The End of Days
(Gale/Madge)
(Alternative Universe)
A/N: This is NOT a continuation of last chapter!
The pain in his back was excruciating. It was like someone had set his entire body on fire with the fires of Hell. But more than that, he felt like his whole body was being torn in half. His wings, now bloody white stubs on the ground, were no longer attached to his back. The powerful extension of his body had been sawed off with an angelic sword that left him withering on the cold, hard ground.
His body immediately went into healing mode. His body temperature – already too high to be considered human – was raging higher than it's ever been, around one hundred and ten degrees. His body was shaking with sweats as he coils into himself. His back was bleeding as fast as rapids rushed down the Hudson River. The sickly warm liquid was oozing everywhere, meeting its final resting place on the ground of the concrete street.
He could barely see straight, the once solid buildings now swaying left and right, left and right, but he knew the demonic angels – the fallen, as they're called – were flying away with his snow white wings. A strong, feminine voice had scared them off. She was screaming something that his muddled mind couldn't keep up with and her shadow swung dangerously fast against the pavement. But something was odd about her; she appeared to have a sword clutched in her hand. And where would a human, so tiny and fragile, get a sword twice her size?
He knew he should fear her. Humans have gone on this 'wonderful' spree of hunting down anything angelic and selling it on the black market. As most would say the apocalypse changes people. And even this little female could be the death of him. Even a single fingernail could get her enough food for a week. But he was too tired to care, too tired to worry what she would do with that sword. And deep down, he knew that was his sword, and an Angel Sword shouldn't be held by a human or anyone other than him. But that seems to be different today. Meaning, that his sword could kill him and he wouldn't even care.
And he couldn't care about that small distraction, that nuisance, not with the raging fires traveling through his back. The pain was to the point of becoming unbearable, it was causing his stomach to tighten and heat to expand. He felt like he was gonna be sick. And that's what he proceeded to do. That caused the broken down office building in front of him to create the illusion that it was crumbling, but that was only just that – an illusion. It was really just the pain filled tears dripping down his cheeks from the pain that blurred his vision.
He heard a gasps and it took him a while to realize that he was making the sounds. His head lolled back the sidewalk, his lips parted and his heavy breathing filling his ears. Instead of seeing the bright, shining moon like he expected, he saw a crown of gold so bright he could swear it was the sun, the tips of the sun tickling his cheekbones. A lazy smile spread across his checks and he reaches for the crown of gold, so soft and silky smooth.
The familiar feminine voice breaks him from his revere, shaking him wide awake to view the once sun as a girl with golden hair and midnight blue eyes that never seemed to end.
"Get up." She growls. "Get up." When he doesn't move she cusses under her breath, anger flaring up in her eyes. She makes a grab at his arm, tugging harshly. He rips his arm from her grip, pain stinging every inch of his body, causing him to curl up into an even tighter ball. Maybe if he just lies here on the ground eventually the pain will go away. Maybe if he just lies here he won't die from lack of wings. Maybe if he just lies here everything will go away, including the girl above him.
But that's not the case and she surely wasn't having any of it. "I said get up!" this time she doesn't allow him to pull away, this time she grabs both arms with her dainty hands and tugs with all her might. She manages to get him in a sitting up position, a small smile of triumph tugs at her lips. But she doesn't seem too happy when the nausea climbs up his stomach and ends up spilling on her shoes.
"God damn it. What's up with angels, do you have no manners?" Her midnight blues goes to midnight black in milliseconds.
She tugs again. This time he lands harshly on his knees, the pavement cracking and digging against them. But the pain in his knees didn't register to his head because his head was as light as a cloud and the world was slowly getting darker inch by inch.
Warms arms wrap about his middle and her shoulder digs into his chest. For her small size, she's quite strong.
"My sword, my sword." He moans.
"I've got it." Even though he is still confused by the way she can pick up his sword, he doesn't dwell on it. She smells like vanilla and buttercream and it was heavenly. She sits in him a wheelchair and starts to roll him down the street slowly, and you could hear her grunting softly under her breath.
