november 25 (tw: violence, language, scary demon stuff)

[just_another]

Tomorrow, when he has time to sit and think about what's happened while he lies in a hospital bed, Joel will tell Spencer that it felt like a switch going off in his mind. One moment he was there, he was in control, and then something flipped a switch inside him and suddenly he wasn't. One moment he was muttering curses under his breath because he'd sloshed hot coffee on his hand while trying to close his travel mug and the next he hadn't felt the pain because he hadn't felt anything.

The mug drops, the plastic exterior cracking where it hits the kitchen floor. Coffee spills over the tiles, over Joel's shoes, it splashes the cupboards and one of the kitchen chairs, but Joel doesn't notice because he's not in control anymore. He's still there, he's still inside, and he's screaming, feeling as though he's pounding his fists against a door that doesn't really exist because he's trapped inside himself. The walls are closing in on him, the walls of himself, the walls of the demon, just walls, and he can't explain it, but he's being pressed down smaller and smaller until he can't breathe.

The demon has taken over.

Joel can't feel his body, but he can feel it. It pushes at his mind, probing curiously and he screams again, but it doesn't make a sound. It only echoes inside him somehow and Joel spends several minutes in such a state of terror that he thinks he blacks out. If such a thing is at all possible when he's not really in control of his body, he doesn't know, but there's a gap in time Joel doesn't remember.

When he comes to, he can feel pain again. He's not in control, not by any means, but there's a shrieking pain in the fingers of his left hand and when he's allowed to look down, he sees three of them are swollen and an angry red.

You're so delicate. No wonder I killed her so swiftly.

The voice is worse than the pain in his fingers could ever be. It's ancient and it's eternal and it's endless. It's like being pierced by something burning hot, something dull and ragged that slips in between his ribs and wiggles back and forth, tearing skin and burning his insides and Joel goes away again.

This time when he regains consciousness, there's silence. His fingers throb and ache and when he looks down at them, it looks as if they've been slammed in a door.

They have been.

The voice is different this time. It's still like something hot and sharp being driven into him, but the demon is restraining itself somehow. The voice has been pulled back and Joel finds he can withstand it a little better. It's still awful and he's still terrified, trapped in a body he can't control, unable to call for help, unable to let anyone know what's happened.

And what would they do? the thing asks. Your witches are not equipped to handle me.

Joel can't answer, he only retreats and feels sick, knowing sooner or later Spencer is going to wonder why he isn't at work. Sooner or later, Spencer is going to come looking for him and this is what he's going to find. A monster in the place of his husband. A monster intent on experimenting with his body to see what he can withstand.

There's a lighter in his right hand, the flame sparks to life. Joel watches silently as it's brought closer and closer to his skin and he feels the pain sear through him, but he can't stop.

He isn't in control anymore.

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[just_another]

Joel hears the car and there's a leap of hope inside him, something he can't hide from the demon and suddenly in response to that hope he can hear echoing laughter. At first he thinks it's inside his head, but it isn't, this thing is using his body to laugh and it isn't Joel's laugh, it isn't close at all, it's as awful a sound as the voice that had come out of him. The door opens and Coop is there, but he can't get inside and Joel wants to cry because this is his fault. It's so stupid of him. He had asked Coop for help and he hadn't once considered that something like this might happen, something might occur at the house where Coop wouldn't be able to come inside unless invited. It will be the same for Les and Nerium when they arrive, he realizes and he knows it isn't the end of the world, a few seconds won't make or break this situation, but he still feels so stupid. So distracted. So unprepared. He had spent so much time trying to convince himself and Spencer that nothing bad was going to happen that even his preparations hadn't been good enough.

His broken hand sweeps up and off the floor, knocking Spencer's grip loose with ease and Joel knows what's going to happen before it does. It's exactly as he's been thinking since discovering the demon in one of his books; the power he used on Mark and Eli, the one that had knocked them both away, the ability to hurt them without even laying a hand on them, it's all from the demon. He has one wild moment where he feels like laughing because he's wondering what else he can do that isn't really his. The book had said the demon would block some powers while feeding others into the host and Joel wonders if everything he can do, all the bad and all the good, comes from this thing inside him. It's not possible, he knows it isn't, but everything in this moment feels so terrible that he can't help but wonder all the same. Maybe if he doesn't die he'll just be a regular man, maybe he won't be able to do anything. Maybe he won't be able to protect Spencer anymore.

All thoughts of his powers disappear, though, when the demon uses a wall of invisible energy to throw Spencer back and Joel screams inside. It doesn't seem to be able to really touch Spencer, but there's nothing at all preventing it from using this power on him and Joel struggles wildly for a moment to regain control even though he knows it's hopeless. At the same time that the demon all but flings Spencer off his body, Joel is jerked back suddenly, yanked into a sitting position and he goes sliding backward across the floor, as far away from Spencer and the front door as he can get. He can see Coop just outside the door, he can see their only hope of beating this thing completely, but he can't do anything to get him inside. Trying to speak only serves to bring a fresh wave of laughter pouring out of the demon as it forces Joel's body to his feet and for the first time Joel doesn't feel the pain. All he can think of is Spencer. All he can do is hope that Spencer is okay, that he wasn't injured, that he'll be able to invite Coop inside.

It's a strange feeling, he realizes as he gets to his feet. It's like being a prisoner in his body, it's like being invaded and he knows if he recovers from this, he'll never be able to explain it to anyone who hasn't experienced and for that he'll be grateful. No one should know what it feels like to be trapped and out of control of their own body. It's the one thing Joel has been able to rely on, but now he's lost. Now he's at the mercy of others and he knows both Spencer and Coop will do everything in their power to make sure he survives this, but to be unable to help makes him feel so small and angry and lost. It makes him feel as if he's already lost a chunk of who he is.

