Dance with the Devil - part 4 - SPN AU

"Untitled 4th Installment" 

This is the direct sequel to Hixy's 3rd installment in our SPN Kalluzeb AU. The ending fought me so much and I have been working on this fic ALL MONTH. It is unbeta'd and still needs polishing, but you all get an early sneak peak! It's the spicy (and surprisingly plotty and angsty) comfort in hurt/comfort. Kallus was def whumped last installment. XD

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Zeb had a bad feeling about this.

The hunter sat in the passenger’s seat of the Ford Fairlane Thunderbolt and tried not to let his worry show. The loud purr of the engine and the blur of the highway and other cars was indicative of the speed they were going, but the ride couldn’t have been smoother; Zeb could expect no less from Hera Syndulla, leader of the Spectres and the best driver he had ever known.

He glanced at his phone and the map tracking their way to the spot where the demon said he was. Literally calling in his favor, Kallus had only said he needed a ride and a place to lay low for a little while, then said he would send his ‘coordinates’ via a text. Something was wrong, Zeb just knew it. Since when did a demon need a ride? Also, since when did Kallus text?

"You're sure this isn't a trap, right Zeb?" Hera asked him, her hands steady on the wheel.

“Yeah,” Zeb said on automatic.

“That doesn’t sound convincing,” Hera called him out. Zeb chanced a guilty look over at the woman, her green eyes leaving the road for a brief moment to glance his way. “Look, I know Kallus has been helping us out lately, especially with the witch covens and those Inquisitor bastards causing us so much trouble, but he’s still a demon.”

“I know,” Zeb said. Even though the woman was younger than him, he couldn’t help but feel like a kid under the scrutiny of their mother.

“Do you trust him?” Hera asked.

“I do,” Zeb said with sincerity, catching her eyes with his own when she looked his way once again. “I trust him.”

It was the truth, after all. He knew it seemed absurd. A hunter whose entire family was killed off by a demon -another yellow-eyed demon at that- and trusting one enough to work with him on the regular. To sleep with him on the regular, too. The other Spectres didn’t know that last part, though.

“Alright. And I trust you, Zeb.” Hera let out a sigh. “I don’t know what you did to owe a favor to a demon of his caliber, but someday I’d like to know that story.”

“Yeah, ‘bout that…” Zeb said hesitantly and rubbed at the back of his neck. He felt heat flush to his cheeks. He wasn’t sure that story was very appropriate. It was a bit R-rated. A flash of memories rushed through his head. That had been a downright hot night; one he still looked back on fondly, especially on lonely nights without the demon in his bed and only his memories and thoughts to get himself off. Okay, it was a bit more than R-rated.

The exit approached and Zeb felt a small bit of relief as he pointed up to the sign for the Shoppes of Atollon.

“This one,” Zeb said and soon they were making their way through the mostly abandoned shopping center. It was the middle of the week and the town they passed seemed to be a bit small and rustic. It was no trouble to get through the sparse parking lots that connected the different structures and the stores in them.

Hera glanced at Zeb’s phone and at the pinned icon on his map, and followed it into the parking lot of a Walmart. Zeb turned off his phone, looking out the windows anxiously trying to spot the demon. He shouldn’t be hard to find. He was probably wearing a three-piece tailored suit, not at all congruent to his surroundings.

“There,” Hera said before him, nodding her head to the back end of the parking lot.

Indeed there, leaning against a tree, was the unmistakable form of Kallus, at first looking like he was just relaxing in the shade, until they came to a stop right at the edge of the berm and he got a clearer look at him.

"What the f-" Zeb cut himself off and tried to bolt from the car, swinging the door open. He got caught in the seat belt he had forgotten was still on and soon was fumbling to quickly undo it. He scrambled from the vehicle and rushed to the demon, who looked about ready to keel over. He was dressed in his fine three-piece suit, but he was also covered in bruises and lacerations and blood.

"Hello, hunter," Kallus said casually, as if he wasn't about to collapse right there in front of him. Zeb saw the mangled state of his left hand, held limply at his side, his other arm tucked at his side, obscuring a wound he knew must have been there.

"Wha- Kallus, what the hell happened to you?" Zeb cupped his face, mindful of the nasty red burn across one cheek, the thick hair of his sideburns familiar against his palms. He watched as the demon attempted a rueful smirk but ended up grimacing instead.

"Hell indeed happened," he replied, then suddenly curled forward and gasped. Zeb reacted quickly, steady arms bracing him at the elbows, ready to catch him if he fell. Kallus’ forehead thudded against his shoulder, and Zeb heard the way his breathing sounded wet and labored.

“What’s wrong? What-”

“A moment! I just need a moment,” Kallus hissed into his shoulder. Zeb awkwardly put his hands on the demon’s back, unsure whether he needed support to stand or how long he intended to lean on him.

“C’mon, let’s get in the car,” Zeb urged after Kallus wasn’t breathing so harshly. “Can you walk? Do you think you can make it on your own? ”

“Of course I can! I don’t need to be coddled, I just need a ride away from here, a place to rest. That’s what I want my favor to be, hunter, nothing more,” the demon spat, rough and full of pride, and it was something Zeb would have commented about had he not been so worried. In a way, it was good to hear that pompous asshole side of him. Maybe that meant things weren’t as bad as they appeared, right? Right?

