A/N: I just want to point out ahead of time that Ava does have a role to play and isn't just some random angel who fell just so Michael can have a romantic interest.
Wiping down the counter seemed like a pointless task. They were out in the desert and no matter how much Ava scrubbed the dirt and dust found its way back in a matter of seconds. More than once Bob complained that she wasn't doing her job right and she always snapped right back that he should take over for a day and see how much good her little rag, bucket of water, broom, and mop did. Of course, he never did, but he would stop being a thorn in her side for a while after she said it.
Washing the rag and ringing it out in the bucket, she sat it to the side to dry before getting a glass of ice water and going on her evening break, if it could really be called a break. Business was either slow or dead every day, never busy, and usually the only time people did stop in was in the morning or afternoon to grab a bite on their way to civilization or to figure out where in the world they were. A majority of the day was one big break for all of them. In fact, the only people visiting Paradise Falls now were a couple and their daughter with their car broken down, and a man that had just come in who was lost.
With people around, they at least had to give the illusion that they were working, forcing Ava to keep herself a little busy here and there throughout the day. As for everyone else, they were all doing something too, though not all of what they were doing could be called work.
Charlie had been smoking a little while earlier, and last time she checked on Jeep, he wasn't working on the family's car, but working on something for Charlie instead. Bob had gone out to get Jeep moving so Ava hoped the family would get back on the road soon. They weren't exactly the most pleasant of customers. The husband and his daughter didn't seem too bad, granted the daughter was overly disrespectful, but the mother – Sandra, she believed was her name – was another story. That woman had been rude to Percy and gave the man that was lost – Kyle – the snake eye and Ava got the sense that it was because of their color.
The sooner that family was gone and on their way the better.
Sighing heavily, Charlie sat down in the stool beside her, hand on her belly.
"Kicking again?" Ava asked, offering her glass of water, temporarily forgetting about the pain in the ass family sitting in the diner.
Taking the offered drink, Charlie nodded. "Let me tell ya, I hope to God that baby boy's mama wants to be a soccer mom. This kid's got one mean kick."
Unable to help herself, Ava laughed.
"Oh, you're laughin' now, but just you wait 'til you got a kid in your belly," Charlie snapped in mock annoyance.
Her laughter slowly faded as she thought about the idea of having a child of her own. Many times it had crossed her mind but she wasn't sure she would make a good mother. She'd technically never been a child. How would she know how to take care of one?
"Wanna feel?" Charlie asked suddenly.
Ava stared at her. "Huh?"
Indicating to her belly, she replied, "Baby boy's kickin'."
"Oh, um, all right." Hesitantly, she placed her hand on her friend's stomach, eyes widening when she felt the baby kick. It wasn't the first time she'd felt it, but it always amazed her.
"Excuse me," Sandra called impatiently. "Could I get another coffee?"
"You'd think she'd have sympathy for a pregnant woman's swollen ankles," Charlie grumbled. Taking a few more sips of water, she got up to get the woman her coffee but not before she noticed the sudden change in Ava's demeanor. "Y'all right?"
No, she wasn't. All of a sudden she felt… wrong. It was like something was standing behind her, waiting to strike, but nothing was there. A cold shiver ran down her spine and she rubbed her arms. Something wasn't right, she was sure of it now, she just didn't know what was the problem.
"Um, yeah, just a bad feeling is all," she replied, not wanting to worry the others.
Charlie huffed and whispered, "Feeling you got probably mean these people will be stuck here all night."
She put on a smile that failed to reach her eyes. "Yeah, probably."
She sincerely doubted it.
Shortly after Charlie got up to get the woman her coffee, Bob stepped inside, looking a little upset and annoyed.
Knowing better than to ask what was wrong with customers around, Ava just gave him a frown and cocked her head, unsurprised when he ignored her.
Turning to the couple, he raised his hand in a pinching gesture and said, "He's about this close to wrapping it up."
The husband – Howard – looked about ready to chew him out but Bob's attention was elsewhere.
Curious, Ava followed the man's gaze straight to the TV. The old thing was on the fritz again.
Angrily, looking ready to hit something other than the TV, Bob stormed over to it and stood on a chair. "What is wrong with you today?" he asked the machine, hitting it a few times.
A low rumble caught Ava's attention and she looked back towards the door. "Anybody hear that?"
Percy shook his head. "All I hear is that damn TV's static." Shaking his head, he said to Bob, "I told you to get the satellite TV, but you didn't wanna listen."
"What the hell do I need that crap for?" Bob demanded, hitting the TV.
"The History Channel, man!"
"I got all the history I can take," Bob retorted.
Off to the side, Charlie mumbled, "That's for sure."
"What's your beef now?" he asked. "You don't need to be watchin' this, anyway."
