The grey buildings looked between the lush grey trees and the clear blue water as if someone had taken an eraser to the scenery and left it with some blanc spots. They seemed run-down and abandoned, the one closer to the water reservoir even more so and Donna eyed it warily, expecting the grey cement to crumble in on itself.

"When you first told me about the headquarter of demon deals, I assumed it would be in New York or L.A., maybe even Las Vegas. Not in Stockville, Kansas. I wasn't even able to find this place on a map."

"That's the thing about secret headquarters. You put them were no one predicts them to be. Leave the luggage in the car for now, I'll give you a tour first."

Crowley led her to the entrance of the bigger building, but before he could pull the door open, she stopped him with a hand on his arm.

"If there are rats or any kind of vermins I'm gonna scream and I'm gonna punch you and then I'll take the next flight back to London."

"Your optimism is the radiant light in my life. Give me some credit for once, would ya?"

With a flourish he let them both in. Donna stopped in her tracks as she took a first look at her new home.

Instead of the cold, wet concreate she had expected, the floor was made out of polished, dark wood and the walls were covered in a green and gold paterned wall paper. At the opposite wall, a curved staircase led to the upper floor. Crowley hit the lightswitch and a small chandelier glinted above them.

"This is the waiting area for business guests," Crowley explained with a wave of his hand towards a pair of black leathern sofas. "Through this door is the dinning room and the kitchen. We usually just use it when we have guests, but I'll make sure that it's stocked, so you can always find something to eat in there. There is a lounge with a bar in the next room and a library enclosed to it. Follow me."

They walked down a long corridor with Crowley pointing out supply rooms, guest rooms and offices. Infront of some doors stood mean looking men in business suits. Donna had enough experience by now to know that they were all demons, yet what they were guarding, she could only guess.

"This is my office," Crowley told her as they walked into a large room with dark panels on the walls and a big polished table in the middle. Behind it were high shelves packed with old looking books. Crowley didn't stop but went through a door to the side. The following room was bursting with even more books. "This is the library. You walk through the door to the left, you're in the gallery, through there you get back to the start. And in here's your office."

Donna watched in excitement as Crowley opened the door, but instead of the posh, neat room she had anticipated, this one was full of stacks of yellowed papers and folders. With wide eyes she squeezed past unlabelled boxes towards the fully occupied desk and breezed through one of the piles of papers. Dust swirled up and tickled her nose. With one hand havily landing on top of it, she let out a deep sigh and looked up at Crowley.

"You've got to be kidding me, right? When was the last time someone went through this stuff? During the inquisition?"

"My last man for the job got himself fired, literally, when I saw the mess he'd made. I don't know if Lillith didn't know about it or if she didn't care. Turns out demons aren't any good at bureaucracy, who would have thought? But to rule this mess I need a certain amount of order. You're the best temp there is, so go on and do your best."

"Me and my stupid, big mouth," she groaned. "Please remind me why I agreed to do this?"

"Because you can't say no to this pretty face", he grinned. "And I really need someone I can trust. Come on, I show you your place. That'll cheer you up."

Crowley had not promised to much. As soon as Donna saw the rooms she would stay in her eyes began to sparkle in delight. She nearly danced through the room as she took ecerything in. The floral wallpaper, the large window with a beautiful view over the water reservoir and the heavy curtains. A large bed stood in the middle, the covers feeling soft to the touch. A table and a dresser stood against the wall, on the other side were two doors, one leading into a walk in closet, the other towards a luxury bathroom.

"This I could get used to", she said, letting herself drop down onto the bed.

Smiling, Crowley leaned over her and gave her a slow kiss. "This I could get used to," he murmured and deepened the kiss.

Donna's hands were sliding Crowley's jacket down his shoulders when suddenly there was a knock on the open door. They broke apart, Donna awkwardly sat up, her face a blushing red, while Crowley lounged on the mattress, a rougish grin on his face. In the doorway stood one of Crowley's footmen with his hands full with Donna's suitcases. He deposed the luggage next to the closet before turning around and finally adressing the two.

"Is there anything else?"

"Yeah," Crowley drawled. "You can continue with the cockblocking."

The demon nodded his head and, obviously used to Crowley's sarcasm, went outside, closing thd door behind him.

Crowley immediately had his hand on Donna's shoulder and pulled her down onto the bed. She quickly sat up again and twisted out of his grip.

"No, it's strange when they know what we're doing in here."

"Oh, come on. They gonna think that's all we do whenever we're in the same room together. These demons don't know about us, they just think you're some human plaything that I brought home for my own amusement and as long as it stays this way, you'll be safe."

Donna raised her eyebrows.

"Your plaything? You know what, this plaything has some work to do. If you need me, you'll find me in my office, Mr. Crowley."

Whipping her hair over her shoulder, she stood up and left the room.

