#angels and demons cod fic

[callsign-bunnie]

Hey… angel and Demoms…. Gimme

Yes, tha'am

--

Roach ended up locating another demon that was supposed to have connections to Alex. Soap would admit to being impressed by that since he’d had nothing to go on but a first name. Apparently there weren’t too many demons who went by Alex. Which made sense. 

Nicknames were more of a human and Angel thing. Soap… Gaz… Most demons just went by their full names. Which narrowed down the options considerably. Narrow that even further down to Alex’s who know an Alejandro Vargas? Bingo. 

Roach found another demon by the name of Simon Riley. He was a fighter and he was… well, they didn’t actually know anything else. Apparently no one did. Simon Riley was elusive. 

Soap stepped into the room, surprised to see a demon with a skull mask on. He looked over at Roach, who was wrapping his hands, raising an eyebrow. Roach shrugged and fluttered his pale green wings slightly. Soap shrugged and sighed, shaking his head. 

The demon had watched him enter, his brown eyes following every movement. He looked… hungry, almost. Soap didn’t like it. “Simon-”

“No.” The demon shook his head. “Ghost.”

“Ghost?” Soap raised an eyebrow, tilting his head. 

“That’s my name. Simon Riley is dead.” Ghost shrugged. “He’s been dead for a while.”

Soap hesitated, but he decided to cooperate. Hopefully if they worked with the demon, maybe things would go faster and smoother. Maybe. “Alright. Ghost. You know an Alex, right?”

“I know Alexei, yes.” Ghost nodded. “He’s my friend.”

Soap smiled. “Good.” He grabbed a chair, sitting down. “We’re not… here to torture you, you’re not being interrogated. We just… want to talk about Alex.”

“Mhm. And this has nothing to do with the little angel he’s been seeing?” Ghost’s eyes looked amused. Soap noticed that not much of his skin was on show and he was dressed a lot more casual than the other demons he’d seen. Black hoodie, black sweatpants. Soap wondered if Roach had grabbed him while he was sleeping. 

Soap tried to think of the best way to answer the question. “That little angel is my brother,” he explained. “I’m just… trying to keep him safe.”

“And he’s not safe with a demon?”

“No.” 

“Figures.” Ghost shook his head. “We help you but we’re still ultimately the enemy, right? After this war with the humans is over, you’ll go right back to trying to destroy us.”

“You’re not the enemy,” Soap shook his head. “I don’t think you are.”

“Does your friend?” Ghost nudged his head in Roach’s direction. “He brought me here.”

‘I have no enemies.’ Roach signed, coming to stand behind Soap. ‘There are only clients and targets.’

Roach had become a mercenary shortly after he and Soap… split. Soap didn’t really know anything else about where he’d ended up, after that. They’d barely spoken until now. 

Ghost shrugged at Roach’s answer and leaned back in his seat, sighing. Obsidian black wings fluttered behind him before resting. “So, what are you wanting from me?”

“Make your friend leave my brother alone.” Soap sighed. 

Ghost looked at him for a moment before laughing. “That’s cute. You think I have any sort of semblance of control over my friends. I tell them not to do something and they take it as a challenge. If Alex has found a fixation on your brother, there’s not much I can do about it besides assure you that he’ll treat him well.”

Soap clenched his hands into fists. “No. I need Gaz and Alex to never see each other again.”

Ghost shrugged. “Then tell your little Gaz to leave Alex alone.”

“I’ve tried, he-” Soap stopped and trailed off, embarrassed.

“He took it as a challenge?” Ghost finished, chuckling. “Seems like our friends are perfect for each other.”

Soap glared at him. “Can’t you do anything for me?”

Ghost’s eyes looked up and down Soap before he was chuckling again. “I mean… I could do… something for you.”

Soap’s brain caught onto the implication, immediately, and he found himself flushing dark red. “Demons.” He muttered. “One thing constantly on your mind.” He ignored Roach laughing behind him, since… well, Soap also had one thing on his mind. “Are all of you like that?”

“For the most part. You call us hedonistic, after all.” Ghost shrugged. “Come on. Untie me and I’ll show you what I can do.”

“No. Not happening.” Soap shook his head. “You’re staying in that chair until we’re done.”

“You’re no fun. Maybe your friend is more receptive to the offer?” Ghost looked over at Roach, who appeared to be considering it. Soap glared at him and both laughed. God, unbelievable. 

Soap tried to consider another angle to go at this with, tapping his hands on his thighs. “Roach said you’re a fighter. What kind?”

“Boxing.” Ghost shrugged. “I used to be a soldier but… I got injured. Forced to stay out. Now I box to get rid of aggression.”

“You any good at it?” Soap tilted his head. He’d admit his curiosity was slightly piqued.

“I think so.” Ghost shrugged. 

‘He’s undefeated.’ Roach signed, amused. ‘His stats are impressive.’

“Undefeated?” Soap blinked, looking at Ghost, who only shrugged. “So you definitely are good at it. You fight in a club or-”

“It’s a club, but I don’t think two pretty little angels like you are going to want to go.”

“What is with demons and calling angels little?” Soap huffed. Little seraphim. “My true form would likely dwarf yours.”

“Yet your forms to blend into the humans are both shorter than mine. Hmm.” Ghost chuckled. “Anyway, the club is The Inferno. It’s pretty exclusive to get into unless you know one of the fighters.”

Soap narrowed his eyes. Was this an invitation?

Roach stepped forward, looking very interested. ‘Unless you know one of the fighters? And you’re one?’

“I am.” Ghost nodded, his eyes almost appearing to light up. “You want to come to a fight, sweetheart?”

‘I may consider it.’ Roach went around him and then he was trailing his fingers down the side of Ghost’s mask. He put both hands in front of Ghost so he could sign. ‘My friend may not take up your offer but I will. In exchange for something.’

“My offer of… what exactly?”

‘Showing me exactly what you can do…’

“Roach!” Soap exclaimed. “He’s a demon!”

Roach snorted. ‘So?’

Ghost looked amused. “Hmm… Maybe I should add the caveat that the Seraphim stays and watches. May be fun. What do you want in exchange?”

‘You tell us how to get your friend to stay away from the angel.’

Ghost sighed and leaned his head back to look at Roach. “As intriguing as your offer is and as much as I’d love to lie and give you a way… If Alex really does want your angel friend, it’s going to take the angel rejecting him for him to get off his tail. Alex is stubborn. Like I said, he’ll treat him right.”

Roach sighed. ‘No deal, then.’

“Damn.” Ghost shrugged and lifted his head back up. “Can I be released now?”

“You said The Inferno?” Soap tilted his head, knowing he was likely going to regret that. Ghost, however, just nodded, his eyes lighting up again. “Awesome. Roach, you can let him go.”

Roach untied the demon. “Find me again, sometime. Maybe I’ll have a better answer for you.” Ghost hummed and then he was disappearing. 

Soap immediately turned to Roach. “He’s a demon. You know what they can do.”

‘I’m not going to let Rodolfo’s trauma keep me from having fun. What happened to your brother is unfortunate… even if it wasn’t necessarily the demons’ faults. But-’

“Oh, fuck off!” Soap glared at him. “You know nothing about that. Regardless, this isn’t about Rodolfo, it’s about Gaz. And the fact that demons are not trustworthy.”

‘Soap! Everyone knows everything! The whole fucking Angel world knows about the Seraphim who was damaged by two demons. It was a whole fucking scandal.’ Roach glared at him before softening. ‘I feel sympathy for your brother. I do… But Soap… Why are you letting his negative experience cloud your judgment?’

“You know nothing about it. You don’t see him day to day as he struggles. You didn’t watch him pass out from a brush with them.” Soap glared at Roach, stepping back as Roach moved to him. However, Roach only continued forward, stopping and putting his hands on Soap’s face. He didn’t wear a mask, but the bottom half of his face was always permanently distorted, unable to be seen. 

But, the distortion cleared and Roach leaned forward, pressing a soft kiss to Soap’s lips before he was pulling away. ‘I don’t think you know everything, either. Regardless,’ Roach signed as he backed away. Pain struck through Soap’s heart, ‘I said I would help you. I’m not going to stop that. But, Soap… ask yourself. Why are we doing this? For who’s sake?’

Soap shook his head. “My brothers-”

‘Why? What good will this do for them? Gaz stops seeing that demon and then what happens? You three go back to lonely and bored? What did the demons do to Rodolfo that was that horrible?’

“They struck him. With a Devil’s blade.” Soap grit out. “During a fight.”

Roach paused. ‘What?’

“Yes. It left a fairly horrible scar.” Soap shook his head. “He’s been left permanently damaged by the poison. He had to stop being a warrior. His body will never be the same. All because they were having a petty argument. It was an accident, of course, but my brother was left permanently damaged.”

Roach’s face turned to an expression of guilt. ‘Soap, I’m-’

“Save it.” Soap rolled his eyes. “Thanks for the help, Roach, but I no longer need you.” He turned and left, shaking his head. Fuck that. He’d find help somewhere else. 

-

Alex stared at his two friends. “You did what?!” Ghost and Alejandro were sitting with him at a bar and both had just been talking about their brushes with angels. 

Alejandro cringed. “I- We want him back, Alex. We were willing to do whatever to do that.”

“And if General Price were to discover that you were trying to kidnap Rodolfo?!” Alex shook his head. “Fuck, what if you succeeded? You two are going to be the first two he looks at!”

Alejandro shrugged. “We would deal with that when we got there but Alex… He’s not okay! He’s dying and it’s our fault, but we can fix it!”

“Let him die!” Alex slapped his hand against his forehead. “And Valeria just went with this?”

“Enthusiastically. We both want him back. We’re willing to do anything.”

“Including potentially bring down the wrath of the entire Angel Army down on you both?” Alex glared at him. Alejandro just shrugged in response.

“You’re one to talk, Alex.” Ghost laughed. “They kidnapped me to get me to have you leave their brother alone. Your little angel that you’ve been obsessed with for how long now? He’s practically General Price’s son. What happens if he finds out you watch him sleep?”

“I’m not-” Alex shuddered. “I’m not watching him sleep, I’m just… trying to keep him safe.”

“Right.”

“Fuck off.” Alex huffed. “It’s different.”

“No it’s not.” Alejandro leaned back in his seat. “You think you can do a better job protecting him.”

“I know I can do a better job protecting him.” Alex glared at Alejandro. “What, you think you and Valeria can keep from stabbing yours this time?”

“Fuck you,” Alejandro hissed, having to be held back from lunging across the table at Alex. Alex only glared at him. “Yes! We do think we can keep from stabbing him.”

“Yeah, well a lot of good it did you.” Alex shook his head. “He got away. Does he know we both are friends? Because he could put my connection with Gaz in trouble.”

“You are a hypocrite!” Alejandro exclaimed.

“Maybe.”

“Go fuck yourself.” Alejandro glared at Alex.

Ghost shook his head. “Both of you. Enough. Look, I think I could keep the ones who grabbed me distracted. That takes weight off of both of you. But I can’t do anything about General Price. We need to find a way to keep him… distracted.”

“He should be plenty distracted, soon.” Alex shook his head. “The humans have been upscaling their attacks on one of the far continents. 

“That’s not good. What if he takes our angels with him?” Alejandro sighed. “We’re fucked.”

“He won’t.” Ghost shook his head. “Safest place in any angel territory is the garden.”

“Yeah, well that’s the second problem. The most secure place is the Garden.” Alejandro furrowed his brows. “How are we going to get in?”

“And what??” Alex questioned. “Kidnap our angels? That’s a stupid idea.”

“Don’t act like you’re not tempted.” Alejandro rolled his eyes. “If he finds out what’s through one of your mirrors, he’ll never want to see you again. If you kidnap him, he can’t leave.”

“And he’ll hate me forever.” Alex shook his head. “I’m not risking that.”

“So you’re going to risk him one day deciding not to see you, ever again?” Alejandro raised an eyebrow.

Alex shrugged. “If he chooses that… so be it.”

“Liar.”

Alex winced. “Look, I’ll cross that bridge if I get to it.”

“He already knows about the hallway. It’s a matter of time before he gets curious and starts to explore. That’s what angels do.” Alejandro sighed. “They’re more curious than they should be. They know how to get in trouble. Especially angels like ours. Even Seraphim… They’re sweet, little things, and they get in way too much trouble. He’s going to find that room. And he’s going to leave you. What are you going to do?”

Alex was silent for a moment, staring down at his glass of alcohol. “The first time he met me, he was being raped by a human. If I kidnap him, he’ll feel violated again. I will be no better.”

“We’re not better.” Ghost sighed. “We’re demons. They won’t ever consider us better. I’m not sure I agree with Alejandro’s idea to kidnap him, but… no matter what you do, someone is going to make you the villain. Might as well go with the easiest option.”

“Fine. Even if I do kidnap him, even if he’s somehow okay with it, the full wrath of General Price will be on all of our backs.” Alex glared at them both. “Maybe I’m not willing to deal with that.”

Alejandro cringed and then went silent for a moment. “I can’t let Rodolfo slip through my fingers, again. I’m willing to bear whatever I have to, to get him back.” He shook his head. “If I have to spend the rest of eternity in hiding… If I have to let him hate me for eternity, I will get him back.”

“For one little angel?” Ghost tilted his head.

“He’s not just an angel. He’s… my greatest dependency. He’s our vice. We need him.” Alejandro glared at the table. “And I’m going to get him back. Whether you both help me and in return, I help you with whatever you need or… we do it alone and you both fuck off, wash your hands of us. Valeria and I are going to get him back.”

Alex went silent and then he sighed. “Fine. What’s the plan? If you even have one.”

Alejandro blinked and then looked at Ghost, who shrugged as well. “Do you have a plan?” Ghost asked.

Alejandro then grinned. “No, but I bet Valeria does.”

“Oh, great.” Alex shook his head.

[charliemwrites]

Hi :)

You should not be doing this.

It rings like church bells in the back of your mind. A funeral toll for each damning decision that is killing your divinity.

Finding the ritual. Dong!

Drawing the circle. Dong!

Spilling your own golden essence over a twisting sigil. Dong!

Tongue tripping over unfamiliar vowels and consonants. A language you know but have never spoken. Dong!

“Well,” a low, rough voice drawls, “isn’t this something special.”

You close your eyes, steel your spine. Don’t give him the satisfaction of seeing your nerves. Tilt your head just enough to watch him from the corner of your eye, a dark and hulking shape. You’re almost startled by the size of him. Have never seen a demon like this before.

His horns curve back from his head, rams horns. You jolt a bit. A higher demon than you expected - than you meant to summon.

“Such a pretty thing,” he coos, stalking closer. “I haven’t eaten an angel in millennia….”

You nearly gasp as rough hands brush your wings. It almost burns. You twist, find him suddenly much closer than you thought. A massive hand captures your chin, jerks your head up to look at you this way and that.

“And here you serve yourself to me on a silver platter.”

He smirks, a hint of viciously sharp fang peeking out. You gather your courage, smack his hand away. The bracelets around your wrist chime.

“You are the one who’s here to serve,” you remind.

He moves faster than you can ever hope to match, crushing you to the wall, your wings pinned beneath you. A clawed hand is around your throat, tight enough to threaten oxygen if you needed it. Still you gasp, squirming and struggling, frightened by his strength. Why is he so much stronger than you?

“Mind yourself, dove,” he growls, eyes glowing like hot coals. “You may have summoned me, but that does not entitle you to my power.”

You grunt softly as he flicks at your halo, eyes stinging a bit. You’re unfamiliar with pain; Heaven is soft and kind.

“Please,” you manage.

His eyes narrow, a smirk turn to his lips. “That’s more like it. Now tell me, why would one of the host call upon a demon.”

“T-to make a deal.”

His eyebrows arch, but there’s a flicker of genuine fascination in his eyes now. The grip on your throat loosens a little, but he presses closer just a quickly, one burning line of inhuman muscle along your front.

“A deal…” His voice has dropped even lower somehow, rumbling in his chest. “Oh dove, you have no soul to sell. What did you plan to bargain with?”

“I-I don’t know,” you admit. The desperation that brought you here, made you do all this, yawns open inside you. “You name the price, but please.”

His laughter fills the room, genuine amusement this time. “You’ve no idea what you’re offering.”

You frown. “I do. I know… I know what it means. But what I’m asking for…”

He tilts his head. “And what are you asking for, angel?”

“There’s a man, a human man. When his mother passed I brought her soul to Heaven and she asked - she asked me to watch over her son…”

He arches his eyebrows. “You’re no guardian.”

“No,” you agree. Guardian angels are fierce and beautiful, a balance of warrior strength and guiding patience. They carry swords and shields, iron in their feathers. “But… I couldn’t deny her.”

“Let me guess, he’s slated for death now.”

“Hes a soldier.” Death then damnation. He has made himself a machine of suffering and it has charred his soul.

The demon hums with understanding. “You want me to save him.”

“From death,” you clarify, “the rest.., the rest I will try to do myself.”

The demon makes a little “ah” noise. “And so you’ll offer me anything to defy death. For one mortal?”

You can hear the disdain in his voice and it sparks your ire. The scent of ozone seeps into the room as your feathers ruffle.

“I don’t need to explain myself. Will you take the deal or not?” You demand. “I need to know if I should summon another - ah!”

You flinch as your head is wrenched back, throat exposed. Hot hair brushes the skin as he looms over you, fangs so so close.

“Your Heavenly Father didn’t bend you over his knee enough,” he snarls. “We’ll have to correct that.”

You swallow down a whimper, sense that it’s best you don’t push your luck.

“Very well, dove. You have your deal. I will keep your precious mortal alive.”

“And in exchange?” you ask.

He chuckles. “That is not for you concern yourself with.”

And then white hot pain explodes through your shoulder, fangs sunk deep into your shoulder. He moans at the taste of your blood on his tongue, hips jerking roughly against your stomach. It feels like a small eternity that he bites into you, leaving his mark. The contract of your unholy deal. His tongue laves cruelly over the marks as he pulls away. Gold drips from his chin as he grins at you.

“Fly home now, dove,” he says. “I will see you very soon.”

[babygirlgh0st]

Modern Leper

Summary; Despite living with Simon Riley for several months now, the intricacies of his mind still find ways to surprise you; Tonight is nothing new for either of you.  Word count; 2,245 A/N; This is the first fic I’ve actually finished and decided to post for CoD! I rarely ever post my writing, so forgive me if it isn’t the best. I just really love Ghost, and my fiance deals with night terrors and I saw an outlet and decided to run it into the ground with this. The relationship dynamic for them is something I cherish and is loosely inspired by this song. I could write a three hour power-point on all the trauma this man struggles with, but for now y’all gotta deal with my drabbling instead lmao. No beta we die like men. 

I’m also open to taking requests, if you have anything to offer me :>  Warnings; Vague mentions of past trauma/gore/death, night terrors, ambiguous and complex situationships, minor physical harm (unintentional), hurt/comfort. 

It had taken you months to finally convince Simon to move in with you, just like it had taken nearly a year for him to admit to your not-quite relationship. It was based on understanding more than love or romance; The common knowledge that you shared the same weight as the other, that your weird quirks were complimentary despite their usually volatile state. 

