Chapter Ten
I would have had this up yesterday, but I got food poisoning. It's just been the worst week ever...
But on the bright side, vacation this weekend, so the next chapter might be a little bit.
William and John walked along the pavement of Marylebone Road, enjoying the weekend morning.
"First kiss on the rooftop at sunset," sighed John wistfully. "It's so romantic."
"Oh, shut up," grumbled William.
John laughed. "So, that's what you led in with? 'What does the sun feel like?'"
"It was a legitimate question," argued William.
"How? Why would you want to know what the sun felt like?"
William shrugged. "I was curious."
John frowned over at him.
William quickly side-stepped. "I know how I would describe the sun—" bright, but virtually non-existent to me, "but how does a normal person describe it?"
"Normal?" asked John.
"Someone who is closer to their emotions than I am."
John smirked. "Data gathering. Always the scientist."
William nodded once. "Always."
(Oh, she's gonna pay for that.)
William frowned as his gaze moved unerringly to the other side of the street, picking out a muscular man with an angry look on his face.
(Ungrateful bitch!)
William glanced him over as John continued to talk about something or other.
(Can't hold down a job…Not worth her time…I'll show her.)
William came to a stop on the pavement, sensing what was coming next.
(Thinks she can break up with me. Let's see how well she does when I break her!)
"William?" came John's voice somewhere in front of him.
William broke into a run as the man moved down an alley.
"William!" John shouted.
William paid no heed to the car horns as he darted across the busy street. He only knew that he needed to get to that man. Once he reached the alley, he came up behind the man, turning him around. Surprised, the man stumbled and lashed out with an arm. William blocked the blow, landing one of his own. The man then pulled a knife from his belt, plunging it into William's gut. Of course, it only went right through him as though he wasn't there.
"William!" yelled John behind him.
William knocked the man upside the head, felling him in an instant.
John rushed over to William, frantically patting at his chest and stomach. "Oh, my God! Are you—"
"I'm fine," William told him.
John frowned at William's unblemished shirt and then looked down at the dropped knife. "I…" He looked back up at William. "I could have sworn he got you."
"I do know how to deflect a knife, John."
"No, I saw him—"
"Then you saw wrong. It's all about slight of hand."
"No, no, there's no way I 'misinterpreted' that in the heat of the moment," John insisted. "I was a soldier, remember?"
"What can I say, John?" said William, smoothing his shirt out to show John. "He didn't get me. See?"
John stared at him for a moment before looking down at the blood-free knife on the ground. "Yeah…you're right…" He shook his head after a moment. "Why'd you run after him?"
"Oh, I saw the knife in his belt," William lied. "Knife like that, he could only mean foul play."
"All the way across the street, eh?" asked John. "You sure?"
William frowned. "Yes, why?"
"Nothing, you just…you looked like you were distracted," John explained. "Like you were…listening to something."
"Simply observing," William brushed off. "Now, you were saying?" He strode away towards the street.
"Wait, shouldn't we…" began John, standing over the man as William looked back at him. "You chased him down for a reason. Shouldn't we call the police?"
"Not to worry," said William shortly. "They're on their way." He turned back towards the street just as two officers ran around the corner of the alley. "Armed assault, gentlemen. That, and the intended murder of his ex-girlfriend." He exited the alley and turned down the walkway.
John caught up to him after a moment. "Did you call them?"
"No," William told him. "I—"
"Let me guess: left your phone at home," John chuckled.
William smiled slightly.
"So, how?" asked John.
"They were just next door having a coffee, came to investigate when we ran down the alley," William explained.
"Oh…and how'd you know about the ex-girlfriend?" asked John.
"Devil's in the details, John," said William.
John shook his head. "Do you get off on being cryptic?"
William smirked as John went back to their earlier conversation.
As he and John got lost in their talk, William chastised himself for his actions tonight. Not for stopping the man; he had saved a woman's life. No, he was more upset about how close he had come to exposing himself. Not only had he mixed his duty as an angel with his new crime-fighting life, but he hadn't thought before he had acted. He hadn't seen the cops in the coffee shop; he had heard their thoughts approaching and had announced it.
And as if that wasn't enough, he had then told the officers about the man's intentions with no observable basis for his findings. He had looked the man over, and there was not a single clue as to how he would deduce what the man had been planning. He had been so careful this whole time to keep his celestial existence a secret. Why had he slipped?
Comfort…familiarity…
He had gotten comfortable and complacent, so complacent that he had forgotten what he really was and what John was not. He mustn't let it happen again. He would have to be more vigilant.
("'…Ratchett was killed at some time very close upon two o'clock, the latest hour the doctor gives us as possible.'")
William smiled from his seat next to the young woman, listening to the story she was reading in her head at the library. He had his hands steepled in front of his face as he listened, pleased that his solution four chapters ago had been correct.
("'As to who killed him—' He paused, looking at his audience—")
"Tell them."
William didn't bother looking up at his brother. "You do love an entrance, don't you?"
"Tell them," repeated Michael.
William dropped his hands and looked up at him. "Tell who what?"
