"Raph?"

The archangel looked up at the call of his name, the freshly chosen healer at his side looking up from the file they had been reading to see who had interrupted them, and bit their lip in surprise at the sight of an Egyptian walking freely among the angels and going undisturbed as he strode across the threshold of the Infirmary. Anubis nodded in greeting to the young healer at his friend's side, coming to stand expectantly at the Healer's side, clearly desiring his attention as soon as it could be granted.

"Anubis", the archangel curled his fingers over the deity's shoulder and gave it a rather fond squeeze "Does your need require immediate attention, or may I finish my doings with my student."

"Go ahead, I guess." He waved a hand absently as though he were dismissing the elder in the gesture, the healer student bristled at the disrespect to her teacher, and an arm curled around her lower back and pulled her into the archangels side with gentle ease, as though he could sense her growing frustration at the Egyptian "I can wait."

The Healer raised an eyebrow at the disrespectful gesture made in his direction, but mentally noted it to be brought up at a later time, and he turned back to his student in the meantime to continue reading over the chart. His student returned to his teachings, listening closely as he explained the charts contents. A deep impatient sigh interrupted his explanation, and they both looked up at the Egyptian, impatiently tapping his foot against the stone flooring, arms crossed over his bare chest.

Bright blue eyes watched the deity closely, "Anubis, are you alright?"

The jackal deity nodded silently, looking up at the ceiling above, and they watched him for a moment longer before turning back to the chart. They managed a few more sentences before being interrupted again with another deep impatient sigh, the Egyptian was clearly impatient on whatever matter he had come to discuss with his closest friend, in equal status as his greatest friend Thoth, but just a bit more in the way their relationships differed.

They looked back up at him, stopping another impatient sigh when he noticed their attention directed towards him, tapping the fingers of his right hand against his upper arm.

Raphael stared at him for a moment, and squeezed his students hip lightly, turning to look down at her, "Orion, go with Constantine, he will finish explaining this file and show you what to do." The younger healer seemed against the exchange, in her opinion, her teacher should tell the Egyptian to go wait elsewhere so he could not interrupt them. But she knew better then to be so openly disrespectful, not to an archangel, unlike the Egyptian before them.

So, Orion nodded to her teacher and stepped away to meet up with the Virtue, he had looked over to them at the sound of his name and nodded to her as she approached, holding his hand out for the file she held.

The archangel, in turn, gave his complete attention to the deity, crossing his own arms loosely across his chest "Apologize."

Anubis turned to look at him in shock, his minute pacing coming to a stop, turning around completely to face him.

"Apologize?" he tilted his head, as hounds do when they don't understand something "What for?"

"You don't dismiss me as though I were one of your servants." He stepped forward, their difference in height taking hold, as the archangel looked down at him, and he up at the archangel, "It's disrespectful and I will not be disrespected."

Anubis bristled at the command and shook his head, "No."

Raphael hummed deeply, taking hold of the deity's chin, forcing him into looking up at him "You can apologize willingly, or I can force it from you. Either way, you will apologize to me."

The Egyptians eyes widened at the underlying threat, knowing that it would be followed through with, and he nodded, looking down meekly despite the grip on his chin, "sorry."

"Speak up."

"I'm sorry, Saint Raphael."

"Accepted." The archangel released his chin, brushing a thumb over the smooth skin under his chin and jabbing a swift finger into his stomach with fond affection, "There is no need for such formalities." He curled an arm around his companions shoulders "Let's take this to my office for some privacy."

They crossed the threshold together, and the archangel gestured for the jackal deity to enter first, Anubis ducked out from under his arm and entered the office, bolting for the chair that sat behind the massive file covered oak desk. Raphael chuckled fondly as he closed the door behind him, motioning for the Egyptian to stand from his leather chair, Anubis whined like a pup does when they want something, as the archangel pushed him to the side with a certain gentleness and sat in his chair.

"Come here, pup."

Fingers curled around his waist and pulled him around to sit on the archangels lap, he smiled comfortably and leaned back against the archangels chest, feeling arms wind around his waist. A chin came to rest against his shoulder.

"What's on your mind, pup of mine, talk to me."

He turned his head to the side to address his archangel, feeling the warmth breath brush over his neck, "Have you talked to Azrael recently?"

"No, I cannot say that I have," the archangel shifted under him "He is a rather busy angel."

"Well I have. We get together once a month to hang out and catch up and plan your guys downfall and he—"

"You 'plan our downfall'?"

Anubis huffed "Not the focus here, archangel." He nodded though, a but smugly, "But yes. Yes we do."

