To Hell With Me

Church didn't bother holding back his demon as it took over his human body in one smooth change. Michael needed his burn treated badly, but he couldn't even touch the dumbass!

"Ch-Chesh?"

Snapping his head to the side, he noticed Hanna peeking around the corner from the hallway, the puppy still under his arm, snoring.

That thing is just creepy.

Turning back to Michael, he snorted and gestured for Hanna to come to him with one of his clawed hands. He suppose they looked like a mix between paws and human hands, just black, shiny, and overextended. But either way, he couldn't give completely human gestures with them. Thankfully, Hanna understood anyways, and hesitantly walked over, dragging the sleeping puppy with him.

Church gave a quiet bellow, which had Hanna reaching up to pet his nose. It was his way of reassuring him when he was upset, but this time it wasn't going to work. Thinking for a moment, Church ran into the bathroom and slammed the medicine cabinet open. After knocking everything out with his huge claws, he found the tube of burn medication in the sink and grabbed it between his teeth, being extra careful not to accidentally bite into the tube.

When he walked back into the entrance to the living room the puppy was awake and evidently wanted to play, because it ran right up to him and tried to get the darn tube from his mouth.

I'm gonna eat you in a second, you smelly cotton ball.

Church's demon side growled in anticipation of a meal, but he quickly pushed it to the back of his mind as he shoved the barking fluff nugget off to the side with one clawed hand. With that nuisance out of the way for the moment, he leaned down and offered Hanna the small tube of cream. The boy took it in both hands and then worked on getting the lid off. It took him a minute and an encouraging cooing grumble before he finally got the cap loose enough to remove.

When he looked back up Church nodded toward Michael, moving his claw just over his injury to indicate that that was where the medicine needed to go. Thankfully, Hanna was quick to pick up on things and moved the tube over Michael's chest, upside down, then squeezed it. Michael winced and grunted from the pain, but didn't say anything.

Once there was a decent amount on his burn Church rubbed the little boys chest gently with a claw, then nodded at the cream on Michael's chest.

Hanna nodded, reaching down as he began to move the medicine around on the burn. That really got the priest howling, but Church urged Hanna to continue. He did as told, but he could tell that he was getting close to crying. Hanna always hated seeing the bruises and cuts Church came back with after his nights hunting, so he wasn't surprised that he was struggling rubbing the scream on Michael's burn.

He'll be fine. He has his pathetic God back now. That'll protect him.

Scoffing, Church sauntered toward the front door and got the knob turned just enough to pull it open.

"Chesh? You goes?"

Looking back, he saw Hanna holding the tube between his two little hands again, squeezing it a bit too hard as cream flowed from the open top and onto the floor. Church nodded after a moment, making Hanna frown. There wasn't much he could do about upsetting the boy, though. Hanna needed to stay with Michael and he needed to kill something... and he preferred it wasn't while Hanna was around.

Slipping out the door, he made sure it slid shut behind him before jumping over the railing and landing in the parking lot below. Several people saw him right away since the sun was just barely setting, but he couldn't care less. They'd think that he'd come from the rooftop and had nothing to do with the apartments.

A young police officer in the vicinity pulled out a gun and aimed it at him, too, but he was already bounding up and over the walls and sprinting down the street, forcing humans to jump out of his way or get shoved to the ground. The officer tried to follow, but he could hear the man's steps faltering as he sped up to an easy forty miles an hour. He was going to wear himself out quickly since he hadn't eaten anything yet, but that was just fine with him.

The wounds in his side began to ache as he neared the church, making his determination grow. When he finally turned toward the building, he jumped and landed at the top of the stairs, right in front of the entrance. The heavy weight of the pathetic religion pressed against his body, warning him to leave.

Not this time.

It only took one person inside to see him and scream to make everyone else panic.

Run you disgusting bastards. It's too bad that I won't let you get away.

He charged inside, bellowing loudly just in case the other people in the damned building hadn't realized he was there yet.

"Be gone, Demon!"

Church's head whipped to the left when he heard someone shout, spotting a man with a cross in his hand that looked suspiciously like the exact size and length of the one that had left its mark on his priest's chest.

Kill.

Roaring, Church lunged at the man, ignoring the cross he was wielding so that he could get in a solid bite to his shoulder. He growled louder as he felt the wooden cross press into the left side of his neck, but he wasn't letting the asshole go until his body was limp between his fangs. He shook him like a mad dog even as he felt burns building along his back legs and up his spine. It felt as if someone was throwing holy water on him from behind.