For a second there was silence.
Despite knowing it was better to keep her mouth shut, Ava added, "Would be nice to have Animal Planet."
"Of, for God's sake, don't you start!" Bob snapped, earning a smile from both Percy and Charlie. His focus back to the TV, he smacked it a few more times. "All right, baby. Come on, this is gonna be it right here. Come on." A handful of hits later, the TV started working. Sort of. Pleased with himself, Bob turned to everyone. "Clear as day."
"Uh, Bob?" Ava began, frowning at the TV.
"What?"
Percy pointed at it. "What the hell's that?"
Looking back at the fixed TV, Bob scratched his head. "It's, uh, one of them test things."
"Is it just that channel?" Ava asked, though she was already certain it wasn't a test since it said that it wasn't.
Unsure, he changed the station and was met with the same thing.
"Yeah," Charlie started. "That don't look like a test."
Behind Bob, Kyle again asked if he could use the phone, this time offering money. Hardly concerned over letting someone in his office with a twenty-dollar bill in his face, Bob took the money and his eyes went back to the TV. "In the office past the kitchen."
Nervously, Sandra spoke up and asked, "Excuse me, but if this were an actual emergency wouldn't they be giving us instructions on what to do?"
"She's got a point," the fallen angel agreed, looking from her then back to the TV. It seemed like it was screaming at her that something was wrong.
Looking to Percy, Bob suggested, "Why don't you check out that old radio of yours, see if there's any news about the TV."
With a quick nod, Percy went to his near ancient radio and turned the dial. They were all met with nothing but silence. Ava wasn't an expert on radios but she was fairly certain it should be working fine despite its age.
And then the speculations came.
Howard and Sandra were going on and on about how it might be a quake and that got everybody else talking about it, and then Audrey suggested terrorists and that got her mother all flustered.
Though she'd had a bad feeling, Ava doubted it was any of those things. The feeling felt worse than terrorists.
Having lived as long as she had, she'd confront various forms of evil and this feeling she had didn't necessarily feel evil. That was what worried her. If evil was not heading their way, what was?
Having had enough of it all, Bob stomped over to the TV and turned it off. "For cryin' out loud, there's no use speculatin'. Look, I'll just call my brother up. He'll probably know somethin'."
"I don't think so," Kyle said, coming back into the main room.
"What do you mean?"
"I was just on the phone," he said, frustrated. "The shit cut off in the middle of my conversation. I want my money back."
"Oh this is perfect," Sandra whined. "Absolutely perfect!"
Ava turned to face her. "I'm sure everything will be fine."
"And I should listen to you," she asked incredulously. "You're just the help!"
Ava gaped at her.
"Hey, hey, hey, simmer down!" Bob interrupted, putting a hand on Ava's shoulder the moment she took a step towards the woman. "Nothin' to get excited about. They're probably just workin' on the lines. Besides, Jeep's gonna have your car fixed up quick, then you're gonna be on your way."
Running her hand through her hair and biting her tongue, Ava turned away from Sandra and walked over to the window, peering outside.
Things were tense enough at the moment without Sandra getting on her case because she was the "janitor". If she knew that she sometimes helped Percy cook the woman would probably have heart failure. But Sandra was the least of her current worries. Something was coming, she knew it, felt it. Along with it, however, was something familiar, something that made her feel comfortable. The conflicting feelings were likely what was causing her headache and she excused herself to go to her camper and get some medicine for it.
And then a couple things caught her eye as she stepped out into the heat.
Off in the distance, she noticed some strange clouds and frowned. They didn't act like regular clouds. Along with the strange clouds, there was what looked to be an old beat up car coming down the road. As it drew near, the bad feeling grew closer with the car to the point where Ava quickened her pace to a jog so she could get to her camper, get her medicine, and hurry back inside.
She'd been hoping it would just drive on by.
Darting back inside through the back, Ava reached the dining room just as the front door opened. To her surprise, it was an old woman, not the monster her fear made this person out to be. Whatever she'd been expecting, a friendly looking woman in her eighties or nineties wasn't it. Maybe she'd misinterpreted her negative feeling.
Giving the woman a half smile, Charlie said, "Have a seat wherever you want, ma'am. Specials are on the board."
"Thank you, dear," the elderly woman said politely, finding a vacant table she liked and taking a seat.
Picking up a menu and her note pad, Charlie walked back over to the lady and held the menu out to her.
Hands folding neatly in front of her, the woman said, "I already know what I want."
"Okay," Charlie replied, taking out a pen. "What'll it be?"
"I'll have a steak, please."
"And how'd you like that cooked?"
"Rare if you would. And water, no ice."
"Comin' right up."
Just as Charlie was walking away, the woman asked, "Charlie, is it?"