Kallus lifted his head from Zeb's shoulder and stiffly composed himself and walked his way to the curb, and for the first time Zeb noticed the cuffs around his ankles. There was one on his right wrist too. Blessed ones at that, with the way they sizzled when they touched the demon’s bare skin as he moved.

“Where’s your van?” Kallus asked over his shoulder, after he gave a weary nod to Hera in greeting. The woman nodded back at him and watched them carefully, her arm slung over her arm rest casually as she did so.

“In the shop,” Zeb said gruffly, exasperated with the lack of answers he was getting from the demon.

He came around him and quickly folded the passenger seat forward so Kallus could get into the back. There was more room back there if he needed to lay down or something, he reasoned. Zeb helped as much as he thought was warranted and wanted from the man, which at the moment wasn’t much as he collapsed into the bench seat of the back.

When Zeb saw the blood streak across the leather as Kallus braced a hand on the cushions to try and straighten himself into an aborted sitting position, he climbed into the back too and closed the door behind him. It seemed as if Kallus was going to protest this, but Hera was already peeling out of the parking lot and getting back onto the main drag that would lead back to the highway by the time Zeb was settled next to him.

Zeb shrugged out of his flannel button up, leaving him in his ratty Kansas band t-shirt, and began a non-sexual grope and unfastening of Kallus’s clothes where he noticed the majority of the blood to be coming from. Left side, below his ribs. Stab wound? He pressed the flannel there to staunch the bleeding as best he could.

Kallus didn’t even fight him except when he applied pressure to the wound. The demon let out a bark of pain, shaking and gasping as he grabbed a fistful of Zeb’s shirt with his good hand and tugged at it fitfully. Hera didn’t even react or say anything when he kicked and kneed at the back of her chair.

Zeb felt Kallus’s forehead rest against his own, the shaking hot air from his labored breaths warm against lips.

“Kallus -Kal. What happened?” Zeb asked again, this time quieter, between just them. He knew Hera could hear them regardless, with their proximity, but he still kept it gentle, coaxing.

“Just help me. No questions asked,” Kallus said, his words prickly, but then the demon started to nuzzle and lean into the crook of his neck. “Please, Zeb.”

“Of course, yeah,” Zeb said instead of what he was thinking: always, anytime, with or without a favor. Zeb felt himself melt under the warm weight of having him there. He was in pain and hurt, from something beyond his reckoning, but he was still there and letting Zeb help him, not some other demon or supernatural being, but him. Something about that made him feel special.

Zeb looked up and caught Hera’s gaze in the rearview mirror. She looked very concerned but kept silent the entire way back to the bunker. Zeb owed her an explanation, he knew, but that was a battle for another day.

Getting Kallus out was a lot more difficult than getting him inside the car, and the parking garage was thankfully almost empty when they arrived. That was a very good thing, since Zeb was sure Kallus would have smote him on the spot had there been a bigger audience.

Zeb actually half expected Sabine and Ezra to be there, the youngest and most curious members of the group, but what he got was Chopper in his human form grumbling as he cleared an area on a workbench after assessing the demon with a quick once over.  Zeb was so used to the familiar appearing in his dog form, a red husky that constantly nipped at his ankles, it was a bit weird to hear him talk instead of his usual growling warbles.

“Sent the kids on a wild goose chase of a grocery run. You’re welcome,” Chopper said to no one in particular, but Zeb felt it was aimed at him anyway. “Blessed cuffs. Someone really didn’t like you, huh Kallus?”

“Everyone doesn’t like me,” Kallus managed under a grimace of pain as Chopper continued to study the cuffs. Zeb saw where they were rubbing Kallus's skin raw and blistering where they touched the most. Zeb wanted to get them off him as soon as possible.

“I don’t think that’s true,” Chopper muttered to himself, but gave Zeb an incriminating look.

“That why you aren’t healing yourself?” Zeb asked Kallus, ignoring Chopper’s insinuations. Going onto his haunches to get a better look at Kallus’s face, he watched as Kallus avoided eye contact, remaining silent. Zeb gave an exasperated grunt. “Look, Kal, I get it: no questions. But at least let us know what we’re dealing with here. Blessed cuffs and…?”

Kallus seemed to consider all this, finally glancing up and bypassing Zeb's eyes to give a meaningful look to Hera instead. She was standing by the three of them with her arms crossed in front of her. “They also used a Kurdish blade on me,” he finally said.

Zeb felt a chill run down his spine. That was Kanan’s knife. He looked at Hera for her reaction. She looked surprised, but otherwise stood her ground. There was only one being that could possibly have that blade now, and everyone in the room knew who.

“Thrawn,” Hera said, voice full of menace.

Kallus nodded grimly. Zeb felt a hot rage bubble up through his entire being. That red-eyed bastard had another thing coming to him if Zeb ever came across him again.

“Kallus, that's a demon killing weapon. How are you still alive?” Hera asked.

“I’m no common demon, and unless pierced in a specific area, I couldn't be killed with just one stabbing. I suppose I'm lucky Thrawn likes to play with his food,” Kallus said with weakening arrogance. Zeb could see his stamina drain from him with every passing moment.

Yes, Kallus was no ordinary demon, stronger than most, but he could still be killed, he could still be made to hurt. He could still suffer. And like hell was Zeb going to sit there and watch it.

He stood up with purpose and stalked to the tool cabinet, throwing the doors open to hastily look for some bolt cutters. When he found them, he stomped back over and elbowed Chopper out of the way as he crouched in front of Kallus once more.

