Disclaimer: I do not own Dominion, its locations, characters, plot, etc. I do own this crazy idea and a love for angels, and a few characters thrown in...

Summary: Six weeks post 1x04 The Flood, AU. Ever since Michal returned to Vega after being stabbed, some of the Corps soldiers noticed he wasn't always the stoic, aloof archangel Vega's known for years. And Alex is about to find out why. Also...William Whele has a secret to tell about a night that went normally to everyone else but was actually something much bigger.

To crowley202, Amaryllis Martin, Dracomadariku, Aslan blazed, TimeLadySpitfire, BeeScreenLove, : Thank you for the faves and follows!

To T: Thank you! I don't know about Becca honestly, she was very hard to write if I'm honest. Thank you for your review!

To Guest: No, it's not, read on! Thank you!


Chapter Eighty Eight

Xxx

September 22nd

1:18am

Xxx

He hated paperwork.

That had to have been one of his father's or another younger sibling's greatest achievements designed to just piss people off.

It had taken hours to get all the files and documentation straightened out and signed off on properly. Procedures for the extensive confidentiality of the enclosed information had bled into the monotony of destroying duplicate forms and the papers no longer required. Double and triple checking every form and signature, the tiny print blurring across his vision as stamps of approval were slammed into place around the strokes of ink.

Michael had taken a bit too much enjoyment in bodily shoving Ariel away from him when he'd finally left the Capital Building.

His sister was a stickler for procedures, it had been a boon when in Heaven and having to balance the out of control styles Lucifer and Gabriel possessed and backed by Michael's slightly off kilter passion to ricochet against Zadkiel's slow-burn determination. Once upon a time, it had worked.

Present times…it lead to the siblings coming to blows and drove Michael to wishing he could just drown the emotions in alcohol. By the time the tribunal procedures were complete, the transport van had already reached the southern border and wasn't coming back. Michael had given Rebecca the dignity of attending her departure, remaining silent, but being present as she was dismissed from the stronghold. If only as a thanks for keeping Raphael alive, a deep part of the eldest archangel wanted to go back against Uriel's sentencing. While he hadn't allowed himself to examine all the files properly, Michael knew enough that Uriel's decision was a downright heavenly act of Mercy.

Raphael's life was the only reason Thorn was alive, her execution would have been much preferred by almost everyone.

Logically, Michael knew not to argue at this point.

He was too damn tired to care anymore and had lit into his sister while assisting with the file displacement afterwards. Lucifer had to bodily restrain his older brother to stop an all-out brawl, snarling at them both to at least behave in front of the humans. That hadn't gone over well and the remaining five hours of work had been in stone cold silence.

Michael left the building to find a truck waiting and the majority of Unit Six in various levels of impatience. The ride back to the Lodge had been in another version of silence, this time fueled by exhaustion and burnt out emotions. Arriving at the building they were calling home, Michael hadn't been able to make himself join in on the chatter bouncing around his unit.

He paused at the top of the Lodge stairs, eyes blank while the soldiers gathered without prompting, the hand buried in his jeans pocket rattled when he pulled it out to stare at the contents.

"Ooo…shiny."

Lizzie earned herself a round of muted chuckles from the others, but they sobered when Michael stopped in front of Josh to hand him a metal tag.

It was almost in reverence, that the staff sergeant accepted the piece, remaining silent while Michael continued with Dimaro, Ryan, Hanson, Angelo, Russo, and Anderson. The last two were brand new, one of them a month overdue but Michael hadn't been able to convince himself to hand it over, not until the others had made it to Red Ridge.

Taking their dog tags back, the Elite Guard were solemn when the archangel stepped back, turning to Josh with a low sigh.

"You were right, this morning." Michael's arms crossed over his chest to keep from fidgeting, "But I can't…not tonight."

