They walked in silence. Chuck was walking quickly, hands shoved into pockets, eyes glancing around the field quickly. He looked over his shoulder at his sons. This wasn't right. There was only three of them. There was meant to be five. Well, six really but Raphael wasn't missing. He was just a control freak.

Michael lifted Castiel into a piggy back and leant forward into the hill. Chuck had decided that there was no other way of finding them other than this. Finding the hightest point in the area and expanding his grace across the country. And, if he had to, the world.

Lucifer was walking alongside Michael. He had his arms folded and his head lowered. A few strands of his blonde hair fell over his eyes. He brushed them away with the back of his hand. He felt sick and he didn't know why. He just had this sinking feeling in his stomach and he didn't like it.

Something had happened. Something bad. He could feel Michael looking at him.

"Brother?" The eldest angel said softly, tilting his head. Lucifer looked up, for a few moments the brothers eyes locked; but Lucifer broke it by walking further ahead and muttering.

"We need to find them."

….

"Balthazar!" Gabriel's throat was sore from all the screaming. "Balthazar!" He bowed his head and sobbed silently. His shoulders jerking up and down violently as he cradled his little brothers cold body to his chest.
"I'm so sorry…I should've stayed with you!" He cried. Rocking back and forth, his brother wrapped up in his arms. Gabriel had his lips pressed securely on his little brothers forehead. Eyes screwed shut, shedding tear after tear. "Kid….wake up…I'm sorry…"

Caleb wriggled out of his elder brothers arms. "Caleb, stay here!" Erik shouted, yanking his brother back.

"He's dead!" Caleb said in a fearful voice that was nearly a sob. Erik's head snapped up. He saw Gabriel cradling Balthazar in his arms. The dead fifteen year olds face was battered and bruised. Erik watched as Gabriel brushed his hand through Balthazar's blood matted hair. Apologizing over and over again and begging him to wake up.

Erik shook his head. His father had done this. His own father had given the order to start the experiments.

They're more like torture.

Erik hid his face in his hands. He remembered when his Dad was different. Before their mother left. He was happy. Work didn't mean a thing to him. He'd smile. And laugh. And tussle Erik's hair. And then it all went wrong. Kruger had left, to go out to the shop to get some more food, and when he came back he was just…different. He was the Kruger that Erik was looking up at now. The heartless monster of a father.

Kruger glared back down at his sons, before storming off down the corridor. Some of the scientists spoke to each other in hushed tones. Most of them were casting glances at the containment cell.

Feathers opened her eyes a little. Her stomach was cramping and her vision was swimming and she felt like crawling under a rock and never coming out. She tried to push herself up from her spot on the floor. Her limbs were like jelly. Her wrist went weak and she collapsed back onto the floor.

With a little whimper she wrapped her arms around her stomach. It was only at that point that she realised that Gabriel's green jacket was wrapped around her shoulders. She felt the fabric against her fingertips. She could hear him crying in the corner. A sudden wave of worry washed over the red-haired angel. Where was Jiah? Where was her little brother? Was Balthazar ok?

So many questions…so many unknown horrors. She wasn't even sure if she could keep her eyes open any longer. She had never been ill before. The worse things that young angels could get were mild fevers. Something told her that this wasn't mild.

She wanted to get up. If Gabriel needed her she wanted to be there for him. He was there for her. It wasn't fair if He was in such a state and she couldn't even get up.

She closed her eyes tightly.

Why can't this just be over?

….

"Hallo."

Jiah didn't even look up this time. He was sick and tired of people talking to him. It hadn't fully registered with him that no-one had even spoken to him in 5 hours. It was all in his head. Schizophrenia wasn't something that was generally associated with angels. But like I said before, if a young angel uses their grace power before they are fully prepared…awful things happen.

"Come on, mate…you can talk to me."

"Get stuffed." Jiah spat, his head never left his hands. There was silence for a few moments. And then the voice came again. "Is that anyway to treat me, J?"

Jiah recognized that voice. He slowly raised his head. His blue eyes widened.
A boy was standing in front of him. He was tall, with an impish face. Jet black hair poked out from the edges of his backwards baseball cap. He was dressed in skinny pale blue jeans and a black t-shirt sporting the band logo of AEROSMITH in big red letters. On his feet were clunky doc martens.