"Wait! Those can be-" Chopper tried to say, but Zeb had already cut one off and was working on the next one. "Well, we could have found a way to save those maybe. Nevermind that now."

Kallus held up his right hand and Zeb quickly cut the remaining cuff on his wrist. The metal fell to the concrete with a satisfying clang next to the others.

As if a weight had been lifted off of him, Kallus sagged in relief and closed his eyes, craning his neck back and rolling his shoulders. Zeb watched with fascination and horror as Kallus brought up his disfigured, broken left hand and crunched the digits into a fist. When he opened his fist again, the fingers were all back in place and flexing normally, residual blood still staining them. The burn marks on his wrists and ankles also began to heal, not fully, but they were no longer so dreadful looking.

“What about the rest of it?” Zeb asked, setting the bolt cutters aside and hovering a hand over where Kallus was still holding his blood-soaked flannel to the wound at his side. Some of the bruises and cuts began to fade, but some still lingered. Like the cut on his left cheek and the one at his neck. And most importantly, the deeper wound under his ribs that would have killed a human, and a lesser demon too.

“They will heal in time,” Kallus assured him, his eyes still closed.

Zeb barely noticed as Chopper scooped up the cuffs to study them further. The familiar was more of a hacker type than demonic studies, but he had picked up the research quickly after Kanan could no longer assist. Hera patted Chopper on the shoulder, much like she would do to his head when he was a dog.

Kallus's countenance was already looking better, and he even handed back Zeb's blood-soaked flannel shirt. Zeb took it and dropped it to the floor, leaning forward to check to be sure it wasn't still needed, despite the incredulous glare Kallus fixed him with.

"The bleeding has stopped," Kallus said hotly, though Zeb made note that he wasn't fighting his inspection of the area. The wound still looked gnarled and deep, but it had indeed stopped bleeding, somehow. "Satisfied, hunter?"

Zeb frowned at him. "Not really. Are you?"

Kallus’s gaze darkened, and Zeb thought he must have hit some kind of nerve. Good. He was starting to feel a bit used and unappreciated, favor owed or not. He was trying to help, he had helped already. He had given him the shirt off his back, literally, and Kallus was suddenly acting petulant about it.

Zeb was still deeply unsettled to see Kallus as weakened as he was, wounded by something that seriously could have killed him had the red-eyed demon really wanted to. Kallus could have been dead and gone or locked away and Zeb wouldn’t have even known. He would have figured something was wrong eventually, yeah, but in the meantime he would have just given him up as busy or finally bored of him. Anger and insecurity clouded Zeb's emotions and thoughts, just like they had done the last time he had seen Kallus.

He had been smiling at him devilishly in the mirror the whole time as Zeb fucked him from behind in that gas station bathroom. They were both in a rush to get off, riding the fresh high from a successful hunt, one that Kallus had deemed worthy of his time, since the other Spectres were dealing with their own problems.

Just before they parted ways, Kallus had said he had to take care of some 'brewings' in Hell and to not need his help if he could manage it, that Zeb had all but wasted his time with something below his ‘paygrade’, and that the Spectres should take more responsibility now that he had been made part of their 'crew'. Kallus had been a right asshole, but then again that was a common enough thing that Zeb tried not to let that sour the mood at the time, what little good that actually did. In the end, Zeb had pushed the demon against a wall, given him the dirtiest, deepest, most passionate kiss before storming out of the bathroom first, throwing a “think you need a pay cut” over his shoulder as he went. For once he had done the kissing and running.

That was months ago now.

Someone cleared their throat, breaking the tense staredown Zeb was having with Kallus. Zeb softened his face as he looked to Hera, who was still standing with Chopper, both of them looking on like the unwilling spectators they were.

“This is awkward,” Chopper whispered to Hera, who pursed her lips.

“I believe your favor involved room and board,” Hera said after a beat, with a downright diplomatic tone. “Zeb, why don’t you offer Kallus here a bed. I’m going to suggest yours, this being your favor and all. Also maybe a shower and some spare clothes too. I don’t want him scaring the kids when they get back looking like -all of that.”

She pointed a finger at the mess of blood and charred fabric staining his suit. Kallus raised an eyebrow and looked down at himself, as if for the first time realizing what kind of a state he was in.

“Yeah,” Zeb said and rubbed at his own neck nervously, stuck on the whole offering Kallus his bed thing Hera had suggested. But Zeb sucked it up and gathered his ruined shirt from the floor and then held out a hand in front of Kallus.

The demon only hesitated a moment before sliding his hand into his to let Zeb help him up. Kallus stood with measured carefulness, his grip tight as he did so, and once he was standing fully on his own, Zeb went to pull his hand back. Kallus held on tighter, not relinquishing their connection. Zeb looked into those golden eyes and immediately relaxed his grip, running a thumb across Kallus’s newly healed knuckles. Heaven help him, he was so easily softened by the smallest bits of affection the demon allowed to slip through to him.

Gently, Zeb tugged at their joined hands and began to slowly lead him out of the garage and up the stairs that led to the main area of the bunker. He was sure to be slow enough for the hindered pace of the injured demon as they made their way there step by step. Zeb could feel the eyes of Hera and Chopper the entire way up.

The large room connecting all the smaller sections of the bunker was decorated sparsely, with a large meeting table at the center. That was where they did most of their meetings or socializing, oftentimes bringing their meals out to share with each other. At the moment all that sat there was a single figure.