"You know, for not being a very big man, you're quite heavy." She grunts out in between breathless pants as she rolls him up the rough terrain of the steep California city hill. He notices through his dying haze that she jumps at everything, literally everything. A bird flies over head, well she's ducking. A shadow from a building, she's darting into the next alleyway as fast as her little body could carry her. Even a faint whisper of wind had her jumping out of her shoes. She was definitely paranoid to no possible end. And maybe she had every reason too. It's not like he'd understand a human's terror of gangs and angelic being that aren't even supposed to exist. Yeah, there was no reason to be that paranoid.
And now she had to lug around this angelic being that weight a thousand pounds of pure muscle. Not only could he snap her in half with a pinky finger, if he wasn't on the brink of death, but he was clearly at least a foot taller, stronger, and didn't back down. Her self-defense training was nothing compared to what he could do. It didn't matter how many years she's slaved away punching and kicking dummies to learn to protect herself from the dangers of the dying world, but as humanity slowly lost it and angels took over, she was willed pathetic. And to be perfectly honest, she wouldn't put it passed him to be able to kill her even in this condition. And who knew, maybe he was just acting. But then again, having your wings sawed off by some other angel must hurt like a bitch.
Her arms were burning as well as her legs by the time she reached the top of the hill. The only things around them were broken windows from old office buildings and damaged cars. The man in the wheelchair moans again, his head rolling back, his gray eyes cloudy with pain. For some reason, she felt as if he couldn't see her, that all he could see and feel was the electrifying fire lighting up his body.
"Ahhh." He says as she knees the back of her stolen sister's wheelchair to get it to turn over broken pavement. "Ahhh." He says again, pain clearly written across his face.
"Oh shut up." She glares at him, "If I didn't need you to help me find my sister I'd leave you here for the gangs." She mumbles under her breath, not that he heard. He didn't have time to worry about what pathetic humans said anyways. It wasn't like they were intelligent or anything like that.
The next thing he knew, he was being pushed onto a black leather couch on his stomach. His back rips away from the material of the wheelchair with a wet sloshing sound that made Madge cringe into her torn up jacket. She shrugs off her jacket and scurries around the building looking for bandages. If he dies, she'll never find her sister. Although Katniss was strong, her broken legs won't do her any good – hence the wheelchair.
She manages to find a few cups of instant noodles and gauze. She walks back through the mess and start to dress his wounds. By the time the first strip of gauze hits his bleeding back, he's out cold. His body was already starting to heal itself.
His soft snores fill the stiff air as she diligently wraps and cleans his wounds as careful as possible. She decides he's cute when he snores. He didn't have that loud I'm-gonna-kill-you type snore, more of the little baby snores that sound angelic – of course it did. His face that was once strained with pain was smoothed out into a young man's enamoring face. He was quite beautiful, she finds, but she wasn't surprised. Angels, for as long as she could remember, were always described as captivating creatures of heaven with powerful wings and beautiful voices. They were nothing short of blinding. He radiates power and beauty. Something she wishes she could.
Once she was done she scrambles as far away from him as possible with her instant cup of noodles and she watches him. Although she needs him to help her, she still didn't find it comforting to be in the same room as a man she was taught to fear. They can't be destroying the world and terrorizing humans for nothing. Her eyes never leave him as she eats; she may or may not miss her mouth every so often. Even when a muscle ripples under his skin in his sleep, her hand seems to find the hilt of his sword for protection. He never wakes, and probably won't until morning, but that doesn't make her feel any safer than before. Perhaps, she feels even more endangered.
She doesn't know when she falls asleep, but when she wakes she finds a pair of startling gray eyes staring back at her from across the room, or more at the sword lain across her lap. His eyes zero in on her dainty fingers wrapped around the hilt, a look of repulsion crosses his face.
"What?"
"That." He says, not giving any more information.
"What?"