"We will come back to that." He poked him in the side and he leaned away from his hand in case he tried again "But go on."

"He's changed, archangel, he's not like he was."

"Changed how?"

Anubis shrugged, "I don't know. It's like….It's like he doesn't care anymore." He thought for a moment. "He's apathetic towards it all. Just going through the motions, guiding those where they need to go, taking their souls as he goes, he doesn't care anymore."

He leaned forward to look the Healer in the eyes, "He used to try and send some back, very few, but he did so. Now he doesn't. He just does the job and moves on."

Raphael hummed "How long has this been going on?"

"At least a month."

"You waited an entire month before bringing this to my attention?" Raphael gave him a disapproving glance and he looked away. "Anubis."

"In my defense, I thought it was just a phase thing, he was just having a bad time and would come out of it!"

"You defense is not much." Fingers squeezed into his side and he jolted, leaning away from the archangel's left hand, yelping slightly at the feeling "But I am in a rather good mood, so I'll let you have it."

"Thanks."

"Only for you."

The young Egyptian watched cautiously as fingers poised over his bare stomach. "You usually wear your beaded chest piece, why not today?" he tried to move away, but the archangel had him right where he wanted him, Anubis sucked in a breath "It's too hot for it in the ancient city so I chose to go without it."

Raphael hummed, leaning back in his chair, "I see. Then that was a wise decision that was made."

Anubis nodded, huffing in anticipation, reaching for the archangel's fingers that remained poised over his bare stomach "Don't you dare."

"I simply can't pass up such an opportunity."

"Fight the urge!"

"No." he could hear the amusement in his archangel's voice from behind him and he took that as his opportunity to prepare himself, "I don't think I will."

…

The one closest to the Angel of Death was the Healer, being that their lines of work often worked in likeness to one another, the Healer could very easily save a life as he could take one, and the Angel of Death guided the souls of those lost to them to their final resting place or he had the ability to send them back to continue on.

He had taken the concern to the others and they had wanted to call the Angel of Death to them in that very moment, but he stayed them, swearing he would handle to problem at hand. He understood where his emotional state came from, as he himself experienced firsthand, it was not that he was apathetic it was more along the line that he was numb to it.

It had been during the war that the numbness had taken him captive, taking the feeling and emotion from his beloved duty, and leaving him simply going through the motions. Tending to those that came needing tending to, not bothering to ensure their comfort or their knowledge to know they were well taken care of, simply going about his duty because it was his duty, not because it was something he loved to do.

And it had carried on until their Father had returned and take His four oldest children with Him, where they themselves would be allowed to recover from their personal destruction from the war, so that they may aid in the healing process for the younger generations.

So, Raphael stood in his room, candles illuminating the dark spaces around him, the dim lighting flickering gently around him.

His brothers had sworn, under oath, to leave him to care for their young brother. Michael was in his room, listening for any sound of distress or struggle, he was sure. Lucifer was in his own room, reading the fledgling a story before bed, as he did every night, it was well known that he would read her two stories despite the rule being for only one story. He spoiled his fledgling as much as he could. And, Gabriel was in his room doing only Father knows what and was probably involving them in some way unknown to them at the moment.

Being on his own, he breathed deeply, "Azrael," his voice echoed through the astral plane that connected all angels together, "Come to me." There was very much angels could ignore, but the call of an Archangel was not one of them, it was not a request when one of the archangels called on you, it was an order for your presence. The Angel of Death would come, even if he did not want to, no one could disobey an archangel calling them to their side.

Now it was just a matter of time, and the waiting of when it would come to pass, for him to arrive.

"What do you want?"

His eyebrows raised and he turned in the direction of the voice, behind him, in the shadows that the flickering light of the candles could not reach, stood the one he had called on. His tone was even, flat, there was no sign of life in his tone, monotone and dull, perhaps with a bit of a bite to it. Though, he assumed that the bite that was heard was there more for the fact that he had been summoned to him against his will.

"Is it wrong for an older brother to want to see his younger?"

"You never call for me." Azrael made no intention to step out of the shadows, "So, I come back to my previous question, what do you want from me?"

The Healer took him in, what there was to see physically, though he stand in the dark of the shadows the archangel could see him as though he stood directly in front of him. He noted the dark circles under the younger angel's eyes, the fists that clenched loosely at his sides, the hunch of his shoulders as he curled into himself, the thick book tucked under his left arm.

"Where are your hounds?"

"Behind me." He looked down, and there they stood, teeth bared at him threateningly, "Where they always are."

