“You can do what you want, Heathen. I will not give you anything,” Michael snarled angrily up from where he sat in the center of the room. He had been stripped of his armor and lashed to a metal chair - none-too-gently. The muscles in his arms were strained with the odd angle they were yanked back behind him. His curly brown hair was mottled with dried blood and an angry bruise was starting to color one side of his face.

“What makes you think I want you to give me anything, Michael?” Isaac stood on the last step of the basement stairs, looking at the man in the middle of the room with a thin, malicious smile.

“Why would I be in one piece, unless you wanted something from me?” Michael yanked at the chains that held him to no avail.

Isaac slowly pulled the black leather gloves off of his hands and tucked them into his coat, in no rush to answer the man in front of him. “Aah, there you are mistaken. I only want you out of the way...”

“Bastard!” Michael spat at him from his bloodied lip.

Isaac turned to walk out of the room, taking a few steps up the stairs before stopping. “Muse, watch him.”

Muse appeared by the bottom of the stairs and looked up at Isaac wide-eyed. "Wait, what, seriously?!"

"Yes."

"Why do I have to watch him?!" Fear tugged at her voice. She didn't want to be left down here with Michael - even if the man was chained to a chair, he scared her.

"Because you do not sleep for weeks. And because-" Isaac paused as a crash sounded from upstairs. Muse shut her eyes tightly at the sound of Aaron yelling at someone - Victor's voice yelling back. "It will keep you out of the line of fire."

Muse looked up at him, pain clearly written across her face.

Isaac looked back down at her, his face stoic. There was just the slightest flicker of something in his eyes. Muse wasn't sure what it was. Isaac turned up the stairs and began to head towards the door. "There is a direct proportionality between the quantity of time I keep you out of sight and the quantity of broken furniture I will have to replace."

"I guess." Muse looked up at the stairs, hearing Victor and Aaron still yelling at each other. As Isaac slammed the door to the basement shut, silence fell over the first floor. She waited nervously for the following explosion - but none came. There was only an uncomfortable silence.

So here she was, standing in the basement - with Michael, the Crusader, behind her, and an irate Aaron and Victor upstairs. Rock and a hard place. She supposed that dealing with the man who wanted to kill her for no reason was better than the man who wanted to kill her and had a reason. A really good reason. Muse turned from the stairs and walked into the room, walking to a pole a good ten feet from Michael and sat down on the floor, her back against it. She pulled her knees up and propped her arms on them.

Michael was looking at her. She was looking back at him. She wondered where Eric had gone with all of Michael's armor, and for that matter - what he was going to do with it. It still shocked her how... normal he looked. Built as all hell, yes. He had a boyish cuteness to him, like someone you might see in a supermarket who caught your eye. Sure, he was mottled with blood and bruises, but other than that he could have been... anyone. She couldn't believe that he was the armored monster that had nearly killed Eric, nearly killed Isaac, and that scared her so badly. He looked so remarkably human.

"Let me go," Michael growled out, yanking hard on the chains and then hissing in pain.

"So... you... can what, kill everyone in the house?"

"Because it's the right thing to do."

"Says who?"

Michael let out a long moan, which suddenly turned into a burst of rage. He kicked and thrashed hard in his restraints, tossing from side to side. “Let me go!” Michael roared. He began swearing loudly as he struggled angrily against the chains to no avail.

"I thought you weren't supposed to use the Lord’s name like that.”

"Don't mock me," Michael snapped. He settled back against the chair again, glaring a hole into the floor.

"I suppose it-"

They both jumped at a loud thud as something hit the floor just over their heads, followed by more silence. Muse looked up at the ceiling and let out a wavering sigh, pulling her knees closer to herself. Michael looked over at her.

"You're at fault for Aaron's anger, I take it."

"If I can't give you a hard time, Tin-can, you can't give me one either."

"I'm not sure that's how these kinds of situations work."

"Well, you're the one tied to the chair. I make the rules."

That one seemed to get him. His mouth open to reply, he finally let out a small huff of air and resumed staring at the floor.

