Disclaimer: Same as chapter 1 and I'm not writing it all out again...
WARNING: MIGHT BE SOME MILD SWEARING – SO BE WARNED. READ AT OWN RISK.
All reviews, and constructive criticism, gratefully received – but no flaming please; and I will try to update regularly.
'Thoughts'
"Speech"
Summary: Ariella Drisko and her friend Tegan argue over Michael... MichaelxOFC
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Archangel's Heart
Chapter One
"Oh my God!" Ariella exclaimed "this is Michael! Pardon the pun and all that."
Tegan, her best friend and erstwhile leader strode over "certainly looks like him." She glanced over the unconscious being on the ground in front of her; her face went impassive, her voice cold "leave him..."
"What?!" Ariella spun round "we can't just leave him here!"
Tegan looked coolly at her; her leader's face on "why not?"
"Because it's Michael, Teeg; the archangel Michael – the one that stuck up for mankind against Heaven itself; against even God and Gabr..."
Before she could finish, her best friend, sister almost, was in her face hissing "do you know what he did back at Vega?!"
Ariella stood her ground "yes, I do – I gave you that intel and do you knowwhat was done to him? They treated him with contempt at best, and downright suspicion at worst – no matter what he did, it was never good enough. Then, finally, they betrayed him, Teeg; in the worst possible way – they butchered angels that had sought refuge there, angels he'd offered sanctuary to; they tortured and experimented on them. I got contacts there and apparently it was pretty nasty stuff. We both know about betrayal don't we? Who's to say we wouldn't have done the exact same thing in his shoes?"
Tegan threw up her hands in exasperation and stalked a few paces away "I still don't know why you don't lead our merry band – you're the one with all the answers, Ella!"
"No, I'm not – but I do still know right from wrong, and leaving him here to..." she glanced down at the dust and dirt encrusted, comatose archangel "...well, however the hell they die, is not right."
"Can you imagine what will happen when we bring him back?"
Ariella shrugged "we're not Vega, Teeg – most people at camp still trust him; those that don't, can come see me. I'm sure I can clear their minds if it becomes necessary..." she smiled darkly at the coffee coloured woman before her with the mass of spiralling jet black curls.
Tegan hesitated and Ariella went for the kill; her surrogate sister knew her better than to dither – Ella always knew she could win then. As her brother had taught her – if the enemy thinks they have the upper hand...break it to show them they don't.
"I'm sorry for pulling the 'hero' card Teeg, but I saved you;" she didn't give the other woman a chance to reply before continuing "I saved you from a bunch of eight balls when your own husband had hand fed you to them to save himself – then I took care of him too, before nursing you back to health. I've never asked for much; I don't believe in making people owe you when you do something because it's just the right thing to do."
Tegan sighed quietly "no, I know that, Ella – you never did; not even over your orphan kids and MacDuff."
"Well, I'm calling it now – I refuse to leave him here. You don't want him in camp, fine. I'll come back with you just long enough to grab my stuff and then I'll leave; the Pack may follow me, same with MacDuff, I won't stop them - they're all I can call mine now. Either way, I can come here and at least help him any way I can by myself. I'm not blackmailing you Tegan, I'm just stating facts. My conscience won't let me sleep at night any other way."
Her friend looked shocked but then smiled sadly "I'd have been surprised if you didn't put up a fight. But to leave us Ella, that's harsh – you know how much we rely on you..."
"I won't stray far; I'll let you know where I am – but I won't leave Michael alone." She sighed and looked at the ground "I've broke a lot of rules, Teeg; I've not stuck to my code as much as I'd have liked to – I have to draw the line somewhere; not turning my back on someone who needs my help is one rule I still have intact; and when that person has sacrificed everything for me and my kind...well, he gets double dibs on me."
Her friend's shoulders slumped a little in defeat as Ella returned her gaze to her "he's your responsibility, Ella. You protect him, nurse him, feed him – your rations too – and we'll say okay. Are those terms within your remit to accept?"
Ariella grinned at her best friend "I always thought you should've been a damn lawyer if the world hadn't gone mad, Teeg – but yeah, those terms are within my remit to accept." She looked at the large still form on the ground and squared her shoulders "now help me get him clear and onto Warrior's back."
Tegan eyed the man before her warily "do you think he's heavy?"
