Death Becomes You {Vincent}

[Mary Dubois]

I don't need no needle to be giving me a thrill
And I don't need no anesthesia or a nurse to bring a pill
I got a dirty down addiction that doesn't leave a track
I got a jolt for your affection like a monkey on my back
There ain't no paramedic gonna save this heart attack

Ahhh.. A penthouse suite. Wasn't that just nice?

From her position among the shadows of the bedroom, a tall slender blond leaned on the wall and eyed the sleeping form in a luxurious four poster bed dispassionately. Time had taken the young boy she remembered into a fully matured, sexy as hell man with lines of living etching his face.

It was to bad really. She had hoped that he'd be a middle aged puke gone to seed with a beer belly and triple digit jowls. If fate had been kind, he would have been.

Not that that fickle bitch had ever had a shred of that trait in her arrogant, pompous body. Oh no.. Mary was quiet convinced that the frightful old bat enjoyed every twinge she could pull out of her unsuspecting victims. She certainly had laughed at Mary's plight enough.

Which lead her right back to the whole reason she was sulking around in this bedroom suite when she should be anywhere but here. After two decades in hell... She was finally going to take her revenge on the one man responsible for landing her in the very pits of hell and beyond.

She was here to kill Vincent Montegue.


As luck would have it, she'd managed to arrive in town in time to check his schedule at the office and find out that he had no appointments after some social cocktail party. She'd figured he'd be home shortly after that and had lurked outside the apartments until she'd seen his car arrive.


Of course, the idiot hadn't been alone and that simply made the intruder even more cold. It had been more than obvious that Vince had calmly gone on with his life even as she'd been tortured, raped and brutalized to the point that she'd lost every shred of humanity she'd had in her. With her innocence stripped away from her and every emotion but anger beaten out of her, the girl she was had given way to the bitch of present.

Instead of Little Boo Peep... She was now Mary, Mary Quite Contrary.


Time to get this show on the road.

Moving forward, Mary made no sound as she stopped by the foot of the bed and watched the pair all entwine in what was no doubt an exhausted slumber after their mattress acrobatics of earlier. Never mind that the sight of the dark, chiseled features still brought heat to her middle. The stabbing hurt of betrayal was far, far more potent.

Stupid sod.

With a crisp movement of her hand, the slender blond shook the bed hard with her powers and raised her gun. The woman was the first one to awake and stare at her in shocked horror but Mary didn't waste any time on her. With her eyes glued upon Vincents face, she gave one crisp order.

"OUT"

Without hesitancy, the woman dove for the edge of the bed and tumbled out. With scrambling steps, she found her feet and snatched up her clothing before bolting out the door. As the slamming of the front door resounded through the penthouse, the demoness smiled evilly and meet her former loves disbelieving eyes.


"Honey, I'm Home! Did you miss me, darling?" she said before coolly arching a brow and pulling the trigger back on her glock. "Lucy.. You have some splainin to do!"

[Vincent Montegue]

It had been with a sense of repetition that Vincent had awoken that morning, starting off his day as he always did. While the maids worked on the rooms downstairs and his assistant started yelling out today’s schedule through his bedroom’s locked door, he would walk into his closet, select a suit and begin to dress. Methodical and instinctive, everything would be straight and aligned; brushed to shine and tailored for perfection. Then, without a sideways glance at his assistant, he would catch the private elevator in the foyer, go down two floors to his office, and enjoy a light breakfast before board meetings at nine.

Everything was the same, every single day of his life…and, from the looks of things, it always would be. Sometimes, he found himself wondering what it would be like to abandon the company and fly off to Tahiti, living by his brains and the strength of his hands.

But everyday, he returned to Montegue Industries and the labs below. Was it penance that he paid, for some heinous indiscretion in the past? Perhaps.

Then again, it was simpler than that; another day meant another dollar…and he did so love making money.

The rest of the day went just as smoothly; board meetings for most of the morning, working in the lab until late, and then attending one of those boring cocktail parties with the mayor to win some political brownie points. He was smiled at and flirted with by all the right ladies, and by the end of the night, found himself a pretty young thing to pass the time.

