"Defeat is not the worst of failures. Not to have tried is the true failure."

- George E. Woodberry

                                                                                                  ***

They were gone.

Sirius let out another scream of fury, slamming his fist into the stone floor. Pain flared through his hand as bone cracked and skin was scraped clean off the knuckles. He didn't care as he hit the floor again and again, rage filling him so completely he couldn't breathe.

A hand wrapped around his wrist, stopping his next strike. Galloway threaded her other arm around his waist, face pressed against his shoulder. "Stop," she mumbled, making him freeze. "Sirius, stop."

"You're about to have a much more substantial fight on your hands," Rhys said. "The floor won't hit back."

He was still so furious he could barely see straight. The only thing stopping him was Galloway, her grip on his hand gentle as she assessed the damage. Tears still streamed steadily down her face and she kept her gaze carefully off the gates gaping wide just a few yards away. Sirius stared at the spot where Hades had been standing mere moments before. 

Splashes of golden blood marred the dark floor. More was streaked over Sirius' hands and dripped from the blade of the knife he was still holding. 

That was all his sacrifice had bought him. Wounds that would heal in barely an hour and the wrath of a god. His first and likely final chance to kill the creature that had caused him so much torment, and he'd failed. Hades had slipped away, literally like so much smoke between his fingers.

Sirius let out another roar of fury and frustration. 

A hand grabbed his arm, yanking him to his feet. "We need to go,"  Rhys snarled, inches from Sirius' face. He could smell the blood on the witch's breath. See it seeping between his white teeth.

Before he could process what he was seeing, the world bent and whirled around him. His feet hit solid ground and he crumpled to his hands and knees, bile racing up his throat in a burning torrent. He opened his eyes just to find everything tilting and blurring around him as his brain tried to understand what had just happened to his body.

There was another crack and a soft groan of pain. Galloway put her hands on Sirius' shoulders, fingers brushing his long hair back from his face.

"Sirius?" Her voice was tinged with concern.

He struggled to focus on her, but couldn't. His body had been torn apart by magic, part of him cut away. His tolerance for any more was non-existent. Pain wracked him. The magic wielded by the darkness was vicious. Its aftereffects had only been held at bay for so long because Sirius had been so completely focused on fighting Hades.

Shaking, he tried to ignore the agony flaying through him. He pushed himself to his feet, stumbling. His equilibrium was gone and his knees buckled.

Arms grabbed him, keeping him upright. Whoever had caught him hissed in disgust when he vomited, his body writhing as it began to realize something was missing. As it began to realize something had been torn away.

"Come on, Fido," Rick said, his voice tinny and distant through the buzzing in Sirius' ears. "Get it together."

Sirius would have loved to. He couldn't. Blood surged in his throat as he was sick again and Rick finally allowed him to drop to his knees. Sirius gagged and spat, black dripping from his lips and nose.

"What's wrong with him?" a voice said above him, seeming to come from a long distance away. "Did Hades wound him?"

"No," Galloway's voice answered from beside him. "Something's wrong. I've never seen him like this, even when he's injured."

Another wave of pain wracked him and he tried not to vomit again, but to no avail. Black blood spread over the stone beneath him, slipping into a carved line of the broken pentagram. By the gates. They were just in front of the gates now. Rhys had teleported them across the chasm. That's what had set off this reaction in his body.

Around him, he could make out voices speaking, but the ringing in his ears prevented him from hearing what was being said.

Witch magic had never particularly agreed with him, but this was far worse than anything he'd experienced before. Gentle hands brushed sweat-soaked hair back from his face. As the nausea began to dim, he collapsed to his side. The stone beneath the gate was still hot, burning any exposed skin, but Sirius was too weak to move.

He was rolled onto his back, his head resting on Galloway's lap. She peered down at him, her eyes tight, her cheeks smeared with tears, red blood and golden ichor. Using a piece of cloth ripped from someone's shirt, she did her best to wipe away the blood and filth coating his skin.

Someone else knelt by his side. A blue glow flared above him, and Sirius instinctively cringed away from Logan's magic. He lurched up and tried to fling himself to the side, but Galloway caught his shoulders and forced him back down.

