[One human saying can definitely hold true here,] thought Andrew, [Never look a gift horse in the mouth.] Tal, Guilo and Andrew used the chaos caused by the arrival of the angelic armies to make their way into the house. Tal had seen Angelos slip away unnoticed when the battle first began, and he swore that the demon would -not- get away from him. Whispering a quick goodbye to his comrades as they went down to the cellar for the children, Tal raced ahead, finally cornering Angelos in the living room. "It's over, Angelos. Hamelton belongs to God, and we're taking it back!"

Raising his sword over his head, Angelos countered the angel's attack with one of his own, roaring, "Not without a fight you're not!"

As the Angelic Captain and the Demonic Lord fought for control, Tal was strengthened by hearing a human voice outside the door calling, "Gary Gregorson? Mr. Gregorson, we know you're in there. FBI, we have a warrant to search these premises. Open the door."

Kathleen was enjoying herself beyond limits. At first she had toyed with the human child, coaxing her into a little game of 'imaginary friend' by pretending to be a cuddly living teddy bear who would crawl up into her mental lap as the child meditated. While it was a plesant pasttime to be playing such an innocent deception, Kathleen and her friends, who appeared to the child as other 'wilderness creatures', were not satisfied, but they stayed within the restrictions ordered by Lord Angelos.

But then her master put their plan into action. Each of the Generals started to appear in human form to their young charges, building a friendship of sorts, while the meditations continued to cloud the children's minds. Then, slowly so as not to arouse suspicion, the children were taken, one by one. Nothing was left behind but the rotting corpses of the humans that had given these children life. At that point, Lord Angelos allowed each of his Generals to work with six other demons and torment each child as they saw fit.

And so chaos reigned in that little basement as each of the demons pushed and shoved and fought for the chance to play some little 'trick' in the mind of one of the children. Some worked quickly, rushing the children's minds with images that were so violent it would leave the child retching bile when they pulled away.

Others were far more deceptive, preferring at first to use soothing images of peace and tranquility and then twisting the images piece by piece until the child was left screaming in agony, tortured as they re-lived the murders of their parents by they own hands. The younger children had already descended into the depths of madness, and their stronger, older siblings would be following any day now. Kathleen laughed in ecstasy as she brought the last horrifying moments of Jessica McLintock's life into her child's mind and she screamed in pain once more. The power that was flowing through the room and coursing through her veins was like nothing she had ever felt in her life. "Not even that little tramp Monica could stop me now!" she cried in delight.

"No," boomed a voice behind her, "But I can."

Kathleen turned around, confused. [Why does that voice sound so familiar?] Immediately squinting in the face of the radiant vision before her, three things instantly fell into place in her mind: one-Andrew was the familiar voice behind her; two - the reason his voice could boom so loud was because he wasn't just a case worker, but stood before her in the full glory of one of the Heavenly Host;

and three - from the look on Andrew's face, she was one dead demon if she didn't do some very -fast- talking and soon. Just as she was about to open her mouth to speak, though, Andrew cut her off, grabbing her by the lapels of her black leather jacket. "Listen to me, Kathleen, and listen good," he growled, "I should send you into oblivion right now because of the things you have done to that child, but because Monica still holds out -some- hope that you'll come back, I won't. -However-, I can't speak for my comrades, so if you don't get out of Hamelton -right- now-"

Kathleen shook her head. "You don't have to tell -me- twice," she assured him in a nervously shaking voice. "If I'm lucky our paths won't cross again for a long, long time. See ya." And in a flash, she was gone, leaving Andrew to face the six now sniveling demons who were waiting for their turns with young Sharon McLintock. Only one even bothered to put up a fight before Andrew's sword dispatched all six demons of their heads and turned them all into clouds of black and red smoke.

By this point, the battle raging above their heads was unmistakable, and hearing the sounds of their falling comrades was sending the demons in the basement into a full panic. They rushed the exits in a desperate attempt to be spared from the fate of their comrades above, only to be stopped at every turn by two immovable columns of light and their powerful gilt-edged swords.

"Mr. Gregorson?" Mulder was getting frustrated. Had Gregorson somehow been tipped off to their presence? Was he already gone? They couldn't even be a hundred percent certain that the children were in the hou...the sound of a half-dozen blood-curdling screams cut off that thought. Those kids were in there, and whatever was happening to them, their lives were obviously in danger.

Taking two steps back from the door, he kicked in the wooden obstacle only to be met by a hail of bullets raining down on them. The group ducked for the nearest available cover and Mulder, Scully and Jeff returned fire, trying to hit whomever it was that was firing at them from the top of the stairwell.