There was one thing to be said about these nameless beauties; they were definitely aiming to please a man in bed. But, as usual, once the act was done, he did his best to put some distance between them. He would have gone to the guest bedroom next door and let her sleep off her hangover, but, from past experience, knew the power of an ex-lover and her sob stories. To insult the young lady would be to have his face plastered on page 6 of the Times…and that he just could not afford. Not where he was in his research, and especially not where he was in his career. Only a few other businessmen had as much power and influence than he did, and he preferred to keep it that way.

He tried to sleep, his body instinctively rolling away from greedy hands that strode to hold onto him. Didn’t she realize that she would be gone the next morning? His reputation and the three ex-wives must have mentioned such a thing…but no, she kept on trying to do that ‘cuddling’ thing. Never mind that he had never been one for pillow talk.

And never mind the fact that he didn’t see her, when she lay with him. Blond hair, angelic face, bright smile…there was only room for one woman in his life, and she was long dead.

Or so he thought.

With a curse as the bed started to shake, Vincent shot up, instinctively reaching for the weapon in his nightstand. Being that he wasn’t the most popular man amongst the supernatural community, he’d learned to arm himself at all times. The fool girl ran her little heart out, which he was grateful for- protecting himself against one ten times as powerful was hard enough, without a hysterical woman- and forgetting his lack of clothing, pulled the special-made gun out from his bedside drawer. Pulling in almost one hundred volts of pure electricity, it seemed to work against most of the immortals he’d come across lately.

But, then again, none of said immortals looked like his dead, one-time love of his life. His eyes wide and brows cinched down in a look of confusion and shock, he found himself slowly lowering the weapon.

“Mary?” He croaked. Slowly, he shook his head and an ugly expression came onto his face. Jerking the gun back up, he couldn’t help the utter rage from tainting his voice. “I don’t find this amusing, whoever you are. If you’ve come to kill me, at least have the decency to wear your own goddamn face.”

[Mary Dubois]

Shot through the heart and you're to blame
Darlin' you give love a bad name
An angel's smile is what you sell
You promise me heaven then put me through hell
Chains of love got a hold on me
When passion's a prison you can't break free
Oh! You're a loaded gun, yeah
Oh! There's nowhere to run
No one can save me
The damage is done

Tsking, Mary looked at her former lover over the barrel of her gun. Her eyes were the same emerald green that they had been in real life but there was a darker light of amusement in them now.

"Whats a matter, darling? Don't you recognize the woman you threw away in your youth?" she taunted, tossing her blond hair back over one slim shoulder. "Or have you forgotten me already .. After the sacrifice I made for you? Didn't you think I would return? That our love would over come everything?"

Stepping around the foot of the bed, the demoness sneered at him even as she disregarded the makeshift weapon he head. Unless it was designed especially for her then it offered her no threat.

" What? No Answer? Cat got your tongue? I'm sadly dissappointed. I had heard your quite the public speaker these days.... Not that I would know from personal experience you understand... its kind of hard to make public appearances when you've been consigned to hell. Something I'm sure you were working on remedying....."

Then, with a mocking gasp, she froze in her tracks and blinked innocently at him.

"Oh.. thats right... You didn't give me two thoughts before moving on with your high society life, did you? How'd that work out for you, by the way? Still bedding every little tramp that comes along I see.... My my, Vince, sweetie.... I've got to hand it to you.. the years have definitely been good to you....I'm glad my death allowed you such... Freedom."

Letting all traces of mockery fall aside, Mary glared at the man on the bed and took aim.

"You disappointed me, Vince..... Not a very wise thing to do for someone who gave their life to save you."

[Vincent Montegue]

When my time comes
Forget the wrong that I've done
Help me leave behind some
Reasons to be missed

And don't resent me
And when you're feeling empty
Keep me in your memory

Leave out all the rest



It had been a long time since Vincent had felt anything but exhaustion. For the past thirty some-odd years, he’d gone through all the motions of life; finished school, took over the family business, made Montegue Industries a household name…made sure his parents were rotting in a fiery cell somewhere. Only his research had a modicum of excitement, and even that was governed by the tight lipped control that he’d been bred into.

But now, seeing the face of the one person he’d ever truly loved being used by some sick freak with a gun? He felt rage like he’d never known it before.

“I don’t what you’re playing at, woman, but Mary Dubois is dead. If you’re here to kill me, at least do me the favor of telling me your own fucking name, and who sent you.”

