Disclaimer: I don't own "James Bond" or any of the 007 characters, wishful thinking aside.
Authors Note #1: I wanted to do a little OOQ wing fic and got carried away. Inspired by the following prompt: "Humans can not fix the problem because humans are the problem."
Warnings: angel!Q, mild language, canon appropriate violence, drama, angst, romance, pining, wing fic, religious themes and references, angels and demons, blood and injury.
Suspire
Chapter Five
"Trap...Q, it's a trap."
The moment he appeared behind Bond, he knew he'd run out of time. Worse, on the right side of the room there was a pitted mirror that spanned the entire wall. Highlighting more than his most glaring sins as Bond stilled – sensing his presence. Dress shirt sweat-slick and stained with the crusts of old blood as he slowly uncurled.
There was no way Bond wouldn't see him.
The moment he raised his head, it would all be over.
But he didn't have time to contemplate any of that.
He'd barely gotten the gag off before the demon appeared in the doorway. Stinking of sulfur and cloaked in hell-flumes. Warping the air as every muscle in him pulled tight.
"What a bold little thing you are," the creature murmured. The treads of his boots leaving the imprint of hell-pitch as he approached. It shouldn't have been visible at all. But he could see it. Bond could see it. His jaw worked as the ashy tar reluctantly disappeared. As if Hell had grown so powerful the concrete couldn't take more poison. "Still breaking your father's rules, I see. We have that in common."
His wings arched under his skin. Disgust visceral. Grounded only by the keen of a soul he knew better than the chords of the universe as Bond's scent rose in the close space. Giving him strength to rally. So, instead of retorting, he angled his body to cover the action as he slipped the gun he'd brought into Bond's bound hands.
One thing at a time.
"How many of you are left? Hmm? The last vanguard of an abandoned post. Judging by the state of things there can't be many," the demon snarled bitingly. "We won. You lost. Your kind is just prolonging the inevitable. Why not leave them to their fate? They are flawed...easily corrupted. So many forsake his name by choice. Not even their father's fathers were so bold. At least they believed in something - their pantheons of lesser gods."
He caught Bond's reflection in the mirror. But he couldn't identify the expression on his face.
"God welcomed atheists," he pointed out. Remembering the lattice of confused wonder and hesitant supplication in the welcomings he'd witnessed. The angry questions. The silence. The lilting hope. "They didn't believe without question. They questioned not to disprove, but to understand. Faith takes many forms. Blind faith is still blind. …It was never a sin to question."
He needed to buy time.
Enough time to find a way out of this.
Enough time for Bond to-
The demon laughed, dark and churlish. Clicking the door shut behind him as he stepped boldly into the room. Daring him to lash out and tip his hand early.
"Love was all he asked. Love for all mankind. Love for all his creations," he continued, stalling. Looking for an opening. For something. Anything.
He needed to get Bond away from here.
"Love is a glue trap for lesser beings," the demon sneered. "After all, the dark prince loved. How could God punish his favorite child for acting out of love? Something he prizes above all?"
The hairs on the back of his neck prickled.
Blasphemy.
"Lucifer fell for himself," he snapped, keeping his attention on the way the demon had managed to inch forward. "He fell out of jealousy. Not love."
"His father brought home a new puppy," the demon taunted. Lips blackening as the creature started to be affected by his grace. "Can you blame him for wanting to toss it in the river?"
The light always reveals the darkness.
Tiny tremors rumbled from the cracking concrete under his feet, too shallow for a human to feel, but not for an Angel.
Or a demon.
And as if in response, the creature bared it's teeth, eyes piercing as it's gaze shifted to Bond.
"You weren't there in the beginning. You stink of youth. I can smell it. The older ones are more jaded. They know the truth. …I was there. I too once called him father. I fell. I fell with him. I chose it. Because Lucifer was right. I watched the dark prince shed tears like blood for decades... all because he dared not to love the new, unworthy child!" the demon roared, pointing a clawed finger at Bond, spittle flying. Dappling the ground and hissing angry steam on contact.
Traitor!
His wings bristled under his skin as he stepped forward. Keeping Bond safe behind him. Protected. Their roles reversed as Bond shifted - hackles up. Every human muscle singing with tension. Lethal and beautiful, but ultimately ill-equipped to face what was in front of them.
"I'll admit, I was surprised to find your scent on him. It's been a long time since I've sent a child of light to the ether," the demon sneered, pointing a finger at him. "What is your claim on him? Hmmm? What would your superiors think? Fraternizing like this? …Oh, this really is too good."
Bond shifted behind him again. Body language furious. Analyzing. Confused. Focused.
"Is that why you took him? Because of me?" he forced, cut-throat curious.