"Michael-"

He lightly pushed Caroline's hand off his shoulder, shaking his head, "I know, I do…but…not tonight…"

Sgt. Ryan pouted, but backed off, nodding for the others to do so when Michael still wouldn't fully meet her gaze, "Okay…okay boss, we'll see you in the morning, sound good?"

Nodding, Michael rubbed at his eyes, ignoring the reluctant soldiers and their departure, "Carla-"

"Hmm?" Worn silver eyes met hers, exhaustion clouding both of their gazes, but Carla's quickly dropped further at the look on Michael's face, "What's-"

"Leave her to me tonight."

The earned a scrunched up face, and the sergeant actually growled a little, "Are you sure? Been a long day boss, and-"

"Noma told you about the hospital-"

"Which part?" Carla tried to tease, the faint smile on her face disappearing even faster than it tried to appear when Michael stared, "Michael, just say it."

A low noise built in his chest, and the archangel shook his head, "Simply?"

"Not a bad place to start." She snapped.

"My instincts are screaming at me to take Charlotte and leave."

Carla didn't step back in shock, but she did flinch a bit, earning a low sigh from Michael as he leaned heavily against the deck railing, sagging against the pillar in defeat.

"Between my head aching to get as far away from anyone human…warring with the rest of me that cannot stand to be anywhere near my own family," Michael's hand waved erratically, "Not counting…not-"

He choked, unable to draw a deep breath, "Not counting, I just watched the woman who I'd…" Trailing off, Michael shook his head, "Carla, I respect you and care about you, all of you…but I can't deal with any of that tonight, I don't want to do anything I'll regret…and I can't stop the part of me that's screaming to keep Charlotte away from all of this. I'd just rather keep her with me tonight."

Sighing, Carla stepped closer, slowing just enough the tension didn't snap back into Michael's frame at her approach, "Breathe Michael-" Her hand rose slowly, fingertips lightly brushing the straggles of hair from his forehead and smoothing the strands, "Try and get some sleep okay? We'll see you in the morning. Last I heard-"

Carla smirked as she headed towards the main doors, "Audrey is snagging everyone for fittings tomorrow, and then decoration duty."

A faint smile did make it across the archangel's face, and he watched her go with a bit more ease than the others. With the clicks of the locks snapping into place for the night, Michael sighed again and headed towards the opposite wing, following the deck outside.

No one was in a similar situation, wandering the outside of the Lodge almost aimlessly in the dead of night. The nursery curtains were glowing softly when Michael climbed up to the second floor of Audrey's wing. Pressing the shifting panels outside the ensuite, Michael kept still in wait to listen for the faint knocks of the door unlocking, sliding the opening enough to enter before the alarms could engage. Guiding the panels shut again, Michael let his hearing extend a little to ensure the wall was solid once again before he directed his focus towards the lit bedroom.

Heartbeats further down the hall were overpowered by a pair of rhythms nearest to him, one an almost mirror of the more distant ones, a tad faster and smaller. The other, was almost identical to Michael's, and shifted in expectation as the eldest archangel stepped towards the cracked door.

"Oh good…father help me…" The Enochian slid in and out of the English, "How can someone so ridiculously small make something so horrendously noxious and killer…I fed you a bottle of milk, and you turn it into essence of demon blood…this is disgusting."

Michael couldn't stop the chuckle as he leaned against the bathroom doorframe, watching his twin gag his way through changing a diaper.

"Kudos to you brother, this is absolutely horrid."

"And why are you attempting this?" Michael didn't move closer, smirking as Gabriel began to really fail, "I thought Nurse Fields was tending to Charlotte."

"I sent Roxi off at sundown, didn't want to keep her too late," Gabriel adjusted the diaper straps, picking up Charlotte and sighing when the wrap fell off entirely, Michael barely stifled a snort, "Besides, it's my turn with the little beastie-I mean beauty. A darling little ngirozi-who doesn't stop squirming."

Chuckling again, Michael took the naked infant from his twin, rewrapping the diaper on properly and submitting when his brother reached for the baby again, "Your point Gabriel?"