“That you Zeb?” Kanan asked as they approached. The man had an almost untouched plate of food in front of him and an abandoned book in the seat next to him. Zeb wondered if it was Chopper or Hera who was reading it to him. For him.

“It’s me,” Zeb said and felt self-conscious about holding hands with the demon in front of Kanan, even though the man could not see it. He could feel the same twitch of hesitation of Kallus’s hand in his, but when he looked to gauge the demon’s face, he found that he seemed surprised more than anything. Maybe he hadn’t known Kanan had been blinded during their skirmish with that red-eyed bastard himself a few weeks ago. It was almost strange Thrawn hadn’t bragged and gloated about it to everyone in Hell, including Kallus

“You retrieve your wayward Prince?” Kanan gave a knowing smile, his clouded eyes still managing to twinkle. Zeb was honestly glad to see his fellow hunter being more active since the injury that took his eyesight, even if it was at his expense.

“He has,” Kallus answered before Zeb got the chance. Kanan tilted his head in his direction, eyebrows raised.

“Kallus, welcome. I’d give you the tour, but I think Zeb would be better at that than me right now,” Kanan said, waving a hand in a small arc around him.

“Yeah, promised him a shower and a place to rest. Think we’re gonna do that first before I show him ‘round.” Zeb held onto Kallus’s hand tighter, which felt a bit silly in hindsight. It wasn’t like the demon was going to bolt away from him and take Kanan up on his offer.

“I’ll let you both get to that then,” Kanan said and footsteps coming up the stairs must have caught his attention, because he turned in that direction just as Hera and Chopper were entering the common area.

Zeb and Kallus continued their way to the sleeping quarters, rounding the corner just in time to hear Chopper non-too-subtly inform Kanan that they were holding hands! Zeb felt a flush on his cheeks and he caught himself nervously rubbing at the back of his neck again as they approached his room. Their hands drifted apart naturally as they got there.

“Sorry if it’s a bit drab. Haven’t had a permanent space for myself in some time,” Zeb explained as he opened the door.

Nothing besides a few magazine and newspaper clippings hung on the wall, and he had no real personal items besides his weapons and some books from the bunker’s library, along with his meager collection of clothing. Kallus slowly walked into the room, looking about with a cool curiosity. There wasn’t much to the room for Kallus to judge him for, but Zeb found himself self conscious about it anyway.

“The bathroom’s there. I’ll round up some towels and clothes for you when you’re in,” Zeb said and nodded over to the connected bathroom. It wasn’t the grandest of amenities, but it was functional and private.

“If you’ll excuse me then,” Kallus said, all posh and polite, and not at all like he had just been bleeding out.

Something about that irked at Zeb. But as he watched him slip inside, he decided that he was just being his normal fickle self. He was so used to this side of Kallus anyway.

Zeb tidied the room, not that there was much to clean at all, and fetched some spare bandages from his old stash, stuffed in an old duffle from his days when he was on his own. Teaming up and joining the Spectres had been one of the best decisions he could have made, and the bunker had plenty of first aid stores, but old habits of keeping and hoarding supplies were hard things to break, especially for a man accustomed to surviving with what he had within quick reach.

He slowly paced the length of the room, after pulling out an extra blanket and throwing it on the bed, and waited for Kallus to finish his shower. There was an anxious feeling in his gut when he heard the water turn off behind the door. He sat on the edge of the bed, pretending he wasn’t nervous while flipping through a book he wasn’t reading at all, and waited some more.

Kallus stepped out of the bathroom looking like a stranger. He was wearing the ochre t-shirt and gray sleep shorts Zeb had slipped in for him. He had honestly half expected the demon to come out still wearing his suit, as soiled and ruined as it was. The suit was such a part of all Kallus embodied -composure and elitism- that it was strange to see him without it. Sure, Zeb had seen Kallus naked plenty of times before, yet this was the first time he seemed so exposed; vulnerable, almost ordinary.

“They, uh, they fit,” Zeb said, for lack of anything else to say, gesturing to him as he stood up and took a step closer to him, setting the book on his desk.

Kallus plucked at the soft fabric and made a face that wasn't disgusted but surprisingly impressed. "They do."

Zeb gave a small cough and motioned for him to sit on the bed. "I, uh, I know it's not bleedin' and you don't gotta worry about infection probably, being a demon and all, but we should still cover it while you heal."

Surprising Zeb again, the demon complied and sat on the edge of the bed. Zeb pushed his rolling stool over and sat down right in front of Kallus, their knees bumping together as he got closer still, setting the bandages down on the bed. Kallus lifted the hem of the shirt and exposed the wound at his side.

Cleaned of the blood and grime from the shower, it looked better than he expected. It was still a gaping wound of red and purple tissue and flesh, deep where the blade had obviously been stabbed into him, the skin around it looking boiled and charred like it had been held to a flame.

The biggest bandage he brought should do the trick. He peeled back the adhesive barrier and angled the bandage over the area, pressing at the edges firmly to make sure it stuck.

Kallus flinched and made a slight noise in the back of his throat. Zeb bit his lip and looked up at the demon, suddenly realizing how close their faces were. His nose brushed against Kallus's, and their eyes met.

"Sorry," Zeb whispered.

Kallus didn't say anything in response. Instead, he tilted his head and joined their lips together in a soft, but fleeting, kiss. It was like a spark instantly lit up his insides, and when Kallus pulled back Zeb gave a needy huff of breath.