Mulder tried to give orders over the loud explosions around them. "Tess, Monica, can this stuff affect you guys?"

Tess shook her head. "Not unless we get shot."

Mulder rolled his eyes. That was -not- what he needed to hear. "Can you still go after those kids, like we planned?" Tess nodded, and Mulder continued, "All right, start with the basement, then. We'll cover you as best we can, then we'll go after Gregorson."

Tess nodded, and nudged Monica's shoulder, working to keep the frightened angel focused on her purpose. "C'mon Monica. Be ready to go on my signal."

Swallowing down her fear, Monica nodded. When Tess saw Mulder and Jeff ready to provide cover fire next to her, Tess ordered, "Now!" and pushed Monica forward toward the basement.

The sounds of gunfire still ringing in their ears, Monica and Tess found the basement doors and descended the stairs only to find a sight more disturbing than anything either had seen in a long, long time. The children were still in the bedclothes they were taken in, but the clothes had long ago been covered head to toe in all kinds of nauseating filth. Each child lay unrestrained on the bed, but none of them made any effort to get up. Instead each child tossed violently in the bed, writhing and screaming in a way that shook each of the angels to the core of their being. Whatever it was that had a hold of the children, they needed to get those kids out of there and -fast-.

Looking around the dark basement, Monica was barely able to whisper, "How are we going to get these kids out of here, Tess? We certainly can't take them back through -that-."

Hearing the sounds of gunfire still being exchanged behind them, Tess nodded her agreement. "God will provide us a way, baby. I'm sure of it."

The children's screams were quieted by a loud creaking noise on the other side of the room. As Tess and Monica watched the column of light widen in the darkened space, they realized that is was a door leading from the cellar to the field behind the house. Their opportunity had arrived.

Tess had to fight off the urge to laugh. "There's our chance, angel-girl," she declared. "Now let's get these kids out of here!"

Monica nodded her agreement, and ran across the room. Climbing up the ladder, she made her way out the doorway and into the bright sunlight. Turning back to face the darkened stairwell, she heard Tess call out from the basement, "All right, Monica, I'll pass each child off to you as I can get to them."

"All right," she called back. Within moments the first child was in her arms. Cradling her precious cargo, she scanned the field, and saw the perfect patch of green grass not more than ten feet from the house. Running with the child in her arms proved difficult, but she was able to manage, and soon the young girl was resting comfortably, her cries finally quieted now that some distance had been put between her and the house.

Turning around to go back for the other children, Monica felt a warm, gentle breeze blow past her, the first one she had felt that day. Following the direction of the wind with her eyes, she saw Andrew, still in the full glory of the Heavenly Hosts, cradling the girl in his arms and singing to her softly.

Confidence now growing like wildfire within her soul, she turned back and raced toward the cellar door. [The sooner we can get those kids out of there, the better.]

As another bullet whizzed by Mulder and Scully's position on the other side of the front door, Mulder reloaded his gun and prayed one more time for his ammunition to hold out. "Well whoever is shooting at us," he yelled over the gunfire, "He was definitely prepared for a fight."

Scully couldn't help but nod her agreement. They were pinned to the spot by a hail of bullets, having barely been able to provide enough cover to get Tess and Monica past the stairwell and into the living room. With any luck, they had found the basement already. Scully yelled to her partner, "Any suggestions?"

"I thought I saw a steplader outside the house leading to an open window on the second floor when we came in here," replied Mulder. "If I go to check it out, can you handle things here?"

Scully and Jeff both nodded. Scully replied, "Good luck, partner. And watch your back. If anyone's going to shoot you, I'd rather it be me, not Gary Gregorson."

Checking to see how many rounds he had left in his gun, Mulder leaned his head briefly against the wall, chuckled lightly at Scully's bad joke, prayed once again for himself and the partner he was leaving behind, and raced away from the porch to the side of the house.

Angelos let out a low whistle of surprise. "You're a better swordsman than I thought, Tal. I thought all these years as a leader would have made you soft."

Tal continued to fight, looking for any weakness in Angelos' skills. He heard Dana and the other humans caught in a firefight nearby. He could only assume that gaining the upper hand on Angelos would give them the break they needed. So quickly, silently, Tal ignored the demon's verbal barbs and countered every attack that Angelos tried to use. He just hoped that the strong prayer cover would give him and the humans the strength to endure.