You both understood each other's needs, traumas, the baggage you both carried within yourselves that you’d yet to find the space to put down. He needed space and quiet, a silent companion who never seemed to judge him for whatever ailed him at any moment, and you had a supernatural ability to read him like a book and offer what you could when he needed it without a word being exchanged. It was an invaluable bond you two shared, not quite love, but not quite friendship. You just knew each other like you were one and the same, and found safety in that fact. He had grown to trust you, and you found solace with him, and you were relieved when he relented to moving into your sad one bedroom apartment. Filling some empty void that always seemed to follow you in life. 

You had been having such a nice dream, something warm and soft and honey sweet for once, when the yelling started. It dredged you from the depths of sleep, like ripping off a band-aid or throwing ice water down your shirt, and you blearily shot up in bed in surprise as you blinked into the dark of your shared bedroom, seeking its source.

Simon had warned you about his night terrors, but you hadn’t fully comprehended just how bad they could get sometimes. Yelling, screaming, pained moans and thrashing like he was an animal caged, feral and in desperate need to escape himself. He’d told you that there wasn’t much to do about them, and apologized when he said to just let him be until they were over. He’d even insisted on sleeping on the couch for several months upon moving in under the concern that he’d hurt you or cost you sleep, or god forbid traumatize you even further than your shared line of work already had. 

It took you a few moments to process that it was happening again, blinking the sleep out of your eyes as you watched Simon jerk in his sleep across the bed, sheets twisted around his limbs in a way that you found both angelic and heartbreaking in the moonlight from the window. You were sure there wasn’t a single way he could appear to you that you wouldn’t find beautiful, though you knew better than to voice those thoughts out loud. 

He remembered everything if he was woken up in the middle of a night terror, though waking him up while in one of his fits was a feat of its own. You had relented to leave him be and fight his demons in his dreams undisturbed, until the neighbors started to complain about the noise. It killed you to see the haunted, distant look he would always get the following morning if he didn’t sleep through it, but he understood that it couldn’t continue, not in your subpar apartment. After a few too many noise complaints, things had to change. 

“Simon?” You called softly, voice heavy with sleep as you shifted to face him, watching him for a few moments. You knew that pinched expression, visible even through his balaclava that his face was an image of agony. You’d never learned what he had been through- never anticipated you’d get to know- but it still made you question the poor man’s past as you watched him squirm and groan in pain in your sheets. 

“Simon,” you call his name more loudly this time, shifting closer to him on the bed as you did. 

You had never let go of the hope that maybe one day, you’d be able to soothe away his nightmares with just your voice. That your presence alone could banish the horrors that he hid inside of himself, the things he fought back during the day that he couldn’t run from at night. You prayed for a day when you could simply whisper sweet nothings to him, and ease his pain without having to wake him. 

It had yet to work despite your insistent efforts, and after a couple more minutes of soft crooning and attempts to console him with no changes in his behavior, you relented to the one trick you and Ghost had found to wake him up; Sternum rubs. 

“I’m so sorry,” you said as you always did, before shifting to get out of bed and walk around to his side of the mattress. He’d attempted to grab or punch you the few times you’d had to resort to this specific method in the past, and you couldn’t blame him for it; it was an agonizing sensation to experience, and he had always been adverse to physical contact regardless of whether or not he had just suffered a night terror. You couldn’t fault him for lashing out when you woke him from painful dreams in an equally as painful way, even if it cost you a few bruises. At least if you were standing, you had a better chance of moving out of reach when he did come to. With a sharp breath in, you lowered your knuckles down onto the solid muscle and bone of his sternum and pressed, dragging your fist across his chest.

It didn’t take long for him to let out a shuddering gasp, a choked yell of “Get the fuck off me!” following after. It left you flinching, startled by the outburst despite this situation not being a new one. His eyes flew open in shock as his hand locked tight, too tight around your wrist in a grip that brought a squeal to your lips. You knew by now it would leave bruises, the skin tight and twisted under his calloused palm as he ripped your hand off of him.  

“G-ghost! It’s me, it’s me,” you chanted, fear evident in your words as you tried to not struggle against his grip. You had never been able to get used to the violence in his awakenings, the way he would shudder and heave like he’d been shot. His eyes were frantic, manic as he stared at the room around him, at himself, at you as if he had never seen you before in his life, your words foreign in his ears. 

“Simon… It’s okay. You’re okay, you’re at ho-”

“Shut up.” 

He panted heavily, releasing your wrist from his ironclad grip as he shifted to sit up in the bed. His eyes were squeezed tight, hands reaching to cover his face as he tried to reorient himself to the waking world. His body shuddered and rattled as if still stuck inside of his dream, somewhere else, experiencing who knows what. You stood silently beside the bed as you watched him, letting him calm down in his own time.

It felt like a century before he spoke, but his words were much softer despite the way his hands trembled against himself. 

“...I’m sorry, love,” he mumbled, fingers rubbing at his eyes as he forced everything in his mind down into the trenches of himself. Hiding away from your concerned eyes as you watched him like a hawk. His scars throbbed, his skin still clinging to the feeling of blood and dirt and rot as if he had never showered since everything had happened to him. 

“It’s okay, Si,” you said quietly, finally letting yourself move, breathe, as you made your way back to your side of the bed and settled back into the sheets there. 

“You… Can I get you anything?” You offered, always trying to be helpful after an episode. Always supportive and gentle and quiet in his presence as he struggled to hold everything down like bile in the back of his throat, threatening to spill out. A mug of tea, an ear, a shoulder, a warm bath, it was always the same with you despite him always pushing you away every time. He usually settled for silence and nothing more, and this time didn’t seem any different. 

Simon finally pulled his hands from his face, blue eyes exhausted as he stared down at your red wrist with a look of heartbreaking guilt. You knew he was staring; he always did when he’d hurt you after this happened, guilty and pained as he struggled to chew and swallow the reality of once again doing the one thing he always told himself he wouldn’t. 

“I’ll get you some ice,” he offered, no room for argument in his words as he shifted out of bed with a groan and disappeared from the bedroom. Your hand cradled your inflamed wrist, and as you looked down at it you could already see the angry, finger-shaped signs of a bruise forming under your skin. 

He’d always shown his care through action, insisting he was bad with words and worse with touch, so he settled on the little things to try and bring his affections across to you. Grabbing things that were too high for you to reach, doing the extra steps to make whatever task you had at hand that much easier, bringing you small souvenirs when he went on an assignment that you couldn’t follow him on. 

He returns with a deep rooted sadness in his eyes, silently asking for your injured hand as he goes to wrap a bag of frozen peas around it like you were made of glass; something so fragile, so delicate. It felt wrong to feel you in his hands, no matter how careful he swore to be with you, the feeling of staining or breaking you never leaving the back of his mind as he iced the wound he’d caused.

“Really, it’s okay,” you reassured him a second time, offering him a gentle smile as you let him ice your wrist for you. It felt like he was licking a wound like a dog, trying to erase the accidental damage he caused like he always tried with himself. He only offers you a curt nod at your words, and once he’s decided your wrist is sufficiently encased in the frozen peas does he let you go and return to his spot in the bed. 

“It was the coffin, this time,” he says in a low voice, rough from yelling and the cigarettes he tended to chain-smoke every second he was off base and out of your shared home. 

You turn to stare at him in surprise, not expecting him to be open about what happened as your mind reeled from just that one sentence. He stares down at his hands in his lap as he speaks, but you can tell his eyes are looking at something beyond your gaze. 

“It… Isn’t the worst one, but it’s still not great.” Simon laughs bitterly, shaking his head to try and rid his mind of the memories. Some part of him still felt like he was stuck down there trying to claw himself out, nothing but the rotten bones of someone else to help him along. 

You aren’t sure what to say in response. A part of you wants to pry, to take the mile he’s offered with the inch given and see what horrible things seem to follow him like a shadow, but you can’t bring yourself to respond. Instead, you open your arms to him, head cocked to the side in question. 

A hug. Simple, easy, comforting- For you at least. He looks up at you quietly for a few moments, the air easy and calmer in the space between you both as he considers your offer. His eyes are raw and wet when he finally relents, folding himself easily into your arms. 

You make a point of ignoring the way his shoulders silently shake as he presses himself against you, his own arms going to loop around your waist with that same fragile care he’s always given to just you. An olive branch in the distance he always held between you, for his safety or your own you weren’t sure. You accept it all the same though, hands light and gentle as they go to rest against the back of his head, his shoulders, his spine; petting him like a wounded dog, some poor pet dying on the side of the road. 

“You’re safe now, love,” You whisper in hesitance, body wound tight like a live wire as you wait to do something you shouldn't, cross some unspoken boundary you weren’t able to pick up on in this uncharted territory; But the moment never comes. His shoulders still shake, his face finding refuge in the pulse point between shoulder and throat, and you both act like your skin isn’t damp as you let him hide inside of you. 

You don’t think you’ll ever find the right word for what you two have. It felt like something too delicate, too raw and wounded to be love, but it felt like it went deeper than just simple understanding. Beyond the realms of your minds or bodies, beyond the atrocities the two of you had both committed and been subjected to. 

All that really matters to you though is that he trusts you, and you trust him, and you decide that that is all that matters. 

[alexanderlightweight]

Hello! For Writing Wednesday could we please have some more Spoils of War or Created for Death? I’m obsessed with both of these to an insane degree:

What I love about SoW: tentative!Alec whom Magnus has to work at gaining trust from? I love it. There’s a line in one part about Magnus having to fix how the Clave broke Alec before Magnus can gentle him and I just—gorgeous, perfect, headcannon accepted. Veiled consorts? Hooooooly that’s so cool omg I swear I heard a symphony in my head when I realized where you were going. The mask? Alec’s hesitance and obedience, thinking everything is out to hurt him but doing it anyway because what choice does he have, is so beautiful, and Magnus mourning a little that he didn’t have more time to make the experience better for Alec but not willing to risk the delay and risk Alec growing even more distant is just 😍—lmao I could write an essay about how much I love this universe.

CoD: I fucking love eldritch angel nephilim and this is giving EVERYTHING. Nephilim who are cobbled together projects of the angels, their biology so skewed by angelic power that even the nephilim don’t know what their children will look like/heal like/die like. Mostly the difference being subtle, but sometimes Not. Raised to hate and fear their full potential, anything that is Too Angelic, and Alec a living hearsay/blasphemy even when his blood was only 30/70 because if it. AND THEN. It’s not losing Jace that tips Alec over, it’s Magnus dying—demon-born prince/king of edom enemy of the Clave. So gorgeous, holllyyyy. I can’t even think too much about Magnus collaring 6-winged Alec, about Alec kneeling for him, about the terrible kindness and protection in Izzy disowning her brother, about the gentleness of Magnus hiding Alec away and covering his eyes and hushing him because even the ANGELS wouldn’t know what to do in this situation, with this new body, and then Team Immortal coming in and IMMORTALITY and wow

Anyway yeah sorry for spitting up my lovestruck brain in your asks but I had to make sure that you knew you’ve struck me deeply with your writing and that’s why I’m begging on your doorsteps for literally any content in either one of these verses 💜

i'm very glad both stories are being enjoyed so much and please don't apologize i love stuff like this! it's a huge compliment but also it's just really nice to see that other people are as into and obsessed with my verses as i am. because sometimes i wait for my sleep meds to kick in and i just plot where i'm going and end up passing out in the middle of a mental scene being written lol

so i wrote a thing for spoils of war and thank you! i'm glad it was enjoyed because i have this big headcanon about how consorts are really magically important to warlocks and magical kings if dominion magic is in the fic and a big thing about that is protecting the consorts identity. via masks but also cloaking the consort in so much magic that you can't even tell anything abut them besides what the warlock allows you to know. and there is a lot of history thats hinted at

-

for created for death

izzy was fucked up about that, okay. but she had to relinquish alec as a brother because otherwise the clave still had ties to him. since they don't need them anymore, the clave sort of doesn't let true nephilim have any rights. so alec had to be disowned as a nephilim and then magnus was basically like 'okay but my magic is on him so hes mine since i calmed him down' and izzy was like 'he totally counts as a weapon. yours now. because thats the safest thing for alec atm

so alec is actually 70/30 and most nephilm are 30/70 in a angelic/mundane equation. which is why he was being kept watch over by the clave but uh, the fear of magnus dying kinda made him lose it

i hope you enjoy this!

<3 lumine

spoils of war

—

Alec doesn’t know what’s going on.

Magnus didn’t bother explaining what the ritual was or what it did beyond that it was yet another bonding ceremony. But even their political wedding that signified the end of a war didn’t feel this elaborate.

Alec knows it doesn’t really matter, that he’ll be taking part in the ritual whether he knows what it does or not. In fact, it's almost better not to know than to know what he might need to do.

Alec can’t say no to whatever is going to happen and he knows that, so he takes comfort in the fact that he can still see. The mask has magic in and through it and Alec tries not to consider where it’s from and why he can feel nephil magic still fading from it.

Instead, he concentrates on Magnus and his magic and puts out the thoughts and details of his surroundings, like being watched by over a thousand warlocks and their companions, all hidden with their faces hidden behind a variety of masks.

It’s daunting to be here, to be taking part in something that feels so old and sacred when Alec was supposed to be no more than chattel. Fodder for a war built on the blood of innocents that Alec’s own people started.  It feels wrong to be here so defenseless and yet know that Magnus’ magic will protect him better than any weapon.

—

Carefully, Magnus uses magic to take off Alexander’s ceremonial collar and he instead replaces it with a loop of pure magic that will slowly take on more and more power until the image of it will always become whatever Magnus wishes it to be.

For now, however, it is a tight loop of deep purple magic that pulses with Magnus’ magic and power in time to Alexander's every breath.

It’s a show of power to summon a single adamas arrow — one that Alexander gave to Magnus by his own hand — and hold it without harm. Alexander sucks in a startled breath — perhaps at the sight of one of his own arrows or that Magnus can hold it with ease — and Magnus can feel him quiver under Magnus’ palm.

“My protection is absolute. When you bleed it will be because I wish it, for no other is allowed to spill your blood.” Magnus uses the arrowhead to nick Alexander’s upper lip — just as he cut the lower with the stele — and then he leans forward to lick it off and suckle the cut until he earns a whine of pain.

“The flames of Edom will devour all before allowing anyone to touch you without my permission.” Magnus promises and his fingers dance with flames that brush harmlessly over Alexander’s neck — the shard of Magnus’ soul claiming Alexander in an undeniable way that will protect him from harm in Edom.

Alexander seems torn between leaning forward and stepping away and Magnus knows his boy better now than he did when they were wed. Alexander needs no leash as Magnus first thought, just a steady hand and Magnus’ voice.

The bonds between them are the only tether Magnus will ever need with Alexander.

“Sweetheart—” Magnus teases, his voice caressing Alexander with magic and he can see how his boy shudders at the sound and feel of it. He steps forward unconsciously, he's been instinctively drawn to Magnus from the very beginning and Magnus croons and reaches out. His palm blooms with hellfire before settling on Alexander’s hip and Magnus pulls him closer still.

“Should any look at you without being graced by my benevolence, their sight shall be consumed by my magic. A payment for stealing a glimpse of what is only mine to see.”

Magnus’ vows are instinctive and there is a primal surge of delight as he takes the ritual a step further, cursing any being who would dare look at Alexander’s uncovered face without his blessing.

It’s an old tradition.

Older still than the ritual Magnus is using and it’s something that has been out of style for over three centuries. Magnus still remembers the stories of how the legend of Medusa started. A warlock desperate to protect her gorgeous consort cursed her love with a vicious, loving protection.

Magnus knows now that Alexander expects to be a spectacle.

A disgraced nephilim in the eyes of his own people, traded away for a peace bought with his soul and virginity. Alexander expected to be paraded around as a mockery, a whipping boy for the clave to offer to the warlocks and it’s clear that’s what the clave told him he was.

But Alexander is not something to be gawked at.

He is not someone who Magnus will allow others to see, not to admire and certainly not to laugh over. Alexander is his consort and if that means that Magnus veils him in magic and curses all those who dare look upon him, then so be it.

[aang3ll]

Finally, an intro post

(Please ignore my horrendous handwriting)

You can call me Rain or Angel :))

I use any and all pronouns, as seen above! Things I'll do on this blog

-----------------------------

-Shitpost

-Write requests/Commissions

-Terrorize lees

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My hobbies

------------------------------------

-Writing/Drawing

-Writing lil songs

-Watching COD

-Bullying @xoleevia and @tikalee <3

---------------------------------------------

Requests

---------------------------------------------

REQUEST RULES (Requests open)

_________________________________ 1. ABSOLUTELY NO NSFW 2. Sometimes, there may be certain characters that I don't want to write for due to personal reasons, so please be respectful of that 3. You are allowed to request for fandoms that aren't on my fandom list 4. If, for some reason, your request is not fulfilled, please do not deal with this situation by getting angry and spamming my inbox or smth. Instead, simply shoot me a DM, and I will either get onto your request, and/or explain to you why your request wasn't or will not be fulfilled (depends on the request) 5. And lastly, please do not hate on certain requests just because you do not like a character or fandom Also, please note that fics and stuff probably won't be very long, because I have low writing stamina __________________________________________________________

Fandoms ___________ (Noted that I CAN and WILL binge through an entire series or smth just so I can accurately fulfill a request)

-Creepypasta

-Marble Hornets

-Murder Drones

-FNAF

-Call of Duty (Modern Warfare)

-TADC

-Undertale (And most AUs)

-Villaino(u)s

-IT (1900's 1 and 2, as well as 2000's 1 and 2)

-TOH

-South Park (Kids AND Adults)

-BNHA/MHA

-HTF

-DSMP/MCYT

-Gravity Falls

-Superjail

-Death Note

-Beaststars

-Haikyuu!

-Deltarune

-Heathers

-Mean girls

-Beetlejuice

-Little shop of horrors

-Maze runner

-MLP

-Hunger games

-Stranger Things

-Girl, interrupted

-The Black Phone

-TMNT

-Wednesday

-Demon Slayer

-Amanda the Adventurer

-Rainbow Friends

-G.O.B.B (Garten of BanBan)

-Helluva Boss

-Hazbin Hotel

-Nightmare Before Christmas

-Coraline

-Wendall and Wild

-Arcane

-Steven Universe

-BATIM

-Spooky Month

-Sanders Sides

-Handplates (An Undertale AU that was made into a comic, you can watch it on youtube!)