"I see." He knelt, holding his hands out to the two hounds, they backed away a step and growled. He waited patiently, they knew him rather well, and it was the one on the right, Nero, that stepped forward first. He sniffed at his outstretched fingers, yapped softly, and rubbed his snout over his hand. The other, Dante, was soon to follow as though to ensure his companion did not get all the attention. He rubbed their heads softly and they rubbed against him for it, huffing and such, like pups do when given affectionate touches.

Raphael gestured to the great bed behind him, and they both barked softly, trotting forward to jump up on the end, circling for a moment, before curling up at the foot of the bed. Heads resting on their paws, they watched the archangel and their master with rapt attention, as though to jump forward should any ill-meant gesture be made towards their angel.

He turned back to his younger brother, standing back to his full height, "I am worried for you."

"Don't be. I am fine."

"You are a horrid liar," he smiled affectionately "You always were."

"I don't care if you don't believe me."

"Look at yourself, Azrael." The archangel waved his hand to indicate his entire form, "You are about to burst at the seams."

"I said I'm fine."

The archangel continued on though as though the other hadn't spoken the falsity, "I cannot imagine how you do your duty and maintain your love for life."

"I'm fine."

"How it must toll on you to see so much sadness. Be it the families that sit by the side of those you collect or the aged partner that will wake to find their love has left them."

"I'm okay."

"I cannot imagine how it must hurt when you have to reap the souls of children, hardly old enough to have experienced life, and already leaving it behind."

"I'm fine, I told you."

"To know that there is little you can do to mend their broken hearts."

"Stop."

Raphael watched him carefully, to note the action to indicate he had taken it too far, and he hasn't see it yet. Thus, he continued.

"How many babes have you had to take before they even come to see the world?"

"Stop."

"The pain you must feel when you watch the life leave their eyes."

"Stop it."

He noted the way his fists clenched tightly, how his eyes smoldered at him for his continued intrusions, and he readied himself for the lashing from the younger angel.

"How many beg you to return them and you have to deny their pleading despite your own feelings."

"Shut up!"

"All this grief and no one cares that the Angel of Death grieves with them."

"Stop…Shut up!"

"All the souls you've had to ferry; men, woman, children, the deaths you have had to witness."

"Just stop!"

He watched carefully as his shoulders went taught with strain, his arms shook from pressure, and braced himself.

"Murder and suicide, life taken by another or by oneself, you've watched it all. I can't imagine all the suffering you've laid witness to. The cruelty of a horrible soul taking the life of a pure child's soul. The torture of their death before your very eyes. The sadness and grief of one who thinks the only solution is to take their own life from their own hands."

"Shut up, Raphael!"

"To see the worst and know that they will not survive. I can't imagine having that knowledge that someone will suffer; whether it be illness or mentality or physically, and that they will not survive their suffering."

Finally, he hit the nerve, he cut the cord keeping the younger in place, Azrael's silver eyes swirled with fury and it was all directed at him.

"I said shut up!" he rushed forward, leaving the shadows behind, and raised his fists to strike him with all his might in the punch. The Healer met him, without taking a single step, catching his fists when he aimed for his face "Shut up! Stop! Just stop!" a rough sob tore from the Angel of Death's chest, whether it be from fury or anguish, or both, he could no decipher yet.

All the same though, he quickly released the fists to wrap him tightly in his arms, pulling him as close as he could manage. Azrael did not come without a fight, beating his fists against his chest, pushing against him until he strained himself to keep him from escaping, the younger angel was stronger then he appeared to be. But no matter how much he struggled, the Healers grip was unwavering, and ever so slowly to fight left him and he sagged into his chest. His fingers clutching to his tunic as tightly as he could manage, as another harsh sob tore from within him, and then another. Until his shoulders quaked and the room was filled with their muffled sounds from being pressed to his broad chest.

He held him tightly, his arms curling around him tighter and rested his chin on his smooth dark hair.

"That's it," he murmured softly, "let it out."

Azrael choked on a sob, and had he not been listening as intently as he had, he would have missed it.

"It's not fair, Raph, it's not fair!"

He closed his eyes and took a breath, "I know it's not. There are few others who can do our duties and not lose who they are."

"I want… I want to send them all back…... I want to punish them all…... the ones who take them away from their lives!"

"I know, little raven, I know you do." He leaned forward to press his face against the side of his head, "But you are their savior, think not of the pain they felt, think of the relief they feel." He pressed his lips to the side of his temple, "Where were you?" the archangel closed his eyes, "Where were you when I summoned you?"

