Okay, so I've been watching too much Supernatural, and so there's a little of that logic in play when talking about Ren's angelic side of the family.

Bit of a long one, sorry, but I couldn't stop writing.

I ran after Kandai.

He'd made it further today. He'd managed to sustain himself in the air. Of course, the moment he realized his accomplishment, his excitement caused his concentration to waver and he came crashing down.

But I was ready to congratulate him. It was almost as exciting as when I had first managed to hover properly in the air. Maybe it was because I was proud of my teaching skills, but really, it was just me happy for him. He was my friend, after all.

I wasn't sure where he'd landed, but I made my best guess and ran through the trees. "Kandai! Hey!"

I pushed through the branches and leaves of the bushes and trees alike, before I finally came out to an open area. My excitement suddenly turned to panic as I slipped and found myself tumbling down a ramp of rock.

Rocks went falling down with me as I rustled the loose earth, and despite my efforts, I couldn't get a solid grip. I expected that I'd reach the bottom and be able to stand, dusting myself off and hope that I could get back up, but instead of finding the bottom of some crater, I ended up feeling nothing but open air greeting me.

Reaching out with my adrenaline-enhanced speed, I managed to grab the edge of the cliffside that I'd rolled down from, but the rocks weren't stable or fully supported. I tried to carefully pull myself back up, but the rocks shifted and I screamed as they barely held on.

Below was a long fall into a canyon. I couldn't see the bottom, though there was another stretch of land a good 50 meters down and 30 meters away, as though there were two continents and this was the large gap left between them. There'd be no way for me to jump to the other side, and though I knew that I wouldn't die from the fall, there'd be no telling how long it would take for me to get back up.

I was an angel. I'd never been afraid of heights, afraid of falling.

Until I was brought to the court of Heaven on charges of treason. Until I was told my verdict was guilty. Until I was told my punishment was banishment. Until I was sentenced to this place, thrown through a portal to this world as I looked my former best friend in the eye. Until I lost everything.

"Kandai! Help me!"

I wasn't afraid to die. But ever since I'd met that demon, I had a life again. I found a reason to keep going. I hadn't thought about missing home in ages. I didn't want to be alone. I didn't want to fall.

"Please! Kan! Help!"

I didn't realize I was crying until I tried to look up and saw nothing but a blur. I blinked quickly, scanning the cliff for any sign of Kandai. The rocks began slipping once more and I shouted in panic.

"Kandai!"

"Ren?!"

His voice was far away, but close enough to hear my shouts, and my heart jumped. "Over here! Help me, please!"

I heard him running my way. "Ren?! Where are you?! Keep talking to me! I'm coming!"

"Look out! There's a cliff!"

I finally saw him push through the final greenery and kneel at the top of the ramp I'd fallen from. "Ren! Are you okay?"

"Help me!"

"Can't you fly back up?!"

"I can't fly, Kan! I can't!"

"Okay, stay calm! I'll…"

He looked around behind him frantically.

"I'll be right back!"

He disappeared out of sight, before returning a few moments later with a pair of…sticks?

He jumped down the ramp before jabbing one of his branches into the loose earth and coming to a slow crawl. He stabbed his second in, using each of them to scale his way down. I would've been extremely impressed at his quick thinking and resource management (not to mention how cool he looked coming to my rescue), but I was more focused on the fact that the earth I was holding onto was very far from the stable part of the rocks and I was going to fall at any moment.

"I'm coming," He called. "Just stay calm. Look at me. Look at me! Do not think about the drop. Think about…your experiments. How do you make a…a potion for…a severed limb?"

"Is the limb recoverable?"

"Sure!"

"Well, you'd need to take some samples from the victim, and you'll need to understand how the autonomy of the person works, depending on what species they are. Then, you'll need to take some phoenix ashes or Ditto paste to help rebuilt the ties that were broken."

Before I knew it, he was slowly approaching the ledge where I was hanging from. He slid his foot closer as slowly as he could, trying to keep his one branch dug into a steady hold while reaching out his other hand and branch.

"Think you can reach me?"

I braced myself and reached forward, but the rock I was hanging from lurched and I pulled my weight back into place. "No!"