-Countryhumans

-Doors

-Elemental

-Fantastic Mr. Fox

-And if you really want to, you can even request fics about yourself! :) (If you would like the fic to be with another person you know online or IRL, that is also allowed, just please provide proof that you have their permission, please! This can be done through asks or DMs, or even by asking them to post that you have perms!!) _____________________________________ Characters I will absolutely NOT write for _____________________________________ -CC!Dream (I may consider writing C!Dream, but only under VERY specific circumstances.) -Alex (Marble Hornets (We're a system with a Brian alter, who gets triggered by Alex)) -Belos (TOH(Do I even need to explain?)) -Mineta (MHA(^)) -Eric. Fucking. Cartman. -Any lusttale characters -Graves (COD) -Offenderman (Creepypasta) -Henry Bowers + other IT bullies (We also have Richie-) -If you request for QSMP, I will ABSOLUTELY NOT write for Forever. -Bill Cipher (Gravity Falls(Sorry y'all, I love Bill, but he's hard asf to write for with fluffy tickles-)) -FUCKING PENNYWISE THE GODDAMN DANCING CLOWN -CC!Wilbur. However, I will still write for the bursonas. (Ghostbur, Revivedbur, ETC.) ______________________________________________________________ Boundaries ------------- -Fic requests? / Duhh -Art requests? /Most likely not, I can't draw very well -Teases? / Have at it, my friend -NSFW asks/DMs? / No. -DMs from 18+? / No thanks, it's nothing against you guys, I just don't really like talking to adults without other people knowing what's going on, if that makes any sense -Nok-Tkl asks / Ofc! -General DMs / I don't mind, as long as you're under 18 :) -Minor interaction? / Yep! -Over 18 interaction? / Sure, as long as you don't DM! -K1nk/NSFW/Fetish interaction? / No ty ______________________________________________________________ DNI -----

1. Proshippers

2. K!nk + N$FW accounts

3. Zoos + Maps + Nomaps

4. Homophobic + Transphobic + Racist folks

5. LGB without the T. Trans people liTERALLY HELPED FIGHT FOR YOUR RIGHTS IN SUCH BIG WAYS!!!

6. Pseudogenic + Tulpa + Endogenic systems. Need I say more?

7. 1NC3ST SHIPPERS. NEED. I. SAY. MORE?

8. Colleen supporters

9. Anyone who isn't against $@ + @buse

10. "Super Straight" folks. Just say you're transphobic lol 11. CC!Wilbur supporters.

----------------------------------------------------------------- All organized tags so far! ----------------------------------------------------------------- #aangel - All of my posts are tagged with this! #nontickles - Anything that isn't t-word related! #aangel writes - All of my fanfictions are tagged with this! #aangell draws - All of my art is tagged with this! #aangell mha - All of my MHA related posts! #aangell creepypasta - All of my creepypasta related posts! #Tika's tag - Anything having to do with @tikalee! #Olivia's tag - Anything to do with @xoleevia! ----------------------------------------------------------------- And, that's it, folks! Have a wonderful day/night!

[greyauras]

Introduction: (I'm bad at saying hello.)

I'm Noah. (just go with grey, maybe.)

creatively, I lack. but I try.

⇓⇓⇓　interests & works below drop　⇓⇓⇓

Interests: Main – COD. DBH. Skyrim. Cameron's Avatar. Demons and Angels.

Drawing/Writing, Music/Flowers, Mythology/Supernatural, Historical/Fantasy, Superpowers/Abilities,

(and mixing them all together.)

I'm gay. And trans.

Not necessarily multifandom but my interests are all over the place.

No NSFW or anything weird (repulsed aceflux) please do not the dove.

My: AO3 | Spotify

Fics: Update Soon

CoD AUs: Will be Updated

I'm a deeply uncomfortable person, nice to meet y'all.

[strangenewfriends]

Hey, I was wondering if you could rec some larry fics that are plot heavy (i.e. Plot twists, not canon, main focus isn't only on romance), tyy

Oh this will be a fun rec! Get ready:

Incoming Package by HelloAmHere: There weren’t a lot of pilots who were willing to be couriers and there weren’t a lot of pilots who were willing to be couriers who were under six feet tall and capable of doing cheaply with oxygen and there weren’t a lot of pilot couriers under six feet tall and oxygen trained who would take a job like this from AMAZON. Even if COD Harry Styles was on the other end of the elevator to hell.

The Second Hand Unwinds by FullonLarrie: Louis Tomlinson is one of the first members of NASA’s top secret Chrono Exploration Program. When things go wrong and he’s sent further back in time than planned, he has no other option than to show up on his ex-boyfriend’s doorstep.

Just Me, Him, and the Sun and Moon by SadaVaNiren: a gratuitous Pokemon AU featuring farmer!harry, professor!louis, paradise, pokemon battles, love, and the fate of the world

Loyal Knight and True by rainbowninja167: In contemporary Oxford, Harry Styles and Niall Horan run a magical bookshop, unbowed by an entire academic establishment that insists magic doesn’t even exist. Sometimes, Harry finds, it’s much easier to have faith in magic than in himself. Louis Tomlinson is a classically trained poet who needs something to believe in, and Liam Payne longs to be a part of something magical.

Take Care By The Water by shyserious: Louis has spent his summers at his Granny’s in the Isle of Barra for almost as long as he could remember.This summer wasn’t supposed to be any different, but the little Scottish island turned out to be harbouring more than just the gorgeous white beaches, the clear waters, and the town drunk scaremongering the foreign tourists.

Keeping You Forever and For Always by RearviewDreamer: Louis only went poking around in the woods one evening in the name of science and saving the polluted lake that everyone else had long since given up on. He ends up leaving with a lot more than a few toxic water samples when he stumbles upon a belly-buttonless man in the shadows who could possibly be a nudist but is most definitely more than ordinary.

Delight in Masques by kassio: Popstar Louis Tomlinson has been pulling one over on the mortals for years. In the five years since he put on a human illusion and tried out for the X Factor, none of them have realised that he’s one of the Fair Folk – a cat shapeshifter, to be precise – and he’d like to keep it that way.When he returns to the X Factor as a guest judge, the last thing he expects is for some half-Siren fool to use magic on the judges. Unfortunately, that’s exactly what Harry Styles does. Now Louis has to track down some rogue changeling before he exposes them all. Even worse? Apparently, Harry doesn’t even know what he is.

Through Eerie Chaos by MediaWhoreFics: The Ghost Hunter AU where Niall lives to prove ghosts are real, Zayn is a skeptical librarian and Harry gets caught up in a century-old mystery and catches feeling in the process.

through struggles, to the stars by thedeathchamber: Louis is a Starfleet captain trying to find his place in the universe. Harry is a prince just trying to do what’s right. A Star Trek-inspired AU.

Say Hellelujah, Say Goodnight by alivingfire: Louis is an angel who is just a little too bad to be good, Harry is a demon who is just a little too good to be bad, and they’re both a little too in love to be impartial when angels and demons go to war.

Black With Autumn Rain by whimsicule: Harry is a journalist, Louis has lots of secrets and the moors aren’t exactly the ideal place to rekindle a lost romance.

I wrote you a song with the words you spoke by tigriswolf: How people end up on Atlantis varies; some like talking about it and some don’t. Dr. Harry Styles, Lieutenant Niall Horan, and Ph.D. candidate Liam Payne end up there by accident; Zayn of Athos follows his cousin; and then there’s the nameless runner found by SGA-9 on a dead world.

we’ve got to get away from here by suspendrs: Louis is an FBI agent who likes to think himself a paranormal expert, and Harry is the alien that somehow ended up in his office.

Again I could keep going so if you want older fic or shorter or whatever…ask away

[callsign-bunnie]

Can we please have a part 3 of demon Alex and angel Gaz? Maybe they’re relationship as they get closer?

Pt 3! Tag is angels and demons cod fic

--

Gaz stretched his wings out and fluttered them before gasping as water was dumped over his head. “Hey!” He huffed and glared up at Rodolfo, who just glared back at him. 

“You’re a mess!” Rodolfo huffed back, his lilac wings ruffling with irritation. “You’re lucky I’m not telling Price that you went out of the garden!”

Gaz winced and turned back to the water, shifting around in the giant tub he was in. “Please don’t…”

Rodolfo paused and then Gaz saw him soften out of the corner of his eye. Soap had apparently informed Rodolfo of everything that had happened. “Gaz… you knew you weren’t supposed to leave… why did you?”

Gaz looked over, the gold from Rodolfo’s adornments catching his eye. Large wing piercings hung over his wings, jingling softly as Rodolfo moved. He sighed and leaned against the side of the tub, putting his chin on his arm. “I was curious… I wanted to see…”

“There’s a reason why we don’t leave!” Rodolfo huffed and shook his head. “We’re not warriors, Gaz.”

“I’m not.” Gaz corrected, touching the scar in Rodolfo’s side. Rodolfo had once been a valiant warrior… But he couldn’t fight anymore. Price had brought him to the garden many decades ago… “You could be.”

“Price doesn’t want me fighting anymore. Besides, when would I have time?” Rodolfo tsked and then he was grabbing a wash cloth, scrubbing it over Gaz’s face, gently. “I have my hands full with you two.”

Gaz laughed, softly, and closed his eyes. His mind drifted back to the demon and he hesitated. “Rudy?”

“Yes?” Rodolfo’s hands moved to cleaning the dirt from Gaz’s shoulders and Gaz moved so he could do so better, opening his eyes to look up at Rodolfo, who had his eyebrows furrowed in concentration. 

“Tell me about demons…” Gaz requested. He didn’t miss the way Rodolfo’s movements stuttered, but he remained confident. 

“Why do you want to know?” Rodolfo mumbled, avoiding Gaz’s eyes. 

Gaz smiled. “I know Soap told you about the demon that rescued me.”

“Now I fear that telling you may have you run back to find one.” Rodolfo shook his head. “They’re dangerous.” He murmured. “Deceptive. All they know how to do is lie.” His voice turned bitter and Gaz flinched. Rodolfo met his eyes and then softened. “But they’re beautiful…” His voice softened, almost wistful. 

Gaz again reached and touched Rodolfo’s scar. “So beautiful…” He agreed, thinking of Alex’s blue eyes. His black wings… how everything about him drew Gaz in, made him want to drown in his being. 

Rodolfo had gone quiet and Gaz looked up, seeing distance in his eyes. “Tell me about them, again?” He asked, knowing Rodolfo would know what he meant.

Rodolfo paused and his hands stopped running the cloth over Gaz’s skin. Gaz again looked at the water, seeing that the dirt from his skin had started to mix with the pink milky water. He ran his hand through it, sending shimmering swirls. Rodolfo was quite adept at potions, so he had no doubt he’d put something in it meant to soothe.

It had worked, there wasn’t a worry in Gaz’s mind. 

“Valeria and Alejandro were… beautiful. Too beautiful. Fire and ice…” Rodolfo murmured, moving so he was sitting beside the tub. “Strong, too. Brilliant fighters, so complimentary of each other.”

“They loved you.” Gaz nodded, laying his head on his arm again. 

Rodolfo shook his head. “No. They loved… the power they had over me.” He murmured. “That’s the thing about demons, Gaz. You give them a taste of power and they exploit it. It’s their vice, their addiction. Their… craving.” He reached up and cupped Gaz’s face. “They don’t consider us equal to them… They feel themselves inferior so the moment they can get above us, they will.”

Gaz frowned and then shook his head. “But born demons are different-” 

“Valeria and Alejandro were both born demons.” Rodolfo sighed. “Horns and wings and everything. From two of the highest born families. Look where it got me.” He shifted, showing his scar. “Please, Gaz. Don’t go looking for demons. Stay here, where you’re safe.”

Gaz looked at Rodolfo’s side and then softened. “Okay, Rudy…” He murmured. Rodolfo was right. Even if Alex had helped him, there was no guarantee he would hesitate to hurt Gaz if he got the opportunity. “Why would… why would one help me?”

Rodolfo considered. “I don’t know. I really don’t.”

Gaz frowned and then looked down, relaxing when Rodolfo went back to washing him. When he was clean, Rodolfo helped him out of the bath and then he was gently pulling him to Gaz’s bedroom where he helped him dry off and then brushed his wings before sending him to bed. 

Gaz laid in bed, unable to sleep. If he was too still, his mind was sent images of that horrible night and he just… didn’t want to deal with that. So, instead, he turned his mind to the demon, turning him over and over. Why would he help him if he didn’t feel empathy?

I would... have been angry if an angel had walked by me being violated and did nothing to stop it. You didn't deserve that. No one does.

Rodolfo was wrong. He didn’t know how, but Rodolfo had to be wrong… Alex had helped him, why would he do that if he just wanted to feel power over Gaz? 

No, no, Rodolfo had to be wrong, at least about Alex. 

-

Gaz woke up with resolve. He was going to try to find the demon. Of course, that meant he’d need to leave the garden again which scared the shit out of him but… He was positive he could. 

So, he’d snuck outside when no one was paying attention. Rudy was apparently busy helping Soap organize the library, which… Gaz wasn’t sure he believed Soap was actually doing that, but he decided not to question it. 

And he went to where he’d snuck out of the garden before. He found the break in the fence, though the warding stone nearby made it so only angels could enter. He slipped through, wincing as his wing got snagged for a moment, before shaking them out. 

He didn’t have any adornments like Rudy. He’d considered getting them at some point, but… getting a giant needle stuck in his wings sounded frightening. He glanced around before carefully starting to head through the trail into the forest.

Technically, he was still in angel territory, but humans occasionally walked through, that was how he’d gotten grabbed last time. He stayed on high alert, glancing around as he walked. 

“Why did you leave the garden?” Gaz jumped, startled, and whipped around. There the demon was, his arms crossed and only five feet away from Gaz. “You know it’s not safe.”

Gaz’s face broke into a smile. “Were you watching me?” He asked, curiously. How had the demon just known he’d left?

Alex shifted his weight and then looked away. “Maybe. I worried you’d make the same mistake you’re making right now.”

“I was just trying to find you.” Gaz informed Alex. “And here you are!”

“You shouldn’t do that. It’s dangerous, you’re not a warrior.” Alex sighed, before softening. “Here I am…” He nodded, coming over. “Now go back into the garden-”

“No.” Gaz shook his head. “I want to get to know you more.”

Alex pinned him with a look and Gaz flushed and averted his gaze, unable to help shrinking back from its intensity. “Please?” Gaz tried. 

Alex sighed, a moment later, and then nodded. “Fine. But… just for a few hours and then you go back.”

Gaz perked up, grinning. “Of course!” He’d push that time, later, if need be. He decided to grasp what he had, taking Alex’s hand and pulling him to a nearby rock. 

Alex seemed almost amused, sitting on the rock. Gaz glanced over him, seeing he had a fairly similar outfit as he had the day before. Same black leather jacket, but the new shirt was a maroon color. “Why do you want to get to know me?”

Gaz scrambled for an excuse. “You saved me.” He settled on. “I’d like to know my rescuer.”

“You do know me.” Alex shrugged. “My name is Alexei, isn’t that good enough?” 

Gaz shook his head, being earnest. “Nope.”

“Of course not.” Alex chuckled. “Alright, what do you want to know?”

“What’s your favorite color?” Gaz immediately asked. It was his go to. 

Alex seemed to pause. “Blue. Dark blue.”

Gaz nodded. “I like that color. I like green. Any green but mostly soft greens.” He laid back on the rock, stretching his wings out. “Are you from an important family?”

“No.” Alex laughed and shook his head. “No, my family was bottom of the barrel.”

Gaz nodded. “So was mine. It wasn’t until General Price took me in-”

“General Price?!” Alex jerked away from him, almost like Gaz had stung him. “I should have put the pieces together with the garden but… Fuck! No, no, I cannot be here with you.”

“He won’t do anything,” Gaz frowned and lifted. “I promise.”

“If he even suspects that I, a demon, am here with you, he’ll fucking kill me!” Alex shook his head. 

“Please stay…” Gaz’s wings dropped. He really wanted to get to know Alex and he couldn’t do that if Alex left. “Please…” 

Alex stopped and stared at him. “Fuck… Don’t look so sad.”

Gaz looked down and put his hand on the rock. “Please?” He tried, again, knowing that that had worked last time. “I promise I won’t tell him…”

Alex sighed. “You are so unbelievably dangerous. Fine, fine, I will stay but the first sign of him and I am gone.”

Gaz again perked up and smiled. “Okay!” He pat the rock so Alex would sit down, fluttering his wings when he did. “Tell me more about yourself.”

Alex seemed to hesitate. “Okay… Well, I have two friends, actually they’re from important families. I have a cat that you probably didn’t get to see because she’s shy. She’s a demon cat, obviously, and she doesn’t tend to like angels much.”

Gaz gasped. “I’ve never seen a demon cat.” He shook his head. “What’s her name?”

“Lilith.” Alex chuckled. “A bit cliche, I know, but I like the name. She’s a black cat, but she has green eyes.”

Gaz smiled, thinking she sounded cute. He then hesitated. “I… I have to know… what did you use to kill the human?”

Alex paused and then shrugged, reaching behind his back and pulling a crossbow from it. “It’s my preferred weapon.”

Gaz at first flinched back before looking at it, curiously. He reached to touch it, but Alex quickly pulled it back. “Careful, I don’t know if any of the poison is on it.” Alex frowned. 

Gaz knew a small amount about the poison. Devil’s blood, most angel’s called it, because in liquid form it looked very similar to the inky black blood that most demons bled. It used to be a myth that demons would use their own blood to make it, but Gaz knew that wasn’t true, now. 

But, he didn’t know exactly what was used. Even still, touching it wouldn’t kill him, but it could make him very sick and he didn’t want to be sick, so he pulled his hand back. 

“Mine is a scythe.” Gaz smiled, watching Alex put the crossbow back behind his back. 

Alex had an impressed expression so Gaz stood and moved his hand in a circle before the weapon appeared, twirling in his hand a moment before he caught it and put the base of it in the ground. It was a bright silver. 

Alex seemed to watch him almost in awe, which had Gaz’s skin turning dark red. “It’s beautiful…” Alex murmured. “Why didn’t you use it to defend yourself?”

“I didn’t have a chance!” Gaz exclaimed, half slashing the scythe in frustration. “I was grabbed too fast or I would have!”

Alex shook his head. “I’m sorry. That shouldn’t have happened, you didn’t deserve that.”

Gaz paused and then melted. How could Alex be bad if he kept saying those things? And he had full opportunity to hurt Gaz, right now, but he wasn’t. Instead, he was watching him in awe. “Rudy says all demons know how to do is lie.” He admitted, moving and sitting on the rock again, twisting his hand so the scythe disappeared. 

Alex shrugged. “He’s probably right.” He sighed and leaned back on his hands. “Not me. Or my friends, I promise. I… I vow it.”

Gaz stared at Alex in surprise. Vows were sacred, even for demons. No, Rudy was definitely wrong! Why would Alex just vow that if he was bad?! He relaxed. “I believe you. I don’t think you’re bad.”

Movement caught Gaz’s eye and he glanced at Alex’s wings, seeing they had appeared to almost… shiver. Or… flutter? Gaz’s face turned red again and he softened. “I’m glad you don’t think I’m bad.” Alex nodded. “But, you can’t see me after this.”

“Why not??” Gaz shook his head. “I want to!”

“You can’t.” Alex sighed. “There are many reasons, but the main one is your safety. You’re not safe out of the garden. And General Price will kill me if he finds out you and I have been spending time together.”

“I won’t let him,” Gaz shook his head. “Please… you saved me, I… don’t be so cruel and leave me…” He pleaded. “I want to be friends with you…”

Alex watched him and then softened. “We can’t be friends…”

“Please!” Gaz pleaded. He hesitated, trying to find some way to make Alex stay near. “I’ll… I’ll…”

Alex shook his head. “It’s not safe,” he insisted. 

Gaz started to panic. He could see the resolution in Alex’s eyes and he was desperate! He shook his head again, scrambling for some way to make Alex stay, to make him want to be near Gaz. “Please, please, I’ll do anything, don’t leave…” He promised. “I’ll… I’ll…” 

He moved close to Alex, touching his leg. “I’ll do whatever you want…” He looked at Alex through his lashes, trying to do what he’d seen Rudy do several times. 

“Woah, no-” Alex immediately was up and away from him. “I don’t want that. I do not want that.”