His mouth was open to demand more, his hand tightening on the weapon gripped in his fist…but he couldn’t form the words. Shock slid onto his face as her last statement drifted through his mind. Someone who have their life to save you…how could she know about that? He’d never told anyone about his parents, the demon, or how Mary had died. Until now, he’d thought that he’d take the information to his grave. How did she know? Was she some kind of psychic? Was someone digging into his past to get leverage on him?

…Or, even scarier than that, was this really his Mary?

Eyes narrowed, he stared into her face, the familiar eyes of a stranger. She looked so damn similar, and yet…she was different. The Mary he remembered had such an easy going smile, where this woman had lines of age and hardship etched into her skin. His Mary was always ready to forgive, and this version looked like she’d dance in his blood.

But it was, as comical as it may sound, that glare that got him. Even though she’d been an eternally optimistic soul, Mary Dubois had a temper inside of her that even he’d been afraid of in his younger years. He remembered being on the receiving end of that glare and doing everything in his power to bring a smile back onto her face.

Slowly, he shook his head, weapon finally lowering until his arm hung loosely at his side. “This can’t be happening…” He said, a mixture of pain and confusion on his face. “I looked for you. God…I used up so many psychics and mystics looking for you, but all of them had told me that you were at rest.”

[Mary Dubois]

Put to rest
What you thought of me
While I clean this slate
With the hands
Of uncertainty
So let mercy come
And wash away
What I've done
I'll face myself
To cross out what I've become
Erase myself
And let go of what I've done

Talk about Captain Obvious.

Mary couldn't help the smirk that curved her lips at his confusion and thought process. It wasn't often that anyone got the better of Vincent Montegue and it was shockingly... Satisfying. This moment had been a long time coming and while she'd always envisioned it going down somewhat different... She was content to let him suffer a bit before she killed him.

"Bingo. Congratulations, Vincent. Your still as smart as ever. Go to the head of the class. Mary IS dead... That sweet and innocent girl died a long time ago and a new, improved edition was formed from the ashes. I'd say like a phoenix but that is so.... cliche' don't you think?"

As her former love sorted through his thoughts and started coming to all the right conclusions, the blond found her own eyes roving his familiar but unfamiliar features and then down this body. She found herself curious as to how he'd turned out after twenty years of mortal life. Sure, she'd seen pictures and watched him through the portal in the demon lord's chamber but reality was so much more... Intense. So intense that it made a place in her middle get all gooey and that surprised her. She'd been hoping that those visions had been incorrect and he had a beer belly hidden under all those suites and ties.

Damn... No such luck there. The man obviously wasn't sought after for only his wealth. That just made her want to kill him all over again along with every little tramp he'd ever bedded.

Either that or jump his bones for one last sexual marathon before she put him in his early grave. Biting her bottom lip, it was all the demoness could do not to reach forward and yank that cover away from his body and see if the rest of him matched the part already uncovered.

No.. NO... She would not be sidetracked even though it was a delicious temptation. Damn. As much as she hated him, Mary was woman enough to admit that time had DEFINITELY been good to him. Gone was the lanky teenage boy on the verge of manhood... In his place was a man with every right to carry himself in a way that oozed confidence and sexual appeal. Hell, even sprawled awkwardly in bed with a weapon pointed at her he held himself with the air of a man who was used to getting what he wanted and that was a turn on.

Yes, it was really to bad she was going to have to kill him. Such a waste.


"Yes, Yes... I know how hard you tried to "look" for me. The demon that took me made sure I knew just how long you did and the moment you gave up. While I was used as a plaything to the hellish and powerful... You decided to build your own little playground on earth.... It was so rough on you, wasn't it?" she said snidely, his words reminding her of all the crap she'd had to put up with over the last two decades. "Do you have any idea how long twenty years is in hell, Vince? About 20,000 years by your time measurement. It's given me a lot of time to think and plan my revenge. A lot of time to picture just how I want you to beg for mercy before I kill you. I want you to suffer the same torment I did. Its my turn to have a bit of fun."

[Vincent Montegue]

God, this couldn’t be real! Keeping his movements slow, Vincent slid out of the bed, keeping his weapon slightly pointed up as he wrapped the sheet around his waist with practiced ease. The way this woman was talking, that voice…could it really be Mary? His Mary? But that look of utter hatred, and the hardness in her eyes…God, how could this be happening?