"You're gonna have to try and jump."

"What?!"

"Try and get a foothold and jump to grab my hand. I can't go down any further without risking falling too, but if you can use the falling earth to give yourself a boost, we might be able to meet."

"That's a stupid plan!"

"Got a better one?"

"No, the plan thing is your job! You're the hero rescuing me!"

"And I can't rescue you if you don't work with me."

The rocks were crumbing, the ledge coming down. "Okay, fine!"

I slowly pulled myself up and the rocks began to fall faster. I got a foothold above the ledge and jumped for his hand as the earth below me went down. I felt myself lose contact with the ground and felt weightless, but I didn't have enough forward propulsion.

I missed his hand. I smacked my chin against the remaining edge of the cliff and couldn't grab on.

I was falling through the air. There was nothing to reach for to stop my descent.

I panicked.

I had never fallen before. I had never been afraid of open air. And I had never dived without my wings. Not until today.

And what I was most afraid of was that I'd never be able to climb back up. I'd lose what little of the life I'd gained back, the small life that I realized I had too late.

I wasn't afraid to die. I was afraid to live. I was afraid of being alone.

And I think, most of all, I was afraid of never seeing Kandai again.

It was an irrational fear, as well as an unexpected one. But it was still the only thing I could think of as I fell. What if I couldn't be found once I hit the bottom of the canyon? If he tried following after me, would he be able to survive?

Heck, even I may not survive. Having been away from Heaven for so long, who knows if my aura was strong enough to survive such a drop?

But I couldn't do anything. I was helpless.

And then he jumped down after me. His wings fully expanded, and the next thing I knew, he grabbed me. I gripped him tightly without even thinking about it.

Was he planning to come down with me? Did he have a plan at all?

I didn't think about things like that, and only focused on feeling him. No matter what happened, he was with me. I just wanted him with me.

And then the wind changed. I felt gravity increase as we lurched upwards.

He was doing it. He was flying. Not hovering, not jumping with a little assistance - flying.

I opened my eyes (when had I closed them again?) to see that he was struggling with both of our weights, but he was pushing against the air as hard as he could. We made it over the cliff, and he flew us as far in as he could before we began to wobble in the air and he barely managed to come to a running landing and lying me down as gently as he could before collapsing next to me, panting hard.

"You okay?" He asked.

It took me far too long to process that he had said anything, still trembling from the shock of what had just happened. "I-Isn't that m-my line?"

He chuckled. "I'll live. You?"

I could only nod. After a moment, he grabbed me once more, pulling one of my arms over his shoulders before he struggled to his feet, pulling me along.

"Shouldn't you…rest a little more?"

"We need to get home first."

It wasn't a long trip before we made it back to the house. BB seemed to have been waiting for us, as he was staring from the couch as we walked in and followed as Kan took me into my bedroom and set me down.

"You're cut up pretty badly from the tumble you took, and you're jaw's taken a hit. I'll go get some-"

"No!"

I was gripping his wrist tightly. I wasn't sure completely why, but I knew that I didn't want to be alone right now. I couldn't help but feel like I was still going to be falling the moment he let go. Why was I crying? I was safe. I shouldn't be like this.

"Okay," He said gently. "I'm not going anywhere, all right?"

He hesitantly came closer, and wrapped me into his arms. He scooted onto the bed next to me and let me grip him, sobbing and trembling. I shouldn't show such weakness to anyone, angel or demon, ally or enemy. But who cared anymore? This was Kan. Maybe it was our mutual agreement that let me relax with him, or maybe it was just the fact that he was my friend.

"Why didn't you fly, angel?" I heard him whisper.

I'm not sure whether he meant for me to hear him, but I choked out an answer. "I can't…!"

"Why not?"

"I don't…I don't have wings."

"What?"

"It was me…! I was the angel who was tricked! That's why I'm here! And I can't…when I was banished, they…they cut them off!"

"Your wings?!"

His grip tightened, but I welcomed it and simply nodded through my sobs.

"My gods, Ren. How could they…?"

He wrapped his arms around me as if to try and hold me closer, to protect me from my memories even though he couldn't change what happened.

