Authors' Notes: So the last few chapters have really been kicking our butts, but we're happy to report that (even with Pokemon Go, which was released last week) we only have six more chapters to write! Reminder: once this story is all written, we'll switch to posting one chapter a week.

This is a chapter we've been looking forward to posting almost since we finished it. Not only is it one of our favorites to read, but it also has important plot elements and, in particular, is the first chapter that hints that ALL IS NOT WELL and that this actually is not as much of a happy, fluffy story as we intended it to be. We hope you like it! If you get a moment, drop us a review to let us know what you think!


Falling

Act One, Chapter Six


Jackie blocked Rose's hand as it darted out in an attempt to grab candy from the shelves. "No, love, we're shopping for food now, not sweets." Rose slouched down in her seat in the trolley, her arms crossed and her lower lip jutting. Her eyes kept darting back to the shelves, though, and Nine knew her well enough to know she would make another attempt in a few minutes. Jackie knew her well enough, too, and always kept half an eye on her.

Nine turned and scanned the shoppers around them. He was bored. He loved his little charge and even liked being her guardian, but the endless drone of domesticity wore on him. His eyes skimmed over the mundane scene but stopped on a familiar shape. The man was walking straight toward them. He passed through an old woman's shopping without breaking stride and his wings flickered into view.

Nine stood at attention, squaring his shoulders as Michael approached.

"At ease," the archangel said easily when he was close enough.

"Is there something you needed?" Nine asked gruffly. Michael, commander of God's armies, was not known for making personal appearances. He was very much a chain-of-command kind of angel. If he was now appearing to Nine, who wasn't even a warrior anymore, there had to be something very serious going on. His commander didn't even glance at Jackie and Rose.

"Your missing unit member has reappeared," Michael said.

For just a second, Nine lost track of the turn of the Earth, of what was going on around him. The world narrowed down to those few words. There had been nine bodies. Nine bodies, made unrecognizable by his mistakes, and one killed by demons. Nine had known that he was not the only survivor - or, he had suspected, but since no hide, hair, or feather had been found of the missing angel, it was just as likely he was also dead. Nine wondered whether the other survivor even knew of their decimated unit.

"Who is it?" he rasped.

"Koschei," Michael said and it was as though the entire world suddenly let out a breath. Koschei had been… his brother, his best friend in the world. He had mourned every single member of his unit, but Koschei most of all. "He vanquished a demon on board a ship just days ago and chased off several more."

Nine opened his mouth to ask how he was… but paused. Michael's face was grim. He closed his mouth to hear the rest.

"There was collateral damage. A fire. More than one hundred and fifty humans died; many more were injured and in need of medical aid."

"Why are you telling me this? This isn't a courtesy call, but I was officially removed from my unit before my trial. I was reassigned."

"You know him best, Nine. He slipped away from us and has disappeared again. We need you to find him; we believe that the battle four years ago may have… affected him. He may not realize what he's doing. We need to find him before he goes rogue and does irreparable damage to himself and to humanity."

Nine sucked in a breath.

"Rose, what did I tell you?!"

His blue eyes cut suddenly toward Jackie and Rose. He swallowed. "I won't leave my charge, sir."

"Your diligence is a credit to you. Another guardian will bet appointed to take over your duties while you search. You need not leave your charge forever - but we need Koschei found. Please, Nine. You are our best chance of finding him quickly. We believe that he wants you to find him and has the means of evading everyone else."

"Why? We had other friends - other warriors, even outside of our unit. He would want to see them as much as me."

Michael sighed. "He used the blood of the demon he killed to write the names of ten angels on a wall. All ten of the angels who have died in the last 500 years, in fact."

"All ten of the angels who were in our unit, you mean."

"As you say."

"Nine of them being the angels I killed."

"Yes."

"He wants to speak with me."

"We believe that is the case, yes."

