AN: Happy Belated Birthday Casaliamaeryth! I'm sorry it's late! I just started a second job and am pooped! I hope you enjoy it!

They peered out from around the corner they hid behind, rather stealthily if you asked them, the archangel looking down when he felt the little fingers curl into his thigh as a small head of curls peered around his leg to gaze down the hall with him, and he smiled.

"I think the coast is clear."

His companion nodded in agreement, "It's clear Gabe."

They ran around the corner, running down the hall for the office, Gabriel curled his fingers gingerly around the door handle and turned it slowly until the click indicated that the locking mechanism had pulled from the hatch it locked onto. The office was empty of bodies, until they walked in, crossing over the threshold rather quickly to peer out the window behind the desk. It was a high window, and he had to lift his partner in crime up for her to peer out the window with him, four sets of eyes settling on their target. He was thoroughly distracted, sparring with his captain, it being the day designated that the Power's trained and with them trained their commander.

The Messenger set her down in his brothers large leather chair behind his desk, "You move stuff around. Make it all disorganized."

She nodded firmly, leaning forward to mess about the desk, as any soldier would, Michael was extremely organized and tidy. He kept his office clear of clutter, maintained his desk with a special organizational plan, and kept his room at the villa spotless.

Akeelah smiled in joy as she moved the things about, it wasn't often that she got to play tricks against her biggest brother, he had to be in the right mood for them, or he would come find you and give quite the scolding, even to fledglings. There was no telling what mood he would be in when he came to find this, but it was fun, and Gabe was here so if all else failed she could melt his resolve by crying and blame it all on the Messenger, it worked every time. Michael would apologize for being so rough and take her into his arms, every single time, and then go find the Messenger to give him a rather firm tongue lashing for his trickery.

Akeelah grabbed a stack of papers and threw them over her head, laughing lightly, the sound of bells ringing, as they fluttered all around her.

Her task completed, she sat back in the chair to watch as her companion in crime moved things about that were too big for her to manage, and she hummed lightly as she leaned forward for a stray piece of parchment, folding the corners and edges together in a creation of her own.

Gabriel peered over his shoulder, not seeing the paper she had been folding, "Check outside again."

She nodded, setting her paper crane on the desk, hopped from the chair to push it over to the window, and climbed up to peer out.

Michael was gone, and the Power's were reaching for their swords, as was the weapon of choice for this training match.

The fledgling turned quickly, braids whipping through the air, "He's gone!"

"He's gone?"

Gabriel rushed for the door, peering down the hall in the direction that his older brother would come from his way from the training field below, he turned to grab his brothers sword and gestured for the fledgling to come.

"Let's make our escape now before he catches us!"

She nodded, carefully hopping down from the chair she stood on, and ran across the office to his side, taking hold of his trouser leg, and they bolted down the hall together in the opposite direction of the training field.

Lady Luck allowed them to turn the corner just as the eldest archangel came into view down the hall, making his way to his office at a steady pace to retrieve his sword, and immediately noticed the way the door stood ajar. He knew he had closed it when he left for the training field earlier that morning. He slowed his pace, standing outside his office, and gingerly pushed the door open with his left hand.

Frowning at the state of his office, knowing that it had not been this messy when he had left it, he stepped in to peer around the space more thoroughly. He took note of the objects moved out of place, the mess that had become his desk, objects placed at random, the parchments of the newest recruits medical files flung about.

And there, sitting peacefully among the utter chaos, was a small paper crane.

He stepped around the pages carefully, Raphael would have a fit if he came to him requesting him to re-examine the recruits due to the pages being destroyed carelessly, and gingerly lifted the crane with two fingers. He set it in his palm, tilting it this way and that, humming under his breath at the craftmanship of the little creation.

"Sir?" he turned at the call, peering over his shoulder, nodding his grant for entrance once, before turning back to the crane he held "You hadn't returned. I grew worried…..Is that a paper crane?"

Nisroc came to stand at his side, and glanced up at him for his reply, and the oldest archangel nodded in affirmation, "Indeed." He looked up to his captain "Why do you ask?"

"Well, sir, I have one that looks just like that."

Michael tilted his head to the side only slightly, "You do?"

The Power nodded, reaching into the breast of his leather vest, and pulled out a paper crane folded in the exact same fashion that the one the archangel held was. It was slightly bent a bit, crumbled only a tad, but the resemblance was present.