Every shot that rang through the air was like a pinprick of pain to Mulder's heart. He had just gone off and left his partner alone, again, to face a dangerous criminal while he ran off on a wild goose chase. Would that weaken the prayer cover enough to put her in danger? The thought of putting her at that level of risk stopped him in his tracks...

[...Whether you're physically together, mentally together, or emotionally together, your prayer cover is strong...]

[...If anyone's going to shoot you, I'd rather it be me, not Gary Gregorson...]

Mulder realized that since Scully had agreed to the plan, they were mentally together this time, and their prayer cover hadn't been affected. So, since that thought had to come from somewhere..."Give it a rest, you guys," addressing the demons he -knew- were in the area, "It's not going to work this time."

As a warm breeze swept past his face, Mulder smiled, certain in his heart that the demons were gone, and pulled down the ladder to get to the second floor.

The fight still blazed on ferociously, but Tal sensed a change in the air. Their side was gaining the upper hand, he was sure of it. Even the air around him felt lighter. Renewed, he pressed his attack forward, knowing his -own- victory could not be far behind.

For the first time in his existence, Angelos could feel fear creeping in, eating away at the edges of his soul. The foolish human he had been stupid enough to ally himself with was running out of ammunition, and was starting to advance his position in a last-ditch hope that he could take down the officer and agent below. Behind him, Angelos could hear the quiet slide of the window that alerted him to the presence of a sneak attack that would certainly catch Gregorson unprepared. And while his arms were starting to grow weary with a physical heaviness, the angelic captain seemed to be advancing on him with renewed strength.

Eyes darting around in a furious attempt to catalog his surroundings, Angelos started looking for a way out.

The second floor was quiet in comparison to the explosions of gunfire going on below. Mulder moved quickly and quietly, praying constantly that he wouldn't hit a creaking floorboard or some other noise that would alert Gregorson to his presence.

Finally, Mulder had the shooter in his sights, now understanding why the gunfire down below had been so consistent. Two shooters, Gary Gregorson and Martha McGillicuddy, were perched at the top of the stairs, one providing cover while the second re-loaded. To Mulder's advantage, though, both shooters were working from the same side of the wall, making it impossible for one to get the drop on him when he trained his weapon on the other.

Resigned to his imminent defeat, Angelos realized that the open window the human Mulder had used to get into the house was the perfect way for him to get -out- of the house. Darting around to spin behind the angelic captain, he shuffled his feet back toward the open window, Tal close at his heels. Finally reaching the window, Angelos turned his back on the captain and jumped through the open portal. With Tal too surprised to try and follow him, Angelos called out to his opponent, "Until we meet again, captain!"

Knowing that Satan was not going to let someone who was responsible for a defeat of this magnitude live for very long, Tal allowed himself to laugh as the demon flew away. "I doubt we will, Angelos. I doubt we will."

The explosions from Gregorson's and McGillicuddy's weapons meant that they never heard Mulder coming until he yelled from behind them, "FREEZE! FBI! LOWER YOUR WEAPONS!"

Not willing to risk finding out exactly -which- one of them Mulder was closest to, both shooters lowered their weapons, finally allowing Scully and Jeff the opportunity they needed to get up the staircase and apprehend their suspects.

Not knowing the position of his partner and the sheriff, Mulder ordered the two shooters, "Drop your weapons and put your hands where I can see them!" Gary Gregorson's gun landed with a clack on the floor, but Martha McGillicuddy's gun seemed to end up in the right place at the right time, for as it dropped, it started to roll down the stairs, hitting just in the right position to fire off one more round-sending Scully down the stairs in its wake.

Tess squinted as her eyes adjusted to the change from darkness to light. Her mind, though, was still focused. "That's the last child, Monica. Let's bring him over to his sister."

"Okay," whispered Monica. Cradling the child in her arms, she walked slowly toward the children's resting area, letting the child be enveloped in as much of the warm, soothing, healing breeze as she could.

Tess was confused. "Why are we whispering? Have any of the children come out of this yet?"

A brief look of sadness flashed across Monica's face as she shook her head. Then the warm look of contentment returned to her face as she replied, quietly, "I didn't want to disturb any of them."

Letting her eyes follow in the direction that Monica was leading her, Tess gasped as she took in the sight before her. Each one of the children was being attended to by one of the Heavenly Host, their wings providing a sheltering cocoon where the healing process could now begin. Some of the angels had white bowls sitting in front of them and they were carefully bathing their charges, trying to get some of the dirt removed from children's bodies. Others were brushing the hair of their little girls, working to make the children look presentable even though none had awakened from their catatonic state. And in the middle of it all sat Andrew, still rocking Sharon McLintock in his arms, still singing softly to her as the tears continued to stream down his face.