"That!" he repeats, this time violently pointing at the sword in her lap, "That shouldn't happen. You shouldn't even be able to lift it." The look of repulsion is replaced with a look of wonderment and curiosity. She must have given him a stupid look because he rolls his eyes so hard she could feel it, "Only I should be able to lift it. My sword chooses me, not you. It knows me, not you. If must have known you were going to save me, that must be the reason." He says the last part more to himself than her.
"Okay?" Why must angels be so damn confusing?
He shakes his head and runs his fingers through his thick hair, the strands spray out everywhere, making it wilder than before. He shakes his head again and stares out the shattered window. His lips are slightly parted in thought and every so often he licks them to wet the dry surface. When he shakes his head a third time without saying a word, she rolls her eyes and tightens her grip on the sword.
"I won't hurt you, I don't have the strength to do that." He gives her a look at clearly states 'you're an idiot' and lays back against the black leather.
"You know, a thank you would be nice. I did save your life, after all." She snaps, anger flaring up her nerves. How dare he looks so calm.
"Thank you." He says sarcastically, waving his hand to indicate that he was bowing. "Human." He finishes.
She huffs out an annoyed breath before crossing her arms over her tiny chest, "I could've – no should've – left you out there to die. But no! I dragged your ass up that damn hill and up those damn stairs and took care of you. And all I get is one lousy, disrespectful, half assed apology that I had to freaking asked for? Who do you think you are? God?"
His eyes widen at the indication, "There's no one more powerful than God, and even I can't claim that position. I'm just a slave to him."
She makes a disgusted sound, "Let me guess, God made you terrorize the earth? Whatever." She spits out viciously. "Alright, this is how this is gonna go down, ya listening." He rolls his eyes for the hundredth time but nods, "I've helped you, now you're going to help me. You're an angel – "
He cuts her off, "Obviously." He gestures to his tan, toned stomach with amazing abs and heavenly glow.
"Anyways, so you're going to help me find my sister. Your kind took her and I want her back."
"And what makes you think I'm gonna help you? Huh? Where do you think a silly human can control me, a heavenly being?" he growls out.
"Because I said so!" she screams, she was definitely losing her cool. He rolls his eyes and attempts to get up but ends up sitting back down breathless. "You can't even get up. You'll die without me. And I'll make sure every human knows you're here so they can rip you limb from limb and sell the pieces for food. There won't be anything left but a distant, useless memory of an angel that couldn't defend himself."
He growls without meaning too. He couldn't even believe that a human was speaking to him like this. If he wasn't lightheaded and hurt he would show her how the world worked, but he couldn't because he was lightheaded and hurt.
He narrows his eyes at the nuisance of a human. "What if I don't know where your sister is?"
"Then you better damn well start guessing." He decides that no matter how annoying she was, that he liked her attitude. It was refreshing. No one even made him think. No one ever questioned him. They would all coward down and let him do as he pleased. But she didn't, she didn't care that he was powerful and not of her species, she only cared to get what she wanted. And that was her sister, Katniss.
"Well?" She snaps again.
"Do you have a car?"
"Wha – How does that have anything to do with this!?" she yells, her hands flying above her head and she narrows her eyes at him.
"Can you drive a car?" she begins to speak but he cuts her off, "Answer. The. Question."
"I know how to drive one and you can get one anywhere. Just look at outside, won't take long to find a working one. And what do I do after that?"
"Take me to Los Angeles."
"Yo buddy, I'm not a taxi service."
"Do you want your sister or not? If you do, and I'm assuming you do, you will take me to Los Angeles. It's a long shot that she's even alive, but if she is, she would be there. At the Aerie."
Madge doesn't move for a long while. Her jaw hit the floor a while ago and her eyes don't move away from him. She looks him up and down, trying to detect if he was lying to her and only hitching a ride home. But for some reason his steel gray eyes looks like a cloudy day and that made her want to believe him. So she nods towards the door and gets up.
He winces as he stands but tries to hide it. His tense shoulders and clenched jaw gives him away. He glances out of the corner of his eyes at her and she pretends to not notice his pain in fear he will get mad and leave her to find her sister alone.