And it's stranger still to realize his feet have left the ground. That his toes are just barely skimming the surface of the floor as the demon drags his body right up to the door where Coop stands. He's ashamed, he realizes. There's a deep sense of shame as he looks out at Coop, knowing his eyes are black like they had been the night of Coop's party. Knowing his friend must be realizing where that power came from, that the demon has been here with Joel all along. That maybe it's just a part of him. Maybe he's always been this way.

He wants to say he's sorry, but when his mouth opens, it's another string of Latin. It's just one more thing he doesn't understand. The demon can speak English, it's done so several times and Joel has to wonder if it's just for show. If this thing is doing it in an attempt to scare them both because the Latin is strange and unfamiliar and always associated with demons in movies.

But Spencer knows Latin. He can speak it better than Joel has ever been able to and for some reason he thinks that bothers the demon, too. Spencer knows it's only real trick besides violence and he feels like it's some kind of small victory for their side that he does.

"Ipse meam. Non potuerunt salvare eum." The words are directed at Coop, but Joel knows they're for Spencer as well. He wants to be able to turn around, to look for his husband and make sure he's okay, but he has no control. The time will come, he knows that, he's sure of that, and when it does he thinks he might be able to do it, but right now he's useless and he's helplessly. "Et disperdam eum. Et cessare faciam eum."

[coopdetat]

Coop doesn't know what he'd expected when he'd pulled up into Spencer and Joel's driveway but somehow, what he'd been picturing in his mind had been nothing like this. He'd nearly killed about six thousand pedestrians on his way here, had hit almost every single red light, and he'd had to call Les four times before the guy had even picked up his goddamn phone. He'd been out the door of his house before he'd even gotten off the phone with Spencer, and Coop's pretty sure he's never heard Spencer's voice sound that shaky, that fucking small in the entire time they've known each other. Spencer hadn't said much at all after Dane had been killed; in the few attempts Coop had made to talk to him, he hadn't gotten much more than some noncommittal mumbles and a nod or two.

Coop's never held that against him. He hadn't believed that Spencer had killed his family, not even for a second, and he still hasn't said that to the guy but he thinks that maybe one day, he should. They're kind of friends, he thinks, in a weird way, and mostly by proxy through Joel. But Spencer's a good guy, he'd married a good guy, and somewhere along the line, Coop's become kind of really fucking fiercely defensive of their well-being.

So he puts the pedal to the goddamn metal and floors it to get to the house and now that he's here, Coop is feeling like a complete moron because he has no idea what the hell he's supposed to do. He can't get in the house. He remembers that he'd been told about a protective charm, the only problem is that none of them had thought to do anything about it before, y'know, the demon got loose. He tries to break the barrier again, failing miserably and having to watch in horror as the thing that had been Joel just yesterday seems to lift Spencer without even touching him--like Joel with Eli Jasper that night, just like Eli Jasper--and throws him across the room. Spencer hits the wall hard enough for it to make a sickening crunch, drops to the floor, and he doesn't get up.

Coop's eyes stay on Spencer for a long moment, trying to determine whether his friend's chest is even rising or falling at all, but he can't tell from her. All he can see for sure is that there's a huge crack in the wall where Spencer's body had hit, and Coop forces himself to tear his gaze away so he can focus on Joel. On the demon. It comes toward him, floating with its eyes blackened, and Coop keeps flashing back to the night of his birthday. He remembers Joel being so angry, so goddamn infuriated that Eli would have fucked with Spencer, and he remembers that flicker of Joel's hand that had sent Eli across the lawn. That had been for Spencer. This, this had been against Spencer, and Coop doesn't know what the hell that means or what this demon's endgame is, but he guesses it doesn't really matter. Either way, if Les and Nerium don't show up soon, if Spencer doesn't wake up long enough to let him in, they're... Well, they're pretty much fucked.

The demon hovers in front of him, and Coop takes a step back out of instinct. The barrier's up but that doesn't mean the demon won't come out and if it knocks Coop out cold, too, he doesn't even really want to think about what that'll mean. It's creepy as hell, seeing Joel's body being used like this, like an actual puppet, and the thing starts spouting out words can't understand. He thinks it's Latin, maybe, can make out a word here and there that he recognizes but not enough to translate. Coop assumes that it can't really be good. "Hey, Joel, buddy," he says, hands outstretched in front of him like that might do something to assuage the demon that's controlling his friend, and he can only hope that Joel can hear him, that Joel's still present somewhere inside that body.

"Throw me a bone here, okay? Spencer's gonna kill me if I'm still out here when he wakes up so if you're in there, you gotta let me in." Coop's always been a pretty optimistic guy, he's been able to bounce back from some shit, but he wouldn't ever say that he's had a difficult life. He works hard, he plays hard, he's got good friends, he's got hobbies and no shortage of people who are happy with a strings-free sex romp--yeah, life is pretty goddamn easy for him. He's sure as shit never had to deal with this before, and he doesn't know if he's doing it right but he thinks--thinks--he sees maybe the slightest flicker in Joel's eyes and so that optimistic side, the one that's suffering a pretty hard blow right now, forces its way back to the surface.

"That's it, man, I know you're fighting. You've gotta fight, you just have to hold on a little bit longer, and you know it'll be worth it, right? You have a husband in there who loves you, okay, who'd do freakin' anything for you, you have any idea how many people would kill to have that? I've seen this before, the whole black-eyed thing is so four months ago, but remember why you did it. You did it for him, you did it for Spencer, I know you did."