Her hand stroked over his hair. "Shh, Sirius. He's going to help."

"Please don't," he begged, still trying to worm away from Logan's magic-enshrouded hands. "Please."

A vicious, ragged mix of screams and howls suddenly echoed around them, carried by a foul wind.

"They're coming," Caleb said from somewhere behind Galloway. "We need to hurry."

"We still need to try shutting the gate." Alex's voice was weak.

"Do you know how?" Rick's voice was the farthest away and by far the angriest. "They're bent to shit. I don't see how we'd even be able to move them, much less get them close enough together to actually shut."

Distracted as he was by the Hunters, Sirius didn't notice Logan's hands drawing nearer until a burning sensation settled over his chest. It seeped below his skin, igniting every nerve in its path. His muscles went so rigid he thought they would snap his bones and he began to seize, his body thrashing against the invasion of more magic.

When it stopped, Sirius lay on his side, gasping. His eyes were blurry and he was drenched with sweat. Slowly, awareness of his surroundings leached back to him. Galloway was white as a sheet, her eyes wide and tear-lined. Strong hands held his shoulder and hip, making sure he stayed on his side. The sulfur taste of his blood coated his entire mouth and the inside of his nose.

"I told you," he croaked. "I said don't touch me."

Galloway let out a strangled cry and his vision was suddenly obscured by a curtain of blonde hair. She pressed her face against the side of his neck, shoulders heaving with silent sobs. He lifted a trembling hand, resting it on the back of her head.

"I thought you were dying," she said. "I thought he'd managed to kill you."

"N-Not quite," he said, struggling to get the words out past chattering teeth.

"He did something." Logan's voice was low and strained. "Sirius, you're riddled with black magic. It's like something's been ripped out of you and this magic is filling in the cracks. I don't...I don't even know where to begin to fix you."

"What?" Galloway whispered, her grip on Sirius tightening.

"Nothing to fix," he muttered, trying to pry her hands away as gently as possible. When he managed to sit up, he touched her cheek. She closed her eyes, but they almost immediately flew back open again.

She grabbed his hand and flipped it over, running her thumb over his fingernails. As if on cue, another of those terrible screaming howls rippled through the air. Instinctively, he inhaled deeply through his nose, trying to detect how close they were. All he could smell was his own blood.

It startled him when Galloway suddenly grabbed his face, using her thumb to peel his lip back from his teeth. Her nails dug into his jaw, and he gave a half-hearted growl. When it came from his throat instead of his chest like it should have, her hands dropped. Shock flickered across her face. Confusion. Then anger, swiftly followed by devastation.

"What did he do," she croaked. "What more did that bastard take?"

"He didn't," Sirius admitted, looking up as more shrieks and howls joined the hellish chorus tumbling toward them. He squinted against the gloom enshrouding the far end of the cave. 

Not being able to see was terrifying. Sirius had never known what it was to be afraid of the dark. The howls were still dim echoes of the real sound, but they would come quickly, rushing toward the gates like a wicked tide.

Before Galloway could say anymore, he pushed himself up to his knees before making a brave attempt at standing. It didn't take, and his knees wobbled. He stumbled straight into Rhys, who was nearly knocked over in the process. The witch's skin was waxen, his eyes hollow. He steadied Sirius before he turned toward the ruined gates.

"We're running out of time," he murmured.

Sirius was inclined to listen to Rhys. Now that his heightened senses were gone, the witch's telepathic ability was by far their best warning system.

"A thousand nasty things are about to come barreling through here," Caleb said. Sirius looked up just in time to watch the Hunter glance sideways at Galloway. The fact that she was too busy staring at Sirius to notice was the only reason he didn't attempt to rip Caleb's eyes from his head. 

"We have to try to stop it," she whispered, shaking her head like she was trying to clear it.

Rick scoffed. "How?"

Everyone turned to him. He had taken his sword back from Galloway, its golden blade shimmering red in the firelight coming from the gates. He swept it in front of him, gesturing in the direction the sound of approaching demons was coming from.

They all stood silent, with no answers to offer.

