy women never got old it would seem.

Why would Nicole come here, of all places to eat? Well, for one it was quiet and few people tended to drop in considering the settings, but best of all not a single person seemed to notice Nicole's work. She had even once assaulted someone, smashing their face into the table before her, and neither Twilliger, nor her freak sister so much as batted an eyelash at the broken faced man who proceeded to flip the table and storm out of the building. They never asked questions or even moved from their respective stations - In fact, Twilliger even waved to him as the glass door slammed shut and Nicole stood with a look of fright. Clearly, these two had been altered by some form of radiation, but since they didn't ask questions nor did she and from then on, this was the place to be.

Nicole sat there people-watching for some time without a care in the world, just wasting time and hoping for the sun to set. She didn't so much as budge from her comfortable position when Twilliger hobbled over to set the hot bowl of soup before her, but when the door chimed to open Nicole let her gaze wonder to the figure that had appeared there.

Wearing

When Gabby saw the note on the door, she immediately started to freak out.

She snatched it from the door, then quickly tossed it to the floor, sensing the surge of mana as the lingering energy in the note was boosted by her power. It seemed as if the card had been planted there with magic, and it wouldn't be safe for her to touch the card until after the energy faded.

She stared at the card on the ground, unable to wrap her mind around it. Who knew she was here? Who knew her NAME? She had been very careful not to give her full name to even one single person since she arrived here. She hadn't given anyone the address of the hotel she was staying at.

Who the HELL could have found her here?

She waited until the lingering mana signature on the card faded, then picked it up and turned it over. There was no signature, no name, nothing. Nothing but an address, and a mystery.

Gabby didn't see much choice. She couldn't let this go without finding out what was going on. She had to know if the sender knew that she was from the past, or knew anything else that would compromise her. Dozens of possible explanations came to mind... mind readers, fortune tellers, time travellers, or just plain omniscient super beings that could tell anything about anyone. There was no way to tell which it was until she went to the meeting.

She arrived at the meeting point an hour before the appointed time. She took the extra time to scout the area, memorizing the layout of the surrounding streets, and observing the cafe from a safe distance to look for any signs of suspicious activity. She passed her aura around the area to see if she could get any hint of the mana signature from the card, and searched for possible signs of an ambush. By the time 1 PM rolled around, she had probed the entire city block, moving casually throughout the area and giving no indications that she was here for anything other than a day of shopping.

At 1:00 on the dot, she walked into the cafe, moving with the casual ease of someone who was simply here for a cup of coffee. With the exception of her longbow, all of her weapons were carefully tucked away under hear leather jacket so as not to draw attention to herself. The bow, of course, she wore with pride, not caring who saw it. She crossed the room, leather-clad hips swaying with each step, the Italian's curvaceous figure certainly able to drawn attention to itself. She ordered a drink and chose a seat that gave her a clear view of the room, wrapping her hands around the warm cup and acting as though she hadn't a care in the world. Of course, what she was really doing was memorizing the faces of every single person in this place, scanning the exits, and keeping a careful eye out for anyone or anything hidden in the shadows. It was all done with casual glances and peripheral vision, so that she wouldn't appear to be on guard.

Now it was just a matter of seeing who approached her. Whoever had sent the note clearly knew who she was, so they'd be sure to present themselves soon...

What a delicious surprise to walk through the door. Nicole's bright hazel hues raked the woman's curvaceous form tightly wrapped in a leather wrapper. An appreciative gleam shone in her eyes as they followed her rear to a seat then quickly darted away when the woman settled into her seat facing the room. Nicole stared intently at at the door, half wondering if someone would follow in tow of that tasty woman but clearly she came alone.

Again, there came the reason Nicole chose this place above the rest - Few people tended to just wonder inside without a purpose, and Nicole had a sneaking suspicion she might know why. She could just taste the nervousness that hung thick in the air now, although the woman sat with a well practiced calm she knew better than to believe it. Hell, anyone could tell that, just by the bow strapped to her back, the woman was prepared for something big, and that something was not the warm cup she clung to for distraction. Her gaze dropped from the doorway to the cooling cup of stew resting on the table before her and quickly she contemplated a way to greet her without giving herself away.

