I left with Charlie and Ketch that morning. A lot of us would be moving around. Angels were working harder and harder to try and get our positions, and we needed to scatter smartly. Mary and Jack were going to stay here and work on updating wardings. Bobby was going to go to the Salvage Camp and work on organizing troops from there.

The plan was that Charlie, Ketch, and I would meet Bobby at the Salvage Camp after the hostage release. The intercept point was only a day out from Bobby's, so we'd bring the new recruits to him and go from there on escorting him to a safe camp. I'd either break off at that point to return to Jack and Mary and keep working on getting the hang of magic again.

I'd be back in three or four days, tops. A break for a few days. No need to do any magic.

It felt good.

The march on to the intercept point was almost relaxing. We kept a brutal pace, alternating between a fifteen minute sprint and a five minute jog. Ketch held to it the easiest of the three of us, maintaining point to keep guard. Charlie stayed in the middle, and I held up the rear.

Once we got closer to the approximate intercept point, we formulated a quick plan. Ketch and Charlie would stay on the ground, and I'd take to the trees the second we heard them. Angels didn't like to show up in the treetops, it bothered them. And apparently the actual me from this world had done that frequently.

It was my "specialty," as Charlie put it.

I thanked Bobby quietly for making sure I knew how to do what the other me had done. We started to search quickly and quietly, keeping low and together. Ketch heard the footsteps first, pointing southeast and offering numbers on his fingers 20 yards.

That was close. That was extremely close.

Charlie motioned to a tree and nodded to me. "They're coming this way." Ketch agreed. We could intercept them here.

I scrambled up the tree quickly, waiting until I was about 20 feet up to creep out onto some branches. Ketch and Charlie moved back a little bit. If we timed it right, they'd stop the angels right below me.

They hid behind a nearby overturned… I honestly wasn't certain what it was, and I didn't care that much. It was some big wooden construct that didn't look like it belonged.

"For high crimes against the realm and its exalted ruler Michael," we heard the angels talking as they drew nearer. They sounded like they were gloating over the person. They were also getting closer and closer within range. "The prisoner is condemned to death." As I watched them approach, I saw two angels escorting a hooded figure. Something nagged at me as they drew nearer.

Charlie had said there would be multiple prisoners, at least two or three.

Had the others already been executed?

I didn't have time to question it further. They arrived almost directly below me, and Ketch and Charlie made their move. They came out quickly from behind the construct, their guns raised and ready.

"That will do." Ketch said decisively. The angels stopped, seeing the guns trained on them. Everyone had angel-killing bullets. Ketch and Charlie were no exception.

Charlie stepped forwards to the prisoner. They were out in front of everyone else, and almost directly under me. As she moved, so did Ketch, to ensure that he still had clear lines of sight.

"Easy." Charlie said. Her voice was soft and kind, if not a little triumphant sounding. She pulled the hood off of the man. "It's alright. You're safe now." I could almost hear the small smile in her voice. "We're gonna get you out of here."

Charlie smiled, removing the sack from the top of the hostage's head. "It's alright." She told them. I could hear the smile in her voice. "You're safe now."

It went sideways after that. From what I could see the hostage offered her a smile in return, one that almost looked genuine, as he dropped a blade into his palm.

Angel.

This wasn't a hostage transfer. This was a trap.

"Watch out!" I shouted. I was too late, though. The angel moved quicker, shedding their hostage persona as they grabbed Charlie and spun her around. It pressed it's blade tightly against her throat. I reacted on autopilot, dropping from my spot in the trees onto the false hostage. The execution was quick, with the force of my fall driving my blade through the back of the angel's spine. He screamed, his body shining brightly as his grip on Charlie slackened. She sprinted back to Ketch quickly, as did I. It was me in front of Charlie and Ketch, standing between them and the angels.

They started to advance, but I raised a hand. "No." I ordered, my voice firm. That made them pause. "Take another step, and it'll be the end of you two." I kept one hand empty and outstretched, my palm facing the angels. The other hand held one of my angel blades, primed and ready to fight.

"But will it be the end of all of us?" The blonde angel asked. He whistled, once, and I heard footsteps from around us. More angels.

I started to doubt whether or not we could take all of them.

"What are you doing?" Ketch whispered. He sounded confused and angered.

"Lower your weapons, and we'll gladly take the three of you alive." The blonde angel offered. He raised an eyebrow at me. "I know Michael will want to see you personally, Kai."

"Put it down." Ketch ordered. His gun was still up and trained, but with those words I could see him out of the corner of my eye starting to lower it. Charlie's… She'd dropped hers by the angels. They saw it, and kicked it back far behind them.

"There's too many." Charlie agreed.

"No." I argued. "I'm not letting the two of you get caught. You both know what'll happen."

"I'm not about to commit suicide for your own bravado." Ketch replied. I heard him set his gun down behind me.

"Neither of you are going to die." I promised, offering them one glance. From there I took a breath, adjusting my stance.

I react.

Jack said I react, and this was the time to react all right. I just had to do it right.

This was going to hurt, though.

"Let us go." I ordered, my voice firm. I kept my hand outraised towards the angels before me. They stayed away, their curiosity and uncertainty just barely above their confidence in their own abilities. Or maybe they were just confident enough to humor me. "Take me, if you have to, but let the others go."

"And what makes you more valuable than them?" The blonde angel challenged.

