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Bassett stood by the dark alleyway, not minding the rancid smell. He was used to it. Things were worse in the trenches back at the battlefield that he had to live in during the war. Anything was better than that place, including this alleyway. He glanced around the side, watching where Pey eyed an antique weapon shop several yards away. His demon was distracted by the swords and other ancient items of war displayed in the windows. In fact, he was drooling despite himself in the window. Bassett rolled his eyes despairingly and called out to his demon.

"Pey! Come on! I'm going to be late for Galvin and the Master will not like that at all!"

Pey waved his sharp nails at Bassett, gesturing curtly to give him some more time. He didn't care right now about whether or not the poor servant made it on time back home. He wanted to look at these swords and gear first. He could already imagine the battlefields they were loosed upon, slaying thousands...

Pey drooled some more.

Great. The demon was ignoring him.

Bassett gave a grin, this was perfect. Neil and his demon would be here at any moment.

Bassett was no stranger to acting.

When he was in the army, he and his companions not only acted out different roles for fun, but also for their lives. They once stole away into the enemy's territory, stole their uniforms, and acted out as one of their own in order to sneak by their defenses and ambush them from the inside. Bassett also had to fall upon his knees and plead to a god he didn't believe in in order to trick the enemies long enough before he could find the butt of a weapon and smash it into their jaws.

What Bassett was stranger to, however, was acting as a victim.

Wincing visibly as the larger man grasped his arm and forced him into the alleyway, Bassett couldn't help but become terribly surprised at how well his companion in mischief played. He gave a gasp and frowned deeply, furrowing his brows and calling out loudly, "Sir, I advise you get your hands off of me! I don't want to hurt you!"

Pey hardly gave a glance in the direction of his summoner. With the small flick of his pointed ear, he made note of where his summoner was going, but nothing more than that. If his voice or the feeling of the soldier's presence wandered too far away, Pey would unwillingly pry himself from the windows of the antique store and follow along. Pey had seen Bassett in battle and knew his abilities. He was a monster! Whether or not the solider cared to admit it. That is why Pey chose to haunt Bassett in the first place! He was quite convinced that his summoner could take care of himself. Whoever was harassing him now would probably get a swift jab in the face, a broken nose, and they would dash away, surprised by Bassett's ability and his small lanky stature.

For the meanwhile, Pey admired a particularly old Japanese blade.

Pey glanced over his shoulder, somewhat distracted by the clattering trash can lid that skittered in his direction. He stepped on it, slamming it to a stop, and snorted through his nose. At least Bassett's blood was getting fired up, Pey thought offhandedly, it would taste better tonight. Even if he wasn't there to work his magic on the soldier's blood flow, make it pump, make him stronger. It would definitely taste better.

The mere thought made Pey's stomach rumble.

A cracked smile passed over the demon's face and he turned his attention back into the antique store. He wondered what it would take for Bassett to buy him a medic's jacket and an armband. Perhaps he could just steal it...

A loud gasp escaped Bassett's lips as he was suddenly jerked off his feet and against the wall. He expected it to hurt, for the concrete bricks to grate against his back, but he was cushioned by something he couldn't see. It didn't mean that Bassett wasn't beginning to feel perturbed by the hate in Neil's face. His legs began to kick weakly and his hands grasped at Neil's grip around the collar of his shirt.

"Let go!" Bassett grunted, struggling to kick at the man and he pulled his kicks so that he didn't hurt him, "I said, let me go!" And the soldier tried to take a swing at Neil's face.

When his hand connected with solid air, Bassett knew that something was wrong. Something that they weren't planning in this ploy was about to snap forth, and the momentary glance of apology in Neil's face told Bassett enough to guess that something was about to happen. When the eye faded into view, narrowed, and faded again, Bassett felt his stomach clench with unsettling anxiety as he was suddenly jerked from his position against the wall.

He didn't expect this.

Before the young soldier could give a gasp, he was hoisted and flying through the air. It wasn't being thrown, he was being guided by an invisible form that clutched him tight. Nonetheless, the feeling of being flung into the air, of watching Neil shrink away from him, frightened him.

It was just like being thrown by the blast from a grenade and suddenly Bassett was blinded with memories from the war. Watching shrapnel fly by, watching dirt fill the air, watching his friend's arm fly by...

Then suddenly, it was gone.

He was flying through the alley again, harmlessly deposited into a pile of trash where he rolled to a stop. Bassett struggled to regain his composure...But it didn't end there. One of the garbage bins was suddenly thrown against the wall, resulting in an explosive bang. All the composure, all the sanity, all the iron-will Bassett coveted in his hardened heart, was suddenly thrown out the window. Fright took control of the soldier's body and he shrieked a terrible wail, scrambling wildly before Neil's hulking figure. Shudders suddenly took over Bassett's body, his jaw began to chatter, and his fingers curled in tight and he became a young soldier controlled with shell shock, watching as Neil lumbered near.