A deep rumble stirred from Gabriel's chest, and he cradled his niece close with a soft grin, "You've been hiding her brother, thought I would get to know this little darling a bit more, and figured you wouldn't come out of that meeting this afternoon in a good mood so I stayed in here waiting. Darling here woke up and we've been having a lovely time ever since."

"She's supposed to be asleep."

Gabriel snorted, "Oh come now brother, no infant sleeps through the night this young, father's last favorite surely didn't. And I doubt any others have when barely reaching two lunar cycles. Besides…she's too cute…"

"That," Michael smiled, passing his brother a small blanket for Charlotte, "Is the truest thing you've ever said."

"I am pretty sure telling that…Jewish girl she was knocked up was entirely honest." Gabriel settled in the rocking chair, the soft smile remaining on his face as he tucked a leg up onto the opposite thigh to better brace his arms cradling the baby. Michael chuckled softly, stretching out on the daybed and leaning on his bent knees to watch his daughter snuggle into his brother's plain hoodie, grumbling softly before falling back asleep listening to her uncle's heartbeat.

"Father always had a rather…astute…sense of humor."

"Lousy if you ask me," Gabriel remarked, rocking gently to soothe Charlotte's squirming at his voice, "Eloquence in words may be my specialty, but determining father's meanings has never been one of my finer skills."

"I do not believe that has been a talent belonging to any of us." Michael admitted softly, grinning in amusement when Charlotte shifted, hiccupping abruptly and jarring herself from sleep.

"Yes, well…" Gabriel lightly rocked the baby, "We were not exactly prepared to translate all this nonsense, not when there was such determination to keep to the Word and-"

Michael slapped a hand over his mouth, trying and failing to hide his laugh as Charlotte abruptly threw up onto Gabriel's chest, wiggling away from the wet almost as fast as the archangel held her away.

"Disgusting …here brother, have a child-"

Taking the sticky baby, Michael headed to the bathroom and deep vanity sink, having already guessed Audrey had picked this suite of rooms for the connectivity and ensuite bathroom set up to be easier with a baby. A deep wash sink was in place of the typical shallow bowl, the vanity wider and with extra storage space to better clean up an infant instead of traipsing about the huge building. At least until the baby was bigger and could safely use the tub.

Not bothering to turn on the lights, Michael flicked the taps on to warm the water, humming softly to soothe Charlotte's grumbles. A full bath wasn't needed, just a quick rinse to soothe the infant and clear away the residue that hadn't soaked into Gabriel's hoodie.

His brother, had shed the soiled garment, shoving it into Michael's laundry hamper in the corner and stealing one of Michael's sweatshirts for the time being. Both of them could see just fine in the dim light, Gabriel sitting on the tub edge and watching his brother get his daughter prepared for sleep, again.

"I wonder what would have happened."

"Hmm?"

"If this," Gabriel gestured vaguely to the drowsy infant Michael was patting dry and getting into fresh pajamas, "Had occurred without all of this war alongside."

Michael froze, keeping his hand on Charlotte's chest to ensure her placement while the archangel almost spun on his brother, "What?"

His twin shrugged it off, "Just something to ponder, the abstract of what could have been. But I wonder, how the world would have looked, had we not made the choices we had when it mattered most."

Turning away, Michael remained silent until he had Charlotte bundled up for sleep, tucking her to his shoulder and letting her cuddle closer to his neck and heartbeat before he could make himself respond.

"You have always dallied in the 'what ifs' brother, could you for once keep your head out of the clouds?"

Shrugging it again, Gabriel's stoic face cracked with a smirk, "And yet we have wings brother, where else would we be if not high above the stability of solid earth?"

"The pits of hell."

Gabriel barked a harsh laugh, completely unapologetic when he startled Charlotte so badly that she started wailing in complaint. Ignoring his twin's growls, the former messenger plucked the infant into his own grasp, humming softly to the tune of a hymn so old no human ears had ever heard it.

