They glared at each other with heated eyes, neither one making to move first, and not a word spoken between them.
"This isn't the first choice on my list either."
"At least we agree on that."
He glared at the fledgling, and she glared right back, both an equal match for the other. This was not a team up that they would normally do had the circumstances not called for it. With all four Archangel off assisting Father with something in a distant universe, it made for an opportune moment to those wishing to set siege on Heaven's borders, and those slimy bastards in the underworld were nothing if not opportunistic beasts. They had come at nightfall as everyone was turning in for the night, no one was prepared for the sudden attack, not the Principalities nor the Powers.
The only one in the training barracks who managed to get away was young Paul, who was well adept in disappearing into shadows around him, and he missed to concerned looked sent to where he had been standing just moments earlier that now sat vacant. There was only one he knew, who was just as agile and fluid as he was, just as young as he had been when he'd started, and he made his way through the garden to the inner circle hidden within the trees.
Akeelah had been frightened out of the Morningstars bed, darted across the hall to Michael's room and snagged the daggers he let her use from his belt, and ran for the sanctum of the garden.
Her and Paul glared at one another with the fire of a thousand suns.
"But they need our help." He looked pained as he continued on "We need to be a team for this one."
She looked sick just thinking about it, even went so far as to mimic vomiting at the thought of the suggestion, which only served to annoy him more. They had no intention of being friends, ever, but often enough played nice for the Power Captain that they shared between them.
"Fine. But this doesn't mean were friends."
"Obviously. I can't stand you."
"The sight of you makes me want to vomit."
He held his hand out to her and she eyed it warily for a moment before reaching out her own, their fingers curled, and they shook their temporary truce into place. Lasting only as long as it needed and then going back to the way it was before it was necessary.
They came together, kneeling before the patch of dry dirt, and he drew up a plan of attack, normally she would have fought him on it but given the situation she knew his plans would be better suited seeing as he was actually in training whereas she just observed.
Step one in their plan was the free the Powers.
After some stealthy scoping they found the elite force being held on the steps of the Throne Room, backs turned to their capturers and hands bound behind their backs, they kneeled on the first step. They observed the ones guarding them, didn't notice anything too special, newer made demons were often give such roles as it wasn't hard to keep captives in place.
Akeelah crept along the outer edge of the Aerie, up behind the guarding demons keeping the Powers in place from afar, should the ones standing guard before them fail at their one job. Only two, one big and the other small, Paul was on the other side waiting to jump on the bigger one. She met his eyes from above and they shared a nod, jumping from their perches, she landed on the demons shoulders and he faltered at the sudden appearance of an angel, and jammed her dagger into its skull before he could call for help, Paul made just as quick work next to her with the big one, and soon two bodies fell to the floor unmoving.
The Powers dared not move, not with the threat hanging over the heads of the others, not all angels in Heaven were warriors and thus relied on those who were for their safety.
They heard a shout of surprise from behind and exchanged quick looks, the sound of boots running farther away echoing softly until they disappeared completely. Nisroc started at the sudden appearance of a fledgling before him, not there one moment and then appearing the next, the others looked over in equal amounts shock, Akeelah crouched before the Captain and smiled "I'm the winner this time too." Crawling softly around him to undo his hands. She followed suit with the others and they stood, stretching out sore legs, and gathered their weapons where they had been stacked when they'd been captured.
He knelt slightly, grimacing at the ache of protest from his knee "What are you doing here, Baby Power?"
"Saving you, duh."
"You should be hiding."
"Then who would've saved you?"
Titus squeezed his shoulder from behind, "As much as I hate to say it, but, the fledgling does have a point."
Haniel gave her a confused look "How did you get passed the guards? From what I could tell there was two sets."
She shrugged as though it was no big deal "We went after the ones in the Aerie first, and then these ones, no biggie." And waved his confusion off for the moment, "We?"
"Me and Paul. He took them over there.", she pointed into the darkness and they squinted in their attempt to see, and turned back at their failure "But he'll be back."
Nisroc nodded, gripping the hilt of his sword loosely, as he always did in battle, "Stay at our side, alright?"
"Got it!"
They stalked forward, meeting Paul across the way, and carried on. They fought with hard determination and amazing strength, focused completely on the task at hand, but watched the two temporary allies fight side by side. Paul went high while Akeelah went low, working together in a way that one would think impossible, from the way they didn't get along in any normal circumstance. The Principalities were freed next, and together with the Powers they managed to free the Virtues.
The battle lasted well into the morning, the sun rising around them, and only turned in their favor as the sun crested in the East and slowly but surely they managed to force the demons back through the gates and into the pit.
They all returned to see the two of them glaring at each other, one staring at their hand in horror, and the other wiping it vigorously on their robe as if trying to wipe something off.
"You touched me!"
"Get it off!"
They rolled their eyes at the pair of them.