"We can't defend it," Rick continued. "There's no way to fortify it. And who can even fight at this point?" He pointed at Sirius with the sword. "You made yourself useless." He pointed to Rhys. "I can see from here you're completely wiped. Hell is kicking your ass and you've been sick since you got here."

Sirius and Logan both turned to the witch, who was watching Rick with a mildly alarmed expression at being singled out. "We-We've all been sick. Hell doesn't agree with humans."

All that earned him was a contemptuous sneer from Rick. Then, he gestured to Logan. "You're not a fighter. That leaves us." He swept his free hand toward the four Hunters. "And we've only got three weapons between us that'll kill a demon."

Rick's sword, the knife Galloway had been given by Hades and Caleb's demon blade.

He pinned Caleb with a hard glare. "So how do we not all die a pointless death here, Cay?"

"So what are you saying?" Alex asked her brother, appalled. "That we should just let this happen?" She shook her head, lips pressed in a thin line. "If we do that, a lot of people are going to die. If we do that, what the hell's been the point of all this. Of all we've been through?"

Rick just shook his head, returning his sword to its sheathe on his back. He stared at his sister for a moment, then looked at Caleb. When he didn't find what he was looking for there, he turned to Galloway.

She was watching Rick with a blank-eyed stare. Her entire body shook as she spoke. "The point...is that we survive to hunt whatever gets out of those gates." She covered her face with both hands, shoulders curling forward as she admitted defeat. "Rick's right. There's no way we can get them closed before those things come barreling through. We'll just get torn to pieces."

"You're the one who opened them," Alex said, accusation laced through her words. "You're saying you're not even going to try to fix what you wrecked?"

Sirius showed his teeth at the other woman as he wove toward Galloway. She turned into his arms, seeking shelter from Alex's harsh words. True as they might be, Sirius still shot the Hunter a nasty look.

"She's not the only one to blame," he reminded her. "Your choices led us all here just as much as hers did—and, frankly, you've only spilled a fraction of the blood and pain she has because of it."

Alex opened her mouth, cheeks flushing angry red.

"Before you start making accusations, remember you have no idea what the fuck you're talking about," he snarled, not giving Alex the chance to speak. "Until you've spent time under a demon's knife, you know absolutely nothing."

"Don't," Galloway mumbled against his throat. "I don't deserve—"

"Stop," he ordered, cupping her face and forcing her to look into his eyes. She wrapped her fingers around his wrists, her expression haunted. "The only one who can even begin to understand what happened to you is me." Sirius made sure to say that loudly enough for all of them to hear. "So until they know exactly why and how you were driven to this—until they've experienced it for themselves—I don't want to hear another single goddamn word about it."

When he shot a hard look at the Hunters, the only one to meet his eyes was Rick. If any of them could understand what it was to be forced into a horrible act, it was certainly Rick Winters. Like he was thinking the same thing, the Hunter lifted a hand to rub at Sekhmet's scars on his neck.

Alex made a sound of outrage as her brother slowly nodded. He held up a hand, leveling a cold stare on both Alex and Caleb. "It doesn't really matter whose fault it is," he said. "It happened and we can't change that. We can't...we can't even fix it. So we need to do the next best thing and make sure we're all around to clean up the mess."

He turned abruptly to Sirius. "How close are they? How much of a head start can we hope for?"

Sirius hesitated for a moment before finally shrugging. "I don't...I don't know," he said, something inside him wrenching at the admission.

Useless, a strand of darkness whispered. You're useless now.

Sirius gritted his teeth, his hold on Galloway tightened as he tried to remind himself why the trade had been worth it. Swallowing what remained of his pride, he turned to Rhys. "Can you tell?"

Rhys was staring at him, something about his gaze dark and internal. Sirius couldn't tell if it was because he was trying to track the minds of demons or because of his own thoughts.

"Do we have enough time to get everyone through the gate?" Logan asked, lightly touching his brother's arm.

"Just..." Rhys cleared his throat, shaking his head as he tuned back into what was happening around him. "Just enough. If we go right now."