Coop tries to rush the barrier again, but he's only pushed back. He groans with frustration, running his hands through his hair as he begins to pace back and forth on the stoop. He can't undo someone else's protection charm, he knows that much, so any attempts would be futile. What he needs is for Spencer to wake up or for Joel to be able to take back a little bit of control, though he doesn't even know if that's a thing his friend can even do right now. He's clueless, and he hates that, it's like being back on the island and surrounded by people he couldn't help because his powers had disappeared. What good is being a witch when he can't even help his own friends when they need it the most?

"Joel," he tries again, holding his hands up against the barrier and staring the demon in the eyes. It's eerie, having those black eyes stare back at him, but Coop holds its gaze. "Let me in, Joel. That's all you need to do, just let me in."

[just_another]

If Coop is asking him to let down the barrier, then it must mean Spencer is unconscious and Joel feels such a sudden rush of anger that it seems to startle the demon. The power goes out of him long enough that he collapses, jarring his broken hand on the way down and he bites back a scream of pain, but he has to do it. He has to bite it back because for the third time since this had all begun, he's in control again. He's himself. Not entirely, he can still feel that dark presence lurking like it has been for months, but for the time being he's more himself than anything. It won't last long, he has no doubt of that, but it's enough. It's enough that he can roll away from the door and onto his back. It's enough that he can look across the room to see Spencer slumped against a wall, his eyes closed, a long crack zigzagging down the wall behind him. It's enough that, holding his broken hand against his chest, Joel can turn back to look at Coop and, in a voice that sounds like it hasn't been used in weeks, manages to rasp out, "Coop, come inside."

The words are barely out before his back bows hard enough that Joel feels his spine pop and he throws both his hands down on the ground, heedless of the broken bones, trying to find some kind of purchase, some way to stop what's happening. It's a new sensation, a combination of both being in control and being treated like a puppet and Joel knows it's just being done to torture him further, it's a punishment for having taken control long enough to let Coop in the house, but he doesn't care anymore. The demon can do whatever it wants to him so long as Spencer is okay and he knows he's in no state to check on him. Right now he needs Coop, he needs him to do more than just help Nerium and Les banish the demon when it's finally out of him, he needs him to protect Spencer. He needs Coop to make sure Spencer is okay.

Without Spencer, there's no hope.

Without Spencer, Joel will not survive this, there's simply no way around it. Spencer is the one who gives him the strength to fight and he's the only one the demon seems to be truly afraid of. It's that he loves Joel so much, he's sure of it. The demon has been hanging around since he summoned it, since the day Amy died, he's sure of that, too, but it had never expected Joel to find someone like Spencer and now it wants in before it thinks there's no chance at all. It's waited too long, though. That's what Joel doesn't think it realizes yet, or maybe it does, maybe it's beginning to understand because the pain it's putting Joel through is more than just making itself known, more than trying to take over, it's a punishment. For the first time, it's truly angry and Joel will gladly suffer every second of its revenge if it means it gives Coop time to check on Spencer and the others enough time to arrive.

He opens his mouth to see if he can speak and even with his back bent as an unnatural angle, even with the pain searing down his spine, he finds he can. He still has that control and he doesn't know if the demon is just so focused on causing him pain that it's distracted or if it's allowing him this control just to make everything harder for him, but he doesn't care. "Check him," he says, his voice feeling like it's being ripped out of his throat. It hurts, everything hurts, but he can take it. He can't stop now. "Check him, Coop, make sure he's okay. Wake him up. I need him."

His back drops, the pain diminishes and his control is gone. On the floor, his body flips over and the demon slowly rises, getting his knees under his body and then pushing to his feet. The bones in his hand grind and shift, and his entire hand has begun to swell, but none of that stops the demon from continuing to use it. It rises, watching Coop enter the house and Joel can feel his mouth stretching into that same smile he'd been giving Spencer earlier and he hates it. He hates it so much and can only hope that Coop can see through it as well as Spencer could.

It's not me, he wants to scream, but he can't do anything. His body takes several steps forward then stops, his gaze drawn sharply toward the glass doors of the liquor cabinet. Coop is so close and Joel wants to shout at him, he wants to warm him, but he's gone again, deep inside, he can't do anything. He needs Spencer so badly.

You won't get him, the thing says inside his head. I killed him.

It's not true. Joel knows it isn't because he'd be able to feel it. If Spencer was really gone, he would know, even like this, even in this horrible state. He would feel it. None of this would matter anymore. If Spencer was gone, he would tell Coop to leave, to keep himself safe, and he would let the demon take over because he'd have nothing left anyway. But Spencer isn't gone. Joel knows he isn't and so he say nothing, just waits deep inside.

The glass doors of the liquor cabinet explode outward in tiny shards of glass, blowing toward Coop. All the demon had done was twitch one of Joel's hands and there's suddenly glass everywhere. He feels some of it fly past him, one tiny shard slicing the top of his cheek, but most of it doesn't reach that far. Then, one by one, the bottles all shatter, glass and amber liquid cascading down the front of the cabinet and as his body moves through the room, it starts to laugh again.

[coopdetat]

For a minute--less than that, probably, but to Coop it feels more like an actual eternity, like a whole lifetime is passing him by--he just stands there and stares down at Joel, taking in the way his hand is swollen and bleeding and Christ, is that burnt skin? Joel's back arches then, not just arches but practically snaps in two, and Coop lets out an involuntarily choked gasp of distress. It's clear enough that Joel's not completely in control, regardless of the fact that he'd been able to invite Coop in and shit, he'd invited him in. Coop takes a hesitant step forward at first, barely even realizing he's moving at all but drawn almost like a moth to a flame toward Joel's grotesquely bent body, and he wants to drop down to his knees to help his friend, to do fucking something other than stay trapped in this weird daze where he can't seem to do anything but stare.