Aaron wanted to kill him, wanted to dash his brains over the walls. First, the stupid little thing was trying to steal Muse away from him, and now - now it turns out, that everyone knew she was dead, except him. His hands were clasped around Victor's throat, clenching down hard. It would have been more effective if the vampire needed to breathe, but at least he could inflict pain.

"Aaron, this-!" Victor gagged out.

"Let 'em go," Mal said by the wall, stepping forward. Aaron merely turned his head to glare at him, sending the bigger man crashing from one room to the other, toppling over the sofa and landing in a heap on the other side with a grunt - with nothing more than a look. Aaron wouldn't be told to calm down by anyone, not when he had every right to be furious. He knew he was losing control, but at this point, he couldn't care less.

The vampire was still yelling at him as best as he could with Aaron's hands wrapped around his throat. Aaron had long since gone deaf to his words.

The basement door slammed shut to his left. He turned his head to see Isaac standing there, a clearly disapproving expression on his face. Dropping the blond, he turned to face his brother, clenching his fists in anger. He would trade pounding the little man for his brother, any day.

"Enough, Aaron. Cease this uselessness."

"You knew. You all knew. No one told me, you all knew she was dead!"

"Yes."

"Why didn't you tell me?!"

"Simply because that was her request." Isaac folded his hands neatly behind his back. Aaron passionately hated how no matter what, Isaac never lost his cool. No matter what he did, he could never even startle the sorcerer. He wanted to make him feel fear, wanted to make him feel pain, but every attempt failed. He snarled deep in his throat.

"She asked you not to?!”

"Yes."

"Why?!"

"For that, you would have to ask her. Perhaps she is embarrassed. Perhaps it raises uncomfortable questions about the circumstances under which you two met."

Aaron's blood ran cold, his vision became hyper-clear, in the way that it does when you are about to pass out. No. No, it couldn't have been her. The thing that chased him, the thing that tore up his house...

It made perfect sense.

The thoughts all started to click together one by one as everything fell in place. Like looking down at a board game, he could see the linear path from one place to another - and he knew that he had been played.

"You sent her. You sent her to do those things to me." Aaron's body was no longer capable of keeping up the fury that rolled through his mind. He put his hands over his face and let out a low moan.

"Yes."

“But why?!” That always seemed to be the part that he was missing.

"Because you are safer with me than without. You are my responsibility, Aaron. The only way to have you peacefully here is to make you believe that you have no other option. I did not want to cage you like an animal, even if you do insist on living out your life like some sort of vegetable." Isaac shrugged with a simple lift of his shoulders.

"You never seemed so concerned about taking care of me before!"

"Aaron, everything I've done has been in your best interests..."

"That's what you said then! When you gave me these-" Aaron pointed to the scars on his face. "In that god-forsaken camp back home!"

"That was to help you control yourself. It appears they were in vain.”

Aaron stepped forward, unable to stop himself. He grabbed his brother by the front of the shirt and threw him - hurled him across the room. Isaac landed with a hard thud on the ground, a good ten feet away. Fear suddenly pricked Aaron's nerves. That was probably a very stupid move. Isaac could do horrid things to him and had proven that fact many times prior. Unconsciously he ran his hand along the scars on his left arm, the knife-edge marks on his skin.

To his shock, Isaac only simply stood up, brushed himself off and adjusted his glasses. "Do you feel better now?"

"No," Aaron clipped. He suddenly had the overwhelming urge to do two things - talk to Muse, and get away from Isaac. Hopefully, they could be solved at the same time. "Where is she?"

"I will not have you destroying my house, Aaron."

"Tell me where she is!"

Isaac let out an exasperated sigh and shut his eyes, rubbing his hand across his forehead. "She is downstairs, guarding Michael. I would recommend you-"

Aaron had stopped listening. Turning for the basement door, he threw it open, and headed down into the familiar dankness, slamming the door shut behind him.

Muse did not need to guess who it was storming down the stairs. She vanished, glad that her unique state of being meant that she could easily hide. Aaron stormed down the stairs, stopping at the bottom and turning about. Aaron stepped forward and looked down at Michael. "Where is she?"

"I'm not sure. She was here a moment ago. It seems the dead can come and go at will."

Aaron visibly shuddered, running his hands through his hair and gripping it with both hands for a moment, letting out a frustrated growl. "Muse?!" he yelled.

