Finding A New Job
(Shade = justshade)
He didn't go by Liam anymore. Liam had been his name when he was still figuring things out. When he didn't know what he was or how to be it. But as the years passed - many more due to spending much of his time around the Underworld - he began to find the piece of him that was Adam. The soul that had been Adam, the memories. He was Adam again, just...improved.
His body healed on it's own. His demonic powers developed, and he gained more of them. He moved up the radar in his own right, and let himself be known in the demon world. There was a certain lustful joy that came with causing fear.
When he was a man, he had done what he needed to do to survive. To make the world turn as he wanted it to be. Anything that had to be done was acceptable to him. When he became a demon, as his powers and his mind grew, he was finding much more to be acceptable.
Anything that kept the spark in his blood.
Including this.
"You don't know what you're doing, Liam," Shade said from across the room. Adam turned to the other demon with a fiery glare.
"I've told you, I'm not Liam anymore. And I know exactly what I'm doing."
"And what's the purpose?! Huh?"
"I don't need purpose!"
"Then you're just another of the brainless herding demons we used to kill!"
"I'm nothing like them," Adam barked. He crossed the room to where he had Shade caught in an energy cage. Shade sat on the ground and looked up at him with dark eyes. "I'm not you, Shade."
"No. You're nothin' like me. You lost your way, Adam."
"I didn't. I found my way." He kicked one of the stones from the circle and the energy shield fell. He flicked two fingers and Shade's body flew up against the stonewall. Shade didn't even struggle. He kept pinned to the wall, watching Adam. "You see, Shade, it's you who has lost his way." Adam moved closer slowly, his fingers still up. "You were once my mentor. You taught me how to feel my powers, how to use them. You inspired me." He stopped just inches from Shade and stared straight at him.
"There are other ways of doing this," Shade gurgled, his throat closing in on him.
"Yes..yes, old friend. Remind me. How does one be evil and good all at once? You're nothing, don't you get that? You aren't accepted up there, you aren't accepted down here. No one wants to trust a half-spit like you." Adam's voice got thicker and nastier as he spoke. Shade's eyes narrowed at him as he finally began to struggle.
"What the hell do you want from me, Adam?" He spit the demon's name out. Adam was right. He wasn't Liam.
"I don't want anything from you. I know you were once the big bad power around here. Half Charmed, half demon. Son of The Source." Adam shrugged and dropped his fingers, letting Shade fall to the floor in a crumpled mess. Shade rubbed his throat and looked up, glaring.
"And you were nothing. You know nothing about what power was then. What order was. My father-"
"You father was a witch loving bastard!! And he was killed for it!"
Shade jumped up, fireball at hand. "He was ten times the demon you are! He had respect! You? You just have idiots shaking in their boots. That isn't real power."
Adam smirked slightly and walked closer to Shade, not phased by the fireball. Wasn't as though it could hurt him. But then, Shade knew that. Probably why he wasn't doing anything but standing there like a neutered bitch. "Hmm. Matter of opinion," Adam said. "However...this is." In one swift move of his arm the double-edged knife cut through Shade's gut. Shade's eyes went wide, his mouth open, and he buckled into Adam's shoulder. Adam hissed words of a spell down onto Shade as he gave the knife a turn and pushed it in further.
Shade may have been powerful, but Adam had succeeded him. Adam had the path to get close enough to harm him. Adam had found the way. And Adam was smiling as he pulled the knife from his old friend and watched the body of the demon fall to the ground. Finally silent. He crouched down beside Shade and slowly wiped the knife off on Shade's shirt.
"You made my blade all dirty with your foul blood," he said with a little pout. "Not a very good friend, are we?" Then he stood and watched the last breath of life leave the corpse, before it flushed away in a cloud of smoke. Adam turned on his heel and looked around. That had felt good. Very good. He couldn't recall the last time he'd had that much energy flowing through himself.
****
Adam paced the dark room slowly, the smell of sulfur still making its way through his lungs. Not that he minded. He happened to enjoy the smell. He knew exactly what he had just done, and while it hadn't exactly been planned, he was glad he had done it. Shade was the last thing holding him to the demon he used to be. He didn't want that reminder anymore.
