Angelic Conception

Gravitation

Warnings: slight angst, future m-preg, mention of NCS, mention of suicide attempts/thoughts, supernatural

Chapter 10: The World Keeps Turning, The Fire Keeps Burning

Eiri stood in his kitchen and stared blankly at the can of beer in his right hand then at the bottle of pills in his left.

He weighed his options.

It had been a week, perhaps longer, since he kicked out that empathic freak and his life had seemed increasingly glum and dark. It was like he was stuck in a hole, there was no light, no ladder, no rope, no noise, no nothing to help him escape the all encompassing darkness.

Sighing heavily Eiri put down the bottle of pills and turned around to lean against the counter threading his fingers through his oily hair. Since when had he become so melodramatic? His solitude had never bothered him before. The quiet of his empty apartment had never echoed so loudly in his ears before.

That was before, kept ringing in his head. Yes, before, but before what? Before he tried to kill himself? Before he met that infuriating pink headed freak? Before he had a dream that had been so locked down in his subconscious he had almost forgotten about it? He didn't know. All he knew now was that his heart had just about stopped beating.

He turned again and tried to pick up the bottle of pills. Tatsuha wouldn't be coming to visit him today, he was at work. Mika and Tohma were out of town. He could do it. End it all and not have to worry about anything every again.

Ironic. How fucking ironic.

Now that he could and would actually succeed something was keeping him from it.

A flash of frantic violet eyes, a shock of bright pink hair, a whiff of strawberry scent.

Growling, Eiri clutched his beer so tightly the can creaked with strain. Why is that nosy asshole still affecting him like this?

Remembering hurt, Eiri had to admit. The memory of the betrayal he felt when Shuichi had told him he could feel his emotions. Eiri felt all at once hurt, panicked, scared. He was hurt that Shuichi hadn't told him, was probably planning on never telling him. He was panicked that Shuichi knew too much. Never letting anybody in, never telling anybody anything was a defense that Eiri had for a reason and knowing that defense had been so easily breeched was frightening.

It was more than his privacy, it was his heart. Or what was left of it. If Shuichi could feel what he felt it would be all too easy to manipulate him. All too easy. It would be like… like Yuki all over again.

It didn't matter that Shuichi had only helped him since that day in the ER, or that Shuichi had only ever given and never taken. Eiri still felt raw and vulnerable, feelings that made him shut down, shut out, and hole up till the mortar stopped flying. It was one thing when Shuichi soothed him with those gentle glowing hands; it was a completely different thing when Shuichi pried into his feelings, his thoughts without a single effort.

And that is what made Eiri weary.

Glowing hands, sharing dreams, empathic abilities; what other little talents did Shuichi possess? There were things locked away in Eiri's chest, in his mind that didn't need to be exhumed; things that would hurt not only him, but Shuichi if they were tapped into.

And that, Eiri couldn't risk. Without knowing how deep Shuichi's empathic abilities reached Eiri had to distance them. He couldn't have another person he cared about wounded by his past; his siblings were enough.

Cared about.

Sighing, Eiri dropped his empty bottle of beer and buried his face in his hands. Since when did he care about the little pink brat? That didn't really matter. It only mattered that Shuichi never find out and never see him again.

Yes, it would be painful for both of them, Eiri knew, but it would be safest; maybe not for himself, but for Shuichi.

A pounding on the door broke the squealing silence in the apartment and distracted Eiri from his troubling thoughts.

Growling in frustration, Eiri leaned away from the counter and headed toward the door. If Tatsuha had skipped his lunch break to check on him again he was going to punch him right in the face.

"Shut up already!" He shouted as he began to unlock the bolts around the door. He had an interior locking deadbolt installed after the last time his well meaning sister and her husband barged in at eight in the morning.

He yanked the door open without checking the peephole and stood completely still for a split second before slamming the door shut again and throwing up every single lock he had available.

Shuichi huffed in frustration from the outside of the door and began pounding again. "Eiri! Eiri open this damn door!"