Like hell, she was going to answer.

He yelled again, but she stayed where she was, invisible and intangible, watching. She wanted to cry. 'Guilt' was not a strong enough word to describe what she felt. She had never meant for this to happen, but she shouldn't have been surprised. Of course, Aaron thought she had betrayed him. To be honest - she had.

Aaron walked back to the stairs and sat down on the bottom step. It seemed he was planning on waiting her out. Shit.

"Let me go, Aaron."

"I can't... I mean, even if I did, do you think you'd make it out of the house?" Aaron sighed. "Isaac would get you before you made five steps..."

"At least I would stand a chance."

"No, you wouldn't, and I'd get hurt."

Michael shut his eyes and leaned his head back, apparently coming to terms with the fact that that option was fruitless. "Fine. Then you should leave."

"I'm planning on it."

"If you go to the base at St. Peter's in the city, you could get help, Aaron. We can help you control your telekinesis. You wouldn't take me up on the offer last time when you-"

"No. I won't. I won't be your little guinea pig."

"We wouldn't... I know you're sensitive about-"

"Shut up, Michael, you don't know what you're talking about."

"I was the one who pulled you out of the wreckage of that hospital. I've seen what you can do. What you have done. All those people, crushed - do you really think you're safe to be in public? We can help you!"

"No!" Aaron stood up and glared down at the bloodied Crusader. "I won't. So give up. Muse!" he yelled, looking about the room. "Muse, you can't hide forever."

Try me.

"You owe me at least a chance to get some answers," he clenched his hands into fists. "Muse, goddamn it - after what you did to me, you owe me this much!"

Muse had the urge to go up through the floors and just forget about this. She wanted nothing more than to go hide somewhere and let it all go away. But Aaron was right. She owed him. She put the man in the hospital, nearly killed him. She tormented him for weeks, and then lied to him. Taking in a long wavering breath, she appeared, standing with her back against the pole.

As Aaron stormed towards her, she cringed - shutting her eyes tightly. She wasn't sure why - it's not like him hitting her would really do anything at all. But his hatred was worse. She could almost feel the rage pouring off of him.

"How could you?! How could you lie to me?!"

"I didn't really lie, I-"

"Muse!"

"Look, it's - I was afraid of what you'd think, okay?! I'm not-" Aaron reached for her suddenly. She let her physical body slip to transparency, his hand passing straight through her, disturbing her like incense smoke. He pulled in a gasp and staggered backwards. "See?! You're afraid of me!"

"What are you?!"

"I'm dead. I'm a ghost. Been quite dead for a while."

"Why didn't you tell me? Do you think I'd care over something so stupidly small as-"

"Oh so being dead is 'stupidly small'?! Try it sometime!" Now she was mad. Whenever people yelled at her, it just made her angry. Even if she didn't have a reason to be. She vanished abruptly, causing him to stagger further backwards away from her, his eyes wide. Fear quickly melted back into anger.

"Come back."

"No."

"Why?!"

"Because you're pissed."

"Shouldn't I be?!"

"Look, Aaron, I'm sorry for lying to you. I'm sorry for what happened - I didn't know it'd-"

"It'd what?! Didn't know you were tormenting me?! Didn't know you'd put me in the hospital?!"

"That was an accident!"

"You work for my brother. Nothing is ever an accident around him."

"Shut up, Aaron. I don't have a choice."

"You're just like everyone else," Aaron ran his hand through his hair, pulling on it again. He went back to the stairs. "I can't trust you. You're just like the rest of them."

"Aaron, I'm sorry - I didn't want this to happen. I didn't want to lie to you, but... it... How could I explain this?! I didn't know what to do."

"You should have tried!" Aaron rounded towards the disembodied voice angrily, wishing he had something to glare at. "You should have told me before I stupidly let myself fall for you!"

"Wait - what?!"

"Don't be an idiot. You led me on."

"I what?!" Muse wasn't quite sure what was happening now. He was yelling at her still, but now it wasn't making any sense. Leading him on? How the hell was she leading him on? Muse appeared standing between Aaron and Michael, looking at the scarred man completely flabbergasted. "What in the hell are you ranting about? Look don't make shit up just because you're pissed."