Nine closed his eyes. What did he do? Rose needed him. Some other guardian - they wouldn't know her and she would have no reason to trust them. She needed him. His duty now was to care for her - and he was doing a good job! He had never just abandoned his duties before and he wouldn't start now!

But on the other hand … he'd had a duty to Koschei for hundreds, thousands of years before Rose had existed. If he could help Koschei, maybe even keep him from falling, wasn't it worth it to leave Rose for a few weeks - or months or even years?

"No, sir. My first duty is to Rose. When she turns twenty, you can ask Gabriel to postpone my next assignment."

Michael tipped his chin down and gave Nine a strange look. "That was very close to insubordination, Nine."

Nine sneered. "I'm not a soldier now. I'm not your subordinate. My first concern is Rose until she's grown. Then, I'll do everything I can for Koschei. You can tell him that when you find him. And even then, it'll be for his sake, and for the sakes of the people he might hurt. Not because you ordered me. If this is an order. Sir."

"It is a request for help. As you say, my authority over you is limited. But this will not be the last request."

Without another word, Michael turned and walked away. He passed through a shelf of groceries and disappeared.

Nine ran to catch up with Rose and Jackie.


"Don't acknowledge him, Rose," Nine warned, pointedly ignoring the uninvited guest.

"What's 'acknowledge'?"

"It's when you pay a little attention to someone to tell them you know they're there. Just pretend it's us and your mum and no one else, alright?"

"Okay," she said in the middle of a grunt of effort. Today was couch climbing day. Rose had spent nearly the entire morning climbing onto the back of the couch and then leaping off again. It was a fairly safe game, compared with what she normally got up to, but he was keeping a careful eye on her anyway.

"Sir, I have been sent to secure your agreement in the matter of the missing angel Koschei, the only remaining member of your former unit," said the neatly-dressed angel.

"Great," Nine said, giving him an encouraging smile. "Good effort. Door's over there. Ta."

The angel stared at him. Clearly, he was not the brightest crayon in the box. "Sir," he said, more slowly, "I am here to secure your agreement in this matter."

"Yeah, I know. You said. And I said goodbye. So goodbye."

"Sir, you don't understand - "

"No, you don't understand. I said no. I will not leave Rose."

His charge jumped from the back of the couch onto the cushions, landing on her bum with a bounce and a giggle. She sat for a moment and then scrambled down to try her hand at the bookshelf.

"Angel Nine, I'm not sure you grasp the severity of the situation."

"You are dumb, then. I grasp it alright. What I don't grasp is why you're still here. Rose, don't climb on that, you'll crack your skull if you fall." He followed her over and stood behind her, ready to catch her if she fell.

"But Doctor, I climbed this lots of times!" She hauled herself up to the next shelf, balancing carefully with her center of gravity over open air.

"You are the only one who could find him in time - "

"Yeah, your hundred thousand angels couldn't possibly find him better'n me on my own."

"They are busy with other assignments."

"Guess what, Sonny Jim. So'm I. Off you go now."

Rose climbed to the second-highest shelf. "Look, Doctor! I'll go all the way to the top and then jump on the couch!"

"It would earn you a commendation - "

Nine spun on his heel to glare at the pretty boy angel with his gleaming wings and his close-cropped hair and his expression of absolute bewilderment at Nine's continued refusals.

"And you can stick that commendation where the sun doesn't shine," he snapped, flaring his dark wings for emphasis. "Do I look like an angel who cares about commendations?! If I cared about commendations - "

Rose gasped. Nine immediately abandoned his tirade and spun, but he was only just in time to catch her before she landed head-first on the living room floor. Her knee, which had been dashed against the shelf, started to bleed. Nine held her close, quieting her cries with soft, soothing words.

"Angel Nine, I really don't believe you've considered - "

Nine looked up and glared, his hands curling into fists. "Have you considered that I'm not going to agree?!" he demanded. "My charge is hurt because your empty-headed prattling distracted me from my duty! Get out and tell Michael not to send another untested bootlicker where he's not welcome!"