A few minutes later Nicole turned to lock her gaze on the woman's face, leaning forward to casually rest her cheek against the palm of her hand and plaster a cheesy smile across her painted lips." Are you waiting for a certain mister?" Nicole wondered out loud, her brows raising to give her a curious expression." If so, he has terrible tastes to take such a lovely creature as yourself on such a cheap date." Her gaze drifted down briefly to selfishly take in the sight of her figure again before realizing how rude and a rosy blush rose to her pale cheeks." But than again, if any of that were true you wouldn't come so prepared...mmm..no, I must be wrong." She purred, her free hand shooting up rather abruptly to hold a single finger in Gabber's direction to silence her." Wait, don't tell me.." Nicole snapped, her head turning as she appeared to be thinking really hard before she just blurted it out," You found a card, and it told you to come and you just couldn't resist such a tantalizing offer? hm? How did I do? A wicked grin replaced that cheesy smile upon Nicole's lovely blushing face as she held her breath to see what the leather clad beauty would do next.

Gabby looked up at the woman when she spoke, wondering if this was the person whovhad summoned her here. At first it was hard to tell, as the woman just seemed flirtatious. The way her eyes were taking Gabby in made the young Italian blush; it had been a long time since a woman had looked at her like that.

She let her aura brush briefly against the woman, and Nicole would feel a tingle of mana and a slight twinge of pain, but there was no way to tell it had come from Gabby unless the woman had the ability to sense magic. Gabby felt the familiar energy of a demon's aura, and her blush turned into a scowl. Demons... Gabby HATED demons.

She was about to tell the woman to go fuck herself, when she mentioned the card. So this WAS the woman who'd summoned her here! Her eyes narrowed as she stared the woman down, trying to decide if she should strike her down now, or try to get more information first. The agent in her knew information was power, so she restrained her urge for violence.

Under different circumstances, she might have played along, and tried to gracefully entice information from the woman. Not with a demon though. "Cut the games," she said in a low hiss. "I've been through enough hell the last few weeks to want to play at demon games. How do you know who I am?" Her hand was already reaching for a weapon. She was ready to slay this creature on the spot if she didn't get an answer she liked.

Oh, Nicole was well versed in the use and detection of auras, so when she felt the prickling flare of Gabby's aura against her own masked aura it slapped that pretty little smile off of her face. So, this was the one she felt probing earlier this afternoon and dismissed? And now she dared to insult her by poking around again? Nicole matched the woman's glare with a glare of her own, sitting herself upright in her chair slowly as the woman greedily demanded answers from her. So, she was right in assuming the leather clad vixen had come because of Nicole, and so well prepared it appeared. Having already been discovered Nicole released her veil, her aura filling the room with a heavy sense of dread that even the radiated sisters could feel as Twilliger let out a loud shutter," Its culd in hur." And with that said she hobbled into the back room.

"Cut the games,"

"I've been through enough hell the last few weeks to want to play at demon games. How do you know who I am?"

Nicole's brows rose with intrigue, hell she says? Her head cocked to the side as her features softened somewhat. There was no need to be so defensive, even if the woman did insult her and now only added more to the insults, Nicole assumed she had nothing to fear from her. She sat there defiantly for a few tense moments as Gabby shifted ever so slight towards her weapon and Nicole let a mocking smile begin to tug at her lips as she watched her. " My, my, you are wound awfully tight. Relax.." She waved a hand dismissively," Rest assured, I know you no more than you know me, but my card - Do you have it?" She flicked that dismissive hand back up to hold it out in Gabby's direction, her fingers clicking together in a silent demand for her to produce her card. " It is the card who knows, not I, but if it has come to you there must be a reason why. You must be in need of my assistance, " Her bright hues darted to Gabby's hand that reached for her weapon," Whether you like it or not missy. Now, the card please, lets see."

As the feeling of dread fell over her, Gabby reacted defensively, pulling her aura in tight and clamping down on the output. Fear made her power stronger, which would in turn make the demon's aura stronger, which would in turn make Gabby's fear increase and make her power yet stronger again. It was a viscous cycle, and a trap Gabby had been caught in more than once in the past.

She grit her teeth against the strain, her head starting to pound with the pain of holding her aura in. She worked through the exercises Agent Long had taught her, keeping herself focused and calm. She couldn't let her fear get the better of her.

