Okay, so this one is a little shorter than last chapter, but I will have you know that this weekend you'll be getting a bonus update. So that means you'll be getting chapter five sooner than normal. Yay!
Disclaimer: I do NOT own Legion or any of the characters or ideas associated with it. I DO, however, own Tristana and her family so please no stealing my characters.
Enjoy the story and please review with constructive criticism or helpful ideas to stave off any possibility of writer's block.
Fallen
A Legion Fanfic by xXShadow-Wolf13Xx
Chapter Four
"When He chose Humanity to be the center of His love and devotion, I was the first in all of Heaven to bow before you." He began to explain, "My love and hope for you ran just as deeply as His. My faith was unshakeable." I met his deep gaze.
"When He lost faith, I did not; I knew that it was not Humanity's end. You were simply lost, not beyond help. For ages I have watched humans quarrel amongst themselves over land, and power, and greed. But even in such terrible darkness there were those that would not be bowed. Those that refused to lose faith and give up." He said. "I saw you, barely even able to walk, tossed from foster home to foster home, and orphanage to orphanage, but still you refused to lose faith. There was not a day you were not praying for friends, family, and even those guardians who beat you and scarred you. You spent a life time ignoring your own sorrow in favor of others, and never once blamed God. I saw Jeep, fifteen years old and his mother left, he spent the next five years of his life bringing his father back onto the right path."
I stared open mouthed at him. There was a kindness in his harsh eyes that softened his worn face, and for an instant I could see the angel he was. I smiled slightly at him.
"You, you and Jeep are what give me hope for Humanity. The reason I have come here." He said. I stared at him a moment longer, completely at a loss for words. Finally, I yawned widely, the lack of sleep for the past several hours finally catching up to me.
"Sleep, you need it." He said gently. I nodded with a tired sigh and made myself comfortable on the countertop, pillowing my head on my arms.
"You know, you're not the only one who's suffered, Charlie. A girl just became an orphan in the span of twenty-four hours. The whole world is crashing around us. People are dead, Charlie. Let me know when you stop feelin' sorry for yourself." I was roused from my sleep by Jeep's angry words. Heard him storm off to the back room.
I lifted my head from my arms and saw Charlie sitting in the booth just in from of the one Kyle and Audrey are curled together in. She sat staring wide eyed in shock after him. I smiled lightly; he finally stood up for himself and gave her just what she needed. Good for him.
I sat up and stretched, legs dangling off the counter. It had to be late afternoon to early evening by now, probably nearing time for the next watch. I hopped from my perch and went to find Jeep. He was hunched over the desk in front of the back door.
"Hey, we should go up to the roof and relieve them of their watch. It's Kyle's turn, but he's asleep right now and I don't have the heart to wake him." I said, placing a comforting hand on his shoulder, "Besides you look like you could use a distraction."
He glanced at me over his shoulder and nodded.
"Yeah, thanks. Dad's probably fallin' asleep up there with Michael." He said with a slight chuckle. I smiled, glad that he was beginning to cheer up if only a little.
We emerged onto the roof and I was consumed with the sight of sand and wind. And endless plain of desert terrain bathed in muted oranges as the sun slowly began to sink away. Michael stood watching, ever vigilant, facing out towards the invisible setting sun. Bob was on the other side of the roof, slumped in his chair with an empty beer can by his feet. Jeep went to rouse his father. I walked up behind Michael.
"Kyle needs his rest; I'm going to take over in his place. Jeep is on the other side taking Bob's place." I said quietly, hand subconsciously tightening on my MP5 now that I was outside again. Michael nodded slightly.
"They'll be here soon. I can't tell how we will be tried this time, but it will not be easy, be careful." He said, meeting my eyes. I nodded.
"Take care of them downstairs. Don't let anyone do anything stupid." I said, meaning my self-absorbed foster parents. He nodded and left me to take over. I stared out over the front of the diner, the sign dead behind me and an empty, ever darkening wasteland stretching endlessly before me. I heard Bob shuffling tiredly behind me as he headed down from the roof.
"Get some rest, Bob, you need it." I said quietly without turning my gaze from the sight before me. He grunted and continued on his way. Soon, it was just me and Jeep. I could hear the light sound of his footsteps as he paced every now and then.
Suddenly, the sign flashed to life behind me. I could practically feel the thrumming energy beneath my feet as the diner came back to life.
"What the hell…"I trailed off, glancing behind me then scanning the horizon.
"Tristana, what's goin' on?" Jeep asked.
"I have no idea," I replied. "But something tells me it won't be good."
He shuffled around to stand next to me. We stared out over the desert. Soon, headlights appeared speeding towards the diner. We readied our guns, prepared for anything. A minivan pulled up to one of the pumps. A frantic man raced out and began fumbling to fill the car up.
"He looks..." Jeep began.
"Normal." I finished quietly. "That can't be it. Something else is coming."
"Look!" Jeep shouted, pointing off to the left. A veritable sea of headlights was heading for the diner. I could hear the pulse pounding riffs of punk music blared from jacked up sound systems.
"It's a trap. They lit it up to lure them here." I growled, angered by such underhanded play. I looked back towards the man. His frantic wife and kid were sitting in the car. "He can't see them. He needs help."
"What can we do?" Jeep asked.