Coop's seen the nightmares, he's seen what this thing has been making Joel picture deep inside his mind, but this isn't it. The demon is warring with Joel for control, trying to crawl its way back to the surface, and Coop doesn't know how long Joel will be able to hold out for; so that means he needs to work faster. He has no experience with this kind of thing, he heals fucking animals for a living. He walks through dreams sometimes and when witches use their magic on him, it doesn't always work but Coop's out of his element with this. Demons 101 hadn't been on his list, banishing evil things from his friends' bodies hadn't been something he'd ever thought he'd need to know how to do. His instinct is to reach out and touch Joel right now, try to heal him just a little bit, enough to at least dull the pain, if that's even possible with the demon still inside him.

But then Joel's begging him to check on Spencer. Coop glances up, torn between wanting to help Joel and make sure Spencer's at least still breathing, but the decision is made quickly enough for him when he sees Joel start to smile. It can't be him, Coop's sure of that, he doesn't think Joel--the real Joel--would really even be capable of a smile right now and even if he was, it wouldn't look as fucking sinister as this. The demon looks smug as hell and if it wasn't Joel's body, if he hadn't already seen that every injury is causing the real Joel all that pain, Coop would have swung a fist to knock this asshole out by now. He takes a step backward, and he doesn't know whether sudden movements are going to make any difference, but he also doesn't want to take the chance. Joel's right, he needs to check on Spencer, and Coop isn't sure whether Joel means he needs his husband in the most general of ways or in a very specific one but either way, Coop sends a silent promise out to his friend that he's going to do everything in his power to make sure they both get out of this alive.

The demon doesn't say anything, doesn't even spit any more Latin bullshit out, and Coop wonders if maybe Joel's in there fighting hard enough to keep it stagnant because it's quiet in this house now, too quiet, ominously quiet. He's about halfway to Spencer now, the demon watching him every step of the way until it suddenly turns its head. Coop frowns, following its gaze and blinking in confusion when all he sees the liquor cabinet but before he can even process what that might mean, it happens. It makes his ears ring, the explosion of glass that seems to concentrate in a shower of shards towards him. He lets out a shout as he tries to duck to the floor, too late to avoid the slices to the back of his shoulders and neck. He flattens himself to the ground, arms covering his head, and the glass rains down on him until it doesn't. He takes half a minute to take inventory of himself, to test whether there's any significant damage, but aside from the sting to his skin, Coop's pretty sure he's okay.

It's a nice hint that the demon isn't trying to waste its time, though, at least not when it comes to eliminating a threat, and he scrambles to his feet without sparing a glance at the thing so he can make his way to Spencer. Glass falls out of his hair and shakes loose from his clothes when he gets up but none of it had hit Spencer's motionless body and for that, at least, Coop--and Joel, he imagines--can be grateful. There's no sense in taunting the demon right now, no matter how much he wants to, no matter what smart ass things keep coming to mind, he has to put that aside for now and attend to Spencer because if Joel needs him--really needs him, to the point where it might make a difference in how all of this ends--then Coop needs to wake him up.

"Spencer?" Coop winces when he gets a closer look, hands coming to a rest on Spencer's back as he notes the way his friend's shoulder appears to be dislocated. He wants to set it for him, knowing damn well that they just don't have the time, that Spencer might actually shove him face first into the broken glass if he thought that Coop had wasted another precious second on him. Coop gently rolls him over instead, hissing with sympathy when he hears Spencer let out a soft, pained groan, but he reminds himself that it's a good thing. Spencer needs to wake up and this, the revival of the pain, might be the only way to get him to do it right now. It's only when he has Spencer on his back that Coop sees the blood caked in Spencer's hair, and he glances up at that crack in the wall before looking over his shoulder at the demon--still smiling, seemingly waiting now for what Coop assumes is the right time to get rid of two birds with one stone.

He turns his attention back to Spencer, letting out a sigh before shaking his friend, getting another groan in response. "Spencer, hey, you have to open your eyes. I know it hurts but you have to do it."

Spencer's eyelids twitch, though he doesn't open them, but it's progress as he lets out a barely audible mumble. "Joel?"

"He's right here," Coop tells him, and it's only half a lie. "He's right here, and he needs you. He needs you to wake up and be strong for him, right, can you do that? You can do that, I know you can." He looks over his shoulder again, and the demon is closer than he'd been twenty seconds ago. There's adrenaline coursing through him and with a grunt of determination, he makes a choice and slaps his hand down hard against Spencer's cheek. "Now would be good, Spence."

[just_another]

Spencer is hurt. Joel can see that immediately. His shoulder looks wrong and there's blood in his hair and on the wall and Joel's so angry and so sad all at the same time because he wants to be able to do something, he wants to be able to help, but there's nothing that he can do except watch as the demon carries his body across the room to where Coop is crouched beside Spencer. He'd been right, though, Spencer is still alive and he allows himself that little moment of victory, allows the demon to be privy to it and he feels the demon respond to it with anger. At least for the time being, though, it's anger directed internally instead of externally, an anger that caused a sharp blast of pain when the fingers of his broken hand suddenly all bend back. Two of them snap, but it doesn't matter to Joel. So long as the punishment is focused on him instead of Spencer and Coop. If he can keep the two of them safe until Les and Nerium arrive -- which he can only hope will be soon -- then maybe they have a chance. He can withstand this. He can withstand anything to keep the focus off the two of them.

"Is this... everything?" Joel manages to ask and he's surprised he can speak, but nothing makes sense anymore. There doesn't seem to be any set of rules except that the demon is afraid of Spencer. It's the only thing that remains consistent. Sometimes the anger of the demon is directed at Joel, sometimes it's directed at Spencer and just now it had been directed at Coop. Sometimes he can speak and sometimes he can't. Sometimes he can move and sometimes he's treated like a puppet. Nothing makes sense and Joel knows they can't rely on anything, so he's going to take what he's being given him and he's going to use it as best he can. If he can speak, then Coop can follow what's happening and maybe it can benefit them all. Somehow.

