The church was old and dim, filled with dark, worn pews between massive marble columns and saintly statues and the faint whiff of incense. Multi-colored light streamed down from the windows across the altar, draped with a cream tasseled stole covered in crosses embroidered in gold.

It was beautifully quiet, a rare moment in the morning just before the services started for the day. The priest had opened the church for confessions.

But nobody else was here but Ella.

And that suited her just fine.

She'd loved this place, and used to come almost every morning to check in with the Big Guy upstairs and set her heart right for the day.

But it'd been hard, lately. Charlotte's death over a year ago had hit everyone so terribly, and the awfulness of it had turned something off inside of Ella.

Made her wonder.

On top of everything going on in the world... where the hell was the Big Guy? Why did these things keep happening?

Why did everything hurt so much?

Ella sat, staring up at the cross and Jesus' tortured form over the altar. At the rainbow facets of holy scenes and figures in the windows. She stared at their lightly painted faces, and the bland expressions each one held.

Was that how it worked?

You had to stop caring?

"God," she said out loud, meaning to add something, maybe a question, but it all fell flat and she didn't.

She sighed, plucked the envelope from the little shelf in front of her and stuffed in a couple of tens.

She might not be coming to church for services anymore, but it still meant a lot to so many. They had fewer people coming now too, so they needed all the help they could get.

With another sigh, Ella stood, glancing back up to the cross before dropping her gaze and shuffling to the end of the pew.

And as she went through a quick, irritated genuflection, a sound rose from a pew a few yards up on the right.

Snoring.

Deep, easy breaths punctuated by a dolphin-esque squeak.

Ella rose slowly, and finally noticed that what she'd thought was a pile of sheets was actually something white slowly rising and falling.

She frowned, staring at it more closely.

And she took a step nearer.

Was it a homeless guy?

That just made her sadder. How long would the priest let them sleep here? Probably not long since mass was about to start.

Her heart swam out to them, whoever they were, as her heart tended to do. Always swimming out to people, hoping to help and make happy.

Her heart was getting a little tired.

But, perhaps... she could buy this person breakfast?

Smiling then, she stepped a little closer, even as her mind started to skip over what the white stuff really was.

Feathers.

Those were feathers, right? Rising and falling as whoever it was breathed?

Ella covered her mouth with a little snort and looked up quickly at the confessionals.

Craap. Someone had come in here after a party or something, wearing angel wings, and now they were going to be in sooo much trouble.

She giggled, and stepped closer.

"Psst," she whispered as she stepped beside the pew.

A man's arm hung down, one finger outstretched, from under the rather impressive wing. Blonde hair lay in lazy curls against the dark wood.

That was good work on those wings. Like, the best she'd ever seen.

She'd been an angel a few times at Halloween, but she'd stopped after a while because a few people had told her it was a little on the nose. She still had the wings though - all different shapes and sizes and colors.

Smiling, she scooched into the pew in front of him, kneeling on the hard, dark wood, and she leaned over to touch his wings.

Because they were astounding... they looked real!

And in the light from the church they looked like they were glowing.

"Wow," she said out loud, drawing her hand down from the crest to where the long feathers curled about the man's body.

The man's arm twitched.

His breathing shifted, growing softer and lighter.

And with a loud snort, he woke up.

The arm pulled in under the wing, and another emerged, stretching out above his head along the pew, as his legs did the same.

Muscled yet slender.

Ella watched appreciatively.

With a loud moaning yawn, the man's face was revealed, as the giant wing rose up over Ella's head and unfolded to stretch gracefully to the ceiling.

Ella's eyes grew huge as she watched the feathered limb soar, then sweep through the space a few times, buffeting her with air laced with incense, before it folded again, laying against the man's back.

The man laid stretched out along the pew, framed by wings, his head propped up on his arm, his shoulder-length hair golden and cascading, his eyes bluer than a crisp summer sky.

And completely naked.

"Eee," Ella said, pointing at him.

All thoughts had fled from her brain.

The man's features seemed chiseled from some sculptor's masterwork - cupid bow lips, an aquiline nose, perfectly arched brows, a gently rounded face.

Those eyes locked onto hers, deeply and radiantly blue, and blinked slowly as the man yawned once more.

"Bbbuh," Ella said, much more eloquently.

Smiling, the man slowly sat up.

His wings stretched out again when he was upright, then folded in one by one, settling on either side of him.

He remained very naked.

And quite... generously endowed.

A smile touched his face as he looked at her, and it was as if the glorious sun had risen after a terrifying thunderstorm.

"Greetings, Ella Lopez," the man said, in a voice like the most beautiful song she'd ever heard.

His smile widened, as her heart jumped and skipped in her chest and her thoughts skittered and bounced in her brain.

And his gaze traveled over her in wonder.

"You have an exceptional light," he said softly.

She blinked, the strangeness of the words drawing her back from speechless, thoughtless awe.

"What?" she whispered.

This was an angel, right? This was an ACTUAL ANGEL?! He'd SAID HER NAME! THIS WAS AN ANGEL! SHE WAS STARING AT AN ANGEL!

"You have an exceptional light," he repeated, and smiling, he closed his eyes, leaning in slightly as he faced her.

As if he were basking in it.

"Uh... okay, um... are you...?"

She couldn't say it. It was right there, but she couldn't say it.