"You know who I am." I started. "Look at my face, if you don't." I looked around the small clearing. There were at least twelve to fifteen angels around us that I could see. "Look at who I am!" I shouted to all of them. "I've killed hundreds of you angels before." I was thinking quickly. React. React. Get them out. Get us all out. Jack and Mary had listed things I'd been able to do. "How many of you were certain you would win until I came along? How many of you had faith when you heard I was dead, but look at where I'm at now!" Think. Think. THINK. Get us out. Get us out. You know you know how, you just have to find it. Today wasn't the day I'd learn which was worse – Jack headaches or angelic torture. "I've cheated death. I've killed countless of your kind. And you all know, if you don't let them go," We had to get word back to Bobby that it was a setup. Get to Bobby.

At the thought of that, I could see an image just barely forming in my mind. There was a safe spot not too far away from where Bobby was now. The Salvage Yard.

The angels were afraid of me, and I could see it, but they were also curious. "You know I'll make it out, and I'll be coming for each and every one of you. You can kill me, but I'll just come back again."

"You're just giving us a good reason to take all three of you, and kill you quickly." The blonde angel sneered. "I doubt you'll be coming back after what we'll do to you."

"But what if I never died in the first place?" I asked them. I could see that point growing clearer. It was getting brighter and firmer and more real somehow, just in my mind. I could get us there. We could run and fight and hopefully try to survive whatever they threw at us, or I could get us out. I could see us there. I could see us at the safe point. I could see that image start to become more concrete and real in my mind.

Why don't you just do the right thing and die?! Kevin's voice screamed in the back of my mind, interrupting my thoughts for a moment. We could've lived. You killed us!

I blinked, just once, and the picture in my mind fractured. I kept seeing Kevin's face, accusatory and angry and standing in my stead. He was flickering between the two Kevins I'd seen in my dream, each switch angrier than the last.

I couldn't place myself with them to safety. I kept trying to put myself back in with them, and it kept fracturing the picture. But when I took myself out…

I could see it, clear as day. I could see Charlie and Ketch safe and running. They'd be able to make it to Bobby. They'd make the right call. They'd tell Mary and Jack.

I could only place them.

I could live with that. Maybe the angels would kill me on accident instead.

"What if you've been wrong this whole time?" I asked the angels, goading them. The image was almost completely solid; nearly touchable. I just needed a little bit longer.

"Kai, what are you talking about?" Charlie asked. I ignored her, and kept going.

"What if I'm not the Kai you all saw before?" I shouted. I could see an idea starting to form in the angel's eyes. "I'm not from this world, I'm from the other world. I know how to cross between them." I looked around, taking another look back at Ketch and Charlie. Charlie looked a little betrayed, but more surprised. Ketch… He looked like I'd just punched him in the gut. His face, something he normally kept under careful stillness, betrayed his emotions to show his surprise and… was that pain?

I didn't have time to analyze that further, though. I had something to do. I focused back forwards on the angels. I could see it. I could see where to send them. I could reach out and touch it. "I can close the Rifts and open them again. I can get across. I can do more than my counterpart from this world could ever hope to accomplish." I took a breath, looking around at the angels once more.

I was OK with this.

I could do this.

"So, you'll take me, and let my friends go."

"And why is that?" One of the angels asked, sneering. They looked ready to pounce.

"Because I'm not just another human." I took two steps backwards swiftly, bringing me even with Charlie and Ketch. "I'm a witch, too." From there, I reacted. I dropped my angel blades and slammed both my hands backwards behind me. Jack said I could teleport.

I may not be able to teleport myself, but I could see Charlie and Ketch there. I could teleport them. I could do something right with magic and save people.

One hand connected squarely with Charlie, and in an instant she was gone; far away, where she would be safe and could get back to the others to let them know what happened. The effort made me a little weary, but I was still pretty fine.

The other hand should've hit Ketch at the same time, but it missed. I whirled over to him hurriedly, and saw he'd adjusted his body purposefully to move away from me. I felt myself shouting at him, lunging at him, as angels shouted and lunged all around us. The angels were shouting for them to grab us before it was too late, or asking where Charlie went or how I did that or why they couldn't track her. They were adamant about grabbing me before I disappeared too. I knew I couldn't, though. I didn't know how to make myself disappear, in my mind. I could only imagine the others safe.

I was yelling at Ketch to run. I was yelling at him to go, to let me help him escape, to do something to save himself. He was just staring at me in absolute shock, unable to comprehend what he was seeing but also stubborn and determined to stay here. I reached out again towards him, and he moved away again, shaking his head.

The angels grabbed me before I could do it a third time. Four of them, five, six, seven, all grabbing me and pulling me away and asking how I did that and what I'd done and too many questions for me to answer amidst the flurry of blows they began dealing to me. I just kept looking at Ketch being held by three angels, unable to understand myself how he wouldn't want to escape. He could protect Charlie. He could get back to the others and let them know what happened. He could've been safe.

The angels hauled me backwards several yards quickly, laughing as they began to rain down more punches and kicks and pain.

I couldn't get to Ketch.

I couldn't get myself out.

I couldn't even struggle at that point.

I could've saved them both. He didn't have to die. He didn't need to die. He could've gotten out safely with Charlie. He could've kept going.

When the angels learned I had no clue how to do anything I did, we would both certainly be dead.