"She was only little, Rapha, she was only six years. The man…The man, he….he…I was so angry…There wasn't anything I could do…I watched….I watched him…and she cried…she cried so hard…she begged for her mother and father… and he..he….she screamed in so much pain…and I watched….he….he wrapped his hands around her neck….I heard her last breath and then she appeared…..She was only of six years…..She had done nothing…..he….he….she thanked me…but I didn't do anything….I couldn't…..I wanted to…But I couldn't….."

"Oh, my little raven, I am so sorry." He took a deep breath himself, he has seen the cruelty humanity can offer, their wars and their bloodshed, there is no damage that Lucifer caused that humanity hadn't already done to themselves. But no one, not even he, saw it as personally as Azrael did. He was there for their moment of death, he saw the events that led to it, even if it be heinously bad, he laid witness to it, and it was a wonder how long he had managed before he had let the numbness overtake him.

He was the silent witness to everything; murder, suicide, natural cause, he witnessed it all.

"I can take the memories." He scratched lightly at his lower back, refusing to release him from his embrace, to uncurl his arms from around him, not while he still clutched at him as tightly as he was, "I can take them for you. You only need to ask."

Azrael shook his head, he wanted to remember it all, remember how strong they had been. How bright their souls were. He wanted to remember them all. He wanted to remember for the ones who were taken without choice, for when the dark souls came to stand before the high council, before Father, for their judgement and he could tell them all what they had done.

His sobs had long since come to a silence, his breathing uneasy as he hiccupped from the force of his cries, his eyes stung from the tears as he turned against his older brothers chest. He pressed his ear against it, listening to the beating of his heart, the thrum of his electrifying grace just under his skin, listening to just how alive he was.

"It's not fair, Rapha," he took a deep breath "It's not fair."

He heard the hum from deep in his brothers chest, felt it rumble under him, "I know, my little raven, life never plays a fair game." A hand curled around the side of his head, long fingers curled around his eyes, "You are one of the strongest angels I know, little raven, stronger then myself. Stronger then Nisroc. Stronger then any Power, any Virtue, any Principality. You far surpass Lucifer's strength, Gabriel's strength, even Michael's." he settled against his older brother, letting him carry most of his weight, "There are none that could do the duty you were given. Think not of the sorrow and agony that those souls felt, but of the relief and safety they feel. You are a freer of souls. You are their savior. Their rescuer." His head is gently lifted from the Healers chest, both of his large hands curling around his face, their eyes meeting for the first time in such a long time, a regrettable amount of time, "You are their greatest defender, the silent witness, you bring them justice when judgement is called upon. They are free from the cruelty of man, the pain and the sorrow, and you are the one who frees them."

Raphael brushed his thumbs over his cheeks, under his eyes, to brush away the trail of the tears "And you needn't keep the pain and the sorrow to yourself. I am always here for you. Michael is always here for you, Lucifer, Gabriel, Father, we are all here for you."

Azrael nodded silently, fingers curling back into the Healer's forest green tunic, tugging on it until the Healer obliged his silent request and wrapped him back in his arms and allowing him to burrow back into his chest.

"Anubis told you."

"He cares deeply for you."

He sighed deeply, nuzzling deeper into his brothers chest, "He's a good friend."

"He most certainly is."

They stood there for a long time, curled around each other, until the Healer looked down to him and brushed stray hairs from his face, "Do you want to lay down with me?"

His younger brother thought on it a moment, most certainly considering on the matter of if he should go back to his duties or not, it was not a day of rest and he should return, "The Reapers can handle things while you are away and Anubis has taken over their command for the time being. My Virtues will take care of things in the Infirmary." The archangel rubbed a soothing pattern of circles over his back, "Allow yourself this rest, little raven."

Azrael didn't need much convincing, he nodded against his brothers chest, refusing to let go. It caused them a slight difficulty, and his hounds whined and yapped at their being disturbed, but they managed to find themselves a comfortable position on the bed. His hounds stretched out over their feet warmly, and he lay curled in the crook of his brothers elbow, long fingers brushing through his hair as bright blue eyes gazed down at him with unconditional affection.

"Close your eyes, little raven."

He nodded, curling himself closer, pressing into the crook of his neck, practically on top of the archangel, and their legs intertwined. His older brother didn't seem to mind, curling his arm back around him and pulling him closer, he took a deep breath. Taking in the scent of his older brother; the pine, ozone, and antiseptic. Fingers scratched at his shoulders, and he sighed deeply, falling limp over his brother's chest.

"Close your eyes, my raven."

Azrael did so, a tad hesitantly, and he felt gentle fingers drag over his forehead and his eyes.

The chest under him rumbled as he spoke, "I will make sure you have nothing but good dreams."