He looked up at the soft footsteps that echoed in the silent room, echoing over the sound of even breaths and slight snoring, away from the files he had been working on, as the younger angel approached him from down the aisle.

He smiled in greeting to her. "What can I do for you, Ariel?"

Ariel looked up at him with wide frightened eyes, wringing her fingers together, something clearly weighing on her mind.

"Brother. I need your help."

He frowned in concern. "With what, little sister?"

…

His grace was boiling. He felt as though he were about to explode. How dare them betray him in such a way. He had left the boy, so close to his heart, in their care because of their undying love and understanding. They had welcomed the boy with open arms, promising to love him as though he were their own, and he had reluctantly let his little one go. The little boy that had already felt so much pain, knew how to survive in ways he shouldn't have had to know, who had needed a home to care for and love him.

They had been a loving couple, young in their years, but wholesome. They had watched them for some time, clearly in love with one another, deeply and wholly, and they loved every child they took into their temporary home with all of their hearts.

But then the father lost his job, he started to drink, and when he drank, he became angry. His anger turned first to his wife, young and beautiful, and she began to hide the bruises with long sleeves and large sunglasses. He watched as the man ran after his wife, into their master bathroom, throwing anything he could get his hands on at her. He stood at her side, out of their sight, as she cowered under his raging fists, observing the rage that shone in what was once such loving eyes.

She took the brunt, bless her pure heart, so long as he left the children alone. He took to the arrangement willingly, leaving the children be, as she screamed from every blow.

And soon, he became bored with her, and despite her pleading, turned to the kids in their care. There was only one child, a small boy of six years, familiar and close to his heart.

His own anger grew as the father struck the little one across the face, his head spinning to the side with a snap at the impact, tears coming to his horrified eyes near instantly. His temper boiled as he struck the child, again and again, ignoring the begging for him to stop, for what he had done, for why he was so angry with him.

The angel watched from the mirror world as the boy walked to school every day, after fighting his war within his own home, wearing the same clothing he had worn the day before and a purpling bruise painted under his eye. He was stricken when the teachers looked up at the evidence clearly given to them and turned the other cheek, preferring to mind their own business then to open that can of worms, and turned a blind eye to the visible marks left from his hateful drunk father.

Taken from one and delivered to another.

He stood by as the mother ushered the boy behind the couch, urging him to hide and be as silent as a mouse, and the boy nodded in fright, ducking under quick when the footsteps grew louder. The boy cowered, crying softly from behind the couch, little shaking hands pressing as tightly as he could manage to his ears, as his adoptive mother screamed from the torturous inebriated rage.

And as the father pulled out a knife, he finally stepped in, and silence filled the room.

…

Stepping over the unconscious body of the influenced father, and around the beaten form of the sleeping mother, he knelt before the crevice between the wall and the couch.

"Little mouse?" He called out and paused to listen for any sign of movement. "Do you remember me?"

There was a soft intake of breath, perhaps a slight shuffle, and slowly little blue eyes peeked out at him from behind the couch. "R—Rapha?"

The Archangel smiled. "You could never say my name correctly. No matter how many times I tried to teach you." He held his hands out gently. "Come out?"

"Is…Is it safe?"

Raphael nodded. "It's safe. No more harm shall come to you."

"You promise, Rapha?"

"Have I ever lied to you, Joshua?"

The little boy shook his head. "No." he fell silent for a moment, as though to listen to make sure there was no trap watching for him, and slowly uncurled from himself to crawl out of his hiding spot. The archangel watched patiently, a tad sadly, as the boy crawled himself free and slowly climbed to his feet. Stumbling forward, he fell into his arms, and he wrapped them around the boy tightly as he stood back to his full height.

The Healer rubbed at the child's back as his shoulders quaked, frowning sadly when not a sound was made, and pressed his hand tenderly to the back of the boy's head. "Cry, Joshua." And returned to rubbing his back once more. "It's alright."

His boy pulled away from him, to look him in the eyes, and he nodded again. "It's okay."

A single tear slid down from his bright, blue eyes, followed by another one, and another one, until soon, a steady stream of salty tears flowed it's way down his pale cheek, releasing the sadness and the sorrow that had been held inside of him for all this time but still did not make a sound.

The archangel reached a hand up to curl around his cheek. "It's alright now, little one, you can cry."

More tears welled in those bright, blue eyes, and the tip of his nose grew red, his face heating up at the breath being held so tightly, and the most broken of sobs escaped him before he could stop it, and after the first one came, the second one followed, and the third after that, until the boy's face had screwed up and the dam opened, cries thundering from his small shaking chest. He guided the child back down, hiding him against his shoulder, rubbing at his back soothingly as months of pain and sorrow finally broke free.

Ariel had been right in coming to him.