"That's why you never showed me yours. That's why you never offered to fly with me while teaching me."

"I'm…sorry."

"Shh. It's okay. I know why you didn't say anything. An angel shouldn't go around telling demons their greatest weaknesses."

"You're not just some…demon I picked up off the street…anymore…you know?"

He chuckled, and I could feel his voice resonate while my head rested at the base of his neck. "I'm honored."

"You should be. I'm a…really special angel, you know? My love does not come cheap."

"Yeah. I knew that from the moment I met you."

His grip began to relax and we just laid there in silence. I never realized how nice it was, just sitting in his embrace. He smelled really nice, too. Had he always smelled like this? Did all demons smell this good? His grip was protective, but not harshly so. Not like him. Not like that first demon at all.

"You think you're good?" He asked.

"Shh. 'M sleepy."

"Sorry. I'll slip out once you're asleep."

"No. You'a good pillow. Stay."

He chuckled, disturbing my nice and comfy position. "I don't think it'd be right for me to sleep with you."

"Why not?"

"Uh, demon and an angel?"

"No one's judging us, Kan. No such thing as social status or whatnot when there are only two of us in the entire world."

"Yeah, but sleeping with someone requires intimacy, and I'm not sure how that goes for angels, but for demons, it's not easy."

"It's not intimate if you're comforting the wounded. Now shut up and sleep."

I felt his heartbeat increasing at my ear.

"Stop it. S'loud."

"Sorry," He whispered.

His heartbeat eventually calmed down (I made a mental note to check why he had a heartbeat. I mean, angels didn't have heartbeats. Heck, we didn't have to breathe) and I eventually relaxed until I fell asleep.

When I woke up, Kandai was still there. I nearly panicked at first, remembering that he was gonna leave once I'd fallen asleep, but he stayed.

"Hey, angel."

"Hullo," I muttered.

I didn't want to get up, but I was at a point where I was too awake to fall back asleep, but too drowsy to want to fully push myself away from the warmth of Kandai along with the blankets that must've gotten there at some point, but I was too tired to think about it.

"Good nap?"

"Yup. I was all unconscious and stuff."

He laughed, and with my head at his chest, that woke me up. "I'd hope so."

"You hungry? I'm hungry. Wait, I don't wanna get up. And you're not going anywhere, pillow."

"I'm glad to know I play such an important role in your life."

"You're my best friend/pillow. I'd call that an accomplishment."

"Best friend?"

"We've known each other for months and you're growing on me. Besides, you saved my life. That counts for something, at least."

"So, does becoming a 'Best' friend require some ritual of saving one's life? If so, you angels must not have a lot of best friends."

"Nope. They're jerks."

"Well, didn't you have some best friends before me? Back up with your kind? You angels have friends, right?"

"Sure. And it's not forbidden to fall in love, either. But we don't reproduce the way humans do, so it's not like reproduction requires love between angels anyway. And love isn't easy for angels. They're all work and no play. It's basically just those you know and those you've heard of - maybe those that you don't know, but that's rare with not a lot of new angels being created these days - those you get along with and those you don't get along with, and those you ally with and those you fight. Basic relationships. And yes, we have a hierarchy too. We know when to bow to those above us."

"Tell me about your friends, angel. What was it like to have angel friends?"

"I had plenty of acquaintances and those I got along with, but my friends? Hm. There was one that I called my best friend, and lot that I could consider regular friends."

"Any girlfriends?"

"Yes, plenty of my friends were girls."

"No, that's not - ugh. Okay, languages don't make sense sometimes. Continue."

"Well, I had friends like Hannah, Uriel, Zachariah, Anna, Balthazar, Nadia, Inias, Ion, Hael, Ezekiel, Rebecca, Bartholomew, Adina, Daniel, Ingrid, Malachi, Ambriel, Thaddeus, Lily, Abner, Miriam, Efram, Hozai, Rachel, Asariel, Sophia, Esther, Jonah, Muriel, Benjamin, Duma, Samandriel, Elijah, Josiah, Nathaniel, Azrael, Esper, Conrad, Nithael, Joshua, Hester, Ishim, Ezra, Theo, Mirabel, Constantine, Neil, Akobel, Oren, Jofiel, Tyrus, Castiel, Isaac…Kandai!"