"It reminds me of home," he said softly, his eyes still closed.

Ella stared in awe at his stunning face, radiating a beautiful peace.

And his perfect body... radiating an amazing hotness.

"Hey!" a man's voice yelled from across the church.

The priest was standing next to the confessionals, his hands on his hips, his graying hair trimmed sharply about his head. His brows were silver and bushy and furrowed in irritation.

"Out!" he yelled, pointing to the entrance. "No cosplay in church!"

"But," Ella shouted back, gesturing to the entirety of the winged man in front of her. "He's an angel!"

"I am an archangel," the man said in his beautiful voice. And he stretched again, his deliciously defined arms linked and pulling over his head. "I am God's favorite son, Michael."

"He's the archangel Michael!" Ella shrieked, her arms flailing at him. "And he's really naked!"

"I'm calling the police now," the priest grumbled, storming off.

Ella looked back at Michael, concerned and confused and overwhelmed.

And her heart melted in her chest.

Because he was simply smiling at her.

"May I stay with you?" he asked.

"What?" she squeaked.

"I cannot return to Heaven. I have tried multiple times. It appears my father wishes me to stay here. To learn something."

He snorted, his gaze sliding away briefly. But then he smiled at her, beatifically.

"You feel like home. May I stay with you?"

"I..." Ella started, and stopped. "But... I'm just..."

"Radiant," he finished sincerely, and slowly he stood before her.

She watched every inch of his beautiful skin rising, and simply stared.

"I have talents I can perform on your behalf."

Ella blinked rapidly and looked up at him wide-eyed. "Talents?"

"I am exceptional at smiting. I would be happy to bring God's wrath down upon any that stand in your way."

And he seemed to glow even more fiercely, as a strange breeze drifted in from nowhere, rippling dramatically through his hair.

Ella frowned up at him, confused and incredibly awed.

Then she shook her head quickly.

"No, I don't think I need anybody smited. I get along well with everybody. And, I kinda like to hug things out, you know?"

Michael's glorious smile faded, along with the light. His hair flopped back against his shoulders.

"Oh."

"But," Ella continued, feeling badly, "who knows, right? I mean, I'm sure there's somebody out there that needs a good smiting! Maybe not a full smite, but, like, a minor smite? A half-smite maybe? A punch?"

"Yes!" Michael said, grinning again. "Is that acceptable then? May I take shelter with you?"

Ella smiled, but a little part of her brain was whispering in irritation.

Okay, he's an angel, sure, like that makes sense. But you've brought a lot of hot guys home, and how's that turned out?

Michael's hand grasped her arm gently.

The touch was warm and beautiful. She leaned into it, her eyes drifting closed.

Because his touch felt a little like home too.

"I will not be a taxing guest, I promise," he said softly.

She opened her eyes again, finding herself staring at his... endowment.

"You can be a little taxing," she whispered, before blinking rapidly and standing bolt upright.

"I mean, I'm so sorry, I'm..."

Her cheeks flushed bright red as she clamped her hand over her mouth.

In a church and everything!

Michael tilted his head with a grin.

"Do not apologize, Ella Lopez. I enjoy that activity greatly, and the paradise of sleep it brings."

"Oh my gawd," she snorted.

Sexy angel likes sex!

Giggling, Ella placed her hand on his, and his fingers clasped gently over hers.

The touch of his bare skin rippled through her entire being. She laughed and smiled more brightly than she had for a year.

And he smiled too, as his brow furrowed in the smallest expression of surprise.

The doors behind him opened, and in walked two darkly-uniformed cops as the priest rushed over to meet them.

"Oh no," Ella whispered, looking from them to Michael. Then down at his lack of pants and back up.

He grinned. "Where do you live, Ella Lopez? In what cardinal direction from here? How many leagues?"

Her brain churned madly.

Leagues? How much was a league?! And where was her apartment from here?!

The maps from her phone flicked through her mind, as the cops drew nearer, hands at their sides.

"Excuse me, sir," one began, as the priest watch crossly.

"Guide me," Michael said softly, his arms enveloping her, drawing her in and lifting her as his great wings stretched and beat the air once.

"OH MY GOD!" she cried, throwing her arms around him and hanging on desperately as her feet left the ground. "NORTH! LOTS OF LEAGUES!"

"What the HOLY FUCK!" one of the cops shouted, whipping out his gun.

With a laugh, Michael twisted, his brilliant white wings grandly sweeping the air.

And with a flurry of wing beats, they were gone.

The priest fell to his knees.

The cop with the gun started sobbing as his arm slowly fell to his side.

And his partner, unable to process what she'd just seen at all, smacked him on the back of the head.

"No shooting at angels in church!"

SPOILERS: Btw, if you're just reading this chapter having come from season 5a, and haven't seen my take on a certain blonde angel in my previous fanfic, and earlier in this one, you might be confused. My take on that angel is not the show's, obviously, even more so now. DONE WITH SPOILERS.

Anyhoo. I'd expected this might happen quite a few chapters back, and wasn't sure how it would go. I was happy to see where it went.

Who knows what this particular pairing might bring. But with both of them feeling at home in each other's presence, that's not a bad start.

Hope everyone is doing well. Close to the end now. I keep saying 'a few chapters to go' after every chapter. Soon that will be accurate! :D

Leave a comment if you can, and thank you to all who've done so throughout the story - you're wonderful :)