"Fuck, how I've wanted to kiss you," Zeb told him and leaned in to capture his lips in a much more intense contact. He brought his hands up to cup his cheeks, something he loved to do just to touch his distinct sideburns and feel his silky hair brush over his knuckles when it was down and loose. It was still damp from his shower, but still satisfying to feel as he ran his fingers through it.

"I as well," Kallus murmured against his lips when they next broke for air. The demon rested his hands on Zeb's knees, long fingers trailing up his thighs, moving their way up to his arms. It reminded him of Kallus's smoky tendrils when he would let his more demonic side show, caressing and touching him like an electric current in slow-motion. At first it was creepy and strangely arousing when he did that, now it was just an intimate contact between them.

"Missed you," Zeb said, immediately feeling embarrassed about admitting that out loud. That wasn’t something they did. At least he hadn't said anything about how goddamn scared he was when he had first seen him earlier, bleeding out in the parking lot, and then in his arms in the back of the car.

He kissed him again, the demon's lips pliant but firm as they molded together, tongues dancing and teasing at each other until they were both panting. Zeb was desperate to taste and touch, to relieve the ache deep inside him that wanted nothing more than affirmation of life in the most carnal of ways. But Kallus was still recovering from his injuries, must still be in pain, and Zeb was hesitant to initiate more than just kisses.

When the demon tugged one of Zeb's hands down and pressed it right up against his crotch, he felt his hesitancy waver further. Even covered by fabric, Zeb could already feel Kallus hard and hot against his palm.

The adrenaline of survival was familiar and something they had both taken full advantage of before, but Zeb still wasn’t sure if that was best, given the injuries Kallus still had. But Zeb also knew Kallus wasn't one to be left wanting, especially with how insistent he was being, the grip on his hand strong.

"Need to get off?" Zeb asked, breaking off their kisses to look into Kallus's face to try and read his expression and to be sure this was what he really wanted.

"Need you," Kallus simply said, his voice edged with desperation.

"Need me to what?" Zeb prompted, hand gently rubbing up and down against his erection. Kallus's eyelashes fluttered shut, pulling his hand further against him to rock against him with more force. He might have made him beg for it, be explicit with his wants, if it had been an ordinary night. But it wasn’t and Zeb wanted to be sure he was okay enough to be wanting this.

“Make me come,” Kallus specified, the slightly wild look in his eyes when he opened them again telling Zeb that he didn’t want it slow and probably didn’t have the patience to be opened up for a proper fucking. With his wound, Zeb wasn't about to properly fuck him anyway.

"Alright. Lay down," Zeb instructed. Kallus let himself be guided back onto the bed with little resistance, and Zeb made sure he was comfortable and was showing no signs of being in pain before proceeding.

Pushing Kallus's shirt up slightly, his fingers touched at the edge of the freshly applied bandage, making sure it was okay in the position. Looking into the demon’s eyes, he found nothing but want. So, Zeb leaned down to brush his lips along the exposed skin, kissing his belly and around the wound with care. He could feel how warm he was under his mouth, the rasp of his hair that trailed into his pants against his lips tantalizing to follow. He inhaled the heady scent of him, very much still Kallus, but now mixed with the smell of his soap and his clothing. It was intoxicating.

Zeb buried his face between his legs, kissing and mouthing at his erection over the soft fabric of his sweatpants. He was so hot and hard already, and Zeb was about to tug the clothes down so he could get it into his mouth, when Kallus said his name.

"Zeb," Kallus said again. Zeb looked up and saw the demon with an outstretched hand. "Up here?"

Zeb took the hand in his and joined him on the bed, laying down with him along his right side. He adjusted against him, tucking an arm under his head and slotting their legs together for a better position. He then brought their lips together in a searing kiss, something it seemed Kallus really wanted instead of a blow job, with the way he moaned and kissed him back.

Kallus sighed passionately when Zeb reached down and slipped his hand under the hem of his pants and touched his cock, stroking him firmly. He cupped down to his balls, giving a small squeeze, before working his way back up to the tip.

"Yes, this," Kallus whispered, almost to himself. Zeb scooted impossibly closer, leaning over and kissing him deeply yet again, stealing his breath until he was moaning louder and letting out small, desperate noises. Zeb didn't tease him as he might have before, with aggressive touches and sharp words, and instead made sure his caresses were tender and his words soft.

"Yeah? This good? Feel okay?" Zeb nuzzled into the side of his neck and asked into his ear. He half expected a haughty remark from the demon. He wasn't really the tender and soft type in bed.

“It’s good,” Kallus assured him, out of breath and breathing harder as Zeb continued to stroke him with his fingers.

Kallus nestled his head to the side to leave light kisses wherever he could reach, mostly his forehead and into his hair. It was as if Kallus couldn't stop kissing him, and he wasn't about to deny him of it; it felt too good. Zeb shifted to give him a reciprocating kiss on the lips after a little while of enjoying the tickling sensation of his lips at his hairline.

Zeb marveled at the change in the demon's usual behavior and a surge of protectiveness over this new side of Kallus he was experiencing made him want to hold on tighter and never let go. He suddenly became concerned at the lack of lubrication, that his hands were too rough and dry, that he was hurting him. The thought of pulling away, even for a moment, was also unbearable, but he didn't want him in more pain, and from his hands at that. He would if he had to, but Kallus didn't seem in pain, far from it, and Zeb's concern relaxed further when he gave a long pull that rounded the head of Kallus’s cock and came back down with precum smeared along his fingers. He was moving easier now, fingers sliding wet and warm around his hard length.