Joshua sobbed into his shoulder unceasingly, hands clutching at his shirt. He held him in silence, rocking him slowly, rubbing his back soothingly as his tears soaked into his shoulder. A tiny lapse let him pull away, blinking lashes heavy with tears, before he collapsed again, his howls of misery worsening. The pain must have come in waves, minutes of sobbing broken apart by short pauses for recovering breaths, before hurling him back into the outstretched arms of his grief.

All that progress they had made with him through their time together broken so suddenly at the hands of a man who had sworn to love him as his own.

He rubbed at his back, small soothing circles, swaying from side to side as his shoulders heaved. "That's it, little mouse, let it out. That's it."

Joshua sucked in a shaky breath. "W—What'd I—I do—o—o?" a sob interrupted him. "W—Why's he—e—e so—o ma—mad at me—e—e?"

"You did nothing wrong, little one." He curled his fingers over his cheek, the sobs slowly lessening, the quaking of his shoulders slowly coming to a standstill. "You are perfect in every way."

The boy pushed away from his shoulder, leaning back against his arms. Now red, tear-rimmed eyes stared back at him, with watery streaking falling down his freckled face. The Archangel smiled gently, smoothing back his now chaotic hair and wiped away the tears from his cheeks, which were now blotchy and mottled. His whole face was no washed with a dull red, including the very end of his nose, and his guardian leaned forward to press his lips to the tip of the small warm nose for a moment, and despite all his pain and sorrow, Joshua still gave the tiniest of watery smiles.

Joshua took a deep breath, rubbing at his nose with the back of his hand, and looked to him in fear. "Are you going to leave me?"

"I am taking you with me." He nodded in assurance. "And I am never letting you go again."

"I can stay with you?"

"After this," he turned to survey the damage that had been done. "I would trust you with no one else."

Michael be damned, though he doubted there would be any rejections, the boy was his.

His little boy looked down to the mother. "What about Angela?"

The archangel turned to look down at the battered and bruised woman, the only one who had stayed true to their promise to him and hummed sadly. "She will be helped by human healers."

"What if Brad wakes up first though?"

Raphael shook his head slightly. "They would wake at the same time. There are authorities at the door. They will intervene before anything becomes of this."

"The cops?"

"Yes." He smiled at him gently. "Someone called them."

Joshua stared at him for a moment, eyes still alit with fear, leaning forward as he curled his arms around the archangels neck. "You promise I can stay with you this time?" his abused little body pressed against the archangels chest. "You not lyin?"

"Have I ever told you a lie before?"

"No." The child shook his head.

He leaned forward to press their foreheads together. "I wouldn't start now. You are mine. I am giving you to no one else to care for."

Joshua looked up at him. "Can I get my bear first?"

His archangel guardian nodded, turning on his heel for him to walk them to the stairs, and up they went. He knew where the boy's bedroom was, the place of so much pain and harm, and walked them through the doorway into the bedroom. There upon the bed sat an emerald green stuffed bear, and refusing to set the boy down, he moved him around to perch on his hip as he leaned over to get him the stuffed bear.

Smiling, he turned and handed him his stuffed toy, watching in fondness as the boy curled it tightly in his arms.

Stroking his finger down his nose for his attention, Joshua looked up at him, and he smiled. "Are you ready?"

Joshua nodded silently, clutching his stuffed bear tightly to his chest, he laid his head down on his shoulder. "Ready."

The archangel nodded, raised his hand, and snapped his fingers.

…

They stayed just long enough to watch the Williams's wake up from their trance induced slumber, as the authorities broke through the door just as the father lifted the knife above his head, the mother screaming under him, and he was tazed into submission. They stayed long enough to watch a female officer drape a blanket over the mother's shoulders, asking if there was anyone else in the house, and investigated the area behind the couch when she turned to look at it.

Angela breathed a sigh of relief when they found it empty.

…

"First, we will get you cleaned up." The archangel walked swiftly up the stairs to his Infirmary, walking back into the sounds of soft even breaths and slight snoring, and strode down the main aisle. "Then, we will get you into something clean." He stopped, turning to look at his little charge, his head still cushioned on his shoulder. "And then, we will tend to any injuries you may have." Joshua smiled up to his archangel and nodded silently, Raphael returned the smile and held a hand out, gesturing for the bear his young charge clutched to so tightly. "Why don't we leave bear out here, so he doesn't get wet?"

He seemed reluctant, but passed him his beloved stuffed bear, it had been a gift from them when they had found him the family to be given to. Michael would lose his mind knowing what had happened with the family he had been the one to find that was suitable enough for them to give their little friend to.

"He will wait here for us."

Setting the bear on the desk he had left some weeks ago, the files sitting just where he had left them, he nodded as he turned to continue their way down the main aisle to the vast cave in the stony Infirmary. The washroom of the Infirmary glowed with illuminous stones, the stone flooring curved inwards into a pool of water, under a gentle flowing waterfall over large rocks into the pool below.

