Friday dawned sunny and warm, perfect for the garden party that had been planned for Christa's birthday. The teenaged volunteers were having a field day with the decorations that had been donated, covering nearly every available surface with streamers, bunting, and flowers, while balloons danced drunkenly above their heads, tied off securely to the backs of chairs. Angelica checked in with her boss, then fled the madness to await Reaper's arrival. Christ, she hated crowds. She knew that this turnout was only as large as it was because everyone wanted to see if Reaper would actually show.
She found a seat on a shaded wall where she had a good view of the garden and monitor any arriving visitors. She checked over her clipboard, ensuring that the release form only needed Reaper's signature. Sighing, she leaned her head back against the tree, taking a moment to brace herself. She could put up with the crowd for the day. She had fallen into a light doze when a shadow separated itself and gently tapped her shoulder. She yelped, instinctively swinging out with her clipboard, and smacked Reaper square in the face.
"Stop doing that!" she snapped, heart pounding in her chest.
Reaper finished readjusting his mask and studied her. "No."
She gaped at him, mouth working soundlessly as she tried to think of a response. Giving up, she huffed out a breath and shoved the clipboard at him. "Fine. Sign here."
He took it gently, apparently carefully reading the release in its entirety before finally writing "Reaper" in a surprisingly neat hand. After a pause, he scribbled a tiny owl next to it.
She took the form back, raising an eyebrow at him when she saw the owl. He simply shrugged in response.
"You're a little early. They haven't brought Christa out yet. You can wait, or go ingratiate yourself with the staff if you want. Christa can walk and dance for short lengths of time, no more than five minutes. You can carry her if you want, but pay attention to the doctors if they tell you to put her down. The rest of the rules are fairly simple: no weapons, no profanity, don't kill anyone, Christa is your main focus but you are encouraged to interact with the other kids, and no, you are not allowed to tell them what it is like to kill a man."
He seemed surprised at that. "Kids ask that a lot?"
She rolled her eyes. "All the time." She shrugged "Kids-"
"Are weird," he finished with her. He settled himself on the wall next to her, idly twining a shadow around his talons.
She watched him from the corner of her eye, then shrugged and double-checked the forms. He was humming as he watched his shadow, some vaguely romantic sounding tune that Angelica hadn't heard before. They sat in companionable almost silence for a while, Reaper humming softly and Angelica listening. She was startled when he spoke.
"You-" He paused, coughing awkwardly. Looking over her shoulder, he studied the garden. "Looks like the birthday girl is here."
Angelica followed his gaze and stood. "So she is. Come on, I'll introduce you."
He hummed thoughtfully. "No. You go first. I'll show up when it seems appropriate."
He released his form before she could reply, coiling into smoke and shadow and whisking off while she glared. Huffing out an annoyed breath, she head back to the garden proper.
As she approached Christa, she heard one of the volunteers softly saying "I'm so sorry, sweetie, but we couldn't find him."
Tears welled up in the girl's eyes and she sobbed softly into a black plush animal she held. Angelica's jaw tightened as she watched the volunteer quickly retreat to the side of the coordinator and she quickly glanced around, trying to find Reaper's distinctive shadow.
She squared her shoulders and went over to the child. Christa was quiet, tears running down her face to be soaked into her stuffed animal. It was small and mostly black, but Reaper's distinctive mask poked out of a black hood. She crouched down to get on the child's eye level.
Out of the corner of her eye, Angelica saw a shadow dart around the edge of the party, angling her way. "Hey. You know, Reaper's really dramatic. I bet he's just waiting for the right moment to show up."
Christa's head slowly lifted. Her eyes were shining, and a slightly hopeful smile was forming. "Really? You think so?"
Angelica stood up, gesturing to the orderly to push her into the center of the gathering. "I do. And I also think-"
She stopped, the orderly a beat behind, as the shadows in front of them seemed to boil. Tendrils snaked out in all directions as the guests and volunteers screamed and backed away. In the center of the writhing smoke, Reaper formed, head back and arms up as he cackled in a manner that strongly reminded Angelica of a cliched movie villain.
Christa gasped, delighted, as Reaper slowly stalked over to stand before her. He loomed, the shadows dancing around them as the orderly broke and ran. Reaper and Christa ignored him.
"So, you would seek to dance with Death?" Reaper demanded while Angelica took a step back to hide her grin.
Christa gazed up at him, hero worship plain on her face. "Yep! And look!" she said, holding up her plushie for his inspection, "I have a little you!"
Reaper seemed a bit flummoxed at that, so Angelica took a step forward again. "Reaper, this is Christa. She's turning seven today. And Christa, I told you he wanted to be dramatic."
Christa giggled at that, and Reaper's offended "Hey!". Angelica pushed the chair over to the tables while Reaper paced along side. Once Christa was settled, Reaper sat beside her. Angelica slowly left them alone, discussing his smoke powers, and went to find her boss.