She moves slowly, acting as if this was her normal speed rather than the speed of a snail. But he wasn't moving very fast and it was driving her up a wall. It was agonizing to move at such a speed when who knows what they will encounter. For years, she's been moving at the speed of light to stay away from the gangs that littered the streets. But not today, a hurt angel was going to ruin her.
Even though he could probably save her from just about anything humanly possible, she still had that paranoia wrapped around her heart, squeezing until she feels like she couldn't breathe. She wanted to yell at him to hurry up, but she bit her lip instead and moved down the stairs. She ducks behind a receptionist desk and peeks around the corner of the wooden structure. When she realizes he hadn't followed her behind the desk, she gets a little pissed.
She whips around and glares at his stupid what-are-you-doing expression spread across his face. She harshly points her index finger at him and then points at the ground.
"What does that even mean?"
"Stupid angels – " she mutters.
"I heard that."
"Just get down here. You don't want anyone to see you."
He scoffs and rolls his eyes, "Like they're gonna hurt me."
"Yeah, they will, especially when said angel looks like a god damn human! Now get down here."
"No, let's just go." This time he tugs her from behind the desk and pushes her out the front doors. She stumbles into the midmorning sunlight, bring her hands up to cover her head and vital organs in case someone was ready to fire a weapon at her. She squeezes her eyes shut and holds her breath, just waiting for the painful blow to get done and over with.
What is shot her way isn't a bullet but another scoff. He crosses his arms and taps his foot, waiting on the delinquent to get over her paranoia. "Can we go? Didn't think you'd want your sister to wait?"
She narrows her eyes and says a few choice words under her breath, not even caring if he heard her or not. Screw him and his arrogance. Nobody cares about his stupid angelic beauty.
It was getting dark and her feet were dragging with exhaustion. It hurt to even move. All the cars they looked at didn't work and Gale didn't know a working one from a hole in the ground. It was agonizing to have to deal with that all day ("What about this one?" "No Gale, the whole entire hood is smashed. You probably wouldn't even fit in it, you're too tall." "What about –" "No Gale! Just no, leave it to the expert!" "Some type of expert you are." He had muttered. And so on it went.).
He decided to take pity on the human girl, "So we should probably find a place to stay for the night."
"That sounds lovely." She half moans out just thinking about somewhere to put her feet up.
They travel through the forest for a few more minutes. They glance at the condos surrounding the area; they choose a remote one not too far away from the street but not too far into the dense forest. It will provide them an equal opportunity to run in either direction and yet makes it feel more humane to be closer to the dull city glow.
Madge feels sticky and gross, but ultimately she's just mainly tired. "I need a shower. Now!"
He rolls his eyes another time, "What if I wanted it first?"
"Not gonna happen, buddy. Lady's first, or do angels not follow that rule?"
Madge doesn't give him time to rebuttal. Instead, she goes searching down the hallway for a bathroom with hopefully running water. It doesn't have to be warm water; just water would do for her. She sighs at the sound of the water splashing against the shower floor. It was such a World Before sound against the World After that she was used to now.
She strips down to nothing and slips into the lukewarm water. The water sprays across her back in delicious waves that make her grimy cleans feel clean. She scrubs down from top to bottom thoroughly because she never knew when she would get the luxury again. She probably spent more time than she really needed but her tired body moved slowly, or so she told herself.
She towel dries off her body and wraps her wet hair in the same towel. Grabbing what will be Gale's towel; she wraps it around her body and heads into the walk-in closet to find something clean and practical to wear.
She ends up finding hardly anything other than work clothes. A cheetah print, thick cardigan paired with a black tank top and khakis seem to be the only somewhat practical thing this woman wore. She was semi-happy to find men's clothing in here too. Gale was only dressed in a dark pair of jeans and gauze. And it was going to be highly important to hind the bloody wing joints that scissor against his shoulder blades. Although she didn't mind looking at his toned back, gangs wouldn't have the same memorized state as her about it. What, his back was impressive!