The younger woman nodded. "Yeah."
"What an unusual name for a girl," she commented lightheartedly.
"So they say. I'll be right back with your order." Walking to the counter, she came up beside Ava. After handing Percy the order and listening to the woman talk to Sandra for a moment, Charlie commented, "Nicest customer we've had in a while."
Ava still wore a frown. "I guess."
Rolling her eyes, she said, "You're the most paranoid person I've ever met."
"Paranoia begets all else most of the time," Ava replied, leaning back against the counter.
"Had that kind of motto back when I served," Percy commented. "In small doses, paranoia can keep ya alive."
Ava liked to think that was true.
Over the past two years she kept her eyes and ears open for any sign of trouble that could be the cause of angels, and that sometimes caused her to be overly paranoid about things that were likely nothing. The only signs of true trouble she'd come across that included negatively familiar feelings were in the past few months leading up to the meeting of the old woman, Gladys. Though she couldn't pinpoint it, there was something familiar about the elderly woman, which was strange since they'd never met.
"Here ya go, Charlie," Percy said, placing the rare steak on a plate and passing it off to the pregnant woman who took it to Gladys.
Sighing, Ava looked to the man sitting at the counter. "So, where are you heading?"
"Court hearing," he replied, cutting his pancakes a little too harshly. "Was trying to get an extension or somethin' when the damn phone cut out."
"I'm sure you'll make it there in time," she said with an assuring smile.
"'Least you think so," he grumbled.
Patting him on the shoulder, she went in search of her rag. With the door opening and closing so much in the past few minutes a lot of dust and dirt had blown in.
Sparing a glance at Gladys as she wiped down the counters once again, Ava saw her talking Charlie and both were smiling and talking about the baby. It seemed like a nice enough conversation, especially since Charlie didn't care much for baby talk. Maybe everything was okay after all.
"But it's gonna burn," Gladys said quietly.
Or not.
Snapping her head around, Ava stared at the old woman before looking to Charlie.
Charlie froze, stunned. "What'd you just say?"
With a bright smile, Gladys repeated, "I said, your fucking baby's gonna burn."
By now everyone was staring at the lady in shock while Charlie, placing a hand on her belly, slammed the bill down on the table. "Go to hell, lady!"
Unconcerned, Gladys dug into her steak as Charlie stormed off.
Ava debated over following her friend, but stayed behind, staring at Gladys. Hearing movement behind her, she saw Bob and Jeep coming out of the back to see what was going on.
"All those babies are gonna burn," Gladys said merrily around a mouthful of steak despite the flies coating it and buzzing around her face.
Smiling nervously, Sandra started, "Gladys, um…"
"Shut up, you stupid fucking cunt!" Gladys shouted angrily, head whipping up to glare at the woman. "All you do is complain, complain, complain!"
"What?" Howard looked to his mortified wife while Audrey giggled. "What? What did you just say?" he demanded, rising from the booth.
Sandra tried to get him to sit back down. "Howard, no, no, don't!"
Ava looked at the woman and the pieces started falling into place.
"I don't know who you think you are," the enraged husband began, storming over to Gladys. "But I'd like you to apologize to my wife."
The nightmares being more frequent, the headaches, the TV and radio not working, how Gladys reacted to Charlie being pregnant, the bad feeling that had followed her to the diner…
"Get away from her!" Ava shouted, running towards Howard to get him out of the way.
She wasn't fast enough.
Before anyone could pull him out of harm's way, Gladys rose from her seat and sank her teeth deep into his neck, biting off a large chunk of flesh before spitting it out. When she glared at everyone in the diner, her eyes were black and her teeth were sharp and pointed.
"Howard!" Sandra screamed, watching in horror as her husband fell to the floor, clutching at his gushing neck.
Flipping over the table as though it weighed nothing, the woman shouted, "You're all gonna fucking die!"
Knowing what the woman had become, Ava grabbed the steak knife from the floor and lunged at her, ready to stab her former brother or sister in order to protect her friends. There was just one minor miscalculation. While she still retained her strength and agility from being an angel, Ava had fallen and lost a portion of her strength.
This angel had not fallen.
Batting away the blade with ease, Gladys grabbed Ava by the throat, cutting off her air supply and lifting her a good inch off the floor. "Starting with you!" she hissed at her, flecks of blood spraying onto Ava's face.
Ava clutched at the old woman's hands, dropping the knife and digging in her nails as the pressure built up in her head and her lungs begged for air. Never before had she been strangled and never had it been a threat for her. She'd been in her fair of fights while she was an angel in God's army, but while it was possible for an angel to be killed, the notion of strangulation just wasn't something any angel had to worry about. Now she felt her vision blurring as she struggled to breath, unable to brace herself to fight seeing that she couldn't touch the floor.