The demon tilted his head. Mocking him.
"Maybe. Or perhaps it was because he messed up some plans of mine. Figured I'd let off some steam and get some information – find out who he was working for. But then I got a whiff of him and here we are. He reeks of heaven. …You marked him. I knew you'd come looking."
Privately, he was relieved. This meant the kidnapping was merely by chance. An opportunity the demon had exploited and nothing more. It had started with the Ambassador and his family. The demon had something to do with it that- not this. It wasn't because Bond was-
"And here you are...all feisty and clean. Marking humans like a feral. Disgusting."
He closed his eyes, head bowed for a quick moment before looking up with eyes that glowed so blindingly blue, Bond flinched away.
Even fallen grace was a powerful thing.
He hadn't let his free since he'd chosen to stand with his father's favored.
There hadn't been the need…until now.
"The human is under my protection. You will let us pass," he commanded, in the old tongue. A language not heard on earth for centuries. Causing the demon to clutch his ears and hiss. Façade dropping to reveal his true face. Warped, twisted and inhuman.
The light would always reveal the dark.
Just as the dark could then swallow it.
Both sides equal.
Forever unable to triumph over the other.
"Or what?" the demon hissed, voice building into a roar that made his nails dig into the meat of his palms. "You're barely a nestling. I crawled out of the great pits long before you were sparked by his hand. The human is mine, as are you. I'm going to enjoy peeling the skin from his bones and snapping your flights to dust!"
He closed his eyes, watching Bond watch him. Reflecting in the mirror the same way light reflected all manner of sins. Lies. Particularly lies of omission. An offense of which he was far too guilty.
But this time, the path was already chosen for him.
There was no other way.
He allowed himself the brief whimsical hope that Bond would understand before he exhaled and shifted.
A sheath of divine light lit up the room. A hallmark to the moment his wings burst from his back. Shredding his clothes as the fabric fell slack. Wings hunching up like a bird about to take flight. Predatory and ready as the demon jerked back, eyes darting from him, to his wings, to Bond, then back again. The demon bared his blackened teeth when his spear, forged in the holy fires of heaven itself, appeared in his hand. Expanding into a thin golden lance he hadn't needed to bring forth in over a millennium.
He would fight.
For love.
For-
"The war will only be over when the last of creation draws its final breath. God didn't forsake humanity, not even when they disappointed him. We will not forsake them either," he said quietly, wings vibrating with static energy. The hell-tainted air oily and foul against his feathers as he allowed them to stretch to their full width.
It had been so long that the pleasure was sharp - like a limb that had fallen asleep.
Unable to resist the need to puff the feathers, straining against the tug of sore muscles and ill-kept flights.
But that only made the demon's smile cruel - taut lips pulling sharp. Eying his plumage with a sickly grin. Aware on some level he was posturing, trying to appear bigger than he was as the ragged sound of Bond's breathing made him want to disappear.
"I'm impressed, youngling."
He didn't rise to the bait, nor the sarcasm. Instead, he held his ground. Tugging the remnants of his shirt and jumper with a sharp motion that fluttered the pieces to the ground. Leaving him naked, pale and painfully exposed.
"If I've exceeded your expectations, you've merely underestimated me," he replied, steadier than he felt as his heart raced in his chest. Grace pulsing under delicate human skin as the demon hissed and darted forward. Grabbing a piece of broken pipe and brandishing it.
Bond actually huffed something dangerously close to a laugh.
If it had been any other situation he would have rolled his eyes.
Insane prat.
But for some reason it made him feel stronger. Confident that if Bond could see this – see him – and still laugh, everything might turn out alright after all.
The lance in his hand hummed with divine energy. Reminding him of better days. Of the warmth of his brothers and sisters in the roosting halls. The vast training grounds and holy fellowship. Everything he'd pushed away as the centuries flowed past. He let it all come back as he twirled the lance in his hands. Showing the demon he wasn't unused to it's weight. He'd trained for this. Fallen for this. Held out for-
The demon twitched, chin jutting forward as sharp teeth snapped in irritation. About to say something when the c-c-click of Bond's cuffs falling slack echoed in the quiet.
Ah.
He exhaled, then moved.
His feet were barely on the ground when the demon launched at him. It was a fight that all of creation recognized down to stray molecules. Feeling sharp teeth tearing where his wings met his shoulders before he swung his lance and sent the demon flying. The entire building trembling as good and evil clashed in the flesh for the first time in a millennium.
His last conscious thought was a muted prayer.
A plead for forgiveness from a long dead father.
But mostly for a man - for a son of Adam - to live.
A/N: Thank you for reading, please let me know what you think. There will be more to come.