"It appears that you believe there is a choice - " He got no further before he had to dodge Nine's fist, which brushed past his ear. He leapt back, shocked at the fact that he had been attacked by another angel.

"There is always a choice," Nine said. "My choice is Rose. Right now, your choices are leave willingly or be thrown over the balcony. Which is it gonna be?"

"I'll report you for this!"

"And Michael knows there's not a damn thing he can do about it when you were interfering with my real duties."

Nine grabbed the protesting angel's collar and headed for the door.

Rose ran after him and, as the messenger caught himself mid-air, stuck her head through the bars to shout, "And don't come back!"


Nine slouched into the park bench, watching Rose and Mickey swarm over the jungle gym. Romana sat neatly beside him, prim as always. Both of them were steadfastly ignoring one of Michael's gormless messengers who stood behind the bench.

"That girl has so much energy," he grumbled. "Do you know, yesterday, she was trying to climb the ceiling fan!"

"Angel Nine, this assignment is most urgent and I would appreciate it if - "

"She has a lot of energy. That's to be expected at this age. She'll grow out of it."

Nine grunted in response.

"Mickey, no! I'm the king of the jungle gym! You can be queen."

"But I don't want to be queen! Queen is for girls! You be queen."

"Look, sir, ma'am, I know you're being very dutiful but I really - "

"No, I'm king because queen is boring! So there." Rose stuck her tongue out at Mickey from her lofty throne at the top of the jungle gym.

Nine chuckled. "Still," he said, "I wish there was a way she could be safe while she's growing out of it."

Rose stood up on the jungle gym, her feet balancing easily on the precarious perch. She spread her arms, "I'm an angel! Gonna fly to Heaven!" she shouted.

"Her balance is very good," Romana observed, "maybe you should think about gymnastics lessons."

"Angel Nine, I must insist that you speak with me!"

Nine turned to her, curious, "How would I do that?" he asked. "It's not like can - look, would you shut up? I'm not going to agree and you're wasting your time! - Not like I can walk up and fill in the form."

The messenger huffed indignantly and flew away, no doubt to report Nine's utter lack of manners and protocol.

"Convince the mother. I can show you how."

Rose and Mickey both shouted suddenly, but not the usual playful shouts. Rose's was in anger; Mickey's was alarmed. The angels looked over in time to see Rose slam into Mickey with her full weight, knocking him to the ground. She grabbed his shirt and shook him as Romana hurried over with Nine right behind her.

"Rose Marion Tyler!" the white-winged angel scolded. "We do not solve problems with our fists! We solve them with words! Stand up this instant, young lady!"

Rose glared but clambered off of Mickey and stood sullenly by. Nine knelt beside her as Romana saw to Mickey. This wasn't like her. Rose wasn't violent.

"First of all," he said levelly, "you need to curl your thumb against your fingers or you'll hurt yourself." He demonstrated, balling his hand into a fist for her to see. "Second, why did you punch Mickey?"

Rose glared at the boy who was now sitting up. "He said your wings were ugly," she spat. "He said you weren't a proper angel!"

Nine stared at her, his eyes widening. What was he supposed to say to that? He almost felt he should thank her for defending him or maybe give her fighting lessons. But no—Rose Tyler was not destined to be a warrior. She was going to have a safe and normal life.

"Thank you for sticking up for me," he told her, "but Romana's right. We should solve problems with words."

"But - you punched that guy th'other day!"

"Yes, but only because you got hurt. Anyway, I'm not a good example."

Rose scowled, "He shouldn't'a said it. Your wings are great and you're the best angel ever, Doctor."

Nine fluttered his wings a little and stretched them out to close her in a circle of feathers, the closest he could now come to hugging her. "And you're the best human ever, Rose. But I don't mind if he doesn't like my wings. As long as you like them, that's what I care about. Alright? So no more punching Mickey for making fun of them."