With sweat on her brow from the strain, she listened to the woman's confusing words. She was either playing a game with Gabby, or she really didn't know the full story herself. She knew about the card, but was acting as if someone else had delivered it?

She smirked when the woman told her to relax. "If I relax," she said, "you explode." Maybe not right away, but with the woman's aura of dread boosting Gabby's fear and thus her power, if Gabby stopped holding back the mana flow, it would surge forth uncontrollably. With that much boost, the woman would be extremely powerful... and in a LOT of pain. That was the double edged sword of Gabby's power. She could, very briefly, give this woman the power of a Goddess, but that much power was usually fatal.

Of course, the other trick to it was that Gabby couldn't stop the woman from turning her augmented power on Gabby herself. And there was no defense Gabby could raise against someone she'd boosted.

Without another word she took out the card and placed it on the table in front of the woman. She couldn't hand it to her directly, since if she did the card would act as a mana conductor and channel Gabby's power into Nicole at its highest level of boost. That would be bad for the both of them, and possibly for everyone within a city block.

Nicole could feel Gabby's aura collect and shrink away, although she believed it to be out of fear and for the most part her ego-boosting assumption was correct but for all the wrong reasons. She had no idea the power Gabby was hiding in that curvaceous Italian figure, and it was probably for the better she was left clueless for the time being. What did she mean by her comment about exploding anyway? Was it some kind of threat? Nicole wouldn't have long to ponder it.

Still seated across the room from her, her gaze locked on the appointment card when she moved to produce it and laid it out the table between them. For a second she stared, wondering why she did not get up and bring it to her as she expected her to do. With a small sigh at the minor inconvenience, she picked herself up and moved to take the seat opposite of Gabby. Nicole was careful in this movement, not wanting to upset the now perspiring woman. She could see the strain in her eyes as she settled back into the seat and briefly wondered what had her struggling so deeply. She considered, once again, her own aura and as a small token of peace she drew back her dreaded aura and lifted the icy weight from the room. It felt good, or at least it had, to let herself be freely known but Nicole did not struggle, as she thought Gabby did, to keep her own in check.

Once collected and settled, Nicole slid her hand out across the table to get the card and locked her eyes onto Gabby's. She was watching for any twitch of a reaction that showed the woman might lashed out at her, because how could she be foolish enough to give her the card? Did she even think twice about it? If she had not before she would know the mistake soon enough, because upon touching the card Nicole was immediately zapped with information. Her entire body jerked with shock, a loud gasp escaping her lips at the blinding flash that was far worse than ever before. She pushed herself back from the table abruptly, her chair screeching as it grind across the worn linoleum.

" Holy shit." Nicole gasped, her mouth gaped open as she tried to catch her breath. Her slender frame slumped forward, a hand raising to mask her face as she tried to recover from the whirlwind of information." Grabrielle Marietta Guinario... " She breathed the woman's full name at last in a raspy tone. Slowly her hand lowered to reveal her puzzled, wide-eyed expression. " You are a very long way from home." She breathed and gave a sharp shake of her head to further clear her mind. It was too much, all the information that zapped forth in one quick burst. To be honest, Nicole had missed most of it because it was too much for her to comprehend but she did draw some key facts about the vicious woman seated across from her.

Nicole didn't bother to move back to the table again, in fact she rose up to stand and moved around to put her chair between them as some sort of precaution. " Before you start working on making me explode, I will answer any questions about myself that you may have." She lifted her hands up in front of herself," As of this moment in time, I mean you no harm." Inwardly Nicole was panicking, this was a one in a million opportunity, to be sure. One that could go south extremely fast with such a hostile woman.

When she felt the icy aura recede, Gabby relaxed her own aura a little. She let it expand partway, since holding the weight of it back was the greatest strain. She let the mana flow around her, but kept it from touching Nicole. It eased the pain in her head a bit, though not fully. To fully ease it, she would need to let her aura expand and cover the room, and she wouldn't take that chance. Not with a demon sitting across from her.

When the woman reacted so strongly to the card, Gabby drew one of her pistols and held it under the table, aimed at the woman's gut. It had silver bullets, because where Gabby came from, such things were a necessity of survival. She didn't know if they'd have any affect on this demon, but she wasn't going to take chances. If it came time to fight, she would do so with lethal intent.