Before Gladys could snap her neck, Percy threw his frying pan and hit the possessed woman in the face. Followed was a sickening crack and Gladys released her hold on Ava's neck, dropping her to her hands and knees.
Coughing madly and holding her tender neck, Ava was dragged to safety by Jeep.
"You all right?" he asked, moving her hand away and looking at her neck.
"I'm fine," she rasped, coughing.
Peeking over the counter, she saw the angel straightening. The hit hadn't killed her. It just pissed her off.
With an inhuman scream, Gladys ran forward, jumping over Audrey, and climbed up the wall as Bob grabbed his shotgun and began firing.
"What the fuck, man?" Kyle shouted, backing up and stumbling over chairs in his haste to put more space between him and Gladys.
Ignoring the ache in her throat, Ava rushed to her feet and went to the stunned Audrey. Grabbing the girl's shoulders, she shoved her under the table. "Stay down!"
Dropping down behind Bob, Gladys backhanded him, sending him and the weapon flying.
Without hesitation, Jeep hurried over and picked up the gun. But once he had the woman in his sights, he froze.
"Shoot her, Jeep!" Percy shouted.
The expression on Jeep's face told Ava all she needed to know. He couldn't do it.
With a sickening laugh, Gladys said to him, "You will never save her."
"Shoot the bitch!" Percy repeated desperately.
Screaming, Gladys ran towards Jeep, intent on killing him.
Gunshots rang out through the diner and everyone fell silent as the woman fell to the floor. Those shots didn't belong to a shotgun. Looking to the source of the sound, Ava's blue eyes landed on Kyle, his silver handgun still smoking.
Shaking, Sandra fell from the booth and crawled to her husband's side, begging for help.
Swallowing hard, Ava helped the young girl back into the booth before collapsing beside her.
This wasn't happening. It couldn't be happening. Angels didn't possess people, that wasn't allowed and was a serious offense in Heaven. Only a direct order from God could such a thing be permitted.
What was going on up there? She almost didn't want to know, but at the same time she did. Being cut off from Heaven meant she wasn't privy to what went on. Ava, once a respected angel, was left in the dark. That fact never truly hit her until now when things were going downhill fast.
"Audrey!" Sandra called, as Percy and Kyle got Howard off the floor.
Getting out of the booth, Ava let Audrey up but didn't follow as she raced after them. Instead, she went to Charlie. "You okay?"
She nodded. "Yeah. You? How's your neck?"
"It'll be fine, just hurts," she assured her. "How're Bob and Jeep?"
"Bob's gonna have a bump on his head, and Jeep's…" Before she could finish, Jeep had his hand over his mouth and was running back to the restroom. "A little shaken."
"I can see that." Eyes turning to the dead woman, Ava went to the back and found a large role of plastic. Walking to the body, she said, "Give me a hand with this."
Charlie stared at her. "Why me? Why not get Bob or Jeep?"
"Just help me."
Grumbling, Charlie took one end of the plastic and helped unroll it before they splayed it out over the body, trying not to look at the pool of blood beneath it.
Ava wasn't squeamish about blood, nor was Charlie, but neither wanted to be so close. At one point Ava could have cared less, but over the two years of being human she'd developed different habits, morals, and a different view of things. She'd changed.
Backing away from the body when they finished, the two went to wash their hands before sitting at the counter far away from Gladys.
Resting her head on her arms, Ava tried to clear her head in hopes of hearing a whisper from another angel. As usual there was only silence. Maybe if she lowered the shields she'd put in place around her she might be able to get through to Michael or another angel, but the risk of alerting a hostile angel was too great. Just because she figured no one would come after her did not mean she hadn't taken precautions to hide herself from them.
The minutes ticked by slowly and Ava was just starting to relax when she heard the screech of tires. Not a second later, Bob hurried out of the restroom and out the front door just as Kyle, Sandra, and Audrey helped Howard back inside.
"What's going on?" Ava asked, taking off her blue blouse and rolling it up into a makeshift pillow for the wounded man on the floor.
"There are flies everywhere!" Audrey exclaimed while her mother and Kyle eased Howard to the floor.
Ava stared at her. "Flies?"
Curious with a sense of dread flooding her system, she went to the front door and was nearly run over by Percy.
"Don't go out there, Ava," he warned, taking her by the arm and pulling her away as Bob reentered, locking the door behind him.
A few seconds later the buzzing sound grew in intensity and the sunlight was blocked out by a massive swarm of flies.
Eyes widening, Ava looked out the windows in horror while everyone else stood back. This couldn't be happening… First the possessed woman, now this? What was worse, Ava got the feeling that this was only the beginning.
Review, please! Reviews let me know that you wish for more!