"Well, I doubt he's got the hollow bones that birds have, not from the wing spans I've seen up in the sky, and that's on the lower angels – I can't imagine how big his are. So yeah, I think he'll be heavy; they wouldn't have wings that large otherwise."
Tegan huffed as they grabbed an arm each and started tugging "Warrior's not going to be happy; for an Arabian mix he's mightily fussy."
Ariella chuckled "that is the Arabian in him – apparently they're the most intelligent horses in the world, but they're also the most fussy and snooty."
"Yet you're the only one he doesn't bite..."
Ariella shook her head "nope, not true; he don't chew on MacDuff or the Pack either."
"Probably because they smell of you; what with the amount you hug them and all."
"Hey, hey!" Ariella protested "not so loud, I got a rep to protect here – according to the Vega numb nuts, I'm a 'scary, violent nut-job'; they tell new recruits they don't want to mess with me." She beamed with pride as she added "apparently the mere thought of tangling with me makes a lot of the newbies cry..."
Her friend rolled her eyes "and you say that like it's not a bad thing?"
Ariella shrugged "it's not."
As they finally shouldered him loose of the debris and dragged him across the ground, Tegan looked up at the bright sky that was, thankfully, free of the winged enemy. She jerked her head skyward "would you like wings, Ella? Would you like to fly like them?"
Her friend chuckled even as she panted under the lion's share of the heavy weight of the muscular archangel "Teeg I get dizzy standing on a damn chair; I hated flying in the, relative, safety of a huge metal plane, the one and only time I had to do it – why the hell would I want wings? Little bits of bone, flesh and feather being all that stood between me and certain death...?"
Her friend wheezed a laugh and Ella grinned...but their amusement died as they heard Michael mutter "Becca; Becca I'm so sorry – sorry, sorry; sorry Becca...Becca..."
They shared a look and continued with their task in silence...
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Finally they got him onto the horse and back to camp. Ariella, as she'd surmised, had help from some of the older survivors; those who were well aware how much Michael had sacrificed for humanity over the years since the war on mankind was declared and, even then, he'd refused to help exterminate them.
However, there were also some – much younger ones – who were newborns at the time or not born at all, who weren't as aware of what he'd done to save their species. They'd only heard about his recent actions at Vega and were convinced that Ariella and Tegan had brought a viper into their midst.
The former Ariella was profuse with her thanks for the little bits they'd given her for him and their help to move him. To the latter she was equally as profuse with her fists in making them understand that she would not tolerate any acts of violence or condemnation towards the sick archangel in her quarters. They would treat her injured guest with respect, or she was going to punch their teeth so far down their throats their ancestors would be spitting them out.
Most of the cave system where they all lived was naturally formed; however there was a lot that had been hacked out by hand to form a set of linked 'rooms' for those wanting more space. Anyone wanting the 'additions' did it themselves, if others wanted to help that was fine – but it wasn't compulsory; of course the way things were, even back then in the early days of their settlement, they'd all pulled together.
Ariella remembered that, by the time everyone's quarters had been finished, her arms had ached and burned like they were on fire and they'd almost been frozen into immobility she'd overused them so much, and for so many months.
As it was she was lucky right now; MacDuff, the man that had been staying with her because he was scared to be alone since being found half-starved and near death out on the road, had finished, with her help, his own room which he said was all he wanted.
Ariella adored McDuff; he'd had broken bones all over his body; his spinal cord had been, thankfully, still intact and so they'd kept their fingers crossed he'd be able to walk again, and he had albeit with a bit of a limp. Ella was pretty sure he'd been left for dead because no one would've thought he could've survived such torture.
But survive he did; she nursed him, as she'd nursed Tegan and so many others after her, back to health. He reminded her of another man who'd stopped there some time back. He'd called himself a strange name...after a car...Mercedes?
No, that wasn't it – she tried running through all the car makes she could still remember in her head. But it had been so long ago that she barely recalled them now. Still, she persevered – Camry? No, that was wrong.
She huffed a breath of irritation as she watched over the unconscious archangel...Ford? Dodge? She could feel it, right there on the tip of her tongue – damn it! Then it finally came to her – JEEP! That was it, Jeep. He'd been a nice enough guy; a little bit intense and keen to 'save the world', but he'd been nice.