Some kind of magic was clearly taking place, but Gabby couldn't chance letting her aura touch it again to learn more about it. She was confused, and she didn't like it. She preferred to be in a situation where she was in control, where she was the one moving the pieces. She'd spent FAR too long as other people's pawn in her life; now, she was the one deciding what her life was. She didn't intend to let that change.

When the woman started talking, Gabby pulled back the hammer of her gun to make sure the woman knew it was ready to fire. "You'll answer my questions?" she asked, not sure if she was ready to believe that for one moment. Demons couldn't be trusted, and usually had some trick or another up their sleeves. "Fine. We'll start with the easy ones."

"There's clearly some kind of magic in that card," she said. "And if I know anything about magic, I can guess that me touching it and then you touching it activated it. I really don't care about the details of HOW it works... but I want to know WHY? Why was that on my door? And if you didn't put it there, who did? And..." Something else was bugging her about the way the woman was talking and acting. She knew a fair bit about demons, and while she didn't know if THIS demon followed the rules some of the others did, it certainly didn't hurt to ask.

"Are you in any way bound to tell me the truth, to do what I say, or grant me anything?" she asked. There were some demons that couldn't lie. They could twist the truth with half-lies and obscure what was real, but not actually lie. There were others that had strange rules about what they could and couldn't do around a mortal, such as not giving their name or having to make certain pacts to get what they wanted. She didn't know if any of that applied here, but she was going to be sure to cover all the bases.

Nicole tensed when she heard the soft click of a weapon hidden out of sight, but clearly it was ready to fire at any moment should Gabriella see it fit. Her eyes fluttered closed and her breath caught in her throat as she waited to see if her offer of some answers would suffice to spare her body any harm. Nicole still thought Gabriella planned on making her explode somehow. Gabriella sounded skeptical, but when she finally agreed and began spitting out the first questions that came to mind Nicole released a small sigh of relief. Good, she wouldn't have to go back to the void today. Meekly, she stepped around and reclaimed her seat across from the vicious vixen.

Nicole hated questions, worst of all probing questions, but she felt it to be a fair trade and perhaps her only card left on the table at the moment. Swallowing hard she let her gaze fall to the ground as she spoke in a steady monotone," I purchased the cards, they are magically designed to find me clients on their own. The card attached itself to your door because you needed my assistance in some way, shape, or form. It was drawn to you, but didn't know why until you touched it. You might not know it yet, or you are simply too.." She hesitated a moment, pursing her lips as she held back the urge to say 'foolish' and instead replaced the word with," Scared. --- On to more personal matters, I am not bound in anyway to speak the truth, but rest assured I want your trust as much as you want the truth from me." Her monotone then took on a more exasperated note," Nor am I bound to you, but..." She lifted her gaze from the ground to lock onto Gabriella, a faint smile lighting up her features," I can grant your wish," She cocked her head to the side," But you know there will be a price. Now, my turn for just one question...Tell me Gabriella, why are you so afraid of me?" She narrowed her eyes on the woman, curious to hear her answer.

Gabby relaxed, very slightly, when the woman continued with a simply conversational tone. She had the weird feeling that the demon was scared of her. This certainly wasn't how she had been expecting this encounter to go. Though she wasn't quite sure what she HAD been expecting.

She uncocked the gun and put it away. It had served its purpose, and she could have it out again in an instant, if need be. Besides which, Gabby WAS a weapon, and she could be far more lethal with her bare hands than she could be with a gun.

"Purchased magic..." she said with a frown. Yet another thing wrong with this city. People shouldn't be able to purchase magic with such ease. Selling magic in shops was like selling guns or explosives to children. People needed to be trained and educated on how to use them properly. If this demon could just purchase these magical cards, who knew what else could be bought in this city, and who was buying it?

Gabby would have to find a way to change all that.

"Oh, I'm sure I can think of a million reasons why your magic card picked me," she said with a sarcastic tone. If anyone in this world needed help, it was Gabby. But that didn't mean she was looking for help from some demon bitch.

"You'll grant my wish, will you?" she asked. "And what... I have to sell my soul to get it? Ha!" Gabby wasn't sure she had a soul left to sell, but if she did, she was also quite sure it was already going to end up in the hands of demons one day. She'd done enough killing, among other things, to surely have earned herself a place in damnation.

