No. Freaking. Way.

I paused looking from Mab to the Angel and back. "Holy crap. Did you … is he… that's the freaking Metatron!"

"Yes." Mab replied in amusement. "It was he who provided me with sufficient power manage certain aspects of our bargain."

"But… isn't he like the literal voice of God?" Suddenly it felt like a particularly bad time to have assumed the minor godhood that I'd taken. "You know, old testament. Lots of rules specifically banning worshipping anyone who isn't him. Hell, I didn't even think that someone like that was even allowed to interact with mortals unless something apocalyptic was going to happen."

Mab arched an eyebrow, considering the matter before replying. "You really don't know."

"Know what?" I sighed.

"You'll see soon enough Warden. I promise that no harm will come to you and nothing will be taken that is not freely offered." Mab smiled sadly as she led me over to my throne of ruby red crystal and sat down in a throne of ice that had been erected next to mine, strategically placed at the same height as my own. On the opposite side, Queen Titania sat upon a throne of vines and flowers. Mab nodded politely to her contemporary as she sat upon her throne, finishing her thought with a contemptuous little tutting noise. "You do not realize how lucky you truly are. Men never do till it is too late."

"They're still worth it." Spoke a calm, elegant woman's voice from next to my throne. Lash had shimmered back in to view, hovering near me. She sat on my lap, burying her face in my chest as she wrapped her arms around me. "Harry was worth it."

Ice ran through my veins. Someone had made a bargain with the Metatron worth more magical power than I was ever going to see in my lifetime. Someone who could do something or know something worthy of that bargain. I spoke in a terrified whisper, remembering the Shadow's furious proclamation that she had died for me. "Lash. What did you do?"

"I made a choice. I made the right choice." Lash kissed my cheek. "And I know that you'll forgive me for it someday, even if it takes you a while."

And then the Angel spoke. His thundering presence subsumed all other voices in the room as he approached the throne, the crowd parting before him. REJOICE AND BE GLAD PEOPLE OF NEKHEB. YOUR TIME OF SUFFERING UNDER THE HEEL OF HEKA HAS COME TO AN END. YOUR NEW RULER, THE LORD WARDEN, IS A MAN OF GREAT CHARACTER AND VISION WHOSE EXAMPLE HAS REFORMED THE IRREDEEMABLE. HE HAS BROUGHT ABOUT A MIRACLE, AND SHALL BE REWARDED IN KIND. STAND BEFORE ME WARDEN, SO THAT I MIGHT LOOK AT THEE.

When the voice of God tells you to stand, you stand. My legs trembled as I faced the shimmering mass of lidless eyes, and I gripped Lash's hand tightly.

WARDEN, KNOW YE WHY I AM HERE?

"I would assume because Lash offered you a bargain worthy of your consideration." I replied uneasily, aware that a wrong word choice could very easily get me turned into a pillar of salt. I wasn't quite sure if this was the voice of the Old Testament God or his nicer New Testament counterpart, but it seemed best to avoid going the way of Lot's wife.

NO Replied He Who Speaks, in a voice that practically quivered with pride. THE LORD GOD ALMIGHTY DOES NOT BARGAIN. HE COMMANDS. I AM HERE BECAUSE YOU HAVE ACCOMPLISHED WHAT THE LORD HIMSELF HAS YET TO ACHIEVE. YOU HAVE REFORMED PART OF THE FALLEN.

"Oh." I replied, looking at Lash. "Oh! I mean. Can she do that if she isn't the actual fallen?"

SHE IS. AND SHE IS NOT. SHE IS OF THE FALLEN, BUT SHE BECAME MORE THAN THAT WITH YOU. AND THROUGH YOU SHE FOUND SOMETHING THAT EVEN AN ASPECT OF THE FALLEN HAS NEVER SOUGHT OUT BEFORE. SHE SOUGHT OUT REDEMPTION. SHE PRAYED FOR YOUR SALVATION. SHE BEGGED FOR FORGIVENESS SO THAT YOU MIGHT PASS ON. IT DID NOT PASS ON DEAF EARS. He Who Speaks voice made me clap my hands over my ears to block out the sounds but somehow it was even louder. I AM HERE TO WITNESS HER PASSING INTO THE NEXT REALM AND ENSURE THAT SHE GOES WITHOUT INTERFERENCE. THERE ARE THOSE WHO WILL NOT TAKE KINDLY TO HER REFORMATION.