Gaz paused and then moved back. “You… you don’t?”

“No!” Alex shook his head and then ran a hand down his face. He hesitated and then sighed. “You’re dangerous.” He muttered, repeating his earlier sentiment. “Fine. Fine, we can be friends.”

Gaz perked up and then was pleased with himself. Well, he’d done it wrong, but hey it worked! “Awesome..” He smiled. “Okay, I’ll see you tomorrow.”

“Not tomorrow.” Alex shook his head. “I’m busy.”

Gaz paused and then considered, furrowing his brows. “Friday?”

“Friday works,” Alex nodded. “Now, please go back to the garden!”

Gaz hesitated and then smiled. “Okay!” He quickly stood and left, pleased. He’d made the demon his friend. Now to convince Rudy and Soap that Alex wasn’t so bad…

[callsign-bunnie]

Hey buddy,

You know where a fellow could get a couple angels? Maybe a demon or two? I'm just a normal guy looking to have a good time, haha.

I think this should be the second to last part? It may be third to last, but the end is plotted

--

Rodolfo almost fell as he went through the mirror, dropping a bit as it was placed on the wall. He managed to stay on his feet, looking around and realizing he was in a bedroom… Weird. It was very nicely decorated, though kind of dark. 

He looked around, his eyes landing on a bed and he tensed as he saw a sleeping figure in the bed, quickly walking over to the bed and looking at the figure, relaxing as he saw his brother. “Gaz…” He breathed and nudged him.

Gaz woke up and sat up, looking surprised. “Rudy? How are you here?” His wings unfolded, carefully, and Rodolfo quickly looked over him, seeing he was, for the most part, fine. He didn’t appear to be bound to the bed or anything. 

“What happened??” Rodolfo asked, cupping Gaz’s face. “Did he take you??”

“Sort of…” Gaz winced, closing his eyes. “It’s complicated, I- I went through this mirror when I was coming back and I found… something and he sort of just grabbed me and stuck me here. So I wouldn’t leave.”

Rodolfo was enraged. They had tried to trick him and they had let Alex take his brother! Bastards… “What did you find??” He asked as he started to pull Gaz up, not wanting to let him be here any longer. 

Gaz didn’t fight Rodolfo, he didn’t want to. This was a bit much for him, and he was starting to learn his lesson about demons… He jerked back when Alex suddenly appeared, not surprised when Rodolfo shoved him behind him.

“Please, don’t take him.” Alex pleaded, his hand out to Rodolfo, stopping him. He was standing in front of the mirror, looking almost desperate. “Please.”

“He’s leaving.” Rodolfo muttered.

Gaz winced. He remembered what he had found… It had filled his entire body with horror and fear. Fear of what Alex was capable of… “Let me go, Alex.”

“Please… I am begging you, don’t go…” Alex pleaded, again, and stepped forward. 

Rodolfo immediately had a blade out, slashing at him, and Alex quickly backed up, again. “Do not.”

Alex clenched his hands into fists. “I-” he looked between them and Gaz frowned. “I will do anything, just… Don’t go.” Alex was looking right at Gaz. “I promised I would do anything for you and I will.”

Gaz winced, since he knew just what Alex was willing to do, now. “No… I want to go. You- You-” Images of flayed body parts, spikes systematically shoved through sections of skin… And a man, alive through this all and reaching for him. “I can’t- Not after what I saw.” 

Alex made a soft sound, sounding desperate. “Please…” He stepped forward again, catching Rodolfo’s wrist when he slashed. “Gaz… Kyle… Please.”

Gaz almost softened, almost gave in. Alex looked so desperate and it hurt him to keep resisting, but he was frightened. He was frightened of Alex. Rodolfo yanked his wrist away and shoved Alex back, again. “We’re leaving.” Rodolfo asserted.

Alex cursed and shook his head. “I need him. I need… I need him. I love him, please do not take him. Kyle, please just stay!”

“Why?! Why?!” Gaz burst out, almost immediately regretting it. “I don’t understand!”

“I-” Alex paused and then his shoulders dropped. “Because I am obsessed with you. I have been since I found you, cold and half alive, surrounded by rubble. You looked up at me with such wide, scared eyes and… I was just a child at the time, but I… I was hooked, immediately. I needed to protect you, I still do!”

Gaz blinked. “I… You were the child?? The one that kept me alive?? But why?? Why this long?”

“Because! I- I was in love with you… I am in love with you!” Alex groaned, running a hand down his face. “You didn’t shrink away from me, just because I was a demon, you… curled up to me, even though I was just making you colder. You practically clung to me and… I… I just… I latched onto you.”

Gaz furrowed his brows. “The human who attacked me…”

“I wish I had gotten there faster, I do… I was watching you, I’ve been watching you, since we were both children. I… That’s why I kept him.” Alex mumbled, looking away. “I punished him for what he did to you.”

“Punishing! You are punishing!” Gaz exclaimed. “You are doing horrible and gruesome things to him!”

“He deserves them! For touching you!” Alex shook his head. “I want him to pay.”

Gaz hesitated and watched him. Alex looked right at him. “I am begging you not to go. You don’t understand how much I need you.”

“This changes nothing.” Rodolfo spoke up. “You still basically kidnapped him. You’re still a demon. You colluded with Alejandro and Valeria to have them trick me… This changes nothing and we are leaving.”

Alex hesitated before sighing. “I really didn’t want to have to do this…” He mumbled. “I don’t need to kill you, I just need to give Valeria and Alejandro a chance to come and deal with you.” He reached behind his back and pulled out a long black blade, swinging it in a circular motion before holding his arm up and laying it across it, pointed right at Rodolfo. 

Gaz’s eyes widened and he looked at Rodolfo, who’s face had hardened. Rodolfo pulled a second, long blade out and he lunged forward at Alex, who blocked pretty easily. Alex then swung at Rodolfo, pushing him back again. 

Gaz started to look around for some way he could help, but he found nothing. The room was fairly barren of items, Gaz found, which was mildly frustrating. So, he took a deep breath and rolled his shoulders. He hoped he’d manage to avoid the blade, but… as long as Rodolfo got out, he didn’t care.

So, when he had the opportunity, he jumped into Alex, slamming him to the ground and then immediately getting up, grabbing Rodolfo’s wrist, and yanking him to the mirror on the wall and then out it and into the hallway. 

There was loud banging coming from a mirror that was turned around, but Gaz and Rudy just ignored it, starting to rush down the hallway to the mirror that led to Alex’s house. “We need to get Soap!” Rodolfo said and Gaz went to question it, but right as they made it to the mirror, a loud thud came from behind them.

They both turned around, just in time to see Alex step through the mirror they’d came from and the turned around mirror had fallen onto it’s back. A hand reached through and Alex went over, reaching down and pulling Valeria up through the mirror.

Gaz and Rudy didn’t stay to see him pull Alejandro through, just rushing through the mirror and then to the stairs and up to the door. “It’s locked!” Rudy cried, having made it through, first.

“Shit!” Gaz cursed. He tensed when he heard footsteps coming from behind them and they both seemed to get the same idea, slamming into the door at the same time and falling through when it broke open. 

They, again, did not waste time, scrambling to their feet and running out of the house and down the street. Rodolfo got his phone out and somehow managed to use it while running, grabbing Kyle and leading him in a direction.

They ran to a large black apartment building and then up to an apartment before Rodolfo was very quickly knocking on the door. Gaz frowned when he saw Ghost open it, but Rodolfo just shoved around him, pulling Gaz with him. “Where’s Soap??”

“He’s not he-”

“Rudy??” Soap came out of a room, frowning. “What’s going on??”

“Come on, we’re going back to the garden!” Rodolfo grabbed Soap’s wrist, starting to drag him out. Gaz blinked when another angel came out of the bedroom. 

Soap yanked his wrist back. “No! What’s going on??”

Rodolfo made a frustrated sound. “Alex kidnapped Gaz, Alejandro and Valeria tried to kidnap me, and I’ve got a suspicion Ghost might do the same.”

The other angel, which Gaz was starting to recognize as one of Soap’s exes, came up and hugged Soap from behind, gently touching over his skin. Soap closed his eyes for a moment before shaking his head. “I don’t want to go.”

Ghost came over. “He shouldn’t have to… You shouldn’t keep running from the others, they just want what’s best for you.”

“I will skin you alive, inch by inch.” Rodolfo rounded on Ghost, snarling. “I will bleed you until you only have just enough blood to stay alive and then I will force you to drink every last drop of what I had taken.”

Everyone stared at him in shock and Gaz wondered when his brother had gotten so scary. Rodolfo turned back to Soap. “We. Are. Leaving. I will reiterate. Alex kidnapped Gaz. He had him held in a room. Alejandro and Valeria tried to kidnap me. They are actively after us, so we are going back to the garden, whether you like it or not!”

Soap stared at him and then nodded, quickly. “You’re right. I’m sorry… Let’s go.” They turned to leave, but Ghost stepped in front of the door. 

Rodolfo made a frustrated sound. “I do not make idle threats! Move! Let us leave! Or it will become a promise!”

Ghost looked at him and, without his expression changing, slowly stepped to the side. They went to move forward, but then the door was swinging open. Gaz didn’t even get a chance to see who it was, because Rodolfo was just grabbing him and Soap and yanking them to a window, shoving them both out it. 

Gaz almost didn’t manage to get airborne, his wings shooting out at almost the last moment. He watched Rodolfo go to jump out, but then an arm was wrapping around him and starting to pull him back in.

Gaz threw himself forward, grabbing Rodolfo’s arm and yanking him out of the window, where they almost fell to the ground. He and Soap flew faster than they’d ever flown before, barely making it to the garden before Rodolfo was crashing to the ground and skidding to a stop.

Gaz and Soap very quickly landed and Soap picked up Rodolfo, carrying him inside. So, Gaz rushed up to his room, shattering the mirror in it and then going through each room and shattering every mirror, even small hand mirrors. 

He asked a servant where Laswell and Farah were, barely getting the answer of “away” through horrified stares. “Where???”

“They went to the market!” The servant exclaimed and Gaz made a frustrated sound.

“When will they return??” 

“I do not know!” They looked almost frightened, backing up from Gaz, a little. “They have been gone for a few hours already.”

Gaz shook his head and went to Price’s office, making the wards so they were “angel only.” He would explain when Farah and Laswell returned, he decided. 

He took deep breaths. They were fine… They were safe.

--

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[callsign-bunnie]

Part 4 of Demon Alex. I want to eat that man

Here you go

--

Gaz groaned in frustration as Soap exclaimed, “you left, again?!”

“I was just trying to find the demon, again!” Gaz shook his head. “I was being safe, I promise.”

“Gaz!” Soap shook his head, crossing his arms. “You remember what happened last time!”

“But I was being safe!” Gaz insisted. Soap did not look convinced, so he sighed and shook his head. “I promise. The demon found me, rather quickly. He was watching me.”

“That’s- that’s not a good thing!” Soap shook his head, again. “Why was he watching you?”

Gaz hesitated. “...to make sure I didn’t leave the garden.” He mumbled. 

“Well, at least he also agrees it’s not a good idea…” Soap shook his head and sighed, looking away from Gaz. 

Gaz went in front of him. “He’s really nice, Soap.” Soap, again, did not look convinced. “He is!”

“He’s a demon!” Soap shook his head. “You’ve heard what Rudy says about them!”

“This one is nice!” Gaz insisted. “He’s really kind… He could have hurt me, when I left, yet he didn’t. If he was really as awful as Rudy insists demons are, why would he have done that?”

Soap winced, not seeming to have an answer. “I don’t know…” He admitted, after a moment. “Maybe he’s waiting for a good opportunity, trying to gain your trust.”

“Why would he want that?” Gaz laughed. Plus, he’d made it very clear to Alex that he already trusted him and wanted to be his friend. Why would Alex keep waiting? “I don’t think he’s cruel at all, Soap. I think… I think he’s kind and I really want him to be my friend. That’s why I need you to distract Price and Rudy this Friday.”

“What?!” Soap jerked up. “Uh uh, no way! You’re not going to go see him, again, are you?!”

“I am.” Gaz sighed and nodded. “Soap… please…”

“No, no, I’m telling Price. This is dangerous.” Soap went to leave and Gaz quickly stopped him, grabbing his wrist. “Let me go.”

“No! Please don’t tell Price, please…” Gaz pleaded. Soap seemed to pause, so Gaz jumped on that. “Soap, please… I promise he is nice, I promise. I just need you to watch out for me and cover for me on Friday.”

Soap looked hesitant. “I don’t think this is a good idea…”

“Come on, Soap… it’s a scheme… you like being involved in those…” Gaz tried to sway him.

Soap sighed, his shoulders dropping. “I do…” He admitted. “But, no. This isn’t a good idea. What if you get hurt again??”

Gaz groaned in frustration. “I’m not going to get hurt!” He then paused, deciding he was going to have to blackmail Soap. “Help me, or I’ll tell Price what you and that Warrior did on his gardenias.”

“You wouldn’t!” Soap’s eyes went wide and he yanked his arm away from Gaz. 

“Do not question what I would and wouldn’t do!” Gaz shook his head. “You have your trouble and I have mine. Now, are you going to help me?”

Soap looked hesitant, so Gaz shrugged and went to march out the door. “No, no, wait! Fine, I will help you.” He huffed, stopping Gaz. 

Gaz relaxed, immediately, and grinned. “Thank you!” He hugged Soap. 

“Yeah, yeah,” Soap muttered and pushed Gaz off. “I’m only doing this because you’re blackmailing me.”

“Desperate times.” Gaz shrugged. “Now, you have to cover for me. Tell them I’m sick and wish to be left alone if they ask.”

“What if they want to check on you?” Soap raised an eyebrow.

“Obviously you don’t let them!” Gaz shook his head. “Just insist I want to be left alone.”

“I don’t think that’s going to work…” Soap sighed. “I think Price will want to check on you.”

Gaz realized Soap was right. So, he considered his options. “Tell them I went to the fountain to meditate.”

“All day?” 

“Yes!” Gaz groaned, irritated with Soap poking holes in his plans. This plan would have to work, because going to the fountain to meditate was usually a solitary activity. “Tell them I wanted to meditate on what happened to me… Well, tell Rudy that, he’ll convince Price on his own.”

Soap didn’t look sure, but he did nod. “Alright.”

Gaz relaxed, glad, and then smiled. “Thank you, Soap. Really…”

“Yeah, yeah.”

-

Gaz made sure he looked okay before again venturing out of the garden. He hoped Alex would show up, though he was sure he would. He’d said he would.

As expected, though Gaz was still relieved, Alex was in front of him barely a few minutes after he left. “You came!” He smiled.

“I did.” Alex nodded. “Did you make any plans for us or…?”

“I was thinking we could go back to your home?” Gaz asked, going close to him. “If that’s okay with you? I think it would be safer… for both of us.”

Alex seemed hesitant before shrugging. “Sure. My car is nearby.” 

Gaz thought cars were interesting. See, the humans had wards in their territories that prevented flight, so they became necessary. However, rarely did the angels actually use them. Of course, due to the war and the increased brutality of humans, they rarely left their own territories. 

The Garden was one of the safest places for humans because humans physically couldn’t enter. The magic there that was meant to help angels thrive was too much for them and would cause them to die, rather quickly. 

It was rather gruesome, actually, watching them crumble. Demons could handle it, but it wasn’t pleasant for them. So… the bravery Alex had to just drop Gaz off in the garden made him even more sure that Alex wasn’t bad. 

He nodded and followed Alex, being led to a road where a car was in fact parked. He blushed when Alex opened his door and he slid into the car, glancing up at him as he did so. “Thank you.”

Alex smiled at him and nodded. “Of course.” Then, he went around the car and got in. “I feel the need to remind you that this is dangerous.”

“I trust you to keep me safe.” Gaz shrugged, relaxing into his seat. 

Alex glanced over at him and went quiet, frowning. Gaz also frowned. “You’ll keep me safe, right?”

“Of course I will, I just don’t understand why you trust me so easy.” Alex sighed, starting to drive.

Gaz shrugged. “You saved me. Why wouldn’t I?”

Alex laughed, softly. “So many reasons. You’re an angel.”

���So?”

“I’m a demon. Even if we’re on your side, I know your people have… biases against my own.” Alex sighed, sinking back into his seat a little. His wings ruffled as he got comfortable and Gaz couldn’t help watching them, again. They were clearly so well taken care of. 

“I don’t know. I don’t… think you’d do a lot of the things you do if you were bad.” Gaz shrugged. And, Alex’s words kept playing in his head. I would... have been angry if an angel had walked by me being violated and did nothing to stop it. You didn't deserve that. No one does. That was a clear statement of empathy. It had to be.

Alex went silent, his expression seeming almost sad. “I don’t want to be bad. I don’t… think many demons do.”

“I don’t think you’re bad. And I’ve never met any other demons to say if they are or not.” Gaz admitted. “But… I don’t think you’re bad.”

“Thank you. I’m glad you don’t think that. Even if I wish you’d stay in the garden.”

“Yet you’re driving me to your home.”

“I’m afraid you’ll leave if I don’t!” Alex laughed, shrugging his shoulders. “I’m nervous you’ll leave the garden and get hurt again.”

Gaz just melted at the fact that Alex cared so much about him. “I just… want to know you. I’ve learned my lesson about being out, alone. But I want to know you.”

“Well, you know me.” Alex nodded. “I am allowing you to know me. In return, am I allowed to know you?”

“Of course.” Gaz nodded, smiling. “You can know anything you want.”

“Why a scythe?” Alex hummed. “You never explained.”

“Oh!” Gaz shrugged. “When I was young and General Price-” Gaz noticed Alex’s shoulders tense at the name, “brought me to the garden, the weapon I had the easiest time swinging was a scythe. The weight on the top of it was easier for me to put my weight into. Rodolfo uses a bow, like you. He doesn’t like getting up close to combat.”

“I see.” Alex nodded. “I’m guessing you don’t use axes like we do?”

“No, not really. Some do, but they’re just not common. Plus, I liked the slashing motion the Scythe provides.” Gaz nodded. “Easier to sink it into my enemy.”

Alex nodded, again. “I share a similar idea to your friend, Rodolfo. Getting up close is… not my desire.”

“Rodolfo used to be a warrior, so in his case… a fight was guaranteed. In mine, I’ll only be acting in self defense.” Gaz sighed, settling back into the seat. “You saw Soap’s blades.”

“I did.” Alex smiled. “They were impressive. Scary.”

“He was supposed to be a warrior. But… he was hit by a bolt when he was young and it damaged his heart. So, he can’t fight.” Gaz explained. “Hence the big scary blades.”

“Ah. Why isn’t Rodolfo a warrior?”

“He was injured…” Gaz hesitated before deciding to tell Alex. “By two demons, actually. Well, apparently they didn’t injure him directly. I don’t know how it fully happened but… I think it was because of a fight. But it almost killed him.”

“Oh.” Alex frowned. “Is he alright, now?”

“Oh, yeah. He’s fine. He’s pretty damaged, emotionally, by it. He hates demons. But, he’s mostly alright.” Gaz nodded. “He’s actually meant to protect me and Soap. Sort of our older brother.”

“Ah.” 

Gaz nodded again and turned to look out the window. “Demon territory is so… bright.” It was red and black, mostly, but they allowed a lot of sunset through. He expected it to be dark and almost abysmal. But… this was pleasant.