He was an older man and regaled her with stories of his life before the war. She'd smiled and told him of hers; how she'd been sent, at age twelve, to visit a relative, an aunt here in the US so she could be bridesmaid for her cousin's wedding. She'd had to go alone as her family couldn't afford to accompany her, and so had stayed behind in the UK.
It had been such a beautiful day for a wedding; then Maeve, her cousin, and her new husband, who's name she could no longer remember, went on their honeymoon.
She'd told him of the moment when, later that night, all hell...well, a heavenly version of it, had quite literally broken loose. She'd remembered running down corridors and along halls to find her aunt and other relatives that had all been with her.
He nodded and had told her of the people he'd known down the years who'd died – no real details, just names. He told her of his son Alex who he'd left with his best friend the archangel Michael because he knew he could protect the boy far better than he could.
She frowned "sorry, but I would've rather stuck with family if I could've than any powerful angel – families stay together, especially these days; it's just the way it is."
Jeep shook his head "there's more at play here, little girl….." Normally she would've retorted to that, but she could see from his eyes that he'd seen far too much and felt far too old. Older than he probably was; so, to him, she perhaps did seem like a little girl. She remained quiet.
He sighed "…..you don't understand what's really going on." He gestured to the weird tattoos on his arms "these needed deciphering; Michael couldn't help, my wife was dead and Alex was so young." He shrugged "it killed me to leave him, but I had to."
"If it'd been one of my Pack I would've died first." It was her turn to shrug "but each to their own I guess." She eyed the tattoos "they that important then?"
He smiled bleakly "you wouldn't believe how much."
"Did you work out what they meant?"
"Nope. Spent years trying to – almost went mad in the process, but not a single solitary word became clear. Hell, I don't even know if there are words there….."
She looked closely at them; a weird feeling swept over her and she had to shake her head to clear it. He watched her pale and then shake her head "what?"
"I don't know….." she shook her head again "it's like staring at them made my eyes go weird; fogged up my brain."
"Weird; fogged up?"
"Yeah….." she paused "my brother used to have this book; it was weird – he said if you stared at the pictures long enough you'd see the picture in amongst all the dots, or whatever. I never did – I'd stare and stare; until my eyes watered sometimes and my brain hurt, but I could never see them. But….just now…." She hesitated.
"What?"
"It was almost like the lines moved….." she paused and then sighed "I think you'll see the words, but only when you're meant to…."
"Is that what it said?" He sounded eager; obviously he thought she'd read something.
She smiled "no, Jeep – it didn't say anything to me; but I just get that feeling and my feelings are never wrong."
"Never?" he looked and sounded sceptical now.
"Never."
"Would you come with me? You talk real well….educated; I think they'd listen to you far more than me. They know me; I'm 'good ole Jeep' – Alex's dad, Michael's best friend, no one cares what I say. They just smile and nod; they don't listen. So would you?"
"To Vega?"
"Yeah."
She laughed like he'd said something really funny "hell no! They'd arrest me on sight, Jeep. I've killed as many of their gun bunnies as I have eight balls since Vega became the dictatorship that David Whele knows and loves. I don't like people putting a gun to someone's head to ensure they know how wonderful Vega is and they should live there."
"It can't be that bad…."
"How long's it been since you've been back?"
He slumped slightly "a long time – Alex was just a boy; he's a man now."
She smiled sadly and touched his arm "then, trust me, it's not like when you left; you'd do well to remember that. When any on their way to Vega come this way we try and stop them; though some do want to press on regardless."
Jeep frowned "It's that bad?"
She glared "it's a dictatorship – I honestly don't know what it was like when you were there last; but now House Reisen and House Whele call the shots with their own lackies to back them up on the council. They live in luxury whilst everyone else, especially the poor sods who are V1's and those with no V designations at all, struggle just to survive a single day."
She sounded angry and disgusted – he wondered what the hell had changed in the time he'd been gone….but with Michael there could it really be as bad she'd painted it? Surely he would've ensured a fairer distribution?
She watched him leave very soon after, having given his word he would say nothing of their existence to anyone at Vega. Whilst they obviously knew of the Outpost, they didn't know where it was. The fact no one had come around looking for them had proven he'd been one of the rare few to keep a promise.
Ariella dragged her mind back to the present and checked on the still comatose archangel – Michael…..she never thought she'd be this close to him. It was interesting to say the least – he looked like a normal person yet, she knew, he was anything but; oh no, through the eons Michael had always been a law to himself, hadn't he…