She walks slowly back down the hallway with her hand on the wall to guide her. He laughs at her before her eyes even adjust to the lighting in the room.
"Nice look, did you pick it out yourself?" he jabs at her.
She growls without meaning too, "It was the only practical thing in there. Just – just go take a shower." That last part lost its jab because of her embarrassment. Yeah, so cheetah print and khakis weren't her usual thing. And it definitely wasn't in the World Before. She was a dress with matching hair ribbons type of girl, not jeans and dark clothing to blend in. Her hair was hard enough to mask its attention seeking vibe.
She settles on the floor in front her backpack to root around for some food. She had a few bars of chocolate and instant noodle cups. She decides to keep the chocolate for later when Kat was reunited with them and went to heat up the instant noodles. She hands him a cup and glares at the floor. Of course he would find a pair of sensible jeans and a black V-neck t-shirt. It was awful enough that he was gloriously good looking and now he finds the most boy next door outfit and just looks too damn spectacular while she looks like a two year old in her mom's too big clothing. Couldn't humans win against angel in something, anything?
"Thank you." It was so low she thought she dreamt it, but he gave her an uncharacteristic smile that was so small it could have been mistaken as a smirk.
"You're welcome." She finds herself smiling back at him with a smile that could knock a human down breathless. Somehow he made her feel hopeful and joyous in such a dangerous and disastrous time. She didn't know if angels just had that affect to make you feel what they wanted or it was just him, but for some reason…she really hopes it's just him.
They don't stay up for too long. Gale's energy was all draining through his back and he was looking a sickly gray again. Madge didn't mention it because he was a big boy and could take care of himself. What she did ask him was something she'd been wondering all day.
"What's your name?"
"What's yours?"
"Madge. Now what's yours?" she supplies than questions again.
"Why do you care so much?" he smirks but it looks painful and guessing by the way his hands are gripping the edge of the sofa, it was.
"Because if we're going to spend a lot of time together I think I deserve to know your name. You know mine."
"You choose by your own discretion to tell me yours." He pauses, then says, "My friends call me Wrath. My enemies call me Please Have Mercy." He smirks.
"What kind of name is Wrath."
"Something you should be afraid of."
"But I'm not."
"Gale." He says. "My name is Gale." He said it quietly, just above a whisper, the smirk still present on his face.
"Oh like the storm? Damn, your parents and friends must really be into destruction."
For some unknown reason, he laughs. It's not loud or quiet, but quite perfectly the perfect pitch and was beautiful. Everything about him was beautiful to her. She knew she shouldn't dwell on his heavenly beauty or how beautiful his laugh is, but simply that he could kill her at any minute and then what would Katniss do? But she was tired and she didn't really care right now. His laugh was pretty and she finds herself wanted to hear it even more, every second actually.
She curls into the La-Z-Boy armchair, seeking warmth that she knew she wouldn't find. "Night." She whispers into the still air. She could hear him moving on the old leather couch, it was squeaking underneath him. He left out a deep breath and then she was out. She never heard his super soft 'night' back at her.
She wasn't awake like he thought she was, but she was making a lot of noise. She would whimper every couple of seconds and twist and turn in her sleep, restless. He let her go on for almost an hour before he got sick of it. He shifts and groans softly from the pain before pushing off the makeshift bed and stalking across to her.
Her eyes were stuck tight and she was shaking. She whimpers again. A high pitch, scared sound that he has only ever associated with dogs came from her. Her entire body began to shake again. He removes the cushions from the back of the chair and slips in beside her. Her skin was freezing against his even through her thick sweater that had ridden up. He hesitantly encircles his arms around her waist and curves his body around hers. Her body still shakes but the whimpers have stopped.
"Hush, I'm right here." He whispers against her ear. And even in her sleep she could have sworn he was behind him, not that she would know the difference in the morning
…
They have been traveling to Los Angeles for days and they have finally made it. They were inside the Aerie and Gale was currently drinking years off his life. And Madge was pissed. They didn't come here to drink, they came here to find her sister.