When the man in his jaws stopped moving after a few more good shakes, he dropped his limp body to the floor and turned toward the others, noticing several priests with crosses and flasks of holy water slowly approaching.

You are all disgusting hypocrites!

His thoughts came out as an angry bellow, but the group seemed to get the idea because several backed up, hesitant to get closer to the demon still standing after taking a cross to his neck and holy water to his back end. He knew that he was literally steaming from the water and needed to wash it off fast, but he just couldn't leave that disgusting cross whole.

Looking around, he noticed a foldable plastic and metal table to his right and promptly walked over and slammed his claws into it. The force of the hit easily broke the thing, giving him a piece of metal from the leg that he could pick up easily between his teeth.

When he got his weapon settled between his jaws he intended to use it to destroy the cross that had burned Michael and turned back towards the item... only to see a little boy that couldn't have been older than four or five holding the holy wooden object to his chest.

Church stalked closer to him, being sure to make his movements slow and calculated. He knew now that they likely thought his intent was to attack the child. He met the boy's stare after he'd stopped about a foot away from him.

Always children.

The sound of a gun being cocked made him turn abruptly toward the front entrance door. He barely had a second to react so his demon's instincts took over, making him drop to the floor not a second before a bullet whizzed over his head. He knew that there was a second shot coming as soon as possible so he charged the man, knocking him down the stairs outside as the gun went off again. Pain flared in his left shoulder as he jumped to the roof of the church, gave off one more bellowing roar, then started heading back toward his apartment. He made sure to cross several different streets and go through backyards and parking lots to be sure that he was able to throw off the cops he heard coming, not wanting to take them back to Hanna or Michael.

When it seemed like they were all too far behind him to figure out where he was going to disappear to he jumped up onto his balcony and nudged the door open. His back and legs burned badly as he shifted back to his human form and slid the door closed. He thought that he would just have to take care of Michael and Hanna now after getting some burn medicine onto his own body, but then the familiar click of a gun sounded in his dark, quiet bedroom, making him heave a tired sigh.

"My friend just called..." Michael's voice trailed off.

"To tell you that there had been a demon attack at the church," Church finished for him as he remained facing his glass balcony door, knowing that Michael was goading him into admitting it anyways.

"The demon who did it was burned badly on his legs and back..."

Say it. We both know what happened, so say it.

The light switched on and Church felt his muscles tense. Michael gasped quietly and took a step forward as Church watched his reflection in the glass.

"Why?"

Why?

Turning on him, Church bared his teeth and growled. Michael lifted his gun, the weapon shaking in his right hand.

"What!" Church snarled at him, as if he didn't know.

"Why did you do it, Church?"

Michael's shout had his blood boiling as he stepped forward again, then opened his mouth to yell back.

"Because, you dumb ass! I did it because..."

"Because..."

Church tensed his jaw and exhaled, not really sure what he was doing.

Why had I attacked that church? Killed that man?

"He'd had the cross."

He ended up mumbling the words quietly, though they didn't really answer his question.

"Willem had it, didn't he?" Michael asked, clearly wanting to keep him talking.

Church took a shaky breath and nodded, trying to figure out why he felt so confused over what he had just done. The other demons hadn't pressured him into it. It had all been his own actions.

"He had it."

"Why did you attack him, Church?"

Church felt his demon move his human body, bringing him to within a foot of the priest as he shouted, "I don't fucking know!"

The gun pressed against his chest, hard, but he didn't back away.

"I don't, fucking, know," he repeated, trying to stay on his feet as the pain from his burns grew stronger.

"You stormed off when I got home and killed someone who was holding the cross that had burned me."

Church slowly nodded, not sure where Michael was going with his words.

"You got burned badly and could have been shot again... don't you regret it?"

Church's answer came without an ounce of hesitation.

"No."

"You don't regret it. Yet you don't know why you did it."

Church nodded slowly, watching the other man as his mind worked.

"Would you do it again? If I came in with another burn. Would you do that again?"

He knew it sounded stupid to say it, but he answered without a second thought.

"Yes."

Michael's eyes rose to meet his own, making his heart give a surprising jerk inside his chest.

"Church?"

Church blinked slowly and tilted his head in silent question.

"Do you love me?"