Back in the Library

Jenkins watched as the angel stalked ahead of him, headed back towards the chapel. The creature had remained in stony silence since the others had jumped through the back door to their various destinations. Staying in the main room with Stone and Lucifer had NOT been an option. Checking on the wards Arthur had put on the crack into the Between hadn't really been needed, Jenkins had faith in his friend's magical ability but it had seemed the most expedient way to separate Angel from Devil without anyone getting hurt.

"This was unnecessary" Michael growled, throwing open the heavy wooden door. "The Firebird is more than capable of setting protections in place to keep anything from entering this world from the Void."

"I agree" Jenkins said quietly. "My King is as good with magic as he is with his sword."

Michael stopped midstride and looked back at the older man with a frown. "You are no Fae – yet you call the Firebird your king."

"I was once a knight of the Round Table and Arthur was my leader. I was known in that time as Galahad. You did not know?"

Michael shrugged. "My Father is omnipotent – angels are not." He looked back at the old night intently. "You have great respect for the Phoenix."

"Yes – I followed him as he took on the forces arrayed against us to establish Camelot. Merlin made the pact with him to help the real son of Uther Pendragon to take and keep his kingdom and he could have kept it when he was finished, usurping the young Roman since no one other than Merlin knew of the deception - and the old wizard wasn't inclined to speak out. Arthur brought us together in the bonds of brotherhood, with the sure and certain faith that his knights would do for the downtrodden what must be done to protect them." Jenkins sighed, the old memories flooding through. "But he was not Arthur, son of Uther, and the crown was never meant for him. Other men would have kept the reigns of power instead of surrendering them. It might, in fact, have been better for Camelot if he had stayed on as Arthur, our once and future king. But he was too honorable to take what was not his. So he put the young centurion on the throne and Merlin cast the spell to ensure that all, save Lancelot and I, would not remember that the young warlord who had led us to victory was not the same as the young king we now acclaimed. The knights of Camelot would believe that the real son of Uther was their leader and king and history moved on as it was supposed to." Jenkins moved past the angel and stopped in front of the altar. "When the library took me in, I found this place buried in one of its many rooms, forgotten, unused. It reminded me of the simple faith my brother knights and I had when we took up the quest to find the Holy Grail, the faith my friend had always encouraged in us."

Michael stared up at the crucifix above the altar. "Damien is a Firespirit, a good king but too proud, too self-involved at times."

'Perhaps "Damien" is – but my King is Arthur and he has no such improper pride that I have ever seen. When he was on the battlefield, he lead from the front lines, always taking point when we attacked. When we were at rest, he moved between the camps of the foot soldiers and the knights, encouraging each in the way best suited for their ranks. He was always careful to let his men, lower ranks or higher, know that he was proud of their accomplishments and expected great things of them. I cannot think of a soldier under his command who would not have done ANYTHING for our young warlord, to see that proud smile on his face, to feel the warmth of his approval and to hear the sound of his laughter when he was pleased." Jenkins pulled a box of long matches from under a pew and started to light the candles surrounding the altar. "There seem to be many differences between the man you knew and the soldier I followed."

"So it would appear" Michael agreed. He took a seat in the front pew, watching the old knight touch the match to the incense burner, filling the small chapel with that sweet smell only found in a church.

Jenkins reached up to light the tapers above the altar. "And Rowan and Master Khan – are they as different from what you remember as Arthur is?"

"You mean besides the fact that Rowan and Khan are not joined at the hip as the Twins were before this nightmare began?" Michael's voice was dry, devoid of emotion. "This woman's eyes do not look at me with sadness and pain. Her wit is quick and her tongue sharp, a fitting companion for the Firebird. She is her elder brother's equal, a worthy Queen for the Fae."

"And Master Khan?"

Michael sighed. "I know the least about him - my brother Gabriel was loath to share his son with me. I often thought Gabriel protected the boy too much, kept him tied to his side for fear of losing him. The young dragon was bright, a loving soul but I had my concerns especially when Lucifer took an interest in him. Now I see what he is without my brother's constant love and devotion. The boy is still bright, with a wild spirit not willingly tamed yet without all the pain of watching his father falter and turn from him to support me. And Lucifer can see it too, which concerns me. I wonder…"

"You wonder what?" Jenkins asked, dropping the spent match into a basin with others like it. He looked around the chapel, taking in the twinkling lights and smoke from the candles, giving the room a dreamy feel.

"I wonder whether I have the right to expect these three to take back the reality that has been erased from their minds and hearts. All done to ensure the safety of my Chosen One and his alternative reality, a world they never were meant to support." Michael sat back, staring as the smoke curled up towards the chapel's dark ceiling. "My desire to do what I thought my Father needed cost me my lady, my brothers, my place in Heaven. And now, my Chosen maybe dead or enslaved at the hands of a Fallen I thought I had destroyed, the reality I gave up everything for destroyed. I am lost, left to wonder whether this is another test from my Father or a punishment for my arrogance."