Baal had been watching Adam quietly for some time. He was someone of interest as well. Not in the same way Alec was, but Adam had had quite the interesting life. Baal was willing to see if the demon would accept new mentorship, someone to nudge him in the proper directions to cause the most damage possible. He was hoping that it wouldn't be hard -- he wasn't really in the mood for a lot of work. He just wanted something new to play with while he was biding his time with the Winchesters, and this demon seemed to present quite the opportunity.
"You know, I really never understood the whole dank and gloomy bit when it came to killing things," Baal said loudly, calling attention to himself as kicked a stray skull out of his way and flicked some grime off his suit. "It's just so depressing."
Adam could take that as he would.
Adam turned with a brow raise and smirk. "Well...I'm not too picky." He looked the demon over slowly. Not someone he had seen before, but he had the feeling this was someone he should know. Someone he wanted to know. Hopefully no one that had been a fan of Shade. Adam wasn't in the mood.
Baal looked up at him and returned the smirk. "I just think it's overkill. As though killing something isn't depressing enough." He clasped his hands behind his back, and started moving around him, appraising him, almost. Just so that he could see what he was getting into.
"Was there something I could do for you?" Adam looked over his shoulder at Baal as he circled him. "Not that I don't enjoy listening to the sanctity of cleanliness."
"Hmmm? Oh. Yes," Baal straightened slightly. "I was just wondering if you were in the market for a new boss -- especially considering you just roasted your last one."
"And what makes you think I need a boss?" Adam asked. His nose wrinkled slightly at the thought.
"I wouldn't say need so much as -- looking for someone to nudge you in the right direction," Baal said with a small smirk. "I prefer to consider it a -- beneficial partnership. You get to do what you do best, which really works out rather well for me, and I can provide a little creative nudging. I like chaos, Adam. From what I know of you, it seems like you might be a bit in the same boat."
"Controlled chaos, maybe," Adam shrugged slightly. "I mostly enjoy the feel of my powers. That little burn in the pit of your stomach." He turned to Baal more. "Help me find more power within myself, and some things to play with...I'm all yours."
"More power comes with time and practice. It's not something I can magically help you with right away," Baal said with a nod. "However -- things to play with. That I think I can help you with in the immediate sense."
Adam rolled his eyes in the slightest. "I hadn't meant power immediately, but I'm not going to bide all of my time with someone who isn't offering to teach me." Then he caught on the the last part. "Can you?" That made him almost...giddy.
"It would be a careful project. It will require time and effort, and building trust. But I think that you have the capacity for it. Given what you were capable of when you were alive, it's certainly not a stretch," Baal reached over, picking up a rock in his hand and tossing it around slightly. "Have you ever met a woman named Bela Talbot?"
Bela Talbot. The name ran over his mind slowly, but he couldn't place it. Not in his human life or demon life thus far. He shook his head slowly.
"Good. Then she hasn't had the time to form an opinion of you," he turned back to Adam with a nod. "I need you to get under her skin. Get her to trust you. Get her away from the Winchesters. We need her vulnerable and in no shape to be helping them with whatever they may need, and we need her to turn to someone other than Sam when that moment comes. When that moment does come, you're welcome to do whatever you wish with her, but until then -- we need her to think of you as a friend."
"I'll need to know a bit more about her, then. Who is she?"
"She's a dealer of the occult -- she started out in the business as a human, and after she died and became a demon, she went back to the job once she came topside. She doesn't trust easily, so that will take some work -- your best bet will be to approach her as a client first, then slowly build your way to friend."
He nodded. "I think I can handle that much. Is there anything particularly...rare - you'd like me to ask her to find?"
Baal pursed his lips slightly for a moment, before shrugging. "Not particularly. That part could be for your benefit, more so than mine."
"If that's all, I do have a few things to finish here. Tell me where I can find Bela."
"Queens, New York. She owns a rather nice apartment there." Baal said with a nod. "Good luck, Adam."
Adam just gave Baal a single nod, putting the information into memory.
Baal nodded as well, before disappearing into the darkness again, leaving Adam to what he was doing.