"Where did you get it?" the archangel turned completely to stand before his soldier, his fingers folding delicately over the little paper creation he held in his palm, and the Power looked back up from his own keepsake, "Akeelah made it for me. She had joined me while I was going through the records for the training squadron I had taken after the last Choosing Day. You know how she likes to draw, so I had handed her a blank page, and she handed this back to me." He shrugged, "I suppose she has picked up another craft to preoccupy herself with."

Michael hummed, a slight smile crossing his features, "And you carry it with you?"

"I had promised to keep it with me always." His Power smiled at him "I am an angel of my word."

He nodded in amusement, his captain was smitten with the fledgling, just as much as he was with his two charges, and it never ceased to amuse him at what they could get his mightiest warrior to do with a simple request and an innocent smile.

"Nisroc."

The Power stood at attention, swiftly tucking the crane away and straightening, "Sir."

"You are to take over training today." He looked down to the paper crane and curled it away, "I have some things to attend to for the rest of the afternoon."

Nisroc raised an eyebrow, but nodded to the command "Yes, sir."

…

He went for the little fledgling first. If he could get answers from anyone, especially if there was more then one person involved, and it seemed as though there very well was as the fledgling would not have been able to take his sword alone, he would get those answers from the fledgling rather easily. If she could not provide the location of his sword, then he would gather the name of the one that did, and then perhaps a bit more just to make her laugh a bit.

The archangel found her in the Garden, where she spent most of her time while they were busy leading their flocks during the daytime hours, sitting quietly under a willow tree. With practiced ease, he crept up behind her in practiced silence, coming to listen to her humming to herself, and loom over her to watch as she folded another piece of parchment in similar fashion that she had folded the one he carried with him.

He knelt behind her, holding his arm out around her, palm up to display the crane he held. She started at the sudden appearance of his arm and stared at the crane that lay innocently in his palm, "It is quite beautiful, little one."

She turned partially around, little fingers still curled around her semi created creation, her eyes wide in surprise "Micha!" her eyes stared into his and he got the vague feeling that she was trying to determine his mood, and she was, her safety and personal happy attitude depended on the one that came with his presence and apparent knowledge of their doings, and she needed to know whether or not she should start crying or not.

Worked every time.

But he looked away, his face a stony mask, and she was unable to decipher the mystery of what his mood could be when he did as he looked back down to the crane he held.

"Where did you learn to make them?"

She licked her lips nervously, slowly turning around to face him, tucking her legs under her on the soft grass "Joshua showed me."

Michael hummed, outside of them, and Nisroc, and Zaveriel, she spent the most time with Joshua. He was not her minder, but he played the part during the day when she joined him in the garden, there were many tricks he had taught their fledgling that they had yet to figure out. Joshua was not one of many words, and he held plenty of secrets; his own and others, and he knew more then some would think of him.

"You will never guess where I found this one."

His gaze returned upwards, an eyebrow cocked upwards as he peered at her, his expression hard and stony. Her eyes widened at the look, the half-completed crane falling from her hands, and that little lower lip began to wobble. He rolled his eyes as it did, the façade cracking just a bit as he set the crane down and reached for her, he knew that she cried to get out of scolding's. He was not a fool. He knew that she played on his emotions, he knew that she knew he hated seeing her cry, he would readily admit that the little fledgling had him wrapped around her finger.

There was no time for tears to fall as she was snatched up, a yelp of surprise escaping her as she was pulled from her spot, held up above the archangels head.

"I know of only one who makes these delicate little creations, and I found this one, when coming in search of my sword, only to find it was missing." She stared down at him, and his hard façade fell away as he smiled up at her playfully, squeezing her middle lightly to elicit bell like giggles from her, "So I will ask you once, only once, where is my sword?"

The fledgling giggled still and shrugged, he smiled up at her even more, winking at her "You have no idea how much I was hoping you'd do that." It gave him an excuse, not that he really needed to have one, to pull her close as he fell backwards, crossing his arms around her back and dig his fingers back into her sides, as he turned them over so that he may be above, and she be below.

She arched her back, shrieking brightly at the fingers that dug rather cruelly into her sides, little fingers scrabbling for his, curling around them to try and pull them away. They did little to inhibit his attack, merely a minor inconvenience that he worked with despite it's attempts to stop him, fully grown angel struggled to stand against the oldest archangel so there was no breath of a hope that a fledgling would.