Alex chuckled. “No one likes living in darkness forever.” He soon was parking in front of a house and Gaz got out, folding his wings behind his back, though there was no one around. He went up to the door, following Alex in.

Now that he wasn’t in survival mode, he took stock of the house, noticing that it was also bright. Most of the furniture was in blue, actually, a night midnight blue and there was gold and dark oak accenting. But the walls were ivory and the windows were large with thin curtains and blinds over them. So, in the daytime, like it was currently, the house felt open, bright.

“Are you hungry?” Alex asked and Gaz hesitated before nodding. “I have some sweet rolls and then I can cook some lunch in a bit.”

“Okay…” Gaz nodded, liking that. “I’m curious, what do demons typically eat?”

“Well, most of us eat a lot of protein.” Alex shrugged. “Filling foods. Our foods also aren’t as sweet and light as yours.”

“Our foods aren’t that sweet. Or that light.” Gaz flushed, sitting in a stool at the kitchen island. “The things we need just happen to be sweet or light…” 

Alex laughed, softly. “Alright. Here.” He gave Gaz a sweetroll and Gaz noticed it had a distinct lack of packaging. “It’s homemade.” Alex explained. “I have little else to do besides cook, sometimes.”

Gaz made an “ah” sound and then bit into it, melting. It was slightly warm and so delicious… It was filled with a cherry filling, which wasn’t chunky or gross, and the light layer of glaze on top wasn’t too sweet. He loved it. He continued to eat it, watching Alex now move around the kitchen. Everything Alex did was so pretty… His wings would swish when he moved in certain ways, though they mostly stayed folded against his back, and he had such a graceful but strong way of movement. 

Alex eventually came over and sat beside him, starting to eat one of the rolls as well. “Tell me more about yourself. Did you grow up near the garden?”

“No, I didn’t.” Gaz shook his head. “I grew up in Everellia, which is a long way from the garden.” He sighed. “My parents died when I was freshly born and… I was raised in a home there. Then, when I was thirteen, the home was destroyed. General Price found me and brought me to the garden when I was still a fledgling. I’ve been there, ever since.”

“Have you ever left the garden before?” Alex frowned, deeply.

Gaz nodded. “Oh, many times! But I’ve never been to the human territories. That’s where I was trying to go when… when…” A burning sensation reappeared on his wrists and flashes of his own wings, beating against the hard ground filled his mind. Pain… violation… He squeezed his eyes shut, trying to clear his mind of the feelings. 

“Hey… Hey…” Alex’s voice was gentle, soft. “You’re alright. Okay? You’re right here with me.”

Gaz opened his eyes and looked at Alex, calming and relaxing. “A- anyway, I’ve been to Aelum, and Ollenia, but that’s about it. Mostly when they have festivals and only ever with Rudy and Soap. Or General Price.”

Alex nodded, his expression soft. “Do you enjoy going to those places?”

“Very much.” Gaz nodded, relaxing fully. “They’re enjoyable.”

Alex nodded a little. “What do you do for fun?”

“Read, watch tv, play games with Soap.” Gaz shrugged. He was starting to realize he’d had a slightly spoiled upbringing. When General Price got him, he was allowed to do whatever he wanted. Even Rudy and Soap were both allowed to just… do whatever. They never had to care about what was outside the garden. For Rudy, as long as Soap and Gaz were well taken care of, he could do anything. And Soap and Gaz didn’t have any such responsibilities. Hmm. “What do you do?”

“Pretty much the same. When I’m not doing aid missions, I have a lot of free time. The angels don’t… really accept much aid from us.” Alex cringed. “I understand why but… It means my free time is mostly served.”

“You don’t have a job?” Gaz tilted his head, though he didn’t, either.

“No. Uh…” Alex laughed and rolled up his pant leg, showing a prosthetic. 

“Oh…” Gaz was surprised. Alex didn’t walk like the angels he knew with prosthetic legs. But he supposed there was no set walk. It explained his wing movement, since he likely used them to keep himself light on his feet. “I see.”

“Yep.” Alex sighed and nodded. “So, no job. For now. This,” he gestured around the house, “is all paid for by… family money.” He winced.

“I thought you said your family wasn’t important.” Gaz tilted his head.

“They’re not. They just had a lot of money.” Alex muttered, looking down at his roll.

Gaz didn’t understand how that worked, but Alex clearly seemed uncomfortable with the topic. So, he moved on, trying to find a new topic. He remembered what he’d asked Alex right after he’d been rescued. “So… I really don’t tempt you?” He asked, carefully. He was trying to understand Alex’s motivations. When Gaz had tried to seduce him, he’d seemed rather insistent on not wanting that.

Alex raised an eyebrow, glancing over. Then, he sighed. “No. Not… to take you for any… nefarious means. I don’t want sex in exchange for giving you attention and I’m certainly not going to rape you.” 

Gaz blushed. “What about just… an exchange of intimacy?” 

Alex looked over him and then sighed. “No. I’m not interested in… hookups.”

“Oh.” Gaz didn’t know why that was disappointing. Neither does he. “And I’m guessing, much like that we shouldn’t be friends, a romance isn’t for us, either?”

“No.” Alex shook his head. “I’m sorry, but it’s not. You really are safer in the garden and being with me would take you away from that.”

Gaz huffed. “I’m an adult. I think I can decide that.” He mumbled.

“I understand that, but… Gaz, please understand that it really isn’t safe for you out of the garden.” Alex looked at him. 

“You said you would keep me safe.” Gaz shook his head. “I trust you to keep me safe.”

Alex went quiet and then sighed. “I will keep you safe…” He nodded. “But what if I’m not there for any reason? You have a tendency to wander where you’re not supposed to.”

Gaz flinched, realizing Alex was right about that. “Alright…” He conceded. “I just… I really like you…”

Alex softened. “I really like you, too. I’m not saying any of this out of any sort of dislike, Gaz. I’m saying it out of concern for your wellbeing.”

“Fuck my wellbeing.” Gaz muttered, looking down at his sweetroll before finishing it. He decided to give up on this conversation. “Tell me more about your friends.”

“Alright,” Alex nodded, “well, I have two friends. The first is a fighter who goes by Ghost and the other is named Ale. Well… I used to have another friend but she and I don’t really talk anymore.”

“Why not?” Gaz tilted his head. 

“Her name is Farah… She’s an angel.” He sighed and shook his head. “A warrior, specifically. With… everything going on, we both decided it was best to cut contact.”

“Is that why you’re so hesitant to be friends with me?” Gaz frowned.

“No.” Alex shook his head. “That’s for other reasons, which I have already highlighted.” He chuckled, giving him a teasing glance.

“My bad.” Gaz flushed and ducked his head. “I was just wondering.”

“It’s alright.” Alex nodded.

Gaz looked away, awkwardly. They ended up spending the rest of the afternoon in awkward silence, which Gaz wished he could break several times, but couldn’t find a way to. Alex made them a lunch which Gaz greatly enjoyed, and so the silence was broken for that and only that. 

Then, sirens started to go off, which immediately alarmed Alex and sent Gaz’s heart racing. “What do those mean??” He asked, but Alex was already up, grabbing his arm. 

“Stay calm.” Alex quickly said, tugging Gaz to a door and pulling him down to a cellar which appeared to be filled with storage items. “Just stay down here.”

“But what do they mean??” Gaz frowned, deeply. “I don’t understand…” His heart was racing and the way Alex was acting didn’t help.

“It’s just a- look, I’ll explain when I get back.” Alex shook his head. “Please don’t do that thing you do and go somewhere you’re not supposed to. Just stay here.”

Gaz went to protest, to demand answers, but Alex practically slammed the door in his face. Thankfully, it wasn’t dark, due to some lights Alex had turned on, as well as his own soft glow, but… it was still unnerving. He didn’t like basements or cellars, and he didn’t understand why demons and humans made them. 

He went to the bottom step and sat on it, bringing his knees up and hugging them, sitting so his back was against the banister. A million thoughts raced through his head, most of them demanding to know what was going on, though he had quite a bit of worry for Alex as well. 

If there had been any noise that he could hear, maybe it would make it better, but there was nothing, there was just silence. He couldn’t even hear the sirens anymore. He laid his cheek on his arms, praying this would be over soon. 

Then, he did hear a noise. A soft mewling noise. His mind went back to Lilith, Alex’s cat and he started to look around for her, standing carefully. The noise seemed to be coming from a black framed mirror in the corner of the cellar. Odd, but… maybe Alex was keeping it down there for storage.

He went to it, crouching down and peeking behind it, but he was greeted with nothing. Weird… He stood again and looked around, but again, the mewling came from the mirror. He touched the surface of it, gasping as his hand went straight through. 

He hesitated and glanced behind him before turning back to the mirror.

Then, he stepped through.

[callsign-bunnie]

Angles and dehmons… blease… bleaee…

So, this is the second to last part of what is posted on AO3. This series is going on a (very brief) hiatus so I can finish plotting it out and then it will be posted, again. I want to take a small bit of time and catch up over here, so AO3 fics will be posted less this week.

--

Soap sighed as he met up with Roach, trying to hide how bad he was fidgeting by clasping his hands behind his back. He tried to tell himself that this was just to find a way to keep his brothers safe. Nothing more.

Ignore that Gaz seemed to have completely dropped Alex completely. And that Rodolfo was much better… No, this was to keep them safe. The only reason.

‘I’m surprised you’re coming.’ Roach signed as Soap approached.

Soap had to admit… Roach looked good. Black joggers that hugged around his hips and left the slightest strip of skin showing under the loose black shirt he was wearing… Soap debated saying fuck the demon and just trying to get with Roach, instead, but… they had agreed to go to a match together. 

So, Soap shrugged and sighed. “I want him to get Alex to leave Gaz alone.”

‘That’s not what this is about.’ Roach shook his head. ‘He captured your interest as much as he captured mine.’

Soap glared at him. “That’s not true.”

‘Isn’t it?’

Soap huffed. “If you’re going to be an insufferable asshole, I’m just going to go home.” 

Roach hesitated and then sighed. ‘Fine. This is just to get Alex to leave Gaz alone.’

“Thank you.” Soap nodded. “Anyway, when does the match start?”

‘In an hour or so. I figured we’d both fly.’ Roach shrugged. He seemed to hesitate. ‘I’ve missed you.’

Soap looked away. “That’s behind us, Roach. You… made your choices, I’ve made mine.”

‘I regret them.’

“Yeah, well, it’s too late to take them back.” Soap muttered, ignoring that he also regretted his. Of all his relationships, ending this one with Roach hurt the worst. He’d take it back if he could but… he couldn’t. Actions had consequences and he’d had to learn to live with them. 

Roach shook his head. ‘Why? Why is it too late? We were good together.’

“Roach! We’re almost worlds apart!” Soap shook his head. “I live in the garden because I’m too damaged to do anything else and you- you’re off being a badass and taking jobs.”

Roach looked down. ‘I don’t think you’re too damaged to do anything else… I think you could do anything you wanted if you’d just try… I just… I… I miss you. I miss you at night when I should be sleeping and I miss you during the day when I’m awake. I don’t understand why… you stopped loving me?’

Soap stopped and almost stumbled back, feeling like he’d been hit. Had Roach spent this entire time thinking that Soap had left because he’d stopped loving him? Guilt suddenly filled him and he went to explain, but then Roach was stretching his wings out. ‘We should go, so we’re not late.’

Soap hesitated and then nodded. “You’re right.” He mumbled and stretched his own out. 

-

When they arrived, Roach informed the bouncer that they’d been invited by Ghost. Once they’d confirmed their names, they were quickly led inside. 

Soap found a seat with Roach, watching a small boxing ring where two demons were already fighting. Soap had to admit, he was quite surprised to see an equal spattering of Angels and Demons through the audience, though not many seemed to be watching the ring. 

A waiter came by and got a drink order from them before Soap turned to Roach, who was tracing a napkin. “When do you think Ghost fights?”

“Not for another hour-“

Soap jerked and then cursed loudly in surprise, both him and Roach immediately looking up to see Ghost was standing by the table. 

“Sorry.” Ghost chuckled and then leaned against their table. “I’ve been told I’m quiet.”

“You do that on purpose.” Soap accused, earning just a shrug. 

Roach nodded. ‘So why did you invite us here so early?’

“To get to know you both better.” Ghost answered before sliding into a chair at their table. “You both are intriguing. I’ve not met many angels who aren’t actively warriors that are willing to kidnap a demon from his bed and threaten him. Most of you, even little Seraphim, are too timid.”

“We’re not timid.” Soap answered, glaring at him. “Besides, we had something we needed.”

“Something I can’t give.” Ghost sighed. “Though, it looks like you convinced your brother to stay away, regardless.”

Soap just shrugged. “He made the decision on his own.”

Ghost nodded. “Good. But… you’re still here.”

Soap blushed dark. “I am.”

Roach rolled his eyes and Soap threw a glare at him. 

“Any reason why or do you have something new to threaten me for?” Ghost chuckled. 

Soap blushed even darker. “You invited me. I thought it would be rude not to accept.”

“Ah.” Ghost nodded. “Of course. Why else.”

Soap turned and glared at the table, trying not to get too riled up. “Maybe I should go-“

“No, no.” Ghost seemed to almost too quickly stop him and then he appeared almost sheepish. “I’m sorry. I’m just glad you’re here.”

Soap paused and then decided to accept that, relaxing. “Alright. I’m… I'm glad I’m here, too.” He nodded. 

Ghost then turned to Roach, who was looking around the club. “What about you? You know, that offer is still on the table~”

Roach half grinned at him. ‘Oh? Does the other still have to watch?’

“Only if he wants to.” Ghost laughed and then Soap only went darker red when Ghost winked at him. 

“He does not.” Soap answered, glaring at them both.

Roach seemed almost disappointed. ‘I’ll think about it.’ He told Ghost, who seemed to accept that. 

Soap tuned them out as he looked around, accepting his drink when it arrived. He hadn’t gotten anything with alcohol in it, not wanting to be inhibited in case anything went wrong. 

Neither really seemed to be too upset at his lack of conversation, so he focused on the fight, watching the two demons beat the shit out of each other. Alright, maybe it was a little… interesting to watch. Maybe he was a little excited by the display. Maybe. 

About 15 minutes before Ghost was supposed to fight, he stood up. “I need to go get ready. Thanks for coming.” Then he left. 

Soap and Roach both watched him go and then Roach turned to Soap. ‘You should give him a chance.’

“You give him a chance.” Soap retorted. “He’s clearly more interested in you than me.”

‘I think he’s interested in both of us.’

Soap looked down. “Maybe. But, he’s a demon. I’d be… going against so much that I believe in. Besides, he’s friends with Alex, who is friends with Rodolfo’s ex. It’d be… betraying my brother.”

Roach didn’t answer for a moment and then he looked down at the table, glaring at it. ‘What happened to you? You got injured and fell out of being a warrior and now you’re just… you’re not like yourself.’

“I changed. It happens.” Soap huffed. “What about you? You’re a hell of a lot angrier than you used to be.”

Roach winced. ‘There are things to be angry at.’

Soap shrugged. “Things changed me.”

Roach looked away and so Soap turned to look at the ring, seeing that Ghost had already stepped into it. He was against someone who was about his height and build, but Soap could see, already, that they looked deeply intimidated. 

Soap wondered if Ghost had a reputation. 

The fight started and- well, it was over almost as soon as it began. Soap wasn’t even entirely sure if he’d processed what happened. 

One moment, Ghost was facing his opponent and the next, they were on the floor with Ghost over them and Soap- Soap would definitely admit that it was fairly exciting to watch. Even just watching Ghost heave as he stood over his opponent was… well, Soap was seriously considering that chance. He looked at Roach, who seemed to have the same thoughts in his mind. 

“Alright, fine.” Soap smiled. “I’ll give him a chance.”

Roach looked very smug. ‘Oh?’

Soap nodded. “You still have that apartment in Evalia?”

Roach grinned. ‘You thinking of coming back to it?’

“I might be considering it.”

-

Gaz looked down at his plate once he was done eating, fidgeting slightly. “Do you really mean it when you say you don’t find me tempting?”

Alex went quiet. “Every time you’ve tried to seduce me… no. You didn’t tempt me. I don’t want to have sex with someone for an exchange. I may be a bit odd for a demon when it comes to sex, but I do like the idea of it being romantic. Intimate.”

“Romantic… intimate…” Gaz repeated. “I’ve never… I’ve never had sex before… before um- well, you know.”

“That doesn’t count, don’t worry.” Alex shook his head. 

Gaz hesitated. “Well, then I’ve never had sex. I don’t… I… I like you.” He settled on, blushing dark red. “I really like you…”

Alex softened. Then, his hand was touching Gaz’s and taking it, carefully. “I like you, too.”

Gaz looked down at their hands and then melted. “Oh…” 

Alex nodded. “I understand, though, if things can’t work because we’re too different.”

Gaz immediately shook his head, all ideas of continuing to entertain that flying out of his head. “No, no, we can… we can make it work…”

“Good.” Alex then brought Gaz’s hand up to his lips, pressing a soft kiss to his knuckles. 

Gaz just melted again and then leaned over, kissing his cheek. “Ever since you saved me, I… I feel drawn to you…”

“I feel the same for you.” Alex smiled. “You’re always in the back of my mind.”

“You’re in mine…” Gaz’s heart filled with warmth and thrummed a little faster. “Constantly…” He then leaned over and into Alex, folding his wings so they wouldn’t knock against his. Alex’s arm moved and went around Gaz, who made a soft happy noise. 

Alex shook his head. “Such a sweet thing… are you done eating?”

Gaz nodded. “I am.” He lifted up so Alex could take his plate and then watched him take their plates to the sink. 

Then, Alex offered a hand when he came back and so Gaz took it, standing and following him to the living room. Alex sat on the couch and Gaz did the same before curling up into him, happily. “When will you need to go back?” Alex asked. 

“Soon, probably.” Gaz shook his head, settling in when Alex wrapped his arms around him. Then, Alex was stroking the base of his wings and he found himself melting into a little puddle on the demon, his wings just flopping wherever they could comfortably land. This was amazing…

Alex continued to stroke the base of his wings. “If you asked, I’d do anything for you. I want you to know that.”

Gaz blushed and looked up at him. “What do you mean?”

“Anything. I mean it.” Alex touched his face and made him look up at him. “Anything.”

Gaz furrowed his brows, unsure what Alex would mean by anything. Gaz didn’t want Alex to… kill for him or anything, but he… well, he supposed Alex already had. “Okay…” he softened and relaxed, nodding. “Thank you…”

“Of course.” Alex said and then leaned down, kissing Gaz’s forehead. 

Eventually, Gaz decided he needed to go home before Rodolfo started to look for him and so he went back to Alex’s basement, going through the mirror after saying goodbye. 

He started to head through the hallway to go back, but then he was distracted by Lilith, again. He wondered if she often hung out in this little mirror dimension. 

Gaz shook his head and went over to her, crouching down and petting her softly. “Hello, Lilith.”

She just meowed and purred before her wings fluttered and then she was pawing at a mirror. This mirror was… basic. Wood framed, tall. That was it. Gaz frowned and looked at it, only seeing darkness reflected inside. “I shouldn’t… I should go home.”