"Hey, Mister! Get back in your damn car!" I yelled as loudly as I could, my voice echoed across the barren desert surrounding us. The man looked up. I pointed off to the side and he began to race back into his car. I sighed in relief. Too soon.
A large car collided with the van, causing the man to be thrown through the windshield. He lay motionless on the ground. His wife was in hysterics as punked out teens poured from the cars and flooded towards the van. I shot as many as I could but couldn't help for fear of shooting the woman. The little boy was crying, curled up into a ball on the sand as his mother was pulled apart.
"Damn it!" I cursed. "Keep watch from up here and don't you dare follow me."
Without waiting for a reply I jumped from the roof, landing on the ground in a crouch. Several demented gazes latched onto me. I sent volley after volley of gunfire into the heads of the Possessed. Finally, I got to the kid, the punks slowly closing ranks behind me. Quickly, I grabbed the kid by the arm. His soft sniffles began to become more identifiable. He was laughing.
"Fuck," I groaned as he looked up at me with black eyes.
"Fooled you," He growled, "you're gonna die now."
"Fuck you!" I growled back. The kid latched his jaws onto my arm just before I shot him. I hissed in pain and jerked my arm from his slack jaws. His dead body collapsed. I still had the issue of being surrounded by pissed off, possessed, punks.
"A little help would be nice Jeep!" I yelled, rounding on the closest freak and shooting it. I continued trying to clear a path to the door all the while blood was dripping down my right wrist.
I was almost there when my foot caught on something. I went down. My ankle was screaming in pain. I cursed and rolled over onto my back, shooting at anything that got to close. I felt something grab my ankle and screamed.
"Jeep, shoot it. Whatever it is just fucking shoot it!" I screamed, hoping he would be able to. "I really don't care if the bullet hits me too, as long as you get this thing OFF OF ME!"
I heard the tell tale clicking of an empty cartridge coming from my MP5. I groaned, slid in into my belt even as I was pulling one of the handguns from the holder on my leg and began firing again. Soon my other hand was also occupied by a handgun. I was shooting left and right. Felt something grab my shoulders, pull. I nearly shot whatever it was until a familiar, tattooed hand grasped my own. I looked back. I was leaning against Michael's chest just inside the diner. He was breathing heavily; I could feel the vibrations passing from his chest to my back.
"Thanks." I breathed, dropping my hands to my lap. He slowly released my hand and nodded slightly at me. I felt someone grasp onto my right arm and looked up. Percy was examining the bite wound.
"You're lucky, it missed the largest vein. But you'll need stitches." He said. I nodded.
"Anyone know how to do stitches?" I asked, glancing around. Kiara and Alexander were huddled together, occasionally shooting glances at me. Alexander was trying to comfort her, I could slightly hear as she spoke my name through broken sobs. Percy shook his head and Bob looked close to being sick. Kyle was holding Audrey close, I could hear her muffled sobs as he assured her that I was fine. Charlie was slumped over, looking relieved.
Michael grasped my wrist and examined it, pulling me closer in the process, although I was already practically on his lap.
"Someone should go help Jeep on the roof." I said. Percy nodded and left the room.
"Bob, I'll need you to get me the first aid kit." Michael said. The words reverberated through his chest and into my back. I struggled to keep from shivering. This was no okay. It was totally not okay for me to have a crush on the freaking Archangel Michael. There had to be rules against that sort of thing. I shook my head as Bob dropped a small white box into my lap.
I used my free hand to rifle through the box, removing sanitizing wipes, thread, a needle, and bandages. I handed the needle and thread to Michael. Then, I opened the sanitizing wipes and carefully cleaned and disinfected the wound.
"This will hurt." He said softly, holding my wrist tightly and placing the cold needle against my skin. I nodded telling him I was ready.
I bit my lip as he began to stitch up the wound, holding in the small whimpers of pain. I heard an explosion from outside, followed by a bright light shining through the slats in the windows. Heat emanated from the door. Everyone, except Michael, looked up.
"They must've shot one of the gas pumps or something." I said, whimpering slightly as the thread was pulled through my skin.
"At least now those freaks are dead." Bob said.
I looked back at my wrist to see Michael cutting and tying off the thread. I opened the bandages and went to wrap them around the wound. He pulled them from my grasp and did it himself. I looked back at him.
"Thank you." I said quietly, meeting his steely blue gaze. He smiled lightly and nodded. With a start I realized that I was still sitting on his lap and quickly stood. My head spun.
"Wow, I must've lost more blood than I thought I had." I said, grasping my head lightly with my left hand.
"Careful," Michael said, reaching out a steadying hand to grasp my shoulder. I nodded to him, smiling sheepishly.
"I'm going to go give Jeep a break. You should eat something, girl. You need to get your energy back up after a stunt like that." Bob said. I nodded at him with a light smile and sat at one of the barstools. While he left, I pulled the MP5 from my belt and removed the empty magazine. I replaced it with one of the full ones in my pockets and slid the gun back into my belt after making sure the safety was on. I looked at the clock. Twelve A.M. December twenty-fifth.
"Happy Birthday to me." I said.
Well, there you have it, chapter four, and we're one chapter away from finding out just what is so special about Tristana. Thanks to all of you who have reviewed and added this story to your favorites or alerts.
Happy Easter you guys!