As Monica quietly handed the last little boy over to Guilo, who lovingly took over his care, she quietly explained to Tess, "They just took each child from me as I brought them out. It's almost as if they needed this too."

"We -do- need this," echoed a voice from behind them. "It helps us begin the healing process for us as much as it does for them."

Monica turned around to see Captain Tal standing behind them, evidently pleased by what he was seeing. "Captain, it is good to see you well."

"As it is to see you, Monica." Turning to Tess, he introduced himself, "I am Tal, captain of the Hosts. You must be Tess?"

"Yes, I am," Tess replied. "It is an honor to meet you, Captain."

"As it is to meet you, Tess. Clara never stops bragging about you."

Tess had the good decency to blush at the compliment. "Really?"

Tal nodded. "That's why we placed Andrew to work with you. Clara was confident that you'd be good for him." Watching the formerly brash young soldier carefully tending to the little girl's needs, Tal added, "I'm definitely inclined to agree."

"Thank you, Captain." Letting her eyes wander back to her old friend, Tess' heart broke as she continued to see the tears in his eyes. She excused herself, "If you don't mind, I'd like to see how he's doing?"

Pulling his wings back to a resemblance of human form, Tal replied, "Go right ahead, Tess. From the sound of things, there's someone I would like to check on as well." Turning to the other angel, he asked, "Monica, would you care to join me?"

Even though Monica was slightly confused by his statement, who was she to argue with the Captain of the Heavenly Host? "Certainly," she replied, taking his offered arm.

The front of the house was a mass of activity when Tal and Monica arrived. Someone, evidently, had picked up Sheriff Materian's cruiser and brought it to the house, because Gary Gregorson and Martha McGillicuddy were now sitting in the back seat muttering soft curses to each other, blaming the other one for having 'gotten them into this mess in the first place'. A few feet away Sheriff Materian was talking to one of his deputies, more than likely giving him detailed instructions as to how to process the two criminals when the deputy brought them back to the station.

The angels' focus quickly moved to the ambulance, where a red-headed woman with an equally fiery temper was declaring loudly, "And I'm telling you I'm fine for now, and I'm not leaving until you've done a search of the house to find those kids!"

"But Scully," replied her partner, "You've been shot!"

"Yeah, and in the same place I shot you, so you know it's not fatal. The bullet went clean through, so there's not much they can do in the hospital that they haven't done already here." As the two angels came closer, they saw Scully look up to stare into her partner's hazel eyes. "I'm a -doctor-," she emphasized. "Trust me, I know these things."

Taking her free hand in his own, Mulder let his gaze wander to the ground as he quietly replied, "I trust you with my life, Scully. I just wish I trusted myself."

Releasing her free hand from Mulder's grasp, she used it to bring his chin up so that his gaze met her own. "Hey," she reassured him, "That's what I'm here for. To trust you when you don't trust yourself."

"That's good advice, Mulder," chimed in Monica. "If I were you, I'd hold on to it."

"-And- to her," piped in Tal.

Mulder and Scully looked up at the new participants in the conversation with surprise. "Monica, Captain Tal, what are you doing here?" asked Scully. "Have you found the children? Are they all right?"

While Mulder mouthed under his breath, "Who's Captain Tal?" Tal replied, "They'll be all right, Dana. But they're going to need some assistance." Addressing both agents he continued, "Will you both come with me, please? And tell these paramedics that they're going to need to, how do you say it, call for backup?"

Confused at Tal's lack of urgency, Scully nevertheless complied with his wishes, and the two agents followed him to the back of the house.

Out of the corner of his eye, Jeff noticed the new arrival to the group of Feds, and how he seemed to be accepted so quickly. Surprised and confused as to how anyone could have made it to this remote location so easily without his knowledge, he followed.

Tess watched the two angels walk back toward the front of the house, then turned her attention to her 'angel-boy'. Quietly making her way though the group of seated angels, she was soon kneeling beside him, using his wing for balance as she let her gaze fall upon the child. "How is she doing, Andrew?"

The other angel sighed deeply. "Physically, she's going to be fine, as they'll all be. Mentally, though...I can catch glimpses in her mind occasionally, see the things they've made her watch these past few days." His voice broke with emotion as he continued, "I can't help but wonder if she'll ever be okay."

