9 months later
Archangel hung up the receiver and put his head in his hands. Even after nearly a year he was surprised to feel the covered lens of his glasses and memories of the attack on Red Star Control came flooding back. He tried to push them aside but the phone call he had just received made that impossible. He knew who was calling before he heard her voice, all calls to him were screened, but it was a shock even so. She sounded so like Gabrielle; he had forgotten that. The sisters could be mistaken for twins if you didn't look too closely and they sounded so alike it was impossible to tell them apart on the phone. Rachel was the younger sister and Archangel had recruited her as soon as she was old enough. She had left the Firm the day she heard about her sister's death.
He lifted his head when he heard a knock at the door.
"Come in," he called.
Marella entered, looking exquisite in a calf length white dress, and perched on the edge of his desk.
"How is she?" she asked him. It had been Marella who had put the call through to Archangel.
"A mother," he answered, "twins, a boy and a girl."
"I didn't even know she was expecting," Marella exclaimed, "who's the father? I didn't realise she was in a relationship."
"Neither did I. I can't help wondering..." he didn't continue and Marella didn't press the point.
"What has she called them?" she asked, thinking it was a safe question.
Archangel took a deep breath and let it out slowly before answering. "St. John and Gabrielle."