"But… she's not dead." I replied in horror, gripping Lash's hand tightly to re-assure myself that she was still there. There was no way anyone would be able to hear me over the ringing of bells and thundering of trumpets that was still emanating from the Angel, but I spoke them anyway. "She's very much alive."

"My host," Lash said in a small voice that I could likely only hear over the din because she shared my mind. "I had to bind myself to Heka. The only way I could keep you from his memories was to integrate them into myself. You've been alive for under a century. Heka's memories span millennia. In order to control all of that I had to make myself part of him. I had to become part of his evil. There is no way to remove it from you without killing me."

"No." I replied in horror, clutching Lash to me, feeling her weight against myself. "No, no, no, no, no, no!" I was screaming by the end of it. "There is another way. There has to be another way!"

"There isn't Harry." Lash smiled sadly, nuzzling her head under my chin. "I knew that it was inevitable when I did it the first time, back when I thought we would die together. I was willing to do it then, and I'm still willing to do it now. I love you Harry."

"Please," Tears welled in my eyes. "Please, Lash, no. Don't leave me alone. You can't leave me alone out here. I need you here. I need someone who knows who I really am. You have a place here with me. I still need you."

"I'm not leaving you alone." Lash chuckled sadly as I felt tears roll down Lash's illusionary face and on to my chest. "I've been working so hard to make sure that you're cared for when I'm gone, to make sure that you'd be strong enough to face anything that comes your way." Her voice hitched. "It doesn't mean god bless you, you know - 'Gazunteight,' it means 'health.' I've been translating you wrong the whole time just to make sure that you ended up with people loving you as much as I do. I've lied to you again and again, and I would lie to you a million more times if I thought it would ensure that you got to live a long and happy life after I'm gone. You deserve some happiness, my host, and to finally be the great man you've never allowed yourself to be. You weren't supposed to be living out of a basement and scrounging for jobs. You needed to be somewhere important, protecting people and making the world better. It's what you do, my host."

"Please, Lash." I was past logic. I was past caring. I'd lost my home, I'd lost my humanity, I'd even lost Chicago, I couldn't stand losing another person that I cared about. And I did care about Lash. I wasn't in love with her, but she was special to me. How could she not be, she knew my every dumb cave-man chauvinistic thought and still loved me anyway. "Please don't go."

"We all go someday, my Host." Lash kissed me on the lips, a chase peck that was more meaningful than any kiss I'd received from any woman I could remember. "We don't all get to die in the arms of the man we love."

Mab placed her hand on my right shoulder, a gesture that was more caring than I would have expected from her. "It's time Warden. If we wait any longer she'll start to become him and she won't even die the woman you remember. I think you'll agree that she doesn't deserve that."

"Fine," I was weeping openly, uncaring of who saw me. "Do it."

Another hand reached out for my left shoulder, The Queen of Summer, Titania was staring at me with an expression of pity. I'd never heard her speak in a voice of kindness before. She had only ever known me as the man who killed her daughter, so I had only been privy to the fiery wroth of summer, but she was every bit as gentle as Aurora had been when she spoke to me. Her voice was like honeysuckle and spring mornings, fresh and full of hope. "I will help to make sure there is no pain, Lord Warden. Her passing will be like slipping in to a deep slumber."

I trembled as the Fairy Queens grabbed my head, locking eyes with Lash, trying to imprint what she looked like upon my very soul. My hands trembled as I gripped her arms, horrified by what was soon to come. Lash kept smiling, kept crying, kept telling me how much she loved me.