"You know what," said Michael. "And who."
William frowned. "They can't know about us. You know that."
"They are getting so close to the truth," Michael told him. "What happens the next time you have to 'deflect a knife.'"
William narrowed his eyes in confusion. "You were there?"
"On more than one occasion," replied Michael.
William's frown deepened. "You're able to hide yourself from other angels?"
"One of the perks of my seniority," Michael told him. "Tell them, William."
William looked away. "I can't."
"If you don't tell them and they find out on their own, they will not appreciate it," said Michael. "You will lose the only friends you have ever had."
"And you care about that, do you?"
"Very. I just want you to be happy."
"Since when?"
"Since always." Michael paused for a moment and then stepped forward and actually sat down in the seat across from him. "I have watched and worried over you for many a millennia. I have seen you struggle through this existence day after day, going through the motions. Hating this life but unable to do anything about it."
Michael leaned forward, making sure he had his brother's full attention. "I have never once seen you with anything close to a passion for life…until the good doctors entered it. Do you really want to risk that?"
William stared at him a moment before glancing away, lost in thought.
"Tell them before it's too late," Michael implored. "I know you. You'll wait until you're ready to be one of them and then it will be a moot point, and you won't have to deal with it. But I promise you it will hurt far less to just come out with it."
Michael then stood and turned away, vanishing.
William stared at the floor in front of him, letting his brother's words float over him. Then—not knowing if he was still there or not—he whispered, "Thank you."
Today. It would be today.
William had thought over Michael's words all night long. He was right; it was better to hear the truth from him than to find out he had been lying to them. He would tell both of them today at lunch.
Quick like a plaster.
William stepped through the doors of the lab, smiling at the sight of Molly whiling away at her samples.
Molly looked up and then smiled. "Hi."
"Hello," greeted William, walking over to her and brushing her hair out of her face. He leaned down and gave her a kiss. "How is your day?"
"Good," Molly answered, giving him another kiss. "You?"
"Now that you're here, it's perfect," William responded.
Molly's smile widened as she gazed lovingly up at him.
"A man of science spouting poetry."
William glanced up to see John entering the lab, his white doctor's coat in place.
"Now, I've seen it all," said John, giving William a smile.
"Oh, let him be, John," said Molly, placing her hand on his arm.
John chuckled. "Ready to go?"
"Just a moment," Molly replied. "Need to file these samples away."
William stepped over towards John as Molly turned to put her work away. He watched as Molly labeled each vial, sticking it into the fridge at the end of the table. She was so beautiful, so perfect. How would she take the news that he had lied, that he was basically a stranger to her? Sure, Molly was the most accepting and benevolent human being he had ever seen, but everyone had their breaking points. Would this be hers?
"Are you okay?"
It took a moment for the words to sink in, and when they did, he glanced over to see John looking at him with concern.
"What?" he asked.
"You okay?" John repeated. "You look a little…troubled."
William brightened his expression as he shook his head. "I'm fine, just…thinking."
"About what?" asked John, still looking concerned about him.
"Oh, nothing important," William brushed off.
John nodded a couple times as Molly knelt down to put some things away under the lab table. He then turned back to William. "Oh, I talked to a friend of mine the other day, and he said he was having some trouble with an employee leaking company information but he didn't know who. I told him about what we've been doing lately, and he was wondering if we'd be able to help him out."
William considered a moment and then tilted his head in a shrug. "Sure."
"Great," smiled John. "So, should I tell him to meet at your place?"
William made it appear as though he was thinking about it before shaking his head once. "Better make it Baker Street; more client-friendly."
John nodded. "Okay, I'll let him know."
The phone on the wall of the lab rang, and William glanced at it momentarily.
"John, would you…" grunted Molly from her position under the lab table.
John walked over to the phone, picking it up. "Dr. Watson." He listened for a moment. "Actually, she's headed to lunch. Can it wait?"
Molly's face peeked out from her scrunched-up position under the table.
"Yeah, I'll let her know," said John. "Thanks." He hung up the phone and turned back to the two of them.
"Who was it?" asked Molly, shifting a little to reach towards the wall under the table.
"Dr. Feller," John told her. "He's going to stop by after—"
Molly finished putting the sample away and began pulling herself out from under the table. Her arm knocked against the table leg, jolting the whole table. A scalpel perched on the edge of the table wobbled and slid off of it, tumbling straight towards the floor…and Molly's chest.
"Molly!" exclaimed John.
William's eyes widened as he jumped into action. He teleported over to the table, squatted down and caught the knife just above Molly's chest. He breathed out a sigh of relief, staring at the scalpel.
That was a close one.
William's gaze then moved past the scalpel to Molly, who was staring at him with wide, alarmed eyes. William's expression fell as his widened eyes moved to his left and behind him. John stood at the phone, his jaw slack as he stared at him. William's stunned gaze moved back to the scalpel, staring at it in disbelief. It took a moment for the reality of what had just happened to sink in, and when it did, it took his whole world with it.
William had just teleported…in front of John and Molly.
And there it is! Enjoy that for the time being!