Kan jumped awake from pretending to fall asleep. "What? Sorry, you lost me after Hannah."

I shoved him but laid back against him once more. "Plenty more where that came from. Anyway, I guess you can't really consider them friends if they're your family, considering all of us angels are technically brothers and sisters, however we're the kind of family where yes, you are siblings, but your relationship are more like friendships. My main family is Michael, Lucy, Raphael, Gabriel, Raziel, and Ithuriel. Ithuriel was my best friend."

"What was he like?"

"Nice. I'm the youngest of my immediate siblings, however he helped me through being the silent and invisible younger sibling. He supported me through school before I was a dropout-"

"Wait, you dropped out?"

"To pursue my alchemic carrier! Now shut up! He supported me through that, too, even if he was a bit hesitant about my methods. I was a rebel, but really, I just wanted to be left alone. I was known as the nerd around Heaven, everyone knew me, but it wasn't as though I was some criminal. I was different, and the court really didn't mind so long as I didn't go ruining things for the angels or lead some kind of rebellion. But…when I was thrown here, he didn't do anything. No one did. I was accused of treason because I was tricked by that demon for those samples, and well…here I am."

"And they…you said they cut off…?"

"Yeah. One at a time. Fully conscious. Screaming as loud as I could."

I pulled off my shirt and let my wings show, though there wasn't much to see. After I'd first found my home, I'd checked to see how badly damaged they were. I had them cut off just before I was thrown through the portal that left me here, and so they had yet to be properly tended to when I had first arrived.

I had patched the four little stumps that had once been my wings up, each maybe five centimeters tall each. When cutting off wings for some punishment of a crime, there was no real point in making a precision cut that basically made them disappear into my skin, right? No, they were messy, lazily chopped off. But even Gadreel was simply locked up and tortured in Heaven. He didn't have this done to him.

Kan gingerly let his fingers dance across the skin around what remained of my wings. "Oh my…they…"

"Yeah. Wings are no different than arms, and having them chopped off is just as fun. Worse, really. To an angel, wings are…everything. They're much more sensitive than arms or legs, and they're…well, getting my junk cut off would've hurt less."

"Uh, did not need that visual, thanks. Way to ruin the moment."

I smiled weakly and shrugged. "It's the truth. For the first few days, I was always haunted by dreams that I was still back home. But more than that, I always imagined that they were still there. Phantom pains, I guess. I feel like not just a part of my physical body is missing, but a part of my soul, who I am, if that makes sense. I'm not sure if angels have souls, not anything like humans, at least, and certainly not like demons, but…I've toyed with the idea that maybe we just have weaker versions or something.

"Angels are soldiers, they follow orders, they never change. I take that to mean they have lesser souls within them, less diversity and need for it. Humans, they have varying degrees, and I think that's the reason they were dad's perfect creation. They can go in any direction they want with a little time, they can open their minds and evolve even if it takes some time. Even if many of them fail, it doesn't mean that another of them won't eventually succeed. Nothing is set in stone for them, for better or worse. And demons? They have too much of a soul, they understand too much, and know too many horrors. Ignorance is bliss, some say, and they're right. Humans, they have the ability to see pain and overcome it, but demons are the ones that don't overcome it. They see how cruel the world is, and they give in to it, let it control them, and are considered evil for it. They're not evil, that's not how I see it. I see it as they've just seen too much, they act the way they do because they have too much of a soul inside them and don't know really what to do with it all. So they lash out, create chaos for whatever reasons, because no matter how good you act, there's nothing that says order will ever be perfect, so why even bother in the long run?"

"We demons have some order, you know."

"I know. That's just how things work. All demons embrace that kind of…'live for yourself' thinking, and suddenly, without realizing it, they've created a system. I find it fascinating, the kind of depth that one can see within if they look closely enough."

"You're brilliant, angel."

"Yeah, and my brilliance got me thrown out. I've tried to tell myself how it shouldn't bother me, wondering…if I were a normal angel, what would I be feeling? Would a normal angel feel like I do?"