Zeb let out an appreciative moan, leaving wet kisses and licks at that special junction just below his jaw and earlobe that he knew he liked. “God, you look gorgeous. I’ve wanted you in my bed, this bed, for so long.”

“Please,” Kallus pleaded and Zeb felt his heart twist. That was the second time today he had used that word, the first time in bed, and sounding like that.

The warm desire to take care of him, in all ways that he could and was allowed, spread itself into his being. Right now, he would do anything he asked of him. He should be scared about that; Kallus was still a demon, a Prince of Hell, and forsaken or not, he was still someone he should fear, someone he should hunt, someone he should kill. But he wasn't scared. No, Zeb thought, the only danger here is that I want more.

“What is it, what do you need?” Zeb asked, trying to shake his thoughts away. He continued to pump his hand around his cock, picking up speed when Kallus gave a throaty moan of pleasure. Zeb sucked and lightly bit at his neck, teeth nipping at his jawline after he left a visible mark. “What do you need of me? I’m yours, tell me luv.”

“Oh, fuck,” Kallus gasped, "Garazeb."

Zeb hadn’t even known the demon knew his full name until that moment. A heady rush of emotion filled him and went straight to his dick. He was half hard before but now he was straining in his pants, close to bursting.

“Tell me," he repeated, his breath hitching as Kallus squirmed against him, losing himself to the act. One of Kallus's arms went above his head seeking Zeb's frantically until Zeb finally locked his hand around his wrist and gave a grounding squeeze.

"You," Kallus groaned, "I need you to -to never stop."

"I won't, I won't." Zeb sounded like he was the one begging now. He shortened his strokes and concentrated on the tip of Kallus’s cock, rolling his wrist and squeezing around the head, hearing the slick sounds get louder as he went faster. "I won't stop, sweetheart, I won't ever stop."

Kallus gasped, a sweet whimper of a sound that made Zeb's cock pulse and his insides flutter. His hips began to rut against Kallus’s hip, the friction it created and the restrictive press of his cock against his jeans was bright and glorious.

"Oh, Zeb, Garazeb, I-!" Kallus's voice was strained, just above a whisper. His body writhed and his breaths were sharp. Fuck, it turned Zeb on more listening to him try to be quiet, saying his name like that, and moving against him like he was.

"You gonna come? Want you to, luv, want you to come so hard," Zeb said into his ear, hot puffs of air fanning into Kallus's damp, golden hair.

"Yes, Zeb!" Kallus gasped, breath caught and bottom lip trembling, his body tensing.

"Come for me, oh fuck, come for me, please come," Zeb emplored, leaving open mouthed kisses along his craning neck, licking at the salty sweat there.

After just a few more strokes, Kallus shuddered and came, his seed spurting from him in wet and sticky jerks. It was one of his favorite moments during sex, especially sex with Kallus. He loved to feel and see and taste the evidence of his partner's pleasure. Zeb groaned at the feeling of the other man's release, warm and abundant all over his hand, and then he came too, spilling messily into his pants.

Kallus let out a low and satisfied moan, his body relaxing and his head lolling back along his arm as Zeb continued to twitch and grunt as he finished. It wasn't the most satisfying of orgasms for Zeb, much like a quick wank in the shower would be, but it was still a good one, because Kallus was the cause of it, and those were always the best kind lately.

Zeb could almost say Kallus sounded happy when he relaxed further in his arms, melting into a languid goo of spent demon and letting out small, little 'hm' noises as his breathing slowed. He freed his arm from above his head to slide over and grip at Zeb's neck to guide his face over for yet another round of kisses. Kallus's hands caressed his cheeks and jaw, scratching through his beard and swiping at the sweat that had gathered at his brow. He couldn't remember the last time they kissed this much.

Zeb held on possessively to the softened cock in his hand as he let Kallus continue to kiss him, reluctant for the blissful and intimate moment to end. It was especially true when he had the attention of a satisfied demon being downright sweet with his slow, doting kisses.

When he felt Kallus shift and lazily fumble towards his crotch to reciprocate, he chuckled against his lips and pulled back. "No need, luv, already made a mess of myself in there."

Kallus looked confused for a moment, his eyes returning some of their sharpness as the orgasmic haze ebbed. Zeb gently released his hold on his dick and slipped his hand back out of Kallus's sweatpants. He sat up and stiffly slid off of the bed to make his way to the bathroom.

"I get off on gettin' you off, remember?" Zeb said over his shoulder with a wink. He didn't see Kallus's reaction as he closed the door behind him.

Kallus had left his blood-stained and ruined suit in a folded pile next to the shower stall, and Zeb stopped to gently touch at the dark design of the vest, the gash where the blade pierced through a beacon of disturbance in the fine fabric. Zeb fleetingly wondered if the suit was salvageable, if a dry-cleaner would even accept it as it was, and if they could sew the hole shut. Something to think about later.

Zeb cleaned himself up in the bathroom quickly and stripped and peeled his soiled clothing off, walking out minutes later in nothing but his bathrobe, toting a wet washcloth for Kallus. When he approached the bed, Kallus had somehow squirmed out of his own clothing, even his shirt, and was sitting there naked, making a face as he folded the come filled sweatpants he had been wearing and set them aside on top of his folded shirt. Zeb found that amusing, but endearingly typical, for the demon.