Okay.

It sounded like Bassett was kicking a**, just like Pey knew he would. Pointed ears perking at the sound of battle, the demon finally pried himself away from the antique shop and waltzed over to the alleyway. he was eager to see his soldier doling out the harshness until he heard a loud bang and Bassett's shriek of terror.

Okay.

It sounded like someone was kicking Bassett's a**. Which meant that Pey was going to have to whip out his polished razor-sharp nails. Rounding the corner, increasing his speed, Pey scuttled onto the side of the wall, just hanging there along the side without any mind to gravity, observing the situation with inverted eyes of anger.

Was someone hurting his Bassett?!

Gulping great heaving breaths of panic, Bassett remained frozen with tremors underneath Neil's film hand. The loud sound of the garbage bin smashing into the wall had severely jolted him, sending lightning bolts of memory back to the soldier's brain, concocting similar terrible sounds...Bombs, bangs, booms, and shells! The all-too clear memory of curling tight in a foxhole ran through Bassett's mind, curling tight beside his cousin moments before a shell exploded their foxhole from the inside out. It was after that shell blast that Bassett was thrown into the mud yards away, not able to hear anything, not even his own heartbeat. But he could see, see with dizzying clarity as his cousin's arm rolled past him along with other miscellaneous body parts.

For several moments, Bassett couldn't see the pained expression on the face of his new-found friend playing enemy. It was only when the man muttered a guttural "'ey" that Bassett was half-way snapped to reality. The young soldier could see him now, see him for all his features. He remembered what was happening and the gears in his brain began to click back into motion from their frozen state. But, for the life of him, he couldn't stop his body from trembling violently. The loud noise had started him out of control.

He tried to mouth something to Neil, something that started with an 's' for his teeth whistled and his tongue hissed. But before he could stutter out the word, there was a demonic growl from behind.

Pey wasn't one to jump in the way of a speeding bullet to save another, but he would stay true to his contract to a fault. What he could deduce from this strange hulking man kneeling over Bassett with an arm grasping Bassett's shoulder, and the poor soldier struck with the shivers beneath him, was that Pey would need to intervene. It disappointed him in a way. He was expecting Bassett to be kicking a**, like he had done before in war. But ever since he left, he wasn't the monster that he used to be. What disappointed him most was...

Bassett's blood was going to be bitter this evening instead of hot.

Whatever. Bassett needed protection, this man was threatening him, Pey would get his nails dirty. Releasing an inhuman shout that almost sounded like a growl, Pey scuttled across the wall like an enraged spider and launched himself with crazy speed at Bassett's assailant. Nails spread wide like razors and jaw hanging slack in a howl, Pey roared, "HE'S MINE!"

Bassett couldn't do anything more but stare in gaping horror as Pey flung himself out of no where, bouncing off the wall like a cat out of hell. It was then that Bassett finally fully realized the danger he had put his new friend in. He had thought of the ruse, the plan to get Pey riled up enough in order to protect him, but he hadn't thought past that! Bassett didn't think of the demon's reaction. Bassett didn't know that he had put Neil in physical danger!

Latching onto the man and throwing himself and Neil to the ground, Pey rolled his summoner's assailant onto his back, his knees pinning the man's hips. His claws ripped easily through the man's leather, digging into Neil's skin as he tightened his hold on the man. There was no way for the man to jerk out of his grip now. He would have his way with him for what he did to Bassett! Unlatching his jaw, Pey let his jowl hang loose in a sicking manner, displaying his rows of sharp wiry teeth in a terrifying manner along with a tongue most foul. Gargling up a terrifying sound, Pey began to descend upon his victim, mandibles wide open, intending to sink his teeth into this assailant and drain him dry...

"PEY!"

At the sound of his name, the Nameless demon hesitated. Before he had the chance to flicker his eyes to the side, the young ex-soldier had sprung up from the trash and crashed into his side, sending them both rolling off of Neil and onto the wet pavement of the alleyway. Startled, Pey gave another hideous screech, one that made Basset jerk and shudder, and shoved his summoner off of him and into the wall.

"What," Pey heaved at him, "Are you DOING?!" His inverted eyes were wide with bewildered rage.

"Don't hurt him!" Bassett pleaded, pushing himself to his hands and knees, "Don't! I command you not to!"

"I'm not your PET" the demon sneered, flipping up onto his feet in a sickening manner that might have broken anyone else's spine. "This man was assailing you and you were too VULNERABLE to attack back! So I'm holding true to my contract and protecting you, you sick excuse for a soldier!"