On his way over he opened his mind to his charge and nearly broke into a hysterical scream on the subway. Despair, self loathing, thoughts of suicide, and the vague intention of following through with them had flooded his body with such force he had broken out in a sweat.

He was barely able to lock up his shields and putty over the cracks before he passed out on the cold aluminum floor. As it was he opened his eyes to being brought to his knees and every one in the train car staring at him as if he was about to start shooting. He had struggled to laugh it off as bad Thai food and scramble back into his seat.

Not willing to risk opening his empathic lines again, Shuichi was practically running through the sudden down pour in his haste to make it to Eiri before he decided to make good on those self destructive thoughts. Bypassing the elevator as too slow he had lunged up the stairs and possibly sprained his wrist when he slammed into the fourth floor entry door.

It was a wonder he didn't slip and break his neck on the shiny tile flooring in the hall.

Hissing as his wrist ached in pain Shuichi shook it ferociously and resumed his beating on the door with his other hand. "Open it, you asshole!"

His drenched pink bangs fell into his eyes and he began to kick at the door hurling every cuss word he knew at it. "Fucking shit! Eiri!" Heart pounding and air conditioning beginning to cool his soaked cloths Shuichi shivered with the chill. "Open the God damned door!"

"Tsk, tsk." Shuichi jumped and snapped his head in the direction of that familiar voice. "It's not nice to take the Lord's name in vain."

"Gabriel!" Shuichi lunged forward and clutched at the Angel's soft white tunic. "You have to get me in there!"

Taken aback by the request, Gabriel blinked. "I'm not really supposed to work like that."

"Come on!" Shaking the Angel, Shuichi pleaded. "Eiri's thinking about swallowing a bottle of pills! I need to get in there!"

"Shu-chan." Gabriel frowned at him. "You're supposed to use your ability and your heart to help him without assistance from me. I can't help you other than to give you advice."

"Then why the fuck are you here!?" He shouted at the tall Angel. Slamming his fist into the wall beside Gabriel's head Shuichi growled, "Open that door, Gabriel, or I swear to God I will disembowel you right here in the hall."

Emitting a frightened squeak Gabriel slapped his hand, palm flat, against the door and released some of his power into the wood. The sound of the many locks unlatching eased Shuichi's panic.

Un-fisting his hands from Gabriel's wrapped tunic, Shuichi glanced down at his feet slightly embarrassed. "Um… thank you." He muttered before he opened the door and rushed in without a backward glance.

Waiting for the door to slide close behind his charge, Gabriel breathed a sigh of relief and slumped against the wall.

"You know you are immortal right?"

Lifting his head and glaring at his partner, Gabriel growled, "I know Peter, but it would have been very painful having Shuichi try to disembowel me. I have a very low pain tolerance."

Sighing and shaking his head, Peter turned and began to make his way back to the stairwell. "Come on Gabe. You should start rehearsing how you're going to explain interference like this to Him and the council."

Huffing, Gabriel pushed himself away from the wall and followed his know-it-all partner. "He'll understand."

"I didn't say He wouldn't." Peter turned back around to hide his smirk of amusement. "It's the Seraph council you should be worried about."

Gabriel whimpered and ran after Peter with his head lowered and his tail between his legs.

Shuichi bolted through the entrance way into the kitchen then down the hall and slamming into the master bedroom.

"What the fuck?!" Eiri was taken by surprise and didn't have anytime to prepare himself before he felt Shuichi's body impact with his sending them both sailing backwards to land on the rumpled bed.

Wrapping his arms as tightly as possible around Eiri's chest he opened up all rivers and streams between them and let loose the strongest flood of warmth and comfort he could without making himself pass out.

A familiar orange glow surrounded them both and Eiri tried to fight the warmth seeping into this bones and hollowed out chest. Gritting his teeth in the pain of thawing, Eiri fisted his hands in Shuichi's shirt and shut his eyes tight struggling against the surprisingly strong embrace around him.

It's alright, Eiri. Don't fight me. Please don't fight me.

Shuichi's calming voice echoed in his mind and soothed the pounding in his temples.

Let the warmth in. Calm down and concentrate on my voice.

