~One month later~
Finally, Gibralta, I had never been here personally but I knew of it, everyone did. I did not know the reason he needed to come here and knowing him, I dared not ask. It wasn't my business. The sun was just setting as we arrived and we would be safe here, we would make a temporary base here, stock up then go wherever he needed to go next. Though, I remained curious of his true plans.
Inside the main building, we stopped in the lab and I took a moment to look around. "This was Winston's lab..." I muttered under my breath.
"How astute of you." He muttered heading to a row of computers. Everything here was still active, running on it's own solar power. I took a moment to break away from him and head upstairs to a smaller lab. The walls lined with windows so I could occasionally glance down at him.I ran my fingers across the dusty table and frowned a bit, thinking. I knew this place well enough to have lived here, but now it was all but destroyed and empty, a cold draft moved through the building, there was no life.
A thought suddenly crossed my mind and I quickly began pulling parts together,placing them all up on a table. I then moved throughout the room, shutting and closing all the blinds to be left alone.
I turned on a few lights, set up the equipment I needed and then took in a deep breath. I unclipped my armor, setting it on an empty table until I was basically naked from the waist up, aside from a tight bandage around my chest. I grabbed a few tools, a extendable camera which I held between my teeth, sat down and prepared myself mentally. Very slowly, I pulled open my wings, gritting my teeth from the pain of it.
Then, I aimed the camera to view at my wings behind me, brought up the tools and began the long process of removing its armor.
An hour or so passed and I had managed only to remove a couple screws and a single small piece. It seemed like a hopeless cause, one I couldn't do myself at the least. The room suddenly felt cold and a shiver ran up my spine, I heard movement behind me then slowly glanced back. Reaper took form there, so I frowned and looked forward again, there was nothing but a row of computers between us, which blocked each other from full sight.
"You locked yourself in here." He said simply.
"Normally that means I desire privacy." I responded setting the tools down at my side.
He started moving around the computers, "what are you-"
"Stop." I said rather quickly and he did. "I don't wish you to see this."
"What is it you hide?" He asked curiously and continued moving around the computers, I couldn't move to stop him, or hide, if I wanted too. Once he saw me in full, he glanced at my back, where the wings connected to my back were covered in dark and disgusting bruises, lines of blood falling down to my waist line. Sighing, I dropped my head and closed my eyes, too ashamed to say anything. "What is this?"
"The armor on the wings were fueled by solar power and jet fuel. While I can continue to keep them charged in the sun, I cannot move them without fuel. As you are aware, there is no fuel left to use. Thus, I had to stop moving my wings, the armor was too heavy without the fuel. But now-"
"You're trying to remove the armor."
"Yes."
"You've barely made any progress since you started." He noted and I chuckled.
"Well aware of that, it is quite difficult to do when I can't see what I am doing, aside from this camera." I growled tossing it across the room.
"How can I help?" He asked suddenly and I glanced over at him confused. "I won't ask again."
"Um..." I thought a moment trying to process this unusual request. "There are a couple plates, remove the screws and take the plating off. But...carefully."
He nodded and came closer grabbing the tools, then set to work. After about half an hour, he removed all the screws from a single wing then set the tools down. "Be careful removing them please, just...be slow." He didn't respond but I felt his hands on my wings, then begin pulling at the armor. Gritting my teeth, I dropped my head, closed my eyes and braced for the pain. In a quick thrust, he pulled an entire section off and I winced, blood dripped from my mouth from biting my tongue and he paused.
"They are connected to your bone?"
"The structure, yes." I struggled to say. "It was the only way to make sure they stayed in place during flight and combat." I took a deep, shuddered breath, and tried to calm myself. "Go ahead." I gripped the edge of the table as he pulled off the second and third piece. By the end, my whole body was shuddering in pain but I made no sound. Everything felt like it was burning and when he released my wing it fell hard to the table, unmoving.
"Maybe we should stop for the night, do the next one tomorrow."
"No." I said through gritted teeth. "Don't stop."