Bassett stared at Pey wide-eyed then, confused about what to say next.

"What's going on?" Pey growled, now suspicious.

Pale shoulders bristling and heels raising like hackles, Pey turned a terrible glare upon the man upon the ground. His toothy jowl rippled in a growl and the demon had half the mind to disobey his summoner's orders and simply tear out the man's throat there and now. No one was going to kill Bassett while he was around, even if he was a shadow of his former self...Pey was almost about to pounce upon Neil once more when Bassett leapt up from behind and threw his arms around Pey's chest.

"Pey, stop, listen, just listen, dammit!" the soldier demanded, locking his hands around his wrists so he could hold back the demon (which was a futile attempt in the first place, nevertheless noble), "It was a ploy! I planned it! It's fake! Neil, stop acting along. It's over. I shouldn't have ever asked you to do this for me." Bassett stared at the man from over Pey's shoulders, his eyes voice of moisture but filled with guilt. The soldier had put someone's life in danger...That was shameful, and Bassett did it willingly, without thinking about the consequences, simply thinking about himself and the demon drunk on his own blood. He shouldn't have ever gotten Neil involved! How stupid of him! Stupid, stupid! Bassett furrowed his brows and he caught site of the blood staining the man's jacket and shirt, "I was selfish, I put a fellow man in danger...Just..."

Giving a throaty wail of frustration, the Nameless broke free from Bassett's grip and pushed him again into the brick wall of the old building so that the soldier bounced off and fought for his feet. "WHAT?" the demon shrieked, "You DARE try and trick me?!"

"You were hurting me, Pey, you were driving me to weakness! I needed some way to get you to finally accept your part of the bargain!" Bassett pleaded, trying to step forward towards his demon. "I'm not just someone you can use to fill your stomach, I'm your summoner!"

"You are a COWARD and a LIAR," Pey shrieked back at the boy and he stalked near the soldier, overpowering him with every step. This was INTOLERABLE! This soldier? Once a fear upon the battlefield, once a monster to the enemy, once a demon to the many, had resulted to THIS? Pey shoved Bassett against the wall hard again and sneered his toothy smile against Bassett's face, no longer a grin, but a terrifying frown, "You have fallen so far from grace, Bassett Ellery, to use tricks and folly. Once you were noble and feared...Now nothing but a scrawny runt! Enough of you!" Pey spit in Bassett's face and the soldier winced, but kept his head straight. Spinning on his heel and spitting at Neil as well, the demon stalked off back towards the light. As he passed by another garbage bin, he took hold into its sides, raking his nails into the metal, and threw it as hard as he could into the old brick building. It hit with a resounding crash, one that made the ashamed soldier jump and suddenly become knock-kneed and frightened.

With that, Pey disappeared into the light of the evening, angry and fuming with disappointment and humiliation.

Left behind, his face still dripping with Pey's flecked red spit, Bassett looked at Neil head on and said in a voice so soft, "I'm sorry. My fault."

Bassett sighed heavily as he watched his demon round the corner, disappearing from sight. His shoulders slumped forward and he barely moved when Neil attempted to wipe the spit from his face. He tried as well to rub his face against his sleeve, but he was shaking so hard that it took him once or twice to get his face somewhat clean. Still half-shaken by the loud noises, Bassett shook his head at Neil, "We shouldn't have tried at all...I'm fine..." he was saying, his voice somber.

As the Irishman wobbled onto his feet, Bassett attempted to follow. Because of the shell shock, the soldier was now slowed down, slow to respond and to react. Which meant that when Neil voiced a question, Bassett slowly lifted his head, looking at Neil in confusion, just around the same time the shadows around him where changing and growing larger. There was a clang. Bassett flinched. There was a clatter. Bassett gave a shudder. And Bassett then knew that he had to move. His battle trained senses were telling him to move, to jump, to leap out of the way, but his body wasn't responding! He was quaking too hard. Struggling to scramble awkwardly onto his feet and leap out of the way, Bassett had just managed to begin to throw himself towards Neil when black iron fell upon him, crushing his body into the grime of the alleyway.

Bassett released a terrible wail and writhed uselessly. He was trapped underneath an iron cage of stairwell. The flat iron landing was pressing him into the ground and above that there was the weight of the metal stairs and the next landing on top of that! Bassett's head had been bounced between the cement and the iron as was the rest of his body. He couldn't even move his arms for they were crushed underneath the railing.

Gasping and trying to turn his head, Bassett cried for his friend, "Neil! Neil, oh god, get this off of me!" he yelped pitifully, "Get it off! Auuggh!! F#$&#xin;g @#$%$ of a...Oh, god! Pey! Pey!!"