"There we are little one…no more tears, you are going to have to learn to expect the unexpected in this family, none of us are normal so you might as well get used to all of the nonsense." Gabriel rocked lightly on his feet, soothing the infant into deep sleep with a practiced ease that made Michael's chest ache at what might have been eons ago. His twin carefully set the baby down in her crib, adjusting the blankets so she was cushioned from rolling around, but wouldn't get covered or tangled in her movements.

Motioning for Michael to maintain his silence, Gabriel lead his brother back outside to the deck, waiting until the sliding door had relocked before facing his twin properly.

"Now then, let's-Mmph!"

Admittedly, Michael could have thought things through a bit more, in regards to Gabriel running his mouth with little actual thought behind his words. Instead, with night hours waning past two in the morning, the eldest archangel had waited until his brother faced him, and then hit hard.

"Enough of this," Michael swung again, "You keep your head in the clouds and mind on 'what if's and 'never will be's, why can't you just accept things as they are!"

"Because you idiot!" Gabriel ducked one punch, spinning around Michael's reach to avoid the strike and turning right into another one as he danced away to pull their spat further from the nursery, "What good is focusing on the present when it is no better than the past that we run from?"

Michael punched him again, growling deep in his throat as he stalked after Gabriel with a predatory glare, "Haven't you learned yet brother? It does not matter what we desired, fate takes as she pleases and deigns to reveal the cards in her hands, hiding aces up her sleeves to throw like knives. Nothing we do can change the past, it is worthless to hope to break the chains binding us to destiny."

"Very philosophical of you Michael," Gabriel bowed out under another blow, parrying the strike and yet still not retaliating, "Have you ever tried waxing poetic creativity? I hear it's rather relaxing all things considered, but listen here!"

The shorter of the pair shoved the other, stopping another swing with a snarl, "I will not ever wish to take this life that you've found away from you! Not your unit, not your chosen one, not your friends, and never your child! There was once a time when you and I could sit and hold a decent conversation for more than a handful of moments without wishing the other dead! Where in the seven hells has that gone?!"

"When you turned your back on me!"

Gabriel froze, body jerking as he choked on the automatic response getting stuck in his throat, Michael was no longer glaring at him with the anger of predator, this was pure grief that haunted the archangel's visage. His twin was shaking, bordering on pained sobs sliding past his tense jaw as even when he reached, Gabriel was shunned as Michael jerked away as if in fear.

"You are my brother, my other half. I knew you before I knew what life itself was. And yet when I needed you to be there for me, you turned against me." Michael didn't bother wiping at the tears on his face, it wouldn't do any good to clear his vision, "I begged you to just listen, to forget that Father was ordering us and just think for yourself. I needed you by my side and yet you turned on me! Repeatedly! Where did I go wrong that my own brother didn't think I was good enough-"

Hands reached for Michael's shoulders, to pull him away from the deck railing he'd backed into in a feeble attempt to get away, Gabriel was shaking just as much when he tried to calm his twin, voice hoarse with emotion.

"Never brother, I-"

Michael choked, his own voice raw with pain as he stared at the cold silver eyes he knew better than his own and yet could no longer recognize, "Why did you leave?"

Xxx

Xx

Xxx

6:32am

Xxx

Alex yawned behind a hand, rubbing at his eyes in a futile attempt to wake up more as he trekked down the hall to Lily's room. Audrey had knocked loudly on the guys' bedroom about twenty minutes ago, rousing anyone still asleep to get moving for the day and on to wedding preparations. She may be frustrated with her daughter growing up, but a party was a good excuse to take everyone's mind off the war. The Lady of the Ridge was not known for being subtle.

"Michael! Better get up before Audrey or Caro finds you!" Alex bellowed, leaning towards the archangel's closed door for a split second, not waiting for a response when the muffled sounds of Lily wailing crept out of her door.