It looked like he was mostly cleaned up,  as the majority of the mess was in the sweatpants. Zeb gathered the clothes and threw them across the room to the general vicinity of his hamper, the fold job unfurling in the journey through the air. He earned a trademark Kallus frown about that as he handed the washcloth to him. Kallus made quick work of himself and then folded that too, handing it to Zeb, who threw it across the room to join the sweatpants, in the same fashion.

Before Kallus could make a smart remark, Zeb sat back on the bed next to him and caught his lips with his, effectively stealing any words he might have had from him.

"How's the wound?" Zeb asked after he pulled back and tugged a blanket over them both, trying to get them settled down into bed for some much needed rest. "We didn't aggravate it too much, did we?"

"No," Kallus said, placing a hand over the bandaged area for a moment, his expression unreadable, and so much different than what it was just moments before.

Zeb reclined back, hand trailing lightly along Kallus's bare back, the lithe muscles there dusted with freckles and lingering bruises. Zeb was all at once reminded of how bad off Kallus had been, how close he probably was from never seeing or touching his body again.

"C'mere," Zeb coaxed, the other man slowly easing himself down after a beat of hesitation. They laid side by side, nestled in the warm bed and cozy blankets for a few minutes.

"I wanted to thank you," Kallus said. Zeb shrugged one of his shoulders.

"Easiest I've gotten you off in a while," he said.

"I'm not talking about the-" Kallus waved a hand down at himself. "I meant for helping me. For all of it; coming for me, bringing me here, to your home. For allowing me to use my favor.”

"Oh," Zeb started, "well, y’know, it was no problem really. Owed you it. That’s what a favor is for.”

They layed there in a small bit of silence. “You would have come regardless of the favor.”

Zeb’s breath caught in his throat. It felt like he was admitting to something bigger when he let out an uneasy sigh and relinquished his reply. “Yeah.”

Another silence passed. “This is dangerous,” Kallus said in a warning that held no malice. Zeb would almost say he sounded worried. Afraid. Just like he was.

Zeb turned onto his side and got a better look at the demon’s face. The smallest frown ticked his otherwise neutral expression. Kallus blinked slowly and then their eyes met.

“Thrawn knows. About us,” Kallus told him, and that wasn’t the biggest surprise, really. Demons fucked humans all the time, even those on the other ‘side’ of things. They were always backstabbing and getting dirt on one another, it should hardly be a concerning revelation that Thrawn knew Kallus was fucking a hunter. But somehow Zeb knew that was not what Kallus meant at all.

"The life of a hunter is dangerous. What's one more demon out to get me, right?" Zeb tried to sound mollifying and optimistic.

"He is different," Kallus said with dire seriousness. "He is ruthless -smart- and he has amassed a fleet of followers. He will come after you, now that he knows you're-"

Kallus cut himself off and looked away, eyes fixed on the ceiling. Zeb huffed. "Knows I'm what, Kal?"

"My weakness," Kallus said with effort, like it pained him to even say it.

"And? Everyone has a weakness. He’s probably got one too. Besides, it seems like he's got it out for all of us anyway. He could just as easily come after you cuz you're my weakness too."

Kallus shot him a look. Fuck, he really just said that outloud didn't he? Might as well go all in then.

"Look, Kallus, I’m just gonna say this: I care about you. A lot. More than… whatever we have been." Zeb wasn’t even sure ‘fuck-buddies’ was appropriate, let alone ‘lovers’ either. “And I think you do too.”

There, he said it. Everyone told him he wore his heart on his sleeve, but now it was in the air, adrift, and he hoped it wouldn’t float into the ether and become trapped there.

Kallus was pensive, quiet, and opened his mouth well before he seemed to form the words. “What do you want of me, Zeb?”

“I dunno,” Zeb admitted, even if a million things ran through his head. They were all things he could see the demon arguing against, and he would probably be right about every one. Yet Zeb yearned to hear him reciprocate, to confess to more than just a weakness, to tell him he cared too. So he asked the impossible. “Will you stay? With me?”

The immediate crease of the demon’s brow would normally indicate his anger or frustration, but Zeb saw something different this time; self sacrificing determination. “I can do more good on my own. I still have access to Hell. I can still get vital information despite Thrawn’s minions in every corner. I just have to be more surreptitious about it in the future.”

“And that’s not more dangerous than being here, with allies?” Zeb scoffed out an incredulous noise. He felt his heart slip through his fingers and go too far for him to reach.

“For you, it will be. I still have connections, other beings who don’t like the current order of things down there. You have to trust me, I can do more good on my own,” Kallus repeated, with more heat.

“Fine, then,” Zeb said, letting his temper get the better of him. “The next time you’re caught and tortured, have one of your connections patch you up and get you off, cuz it won’t be me.”

Zeb threw the blanket back, sitting up and swinging his legs off the side of the bed, ready to get up and storm out of the room. He could practically hear the eyeroll coming from the demon.

“Why are you acting this way? Can’t you see this is for your benefit, I’m doing this for you, that should be enough,” Kallus said, with some strain in his voice. When Zeb dared to look over his shoulder at him, he saw the demon sitting up in bed too.

“It's not enough, I'm telling you that. If you were doing this for me, you’d stay. With me. You'd show me with your actions what you clearly won't say out loud."

“Selfish hunter. You would rather risk yourself, your Spectres, all of humanity, for what? Pride that you made a demon admit he feels something? We feel more deeply than you could possibly imagine.”

“Arrogant demon,” Zeb threw back. “The world does not revolve around you. Humanity will not fall because one demon has a weakness. It will not fall because one demon isn’t there to give it a few bits of information."