Like gentle caressing hands Shuichi's words softened the burning pain.

Relax your muscles. Match my breathing, my heartbeat.

Almost automatically Eiri's hands eased their grip and began to press, flat palmed, against Shuichi's shoulders with incredible strength. His frantic heartbeat began to slow to match the sedate one ringing in his chest, and the pumping of his lungs lessened till he was taking deep lazy breaths.

That's it… Almost there.

Eiri's jaw unclenched and the straining lines of his brows and eyelids melted away till all that was left was a slight fluttering of his eyelashes.

"Hmm…" The orange glow receded and Shuichi's arms went slack in exhaustion. His ear was pressed to Eiri's now calm heartbeat and the rise and fall of his chest was soothing to both his frayed nerves and his pounding headache. Perhaps he shouldn't have attempted all that in one session.

The pain had miraculously stopped. Eiri's chest didn't feel quite so hollow and he could feel the beating of his own heart again. The weight of Shuichi's completely limp body was comforting and he couldn't bring himself to open his eyes. His only clue that Shuichi was still alive and breathing on top of him was the beating of his heart against his stomach and the slight rising and falling of his back under his hands.

Letting his hands glide downward Eiri brought them to rest on Shuichi's lower back. He didn't feel like moving much more than that. He knew he should be angry at the intrusion not only into his mind but into his apartment as well. He should be throwing the little punk out on his ear, but he couldn't move, could barley think as a mater of fact.

Resisting the urge to grimace as Eiri's hands slid down his back, Shuichi took stock of his situation. His skin felt tight and raw, he could just barely taste blood in his mouth, and his head felt like an elephant had crushed it. Next time, he decided, he wasn't going to emit that much energy in one flood like that again.

"Shuichi." Eiri had gathered enough curiosity mixed with annoyance to finally break the downy soft silence. "What are you doing here?" He didn't need to ask what he'd just done. That much was obvious.

Swallowing a mixture of blood and saliva to wet his dry throat, Shuichi croaked, "You needed me. Could feel it. Needed my help."

Frowning slightly at the sound of Shuichi's voice, his eyes still closed, Eiri asked, "How could feel me? You weren't anywhere near me."

Coughing faintly to relieve the scratch in his raw throat, Shuichi responded, "Doesn't matter. I can always feel you. Been checking up on you since you kicked me out."

"Shuichi?" Eiri opened his eyes and looked down at the head lying on his chest and brushed the pink bangs away from Shuichi's pale face. "Are you alright?"

He wanted to say yes. He wanted to tell him everything would be fine and he just needed to lie still for few more moments, but his chest seized and his body was thrown into a sudden coughing fit. Yep, he is definitely never going to use that much energy up at once again.

"Shit!" Eiri bolted up as blood dripped from Shuichi's mouth. "Shuichi!" His body was raking with every cough, his face was as pale as death and his skin was suddenly slick with sweat.

"Oh fuck!" Lifting Shuichi into his arms Eiri ran to the door snatching his keys on the way. "Hold on, Shuichi. You're going to be okay. I'm taking you to the hospital."

Shuichi's head lolled back. He didn't have the strength to lift it up and tell Eiri that he didn't need to go anywhere; that he was going to be just fine. All that escaped his blood tinted lips was, "Eiri" before his eyes rolled back into his head and he lost consciousness.

When Gabriel and Peter stepped out of the clouds and into their laboratory it seemed as though all hell had broken loose.

"What's going on?" Gabriel rushed toward Teresa and looked over her shoulder at the screen of her computer.

"Shuichi's output levels just sky rocketed!" Teresa was typing frantically at her keyboard and a series of data lines sprang to the forefront.

"Holy shit!" Gabriel was never one to curse, but what he read had his fingers in his hair and his wings ridged in panic. "How did this happen?"

"One major blast of healing to Eiri-san, Sir." Jonas supplied from his station. "The black void was nearly closed all in one blow! I've never seen anything like it."

"Timothy!" Peter called the other angel. "What are your readouts on Shuichi's physical status?"