"Mornin' Lily," Alex kicked the nursery door shut, barely glancing around the room on his way to the crib, he expected to have Michael appear behind him any second as it was. The baby was red faced and sure-fire upset, flailing her arms even when Alex scooped her up with a low murmur. Still a bit awkward with handling the baby, Alex rocked on his feet to calm her rapid heartbeat, turning towards the connecting bathroom door.

Only Michael wasn't there.

"What the-sshh…hey baby-girl, calm down." Alex grabbed a random blanket, tucking Lily against his chest as she squirmed in her displeasure. Stepping into the ensuite resulted in more nothingness, no sign of the archangel in there or the bedroom.

"Alex, you in there?"

Unlocking Michael's door, Alex quickly glanced in the closet while Ethan entered, the other sergeant taking Lily when Alex's slight rocking wasn't calming her down, "Swords are gone."

"Boots are too," Ethan nodded towards the floor mat Michael usually reserved for his shoes to protect the carpet, hushing Lily's almost frantic cries, Mack checked the window locks while Alex went back to the nursery, "Heard Lily crying from down the hall, thought the boss said he was with her last night."

"Yeah-hey have those been locked down?"

"Nah, still wide open from last night, the only thing-"

Alex turned when Ethan trailed off abruptly, even stilling his motions to settle the baby and leading Lily to start whining again.

"Hey, what is it?"

"Oh shit-Carla!"

Slamming into the window bench with his legs, Alex stared at the deck after Ethan took off to pass the baby to the girls.

Michael and Gabriel were unconscious.

Xxx

"…mom…"

Audrey skimmed over the ration reports from the outposts, jotting down notes for shipments, rearranging of stocks, and bolstering weapon inventories on the Northwestern borders in line with the Aerie. Around the numbers and ledgers, the Matriarch was sorting through menu adjustments for the big event a mere eight days away. The advantage of the fast scheduling, made it actually easier to narrow down options for the wedding planning. Between war recovery, open trade routes convening between strongholds, and the approach of winter, a joyous occasion that wasn't twisted with political gains was just what Red Ridge needed to proceed into several months of chaos.

Echoes of the busy Lodge drifted in and out of Audrey's hearing, military officers in various meetings and communications, councilmembers working on stronghold correspondence, and wedding preparations spinning into full tilt now that the tribunal was over.

Double checking the math on one of her outposts, Audrey barely heard the thunder of frantic running down the hall, letting the noise settle into the background.

"Mom!"

At least until her door slammed against the wall, heavy breathing tinging the word she loved to hear every day and had cried to hear again after news from Vega a few years ago.

Kate was red-faced and panicked, having sprinted across the Lodge in her pajamas.

"It's Michael."

Later, Audrey would regret running after her daughter and Sgt. Dimaro, especially when she took the stairs to the upper deck two at a time, her knee would make her pay for it.

In the moment, the Lady of the Ridge almost tripped in her haste as she fell to her knees next to Michael's prone form.

The eldest archangel and his twin were sprawled on the deck, neither looked to be injured, and with Cassiel checking their throats and mouths, Audrey doubted it was something they'd ingested. But even with shaking them, or their sister's stupid idea to pinch off their breathing, neither Gabriel nor Michael would stir.

"What the hell happened?!"

Ethan Mack shook his head, "Alex and I found Lily in the nursery alone, I saw these two out here, after Michael dismissed all of us last night…I don't think this was a cordial meeting."

Audrey growled, smoothing a hand down Michael's still cheek before carefully parting one eyelid to check her friend's eye. The silver iris swamped the pin prick of a pupil, the veins burst in Michael's left but not the right, unlikely this was a head injury, angels had a nasty tendency of symmetry.

"How long?"

"Thinking at least four hours," Alex crouched next to Audrey, easing Michael's head onto his lap to protect it while watching the Lady, "Lily had to have been awake for only about five minutes, the monitor was in our room all night, not Michael's. I doubt anything happened before she was put down to sleep the last time."