"Will you stop?"
"You see the all-white dude over there?" of course she has, who hasn't, "You need to get him on our side to get to your sister." And also to get my wings sown back on, he doesn't add out loud. Josiah, the Guardian Angel, was protecting Uriah. And he was going to be hard to get on Gale's side. But Gale needed him, not only for his wings, but for Madge. Although Madge was human, he had grown to tolerate her and he wanted her to get her sister back after all the crap they've been through.
"Go." He gestures her forward.
"What do I even say?" she whispers-yells.
"Be sexy, allure him into that back bathroom."
"I don't know how?"
"Well you better damn well start trying to." She glares at him and takes a deep breath before sauntering over toward the albino.
Just as she's about to say hello in the sexiest way possible, Josiah walks off without even noticing her stand behind him. Her hand drops awkward from its position in the air and follows me. He ends up going straight where she wants him without her even saying a word. Her sexiest must really be great to get them to do whatever she wants without her saying a word.
"I'm not going to help you, Gale." She hears him just as she slips into the men's restroom.
"Josiah, I need you. Just this once."
The albino shakes his head, "No, Gale."
"Josiah."
"No."
"Please, I need my wings back." He points at me, "And she needs her sister. Just this once, Josiah please."
He shakes his head again and runs his fingers roughly through his hair in frustration. He walks to the stall and opens it. He stares at the toilet for a few minutes before angrily slamming it shut.
"Damn it, Gale. I want to help you, I do, but I can't. I can't get caught with you. Everyone either thinks you've fallen or you're dead."
"But I'm not. You can see that."
"Then what happened to your wings? The right one is slightly off." Gale reaches back to push it back into place, a deep blush spreading across his face as he stares at the floor.
"Please."
And that's how they ended up in an Angel Lab with some female angel as a doctor. Someone Gale knows someone Gale trusted. Madge, on the other hand, wasn't too sure about this chick. She seems to have her own plan. Madge just hopes Gale ends up okay.
Madge wanders around the bottom floor of the Aerie. She ignores the weird tanks and shuffles her feet until she comes across the large pile of bodies. And who's right on top? Katniss. Her sister.
"Katniss!" she screams, her feet running towards her body on their own accord. "Kat! Please say something!" But she didn't, but her eyes moved and she smiled. That was all Madge needed, confirmation that she was alive. "Oh Kat." She hugs the girl tightly and the girl hugs her tightly back.
"I knew you'd come back for me." her voice was raspy and cracking from her dry mouth.
"I love you so much." Madge cries against her sister's shoulder. "I love you so much."
"I love you too."
"Not to break up your reunion or anything, but something's wrong." Josiah the Albino says.
"What? What?"
"Gale." Was all he said before Madge starts running.
It was wrong, like way wrong, for an angel to have any romantic or physical relationship with humans. They were kicked out of heaven and sent to hell as Fallen Angels if it happened. Well, if they were caught.
Madge rushes into the operating room to find Gale with that ashy gray color again. His eyes that were once steel gray were now dirty, cement gray that was losing life quickly. He takes her hand and pulls her around the table closer to him. His hand releases her and shoots up to grab her neck, pulling her down. And he kisses her.
Uh-oh…
A/N: Thank you, EStrunk for the comment on chapter 14 and here's another long one shot for you! Thank you Mahavia for following this! Thank you Gabbeatriz for the comment and compliment. Thank you FieryGoldenPhoenix for the comment as well!
P.S. This is loosely based on Angelfall by Susan Ee. BECAUSE RAFFE IS BAE! So if you haven't read that or you think this one shot is crap...STILL GO READ IT, #AMAZING!
P.P.S. I finally got a tumblr, so if you want to follow me (it's gonna be a lot like this and others that have accounts on here like there and taylor swift lol (i'm not sorry, I really like her and her music!) you can. Anyways, it's Smilerforyou do NOT forget the r in Smiler or you won't get me. I don't have a profile or name on their yet. lol. Ya know, Smiler, as in, Miley Cyrus fan...;)