Rose glared at Mickey again. "Can I punch him for other things?"

Nine hesitated and then glanced over to make sure Romana wasn't paying attention. He lowered his voice. "Only if you promise to punch him with a good punching fist."

"Okay. Promise!"

Romana glanced over with a scowl, although she probably hadn't heard. Nine gave her a sunny smile.

"Gymnastics it is!"


The messenger of the day was less idiotic than the previous models but no less annoying. Nine had been hard pressed to ignore him especially since he, unlike the others, wasn't afraid to force his attention. Rose snuggled into her pillow and propped the book open on her knees.

"The Story of Goldilocks and the Three Bears," Nine announced as she turned the first page. Just then, the aforementioned angel reappeared for another attempt. This time he came straight at Nine and grabbed his shoulder. Nine brushed him off with an icy glare.

"It's story time. I'll deal with you in a minute."
Rose turned the page.

"Once upon a time, there was a little girl named Goldilocks." Rose was a mediocre page turner; she kept getting distracted by the mermaid on her pajamas or the color of her newly-painted fingernails. With some reminding, though, they worked their way through the porridge and the chairs. "This bed is too hard," Nine read dutifully, shaking the angel off again and easily surfing his voice over the indignant demands. Honestly, this was now a daily occurrence and was hardly even annoying anymore. "This bed is too soft. This bed is just right and if you grab my wing one more time, soldier, so help me I will rip your feathers out."

"That's not in the story, Doctor!" Rose scolded.

"You're right, precious girl. Sorry. Where were we?"

"Just right," Rose said.

"Yeah. This bed is just right."

"Nine," the angel snarled, "you will pay heed to your superior officers or be charged with sedition!"

Nine turned and leveled another poisonous glare at him. "It is story time. If you want to speak to me you will wait until Rose is asleep."

"Not gonna go to sleep," Rose said, turning a few pages back while the angels were distracted. "I like it when the Doctor gets into fights with stupid angels."

"Nine, you da - "

"If you swear in front of my charge I will tear off your wings and - " Nine cut himself off, glanced at Rose's eager expression, and finished, "Well, use your imagination."

"Stick them where the sun don't shine," Rose suggested. Oops. Hopefully she wouldn't say that in front of Jackie any time soon.

"I'd like to see you try, you jumped-up, half-damned has-been," the angel snarled. Nine got up suddenly.

"Right. Rose, go to sleep. You, outside with me. We're going to have a bit of a chat about manners and age appropriate language."


Jackie scurried through the messy kitchen, clutching her mug of tea for dear life. With her free hand, she searched for the nearest chair at the kitchen table and sat down. Plop. She set her mug down and rested her face in her hands, hoping the heaviness in her eyelids would go away soon.

Soon enough, Rose appeared in the kitchen with her blonde hair in a messy ponytail at the top of her little head. The girl tugged at the hem of her Little Mermaid nightgown and smiled sheepishly.

"G'mornin', mummy."

"G'mornin', Rose!" Jackie replied, perking up for her child. "D'you want some breakfast?"

"Yeah."

"D'you want cereal?"

"Yeah!" Rose clambered onto her seat, dutifully placing her Little Mermaid-themed cup, bowl, and color-changing spoon on the matching placemat.

Jackie chuckled as she got back up to retrieve Rose's favorite cereal. Strangely, though, as she pulled the cereal box out, a glossy packet of paper fell from the cabinet and fluttered to the floor. Jackie bent down to pick it up and turned it in her hands.

"Oh." She mumbled. In her hands was a brochure for children's' gymnastics at the YMCA. She could feel the corners of her mouth turn down in a pensive frown as she thought about it. Rose was a pretty pesky kid. Gymnastics might give her something to do with all those wiggles…

"Rose…" she began, turning to look at the blonde 5-year-old, who was already planning the days stunts. She had to call a couple of times before she got those large brown eyes to focus on her. "How would you like to do gymnastics?"