Growling again, Audrey waved her own guards closer, ignoring the stiffening of Michael's unit at the interference.

"Get Gabriel inside, alert medical, if we can't wake them shortly, then both archangels will be moved to the hospital."

Cassiel jerked upright at the soldiers' movements, sharp voice directing them with ease and a forced patience. Barely glancing at them, Audrey stroked Michael's cheek again with a low murmur in her throat.

"C'mon sweetie…wake up…"

Not even a twitch, the archangel's still face remaining smooth as stone under her hand. Audrey sighed, "Alex, call your unit, we need to move him."

Xxx

Xx

Xxx

September 25th, 2040

1:34am

Xxx

Rubbing at her eyes, Audrey Anderson wished for just a breath of a moment, she was back in her father's fancy Toyota, traveling across the US to their new home just days before Christmas. Before her daughter had sworn herself to the elite guard of Heaven's finest Commander, before she became Matriarch of a stronghold of refugees, before she struggled to make a living in an uncertain world, before she was part of the end of the world she was born into…before she met the friend she now sat vigil beside.

Three days of waiting, and neither Michael nor Gabriel had stirred from the unconsciousness they'd been found in.

Around trying to keep the military from panicking with two seasoned commanders incapacitated, trying to keep her daughter on track to be married…with her fiancé in an uproar at his brothers' conditions…and her personal feelings aside, Audrey was exhausted.

And Michael wasn't improving.

Using his brothers as comparison, there was so little brain activity registering on the monitors, via a MRI scan or just basic levels, that Audrey was honestly worried that Michael was no longer there.

"Why can't my idiot brothers stay out of trouble for one fucking week?"

Audrey jerked to her feet at the limping shuffle suddenly behind her. Scowling, the Lady shoved her chair back and scrambled to brace Raphael as he stumbled to her side.

"You shouldn't be upright!" Audrey was tempted to shove the archangel into the chair, if he hadn't collapsed anyway from the effort to remain standing, "Dammit Raph! The doctors shouldn't have let you out of bed, let alone-"

Trailing off, the woman flicked Raphael's ear with a growl, before dropping onto the end of Gabriel's bed to sit while the Healer Archangel leaned on Michael's bedside, "The docs have no idea you've left your room, do they?"

Raph snorted, unable to speak for a couple minutes as he caught his breath. Dressed in hospital pajamas and wrapped in a light robe, the archangel was drenched in sweat and panting. He wasn't supposed to be walking the ICU ward for another week, let alone traipsing across the entire building to the opposite end of the hospital and the double room his brothers were in.

"My nursing staff prefer me over Doc Harrison, and as long as I keep within this room, or my own…Maggie and Haley won't snitch." Raphael shifted so less pressure was on his back, even as he leaned further against Michael's bed and took his brother's hand, "Besides, not like I'm doing anything different here versus there, sitting and waiting for news…for any change."

Audrey hummed, turning to Gabriel's still form and settling further onto his bed, once the source of her nightmares, and as of a few days ago someone to share an evening night cap and swap stories of years past.

"Have you ever seen something like this?" Audrey's fingers brushed down the blankets covering Gabriel's legs, "No toxins, no injuries, no signs of struggles, nothing other than a bit of a bloodshot eye; and yet every test puts them both in unsourced comas that nothing is bringing them out of. Besides pumping them full of drugs with no promise of the meds working let alone avoiding side effects…and Lucifer is of no use, let alone your sisters almost in a panic, and I'm barely hiding this from my council. Raph, I don't know what-"

"Wait-"

"-to do, and we're running out of-"

"Audrey-"

"What?!"

Raph glared at her temper, waiting until she'd taken a breath before he spoke, that and he was in too much pain from turning to face her better, "Bloodshot eyes?"

"Singular," Audrey gestured to Gabriel and Michael together, "Only one eye, Gabe's right and Michael's left."