He didn't go by Liam anymore. Liam had been his name when he was still figuring things out. When he didn't know what he was or how to be it. But as the years passed - many more due to spending much of his time around the Underworld - he began to find the piece of him that was Adam. The soul that had been Adam, the memories. He was Adam again, just...improved.
His body healed on it's own. His demonic powers developed, and he gained more of them. He moved up the radar in his own right, and let himself be known in the demon world. There was a certain lustful joy that came with causing fear.
When he was a man, he had done what he needed to do to survive. To make the world turn as he wanted it to be. Anything that had to be done was acceptable to him. When he became a demon, as his powers and his mind grew, he was finding much more to be acceptable.
Anything that kept the spark in his blood.
Including this.
"You don't know what you're doing, Liam," Shade said from across the room. Adam turned to the other demon with a fiery glare.
"I've told you, I'm not Liam anymore. And I know exactly what I'm doing."
"And what's the purpose?! Huh?"
"I don't need purpose!"
"Then you're just another of the brainless herding demons we used to kill!"
"I'm nothing like them," Adam barked. He crossed the room to where he had Shade caught in an energy cage. Shade sat on the ground and looked up at him with dark eyes. "I'm not you, Shade."
"No. You're nothin' like me. You lost your way, Adam."
"I didn't. I found my way." He kicked one of the stones from the circle and the energy shield fell. He flicked two fingers and Shade's body flew up against the stonewall. Shade didn't even struggle. He kept pinned to the wall, watching Adam. "You see, Shade, it's you who has lost his way." Adam moved closer slowly, his fingers still up. "You were once my mentor. You taught me how to feel my powers, how to use them. You inspired me." He stopped just inches from Shade and stared straight at him.
"There are other ways of doing this," Shade gurgled, his throat closing in on him.
"Yes..yes, old friend. Remind me. How does one be evil and good all at once? You're nothing, don't you get that? You aren't accepted up there, you aren't accepted down here. No one wants to trust a half-spit like you." Adam's voice got thicker and nastier as he spoke. Shade's eyes narrowed at him as he finally began to struggle.
"What the hell do you want from me, Adam?" He spit the demon's name out. Adam was right. He wasn't Liam.
"I don't want anything from you. I know you were once the big bad power around here. Half Charmed, half demon. Son of The Source." Adam shrugged and dropped his fingers, letting Shade fall to the floor in a crumpled mess. Shade rubbed his throat and looked up, glaring.
"And you were nothing. You know nothing about what power was then. What order was. My father-"
"You father was a witch loving bastard!! And he was killed for it!"
Shade jumped up, fireball at hand. "He was ten times the demon you are! He had respect! You? You just have idiots shaking in their boots. That isn't real power."
Adam smirked slightly and walked closer to Shade, not phased by the fireball. Wasn't as though it could hurt him. But then, Shade knew that. Probably why he wasn't doing anything but standing there like a neutered bitch. "Hmm. Matter of opinion," Adam said. "However...this is." In one swift move of his arm the double-edged knife cut through Shade's gut. Shade's eyes went wide, his mouth open, and he buckled into Adam's shoulder. Adam hissed words of a spell down onto Shade as he gave the knife a turn and pushed it in further.
Shade may have been powerful, but Adam had succeeded him. Adam had the path to get close enough to harm him. Adam had found the way. And Adam was smiling as he pulled the knife from his old friend and watched the body of the demon fall to the ground. Finally silent. He crouched down beside Shade and slowly wiped the knife off on Shade's shirt.
"You made my blade all dirty with your foul blood," he said with a little pout. "Not a very good friend, are we?" Then he stood and watched the last breath of life leave the corpse, before it flushed away in a cloud of smoke. Adam turned on his heel and looked around. That had felt good. Very good. He couldn't recall the last time he'd had that much energy flowing through himself.
****
Adam paced the dark room slowly, the smell of sulfur still making its way through his lungs. Not that he minded. He happened to enjoy the smell. He knew exactly what he had just done, and while it hadn't exactly been planned, he was glad he had done it. Shade was the last thing holding him to the demon he used to be. He didn't want that reminder anymore.