"You're not normal. And I like you that way."

"Thanks."

"I'm serious. I'd rather be stuck here with you than those upstarts upstairs."

"Hey, that's my family you're talking about."

He smiled and shrugged. "Sorry. But your family is a pile of douche bags."

I opened my mouth to protest, but then closed it and leaned against him once more. "Yeah, it is."

He burst out laughing, and I couldn't help but join in.

"So, breakfast?" He asked once he'd regained his ability to breathe.

"Sure."

We didn't speak about the incident after that.

Kan sometimes asked to see my wings, what remained of them anyway, and ran his fingers through the small parts, probably imagining what they had looked like before.

"You had four?" He asked once.

"Yeah. I'm an archangel, so I grew more than one set."

"So, did you have a predestined set or no?"

"I had a predicted easier chance of growing more than one set, but it took my own skill to earn the second set. And yes, I had to grow them same as the first which required some time in pain to let them grow and have my brother Gabe rip them out since he was the only one available at the time. In retrospect, I guess he was the best one, since Mike was the oldest, and not really a family guy, Lucy was doing some time in prison, Raph was the middle child with the whole 'I deal with my issues, you deal with yours' complex, Raziel was off doing dad knows what, and Ithuriel was in school at the time. Gabe was the weirdest of my brothers, you know, besides me, and we got along pretty well. He sucked at helping me through the process though."

"What exactly is the process?"

"Soak yourself in a bath or shower to weaken the skin and then push the wings out far enough so that they tear through the marks that form and then someone else usually assists in pulling them out. Gabe was all like 'Ew! They're covered in gross stuff!' and basically left me to do the entire thing on my own."

Kan snickered. "He sounds fun."

"Lazy weirdo that stays away from all the family drama, but my best brother besides Ithuriel. I hear he went to go disguise as a human after this big family fight, and I would've gone with but stayed because I was afraid of leaving Heaven and…I mean, they suck, but they're my family, right?"

"I guess so. I don't really know what it's like to have a family, but if I can take my guess, I'd assume it's something that sucks but you can't imagine life without it, you know?"

"Yeah. Until I ended up here."

"You're with me. I'm the best family there is."

"Yeah right. You keep stealing my waffles, you disregard the 'No food in the lab' rule every other day, you snore like a dying whale-"

"I do not!"

"And you never listen to anything say, do you?!"

"I listen! You're just stubborn!"

"This is my house, and therefore my rules!"

"I'm a guest and your best friend! I have rights!"

"Not under my roof!"

"You tyrant!"

He grabbed a pillow and threw it my way, hitting me in the face. "Damn straight! And I declare you exiled from the lab!"

He gasped dramatically. "Oh no! What ever shall I do?!"

"And the kitchen."

He tackled me into the mattress. "Evil! No! I will end you! I want my spaghetti!"

I shoved him over and flipped our positions. "You don't get spaghetti if you keep eating it in the lab!"

"Fine, I won't! But you have to sleep on the couch and I get your bed!"

"As if!"

"That thing is uncomfortable, man!"

"You're a demon, deal with it!"

He shoved me and flipped us again. "You're an angel, you deal with it!"

"You wanna sleep in here? Fine! But not without me! I'm not getting kicked to the couch, and there's room for both of us."

"Whoa, at least take me on a date first, honey."

"Fine, but I warn you. I don't do one night stands."

"Neither do I."

"Good."

"Good."

The next thing I knew, I was kissing him, and he was kissing me. And there were sparks, explosions, fire, everything. I needed to feel him against me, and nothing else existed.

It lasted an eternity, or maybe just a few seconds, but I knew that we were both out of breath, and when I opened my eyes, I saw he was still extremely close, his eyes dilated and lips a bit bruised.

"So, how about that date?"

I chuckled. "Spaghetti?"

"Yep."

I realized I was gripping his shirt, and had been since I pulled him in. I released it gently, and allowed him to pull back. I could sense his reluctance, though I couldn't tell whether it was good or bad. I knew that I definitely wanted more of his kiss, but maybe I was pushing it.