Lilith mewled and pawed at the frame again. Gaz groaned, unsure why he even bothered to pretend he wasn’t going to do things even when he definitely would. 

He just squared his shoulders and stepped through the mirror.

[callsign-bunnie]

Hey just a reminder that if you guys want the next part of anything that is request based, you have to ask for them.

This includes:

Slasher Fieldtrip

Slasher Party

Angels and Demons

Zombie Rudy

Pretty much anything I’ve spat out a random first chapter for and never followed up

I don’t want to do stories that no one wants, so if you want them, just send an ask :D it can literally just be “Hey [fic] part [whatever] please???” And I will give it. Hell, if you ask for even older fics that I’ve done, I usually will. Even ones I’ve ended, I might just need a plot.

Just a reminder

[callsign-bunnie]

Part 6 of Angels and Demons??? Pls???

Here you go!

--

If there had been any noise that he could hear, maybe it would make it better, but there was nothing, there was just silence. He couldn’t even hear the sirens anymore. He laid his cheek on his arms, praying this would be over soon. 

Then, he did hear a noise. A soft mewling noise. His mind went back to Lilith, Alex’s cat and he started to look around for her, standing carefully. The noise seemed to be coming from a black framed mirror in the corner of the cellar. Odd, but… maybe Alex was keeping it down there for storage.

He went to it, crouching down and peeking behind it, but he was greeted with nothing. Weird… He stood again and looked around, but again, the mewling came from the mirror. He touched the surface of it, gasping as his hand went straight through. 

He hesitated and glanced behind him before turning back to the mirror.

Then, he stepped through. 

-

Gaz stepped through the mirror and was faced with a hallway of more mirrors. There had to be around thirty mirrors in it, as it was only a small hallway. Five lining the bottom of the walls on either side of him, five more above them and then five on the ceiling. And then two on the end of the hall and two behind him. 

So, 29 mirrors. A giant black cat was resting in front of the one at the end of the hallway. “Lilith?” He asked, questioningly, and two black demon wings spread from her back. She appeared to almost be laughing as she softly mewled, shaking out her wings. 

Then, she came up to him and rubbed herself against Gaz’s legs. So, he assumed this was the mysterious Lilith. “Hello… Where are we?”

She flicked her tail and folded her wings before going to a mirror, pawing at the frame. The frame looked to be made of black winding branches, mangled and curled around the actual mirror glass, which shimmered slightly.

He realized he was likely in a mirror dimension, which usually presented as hallways. Angels didn’t use them, they didn’t need to, but most demons did. Yeah, they could flick around, but it was unreliable and they could only do it if they knew where they were going. Mirrors, on the other hand, were much more reliable. 

They were fixed points between two places that, unless one mirror was moved, never changed. Typically, they were just mirror to mirror, it wasn’t that common to have whole hallways of close to thirty mirrors. He looked up at the ones on the ceiling and stretched his wings out before fluttering up and looking at them. All of them looked down, he realized. None of the rooms they were looking down in had any people and he didn’t recognize any of the locations, though one looked pretty similar to a meeting room. 

He dropped back down to the floor and went to the one Lilith stood in front of. There, he made out a very lavish and large bedroom, with two demons laying on a massive king-sized bed. He blushed dark at seeing a large painting of his brother, Rodolfo, in a state of undress. Well, he was completely naked, save for a sheet resting over his middle. 

The painting was above the bed, unable to be missed. His brother was clearly young in the picture, or rather younger than he currently was, since he was still fairly young. Not nearly as old as Price. 

The two demons didn’t appear to be doing much, a man and a woman. The woman was reading, her tail flicking lazily, like a cat. The man was grooming over her wings, almost appearing to be gazing wistfully at the painting. 

Gaz looked around the rest of the room, seeing equally lavish furniture everywhere. A large lavish couch, black velvet from the look of it, a massive tv, a fireplace, and a large wolf which was sleeping in front of it. 

However, a corner of the room was considerably lighter than the rest of the room, which was darker with dark oak and black upholstery on everything. But this corner had a small couch on it and Gaz could semi make out a wing brush and other things meant for an angel. This must be Alejandro and Valeria…

But why would Alex have a mirror which led to their room? That didn’t make any sense…

Well, I have two friends, actually they’re from important families.

The first is a fighter who goes by Ghost and the other is named Ale.

Ale… like Alejandro. Gaz, you idiot, why didn’t you put the pieces together before?? Oh, this wasn’t good. It was fine for Gaz, but poor Rudy… if he found out that the demon that Gaz was trying to be friends with was friends with them… He’d be so upset!

He paused when the man, Alejandro he was guessing, sat up suddenly. His eyes were black. “He’s near, I can feel him.”

Oh no. Gaz checked the time on his phone. Fuck! He was over when he was supposed to be. How long had passed in this dimension already?? Soap must have panicked and went and got Rodolfo!

Gaz needed to go. He watched the demons disappear and he went to turn back to the mirror he’d came through, stopping as he felt Lilith paw at his legs, clearly trying to get his attention. Then, she went around him and he turned and watched her as she went to the other end of the hallway where a bright gold framed mirror was. Gaz recognized it, immediately, as one from his own room. He frowned and went to it, looking through and seeing his bedroom. 

Alex had a mirror that connected to his bedroom? Why? Whatever, it would get him back faster and he could warn Soap! He paused and then stepped through the mirror, shivering as the usually cold air from his room hit him. 

He didn’t waste time, calling for Soap. “Soap! Soap!” He left his room, going to Soap’s room. However, he saw Soap fly out of Rodolfo’s room, rushing over to Gaz. “Soap…” Gaz relaxed.

“Gaz! You idiot! You went too long! I sent Rodolfo after you!” Soap hugged him.

“Yeah, that’s the thing!” Gaz pulled away, immediately. “I… I can’t tell you how, but I saw the demons! They know Rodolfo is in their territory and they went after him!”

“Oh no…” Soap went pale, immediately. “Oh no! I- He told me to stay! Oh, I should have went with him, but I was thinking what if you came back, and I got worried that if I left, it wouldn’t be good…”

Gaz shook his head. “You have to find him! You have to go!” 

“I don’t know how to find him! I don’t-” Soap paused and then he went into Rodolfo’s room, starting to rummage through his drawers. “I think he mentioned keeping a feather somewhere, in case this happened.”

Gaz nodded and quickly started to help him look. He looked under the mattress, in his closet, in his nightstand, and then finally Soap was making an “aha!” sound as he pulled a long feather out of an old arrow quiver. 

“Good! Alright, let’s go!” Gaz nodded.

“Absolutely not! You’ve gotten in enough trouble.” Soap huffed. “You’ve gotten all three of us in enough trouble. I’m going to go and you’re going to use the fountain to watch us.”

“But-”

“No!” Soap huffed again. “Just guide me on the fountain!”

“Fine.” Gaz shook his head and followed him outside, running to the fountain and resting beside it. He murmured that he wished to watch his brother, please, and the fountain shimmered before showing him Soap, who was ducking under the gap in the fence. 

Soap ran through the woods. He seemed almost guided by something and that worried Gaz, because that meant Rodolfo had likely been praying. “Please show me my other brother.” Gaz murmured and the fountain again shimmered before he saw Rodolfo, his body slumped against the woman, Valeria. She had him in her arms, lifting him carefully. Gaz’s heart spiked with anxiety, fearful of where she was going to take him, especially as Rodolfo looked out of it, weakly pushing against her.

“Put him down!” Soap called as he raised his blades, finally making it to them. 

Valeria glared at Soap. “This doesn’t concern you, little Seraphim.”

“You’re carrying my brother. It very much does. I will ask you, again, and trust, I will not ask a third time. Put my brother down.” Soap’s voice was so strong, much stronger than it usually was. Gaz was glad he could be so in such a situation.

Alejandro shrugged and waved his hand, a long, thin black sword appearing. More anxiety in Gaz’s heart. Alejandro looked confident and while Soap would certainly appear so, Gaz knew he had a lot more to learn before he could afford to be cocky. “Please just stand down, Soap…” Gaz murmured. “You can’t win this.”

However, a moment later, Rodolfo hit Valeria in the throat, being dropped rather hard. 

Soap immediately rushed over, grabbing Rodolfo and helping him to stand. “I’m… sorry…” Rodolfo reached for Soap's cobalt wings and yanked out a feather, causing him to yelp in pain. 

Rodolfo threw the feather at the ground, crying in Enochian for it to stun Alejandro and Valeria. The feather shot up a wall of light, separating the four, and Rodolfo relaxed, immediately. Soap put Rodolfo’s arm around his shoulder, starting to take off with him. 

Finally, they both managed to duck through the break in the fence, right as Alejandro and Valeria appeared.

“Leave now!” Soap yelled at them.

Gaz thanked the fountain and quickly got up, rushing to find his brothers near the gap in the fence. He got there just in time to see Rodolfo slump, passed out. “Rudy!” He called, shooting out his wings and flying over.

Soap was freaking out, carrying him. Gaz helped Soap get him inside to his bedroom but then Soap shoved him. “This is your fault!”

“What??” Gaz jerked back, surprised. “How is it my fault??”

“You left! You keep leaving!” Soap glared at him. “Rudy told you. Over and over. Demons are bad. They’re evil. They’re not good! But you keep running out to be with them! And look where it got Rodolfo! He wouldn’t have had to go look for you if you’d stop running off to find that fucking demon!”

“I- I-” Gaz stopped and looked at Rodolfo, who was clearly in pain, even unconscious. He’d looked so distressed in the fountain… This was his fault. He’d left and Rodolfo had come to find him and now Rodolfo was hurt. This was all his fault…

He looked down, tearing up. “I’m sorry… You’re right, this is my fault. Rodolfo got hurt because of me…”

“Oh, Gaz…” Soap hugged him. “Please, stop leaving.” 

Gaz nodded. “I will. I’ll stop. I’ll stay right here with you two and stop leaving… I’m sorry…” He dropped his shoulders. Guilt was eating into him and he just felt so horrible. “I’m sorry…” He started to cry, hugging Soap tighter. “I’m sorry…”

“Gaz, don’t cry! I- I shouldn’t have yelled at you!” Soap shook his head, pulling away. “It’s okay, it’s not… completely your fault. Please don’t cry…”

“It is. It is my fault. I’m horrible…” Gaz shook his head. He wrapped his wings around both of them, clinging to his brother. “I shouldn’t have left.”

“You shouldn’t have! But… it’s okay! You’re back now!” Soap shook his head, reaching up and touching Gaz’s face. “Okay?”

“Okay…” Gaz nodded and looked down. Soap pulled his hand away and Gaz sniffled. “Where’s Price?”

“He’s out. He had an emergency.” Soap shrugged and sighed. “When he comes back, if Rudy still isn’t awake, I’ll say he had a flare up and is sleeping right now. Okay?”

Gaz nodded. “I think… I think it would be best if I go to bed. It’s getting late.”

Soap nodded in agreement. “It is getting late.” He smiled, hoping his brother wouldn’t spiral when he went to bed. Gaz nodded, again, and then said goodnight before leaving the room. 

Soap took a deep breath and ran a hand over his hair. He needed to make sure Gaz didn’t leave again to go find that demon. So, he was going to have to find some way to stop him. He got out his phone and sat in Rodolfo’s chair, texting an old friend he hadn’t spoken to in years. Not since they both failed out of training. 

Hey, Roach.

Soap?

Yeah. Look, I know… I know we didn’t leave each other on good terms, but I need your help

With what?

I need to find a way to blackmail a demon into leaving my brother alone. Think you could help with that?

I think I could figure something out. What’s the Demon’s name?

Gaz called him Alex

Huh, I thought maybe Alejandro or Valeria would be back, bothering Rodolfo

If Alex goes away, they will too. 

So they are back. 

Yeah. You could say that. 

Soap. 

Yeah, they’re back. 

I’m willing to do this favor, but not if you’re going to be cold and distant to me the whole time.

I’m not trying to be. I just… I don’t know how to talk to you.

Right. 

Soap shook his head and sighed. Look, can you just find some way to get rid of him?

I’ll do my best.

Thank you, that’s all I ask. Soap stuck his phone back in his pocket. Was talking to one of his exes the best idea? No, but he knew if anyone could figure out how to make this demon go away, it was Roach. 

And if Alex went away, Gaz would stop leaving, and they’d all just be fine and happy again. Look, Soap didn’t have problems with trouble making. But, he didn’t want to see his brothers hurt again. He’d seen what had happened to Rodolfo, even if Rodolfo wasn’t necessarily willing to talk about it. He didn’t want that happening to Gaz. 

Soap went to Gaz’s room to check on him, frowning when he saw he wasn’t there. He looked around his room and then went to Gaz’s mirror, frowning when he saw it shimmering. 

Fuck, where did he go??

[callsign-bunnie]

Next part of Angels and Demons, please? Where did Gaz go??

Here you go

--

When Gaz had went to his room, the first thing he did was go back to Alex. He informed him that he knew about the hall of mirrors and then he’d said that they couldn’t see each other, again.

Alex frowned. “I… why?”

Gaz bit his lip. “You were right. It’s too dangerous.” He murmured. “Thank you. For being willing to be my friend, anyway.” He leaned up and kissed his cheek, holding his sleeve, before shaking his head. “I’ll.. I’ll take the mirror home.”

Alex paused and then nodded. “Alright. I’m sorry it had to be this way.”

“Me too.” Gaz mumbled as he went back down and to his room. 

He’d realized, later, that he’d never found out what the sirens meant, or what had been going on. But, he’d decided not to dwell on it. His short lived friendship with Alex was over and it was best to move on.

Which, he tried to do. When Rodolfo woke up, he apologized and spent days with him, making sure his brother was okay. Rodolfo was fine, but he was retraumatized and it made Gaz feel so unbelievably guilty. That was his fault. If he hadn’t have left again, Rodolfo wouldn’t have went through that. 

Rodolfo tried to assure him that it wasn’t his fault, but Gaz knew it was. He’d been silly and stupid and naive, and it had gotten Rudy hurt. 

The guilt all but ate him alive. Even poor Soap seemed to be affected by it, as Gaz caught him constantly watching Rodolfo with worry. Of course he was…

Gaz stopped leaving the garden for any reason. Even to go to the markets when Rodolfo felt well enough to. Or, well, he tried not to go, but Soap and Rodolfo immediately got him up and dragged him out, anyway. “We meant don’t go near demons. You can still have fun and shop!” Soap huffed. 

Gaz sighed, but he agreed and let them drag him out, holding his wings around himself when they got there. Rodolfo apparently wanted more jewelry for his wings, treating himself.

Gaz had always loved the markets. Angels used technology and had made several advancements of their own in that regard but, they stayed traditional in some regards. As such, the markets still looked like they did millenia before. Wooden stalls with cloth to differentiate them between each other. Gaz perked up, able to smell warm sweets in the air, savory foods. 

Excitement filled him, washing away the guilt and sadness. Alright, his brothers did know how to cheer him up. Soap rushed off, coming back with sugarbuns and Gaz happily took his, biting into the warm bread and melting. It was soft and sweet and so delicious.

Rodolfo, himself, appeared to be doing better. He looked a lot lighter and he moved in his usual assured and light, graceful manner. Gaz followed close behind the two of them, looking at the stalls as they walked. Many were selling blades or bows, as those were important right now, but some were selling beautiful clothing, food, wing brushes and combs and then, the stall Rodolfo had them stop in front of was setting jewelry for their wings. Piercings and chains and cuffs. 

Soap fluttered his wings. “I’m going to take the plunge.” He grinned. “I’ve been wanting some for forever. I think I’m gonna do it.”

“It doesn’t hurt, Soap.” Rodolfo assured.

Gaz shook his head, mildly amused. “I… I don’t want to watch this. I’m going to go talk to the warriors that are resting here, see if any of them have any stories to tell.”

Rodolfo seemed hesitant. “Please don’t wander off…”

Gaz winced, guilt striking his heart. “I won’t, Rudy. I promise.” He touched Rodolfo’s arm before turning and leaving. He found a small group of warriors near a stall selling swords and so he went over, smiling. 

He caught the attention of one rather quickly. She was a woman, tall and strong, though not as tall as him. But, her presence was so commanding, she might as well have been. “Hello.” She smiled. “What is your name?”

“Gaz.” Gaz answered, flushing and shaking her hand when it was offered. “What’s yours?”

“Farah. Farah Karim.” The warrior answered, her hand resting on her blade when she was done. She was just in leather armor, for now, which made sense since she was in a market. They didn’t wear much heavy armor there.

Her name stuck out to Gaz. “Farah?” His mind went back to Alex, and the old friend he’d told him about, who’s name was also Farah. “That means happiness, right?”

“It does.” She smiled. “What does Gaz mean?”

“Oh, it means that the Virtues were too lazy to learn my name and made one up.” Gaz joked. “My real name is Kyle, but Gaz stuck. I was too shy to… tell them my real name.”

“Kyle as in John Price’s adopted son?” Farah blinked and Gaz blushed. He hated that his name was so known, especially in this market. Kyle was a fairly common name among humans but… not among angels, even as they adopted more human names for their children. “Where are the other two?” She chuckled. “I’ve been told that when one of you is about, the other two are usually close by.”

“Oh, Soap and Rodolfo are both getting new piercings on their wings.” Gaz nodded. “Well, Soap is. I don’t know about Rodolfo.”

“I see.” Farah nodded. “Rodolfo is the fallen warrior, right?”

Gaz nodded, perking up. “He is!”

Farah nodded and her expression grew grave. “I’ve heard tales of him. Naive angel got too close with demons.”

Gaz made a face. “It was more complicated than that.” He huffed, not meaning to come off as aggressive as he did. But, that was his brother! He wasn’t being naive, he was in love when that happened. Besides, that was in the past.

“Oh, I don’t doubt that. Do not worry, Gaz, I do not believe what they say. I have my own connections with demons, trust me.” Farah shrugged, sighing. “We do what we need to. To survive.”

Gaz paused and then curiosity got the better of him. “Do you know a demon named Alex? Or Alexei?”

Farah frowned “Yes, I do.”

Gaz hesitated. “I see…” He fidgeted. “He saved me. From a human attacking me.”

Farah nodded and smiled. “That’s Alex. He’s very noble.”

Gaz nodded, in agreement. “Yeah… I wanted to be friends with him but… it just wasn’t possible.”

“Ah.” Farah sighed. “Times are difficult right now. Friendships are being broken, as well as allyships. I… I will say. Alex is a good friend. He’s honorable and he’s kind. He would never choose to harm you.”

Gaz blushed. “Yeah…” He knew she was likely right. Alex wasn’t the worry. His friends were. “I don’t think Angels can be friends with demons. I just don’t think it ends well.”

“I don’t think that’s true.” Farah frowned. “Alex and I have been friends for many years, and once this war is over, I think we will be friends for many more.”

Gaz blinked. “But… we’re natural enemies. Things don’t work out between us. Demons are evil.”

Farah laughed. “Oh, you sweet thing… Why do you think that? Yes, it is a fact that many demons and angels find themselves as enemies, but we are not naturally predetermined to be enemies. No more than human and fae are, anyway. Egos and… power complexes get between us. Nothing more. And Demons are only evil because we don’t share their values. Most of them consider us some form of evil.”

Gaz could feel the beginnings of conflict in his mind. He thought over Farah’s words. “But… the two demons that hurt my brother-”

“Was that not an accident?” Farah tilted her head. “From what I’ve heard, it was.”