"Is this everything you... can do?" he asks, his voice grinding out like it's old and been misused. "Is... this all... you ha-" His words are cut off in a choked off scream as his arm is jerked behind his body, wrenched until he can feel his fingers going numb. It helps more than it hinders him, though, numbing the pain in his broken bones.

"I have eons of pain upon which to draw," the demon says using Joel's mouth, but the voice isn't his and it's a strange, surreal experience to have, knowing his mouth is moving, knowing the words are coming out of him but hearing them in a voice that sounds like nothing he's ever heard before. "I have inexhaustible resources with which to torture you and I will. I will until you stop trying to save his life."

But he'll never stop. He will never stop and the demon has to know that. It's why his arm is still twisted behind his back, why the muscles in his shoulder and back are beginning to scream in protest, but he doesn't beg and he doesn't make a sound. The longer he can keep this thing distracted, the better chance Coop has of getting Spencer up and that's what he needs right now. He needs Spencer. He needs the rest of them, too, he needs them all to be here because he knows there's no hope of doing this alone.

"You... know that isn't... going to happen," Joel manages to say. He staggers a little on his feet and he's still staring at Coop and Spencer, but he doesn't know if that's because he wants to be looking at them or because the demon is making him look at them. Either way, it's what he needs. He's waiting to see Spencer's eyes open, he's waiting for that moment to know he can let go. He's waiting for the others to arrive and he needs Spencer or Coop or both to be conscious so they can invite them in. If he has to wait like this for the rest of the day to make sure nothing happens to his husband, he will. He'll take every moment, every ounce of pain being fed into his body and he'll take it happily.

He's about to say something else, he's about to issue another challenge to distract the demon further from Spencer and Coop when there's a sound at the door and his body is whirled around to face whoever is coming up the front steps.

[lesparker]

The truth is Les isn't even sure what he is walking into at this point. Or if anything he does will even make a difference. It's only been two days, less than, since he's been home, and he barely knows which way is up. Her voice, the cave, everything that happen, it's haunting him. He isn't sleeping that well even though he is out of the miserable darkness of being trapped there. Waiting to be fish food, according to what Lara had told him afterwards. Fish food or not, he wished he could hear his mother's voice again, see the vision the cave had given him.

It was the closest to the real thing Les had had since her death, and the seventeen year old in him, the kid that had been scared and confused when she passed, even though he tried his damnest to never ever say that, he had loved it. Even if it wasn't real. He has been trying to just forget about it, but it isn't easy. It feels like in a way he's lost her all over again. It hurts deep inside of his chest when he thinks about it too hard. Maybe that's why he didn't change his mind about tonight. Dealing with someone else's problems seemed a way to get his mind back in the right place.

For a little while atleast.

Coop had texted him an address a few hours ago, and he makes his way across town. He sees a couple cars parked put front, and he climbs the steps onto the porch. There is a dim light on in the window but the house is very quiet. He senses something might already be happening and he decides not to knock. Trying the handle, he turns the knob and opens the front door. His eyes go to Coop first...and he tries to access from the doorway whether his friend is okay despite the injuries he sees. Then he looks at the other man, the libriarian. He is on the floor. There's blood.

"Looks like the party started without me," Les finally takes in the third man. They aren't friends, but Les can tell this is Joel. Les senses the evil resting beneath the surface, filling out his skin. Joel is wrong. "Are there gonna be snacks? Vanquishing demons always makes me a little hungry."

[just_another]

Joel laughs in surprise and it's really him for the time being, it's really his laugh, though it feels like it's being dragged out of a throat lined with glass. Everything hurts, even laughing, even breathing, but the words surprise the laugh out of him all the same. At a moment when everything feels like it's bound to fall apart, when he feels like he's barely hanging on by a thread, when he's worried about Coop and Spencer and even his own physical being, having someone speak to the demon like that comes as a strange sort of relief. He doesn't think it means Les isn't taking this seriously, not if Coop trusts him, not if Nerium does, but it makes the demon angry and that pleases Joel.

He wonders if maybe he's losing his mind. Just a little bit. If having the demon inside him is making him go crazy and if that might help them. The less he cares about himself, the more invested he is in making sure the others are safe, in making this invader inside him as angry as possible, maybe the better chance they have. It feels a little bit like giving up, but Joel feels everything inside him slip another notch and he thinks maybe it's not like that at all. Maybe letting himself go a little is what's going to make it easier to come back.

"Come inside," he says as quickly as he possibly can, before the demon can recover from the genuine amusement Joel had felt for just a moment. "You have to invite Nerium, too, I might not be ab-" And his arm is wrenched harder still, pulled behind him until something in his shoulder pops and he doesn't think it's broken, he doesn't think it's even been wrenched out of place, but it hurts an Joel grinds his teeth together as his body is suddenly flung back, dropped in a heap beside Spencer.

And he looks over then, he looks at his husband and even though he can feel the demon starting to regain control, he smiles. Spencer is so strong and so brave and he's right here with Joel. No matter what happens, he was the first one to come. He'll always be the first one to come and Joel's good hand inches over toward him, the tips of his fingers brushing the outer edge of Spencer's hand just as he'd done that day in the park. "Come back," he murmurs, as if that alone will be enough to wake Spencer up. "Please come back."

[lesparker]

Wincing, Les watches the demon twist Joel's arm back behind his body, nearly wrenching it from the socket so hard Les can hear the crunch of his shoulder. Good thing is Coop and him can heal that later. Bad news is still the demon that doesn't know when to leave like a bad houseguest. He crosses the threshold and uses his powers to shut the front door behind him. There is no time left to waste, and he heads over to Joel where the demon flung him to the ground. Les listens as the man murmurs something to Spencer. He can't quite make out the words, but he doubts it matters at this point.