Jiah leant forward. This couldn't be happening. He really had lost it. But he thought he would try it anyway.
"…M-Miko?"

"Sup?"£

Jiah pointed a shaking finger at the other boy. "Y-You're dead."

Miko Risus Gaudium had been Balthazar and Jiah's best friend. The three of them had prank warred Heaven (with Gabriel's mentoring) on many occasions. Michael, Zachariah and all the other important angels were so close to banning them from setting foot outside of their houses. But then it all went wrong. The first Angelic War broke out. Rebel angels fighting against God. This is a good few decades (Millennia's in angel time) before Lucifer started to disagree with Michael.

Rebels had ambushed the school. And unfourtunatley Miko was one of the angels that didn't make it. His death had been a dark time for Jiah and Balthazar. They had both lost a best friend that night. But now…

"You've been dead for years…" Jiah shook his head in disbelief. Miko adjusted his cap and sat down next to his old friend. He grinned. Miko always had a certain grin. He would partly stick his tongue out through the gap between his upper incisors and his lower ones. Giving him a goofy look. Especially with that baseball cap that never seemed to leave his head.

"Well…..I got bored of bein' dead." He said. As if this sort of thing happened all the time. He nudged his friend on the shoulder. "So I came back."

Jiah, doubting his own sanity, just nodded. "Well…I guess its good to see a familiar face."

Miko did that grin again but with an added wink. He aimlessly looked around the padded cell. He nodded appreciatively. "Nice place ya got here…not too shabby."

Jiah managed a small, weakened smile. He had missed Miko. Miko slapped his thighs and hoisted himself to his feet. He regarded his friend. Jiah's lip was bleeding, and there was a cut on his face just above his eyebrow. It was oozing blood.

Miko folded his arms, tilting his head to the side comically. "Gee, J-man…which brick wall did you piss off?"

Jiah rolled his eyes and let out a little huff of laughter. "Human Scientists."

Miko nodded again. "Riiiiiight…and you're messin' with Dr. Frankenstein, why?" He questioned. Miko always gestured with his hands a lot. That was one of the first things you noticed about him.

"Long story." Jiah muttered. Resting his head back against the padded wall.

"Meh." Miko muttered taking his cap off and twirling it in his hands a few times before placing it back on his head. Backwards. Just the way he liked it. He was quiet for a few moments. Which surprised Jiah greatly.

"How's Balthazar?"

Jiah bit his lip. "I dunno…I hope he's alright."

"Balthers? Hah! Yeah, they guys as hard as nails."

Jiah looked down at the floor. "I dont know what I'd do if I lost him. I mean lets face it, you're in my head—"

"I take offence to that." Miko said, with a pout.

"Shuddup. You're in my head. You're dead and you aint never commin' back. Balth's all I got left. And if he goes…"

"Well, you're just pessimistic aren't you?"

It was at that moment that Jiah knew that he was hallucinating Miko. Miko wouldn't even know how to read a word like pessimistic let alone know what it means.

He resulted in just resting his head in his hands again. He seemed to be doing a lot of that lately.

"I just hope that he's ok."

….

Gabriel tried to fight against the hand that was clamped against his neck. Choking the breath out of him. He tried to fight back, to through the man across the room with a single thought…but nothing was working! It was like his grace had just…stopped.

Kruger tightened his hand round Gabriel's neck. He ignored the shouts from his eldest son as he hammered against the glass. Kruger smiled. He loved all this power.

"You….killed…my…brother…" Gabriel snarled, as he gasped for air. Kruger was pinning him high against the wall. Gabriel's legs were kicking in mid-air.

Gabriel coughed and spluttered, he dug his fingernails into the Kruger's hands but it was no use.

"I honestly thought you would've figured it out by now." Kruger spat, tightening his grip even more. Gabriel's face was turning a shade of purple now.

What the hell is this guy talking about?

It all clicked in Gabriel's mind when Kruger's voice changed. It was suddenly slurred and twisted so far backwards it was at the front. His speech had such an evil hiss to it that it made it hard for Gabriel to understand what he was saying.

"I really really do wish I could kill you, Gabriel."

Gabriel gasped when he saw the scientists eyes go black.

"But all I can do is…send you back to Heaven."

It all made sense now. Horrifying…evil sense….

Alistair.