"He's on the verge of cardiac arrest!" Timothy frantically sifted through sheet after sheet as they came spitting out of the seismograph like machine. "His lungs have begun to deteriorate and his brain tissue is severely bruised!"

"His regenerative rate! What is his regenerative rate?!" Gabriel shouted in panicked anger mixed with fear.

"Too slow, Sir." Teresa scanned a printout and began to furiously calculate numbers and percentiles in her head. "His energy was almost completely spent. His regeneration abilities are working over time just to keep his lungs from withering in his chest and his brain for developing permanent damage. They're not even touching his heart."

"At this rate he'll go into cardiac arrest before he's even able to reach to hospital!" Jonas was shoving slide after slide under a microscope. "Eiri-san is stuck in a traffic jam!"

"Shit!" Gabriel's wings were quivering in panic. "Shit, shit, shit!"

"Gabriel!" Peter clutched at the other angel with painfully tight hands on his upper arms. "Calm down. Shuichi needs you."

Nodding Gabriel took a deep breath, then two before opening his eyes again and clasping Peter's arms in return. "Thank you, Peter."

"Just hurry." Peter gave him a reassuring scowl before pushing him toward the laboratory doors and watching his friend dive into the clouds.

Eiri honked frantically at the unmoving traffic. "Fuck, shit, fuck!" Glancing in his rearview mirror he laid on the horn again. Shuichi had blood trailing from his mouth to pool on his Mercedes' carpeted back seat floor.

His hands were shaking and his heart was pounding so fast he felt like a rabbit. Shuichi couldn't die! But he was stuck in the middle of downtown with a sudden traffic jam and the four lanes of cars at a stand still. "Come on. Come on!" He slammed the heel of his hand against the steering wheel and cursed again.

"Stay calm Eiri."

Jumping in surprise, Eiri swung around to find a dark haired man dressed in some kind of toga in his backseat with Shuichi's head in his lap. "Who the fuck are you?"

Gently stroking Shuichi's sweat soaked bangs away from his face, Gabriel slowly began to filter his energy into the dying young man. His hand was beginning to burn hot with the effort to keep Shuichi's heart pumping. "My name is Gabriel. I'm here to help you."

Eye's widening, Eiri watched as the hand Gabriel had laid over Shuichi's heart glowed bright red like the embers in a dying fire. "You're healing him."

"No." Gabriel shook his head and continued to stroke Shuichi's hair. "I'm not strong enough for that. I'm keeping him alive until you can reach the hospital."

Choosing not to ask anymore questions of this miracle, Eiri's grip tightened on the wheel. "But the traffic is dead still. I can't move!"

Closing his eyes and concentrating, Gabriel split his mind's voice and prayed twice as hard. Opening them again, he instructed, "Take the next exit. I'll give you directions from there."

Frowning Eiri turned around and jolted when he saw that the cars were beginning to lurch forward slowly but surely. Signaling and zipping between vehicles Eiri took the exit and slammed his foot on the gas, taking every turn and lane change Gabriel instructed.

Pulling into the hospital driveway and speeding toward the emergency drop off, Eiri looked in his rearview mirror at the sound of Gabriel's voice.

"Shuichi will be fine, Eiri." Gabriel lifted his blistered hand from Shuichi's chest and his scorched fingers from Shuichi's forehead. "He's alive. Stay with him and you'll both live through this."

It felt as though Gabriel was speaking of something bigger than the here and now. Eiri blinked and opened his mouth to say something more, to thank the mysterious man in his backseat only to find that Gabriel was gone as suddenly as he had come in the first place.

Shutting his mouth, Eiri concentrated on pulling up to the opened emergency room doors and the waiting gurney, nurses, and doctor.

Rushing out of his car to open the backdoor and gently pulling Shuichi from his backseat, Eiri watched as he was wheeled away and into the hospital leaving only drying blood on his leather seats and a plump nurse asking for his information.

And for the first time since leaving his home at the temple, Eiri prayed.

A/N: Long wait but it was worth it! Lots of good drama going on! I can't wait for the next chapter, myself.