"Nerium, sweetheart. I know you're probably at home---" Les waves his hand lazily. Even though he's talking to a room without Nerium in it, she'll hear him. It's a benefit of being his soulbearer. "--- busy doing whatever it is you do on a Tuesday night. I dunno. Evil knitting? But now's a good time for a visit. Like right now," he says. Now that he's summoned Nerium, he knows she'll come.

In the meantime, he looks down at the demon with a knowing smile. It has two problems. One, Joel doesn't look ready to give up. Les suspects the main reason has something to do with the man laying beside him. Two, since returning from the cave, Les hasn't been able to sleep. Memories, real memories of his mother are haunting him, and he is trying to be but he isn't okay. He was up to three a.m. reading every text in his basement that had anything in them about demons or vanquishing spells. No matter what they are getting rid of this asshole demon tonight.

[neriumoleander]

Nerium is not unaware of the situation. She has kept close tabs on Joel since he came to see her for aid. In truth, long before that. It would be against all Grimhildes stand for, if she had come to him before summoned. But once Leslie calls for her, she is there in moments. She does not hold the art of straight teleportation, but she knows how to influence the elements to ease and enhance her travel.

The door opens and she stands there, black scarves and dress billowing around her, and it slams behind her just as quickly. The gore and blood is of no surprise. In honesty, she had expected worse. That all those in the room remain alive is of great fortune, and one that is shaky at best.

She finds the nearest table and begins laying ou an assortment of objects. Vials and herbs and all manner of implements of every color. Candles. A jeweled dagger. And a small black box, carved of stone from another realm. And with that, she waltzes over to Leslie.

"You look well enough. I am glad you have returned. I trust your redhead found you. She was in quite a state."

And with that, she turns in a great circle, spitting soundless words and twisting her arms until the room shapes and bends and the windows outside now show only a black void. "I have separated us into a pocket between realms. No harm shall spread outside of these walls. And the demon shall not be able to draw power outside of here, so long as it holds."

Her eyes narrow as she peers at Joel and the casualties of the day. "What efforts have been made thus far? Has the demon taken over completely, or is Joel still responsive? I trust you are aware that a simple exorcism would have no effect on a being so old as he."

[coopdetat]

Coop doesn't even have time to express his relief that Les has walked through the door because Joel's being thrown in his direction, and he lowers himself over Spencer in an effort to protect his still unconscious friend until he sees Joel smile. It's not the demon, not yet at least, Coop can see that in the way Joel stretches out his hand to reach for Spencer's and for a second, he lets himself relax. A quick glance and nod to Les acts as a signal that they're okay but that doesn't exactly make the situation any less fucking dire.

He sits back up on his knees, keeping one hand hovering gently over Spencer's injured shoulder, but before he can check on Joel or say anything else, Les is saying some nonsense about evil knitting or some shit that Coop doesn't understand until Nerium's standing in the doorway. "Glad you two feel like there's room for pleasantries but hi, demon, remember?"

Coop hasn't really talked to too many people since the time they'd spent in the cave, mostly because he's still just trying to get his bearings, still trying to ignore all the realizations that had hit him while he'd been sitting in there with the knowledge that none of them might make it out back out. He feels Spencer start to stir again beneath him, and he's thankful for it because it's a distraction, it's anything to keep him from thinking about that cave because even just looking at Les reminds him. He knows he hadn't suffered as long as some of the others there, hadn't seen the same sorts of things his friends had that had lured them into that cave, but he knows he's one of the few who's made the choice to deal with it alone. Sometime it's just easier that way.

Joel and Spencer, on the other hand, are very much not alone. He leans down again, huffing out a relieved laugh when Spencer's eyelids flutter, and he turns his head to look at Nerium so he can answer her questions. "He's in and out," he tells her, eyes flickering back to Joel to see if he's still responsive now. His friend's eyes look blank but his fingers are still brushing against Spencer's, so Coop can only assume that Joel's still doing his best to fight for as long as he can to buy them some time. It's up to them to help him carry the rest of this load.

"Joel, please..."

Coop winces at Spencer's words, at the way Spencer's trying to move and then at how he cries out in pain when he rolls onto his back, eyes flying wide open from the pain. "Hey, Spence, I know it hurts but you gotta stay with us, okay? Joel needs you, we need you now, so you have to stay awake. You can hear him, right, Joel? Just hold on, we got you."

He helps Spencer into a sitting position in spite of the other man's pleas, looking back to Nerium. "It was speaking in Latin, I don't know what it said. We need to find a way to get the damn thing out of him first, and I think-- Spencer, whatever you were doing to piss it off, you need to keep doing it. That's the only way we're going to be able to banish it."

[just_another]

Nerium arrives and suddenly the demon is furious. Joel hadn't felt anything like this when he had gone to her manor and had her look inside his dreams, this is entirely new and he wonders if it's due to having three witches and Spencer in the same room. He wonders if the demon underestimated him, if he thought he would never look so hard and reach so far to find people to help him when he's always been such a recluse before. It hates Spencer, he can feel that, but it clearly doesn't understand the extent to which his husband has changed his life. Joel might be prone to keeping to himself, he might always be a bit rough around the edges, but he will do anything in the world for Spencer. Anything. And that includes finding as much help as he possibly can to get rid of this thing inside him.

"I- fuck," he spits out and he isn't prone to cursing, but his body is lifted off the floor and something twists him, like a dish cloth being wrung out, and Joel feels his fractured rib grating. It's sharp, like being stabbed with something that burns through his torso and all he can do is hope that it's just the movement, that his rib hasn't started to puncture anything important. He wants to be able to tell Les and Nerium what's been going on, how they can get this thing out of him, but he's in so much pain that he can't breathe.