Baal had been watching Adam quietly for some time. He was someone of interest as well. Not in the same way Alec was, but Adam had had quite the interesting life. Baal was willing to see if the demon would accept new mentorship, someone to nudge him in the proper directions to cause the most damage possible. He was hoping that it wouldn't be hard -- he wasn't really in the mood for a lot of work. He just wanted something new to play with while he was biding his time with the Winchesters, and this demon seemed to present quite the opportunity.
"You know, I really never understood the whole dank and gloomy bit when it came to killing things," Baal said loudly, calling attention to himself as kicked a stray skull out of his way and flicked some grime off his suit. "It's just so depressing."
Adam could take that as he would.
Adam turned with a brow raise and smirk. "Well...I'm not too picky." He looked the demon over slowly. Not someone he had seen before, but he had the feeling this was someone he should know. Someone he wanted to know. Hopefully no one that had been a fan of Shade. Adam wasn't in the mood.
Baal looked up at him and returned the smirk. "I just think it's overkill. As though killing something isn't depressing enough." He clasped his hands behind his back, and started moving around him, appraising him, almost. Just so that he could see what he was getting into.
"Was there something I could do for you?" Adam looked over his shoulder at Baal as he circled him. "Not that I don't enjoy listening to the sanctity of cleanliness."
"Hmmm? Oh. Yes," Baal straightened slightly. "I was just wondering if you were in the market for a new boss -- especially considering you just roasted your last one."
"And what makes you think I need a boss?" Adam asked. His nose wrinkled slightly at the thought.
"I wouldn't say need so much as -- looking for someone to nudge you in the right direction," Baal said with a small smirk. "I prefer to consider it a -- beneficial partnership. You get to do what you do best, which really works out rather well for me, and I can provide a little creative nudging. I like chaos, Adam. From what I know of you, it seems like you might be a bit in the same boat."
"Controlled chaos, maybe," Adam shrugged slightly. "I mostly enjoy the feel of my powers. That little burn in the pit of your stomach." He turned to Baal more. "Help me find more power within myself, and some things to play with...I'm all yours."
"More power comes with time and practice. It's not something I can magically help you with right away," Baal said with a nod. "However -- things to play with. That I think I can help you with in the immediate sense."
Adam rolled his eyes in the slightest. "I hadn't meant power immediately, but I'm not going to bide all of my time with someone who isn't offering to teach me." Then he caught on the the last part. "Can you?" That made him almost...giddy.
"It would be a careful project. It will require time and effort, and building trust. But I think that you have the capacity for it. Given what you were capable of when you were alive, it's certainly not a stretch," Baal reached over, picking up a rock in his hand and tossing it around slightly. "Have you ever met a woman named Bela Talbot?"
Bela Talbot. The name ran over his mind slowly, but he couldn't place it. Not in his human life or demon life thus far. He shook his head slowly.
"Good. Then she hasn't had the time to form an opinion of you," he turned back to Adam with a nod. "I need you to get under her skin. Get her to trust you. Get her away from the Winchesters. We need her vulnerable and in no shape to be helping them with whatever they may need, and we need her to turn to someone other than Sam when that moment comes. When that moment does come, you're welcome to do whatever you wish with her, but until then -- we need her to think of you as a friend."
"I'll need to know a bit more about her, then. Who is she?"
"She's a dealer of the occult -- she started out in the business as a human, and after she died and became a demon, she went back to the job once she came topside. She doesn't trust easily, so that will take some work -- your best bet will be to approach her as a client first, then slowly build your way to friend."
He nodded. "I think I can handle that much. Is there anything particularly...rare - you'd like me to ask her to find?"
Baal pursed his lips slightly for a moment, before shrugging. "Not particularly. That part could be for your benefit, more so than mine."
"If that's all, I do have a few things to finish here. Tell me where I can find Bela."
"Queens, New York. She owns a rather nice apartment there." Baal said with a nod. "Good luck, Adam."
Adam just gave Baal a single nod, putting the information into memory.
Baal nodded as well, before disappearing into the darkness again, leaving Adam to what he was doing.