“You’re impossible,” Kallus said roughly.

Zeb laughed bitterly, turning so that they fully faced one another. He was so tired of this. “Look, I’ll put this into terms you’ll understand. I’m gonna offer you a deal.”

The look on Kallus’s face was a mix of interest and trepidation, clearly not comfortable with where this conversation was going. In truth, neither was Zeb, but he needed to do this, in the only way he knew to do.

“Say to my face that I mean nothing to you, and whether or not you’re lying about it, I’ll accept it,” Zeb said resolutely.

“What is your goal-” Kallus began to argue.

“I’m not done,” Zeb cut him off. “Don’t worry, that’s not all this deal will entail. Say it to my face and I’ll accept it. We can also keep fucking, one for one, but I expect you gone once we’ve both gotten off. That actually shouldn’t be too hard for you.”

"Zeb-"

“I’m still not done,” Zeb said with patience he was barely holding onto. “I’ll even come the next time you’re bleeding out, but this one will cost you, something more than a favor below your paygrade. Seeing you hurt almost broke me today, so it needs to be something big.”

Zeb watched as the smallest hint of distress contorted the demon’s face. Good.

“I’m thinking about a ten year contract maybe, if we both survive that long. Do you even have a soul left to bargain with? Maybe we need to work on gettin’ your humanity back so you can have something to barter with. And who knows, maybe my soul will be up for grabs. If you get the right information, that is. Y’know, the world changing kind, I’m sure you can find out something. The kind that is finally worth it.”

“Zeb, please,” Kallus seethed between clenched teeth. Third time, Zeb ticked on his invisible scoreboard. Dammit, but it felt hollow in his chest when he saw a watery shine take to those fierce, golden eyes. Still, he continued on, feeling his own anguish punctuate his words as he forced them out.

“Say to my face that I mean nothing to you, and I guarantee my soul will be on the table for the right price. That’s the deal.”

Zeb knew his soul was something once coveted by the demon, and it was a low tactic to lay such an obvious trap, to force an answer Kallus seemed so unwilling to be explicit about, but he felt desperate and backed into a corner, a corner he felt the demon put him into. He needed to know but he was risking so much.

He shouldn't have been surprised when, just like at the crossroads, just like all the other traps and summons, Kallus willingly, knowingly stepped right into it.

“No deal,” Kallus snarled.

Zeb didn’t know why he was so shocked by this refusal, but he was. “What?”

“No. Deal.” Kallus fisted the blanket and sheets, looking at him with a muddled expression of lividness. “I refuse your deal. It’s not fair. It’s not equal. Whether or not I could have ever truly possessed it, it doesn’t matter anymore. I don’t want it as part of a deal. It’s too precious to bargain with, ever. I mean that.”

Zeb almost visibly melted. “You’re right. It can’t ever be part of a deal, can it? Who’d want an old, used one anyway? It already belongs to this asshole of a demon I know, a demon that’s given me what’s left of his to hold onto.”

Said demon stared at Zeb incredulously, the calculations almost laughably visible as he absorbed what he just told him. After a moment, they both sighed out in relief as the tension broke.

“I hate you, hunter,” Kallus said, not an ounce of hostility left in the broken, heartfelt way it escaped his lips. There it was, there it was, that tiniest shred of humanity, that speck in the sky, so small on Earth, but a blazing star among the cosmos. Zeb reached out and cupped that precious spark in his hands, fingers brushing over that signature facial hair and cheekbones, wiping away the single droplet he found there.

“No, you don’t,” Zeb countered, smiling.

Kallus shook his head, hands unfisting and coming up to hold onto his wrists and caress them. “No, I don’t. Quite the opposite.”

“I know,” Zeb replied fondly. He felt horrible though, for forcing him into admitting it, even if he hadn't explicitly said it yet. It still felt like enough, for now.

“I do care about you, Garazeb Orrelios,” Kallus said with conviction, surprising him again, as if reading his mind. "But if you care about me too, you'll trust me to handle my own forsaking, on my own terms.”

Zeb nodded, leaning forward to bring their foreheads together. “Yeah, I care about you and I trust you.”

“Good,” Kallus said, the word small and soft between them.

“That’s kind of a big thing, between a demon and a hunter.” Zeb felt Kallus’s puff of air as he made an amused sound.

“Indeed it is,” Kallus said lightly.

Zeb thought for a moment how very different this was from when they had first met. He could have never predicted this was where they would end up.

As if on some destined cue, there was a commotion and clattering out in the hallway. Zeb could make out the boisterous and muffled sounds of the ‘kids’ barreling back into the bunker from their grocery run. He could hear Chopper back in his husky form, barking and yowling at them too. This was going to be an interesting dinner. He pulled back from the demon and rubbed a soothing hand along his legs.

“Better go curb their curiosity. I’ll grab us some food we can eat in here if you don’t feel like being social.” Zeb stood and straightened his robe to be sure it was secure.

“That might be wise,” Kallus said.

Zeb began to walk away, already trying to figure out the best way to smuggle them in some waffles and syrup without making too much of a mess, when he heard his name.

“Zeb?” Kallus asked and he spun to look at him. He looked like the confident and darkly seductive demon he was used to seeing once more, arm propped up on a bent knee like he was posing for some kind of sexy ad for bandaids.

“Y-yeah, Kal?”

“Kiss me before you run?”

Zeb grinned big and full and did just that.