Welcome to Guarding an Angel, my first ever attempt at a multi-chapter fic! -cue streamers-
Yeah, honestly, I'm not 100% positive where this will go, where it starts, etc., but I'm pretty sure it starts at the beginning of MAX and follows its events. This whole what-if-one-of-the-flock-had-a-guardian-angel idea just kinda popped into my head. At 2:30 in the morning. And yes, I'm aware that others have had this kind of idea before, but none of them have ever been that successful...
Disclaimer: I don't own anything Maximum Ride, except my Ocs and anything pertaining to Afterlife.
Also, to all you religious types out there: I'm Christian. I believe in Heaven, hell, and God. Please don't be offended by this, it's all made up in my screwy mind factory.
…...
You know, when I died, I expected to be greeted by a band of trumpets or a holy choir, not a giant neon sign that flashed the worlds "PEARLY GATES" at uneven intervals. I expected to be wearing a flowing white dress, or at least some cool looking wizard robes, not jeans and my favorite flip-flops. And I also expected angels to be handsome 20-year-old models, not scruffy looking teenage boys. But hey, I guess those holy men in the Bible stories could have gotten some details wrong.
"Hello Dina." the boy said. He was leaning against said red flashing sign and wore what looked like a yellow basketball uniform from, like, the 1970s. You know, the ones with the tiny shorts? I would have laughed if I wasn't so freaked out.
"Um... hi?" The boy smiled and strode over to me. He stuck out his hand.
"Paul Mitchell, Junior Archangel, head of the Guardian Angel Under Radar Department. Or G.A.U.R.D., if you don't want to be fancy." he said, his voice tinted with amusement. I took his hand and shook it. "Welcome to Afterlife."
"This is Heaven? You've got to be joking." I scoffed. I gestured to the sign, whose "a" in "gates" had gone out, and to our clothes. "Where's the choir of angels? Our cool Harry Potter robes and hot tubs full of chocolate?"
The bo- Paul sighed and motioned for me to follow him.
"Yes, well, the living have always set high expectations for this place; Miss Rowling is sure to get quite an earful when her time comes. And this isn't Heaven, it's Afterlife."
We kept walking until we came to a stop in front of an enormous white picket fence, standing in what looked like a perfectly manicured lawn as big as about fifty football fields. I kid you not, I half expected Martha Stewart to come bursting out of it with a cherry pie in her hands.
Paul motioned towards fence with sweatband-encircled hands.
"That's the entrance to Heaven: eternal peace, streets paved with gold, the whole shebang. As for your clothes, they take on the form of your favorite outfit from when you were living. For example, when I was living, my team won the Basketball Champs Tournament five times in a row. So, naturally, my jersey is my favorite clothing. Go Hornets!" Paul did a little fist pump and I rolled my eyes.
Seeing my lack of team spirit, he sighed. "Wait here a moment while I get your file, then I'll tell you your assignment." Then, without warning, he mumbled something under his breath and disappeared in a cloud of shimmering silver sparks.
"Wait! Where are you going?" I yelled, but he was already gone. "Stupid Hippie" I mumbled and started playing with a loose thread hanging from my comfy grey sweater.
So far, being dead wasn't living up to my expectations. Why didn't I look where I was going? I'm so stupid! I mentally kicked myself. I couldn't even imagine what my family was going through. My mom is probably crying her eyes out. And Matthew...
Oh, God. My throat started to close up. My baby brother...
"Ah, here we are!" Paul exclaimed cheerfully. I blinked. Whoa, when did he get back? He started reading from a thick vanilla folder that had my name printed on the front.
"Name: Dina Camshaft.
Age at Death: 13 years, 5 months, six days.
Cause of Death: blunt force trauma. You were hit by a taxi, correct?"
I felt my face heat up. Stupid! "Yep, that's me."
Paul chuckled. "No need to be embarrassed. I died in a car related accident too. It was my first time driving actually, didn't see the cliff until I drove over it."
His ears turned red and gave him a comforting pat on the shoulder. "Ahem, well, let's move on, shall we?"
Paul and I walked over to this little elevator type deal that right next to the "Pearly Gates".
"Oh! I almost forgot!" he exclaimed and pulled what looked like a little gold hoop out of a pocket in my file. The hoop jumped up from his hand and darted to float a few inches above my head. My jaw dropped.
Paul cleared his throat to get my attention and I tore my eyes away from the gold band. "Your Halo acts as an indicator to your Angel Seniority Status, or A.S.S."
I giggled at his unintended profanity, but stopped when Paul narrowed his eyes at me.
"Guardian Angels, like you, have golden Halos, but lack Wings." He pointed to his Halo, which was kind of silvery, and spread his white wings. My jaw dropped again. How did I not notice those?
"I, on the other hand, am a Junior Archangel. You will earn your Wings and appropriate colored Halo as soon as you complete your assignment, as well as being granted access to Heaven and all of its pleasures. And as my apprentice, I will guide you through all the necessary steps to get to that point." he explained, not taking his eyes off my file.
I started twisting some of my brown hair between my fingers and nodded thoughtfully. "Yeah, I guess that makes- wait a minute! What do you mean assignment? I just died, for cripes sake! I'm emotionally unstable! How am I supposed to guard anybody?"
Paul looked up from my file and smirked at my panicked expression. "Don't worry so much, Dina! Like I said, I am your Mentor. I'll help you through this and teach you all of the necessary skills that comes with being a G.A." he said soothingly. "Now get in the elevator."
Swallowing my fear, I gave him a sharp nod and stepped into the, you guessed it, stark-white elevator. Paul closed the gate-latch thing and turned to punch in some numbers into pad that looked suspiciously like a calculator.
"So, whose the poor sap that I'll be 'guarding'?" I asked. Paul smiled but didn't look up from his device.
"Guess"
My brow furrowed as I did my best "in deep thought" impersonation. "Um, OK... are they a boy or a girl?"
"Boy." Well that narrows it down.
"Ok... do I know him? Is he famous?"
I didn't like that evil glint in Paul's eye. "Yes, he and his family are pretty famous. I'll give you another hint: this boy can soar, but he doesn't need wings. Well, metal ones, anyway."
Ok, now I was confused. Paul finished punching in numbers and the elevator started making its slow decent down to what I assumed was Earth. White mist started creeping up my legs.
"Wait! What's that supposed to mean? How can someone fly without-"
Holy. Crap.
No. Freaking. Way.
I mean, I had seen them on the news the morning before I died, doing one of there air shows, but it couldn't be...
By now the mist had crept up to above my shoulders and I could feel myself becoming weightless. "You're kidding, right? You have to be! Aren't you even a little concerned about-" By now the mist had completely covered my head and my voice was lost.
The last thing I heard before I descended was Paul's chuckling. "Honestly, I'm more concerned about how Fang will react when he meets you. Poor boy won't know what hit 'em."
…...
Whew, glad that's over! This chapter was a bit- uh... a birch to write. :)
More MR in the next chapter, I promise! Dina finally meets Fang; it ought to be interesting...
Anyway, reviewers will be given cool wizard robes!
Bonus Questions:
What would your Heaven look like?
What A.S.S. position would you hold? (G.A., Archangel, Gate Guard, etc.)
If you were a G.A., which flock member would be your charge?