As for the woman's question... it simply made Gabby laugh and shake her head. Taking a sip of her coffee, she said, "Listen, lady, let's get one thing clear. I'm not afraid of you. I've dealt with far scarier stuff, and killed thousands of your kind. Fear doesn't enter into it."

She tilted her head to the side and looked the woman over for a moment. "What I am, is smart," she said. "Only an idiot would come down here with a magic summoning card and just lay everything on the table without taking precautions. I'm not some gullible fool who you're going to trick into making a deal with the devil. I've made plenty of my own dark pacts in the past, once with the Grim Reaper himself. In the flesh... or in the bones, whatever," she shrugged. "So no, I'm not afraid of you. But I'm not going to be making any deals with you either..." She got up and started heading for the door. Pacts with dark creatures always had a catch, always had a loophole. She'd made a wish, and either the price would turn out to be too high, or there'd be some twist that made it so that she didn't get what she really wanted. Wish for fame and fortune, you get it with scandal and conflict. Wish for eternal life, you got it by being turned into a vampire. Wish for ultimate cosmic power, and you got trapped in a genie's lamp, unable to tap into your new gifts. There was always some twist.

Gabby couldn't imagine for a moment that she could trust this demon woman to give her something honest and straightforward.

The more she talked to Gabriella, the more she began to understand all the information she had absorbed from the card. It had all come in such a flash, and yet one thing rang true and clear - This woman was important. But why? Nicole could read the disgust through her frown upon hearing that she had purchased the cards, again there came the pondering of the question why? Although it did please her to hear that Gabby had a lot of reasons to be here, it would be short lived as she gathered herself up to go. It would seem that she saw nothing to her advantage in this meeting.

Most importantly, it silenced her. Nicole hated answering to anything, and now it seemed she would get away without giving her with so much as a name. What had ever happened to simple pleasantries anyway? Lost in a world at war with everything. Gabriella did know, however, Nicole's true nature - a fact she truly hated the moment Gaberiella called her out on it. Nicole reveled in her ambiguous nature, it was the whole reason she had survived this long without being sent back to the darkness from which she had came. Now, this clearly dangerous woman, who found no shame in proclaiming her deadly craft, was one step closer than Nicole would like her to be. Still, the questions were dodged for now, and she was rather proud of the fact that it took her only one stupid question to end it.

What she didn't expect was for Gabriella to end it all instantly, and now she might as well be twisting Nicole's arm behind her back. Her one in a million opportunity was walking out the door now, what was she going to do about? Her eyes widened when Gabriella rose, not because of anything she had said but because she was done. Her mind fumbled for words or anything that might keep her for just a little bit longer. Just a little bit longer.. Should she give her something in return as a token of trust? No, she wasn't worth wasting free gifts on, that wouldn't suffice it anyway. Should she attack? Foolish. Than it dawned upon her, this was exactly the position Gabriella wanted her in. Panicked. Rushed to make a mistake. Damn her.

Her arms shot out in front of her, pushing her away from the table abruptly and she whipped her head around to look after her with an open mouth ready to say something but instead she was moving without thinking. Too fast to be seen by mortal eyes, Nicole seemingly appeared at Gabriella's side," Just wait, Goddamnit! " She snarled, catching hold of Gabriella's hand as quickly as she had appeared to try to hold her back.

POP!

There was no physical sound to be heard, nor was there an explosion of any kind. One second Nicole was standing, the next she overloaded and flopped to the ground inanimate at Gabriella's feet. She lay morbidly still, not a breath nor a sound, with a pair of vacant eyes that stared up at Gabriella with a wide-eyed look of shock.

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Nicole had no idea the sort of Pandora's box she had just opened. One second she was pissed, pressured, and rushed to stop her one in a million opportunity and the next she was standing alone in a foggy space that looked like her favorite cafe but was devoid of everything. There was no weight, no sound, no Gabriella, and only a deafening silence in the air. Purgatory, far worse than any layer of hell. Absolute nothingness.

Worst yet, Nicole knew this place for what it was right off the bat. She had spent so many years wasting away here. How had this come to be? What had that witch done to her? HOW? As her new found sense of doom spread over her like an icy shower, Nicole spotted the black hole of chance on the floor directly in front of her. The hole was shrinking quickly, each passing second it faded away as her mortal body lay lifelessly at Gabriella's feet. The body was beginning to lose all mental cognition without the support of its heart and lungs, and once gone there would be little chance of Nicole returning any time soon.