She was right, he thought absently as he stared at her, listening to that familiar voice condemn him. Gone was the innocent girl that he’d loved all those years ago. Gone was the softness and the forgiveness that his Mary seemed to eternally be in high supply of. Unconciously, his free hand drifted up to grasp the necklace that lay against his chest; the small, silver medallion that had the face of a girl etched into silver.

His Mary was gone, and in her place stood a grown woman…who wanted him dead. FUCK, what the hell did he do in his past life to deserve this kind of a migraine?

His mind whirled as he weighed his options. His conscience, ever the woeful voice, demanded that he let justice finally be carried out; that his family’s cruelty be ended by their last victim. He’d known that his parents weren’t right and the power and prestige that they had acquired were questionable. He’d found carcasses and strange books in different languages in the basement, heard chanting late at night…and had ignored everything.

He was the reason why Mary had been killed and sentenced to Hell. If he’d never let himself fall for her, if he’d never brought her to his house on that fateful night…

Gritting his teeth, Vincent straightened, tossing his weapon onto the bed. He didn’t have the luxury of dying, dammit; not with so much at stake. His company was at its peak, his research into the supernatural community was getting ready to break through that glass ceiling; he couldn’t die, not yet! He had too much left to accomplish.

Which was exactly why he took a step back and hit the hidden panic button on the floor by the bed. A silent alarm traveled down security wires until it no doubt hit the guard station downstairs. If the demon hadn’t cut any wires on her way up to his suite, there would be twenty armed men on their way up.

Now, he just had to keep himself alive for the next five minutes. Was there anything left of the woman he’d loved?

“I never stopped looking for you,” He mirrored her snarl with one of his own. He kept his hands loose and out at his sides, showing her his unarmed state and took a few steps toward her. “If you really did so much research into my life, Mary, you’d have seen that I have over a dozen psychics, witch doctors and spiritualists on my payroll. You’d see that over a quarter of my company’s earnings are donated to an organization of mediums, whose sole purpose is to look for you.”

He took another step toward her, keeping his eyes on her face. “You’d know that I’m hated amongst most psychic communities, because I don’t give a damn who burns out from Looking. You’d know that I’d tried to recall that damned demon and barter my soul for yours. You’d know, if you’d really looked!”

He stopped when he was only a few feet away from her weapon. Gritting his teeth, he forced those damned words out and prayed that the security team had been notified. “Kill me, if that’s what you want. Torture me. God knows I deserved it, for what my parents did to you.”

[Mary Dubois]

And I don't want the world to see me
'Cause I don't think that they'd understand
When everything's made to be broken
I just want you to know who I am
And you can't fight the tears that ain't coming
Or the moment of truth in your lies
When everything feels like the movies
Yeah you bleed just to know you're alive
And I don't want the world to see me
'Cause I don't think that they'd understand
When everything's made to be broken
I just want you to know who I am

Damn it!

He wasn't suppose to be so accomodating! He was suppose to fight her and whine like the spoiled brat he was. She didn't want to hear his excuses or be faced with his willingness to give himself over to her brand of justice.


HE WAS SUPPOSE TO BEG, DAMN IT!


Growling low in her throat, Mary stood undecided as she stared at him. Her own sense of honor forced her to realize that he could very well be telling the truth. She'd never really believed that he'd had anything to to with what had gone down that night so long ago but as time went by and he'd never appeared to save her from the hell that her afterlife had become... It had been easy to believe the tales that her master had told her.


Had they actually been lies?


As hope faded and her will failed, she'd grown bitter and angry at the young man she'd so desperately loved. The demon that had taken her had laughed in her face and taunted her with the knowledge that while she had sacrificed everything... Vince had given nothing. The emotion that had brought forth had allowed her to pull herself up off her knees and become a force to be reconed with in the underworld.



Oh, yeah, she was a bad ass now and Vincent didn't have a clue what she was capable of. By all rights, she should put a bullet through his brain and be done with it. The devil of it was... That little piece of herself that she'd buried so far down in her consciousness that wanted to believe that he'd done the best he could? It had somehow gotten loose and had a hold of her trigger finger.



Damn it! She did not need this complication right now! She HAD to kill him or suffer ten times the agony of what she would have delivered to him.



And did he have to look so bloody good sitting there in that bed when she knew damned good and well he smelled like the two bit tramp that had just run screaming from the suite? Her fingers twitched from the effort it took not to reach down and pull that sheet away so that she could see just how the boy had matured into a man.