Crowley let out a groan as he sank back against the cusions. It was her unpredictable, wild nature he loved about Donna. Unfortunately it was also her unpredictable, wild nature he hated the most sometimes.

After the first week, Donna caved in and went out with Crowley. She kept complaining about the amount of work she had to go through, while he tapped away on his phone, conducting his minions and keeping in touch with his partners. At the end of the evening he promised her to help with the workload and during the second week Donna got her first personal assistant. At the end of it, Crowley send him back to hell, because he couldn't get his own work done while he could hear Donna bashing the poor man. It had something to do with using the wrong filing system, shredding the wrong papers and making a bad coffee. Crowley didn't care, he was just glad when Donna continued to work alone in silence, only nagging him about the hard work during their time off.

It was another week later when Donna went into Crowley's office, a pile of files under her arm. She stopped in her tracks when she noticed a handfull of demons scattered around the room. Crowley sat on his desk, a foul look on his face. Next to him, on top of his desk, sat a demon in a beautiful female body. Her blonde hair fell in thick waves over her shoulders. A wave of jealousy washed over Donna as she saw those long legs close enough for Crowley to touch. In fact, if he just turned his head around he could look right up that short dress of the demon. Instead of paying attention to the beauty next to him, he regarded Donna with irritation.

"Didn't I tell you to knock before entering my office?"

Not wanting to look weak infront of all those demons, Donna straightened her back and walked further inside to put the files on his desk right infront of him. She could feel the womans green eyes looking her curiously up and down.

"These need to be talked about."

"Sweetheart, I'll talk to you all night long, if you know what I mean," he said leering. "But right now papa has bigger problems."

Communicating with her eyes that he would have to pay for this later, she turned back around and walked out without paying any more attention towards the demons.

This evening, Donna had sworn to herself to be angry at Crowley until he had completely explained to her what he had to talk about with his men that she wasn't allowed to hear, yet when he later stood inside her bedroom, his hair disheveled and his suit torn, she couldn't keep herself from walking over and fuzzing over him, searching for any injuries.

"I'm fine," he put her mind at ease. "I haven't been hurt, but we lost some strenght today."

"What the hell happened?" Donna demanded to know as she led him towards the bed. Crowley dropped his coat and his suit jacket, and slipped off his shoes before settling on top of the mattress. Donna, already dressed in her pyjama, sat next to him.

"Well, there are a few groups in hell who don't like the thought of me as their king. Now and then I have to go and smite them before they become to big to handle. Today, you walked into one of our war councils. Playthings don't have anything to do with such important matters."

"The other plaything was allowed to stay," Donna replied dryly.

"The other-? Oh, you mean Belphegor," Crowley let out a deep laugh. "He likes people to think he is, but no, he's one of my best crossroad demons and a most trustworthy confidant."

"Does she...he know about us?"

"He will have his thoughts about us by now. Specially about you."

"About me? There's nothing special about me."

"He doesn't know that yet."

"You're supposed to tell me that I'm wrong, that I am special," Donna complained, throwing a pillow into his face, chuckling.

Crowley grabbed her arm and pulled her into a hug, effectively keeping her from hitting him again.

"You are! You are most special to me, darling," he said and kissed the top of her head.

Donna sighed and sank into his embrace.

"Sleep, sweetheart," he murmured into her hair. "If you have any more questions, I'll answer them tomorrow."

"I'll hold you to it," Donna mumbled, but she listened to him and closed her eyes and sooner than later she had fallen asleep in the comfort of his arms.

"Mr. Crowley, how can I be of service?"

The blonde played with soft strands of his hair, the perfect picture of innocence and humbleness.

"For both our sakes, cut the act, Belphegor," Crowley told the demon.

He immediately stood up straight and let his hands fall to his sides. The ignorant air around him dropped off and he was all business.

Crowley didn't have the patience to play any games, not tonight.

"You know why I summoned you."

"To talk about the human."

"You know who she is.

"Miss Donna Noble," Belphegor answered, sounding almost giddy. "You found her and brought her here under false pretence. With her under our thumb, we can force the doctor to work for us. When will you tell him that we have his precious friend?"

"We will keep this between us for now. She will be the ace up in my sleeve until it's necessary to get out the big guns, but for now we have the chance to seize hell without showing how big our stick really is."

"What could be bigger than hell?" Belphegor's eyes went wide and he leaned in closer, whispering. "You mean heaven?"

"Not before we have hell under wrap," Crowley answered in the same conspiratorial way. "But only a few know about the doctor and even less know about his connection to Donna Noble. I'd like it to stay that way."

The other demon nodded obedient.

"I understand, I'll keep the secret and the human safe."

"Good boy," Crowley winked and walked around his office table to pour two glasses of scotch. "Now, let's have a toast. To the ace up our sleeve."

"To the ace up our sleeve," Belphegor repeated and clinked his glass against Crowley's.