I mean, angels weren't used to love, and what the heck did I know about it? Last time I thought I understood love, I got tricked and sent here in disgrace. So maybe I should slow this down. Then again, we had a mutual agreement, right? We agreed that we could hurt each other all we wanted, because neither of us could possibly be hurt or disgraced further than we were.

Still, losing him because of my stupid romantics would hurt a lot more than any physical pain inflicted. But wouldn't that be just like a demon? To gain emotional trust and rip it away? More painful than any physical torture? Demons hurt me like that before. I should really learn my lesson.

"Hey!"

I turned to get something tossed over my head. I quickly pulled it off to see Kan smirking.

"Don't get me wrong, you're cute without a shirt, but not at the dinner table, please."

I realized I had taken off my shirt to show him my wings and had never put it back on. I hoped he couldn't see how hard I was blushing as I slipped my shirt back on and rushed out to the kitchen.

True to his word, Kan ate dinner in the kitchen with me and we had what might have been considered a date if we hadn't done it a million times already. What we hadn't done previously was act so close to each other.

Kan looked for any excuse to make physical contact, and I couldn't really argue with any of it. Suddenly, his touch seemed to burn, but in a good way. He took a couple opportunities to kiss me again, each time causing my stomach to twist in knots. But he was also gentle about it, leaving me unsatisfied, but not really scared.

Was this how love was supposed to be? Back with…the other one…his kisses left me winded and wanting more, but he was much rougher than Kan. I never realized it until now, but he more dragged me around than loved me. I wasn't ever enough to satisfy him, and I knew that inside, but I always thought it was something that was wrong with me. He teased me, gave me just the slightest bit of hope that maybe if I changed myself that maybe I could fix whatever he didn't like, fix myself.

"Something the matter?"

Kan walked into the room carrying a pillow and a blanket.

"What are you-?"

"We made an agreement. I get to sleep on your bed if I don't eat food in the lab. I ate dinner in the kitchen tonight, and so begins the contract. The moment I eat in the lab, I don't get to sleep in here. But until then, I get to sleep on this cloud and you can't stop me!"

He flopped onto my bed and pulled his blanket over him.

"You know, I have those sheets for a reason."

"But this blanket is comfy~!" He complained, wrapping himself up like a demonic burrito. I can't believe I just said that. Or thought that. Whatever.

"Well you can have one of my pillows, at least. I'm gonna go feed BB."

I left and checked the open room where BB stayed. He was free to go at any time that he wanted, and so I'd made a little room for him near the back where the backdoor was. He could leave at any time that he wanted through a little bunny door, which took a little bit of training to teach him how to use.

He was sitting expectantly in the middle of the room. I took some of the herbs and veggies from the garden that I'd collected for him and set them down for him. He'd come to expect dinner every night considering how I fed him. He was being dependent on me. I spoil that little bunny.

When I returned to my room, Kan had decided that maybe the covers were a good idea. He'd dropped his blanket off the side of the bed and practically disappeared into the sheets of my bed.

"Hey."

He popped up and smiled.

"Yeah, I'm never leaving this thing," He declared.

He flopped back into the soft sheets again and I laughed before hopping onto my side of the bed. I slipped under my side of the covers and snapped the lights off.

"Never lay in a bed before?"

"A mattress, maybe. I didn't know angels needed sleep."

"I didn't think demons did. The beds are mostly for a comfortable place to rest even if you aren't sleeping."

"Same for us."

"But this place makes me tired."

"Me too."

He rolled onto his side to face me, and I turned to do the same.

"So…" He began. "Is…this a thing?"

"Us?"

He shrugged. "Yeah."

"I don't know," I admitted. "The last time…"

"Last time?"

"Last time I fell in love…I ended up here. Alone. Cast out. And…terrified…abandoned…"

I didn't realize I was crying until I couldn't get out my words anymore. I felt like I was being eaten away from the inside, everything within me hurting. I felt him shuffling closer until I was engulfed in a warm hug. I instantly felt a sort of calm from his presence, and was honestly too tired out to think of why something might go wrong. This was Kan. Anything could go wrong, but I knew it wouldn't.

