Lydia knew that her time was up. She rocked back and forth her hand trembling as it gripped the letter opener. There was no one coming to help her, no one wanted her.
Everything seemed to be caving in around her. She couldn't focus. Her mind was a murky haze.
She'd made a mistake.
She'd fallen asleep only to be woken up abruptly with horrific thoughts circling in her head.
Do it.
No one will miss you.
You aren't worthy.
It will stop all the pain.
You can never be what everyone wants you to be.
If she hadn't been so consumed by the despair that was devouring her, she would have noticed her doctor standing just outside her door.
hr
It took a few moments for Betelgeuse to completely become aware of himself and where he was at, he was in his home, in his bed and had finally managed to get enough rest that he wasn't feeling as if he was drained of all his energy.
There was a constant itch in the back of his mind however, the bond between him and Lydia was tugging tightly urging him to get moving.
He focused all his thoughts to what he needed to do.
He was going into the lion's den and taking back his Lydia.
Betelgeuse stood slowly his hands waving down over his clothes replacing them with his signature black and white stripes. He cracked his fingers and slowly rolled his shoulders releasing the tension that had been building.
With a snap of his fingers, he disappeared.
hr
Azrael stepped up next to Daniel looking through the window of the door to the young woman in the last throws of desperation.
"She looks remarkably like her mother."
Daniel looked at the other Archangel. "Not nearly as resilient though, Emily had been able to ensnare Samael after all."
Azrael tipped his head to the side and watched for a brief moment before he turned and began walking toward Daniel's office. "I'd rather not feel the backlash of her energy as her soul is ripped from her body." He said simply.
Daniel nodded in agreement. "We will be able to see from the monitors when its over."
hr
Betelgeuse appeared in the shadows beside a large oak tree, the darkness of night on his side. He closed his eyes focusing himself on becoming invisible. Slowly he walked toward the building hating how it radiated sorrow, despair, and sadness.
His Lydia was in there.
It tore at something deep with in him, something he had thought he had lost years before.
Gritting his teeth and tempering his anger he slipped silently and unnoticed into the building. He could feel the taint of the Archangels almost instantly, their filth making it nearly unbearable to tolerate. Thick and oily, it permeated everything around them.
He would never understand how they were the ones that had gotten the good rep. They were the ones that were offing the humans just to entertain themselves.
He carefully moved through the hallways, keeping to the shadows, away from where the video cameras would spot him, had he been visible. He wasn't stupid enough to think that there wasn't anything there to keep him from getting to Lydia.
But he would damn well do whatever it took to get her out.
Even if he had to slaughter every fucking archangel in the building and paint the walls with their blood to do it.
The simmering rage was just there under his skin, aching to be released. His powers wanting to stretch and grow.
He started to pass a door and stopped feeling something wash across his skin. He glanced in the door and saw someone he absolutely did not want to see.
Azrael was standing there with Daniel.
Had it just been Daniel, he'd have had no issue dealing with the bastard, but now he would have to deal with Azrael as well.
The sense of urgency to get to Lydia slammed into him. He refused to believe that he was too late. He could see that they both were staring at something, some sort of video screen.
A monitor.
Those bastards were watching Lydia, as if she was some sort of entertainment.
He didn't have time to run through the maze of hallways trying to find her, he had to find her now. Sinking into the shadows he closed his eyes and reached out for his bond to Lydia. "Come on babes, show me where you are." He whispered to himself.
Betelgeuse opened his eyes feeling the urgency to get to Lydia amp up from the way their bond felt. He let it lead him through the hallways to where she was at.
hr
Azrael smiled slowly turning his head toward the door. "He's here."
The two of them faded out of the room and reappeared in front of the girl's door waiting for the Demon to show himself.
hr
Betelgeuse knew that he had found her. But it was also a trap.
Azrael and Daniel stood there outside her door keeping him from getting to her.
He stood there in the shadows waiting to see what their move would be. He figured the sensations he'd felt earlier had been their little early warning system for him.
Why not give them what they were wanting?
Snapping his fingers, he let a low drawling whisper slip out as he stepped out of the shadows into the Archangel's line of sight.
"It's Showtime."
He lunged and threw two balls of pure energy at them making them both leap out of the way, Daniel disappearing completely.
Chickenshit.
He felt his fingers close around the door handle of Lydia's room and yanked it open just as he was pulled back and slammed into the ground, a flaming sword pressing against his neck.
The heat of the holy fire licking at his skin.
"Gotta do better than that Azzie." He growled out his eyes glowing with rage as he snapped his fingers, the sword turning into a snake that turned and lunged at Azrael.
With another wave of his hands the rage consuming him as he banished the Archangel as far as he could. He knew that would only buy him a little bit of time.
He rolled over and moved deftly to his feet sliding into the room. He looked down and saw her.
His Lydia.
A shell of the women he knew.
"Oh Hade's below, what have they done to you Lyds." He rasped out.
He threw his hand up sealing the room completely to keep the two archangels out for a few minutes at least.
He could see her trembling, her head buried in her legs as she tried to protect herself.
It broke him seeing her like this.
"Come here Lyds… lets get you out of here, what do you say." He was slowly inching his way toward her, his fingers twitched slightly turning the sharp silver object in her hand into a soft plush black cat.
It was only then that she finally looked up at him, her body still trembling uncontrollably.
hr
Lydia had been lost in her head till she heard a commotion outside her door. Something was pulling her toward it, it was important. She couldn't stop the mantra still filling her mind until she saw the door fly open.
A flash of black and white and then it was gone.
And then her mind was blissfully silent.
Something surged up in her, it felt the same as what the silver light in her head had.
That terrified her more than anything as she dropped back down against the wall in the corner, she wrapped her arms around her legs to protect herself.