Not planning on spending any more time in the void, Nicole pounced on her only opportunity to return before it was too late.

When Gabby felt the woman's energy violate the space of her aura, her natural reaction was to pull away. She knew it would be bad for her to touch the woman; it was always bad when Gabby touched people with powers. She tried to snatch her hand away, but felt the woman's fingers brush her skin, even if only briefly. A surge of mana flowed through her, barreling into the woman and knocking her clean off her feet.

Gabby just stopped and stared. She'd never seen THAT happen before.

It clearly had something to do with the woman's unique abilities, but Gabby didn't know enough about the woman to understand what was happening. She stared at the unblinking figure on the floor, who looked like she might be dead.

"...serves her right," Gabby said, turning her back on the unmoving figure. She started to walk away, but was stopped by an unpleasant twisting in her stomach. She paused, half looking back over her shoulder. She took another step, and felt bile rising in her throat. The woman was so quiet, unmoving. She had cried out, and then... nothing.

She's always crying!

Gabby closed her eyes, shaking her head against the memories. This wasn't fair. The woman was a demon. A manipulator.

Can't you make her stop crying?

She winced and put a hand to her head, trying to rub away the surge of pain in her temple. She grit her teeth, trying to force herself to just walk away.

...a huge shard of glass sticking right out of her forehead. She wasn't crying anymore...

Gabby let out a grunt of frustration and turned back to the motionless figure on the ground. This was completely unfair. A moment ago, she would have been willing to kill the woman with her bare hands. But killing her on purpose was different than letting her die because of an accident...

She didn't know what to do to help, but somehow she couldn't let the woman just lie there and die. But if she touched her again, she might make the situation worse. CPR was out of the question... but there was one thing Gabby could think of that might help.

She leaned down and very briefly touched her hands to the woman's chest, on either side of her heart. There was a brief surge of power that would cross the woman's heart like a defibrillator, hopefully jump-starting the woman's heart and bringing her back around. Gabby stepped back out of range immediately after, knowing that prolonged contact would be sure to kill the woman.

There was truly no need for assistance, because Nicole was already struggling back to reality, but the power Gabriella would surge into the heart of the beast would aid her in a different way. As Gabby drew back a step, Mrs. Twilliger stepped into view with her smelly sister hovering just behind her while the mangy hairless cat clung to her shoulder yowling to announce the pair's approach. " Oh wow." One of the women exclaimed, but far from worry the two seemed fascinated by the scene unfolding before them. The woman had just barely spoken when a surge of aura burst forth from Nicole's fallen figure. The fierce demonic aura smothered the room and its few occupants, almost blinding in its fury that even the two less-sensitive women staggered back without a full understanding as to why they suddenly felt so terrified. The malfunctioning sisters fell over each other as they both staggered into the back room and officially out of sight.

As quickly as the aura had spread, it locked onto Gabby. Circling her no doubt well guarded power, the demon seemed to contemplating whether or not to attempt to breech her guard. As it circled Gabby, Nicole's fallen form suddenly gasped aloud, sucking in a much needed breath of air. Her back arched, her slender form straightening out as it tensed from the overwhelming sting of muscles that went too long without oxygen. It was now that Gabby's surge of power came in handy on a body that should have awakened mentally handicapped from the lack of oxygen to the brain, if at all, but the woman's powerful touch and the brief surge of energy to her heart had brought the fiend back complete again.

Nicole's eyes shot wide open and unnatural screech escaped the woman's mouth as she came to, her unsteady limbs jerking morbidly as she attempted to drag herself back and away but wasn't going very far. Sharp, fang-like teeth, now lined her purty mouth, and those wide open eyes were vacant as they stared into space. The high pitched screech broke off to be replaced by a gargled choking sound, shark like teeth clamping together while she continued to flail on the ground. Nicole was struggling for control of the body, struggling to reign in the angry monster that still circled Gabby and would only grow worse should she choose to so much as flinch or move from where she stood.

Minutes dragged on like hours, but slowly that monstrous aura sucked back and than rather abruptly it was gone. But so too was the twisted body of Nicole that had just moments ago been out of control on the linoleum. In the blink of an eye, there now came relief but with it a feeling of dread - Where the F*ck had it gone? "IT" being Nicole.