"I think" Jenkins said slowly "that it would be better to wait and hear with the others found before we decide what this is." He glanced over at the angel with sympathy. "I have faith in my Librarian's and their ability to find a solution even to a problem like this one."

"I had faith once, in my Father, in my brothers, in my Chosen. Now I wonder if Lucifer wasn't right all along, if taking a stand against Father's plan for humankind wasn't the right path after all."

Jenkins reached out and laid a hand carefully on the angel's shoulder. "Perhaps that is what this is – a test of your ability to find your trust and faith again. The wards are holding, giving us time a solution to what has happened. I have faith in that even if you do not."

Michael looked sideways at the older man. "I pray your faith is well founded."

In the Annex

Lucifer looked around the meeting room, a bored expression on his handsome face. "How do you entertain yourself in this place?" he asked, watching Stone try not to be obvious about staring.

"It's a Library" Stone said shortly. "We read, we study, we go out and find things that can hurt people and put them under lock and key."

"Boring" Lucifer replied. "Pity the young dragon took his flask – I could use a good drink."

"Why do you call him the young dragon?"

"You mean other than the fact he resides in a Dragon temple?" Lucifer's voice took on a sharp, annoyed tone. "He has a spirit animal – a dragon – attached to his heart and soul. It gives him his immortality as well as some of his other gifts."

"He was your brother Gabriel's student – right?"

Lucifer shrugged. "Student or son – depends on who you ask. Though if you ask me, the boy should have been MY student not Gabriel's. Especially after his "daddy" abandoned him in his fight to win that stupid war of extermination against Michael."

"You think his father abandoned him deliberately?" Stone's voice was strained, mirroring the look in his eyes.

"He essentially did just that" Lucifer insisted, leaning forward in his seat. "Gabriel can make any excuse he wants but just like Mickey he made a choice and pushed away the one being who loved him more that anything in the universe. And when this stupid war didn't end, Michael chose not to abandon that useless talking monkey he had left his Lady for. Gabriel was left trying to make things right with his son and not loose his connection to his Twin. It all went spectacularly wrong, as you might imagine." He shrugged, rising to stretch his long legs. "This Triad seems to be in a better mind space, as my therapist would way, than they were before. They are at least talking to one another - and Miry and Damien aren't actively trying to kill one another. And Mickey wants to take that away from them, again to save his useless Chosen."

Stone blinked. "You have a therapist?"

Lucifer laughed. "All of that and all you heard was I have a therapist?"

It was Stone's turn to shrug. "I guess I never thought of the Devil needing to talk to someone about anything."

Lucifer's face changed, a flash of hurt turning to a cold stare. "Despite what you might have heard, I am NOT evil. I do not force anyone to do anything they weren't already inclined to do. What am tasked to do, by God, is to punish evil just as my Father punished me. Daddy decided to punish me for not bending the knee to his newest pets. My brothers and sisters, typical bone-heads, never questioned the Old Man's plan and watched as little brother Michael sent me flying into the depths of Hell. Andre and I understood one another – we both were sons abandoned by our Fathers for reasons they could or would not EVER explain."

Stone went silent, his find going back to his last encounter with his own Father. Zeke Stone had always been a hard man, already on his way to be a barely functional alcoholic by the time Stone had been introduced to the library. His son had learned to work around the booze fueled anger, the expectations that Jake would become a part of the family business despite what his son might want, had learned even to hide his intellect behind the facade of a "good old country boy" to please the man. Stone wondered, briefly, how a child of an angel would act out when faced with being left behind by the only parent he had ever known, abandoned because of a war (and his parent's angelic sibling) that he would never be part of. "Okay - so what do you think is happening? Why don't they remember this "other life" that you and Michael keep talking about."

Lucifer shrugged. "Someone's messed up somewhere. I wouldn't put it past dear old Dad to have deliberately done something to see if, without their angelic guard dogs to push them along, if the Triad would still stand up and defend humanity - even if it mean loosing their own lives in the process." The Devil's eyes briefly glowed red as he brooded. "He doesn't care who he hurts so long as his grand plan keeps rolling along."

Stone backed up slightly at the aura of anger and menace suddenly rolling off the handsome man in front of him. "What plan?"

Lucifer glanced up, his eyes settling back to their normal shade. "The only one who knows his plan is God - and he ain't telling us. I've spent the last five years in the mortal realm telling the old man to take his "plans" and go fuck himself. Seems like he's finally decided to answer me."

"May not have anything to do with you" Stone replied cautiously.

"Maybe not. But it's either a slap at me or a slap at Michael - and we all know Michael is Daddy's favorite." Lucifer stood and started to pace the room. "I wonder just what kind of a mess my little brother left in that alternate reality that he so needs to change this one to fix. Pity we can't just take a quick peek and see."

Stone looked down at the books strewn across the table with a frown. "Maybe we can."