Introductions and the Girl With Patience

Righto chaps, this is my first actual Pacific story. I got a little inspiration from City of Angels with the falling thing, but this is no way a cross over. Anywhoodlies, enjoy and R&R please

Being a guardian angel isn't a simple job. Sure it sounds it; just look after that person. Well, it's not that easy. There's rules, regulations and codes to follow. Like, you couldn't tell people about their future or what will happen to them after the guardians leave. You couldn't help, if you were in a major conflict, you know, attacking the enemy, that sort of thing. You were like a medic, only you weren't allowed to help them. You were there to watch and protect. Spoilers were only allowed if it prevented the charge from death or injury. Most of the time it was be seen and not heard, like kids.

That didn't mean you didn't make friends or have fun. You'd meet all kinds of people doing my job. Some people were quite famous. I once knew a guardian who'd looked after Bob Hope. I met a ton of great people and that was only when I passed my training.

This also brings me to another rule, regulation and code.

Some people (that's guardians) would fall for their charges and their charges would fall for them. It wasn't strictly taboo, it just wasn't recommended, because you had the option of 'falling'. You lose your wings, powers and become human again. Hundreds of years before I became a guardian, those who fell became known as 're-deads' because they would die twice. You know, they'd be dead, alive and re-dead. It was kind of a big insult back in the day, or so I hear.

I tell you this, because this is what happened to me. Well, nothing is ever straight forward is it?

But once you're a guardian, that's how you'll stay, even if you do fall. You pick right up where you left off. Unless you fail on your training.

Training, as they call it, is basically sticking you with quite a big figure in history and making sure they don't get killed. You get supervised though, so if you get caught off guard, there's someone there to protect your charge. But if they get 'killed' (like they would if you weren't being supervised) you would fail and you'd be stuck in that time until you died again, and then you'd have to go through the training all over again.

Not many people got chosen to do my job, which is why 'falling' wasn't a great idea. To do my job, you had to have certain personal qualities. Some people didn't have the right ones, most didn't have them at all.

Patience was the one I was full of and the one they wanted at this point, but the way I died had some influence on it too.

See, if you didn't really contribute much while you were alive and you had a quality they were looking for, boop! You became a guardian.

Going out, getting so drunk you don't know who you are and falling off a balcony in Lanzarote, apparently isn't contributing to society, so I was picked to re-deem myself.

I can't say my charge was happy about it. Eugene B. Sledge came from a high class family, spoke properly and all that jazz. A proper little Southern boy.

Like most men or boys who go to war, Eugene Sledge wanted to be independent. Having someone follow you around, making sure you don't get hurt... didn't cut it for him. He was a pain in my arse.

I guess I should tell you about the other guardians around here, just so you know who we're talking about.

Right, first off, we're all from different times.

Holly is from Canada in 2003, but she was an old lady when she died. Like.. really old. She'd got something like, 15 great grand children and she'd been a nurse in World War 2. She's with Ack Ack, or Captain Haldane.

Her sister, Honour died when Holly was 10, of Spanish flu, not long after her husband died. She's with Lieutenant Edward Jones or Hillbilly.

Will and Craig are Manx (from the Isle of Man to those of you who don't know what Manx is). They died in the 70s, when Craig crashed their car. Will would never let him live down the fact he only had one thing to do.

Will was watching over R. V. Burgin, or Burgie as we were to call him, while Craig had Bill Layden, one of Eugene's friends.

Meanwhile, the best friend I'd ever had was with Merrill Shelton – Sanfu.

Halley Hadley I loved to death. Plantonically of course. We'd both died in 2012. I died November, she died February, which is ironic because she died on my birthday and I died on hers. That was the thing about us; one was not far behind the other. Our parents had been business partners for years, they were like brothers. Mr Hadley would come over every other Christmas with his American wife, Emma and Halley would be there too.

I must admit, seeing her again made me so happy I could have burst like a balloon. But first. Context.

"I don't mean to be rude, but I don't need any one to protect me." Eugene B. Sledge told me, after I'd explained who I was. I rolled my eyes, I thought that's what I'd get from him.

"Hey, I don't want to be here either, but I haven't got a choice."

"You really have to follow me round?" he sighed, defeated.

"Yes. Not all the time. You're pretty safe here." I told him, gesturing around. Those pretty brown Southern eyes of his follow my movement, before he nods and stalks off. I sigh, rubbing my eyes.

"Don't worry, he'll come round." a voice said behind me.

I yelped, turning and grasping at my heart.

"Gabriel! What the fuck?!" I gasped, glaring at my supervisor. The older guardian laughed.

"Sorry kid, just wanted to make sure you were settling in alright."

"Are you kidding me? I'm afraid of water and drowning, and you send me to the marines." I grumbled, walking in the opposite direction of Eugene. I turned back around when I didn't hear anything, only to find he'd gone. I rolled my blue eyes and walked off.

"Aphra Benn! You're scared of water and here you are!" I heard someone call to me. I was looking for Eugene, since it had been a while since I had last seen him.. that and Ack Ack had told me he wanted me to help with the detail.

I found him over by a tank, with his friend Oswalt, Bill Layden and Craig. There was another guy, Snafu, watching them, but Halley was there too. I stopped in my tracks, looking at my larger than life friend. I blinked once, twice and then she ran over to me. She was 5'11 a good half a person taller than I was. Leggy git.

"Halley!" I cried with a grin, as she lifted me up at the knees.

"I heard someone fell of a balcony..." she grinned back, pinching my little cheeks.

"Yeah, yeah funny. Put me down you leggy twat."

And she did. Dropped me like a brick and I hit the floor just as hard.

"Ow.."

"Y'alright."

"No thanks to you.. bum 'ole." I replied, as she picked me up and set me on my feet. I brushed myself off, and continued, "And I'm not afraid of water. I'm afraid of drowning."

She rolled her chocolate brown eyes and slung an arm over my shoulder.

"C'mon, I want you to meet a buddy of mine."

Introductions were quick, and not long after, Oswalt walked off for a break. I took over from where he'd left off.

"Why are you scrubbing the drum?" Eugene asked me. I looked at him, accidentally wiping a little oil on the bridge of my nose and under my eye, then I looked at Halley. She shrugged and I threw the brush in the empty drum.

"Would it kill you to be a little nicer to me?" I scowled.

"Maybe."

I groaned in frustration, "Well at least I wouldn't have to watch you.."