“It was an accident.” Gaz nodded. “But, it was because of their carelessness and selfishness that it happened.”

“Last I checked, careless and selfish are not synonyms for evil, my dear.” She murmured. “Besides, the demons help us in our battles. They would not do that if they were not… slightly good. Or at least, on our side.”

Gaz went quiet, trying hard to process her words. His brain just couldn’t wrap his head around this. It felt like every time he finally figured this out, something new was throwing a conflicting opinion into the ring, causing him to spiral. “You don’t think demons are evil?”

“Not inherently. Not as a whole.” Farah shook her head. “Certainly not Alex.”

“What of Valeria and Alejandro? Do you think they are evil?” Gaz looked at Farah, fidgeting. 

Farah considered. “I have not met them many times. But… they strike me as… deeply regretful demons. I was led to believe they’d made a huge mistake in their past and it led to them losing something very dear and valuable to them. Every action shows that.” She smiled. “Can I give you some advice, Gaz?”

Gaz paused and then nodded, slightly. “Okay…”

“Formulate your own opinions, and listen to others. But remember, not everything is clear when you look at it. We don’t get handed every detail on a silver platter. Okay? So when you examine something, sometimes, it’s best to look in every crevice.” She smiled and then flicked her hand, a small slip of white paper appearing between her fingers. “My phone number. If you need anything.”

Gaz blushed dark and accepted it, pocketing the little slip of paper. “Thank you. And I will… try to heed your advice.”

“Oh, and do please stop getting into trouble. Your father is quite tired of it.” She laughed. 

Gaz’s eyes widened. “You know about that??”

“Most of us do.” She nodded. “You’re a sweet, curious little thing. Your father adores you. But he does wish you’d be more careful.”

Gaz softened and relaxed, thinking of Price. He should spend some time with him, since he hadn’t lately. “Thank you, Farah.”

“Of course.” She bowed her head before leaving to rejoin her group, who were all laughing about something, which she promptly joined in laughing at when she was filled in.

He shook his head, turning and going to find his brothers again. Rodolfo and Soap were still at the previous stall and Soap was marveling over two new piercings in his wings. “They really didn’t hurt!” He grinned when Gaz came near, fluttering his wings.

Rodolfo laughed. “I told you!” He smiled. He didn’t have any new of his own, from what Gaz could see, but he did have a large bag, which Gaz assumed had new piercings. “Where did you go?”

“Well, I told you I was going to talk to the soldiers and I did. I met a wonderful woman by the name of Farah Karim.” Gaz decided to leave the details of their conversation to a minimum. “We mostly just talked about the conflicts.”

Soap looked around. “Are they still here?”

“No,” Gaz chuckled, knowing why Soap was asking. Despite being a fallen warrior, he had a thing for them. Or maybe it was because of that fact. “They were leaving when I came back.”

“Damnit.” Soap huffed and shook his head. “Oh well. Next time.” He did pout and Gaz thought that was funny. 

Gaz smiled. “Can we go home, now? I wanted to see if Price wanted to do something together.” He also noticed that Rodolfo was holding his side and making an uncomfortable face. Soap glanced over and then nodded, and Rodolfo did as well.

So, they went back to the Garden.

-

Gaz had found Price in the library, so he leaned across the back of the couch, looking at his book over his shoulder. He had no doubt it was something boring that only much older angels would enjoy. “Hello, Price!”

“Hello, Gaz.” Price chuckled. “I’m surprised to see you in the library, today. I thought Soap and Rodolfo made the resolve to take you out.”

“They did.” Gaz nodded and stood straight, looking around the library. It was massive, with vines that crawled over the shelves and lights in the top that let in plenty of light. Gaz loved the library, looking around. “But, we came back. Rodolfo is resting.” He noticed Price’s face frown with concern. “He’s alright, do not worry. Just… a little worn out. Soap is attending to him.”

“Good. I am glad that you three take care of each other like you do.” Price relaxed. “Well, then to what do I owe the pleasure of your company?”

“Well, we haven’t spent much time together, lately!” Gaz went around the couch, sitting by him. “You are my father and I miss you.”

Price chuckled. “My apologies, Gaz. You are usually busy with your brothers.”

“I am…” Gaz nodded. “But I’m not, now!”

“Alright.” Price closed his book and set it to the side. Gaz took that as a sign he had Price’s full attention, so he got back up, grinning when Price did the same.

They went to a small beach that was at the farthest end of the Garden. Gaz loved the beach. He liked to dig his feet in the sand and feel the water wash up over him. Price found some skipping stones for them, rather quickly, and so Gaz set to skipping them across the water.

Price was much more skilled at the art than he was, able to skip his six or seven times every single stone, where Gaz was lucky to get maybe three. The longest he could remember his father skipping a stone was 16, but he had a suspicion that his father may manipulated that one. “What have you and your brothers been up?” Price asked, after a bit of silence.

Gaz shrugged. “Not much.” He lied. “Soap continues to cause mischief, and I continue to get into trouble. Rodolfo continues to save our asses.”

“That’s my boys.” Price nodded. “You three went to the market today, I heard.”

“Yes, we did! Soap finally got some piercings and I met a warrior named Farah Karim.”

“Ah, yes. Captain Karim. She’s one of my best soldiers.” Price nodded, smiling. “Wonderful fighter.”

“I didn’t know she was a Captain…” Gaz furrowed his brows, surprised. “She didn’t tell me.”

“She’s not boastful. I’m not surprised. There would have been no benefit in telling you, and no consequence to not telling you.” Price shrugged. “Therefore, she wouldn’t have told you. What did you two talk about?”

Gaz hesitated. Well, his father didn’t know about Alex, so he doubted he could get in trouble. “Demons…”

Price frowned. “Why were you discussing Demons?”

“I… I was wondering if she thought they were all bad.” He admitted, skipping a stone. “I just wanted to know, since she mentioned knowing a few after saying she knew who Rodolfo was.”

Price nodded. “What conclusion did you form?”

“I… didn’t.” Gaz sighed, his shoulders dropping. “I think I left it more confused than I entered it.”

“That’s because it’s not a simple issue.” His father nodded. “I remember when Angels were top of the order. It went us, humans, fae, then demons. However, as we’ve progressed, the scales have evened more. This war has set us all as equals.” He sighed. “What do you think makes Demons ‘bad’?”

Gaz frowned and then considered. “They don’t consider life as sacred as us.” He admitted. 

“No.” His father shook his head. “They don’t consider our lives as sacred as we do. They consider their own life to be just as sacred. We don’t particularly consider their lives as sacred, either, do we?”

Gaz supposed his father had a point. “Okay… They’re violent.”

“I don’t think they’d consider themselves violent.” Price shrugged. “Yes, many of their activities set them as… aggressive in nature. They like fighting more than we do, but they are also more energetic than we are. They have more to burn off.”

Gaz fluttered his wings. This was not making him less confused. He groaned and sat on the sand. “This isn’t helping!”

“No, I don’t think it is.” Price laughed and agreed, sitting by him. “My point is that they’re only evil because their values clash with our own.”

“I thought you didn’t like demons, though.” Gaz furrowed his brows.

“No. I don’t. But, I don’t think they’re evil. I do think they will take their opportunities to bring us down once this is over and the only reason they help us is because they know if the humans defeat us, they’re next. But… I do not believe they’re evil.” Price shrugged. “Regardless, I cannot make your opinions. As much as I’d like to. I think it would make some things easier.”

Gaz chuckled, shaking his head. “I don’t think I can even make my opinions. I have too many conflicting words in my head, swirling around like a bad tea.”

“Tell me some of them.” Price nodded. “I will help you try to sort them.”

Gaz considered. “Well… Rodolfo is insistent demons are evil. And so is Soap. But, Farah thinks they’re perfectly alright. And now you’re telling me that they’re not evil, but they’re not good, either.”

Price sighed. “Rodolfo… I see him as my own son. But… he has a way of letting emotions rule his actions. Remember, that most of his opinions on demons come from a very intimate place of hurt. He was hurt by two demons. Destroyed by them. Soap… his opinions come from Rodolfo.”

Gaz furrowed his brows. For a brief moment, he considered telling his father everything. But, he still knew that wasn’t the best idea. “I guess… Thank you. You helped, kind of.” He nodded. “Well, more than anyone else has managed.”

Price smiled. “That’s my job. To guide you three. Well… I’m glad you decided to spend time with me, today. I have some… unfortunate news.”

Gaz blinked and frowned. “What is it??” He sat up, quickly.

“I have to leave. It’ll be for a few weeks.” Price sighed. “I would take you three with me, but it’s to a heavy battle area and-”

“It’s not safe.” Gaz completed, dropping his shoulders. “It’s alright, I understand…” He nodded. “Rodolfo and Soap will, as well.”

“That’s why Farah’s unit is here.” Price continued. “She will be here to watch over you three and the Garden in my absence. Will you be alright while I’m gone?”

“Of course.” Gaz nodded and smiled. “You’ll call frequently, right?”

“As frequent as I can manage.” Price promised. He then let out a breath and relaxed. “I leave, tomorrow.” 

“I understand.” Gaz nodded. “I will see you off.”

“Of course. Thank you.” Price pat his arm before sighing. “Come on, kid. Let’s go inside.”

“Yes, sir.” Gaz laughed and stood, starting to walk back with him. 

-

Rodolfo’s hands shook as he held the bowl of water in his hands. He’d taken it directly from the fountain outside and he’d done the ritual to perfection. He needed one of his smaller feathers, two rose petals, and a small amount of dandelion’s milk. He’d mixed them into the water, afterwards, and now here he was, whispering a prayer. 

Guide my soul, not my flesh, do not leave me bound to physical location. 

The water started to shimmer and so he sipped from the bowl, closing his eyes. When the water was gone, he took a deep breath and opened his eyes again. “I wish to see Valeria and Alejandro.”

His whole body started to tingle and he made an uncomfortable sound, not liking the sensation. He never had. He closed his eyes when black clouded his vision and then he was slumping over, hitting his bed.

[callsign-bunnie]

I want to get my regular of an order of the Angels and Demons… side of Roach if you can but no worries if it’s Gaz

I didn't have roach in this when I received this ask

--

Rodolfo unfolded his wings when he could open his eyes again, looking around. He found himself in a bedroom he recognized immediately, folded on a couch that had been bought specifically for him. 

Two figures slept on the bed, which made sense, seeing as it was very late at night. He stood, unfolding himself, and then went over to the bed, looking over the two demons, which he recognized well. Alejandro and Valeria… 

They were just as beautiful as he remembered. He ghosted his fingers over Valeria’s face, unable to physically touch her. Even still, he was unsurprised when her eyes opened and he stepped back as she quickly sat up. “Rodolfo?” She whispered, looking in disbelief.

Alejandro was up a moment later, staring at him. “You’re… here.”

“No.” Rodolfo shook his head. “Not completely. I’m not stupid enough to do that.” 

Alejandro furrowed his brows and Valeria looked disappointed. She reached out, her hand passing through Rodolfo. He could kind of feel it, but it felt the same as someone running their hand over his stomach. “You’re projecting.”

“I am.” He nodded, backing up more. He looked at himself, seeing that he glowed slightly. His glow was always a light blue. 

“That’s fine.” Alejandro shook his head. “You still chose to come see us.” He smiled. 

“Don’t get too cocky.” Rodolfo muttered. He didn’t have some retort or lie to knock them down a peg, so he just didn’t give one. He had chosen to see them. He didn’t really have an answer why, he just knew he had wanted to come see them. 

“You’re just as beautiful as I remember.” Valeria stood, coming to stand in front of him and looking over his face. 

Rodolfo shook his head, backing up again. “Flattery is not going to change my mind. I’m staying gone. I just… came to see you. This means nothing.”

Alejandro and Valeria shared a look and then Alejandro was nodding. “Alright. We will… respect that.”

Rodolfo felt surprised, not expecting it to be that easy. He’d expected more begging, more pushback. It worried him, because now he wondered if they were planning something. He shook it off, though. “What did you give me? In the rose?” It hadn’t done much, but he did feel slightly better. Only slightly. 

“An antidote. For the poison.” Valeria nodded. “It will heal the damage.”

Rodolfo furrowed his brows, since that had been self explanatory. He’d wanted something more specific. “I don’t… like these games you play with me. I want to know exactly what it is.”

“Heartroot.” Alejandro sighed. “Mostly. Carris tongue, ram horn. A few other things you can only get in our territories.”

Rodolfo relaxed, glad to get an actual answer. Both Valeria and Alejandro seemed to be looking at him, earnestly, so he accepted their answers. “Alright.” He nodded. “Why? Why did you slash me?”

“It was an accident, mi amor…” Valeria immediately stepped forward again. “I have never felt more guilt in my life for anything…”

“You don’t feel much guilt, period.” Rodolfo glared at her. “If you truly felt guilt for how you hurt me, you wouldn’t have tried to kidnap me!”

“Our need for you to return far outweighs our guilt. We will admit that.” Valeria nodded. “But I do truly regret how careless I was. How careless we were. We were… selfish and stupid and it got you hurt and we will never forgive ourselves for that. Nor do we expect you to.” 

“Yes.” Alejandro agreed, standing and coming to Rodolfo. “She’s right. We hate ourselves every day for what happened to you…”

Rodolfo looked up at them both, their words sinking deep into him. They were remorseful, they regretted it. But, even still, the imagery from that night flashed through his mind. Screaming and fighting and then just an overwhelming, dense cold feeling… He shook his head. “I can’t risk that happening again.”

“It won’t!” Valeria immediately cried. “We will not allow it to!”

“No. I’m not… I’m not coming back.” Rodolfo shook his head. “I can’t. It wasn’t just getting struck it was… other things. You two were constantly fighting and I was constantly being dragged into the middle of it. If I wasn’t being outright ignored.”

“We did not mean to ignore you…” Alejandro frowned. “We never did it on purpose.”

“You two were so obsessed with each other and yourselves that you probably didn’t even notice!” Rodolfo huffed. “I might as well have been a piece of furniture, half the time.”

Valeria looked hurt, as did Alejandro, but neither said anything. Rodolfo shook his head and looked away. “I missed you.” He admitted. “And I believe that you missed me. But… you hurt me. Beyond repair. I will never be the same and it’s your fault.”

They still didn’t speak and Rodolfo looked down. “This was a mistake.”

“Wait- please don’t go.” Alejandro quickly said. “Rodolfo, please.”

Rodolfo paused but then backed up, shaking his head. “No. I need to go. I shouldn’t have came, I shouldn’t be here.”

“Rudy, please!” Alejandro pleaded. He tried to grab Rodolfo’s arm but his hand just went straight through. “Look, just- tell us what to do to get you back and we’ll do it! We’ll do anything. Please.”

Rodolfo watched him and then he softened. “I…” he looked at Valeria, who looked nearly as desperate. “I don’t know, yet. I don’t think there’s anything you can do.”

“There has to be something. Please…” Alejandro shook his head. “Rudy, please…”

Rodolfo looked between them and then his shoulders dropped. “No. There’s nothing.” He undid the spell, disappearing. 

When he got back to his body, he panted, hugging himself. Already, he found himself missing the two demons, but he reminded himself that he couldn’t go back. 

He couldn’t. 

-

Gaz went with Price to see him off. As Price went to get into a truck, Gaz realized that he looked so… exhausted. He frowned. “Price? Are you alright?”

“Just… ready for this war to be over, Kyle.” Price sighed, looking at Gaz. “We have about thirty minutes until the trucks set out, so I wanted to tell you a story.”

“A story?” Gaz laughed softly and then moved up to sit on the ledge beside him. “What kind of story?”

“Well, it’s about you. I was thinking about it, after our conversation the other day. I realized that I never fully told you how we found you. When we found you, that is.”

Gaz frowned, deeply. “I was found in a pile of rubble, I thought.”

“Yes, and no. You were found in December and you were found in a pile of rubble but… there was another boy with you. A demon. He found you and because you were injured and freezing, he stayed with you. I remember him fairly well. He was terrified to touch you because he was naturally cold and worried it would only make it worse, but he’d dug through the rubble and found you blankets and food. We tried to thank him but he disappeared as soon as we arrived.” Price explained. 

Gaz frowned. “How do I not remember that?” Admittedly, he didn’t remember anything from that time. Just… fear. 

“You’d hit your head pretty hard. I’m not surprised. But… I thought that was relevant. You wanted to know if demons were inherently evil. One, a young one, didn’t have to stay with you, but he did.” Price shrugged. “Food for thought. Ah, there she is.”

Gaz looked up, smiling. He saw Farah was walking over, but she was with Kate Laswell. Gaz wasn’t exactly clear on what her title was, but she was important, he knew that. She was especially important to the three of them. 

“Laswell!” Gaz called, standing and hugging her when she neared. “Are you going with Price?”

“Nope. I’m going to be staying with you guys.” Laswell answered. “Farah and I are here to see Price off, actually.”

“Oh.” Gaz relaxed. He was happy for that, since he liked Laswell. She was kind, even if she didn’t put up with Soap and Gaz’s nonsense. “Rodolfo will be pleased.”

“I hope so.” Laswell nodded. “Alright, John. Goodbye.” 

Gaz turned and waved bye to Price as he climbed into the truck before standing back so they could all head out. 

When all of the trucks were gone, Gaz turned to Laswell and Farah. “It’s nice to meet you, again.” He told Farah. 

Farah smiled in response. “It is nice to meet you as well.”

“Let’s go back to the manor.” Laswell spoke up before starting to guide them both. As they walked, Gaz looked around, enjoying an easy silence. 

When they got back to the manor, Gaz went up to find Soap and Rodolfo, knowing they were both likely still asleep. As expected, Soap was curled up in his bed, his wings splayed out. When they were both young, neither could stand to sleep in the same bed because Soap would wack him with his wings. 

Soap groaned when Gaz went to wake him up, but his eyes opened. Then, he was immediately sitting up. “What is it? Is it Rodolfo??”

“No, no,” Gaz quickly assured. “It’s Laswell! She and that warrior I told you about will be guarding us while Price is gone.”

Soap calmed and relaxed, nodding. “Good.” He got up and then Gaz followed him to Rodolfo’s room. Rodolfo was still asleep, curled up tightly. 

Gaz watched Soap sit on the bed and then gently wake their brother and guilt flooded his chest again. Poor Rodolfo was still sick, though he was doing better… and it was Gaz’s fault. 

Rodolfo woke up slowly and he nodded in response to all of Soap’s questions before getting up, presumably going down to talk to Laswell and Farah. 

Gaz turned to Soap. “Do you want to do anything today?”

“No, unfortunately, I’m busy. An old friend wants to hang out.” Soap sighed and shook his head. 

Gaz blinked. “An old friend?”

Soap looked at him and then sighed. “A… an ex boyfriend. His name is Roach.”

“Oh.” Gaz could remember that name. He’d never met him but he was pretty sure Roach was also a fallen soldier. “What are you guys going to do?”

Soap gave him a look and Gaz blushed dark red. “Nevermind.” Gaz quickly mumbled and shook his head. “Well, um… have fun?”

“Will do. I'm going to go ahead and head out. Bye Gaz!” Soap smiled and then he was just gone. 