He chuckled, "foolish bird." He then began the process of removing the armor of the second wing. After another long, agonizing hour, he tossed the last piece to the ground across the room. "You need to clean up. Heal."
"I need...to touch it..." I muttered, long-winded. My first wing began curling slightly, slowly and I winced throughout the process. He sighed and lightly grabbed the wing, moving and helping me curl it around. Lifting my shaking hands, I reached for my wing. He noticed my eyes were closed and with a hand, grabbed mine, placing them on a wound. A soft light began glowing from under my palm and healed the wound, he then moved the hand and we repeated the process until the wing was entirely healed, then did the exact same thing for the second wing.
"Can you heal your back?"
"No...but they will...go away in a few...days." I mumbled finally opening my eyes.
"You will need to replace the gauze around your chest."
"I know, I'll...get to it." I closed my eyes a moment, trying to relax, my body still shuddering. A long few minutes passed in silence and then I felt hands on my back. "What are you doing?"
"I've helped you this far." He mentioned and undid the bindings. He remained behind me the entire time as he undid the binding and tossed it away, respecting me enough to try and get a better look. "Stay here."
"Don't think I can do much else." I added as he left. It was several minutes before he returned and I hadn't moved an inch, nor did I see the reason he left, until I felt it. A touch of warm water on my back causing me to flinch. I cautiously glanced back to see him washing my back, carefully cleaning everything up. I began to wonder why he did this, why he did everything? He didn't owe me anything, I hadn't gone entirely out of my way for him that he hadn't for me. So why was he like this all of a sudden? I was so lost in thought I hadn't realized he finished and held a clean gauze in his hands, watching me carefully.
"Move them." He said coldly and I nodded, slowly lifting them up so they supported their own weight. "Good. Now stand." Carefully, I pushed myself to my feet and stood on my own. "Turn around." I tensed for a moment but then slowly did, as I did, I rose an arm to cover my chest and then stood to face him. He walked towards me, setting the gauze on the table as he went. I hesitated to take a step back but tried my best to remain absolutely still. Once close to me, he raised his hands for my helmet and I finally flinched moving my head away. "Stay still." I rest my head back to it's normal position and watched him, watched his hands move past my head I heard him unclip the helmet, then carefully pull it off. A wave of red hair fell out and landed on my shoulders masking my face. A cold hand touched my chin and lifted my head so that I was looking up at him, while his second hand brushed the hair off my place and tucked it behind my ear.
I frowned looking up at him, worried suddenly of what he thought. My eyes were red, the were unusual but that was their color. However I had a long gash, a scar, across my face, extending from the top of the left corner of my face, stretching downward, across my nose to the middle of my right cheek. The hand that once tucked the hair away then ran over the scar, forcing my eyes shut.
"Reaper...I..."
"Silence." He growled releasing me, and I did. I watched him reach up lowering his hood, then began to slowly remove his helmet. A lock of black hair fell out first, and he ran a hand through it, slicking it back, then slowly glanced up at me. He looked nothing like he did before. His eyes were a solid black and the scars on his face disfigured him more than anything. His once tanned skin was now an ashen white. He truly died and came back, this was a demon standing before me, not a human. I let out a soft gasp staring at him. "Now you know."
"Reyes..."
"That isn't my name anymore. I left that behind when I died. I am Reaper. Just as you are Phoenix." I smiled finally and nodded, I reached my free hand forward and touched his cheek. But, I said nothing in return. "I hate what you make me think, how you make me feel, it is something I left to die with my human self. Every time I see you, I have an overwhelming urge to kill you." I tensed up a second. "The only reason I do not is because I have one fear even stronger than that, the fear of not having you at my side."
"Then, by your will, that shall never happen."
"I will be violent." He said drawing closer.
"I expect no less." I saw him smirk for the briefest second and he finally closed the distance, pressing our lips tight against one another. His arm snaked around my waist and suddenly lift me up, turning me and dropping me harshly to the table. When my back hit, my wings flared off to the side and I arched growling in pain.
"Oh, yes~" He hissed crawling over me. "Keep making that sound."