Brushing her own hand gently against the child's cheek, Tess assured him, "Baby, these kids may not have their mothers and fathers anymore, but they all have people in town who love them very much. They have a difficult road ahead of them, but with that much love behind them, they'll all end up just fine."

Reassured by his old friend's words, Andrew's face darkened slightly as he thought of the humans who helped to do this to them. "And what about Gregorson? What's going to happen to him?"

"Well," replied a familiar voice behind him, "I'd say the kidnapping and weapons charges alone will put that guy away for a long, long time, even if we can't tie him in to the murders."

Andrew looked up to see Mulder and Scully headed toward them, followed closely by Captain Tal and Monica. Pulling himself instantly back into human form, he looked around to see that the rest of his comrades had already left, the only evidence of their presence the snow white clothes each of the catatonic children were now wearing.

Scully knelt down in front of Andrew, using her free hand to check on the child in the angel's arms. Standing over them, Mulder asked his partner, "How's she doing, Scully?"

"Physically, she seems fine, Mulder, but she's in some sort of catatonic state."

"They all are," Andrew informed them. "They've all been subjected to various levels of abuse, all of it mental. They're going to need a lot of help."

"They'll get it," volunteered a new voice behind the group. The agents and angels turned around to see Jeff Materian headed for them, followed by a couple of paramedics. "Whatever they need, we'll make sure they're taken care of."

While Tess flashed Andrew a look that said, 'See? I told you so,' Andrew simply handed Sharon McLintock over to the paramedics and told Jeff, "Thank you."

Jeff shrugged off the thanks. "Hey, they say it takes a village to raise a child, right? Well, I guess since these eight kids ain't got parents anymore, they're going to need the village more than ever." His curiosity piquing again, Jeff then asked, "I'm sorry, son, I didn't quite catch your name."

"It's Andrew," the angel replied without thinking. "I work with Mulder and Scully."

"You can say that again," the two agents muttered simultaneously.

As the first set of paramedics wheeled Sharon away, several more pulled up to load the children onto stretchers for their trip to the hospital, a task which Sheriff Materian closely supervised. Leaving the officer to his responsibilities, Andrew, Captain Tal, Tess, Monica, Mulder and Scully all started to make their way back to the car. After a few brief moments of silence where the group listened as the last of the children were put on a stretcher, Tal complimented Andrew, "Well, old friend, you were excellent today. It's been good to have you back."

"Thank you, Sir," Andrew replied, "It's been good to be back."

"You know," the Captain commented, "If you ever want to come back to join the Heavenly Host..."

Andrew cut him off. "Thank you, Sir, but I'm happy where I am." As the angel let his gaze wander over to his two best friends, he told the Captain, "My talents are put to good use right where I am now."

Tal sighed, the smile never leaving his face. Although Andrew was a fine soldier, Tal knew the angel was right. Offering a hand to his old comrade, Tal said, "Well then, soldier, I'll leave you to your duties."

Andrew shook the offered hand, replying, "Thank you, Sir."

As he pulled the other angel into an embrace, Tal cautioned, "Now don't be a stranger this time, old friend. At least let us know what you're up to."

Releasing the embrace, Andrew replied. "I will, Sir. I promise."

Stepping back to allow himself the room to make his ascent, Tal bid the group farewell. "It's been a pleasure working with all of you. Take care."

And in a flash of light, the angel was gone.

When the group finally took their eyes off the place where the Captain had vanished, Mulder asked his partner, "So how do you know this guy, Scully?"

Scully smiled enigmatically in response as the two agents started to quicken their pace to walk ahead of the three angels. "Long story, Mulder. Long story."

As the three angels stopped to watch the two agents walk back to the car, Tess asked, "So what do you think of those two, Angel-girl?"

"Well," replied Monica, "I think they make an excellent team."

"I agree," chimed in Andrew, "They do work well together."

Monica then noticed the way that Mulder's hand was protectively placed on the small of Scully's back. Her mind recalled the other affectionate gestures she had seen between the pair on this assignment. Before, she had ignored those subtleties in favor of focusing on the case, but now...she asked Tess, "Do you know if they are, well, y'know..."

Tess knew where this was leading, but she decided she wanted to tease her young charge just a bit anyway. "Know what, baby?"

"Are they -more- than just work partners?"

Smiling warmly, Tess replied, "Long story, angel-girl. It's a long story."

High above the heads of the three angels, a white dove cooed in agreement.

That's it! It's over! It's finished! Wasn't quite the ending I thought I was going to use, but I think it works, don't you?