Oh hell... She was definitely in trouble. Why couldn't he have just begged instead? She didn't want to feel the first stirrings of true desire that she'd had since the last time she'd been in the back of his car.


As a feeling of defeat swamped her, Mary sighed and raised the barrel of her weapon. Her eyes were cool as she did the only thing she could and she pulled the trigger. The flare in his eyes right before the bullet impacted gave her the slightest bit of satisfaction even as pain flared through her body and engulfed her senses.

As plaster flew everywhere and Vincent reached up to touch the crease on his head where the bullet had barely graze him before plowing into the wall, her knees hit the floor and she hissed at him.


“You had better be telling the truth or when I recover from this.... I'm going to rip you apart with my bare hands.”

Then, she promptly curled into a ball as pain took everything else away from her awareness.


Yeah, it sucked when she missed a target and had to pay the piper's due. Good time this was only the second time she'd ever let her prey evade her.

[Vincent Montegue]

He respiratory rate was elevated, and his pulse was so high, that he could practically hear his heart beating. The doctor in him warned him of the potentials for a heart attack, while his scientific mind whirled with room schematics and the reaction time between her bullet and his bodyguards. Why had he been so humanitarian and allowed them to have some tv time downstairs? Of course, the one time he’d succumbed to the need to be a liked employer, his ex-girlfriend had to show up looking to fill his ass full of holes.

But truthfully, he didn’t really mind going, if it was by her hand; he realized after a second. It felt like a…release of some kind. Like the circle his parents had started was finally being filled in. He was supposed to be the one to die that night, and the fact that Mary had had to suffer so cruelly in his stead…God, if he could kill his parents, he would! Who knew what kind of torture she’d gone through for so long!

It didn’t matter if she believed him or not; he deserved to die. His research would suffer and his company would assuredly be pulled apart, but none of that mattered. He’d gotten into his line of work to help people.

And he’d failed Mary. Completely, utterly, unmistakenly failed.

For a moment there, Vincent knew that she was going to shoot him. He’d spent years perfecting his ability to read people; to read their facial expressions, body movements, emotions in the eyes, and everything pointed toward her pulling the trigger. This was the end. Time to burn in hell.

…But it never came. Astonishment came to his face as he watched the dead woman fall to the ground and writhe in agony. He leapt out of the bed and was kneeling at her side in an instant, as the bedroom door burst open and his armed guards came rushing in. He barked out a few orders, demanding that they leave, and ignoring the fact that he was buck naked, scooped her up and placed her in his bed.

Where she should have always been. Well…wasn’t that an inappropriate thought for the time?

”Mary, tell me how to help you,” He said, and damned if his voice didn’t sound a bit panicked. Half heartedly, he made a skirt out of the bed sheet and smoothed his hand down her hair, expecting to be pushed away.

[Mary Dubois]

By all the fires of Abbadon! THIS FREAKING HURT!!

WHY OH WHY OH WHY HADN"T SHE JUST FIRED THAT STUPID FREAKING GUN AT HIM? AT LEAST NICKED HIM!! But oh no.. she had to revert to her old blewding heart ways and take the punishment meant for him on to herself. That was the repercussions of missing her mark. Whatever hell that they were meant for, she took upon her own body .. All at once. It was more excruciating than anything anyone could possibly imagine.

And.. like a sucker.. She'd taken it in Vincents place once more. What a freaking chump she was.

From somewhere distant, Mary could hear her one time lovers voice talking to her but she was in to much pain to understand the words. Although she couldn't die, the intensity was enough to make her wish a thousand times that she could.

On and one it went as seconds turned to minutes and minutes to hours. After awhile, she knew her voice was gone and her throat felt like raw hamburger from the screams that had ripped through the flesh. Sweat poured from her body and the sheets drenched around her even as she finally fell into a silent mass. Every part of her ached and her mind felt as if it had been torn to shreds.

Finally, after what seemed like centuries of torture, the slender assassin was able to open heavy lashes. Her senses alerted her to the presence of another and she instinctively reached for her weapon only to find she hadn't the strength to even lift a finger.

OH yeah, what a bad ass demon bitch she was.

Groaning a bit, Mary tried to move but then caught sight of Vincent. His worried eyes were upon her and she felt like a mouse caught in a cats trap.

Well HELL. This was SO not how this little encounter was suppose to have gone. Wasn't that just par for her core though?

"Water?" she whisped out, throat on fire.