"You met me. You're not alone anymore. You're free to be yourself here."

I squeezed him and then relaxed into his embrace. "Yeah. And you're…amazing."

"But I won't promise I won't be a bed hog."

I snickered and leaned up to kiss him. I felt his hesitance at first, before he moved to deepen it and the next thing I know he's pushing me down and I'm letting him.

Namir stared at the Herondale boy in confusion. "So…is it done?"

The boy that she'd dragged back from the beach, stabbed through and bleeding out, seemed to have been healed up by Lilith, and she had done some weird ritual or whatever and suddenly the Herondale boy and he were connected or something.

"My boy…" Lilith muttered. "You shall wake soon."

"So, does that mean we're done with this one?" Namir asked.

"The bond has been made, and that one shall be a slave to my boy when he wakes."

"And if one dies, so does the other. Great. This one may actually be worth giving back just to see the distress on their faces when they realize something's wrong and they can't do anything about it. Oh, how the Morgenstern girl will be so distraught! I'm going to enjoy this."

Ren's eyes snapped open.

Where the hell was he?

He looked down to find that the warmth he was feeling was Kandai lying against him, asleep. Aw, that was adorable.

Wait, seriously, where was he?

He sat up, and Kandai plopped onto the bed, causing him to stir. "What…? Ren! Hey! How you feeling?!"

The angel blinked. "Uh…fine?"

"Good. Great. I'll just-"

He moved to get up, but ended up falling off the side of the bed in his drowsy state. "Kan!"

"I'm good!"

"Are you sure-?"

The demon snatched a contraption from the desk that Ren didn't recognize and put it to his ear. "Susu! He's up! Get over here!"

He tossed it over to the nightstand again and climbed back onto the bed in front of Ren.

"How are you? Dizzy? In pain? Hungry?"

"Confused. And…a little pain, yeah."

"Can you stand?"

He pulled Ren over the side of the bed and to his feet. His legs felt wobbly from lack of use, but he was able to regain his balance while he leaned against Kan.

"What happened?"

"What do you remember?"

"Uh…escaping, lots of demons…a woman shouting at me before I passed out…? Where are we?"

"At the New York Shadowhunters Institute."

Ren blinked. "What?"

"Shadowhunters. You know, half human, half angels?"

"Nephilim?!"

"Yeah, so you already know about them-"

But Ren was already bolting towards the door and rushing out. He took a guess at which way to go and hurried down the halls. He didn't know where or what a New York was, but he did understand that an entire institute of Nephilim had to be the most dangerous thing in existence.

"Ren! Ren, wait!"

He could sense Kan running after him, but other than him, the rest of the place was completely swarming with angelic blood - but half angelic blood.

No, no, no. Ren needed to get out of there. He needed to get Kan out of there.

He grabbed the demon's hand and began to pull him forward down the hall, people giving them glances as they ran. They were already drawing attention, and an alarm would be going off any moment now.

"Is that-?" "He's up!" "Inform the Head!" "Wait!"

But Ren ignored them all and sprinted for an exit. He came out into a room filled with people and computers, but saw a door down a hallway on the other end. He could only hope that led to outside and that it wasn't warded against angels or demons.

"Wait, wait, Ren!"

Kan pulled him to a stop.

"What's wrong?"

"We need to get out of here!"

"Why? What's wrong?"

They had a crowd around them now, most of them looking over with curiosity.

"No time, come on!"

He pulled Kandai off again towards the door, and, seeing his intent, the Nephilim all began to try and stop him.

"Hey, hey, hey, hey!" "Slow down, bud!"

"Let me go!"

Of course, that only made them grab onto him and pull him back. Kan was restrained as well, though he wasn't fighting as hard. For Nephilim, they were much weaker than Ren had anticipated, and he broke free of their grips rather easily. He shoved the others that were holding Kan away, much to Kan's surprise and confusion, and Ren pushed his way through once more, dragging Kan behind him.

"Hey!"

One of the Nephilim had a sword drawn and was standing between them and the exit. The others were beginning to draw weapons as well, and they were surrounding the two of them.