She was young and lovey and so full of life. And I watched as she slowly shimmered into nothingness, discorporating into a coalescent ball of white smoke that sat between me and He Who Speaks. I tried to reach out for the ethereal ball of smoke, but before I could touch it the ball burst into a stunning being of pure light. It swirled and spun through the air, dancing over the crowd and showering them in starlight before it flew through the solid stone and on to wherever it Lash was destined to dwell after death.

I was shaking even as the Queens helped me back to my throne, a feeling of incomprehensible emptiness flowing through me. I no longer felt the pressure in the back of my mind from Heka's overwhelming presence. I knew that millennia of his memories were no longer my own. And I knew, at the very least, that my friend was going to get to spend eternity in paradise.

I wished that I could have loved her as much as she loved me.

DO NOT MOURN WARDEN. REJOYCE, TODAY IS A DAY OF GLADNESS. He Who Speaks turned to address the crowd. At least I think he turned, he didn't have much of a body to really follow. TODAY THE WINE WILL FLOW WITHOUT END, THE FOOD WILL TASTE AS IT HAS NEVER TASTED BEFORE, AND NO MAN SHALL SUFFER CONSEQUENCES OF OVER INDLGING IN FOOD OR DRINK. I PROMISE THAT I WILL SHEPHERD THE DEAD ON TO THEIR WELL-DESERVED REST IN PARADISE. SO SHALL IT BE.

And with a flash of light, and a thunder of trumpets, he was gone, along with Sanya. I don't remember much of the actual coronation that followed. I know that Muminah said a prayer as she placed a band of narrow gold across my forehead. I know that she and the priestesses chanted for a long time. I know this because I watched the recording of the coronation hundreds of times after it ended, but for the life of me, I can't remember any of it. All I remember is sobbing uncontrollably as I looked down into my palms, trying to remember the feeling of holding the Angel's shadow in my arms.

I excused myself quickly after the coronation itself, leaving the space to the revelers and heading for my quarters. Amun, my loyal servant, had to help me. He quickly ushered me down a secret passage, supporting me as I cursed the universe. I was furious at myself for not appreciating Lash while I had her and at Heka for stealing a good woman from my life. I had lost far too many already. But I wasn't angry at Lash. I would never allow myself to be angry at her. She hadn't deserved to die.

Not yet and certainly not like that.

Amun seemed unsure of what to do with me as I fell to the ground in my palatial estate in front of a mirror, staring at the thing I had become. I was pale, almost milky white. Even the white court would have looked tan by comparison. My eyes and mouth were now full of searing black embers that billowed out from them, giving the illusion that stars and galaxies were bleeding out from my face. The tears that dripped down my face and to my chest were that same inky blackness, covered in swirling shapes like stars and comets, giving the illusion that the universe itself was bleeding out onto the blank canvas of my body. My hair, too, seemed to be woven from that same mix of shadows and starlight, thought I could just catch the merest twinkling shapes from the stubble on my face and head.

There would be no risk of Sanya causing paradox when next he saw me. I was unrecognizable. Stars and Stones, I really wasn't human any more.

"My Lord Warden?" Amun asked, worried – but not for himself. He was no longer flinching at every motion I made. "Who was she?"

"Lash was an Angel." I replied, idly realizing that I was speaking in fluent Goa'uld in spite of Lash's demise. "And she was a friend. She died making sure that I am a different man from Heka."

"She must have been very special to affect you like this." Amun replied in a voice of empathy. "And I am glad that you are not Heka, my Lord Warden."

I smiled, flashing white teeth through the billowing mess of galaxies. "So you finally believe that I am different?"

"Warden. I served Heka for my entire life. I have not witnessed the bravery or kindness that you have shown us in two days in the preceding ten." He swallowed nervously. "So you'll forgive me for saying so, but if an Angel had to die to bring you to us and liberate us from Heka's cruel perversions, then I am eternally grateful for her sacrifice and I will mourn her as you do for as long as you do."

"No Amun. She wouldn't have liked that." I took a handkerchief from Amun, wiping away the tears from my face and chest and adjusting the thin band of gold across my forehead. I would be strong, for Lash. "She would be disgusted at me for indulging in self-pity for this long. She always was the smart one."