Just as it would seemed safe to go, Nicole seemingly appeared out of no where. Too fast to be seen by mortal eyes, she casually leaned her shoulder against the frame of the only exit out of the cafe. Her arms were crossed in front of her, her layers of clothes straightened out so that it almost seem as if nothing had ever happened. A devious smile played upon her lips, her gaze locked on Gabriella who no doubt was quick to aim a weapon in her own defense.

Nicole tisked," Oh Gabby, what a fool I have been. To think someone such as yourself could hold such a great and terrible power..." Her eyes trailed down Gabby's leather clad figure." I want to help you get what you want. You need resources, I need you to never..ever..lay a finger on me again. Could we agree on terms such as those?" It truly was a petty trade, to give Gabby what she needed now in exchange for her not touching her, but it was a step in the door should she accept. There was no way either of them could ever truly trust one another, but maybe they could agree on something for once.

Gabby winced and hugged her head with her arms when the aura burst forth. She pulled her aura in tight, as tight as she could to make sure it didn't touch any of the demonic spirit surging around the room. She had no idea that the demon was considering claiming Gabby's body, but to do so would have been suicide. Gabby was a victim of her own power, and was constantly boosting herself the same way she boosted others. That was why her power was so strong, why she couldn't turn it off, and why it was such a strain to control it. Holding her aura in while the demon's spirit was swirling above her was so difficult that her head pounded like a jackhammer and her ears and nose began to bleed. She could only normally hold it in this tight for brief periods, and the demon was taking too long to repair itself, thus pushing Gabby past her limits.

If the demon had tried to take Gabby's body, then even her greatest effort wouldn't be able to hold back the boost from augmenting the spirit within her. Under such non-stop augmentation, the spirit would have had to flee Gabby's body or else they would have both died. The energy would flow into the spirit in Gabby's body in an endless feedback loop, growing stronger and stronger until they exploded in mana.

When Nicole finally started to awaken Gabby crossed the room to hide in the back corner, so that she could finally release her aura. Without her reining it in, her aura spread to its normal twenty foot radius sphere, and she could relax.

Not relax too much, though, for she had a gun aimed at Nicole as soon as she reappeared. Gasping for breath as she recovered her strength from the strain of holding her aura back, she said, "You touched me, you stupid fucking bitch. Hands off..." Regardless of what the woman said, Gabby was ready to shoot her if she got any closer.

Through the pounding in her skull, Gabby tried to understand the offer Nicole was making just then. "You mean to tell me," she said with a short, rough laugh, "that you'll give me whatever I want as long as I don't kill you?" Maybe expelling the spirit was a fate worse than mere death. Gabby wasn't normally one to use such threats to get her way, but it was the woman's idea. Though she was quite certain this was still a trick of some kind... yet she was ALSO certain that she could make this bitch explode if she stepped out of line.

"What kind of 'resources'?" she asked.

Nicole winced when she heard the way Gabriella put it, her eyes narrowing at her bitter laughter. Yeah, she did have a way of making it sound completely ridiculous. She sucked in a slow breath, counting backwards from ten to steady herself before releasing that breath. Her efforts seemed to pay off as Gabby legitimately seemed to consider this idea..

"What kind of 'resources'?"

Nicole pulled away from the doorframe, letting her crossed arms fall to her sides casually," Fortune, fame, vanity... As my card says, may all your wishes come true." A pleased smile spread across her lips and in that moment of pause Gabbeh would feel a sudden prick on the crown of her head. With her aura masked, and movement to fast to be seen by the woman's mortal eyes, Nicole would pluck a single strand of hair from her head.

" But.."

Nicole only appeared to have shifted ever so slightly, perhaps Gabby's keen senses may notice the fraction of a inch close she had drawn in the blink of an eye but what difference did that really make? A quick finger rose into the air between them to distract her. " You think on it first. No need to make this decision lightly.. Not after " With that said, Nicole twirled around but before she pushed her way out the door she suddenly lurched to a stop and swiveled back around," Oh, and since you forgot, I'm Nicole." She pressed a hand against her chest," And when I'm ready, you'll know. She winked, and was gone in the blink of an eye.