Joshua curled his fingers into the leg of his trousers when he bent to set him on his feet. He set a hand on his head as he turned to the stone counter carved into the rock wall. "Mint or Lavender?"

"Mint."

"Mint, it is."

He held the soap out for the boy to take, and his little fingers curled around it to lift from his hand, the archangel knelt before him. "I'm going to fetch you something new to wear and a warm towel, you get washed up, do you remember Oren?"

Joshua nodded.

"He's seated just outside the door. If you need anything just call for him, alright?"

The child nodded again, and he pat him on the cheek fondly before standing back up, nodding to himself, he turned and left the washroom for what he needed. The boy watched him go silently and looked down to the soap he held in his hand, for the first time since Brad had lost his job, he smiled.

Stripping out of his close, he poked a few fresh bruises on his belly, and shivered at the ache it brought.

He just finished up when his archangel friend returned, turning to look up at him when he knelt behind him, a large towel draped over his arm. "Is everything alright, little one?"

Joshua nodded, pushing himself to his feet, and held his arms up for him. Wrapping his boy warmly in the towel, he lifted him back into his arms, curling the free edge of the towel up over his soaked head.

The child shivered a bit. "It's cold."

His archangel smiled. "It is, isn't it. Let's get you into something warm before you catch yourself a cold."

Joshua hid down in the archangels shoulder, held so gently in his arms, nothing but a large bundle of towel, peeking out at Oren as they passed him from where he sat leaning against the wall just on the outer side of the washroom. The healer raised an eyebrow at his ducking away, but waved none the less, giving him a smile in greeting.

Raphael pat his back. "He asks about you often."

"I like him. He's fun."

"It'll make his day when he learns that."

He set the child down on a soft bed, just before the desk his bear sat on, and his bear was passed to him when he turned and pointed at it. Brushing his hair with the towel that looped up over his head, he pulled it down to caress both cheeks. "Let's get you dressed."

Joshua nodded, standing on the bed when the Healer held out little trousers for him to step into, he pulled them up around his waist and tied them securely snugly. Pulling the towel away to drape it over the metal end of the bed, the Healer frowned and brushed his fingers over the bruises that littered his boy's front, counting them all as failures he had made. "Oh, little Joshua, I am so sorry." He looked up to meet the little one's eyes. "I should never have let you go."

"It's okay, Rapha, doesn't even hurt."

"The way you flinch when I do this," he pressed a finger against one of the many violet bruises. "Proves otherwise." He pulled the little tunic over the boy's head. "We will show this belly the love it deserves when they begin to fade."

Raphael started slightly when a little body surged into his, little arms curling around him as best as they could manage, as a head of damp hair pressed against his chest, he recovered soon enough and curled his arms around him in return. "Thanks for coming, Rapha."

He sighed fondly, rubbing his right hand down the back of the damp head softly, and tightened his embrace for just a moment of time. "I promised to always come for you. I always will."

The Healer kissed the damp hair and pulled the blankets back. "Now, under there with you." Joshua gave a soft giggle, pulling away from his archangel guardian's chest, climbing under the blankets and laying back against the pillow, he smiled up at the archangel. "You'll sleep here for the night. Then you'll come stay with me at the Villa." The child nodded, hugging his bear close to his chest, and cuddled down into the pillow under his head. He was safe at long last, he knew Rapha, soft and gentle and understanding and playful, he knew that Rapha would never turn into Brad. He could sleep without fear of being woken up harshly.

His archangel brushed his hair back. "My desk is right behind you. If you need me just call. Alright?"

Joshua nodded, yawning softly, and snuggled down in the familiar blankets. Surrounded by familiar sights. Familiar faces. He was safe here.

The Healer's large hand stroked down the side of his face before he stood, leaving him to sleep in the bed, the chair behind him creaking as it was sat in. Papers softly shuffling as they were sifted through and moved about. The soft scratching of a quill pen writing over aged parchment.

Joshua looked around the grand darkened room, spacious, and full of sleeping bodies. There were familiar faces around him. He saw Constantine and Zed. Healers who he had played with before. Oren stood from his chair to walk around the rows of beds. Ephraim was at a desk farther off writing in his own files for his own patients too. Akriel was helping someone take a drink. Zaveriel was sleeping, leaning back on a chair, as his patients slept with him. He knew these faces, they were all good, he knew none of them would hurt him. They wouldn't yell, they wouldn't hit, they wouldn't be angry without telling him why.

They always told him why when they got mad at him and still, they never hit him, not like daddy and Brad had.

Joshua yawned again, cuddling closer to his bear, and let his eyes slowly slide shut.

He did miss Angela, though.

But he was finally home.

Little Joshua couldn't help but make another appearance. He's just too cute not to. I mean, come on, he's adorable. Him and Raph give me all the feels. He's basically got an archangel for a daddy at this point. Raphs not letting his boy go this time.