Aaron snarled angrily. Muse witnessed something break in him. Something changed suddenly. The look in his eyes returned - the blank glare, the one that he got back in the hospital. He looked at her as though he didn't recognize her. The pipes overhead began to rattle. He stepped towards her, and Muse knew what was about to happen. She just shut her eyes and let it.

Aaron rounded on her, cracking her stiffly across the jaw with his fist. She hit the ground and skid with the force of it, laying on the ground. As she did, she heard the pipes overhead stop their violent shaking. She opened her eyes and looked over at him, unfazed by the punch. Aaron's face contorted slightly in confusion.

"Did that make you feel better?"

Muse blinked - she wasn't sure what she just said, but Aaron lost it further. "That's it! You're his goddamn little puppet! You're his little toy! Now you even sound like him!" Aaron stormed away, up the stairs. He slammed the door behind him, nearly breaking the hinges where they met the wood.

She laid there on the floor, staring up at the pipes and the beams of the ceiling. “I really wish I knew what I said,” she said to no one in particular. I guess it doesn’t matter...

Muse sat up, pulling her legs up to her chin. She put her head down on her knees, blocking out the light. Why did 'life' do this to her? She was dead. She was stuck on this planet without being able to feel anything, and yet she was forced to go through this - whatever it was. She hadn't felt like this since she had lost her friends in high school. Worse, actually. This time it was all her fault. She wanted to go home. That strange sensation that one gets when one wants to go somewhere safe and curl up. But she had nowhere she could go.

She began to cry, unable to stop herself. Hugging her knees to herself tightly, she let all the pain go, not caring whether or not Michael saw.

"I give you credit... if he hit me like that, I might cry as well. But - Oh yes, you had mentioned it before. You don't feel pain."

Muse sniffed. That's all she needed. She vanished, appearing by the pole she was at before, leaning up against it. She wiped her eyes, shooting a glare at Michael. "I don't feel anything. Ever." She slumped down to the ground, her back against the pole. She stayed there, wiping her eyes again. She was glad her eye makeup was incapable of running. "Don't pity me."

"I wasn't going to."

"Hrmf."

Silence fell between the two for a long time. She didn't know why she was even talking to him. Aaron hated her, probably was never going to talk to her again... she didn't know if the boys were mad at her for the trouble she caused. Isaac was - well, Isaac. Michael, the armored boogeyman, was sitting there, looking at her with - if she didn't know better - a look of compassion.

"Child, set me free. I can return the favor - I will find a way to free you of this unnatural state."

"Tempting, but no." Muse disappeared.

"You are not supposed to be like this. Let me go, and I'll help you pass to the other side."

She snorted. "At least this Hell has HBO."

Aaron had one foot out the door before he heard his least favorite voice behind him.

"You're leaving."

He figured that would have been obvious. He had no reason to stay, now. Muse had turned out to be nothing but the cause of his pain. He couldn't stay here, not with her. Not with them. Aaron turned to face his brother but stayed silent.

"You may think me a liar, Aaron, but I am not. The demons that chased you before will come for you again. Yes, I tricked you, but the purpose was benign, I promise you that. They want you, Aaron - and they will have you if you stray."

Insults, arguments - they all ran through his brain. They all seemed to boil together into one solid note. The note turned into a strange feeling of calm that washed over him. It didn't matter. Nothing he would say would matter. Isaac was unchangeable. He stood there in his shirt, vest, and tie like he was locked in time. Aaron knew it was pointless.

His latest attempt at being human, at feeling human - maybe even feeling something more, had been dashed to pieces by the very object of his affection. All at the whim of the man before him. The idea of staying in the house seemed worse than anything that demons could wreak upon him. Shaking his head slowly, he simply turned and walked from the house, leaving the door open as he headed across the lawn. His beat-up Jeep sat under a tree, the mild drizzle having painted its windows grey with moisture.

"You are putting yourself in danger..."

He didn't listen.

"Aaron."

He didn't turn.

"Aaron, wait."

Aaron opened the door to his car. He didn't look at Isaac or at the house as he got in, shut the door and drove away. The strange calmness that filled him stayed as he drove into the night. There was nothing left of him. Let the demons come.