A/N: I know this topic has been written about quite a bit on here but wanted to write my version and decided to share. There will be another part coming. Maybe more. This story is based on the finale and loosely based on a scene cut from it. This will end up being an AU for future Dominion events.

Part 1: All Is Lost

After breaking through the underground lab's skylight Michael flew for hours, aimlessly, wanting nothing more than to outfly his troubles. To forget everything but the wind blowing against his fair skin and the feeling of the air underneath his raven colored wings.

The sun had risen high in the cloudless sky when he found himself gliding above the rocky ocean shore. A familiar place. The last time he'd been here was to meet with Gabriel. A meeting that had confirmed the second war was near. Confirmed that he'd soon have to face his twin archangel in yet another life or death battle.

Michael landed in the same spot he'd waited for Gabriel at weeks ago and folded his wings away as he stared out at the sea green ocean before him.

The beauty of the nature surrounding him could not keep the memories at bay. Becca's lifeless eyes. Three of the soldiers he'd personally trained lying by the entrance of her lab. Alex's words, This is how it ends? It all came flooding back.

Michael felt tears sting his eyes as he focused on the ocean waves crashing into the rocky cliffs below him. He'd destroyed everything. Alex's trust, his redemption, all within a moment of blind rage.

Michael loathed what he'd reverted to, and at the same time resented Becca for pushing him too far. For all the lies. For promising to protect Louis when she was doing the very opposite inside her lab. He had trusted her, he had...he had loved her. He'd hinted so when he had left her in the stratosphere. And she had betrayed him, in the worst kind of way.

Michael felt the tears in his eyes fall as he grieved over what they'd had, over the price Louis had paid for his misplaced trust, and for himself. He'd worked so hard for so many years to earn his redemption, worked too hard for it to end the way it had, with Alex holding a sword to him, the tip covered with his blood.

He glanced down at his shirt. At the bloodstain over his abdomen. What if Alex hadn't managed to cut him? What if the pain hadn't snapped him out of his rage? Would he have him killed him too? Alex, the baby he'd seen born and had saved, the boy he'd watched grow up, the man he'd been training to save humanity? To save him?

It would have been unfathomable to Michael if he wasn't all too familiar with the strength of the darkness within him. The fury and taste for blood he'd thrived upon before he'd been shown kindness by the most unlikely source imaginable. A young boy with dark hair and eyes. A boy who'd lost his only parent to Michael's blade. A boy who'd saved him from the desert heat, from extreme dehydration, because it had been the right thing to do.

He'd hoped the experience had changed him permanently, but had soon realized that the darkness in him wasn't so easily defeated. It was and always would be an ongoing battle of will. He had thought he'd finally gained control of it, until now.

Michael didn't want to admit it even to himself, but he knew the truth. If Alex hadn't managed to injure him, he would have killed him without hesitation. He knew how the rage worked. He didn't think. He only swung his sword. Killing became his only instinct. It was as if he wasn't in control anymore. And that was as terrifying to admit as it was exhilarating while it occurred.

Michael felt lost. What now? Could he come back from stooping so low? Alex was alive, but could he ever repair their relationship? Gain back his trust after everything the man had seen him do? Could he ever look him in the eye again without feeling ashamed?

Remembering how much Alex had resented him in the beginning, before he'd even known his past, Michael knew the answers to his questions. Alex had accepted his dark history after having previously gotten to know him better, but he would not accept the horror he'd witnessed first hand so recently.

Acknowledging this hurt more than Michael thought it could. His care for Alex went beyond his mission for redemption, of course. After all these years Alex was more than just The Chosen One, his charge, his student. He was also a friend. Jeep's adopted son. And he was the closest thing Michael had to having a son of his own.

It was devastating to realize that he'd be capable of killing someone he cared that much about.

Maybe it was a good thing that Alex's trust was broken. He was too dangerous to be trusted. If Alex stayed away from him he still had a chance. He still could save humanity.

Michael knew that even without him Alex would continue to train. Continue to attempt to read his tattoos. He'd seen the overwhelming amount of determination to save humanity in Alex's eyes the day Alex had refused to quit trying to evict eight-balls from their hosts. Had seen it again when he'd evicted Gabriel from Louis' body. Alex had accepted his role.

So there was a glimmer of hope. Maybe not for himself, but for the world.

Michael unfurled his wings and pushed himself off the cliff, still having no idea where to go next, what to do. All he knew was that the air would dry the wetness on his cheeks and allow him to push the images of Becca and Alex out of his mind until he landed again.

A/N: Thanks for reading. This is my first Dominion fic. Leave a review? :)