While he was paying attention anyway.

That one time she had managed to get the up on him would forever be remembered in everyone's minds.

"Mihihihicha!"

He smiled down to the wriggling fledgling, "Are you going to tell me what I want to hear?"

"Mihihihicha! Stohohohop!"

"Pity," he shook his head in mock disappointment, his fingers curling around hers and pulled her hands away from her sides, "I was hoping you wouldn't force me to resort to such measures." At the moment his fingers locked around hers, she knew what he was about to do, and shook her head adamantly for him not to do it, "No! No Mihihicha!"

He smiled to her, "But I must," he bent over to her left side, "If you won't tell me what I want to hear." There had been a time that she had thought that her little robe would protect her from such mean actions, and it was a notion that he had quickly dispelled, in the same manner, as he buried his face into her side. The fledgling screamed brightly, laughter exploding from her in bright waves, when he nibbled on a spot he knew to be particularly special. Her fingers spread in his grip, the muscles in her arms stiffening, he felt them, as he continued his rather cruel attack on her left side. The archangel let go of her fingers, unwinding his arms from under her, and in that brief moment of freedom her hands curled around his head, both tugging at his hair and pushing at him in an attempt to dislodge him. But he caught her hands once more rather easily, lifting them up above her head, and he lifted himself to look into her eyes, so bright and full of happy laughter, he couldn't help but laugh a soft deep rumble of his own as he leaned forward to kiss her on the forehead.

"Will you tell me?"

She giggled lightly, at the residual tingles in her side, and shook her head.

He chuckled softly again, these days had become rare between them since the last Choosing Day, regrettably so.

"Well, perhaps your lips may loosen soon."

The archangel leaned over, burying his face into her left underarm, her scream echoed in his ear for a moment and he chuckled into the smooth skin when he felt her feeble attempts to pull her hands free from his grip. It didn't take long for her to give her partner in crime away. It was a man eat man world out there, and in this case, there was a big brother munching on her, and she quickly gave him away for her own salvation.

He pulled away a moment after the name left her lips, pressing their foreheads together, her little chest heaving under him.

"I should have known that Gabriel was behind this." He chuckled softly, "And that he would easily get you to join him."

When he kissed her nose and pulled away only to lean over to her right side, her eyes widened and she leaned as far away from him as she could manage, "No! No! Micha I told you! You said you stop if I said!"

He wink at her playfully, "No I didn't."

…

"Hello, baby brother."

Gabriel's golden eyes widened at his voice, he dropped the parchments he'd been holding and spun around to meet the gaze of his older brother, standing in the doorway of his office.

Arms crossed and leaning against the doorframe, Michael tilted his head, "A little birdie told me you have something of mine?"

The Messenger shook his head quickly, he knew rather well how terribly brutal his older brother could be when it came to delivering comeuppance for pranks, which is why he rarely set out against him, and he looked for a way out immediately. His eyes lingered on his windows, he pondered the consequences of him jumping from them, and he turned back around again at the smooth chuckled that echoed in his silent office.

"Make me chase you down, I dare you." He rolled his shoulders and stood up a bit straighter, from over his shoulder, in the plane that all angels kept their wings, Gabriel could see his brothers mighty wings ruffle at the anticipation. He was the fastest flier in Heaven, but Michael was stronger then him, he'd use his grace to slow him down. He knows. It's happened. "We haven't done that in ages." He winked at the youngest archangel "I've always liked the chase. How many times have you succeeded in evading me?"

Gabriel took a step back, "Never." He stared at his brother was apt attention, a deer in the sight of its predator, "Because you cheat."

"And you don't?"

Michael pushed himself away from the doorframe and stepped into the office, closing the door behind him in one fluid motion, striding into the Messenger's office with purpose, "Tell me where my sword is."

He hummed when the Messenger shook his head stubbornly, bending, he cleared the oak desk with a single sweep of his arm, and pushed the youngest archangel over the edge to lay over the top. He leaned over him, thoroughly keeping his beloved baby brother stuck under him until he was through, and he wouldn't be nearly as merciful as he had been with the fledgling.

"I will force your confession then." Gabriel gulped, squirming around when his brother eyed his top carefully, "If I remember correctly, you were always rather sensitive," fingers found their desired destination, "Right here." And they dug in with all the harshness an older brother, as many times over as Michael was, could muster.