Mr. Anderson was near the exit, whites showing all around his eyes. He was a portly man, short and balding. Angelica had only seen him leave his office twice before, and only for emergencies. He rounded on Angelica as she approached.
"What the ever-loving fuck did you do!?" he whisper-screamed at her once she was close enough.
She stared at him for a beat. "My job."
"But he wasn't supposed to actually show up! We were going to set everything up, pretend to wait for him, and then send her to an amusement park! You weren't supposed to actually find him!"
She caught a flash of blue out of the corner of her eye. "Tough. I did."
She shoved the release forms into his chest, looking past him to see what moved. There. A man in a visor and a motorcycle jacket was coming this way. Something about the way he moved reminded her of Reaper. And then he pulled the biggest rifle she'd ever seen from behind his back.
Angelica froze. Then her brain kicked into gear, and she realized why he must be here. She narrowed her eyes and started marching to him, hearing Mr. Anderson yelp in fear as she passed.
"No. Oh, no. No no no no no. No! I did not spend three weeks in that shithole for you to ruin this!" The stranger stopped, stunned as she shoved the barrel of the rifle at the ground. "I don't give two shits what happens to him tomorrow, but right now? Reaper is mine," she snarled up into his face, "and I will be damned if anything or anyone fucks up this little girl's birthday!"
"He's a wanted terrorist," the man said gruffly, trying to push past.
Angelica reared back and punched him. Or tried to, anyway. The man caught her fist easily and used it to steer her away.
"And right now, he's spending time with a dying little girl who would be devastated if he was attacked on her birthday," she hissed, furious.
The man stopped short, apparently staring into the garden. Reaper still sat next to Christa, who was still enraptured. There was a flower crown on his hood, matching the one that adorned her. He was, apparently, showing her how to braid another for her doll. The crowd was tentatively starting to move away from the edges of the garden, though there was still a wide gap around Reaper. He suddenly looked up, paused, then flowed over to Christa's other side. Angelica realized after a moment that she couldn't see Christa anymore, and that Reaper was shielding her.
Angelica approached the man, more wary this time. "Look. He's promised to spend time with her. Can you hold off on whatever until after her party's over and the kids are safe?"
The man didn't look at her, but he did lower his gun. Angelica sighed in relief. He straightened and turned to look at her. "Name," he barked.
She blinked. "I'm Angelica Coffey."
"Why did he agree to this?"
Angelica sighed. "I don't know. But he hasn't hurt me, or Christa. And he's agreed to do this again if another kid wants to meet him. I don't think he's that bad."
"How will you contact him?" Another bark.
"He gave me a burn phone. I left it at home, though." She regretted it as soon as she said it. She liked Reaper, and it pained her to think of him fighting the angry man before her.
The man seemed to glare at her, then nodded and stalked off the way he came. Angelica sighed and went back to her charges, feeling for the burn phone in her pocket, knowing it wasn't there.
—
Reaper caught sight of the damned vigilante approaching the group, and watched Angelica move to intercept him. He was slightly surprised when she tried to deck him, and mentally applauded the gesture. He wraithed to Christa's other side, deciding to let Angelica deal with 76, but providing cover just in case. Jackie, you should see her. Beautiful. Form could use some work, but they can't all be you. He shook off his melancholy as Christa began lecturing him on boys.
—
"Boys are gross," Christa was saying with conviction as Angelica approached.
"Well, you don't have to like boys if you don't want to," Reaper responded promptly. "But I'm a boy, does that make me gross, too?"
Christa giggled. "No, you're Reaper. That's better than stinky boys!"
Reaper chuckled, turning at Angelica's approach. He held out another flower crown. "You get one, too."
Angelica took the crown, carefully placing it on her head. She turned to Christa. "Can I borrow Reaper for a bit? I'll make sure he comes right back."
"Kay. I'm gonna go show Mom my crown!" She got up and carefully walked over to where the adults were still cowering.
Angelica led Reaper to a far corner of the garden. "You know that guy?"
Reaper sighed. "Yes. Soldier 76. Vigilante who has it in for me. To be fair, I have it in for him, too." That last was growled out in a way that made the hair in her neck stand on end.
"Oh. I kinda told him about the burn phone." She felt her face flush with embarrassment.
"It would have been worse if you hadn't. 76 is thorough. And he won't risk innocent lives, so he won't be hanging around. Although he might follow you home." He scrubbed a gauntleted hand over his mask. "Call me if he won't leave. Just leave the line open."
She stared at him, then asked, "You don't like him much, do you?"
Reaper snorted and looked away. After a long moment he sighed. "He killed someone I loved," he said softly. Shaking his head, he walked back toward the party.
Angelica gaped after him. Oh, shit. What have I gotten myself into?