My manservant smiled, "I have found that women often are. Now, my Lord Warden. You have a party to attend and guests to entertain. Might I suggest a change of clothing before heading down to enjoy in the merriment. The terrifying burning mess of eyeballs appears to have made good on his promise. The cooks are baffled by how the barrels of wine have yet to empty or how the trays of food seem to have an endless supply, but I would prefer to partake of this miracle in person."

I chuckled, now that he wasn't terrified for his life Amun seemed to have developed a talent for snark. I could respect that. I allowed him to help me put on a red silk garment that wouldn't have been out of place in a production of "The King and I" and followed him back down to the throne room. It was strange to see so many elements of the supernatural community united in revelry, and stranger still for that revelry to be on my behalf. I stood at the edge, trying to just observe their happiness for a moment.

I was so lost in thought that I almost didn't notice when a familiar man approached me from behind, pulling at a long tuft of beard and puffing at a well-worn pipe. I managed not to fan out on him his time but I would be lying to say that I wasn't a bit too pleased with myself that Santa had attended my coronation. The man puffed out a long trail of smoke that spun over his head into an intricate pattern that wouldn't have been possible for him to do without the aid of magic.

"I'm curious. What do you plan to do with them once this is all over?" The spirit of winter asked, chewing on his pipe.

"You'll have to be more specific," I replied, looking out at the massive crowd.

"The Orphans." He pointed to a cluster of children to the side of the revelers. They were a motley bunch was being shepherded by an increasingly frustrated boy that I vaguely remembered as being the child we rescued on Delmak from his sentence to Netu. There were at least twenty of them. Twenty children without a mother or father. Twenty children who'd be terrified of what came next. I didn't get the sense that Heka had spent a great deal of time working on social welfare, let alone a decent foster system. The life of an orphan in a pre-industrial society was pretty much a death sentence.

I didn't even bother running it through long term planning before I replied. "I'll be raising them, of course. They deserve a childhood."

"How the devil you've been managing to convince these idiots that you're a Goa'uld for this long will be a mystery to me." The man laughed hard, his chest wriggling like a bowl full of jelly. "The Goa'uld aren't capable of the sort of altruism you're addicted to boy. Eventually someone is going to notice that its not some sort of elaborate plot. Not today, but eventually. You're going to need to make sure that when that day comes that you have a strong enough footing to keep what you've earned. You're not going to keep being lucky forever."

I sighed. "What gave it away?"

"Other than everything?" Santa smiled toothily. "I see things others don't, lad. Lets just say that Heka was on the Naughty List, and you weren't. I keep track."

I snorted. "Checking it twice?"

"Nah, I have people for that. What I look out for is the little guy. If not me, then who?" He replied, pointing to a little girl who'd fallen and scraped her knee. She was crying and the other children were just standing around not quite sure how to help her. Santa and I seemed to be the only ones at the party to notice her injury. "I believe, that as their adoptive father, this falls squarely in your realm."

I smiled, and walked over to the little girl. The children parted, all afraid to get too close to the Lord Warden or to be in his way. I recognized her when I got close enough. She had been the little girl I'd found covered in ash. The servants must have bathed her and gotten her new clothing, but she still had those same sad eyes. I picked up her chin and smiled at her, "What's wrong there kiddo?"

"I fell and it hurts." The girl replied piteously.

"It doesn't looks so bad." I replied, looking at the red mark on her. I doubted it would even bruise.

"It hurts." She replied, putting extra emphasis on the word. "It shouldn't hurt. I'm tired of hurting."

God help me, it wasn't about the knee. That was just the surface of it. "I tell you what. Would it help if I told you a story? One that helped me feel better when I was little and felt small and weak?"

She nodded emphatically and I picked her up and put her on my knee as I sat down in a chair. The other children, not about to miss a story this important, all clustered around me, clambering over each other to get the closest seat. I noticed, idly, that a couple of the priestesses made sure to pop a squat at the edge of the circle as well.

I smiled. Time to corrupt the youth. "A long, long time ago, in a Galaxy far, far away…."