"You heard him," Rick said, turning and striding up to the very edge of the gate. It opened to swirling blackness—a whirlpool waiting to send them hurting through dimension back to Earth. He tilted his head. "So do we just...step through?"

"Rick!" Caleb protested.

"No!" Rick yelled, whirling to face Caleb. His muscles corded in his neck with rage, but his face was pale with fear. "No. I'm sorry, Caleb, but I'm not dying down here. I'm not letting you or Alex die down here. This is a lost battle. Literally nothing will come of us dying down here and, I don't know about you, but I'd prefer to die for a reason."

He stormed back and grabbed Alex's wrist. When she tried to squirm away from him, he grabbed her by the shoulders and shook her, hard. "I will knock you out if I have to, Alex. Listen to me!" he roared when she continued to struggle.

Alex fell still, shock glazing her face.

"We can't win here."

"So we just quit?" Caleb snarled. "We just let this happen?"

Rick closed his eyes for a brief moment.

"They're getting closer," Rhys whispered. "We're running out of time."

Galloway's arms tightened around Sirius, but her eyes were glued to the argument unfolding before them. Sirius was suddenly terrified that if Caleb and Alex's nobler sentiments swayed Rick, that Galloway would agree to a pointless fight as well. That she'd stay and die for nothing.

And this would gain nothing. 

"Tell me how we win this?" Rick said, his voice quietly desperate. "Tell me how this doesn't just end with us maybe killing a handful of demons before we end up choking blood and holding our own guts."

Silence met him, Caleb's face a rictus of pain.

"Tell me how, and I will stay here and fight. I will stay here and bleed right beside you, brother." Rick's eyes were wide, pleading.

He didn't want to run. He wasn't afraid to die. Sirius knew this, because he'd seen it. He understood Rick better than he understood anyone else—possibly even Galloway. But Rick also wasn't stupid. He wouldn't stand by and watch his family die, even if that meant playing the part of a coward.

The standoff continued for a few slow heartbeats. Rhys was muttering, "We need to hurry. There won't be enough time."

Sirius began to breathe again when Caleb wilted, defeat etched across his face. Rick nodded, looking just as unhappy as Caleb and his sister, but he turned to Rhys. "So," he growled, "how do we get out of here?"

Sirius opened his mouth to answer, but Rhys cut him off. "It's not fun. It'll cost."

"What doesn't?" Galloway muttered. She drew Sirius' arm over her shoulder and tried to step toward the gate, but Sirius was frozen in place, watching Rhys with a narrow-eyed stare.

He opened his mouth to ask what in the hell the witch was talking about. The gates were open. They could all just walk through.

Trust me, Rhys' voice whispered in his head, igniting an immediate pulse of pain that speared through his skull. The witch drew his consciousness closer to the edge of Sirius' mind, trying to touch as little as possible with his magic. Please.

What are you doing? Sirius barely managed to ask, tears of pain blurring his eyes.

I'll let you know after the others are through. The demons are almost here. We can give them time. We can give her time.

Rhys was just about the only one who knew how to convince Sirius of anything. He nodded, letting Galloway support a little of his weight as he stumbled after the witch. They passed Logan. Confusion was evident on his face as his gaze darted uncertainly between Rhys and the gates.

Grabbing his brother's arm, Rhys whispered, "I don't know if this will work. It's just something I came across in the Vatican and...more than a little gut-feeling. Your hands are the steadiest, Lo."

Logan's dark eyes bored into his brother's. They widened in shock as Rhys projected whatever his plan was into his brother's mind.

"Anything's worth a try, right?" Rhys asked, his hand gripping Logan's shoulder. "It might give us enough time to figure out how to do it properly."

"Why didn't you just tell them earlier?" Logan asked, annoyance managing to seep through his tight tone. "It could have spared us all this drama."

"I just said I don't know if it'll work. They'd argue with a fence post if it suited them. Act like it's what needs to happen to get through."

Logan pursed his lips, but spun on his heel, stalking toward the gate and the Hunters waiting just at its threshold. A small, neat blade suddenly flashed in his hand and he held it up.

"If you had to pick a deadly sin," he asked grimly, "which one agrees with you most?"