"Let's all just calm down," One of the guys said. "We're not gonna hurt you."

And they all had weapons drawn and were trying to prevent him from leaving the building. Trying to gain his trust and make him stay willingly for some kind of 'friendship' when he was so close to escaping. Yeah right.

They were all holding seraph blades, powered by the angelic energy in their blood. That gave Ren an idea.

"Kan, get down."

"Wait, Ren, listen-"

"Get down!"

Ren held his hand out and all of the blades in the room, ones being held or not, began to glow brighter, vibrating as they began to overload with angelic energy. They glowed brighter and brighter before they suddenly exploded. Shrapnel of the blades was sent everywhere, and Ren held up a small barrier around himself and Kan before grabbing Kan and sprinting for the exit.

He pushed out the door and found that they were outside, they'd both made it. It was nighttime, but still.

He ran towards the buildings, hurrying as far as he could so that no one could pursue them.

"Ren…Ren, wait up…"

Ren finally stopped to see that Kan was panting, and he walked into an alley before collapsing against the wall.

"Kan, are you okay?"

He shook his head and pulled at a shard of seraph-blade that had imbedded itself in the side of his neck.

"Oh my gods, I'm sorry! I thought I had protected us."

"It's…fine!"

He managed to pull it out and held his hand over the wound.

"Let me help," Ren offered.

He reached his finger out to send a small sum of his power into healing it, but instead, his touch began to burn, causing Kan to shout in pain.

"I'm sorry! Where's your…where's your ring? I'm sorry, I forgot you didn't have it."

"It's fine."

"We need to go get it back. There has to be some way to track down your niece."

"No. No…I got it back from her…but I lost it to…to her dark half. The one who…hurt you."

"We can still-"

"No! If we aggravate her…I might be forced to do something I regret."

"You don't have to do as she says anymore! I'm here, okay? I'm fine. You protected me. You don't have to do anymore."

Ren rested his forehead against Kan's, cupping his face gently. He finally gave into the urge to kiss him, and for the first time in centuries, neither of their lips were cut, dried, or in terrible condition in general. And the moment Ren realized that was the moment he melted against the demon's soft lips and was actually happy and relieved for the first time in what had to be forever.

"Well, isn't this adorable?"

Ren jumped back and turned, but kept a firm grip on Kan. His grip only tightened when he saw it was Namir.

"Aw, aren't you two just the most precious things? I'm going to have fun with you."

She snapped and suddenly they were somewhere else entirely. They were on a rooftop, and Kan was standing a good distance away. And Ren was standing on the edge with the Demon Queen in front of him.

She stepped forward and pushed him back, and Ren screamed, just to be caught by his shirt. "So, little angel, you're afraid of flying, hm?"

"Don't you-!"

She held her hand back and Kan was frozen. "What, darling? Let go?"

She chuckled.

"Well, I'm a bit clumsy, you see. But there shouldn't be a problem, right? I mean, this is an angel we're talking about. I bet he wouldn't even blink if I let him fall twenty stories."

She leaned forward, causing Ren to be pushed further back, and he gripped her wrist tightly.

"But, there's only one way to find out, right?"

And she disappeared. She dropped him.

He was freefalling, and there was nothing he could do about it. For others, they say it's not the fall that kills you, it's the sudden stop. But the sudden stop couldn't kill Ren. He'd survive the impact, one way or another. It was the feeling of weightlessness, the helplessness in the air as gravity took a merciless hold on him that made his heart stop, that made him scream and flail his arms and legs as though he'd get ahold of something eventually.

He tumbled through the air blindly, and though Kan was freed from the spell the moment that Namir disappeared, Ren completely forgot about him and knew only his fear of the fall.

And then, he was caught. He hit something that wasn't the ground. Someone had caught him.

But it wasn't Kandai.

"REN!"

Whoever caught him caught him on the move, and his vertical drop instantly transformed into a horizontal flight path, and in seconds, the person began to gain speed, until the world blurred around them, and Ren got the familiar yet foreign feeling of being turned to light.

And Kandai jumped off the building, making to fly after them, but Ren and his captor turned to light and in an instant, they were gone.