He's just hovering there again, suspended in the air, his broken hand dangling at his side. His hips are twisted and Joel can still feel that horrible pain burning through his side, but suddenly it's gone. Suddenly he's just hanging there, limp and in pain, but nothing is twisting his body anymore, but he's not fool enough to think it's gone.

"It's scared of Spencer," he manages to blurt out, his voice hoarse, his throat ragged. "It's scared. It hates him." And he knows why. This thing that can't feel love, can't feel anything but pain and hate, it's afraid of what Spencer makes him feel. "He can get it out, I know he can." And then they can do whatever they need.

[neriumoleander]

The quieting of the demon is a bad sign. It means he is readying himself. A demon does not simply pacify itself without aim. If he is not soon removed, he is positioning himself to take over completely.

It is an awe-inspiring sight, the power of the demon, and while Nerium has danced with many, she has never been in the presence of a true possession. Not that she does not know what to do. Just as she knows fighting this great nameless diety from before civilization itself will do no good. He must be revered. There are ceremonials and sacrifices which much be observed.

"It is good there are five of us here. We must form a pentagram. Joel will be the head" She moves to shift Spencer, then Coop, and Les, into position, each forming a point. "We must form a pentagram. Joel will be the head. Spencer and I will be the uppermost points at his side."

"You must know, there will need be sacrifice." Nerium is lighting candles, lines of them between each point. The box is the most important piece. That with which she can contain the demon. With which she can harness his power of her own. But that will be last. "The barriers must be made with the blood of the points." She takes the jeweled dagger and a ceremonial bowl of bone, passing it first to Leslie. "The palm of your hand shall suffice."

"And I must have your agreement, that with my help, I shall be allowed to leave here with whatever I so wish."

[lesparker]

Les takes his position in the pentagram sensing that they are coming to the point of no return. Either the demon goes down or it's possible Joel does or worse all of them. With a frown he takes the bowl from Nerium and then the dagger. He looks at the supplies in his hand. "Well, fun," he says, using the blade to slice a wound into his hand deep enough to bleed. He lets it drip into the bowl and then passes it on to Spencer.

Nerium speaks again and he rolls his eyes. Of course, she doesn't work for free.

[doublethepain]

Spencer's still dazed from just having woken back up, and he can't concentrate on much of anything other than Joel right now. He lets Nerium move him, far too much in pain to put up any fuss about the unwelcome touch, and he can feel Coop's eyes on him but Spencer can't tear his own away from Joel's hovering form. It's such a strange sight that he briefly wonders if he hasn't even woken up yet all, if this is all just a dream--a nightmare, really--which is actually far preferable to the reality. He's barely even listening as Nerium speaks, only wondering why she's speaking to them at all because it seems to be such a waste of time, all this ceremony when they'd asked her here to help. He's not thinking clearly, Spencer knows that, but he just wants this to be over. His head is pounding, vision blurry, and he can't even stand up straight because every time he tries, his shoulder protests with flash of blinding pain. It's dislocated, he can feel it, but he hasn't tried to look at it for fear that if he does, it will only make him sick. Spencer can't afford to worry about himself right now, after all, his priority right now is Joel, always Joel.

There's movement beside him, and Spencer finally turns his head to look, regretting it instantly because the pain in his head only worsens. He holds a palm to his forehead, letting out a groan and trying desperately to keep from crying because this isn't the time, not right now, not when Joel needs him to stay strong. He'd heard Joel say it, that the demon hates him, that he can get the demon out, and Spencer can only hope that he's as capable as Joel believes him to be. His hand trembles as he lowers it, reaching for the bowl that Les is holding out, but before he can manage to take hold of it, Coop has already crossed over from his place in the pentagram to take the bowl. His friend takes hold of the knife, cutting into his palm and dripping his blood into the bowl before ducking down to find Spencer's eyes, giving him a tight, encouraging smile.

"You can do this," Coop tells him, and Spencer's nod would be imperceptible if Coop hadn't been watching so closely. Coop nods back, satisfied, then holds the bowl out for Nerium to take. "That's enough. It has to be." He jerks his head toward Spencer. "He's already lost enough blood, got it? Just let him do what he needs to do."

Spencer blinks slowly, watching Coop return to his place in the pentagram, and there's no helping the tear that rolls down his cheek. It's not until he hears that laugh again, that awful laugh that comes from Joel but isn't Joel because he's never heard such a sound escape his husband. The demon is fighting hard for control, but it can't have fully regained it if it hasn't struck out yet and that gives Spencer a renewed sense of purpose.

"You can have whatever you want, Nerium," he says, voice hoarse as if he hasn't used it in a long time, "just make sure that thing can't hurt him anymore." His eyes meet Joel's again, searching desperately for a sign that his husband is there and finding nothing. His shoulder throbs, his back aches, his head pounds, but in this moment, Spencer doesn't care. He'd journey through every circle of hell and back for one man, for this man, and he can feel the tears streaming freely now but it's because there's nothing left to hold him back. He needs Joel, he needs his husband back whole, and if he's the only one who can lure the demon out then so be it. He won't stop trying until he's dead.

"'"Does it hurt?" asked the Rabbit,'" he recites softly. "'"Sometimes," said the Skin Horse, for he was always truthful. "When you are Real you don't mind being hurt."' We're Real, Joel. This is Real, you and me. Forget everything else, just for a minute, and concentrate on my voice. 'Once you are Real you can't become unreal again. It lasts for always.' For always, baby, that's what we are." He voice is trembling but he carries on, unwilling to stop because he's so afraid that if he stops for just a second, the demon will win and he can't let that happen. "I need you here, I need you with me because I can't do this without you, I don't know how anymore." He wants to close the gap between himself and Joel, wants to forget the pain and pull his husband down to the ground, anchor him in a hug and shower him with all the love and affection that he deserves, but he doesn't want to ruin whatever Nerium might have planned.