Rolling his own silver gaze, Raphael struggled to push himself up, growling away Audrey's help with a sharp glare, the archangel fought his way to standing and closer to the Michael's head.

Bracing himself on the bed railing, Raphael checked his brother's eye himself, grumbling in Latin so quietly Audrey couldn't catch it. Staggering to the other bed, Raphael did accept Audrey's support on his weaker side while the archangel checked Gabriel's similar eye to his twin.

"Father give me strength, fratricide has always been a terrible crime-"

Audrey's brow quirked in confusion, and then shot up in shock when Raphael took a feather from his robe pocket. Once the Healer shrugged off the Lady's help, he ripped Gabriel's shirt down to expose his collar bone. Twisting the feather shaft, Raphael moved faster than Audrey could stop him, and sliced his palm and Gabriel's skin before shoving the cuts together in a sharp compression.

The former Messenger winced into consciousness, but didn't shoot upright like his twin, Michael jerking into a sitting position with a pained gasp. His hand went to his chest, cringing in pain, unlike Gabriel.

Chuckling a bit darkly, Raphael backed up just enough the twin archangels could fully see one another. Neither seemed to catch on to whatever the Healer was doing as he glared at his elder brothers.

"Congratulations, the pair of you, figured it would take both of you doing something stupid."

"What are you talking about?" Gabriel snapped, "And why am I bleeding?"

"Are you?"

Raphael's question earned a gaping Gabriel, before he scrambled at his shirt to find the smear of Raphael's blood, but no wound…healing or not.

Michael's own gaze went to his hand and chest, finding the slim cut already fading to soft pink, the blood drying.

"Gabriel…" Raphael's eyes remained on Michael, the sharp stare earning blank confusion before the Healer's own gaze turned annoyed, "You should duck."

"What-"

"OW!" Michael's cry made Audrey flinch, spinning to face him instead of when Raphael jerked his fist to impact Gabriel's eye.

"What was that for?!"

The Healer huffed out a pained breath, "Your bond…you idiots, I thought it would be obvious when I woke you both at once. Twins share each other's pain and strength, you should know this by now all things considered…"

That earned a sheepish wince from Gabriel, and he cringed away from Raphael's gaze with a faint grin that was too forced to be innocent.

"Oh bloody hell-" Raphael glared at his brothers, the fire in his eyes burning at the elder archangels with such fierceness they both looked guilty, "How long?"

"A decade-"

Raphael jerked back, the growl in his chest reverberating through Audrey's own like thunder, "Ten-"

Gabriel flinched, "-and a half?"

Michael's own cringe only enforced his twin's estimate, and got an actual eye roll from Audrey as she caught on.

"You shattered your bond fifteen years ago? Are you two insane?" Audrey's voice pulled Michael's guilty look to her own eyes, "Even I know that is beyond stupid!"

Before the Matriarch could really get going, Raphael swaying and nearly collapsing cut off any further arguments. Michael was the fastest to his feet, catching his brother with careful hands and guiding Raphael to take his place on the hospital bed.

"And now who is the insane one?"

Chuckling around his gasps for air to hide the pain, Raphael clasped Michael's arm in support…for both of them.

"I never said I was the brilliant one, I blame my twin for spreading that rumor," Raphael winced, finally sagging onto the bed completely in his exhaustion, "But still, don't be stupid Michael…you're lucky Audrey noticed the mirror eyes, and that I was able to force myself out of convalescence to aid you. Both of you need to be careful, the bond is weak, but there. Don't do anything that could break it, I doubt then even Father could put it back."

"And what-" Gabriel asked, wincing as he stood and stretched, loosening up stiff limbs with a low sigh, "Would you suggest brother? Our ways have been cut off for years now."

Raphael grinned, his eyes hazy with pain but still held the mischief of a younger sibling taunting the elder.

"You should ask Luke about his Bachelor Party."


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