She hid her head not wanting to see what was going to happen, if they were finally going to kill her, she didn't want to see who her would be killer was.
She could hear a grunt of furry and a rough voice calling out to Azrael.
That voice! She knew that voice!
It sent goosebumps over her entire body, her hair on the back of her neck rising.
She scooted back against the wall more.
And then he was there in front of her.
She knew him.
Her memories fighting to return but still just out of her grasp.
She felt the letter opener in her hand change into a soft stuffed cat. Reminding her of the one that had been on her bed when she had been a teenager.
She gasped and looked up at the… man?
She could see his hand extending out to hers, he wanted her to go with him?
"Who are you?" she rasped out, speaking for the first time in weeks.
Betelgeuse felt all his energy sap out of him at Lydia's words.
He'd never in a million years would have thought that she would have forgotten him. Or had they taken her memories of him as well?
"You don't remember me? I'm the Ghost with the most?" he whispered knowing they were running out of time. It wouldn't be long, and Daniel and Azrael would be back with reinforcements.
Lydia squeezed her eyes closed; the pain was back. Just like it had been before when she had been on the verge of remembering something. "I can't… something, something is stopping it." She whispered looking up at him.
"Please." She rasped out, her voice shaky and weak as she begged for anything.
Anything was better than what she was dealing with there.
She held tight to the stuffed cat still in her hand.
Betelgeuse nodded slowly seeing the pain on her face as she tried to force herself to remember. Hopefully Vanth would be able to help with that. "Yeah, got somewhere safe we can go till this all blows over." He whispered and held his hand out for her again. "Just gotta hold on babes."
Lydia kept a hold of the small stuffed kitten and reached her hand out for him. His touch felt… safe, familiar.
Betelgeuse carefully pulled Lydia into his arms wrapping himself around her and snapped his fingers.
The two of them disappearing just as the door shattered from the outside and Azrael and his officers poured in.
hr
"Vanth!" Betelgeuse's voice broke through the darkness as he cradled Lydia into his arms, she'd passed out the second that he had her safely out of the hospital.
He stumbled slightly as he made his way toward Vanth's office. He saw Charun taking up guard at the gate. No one would get passed him.
Vanth heard Betelgeuse's voice echoing and threw open her door running out to him. She stopped seeing the young woman limp in his arms. The desperation in his voice had her assuming the worst… that they were too late.
"What happened." She hurried toward them.
"They set a trap for me, fuckers really thought that I didn't have any powers." He shook his head and shifted Lydia in his arms making sure that he didn't drop her.
"Where can I lay her down… I need to check her over… she... she doesn't remember me." His voice cracked.
Vanth frowned softly. "Did Daniel do that?" she asked.
Betelgeuse shook his head. "I don't think so… pretty sure it was done after the whole debacle between us. So, most likely underworld mind shit."
He followed her as she led him back through a small hallway and into a room that had all the amenities that they would need to get by till her birthday. He laid her gently on the bed. He snapped his fingers, her clothes changing from the gray drab hospital issued clothing to soft black pajamas. Ones she'd favored when he'd first met her.
He looked up at Vanth as he collapsed in the chair next to the bed. "Will you be able to help her with her memories… gonna be real fucking hard explaining to her about our bond if she doesn't even remember what happened the first go around."
Vanth nodded. "I should be able to… but if not, I do know someone that will be able to." She said not wanting to bring up Semyaza just yet.
Betelgeuse nodded and reached for the bandages on Lydia's hands. He concentrated on making sure that he didn't bump the wounds till he got them uncovered. He was silent as he worked knowing that Vanth was flitting about the room trying to stay close incase he needed her help.
He finally got the last of the gauze off her right hand and brushed his fingertips over the crescent shapes bloody marks embedded in the palm of her hand.
He knew what caused that… she had done that to herself. For what reason he didn't know. He let his energy build in his fingers and gently pushed it into each of the wounds watching them as they knit together and smoothed away leaving unblemished skin.
Betelgeuse repeated the same thing with her left hand and healed the marks before he gently pulled the blanket up around her. He brushed his hand over her forehead tenderly, pushing the hair back. It had gotten long in their time apart. She'd gone and grown up on him.
Rubbing his eyes tiredly he slumped in on himself trying to figure out what he needed to do next, not noticing that Vanth had slipped out leaving him and Lydia alone.
hr
Vanth slipped away shutting the door behind her and turned to head back to her office to make sure that everything was in order when Semyaza slid out of the shadows making her jump. She clapped a hand over her mouth to keep from screaming out.
"What are you doing here!" she whispered furiously pushing him toward her office.
Semyaza let himself be pushed toward the office and waited till the door was shut before he turned to her. "I told you that I would be back to set up a ward to keep those good for nothing meddlers away." He said his eyes narrowing. "I've already gotten word that the hunt is on. They want them both banished to the nether planes."
Vanth's eyes widened. That was the one place that no being wanted to be sent to. It meant complete annihilation of the soul. "How in Hade's did they get the write off on that." She whispered terrified for her friend.
Semyaza arched his eyebrows at her. "I told you, something is happening… changing all the rules and the Arch's are terrified for what that means for them… they are fighting it with all they have regardless of what rules they break in the meantime." He stood up and headed for the door. "I'm going to ward your sanctum… I won't have any danger come to my son or his bondmate." He said with steel in his voice.
Vanth could do nothing as she watched as the leader of the Fallen walked out of her office. He was one of the oldest Fallen, there had been whispers of him being one of Hisfirst sons. But no one would ever ask such a thing. It was a taboo thing to even think about.
All she could do now was wait for Betelgeuse's bondmate to wake up and she could assess the damage done to her mind.