"I need you to come back so we can be Real together because we have a future planned, remember? We have--" His eyes widen as he remembers, this news that he'd come to tell Joel in the first place, this news that he'd let fall from his mind because he's been watching this demon destroy the one person in this world that he loves beyond all else. "We have a baby, Joel. We have a baby, we're going to have a baby, she's pregnant. Oh, god. Oh, god, you can't leave me here alone, do you understand me? You can't because I need you, our child is going to need you, Dane or Rose, we-- We need you here with us so you have to keep fighting, I know you're trying so hard, but you have to try harder so our baby can see how lucky they are to have you as a father, okay? God, Joel, please, just come back to me."

[just_another]

Nerium goes about things so efficiently, so quickly and without a shadow of doubt that, buried somewhere deep down inside this demon, Joel finds himself feeling a flicker of hope. She knows what she needs to do and Les helps her without hesitation and Joel knows, he just knows that he was right in asking her for help. Whatever she wants, whatever payment she needs to take, Joel is willing to pay it and he thinks Spencer will be as well. He trusts her not to ask for something he can't give, so he only hopes Spencer will do the same and will tell her she can have whatever she needs.

He can tell that Spencer is in pain, that he's struggling, but he stands anyway and he begins to quote from the Velveteen Rabbit and Joel can feel something happening inside of him. Later, he won't really be able to explain it. There's rage and there's a strong sense of something inside him wanting to stake its claim, but there's fear, too. The demon is afraid, the demon hates what Spencer is doing and Joel thinks maybe this is the moment. Maybe this is when the demon's hold on him is weakest, because for longer Spencer speaks, the more in control he feels.

Suddenly the force holding him up is gone and Joel's body drops to the floor again. He lets out a cry of pain, his broken wrist taking most of his weight before he collapses on the floor, but he's more in control than he's been since this started and he's ready. He has to do it. He's ready to fight. But Spencer isn't finished. Joel is ready, but Spencer isn't finished speaking and for a moment he's stunned to the point where he can't speak, he can't move. Even if he had complete control of himself right now, he knows he wouldn't be able to move because this news is unbelievable.

They're going to have a baby.

Inside him it feels like something snaps. He can feel the demon scrambling for control, trying to take over, screaming in fury and fear, and Joel almost wants to smile. This is it, this is exactly what he needed and he manages to push himself slowly to his feet, standing in his place in the pentagon and he knows it probably looks like nothing, but inside it feels like a war. He has control, but it's tenuous, and he's afraid if he stops fighting, if he gives even an inch he'll lose it again and he can't. He can't.

Long scratches appear on his arms and he can feel them happening on the inside, his skin being torn open, but it's desperate. Joel can feel just how desperate the demon is and he almost laughs. Instead, he summons all his strength, all his energy, all his courage, and he draws in a deep breath and orders, "Get out!"

At first nothing happens and then Joel feels it, a sudden absence, a lack of something that's been inside him for as long as he can remember. From behind him a shadow unfurls, enormous and dark and faceless. If he could turn, he would recognize it as the thing that had taken Amy the night she had died, but he can't. All he can do is stand there, the cuts on his arms slowly bleeding, feeling this thing leaking out of him bit by bit as it fills the room instead.

[neriumoleander]

"NOW." Nerium finishes the final touches of the pentagram, pouring the sacrificial blood mixed with an assortment of herbs and ground crystals and bones in lines to form the symbol between each of her points. And when she finds herself to her point, she raises her arms, chanting a few silent words, and a protective shield forms. It should keep the points safe - at least from minor harm. There is no saying the same if the demon strikes. But the demon has freed itself, and they must act quickly.

Another would have found Spencer's display touching. Nerium has her sights only on completing the ritual. The power of love, however, does not wholly escape her.

In her hands she holds the box. Its black stone emanates an otherwordly glow as she opens it and she calls out to the demon. At first, her words are mere vocalizations to the untrained ear. Whispers and chanting and utterances that sounds like little more than wind. By the time she is done, she appears taller, to stand straighter, and she looks straight into the faceless ageless thing.

"Oh great deity, demon of the darkness that gave birth to us all. Your chaos gives us life. Your laughter is our sustenance. We bow before your great power. I beseech you, I plead you. Return to your obsidian castle. That which existed before the dirt and rocks which form this very earth. You have no vessel now,but you do have a home. And you shall be worshiped and loved and hated as you deserve to be. Come to me, oh great one. And may the whispers of the fear and conflict of this world call out your name as you return home."

[lesparker]

A power surges through the lines of the pentagram, and the energy flowing between them is strong enough that Les has to keep both feet planted firmly on the ground or else he'd be knocked down when the winds gust through the house, knocking down shelves and books and kicking back the curtains and shutters. From the creaking of the boards below, it sounds like the house is about to be ripped from its foundation.

The house holds study and so does everyone else. When Nerium finishes her call to the demon, Les concentrates on the magic radiating from the black stone in her hands. It's up to the demon now to leave this world, but Les decides they are being awfully kind to this thing. He uses his own magic to create a white light, something bright and pure. It expands slowly across the room, pushing the blackness backwards, trapping it between him and Nerium. Les' light pushes and squeezes when it touches the faceless black shape, causing it to scream a eerie screech of pain.

"You running out of options. Time for you to go back home," he demands, holding his hands out steady, building more light in the room until there is no where left for it to run except too the stone waiting in Nerium's hands.