Gaz sighed and dropped his shoulders. Rodolfo would be likely with Farah and Laswell all day so that meant Gaz was going to be alone. All day. 

Already, Gaz’s mind went back to Alex and he found himself wanting to go to him again. He had the mirror… would it really be so bad?

No, Gaz had told him they couldn’t be friends anymore… What if it got Rudy hurt?

But, Gaz really missed Alex and he thought about Price’s earlier words. Maybe… maybe just once more. 

He paused as he went out to the hallway, listening for Rodolfo. Sure enough, he heard all three discussing things and so Gaz went to his room, closed and locked the door and then went to the mirror, touching it. 

His hand went straight through so he stepped through the mirror, and then started to head through the little hallway. 

Once he reached the mirror at the end of the hallway, he again stepped through, looking around. 

As expected, he was in the basement of Alex’s house, though he paused when he heard noise at the top of the stairs which sounded like voices. Odd, it’d been so soundproof last time…

He went up to the door, knocking carefully. It went silent and then footsteps came to the door.

When it opened, Gaz was glad to be greeted with Alex, who looked surprised. “Gaz?”

“Hi, sorry… I um… well, I’m gonna be alone all day. And… I know I said we can’t be friends but um…” Gaz glanced around Alex, barely making out three figures in his kitchen. “I can come back later?”

“No, no, it’s fine.” Alex shook his head. “I just have a few friends over. You can meet them if you want.”

Gaz blushed but then nodded. “Alright!” He followed Alex out of the basement and then to the kitchen. 

However, when he made it to the doorway, his breath caught in his throat as he immediately recognized Valeria and Alejandro. 

The third was a man he didn’t recognize but he was frightening. Tall with a rather scary looking skull mask on… 

Alex looked at him, clearly concerned, as did all three in the kitchen. They were standing around the kitchen island. “Are you alright?”

Gaz quickly nodded. “Y-Yea.” He looked around, swallowing. All three of the others scared him. 

Alex smiled and Gaz moved to follow him further into the kitchen, standing beside him. “Hey, guys, this is Gaz, that Angel I told you guys about.”

Gaz flushed. Alex had told everyone about him? That filled his chest with warmth and he tried not to appear too bashful. 

“It’s nice to meet you. I’m Alejandro Vargas.” Alejandro spoke up and then offered his hand. 

Gaz hesitated before shaking it, surprised at how warm Alejandro was. He thought most demons ran cold. “It’s nice to meet you, as well.” He avoided Alejandro’s eyes, trying not to show how nervous he was. 

“This is Valeria. And Ghost.” Alex pointed to Valeria and then the third one in a skull mask. “We’re a bit of an odd group. But, oh well. Are you hungry? I was about to cook some breakfast.”

Gaz flushed. But, he nodded. “I could eat.”

“Awesome.” Alex smiled. “Just you get food. Not these assholes.”

“Great. Thanks.” Alejandro glared at Alex. 

Gaz couldn’t help laughing softly. “I can’t accept food if they’re not allowed to eat.”

“Oh, they’re allowed to eat. I’m just not cooking for them. They can find bread or eggs or something. They’re big boys.” Alex laughed. 

“How sweet.” Valeria cooed at Gaz. Her eyes were filled with a sticky sweet affection that Gaz wasn’t sure he liked. “Are all angels this pious?”

“Wouldn't you know?” Gaz asked before he could stop himself. He shrank back at the sudden pointed stares at him from Alejandro and Valeria. Fuck. 

“Why do you say that?” Valeria asked, her smile turning fake. 

Gaz cringed. “I um… you guys used to know my brother. Rodolfo.” He admitted, biting the inside of his lip. 

“Oh?” Both relaxed. “How is he? We haven’t-“ Alejandro seemed to twitch slightly. Gaz blinked. Did Alejandro just try to lie? Demons generally couldn’t lie. 

“It’s been a bit.” Valeria continued. “How is he?”

Gaz thought that was a clever way of getting around it. Since, a bit can be defined as anything. “He’s… okay.” Gaz nodded. He couldn’t tell them the truth. Poor Rodolfo would not want that. 

“That’s good.” Valeria seemed to relax. She then shared a glance with Alejandro. “Well, we should go.”

Alejandro nodded. “It was good seeing you, Alex. Text me tomorrow.”

Alex nodded. “Will do. Have a good day.” He waved bye to Alejandro and Valeria as they left. 

That left just Ghost, who was watching Gaz, clearly amused. “I’ll leave as well.” He nodded. 

Gaz frowned and looked at Alex, who nodded. “Alright, man. See you.” 

Ghost nodded. “See you.” He then left, just disappearing. 

Alex turned to Gaz and smiled brightly. “I’m really glad to see you. Come on, what do you want to eat for breakfast? I made some fried chicken Patties last night so I can make some breakfast sandwiches with them?”

“What would be on one?” Gaz tilted his head.

 “Whatever you want.” Alex shrugged. “I’ve got a fair amount of things. Eggs, cheese, lettuce and sauces.”

Gaz considered. “Some egg sounds nice… and lettuce.” He nodded. “Do you have cheese?”

“I do!” Alex started to get into the fridge and so Gaz went around to sit at the counter. 

He watched Alex prepare and cook the sandwiches and then he gladly accepted his, happy at seeing some fried potatoes on the plate as well. 

Alex sat by him and Gaz started to eat, melting. “You’re good at cooking.” He told Alex. 

“Thank you.” Alex smiled. “I try to be.”

Gaz looked down at his plate. “I don’t really know how to cook. I’m not… well, we have people who do that at the Garden.”

“Oh.” Alex frowned. But then he shrugged. “You’ll probably live at the garden for the rest of your life. You don’t really need to learn.”

“Yeah.” Gaz nodded. He started to realize that he was… well kind of useless. 

Soap and his earlier conversation came back to mind. Before he was attacked, he’d been a virgin. He didn’t really know anything about that kind of stuff. He knew he could ask Rodolfo or Soap but… he just never had. There was no point since he’d never had anyone even remotely interested in him. Even Alex wasn’t…

Oh, that felt weird. That stung deep in his chest and he found it hard to breathe. 

“How have you been lately?” Alex looked at him, smiling. “It’s been a couple weeks.”

Gaz relaxed. “I’ve been okay. Oh, I met Farah!”

“You did?” Alex appeared to perk up. “What did you think of her?”

“She’s really cool.” Gaz nodded. “I liked her. She’s guarding us while-“ he stopped. “Anyway.” He mumbled. “I thought she was cool.”

Maybe telling them that Price was going to be gone wasn’t a great idea. 

Alex nodded. “I’m glad you liked her. We haven’t spoken in a while.” He sighed. 

Gaz nodded. “She was really kind. Opened my mind on a lot of things.”

“Oh? Like what?” Alex tilted his head. 

Gaz hesitated. “Demons. Admittedly. Everyone I know says demons are bad. I just… wanted another opinion.”

“What did she say?”

“That… you’re not. Just different from us.” Gaz shrugged. “I believe her.”

“Im glad.” Alex nodded, appearing to relax. 

“I’m really glad you came back to see me…”

“Me too.” Gaz nodded and then relaxed, fully.

[callsign-bunnie]

Part 5 of Angels and demons… i notice Alex knows an Ale… clearly that’s Alejandro. What’s going on with him and Rudy?

Haha, I have a whole chapter for this. I stay giving side characters arcs.

--

Rodolfo made a soft frustrated noise as Soap shook him awake. “Soap… I’m taking a nap…” He sighed and sat up, rubbing his eyes. Since Gaz was meditating and Soap was being oddly subdued, he’d taken the opportunity to take a nap.

“Rudy, I’m so sorry, but Gaz was supposed to be back by now and he isn’t!” Soap looked oddly panicked.

Rodolfo frowned. “It’s alright, the Virtues will watch over him and send him home if anything happens.”

“He’s not at the fucking temple! I lied!” Soap exclaimed. “He blackmailed me into helping him lie and he was supposed to be back, but it’s been like four hours since he was supposed to be back!”

“You did what?!” Rodolfo jerked fully upright. “Where is he?!”

“With that demon!!” Soap looked almost distraught. “I’m sorry! He said he’d tell Price about something and so I had no choice but to go along with it!”

“Oh god,” Rodolfo stood, pulling on his clothes.

“Should I tell Price??”

“Absolutely not! I’m going to go find him, just… stay here, distract Price if he starts looking.” Rodolfo shook his head, fighting to pull on his boots and then sliding on his leather jacket. “Do you know where the demon lives?”

“No…” Soap shook his head. 

Rodolfo made a frustrated noise and just sighed. “I will search for him. Hopefully he’s not in human territory.” He knew how to get to demon territory from the garden without having to pass through any human territory. He just prayed he wouldn’t get detected by…

No, he doubted they were even looking. It’d been many years. He took a breath and ran a hand through his hair before leaving, going to the break in the fence and slipping through. He didn’t risk flying, keeping his wings tucked carefully behind his back. 

Then, he started in the direction of Demon territory. He knew the walk well, having made it many times. It made his anxiety spike, but he needed to find Gaz and yell at him for doing this. God, this was so unbelievably dangerous!

Rodolfo shook his head, reaching behind his back and pulling out his bow, pulling an arrow out with it and nocking it, keeping it lowered but ready. He didn’t like being out of the garden. He stayed ready and able to fight, but… his hands tremored. His body shook. This wasn’t out of anxiety, either, this was the result of the poisoned blade he’d been slashed with.

He’d never fully recovered. He could fight, he could, but… not well enough. Not enough to keep him confident. 

However, he steeled his nerves, anyway, and continued on his way through. He stopped at the dark red line in the dirt, marking the beginning of demon territory. His heart screamed at him to turn around, go back. Let Price handle this but… No, he wouldn’t do that to Gaz.

Price was forgiving and kind, but… Gaz would be in a world of trouble. Rodolfo would be, too, for not watching out for him. God, he was going to beat Gaz’s ass once he found him. And that demon he kept running to.

Rodolfo took a deep breath and stepped over the line before continuing to walk. He felt out as he walked, trying to be very careful, feeling for Gaz’s energy. He couldn’t feel it at all, which deeply worried him, however he kept going. 

He headed towards a town he knew was nearby, planning to just go around the outskirts of it and feel around. Hopefully, he could get in and out with Gaz, without being noticed. If he couldn’t find him, then he would… get Price… Reluctantly.

He paused, hearing a sound like the ruffling of feathers, and it set his heart racing. He tightened his fingers around his arrow, quickly glancing around but seeing nothing. So, he played nonchalant, continuing to move as quickly as he could.

Then, he heard it again and he stopped, immediately, looking around. “Show yourself!” He called. “I mean no harm.”

“You might run away again…” A voice, low and feminine, appeared behind him and he quickly whipped around, finding there was no one there. 

They were playing games with him. “I’m not interested in your games.” He stated. “I’m looking for someone. An angel. Just help me and I’ll leave.”

“We don’t want you to leave.” A masculine voice this time. Rodolfo squeezed his eyes shut, realization striking through him, sharper than a blade. The worst case scenario had happened.

He opened his eyes, jumping back at blood red ones staring into his own, before they disappeared again. Of course they were playing with him… They liked scaring him, they liked riling him up. 

He didn’t want to play this game. “Leave me alone!” He commanded. 

“We’re not going to hurt you.” 

Rodolfo turned around, firing the arrow before he even saw what he was firing at. Valeria stood before him, holding it an inch away from where it would have pierced her heart. “I’m wounded.” She pouted before snapping the arrow in half.

Rodolfo glared at her. “I wish you were dead.”

“You don’t mean that…” She frowned, looking genuinely hurt. “It’s been so long, doesn’t distance make the heart grow fonder?”

“Not mine.” Rodolfo went to pull an arrow from his back, but his wrist was stopped, held gently. He tried to wrench it away but it was pulled out to the side and back, another hand sliding around his waist.

“Sweet little angel… Why do you have such malice?” Alejandro’s voice was behind him, whispering against his neck. “Where did the sweet, loving angel go?”

“You broke him.” Rodolfo jerked his neck away, trying to figure out how to get out of this. Fear was gripping his heart so tightly it ached and he was afraid to let this go on too long. “Let me go.”

“You’ll disappear again…” Valeria stepped closer, putting her cool hands against Rodolfo’s face. It contrasted against Alejandro’s warm hands, sliding under his shirt and feeling the skin that was there. “We’ve looked for you.”

“You shouldn’t have.” Rodolfo glared deeply at her. He flicked his wrist, putting away his bow, and then reached behind his thigh to get the blade he kept there, pulling it out and slashing upward.

Valeria jerked back before it could make contact and Rodolfo slashed the blade back, feeling Alejandro’s touch disappear immediately. He didn’t even think, just turn and ran, sprinting through the woods as fast as he could, his heart pounding in time with his footsteps.

“Rodolfo! Don’t run from us!” Valeria’s voice practically tore through the trees, sounding angry. But, he just kept running. He needed to make it back to the garden.

Already, though, black spots were appearing at his vision, he was finding it hard to keep going. The poison had all but destroyed his body. He did his best to power through it, trying to ignore his sides screaming for him to stop, his chest burning.

He slammed into a chest, immediately fighting and jerking back, though they wrapped their arms around him. “This is unnecessary! I can see in your body that you shouldn’t be running!” Alejandro growled in frustration, his arms firm to keep him from fighting.

Rodolfo screamed and kicked him in the shin as hard as he could, jerking back when Alejandro cried out and falling, hitting the ground hard. He gasped and panted, staring at the sky before turning over and trying to drag himself to his feet. 

He screamed, again, when he was picked up, kicking his feet and shooting his wings out, using them to hit at whoever had lifted him. “ENOUGH!” Valeria screamed and it was so loud that it frightened Rodolfo immediately into being still, staring at her in shock. “There. Much better.” She smiled, holding him tightly. “Now, stop fighting.”

“No! No! No!” Rodolfo shook his head, starting to struggle again.

“You are being so difficult.” Valeria sighed, looking at the sky. “Alejandro, get his hands.”

“No!” Rodolfo cried and pressed his hands between himself and Valeria so Alejandro couldn’t grab them. His heart was beating so hard it hurt and there were black spots in the corner of his vision, making it hard for him to focus his eyes.

“Then stop fighting so fucking hard!” Alejandro growled, coming around Valeria so Rodolfo could see him. 

Rodolfo panted, feeling so incredibly light headed. God, he couldn’t breathe… He whimpered, wheezing now. “Rodolfo??” Valeria sounded concerned, sitting with him. “He’s so pale…”

“He’s held together by duct tape and safety pins.” Alejandro crouched down, his eyes black as he touched over Rodolfo. Rodolfo flinched back from his touch. No, no, he still needed to get away. “You’d think they’d get better at treating that poison by now.”

“No, of course not.” Valeria snorted. She snapped her fingers and a rose appeared, one that was dripping with a blood red liquid. “Drink this.” 

Rodolfo shook his head, not trusting whatever it was at all. But, Valeria just rolled her eyes and put her hand under Rodolfo’s chin, tilting his head back. He couldn’t really fight, too weak to be able to. Then, she was dripping the liquid into his mouth, covering it so he couldn’t spit it out.

He had no choice but to swallow, his body fighting the need to pass out too hard to fight against the urge. The world went red around the edges and he slumped into Valeria, feeling fuzzy. 

“It won’t completely heal you, but it’ll heal some of your symptoms…” Valeria reached up, petting his hair. “Poor thing… You shouldn’t have run from us…”

Rodolfo whimpered, not liking this feeling. He was so sleepy now… Soap… Soap please… Soap please hear me… I need your help… Please…

“Sleep, mi amor…” Valeria murmured. “There’s no need to keep fighting us.” Alejandro agreed and that only strengthened Rodolfo’s desire to keep fighting them. He knew what they were capable of, he knew what they would do.

Soap… Tears formed in his eyes and he lifted his hand, shoving at Valeria. No, no, he needed to fight this, he needed to get back to the garden. Get Price to retrieve Gaz and then never leave again. 

“Come now,” Alejandro sighed, taking his hand and kissing his wrist. “This isn’t necessary. You’ve fought enough.”

“Kill… yourself…” Rodolfo managed, putting all of his energy into glaring at Alejandro.

Alejandro laughed, softly. “Still so fiery… I’ve missed you so much, mi ángel, so so much.” He touched Rodolfo’s face and Rodolfo wished he had the energy to bite him. 

However, even with his drive to fight them… they were getting to him. A part of him had missed them so much and now that they were there and within reach, a small part of him wanted to give in. To let them take him.

But he knew what they would do. He couldn’t do that, again. Soap… Soap please! Please hear me! He started to cry more, growing desperate. Soap…

Valeria started to stand, shifting so she was carrying him. “Just rest, mi amor. We’re going to take you home.”

Rodolfo shook his head. “I don’t… I don’t want to…”

“Nonsense.” Valeria smiled. “We still have your bed. We’ll draw a bath.”

“Put him down!” Rodolfo relaxed, incredibly, at Soap’s voice, turning his head and seeing Soap was there, in full armor with his blades raised. 

Valeria glared, venomously, at Soap. “This doesn’t concern you, little Seraphim.”

“You’re carrying my brother. It very much does.” Soap always looked so unsure during training, but he was standing tall and strong, now. It made Rodolfo very proud. “I will ask you, again, and trust, I will not ask a third time. Put my brother down.”

Alejandro shrugged and waved his hand, a long, thin black sword appearing. Rodolfo shook his head. He had faith in Soap’s skill, but he knew Alejandro. He put what little force he had left into hitting Valeria in the neck, being dropped a moment later. 

Soap immediately rushed over, grabbing Rodolfo and helping him to stand. “I’m… sorry…” Rodolfo wheezed before reaching to Soap’s cobalt wings and yanking out a feather, causing him to yelp in pain. 

Rodolfo threw the feather at the ground, crying in Enochian for it to stun Alejandro and Valeria. The feather shot up a wall of light, separating the four, and Rodolfo relaxed, immediately. Soap put Rodolfo’s arm around his shoulder, starting to take off with him. 

Rodolfo put all of his weight on Soap, trusting him to be able to carry him, which Soap did with ease. Soap could carry his own body weight, so it wasn’t surprising. Finally, Rodolfo could see the fence of the garden, golden and bright. He urged Soap to hurry, which Soap did.

And finally, they both managed to duck through the break in the fence, Rodolfo’s foot pulling through right as Alejandro and Valeria appeared on the other side of it.

“Leave now!” Soap yelled at them. 

They ignored him. “Rodolfo, please.” Alejandro murmured, his expression pleading.

Rodolfo panted, holding his sides. He looked between them, and that part of him was tempted again. But, he just shook his head. “No. Go, or I’ll get General Price.”

Alejandro looked hurt and he wrapped his hand around one of the bars of the fence, not even seeming fazed by the burning. “Please, mi querido… Please.”

“No.” Rodolfo insisted. “Go.”

Alejandro looked back at Valeria, who looked pissed. But, they both backed up and then disappeared.

Rodolfo immediately collapsed into Soap, breathing hard. Whatever Valeria had given him must have worn off, because he was in so much pain. “Soap… Soap… I couldn’t find Gaz.”

“He has returned, Rudy. He’s alright.” Soap shook his head. “He returned slightly after you left. Price doesn’t know, he was called off on important business.” He lifted Rodolfo, carrying him inside.

Rodolfo relaxed, starting to lose consciousness. Good…