All Characters belong to Sega/Archie except my OCs

Ch. 20 Crawling Back to You

Time can heal, but the scars only hide the way you feel,
And it's hard to forget how I left you hanging
On by a thread, when everything is said, I will regret it, yeah,
I was doin' alright, thought I could make it,
Then I see your face and it's hard to fake it

~Crawling Back to You by Daughtry

"Hmm, I think I can get a nice tan up here," Cody commented as he stared out the window of our new three story house. I had decided to move us to Orlando, Florida. It was pretty far from New York and the new climate was something that I needed. What better way to try and lessen my stress than to relax on the beach? Cody told me that I could continue school if I wanted but I saw no point in it. My transformation into a Dark Angel gave me the power of compulsion and ability to absorb new information quickly so I could basically get any job I wanted. Not that that I really needed to though. After accessing all of the wills of my family members and my secret trust fund, I had more than enough money to last a lifetime.

"You're already tan enough," I teased, pasting a fake smile on my face. Cody rolled his eyes playfully at me as he adjusted his sun glasses on his face. He watched as I again started to stare out into space. A sad expression came over his features. Lately, I hadn't exactly been myself. Hell, since I left Scourge I hadn't been very happy. The separation took a bigger toll on me than I think anyone thought it would. But the separation wasn't the only thing bothering me. Every night back in New York before we left, I would see the slow flash of black wings through the window before I went to sleep. After a couple nights of that, I began having violent nightmares of my aunt's death, my parents' torture in Hell and a couple times my own slow death that Scourge would inflict on me. I didn't tell Cody about the nightmares or the flashes from the window. I didn't want him to be on edge. Besides, if Scourge wanted to hurt me when he was that close then he could have done it. I think he was just trying to send messages to me. Hopefully he didn't follow us here to Florida but I wouldn't be surprised if he did.

"So what do you wanna do today? I say we scope out the scenes."

"Scope out? What is this? Some hit beach show from the 80s?" Cody laughed as he sat next to me on the bed. He caressed my cheek softly.

"Just trying to make you laugh," he said. I smiled at him. He returned the smile and squeezed my thigh before standing up. "Now come on, let's get out of here." I let him tug me up and together we walked out the house. The first place we went was the local mall. Cody decided it would be fun to turn on his gay mood and strutted around fashionably. I had to admit that it was pretty funny. Well at least it did for a second before I realized that it reminded me of Dante. The memories of him trying to seduce Scourge arose in my mind causing me to giggle but also reminisce seeing the two play around. When Cody saw that his act wasn't impressing me like he wanted it to, he frowned. I hated how I always seemed to put down his attempts to make me happy but I guess that my heart was still too tenderly broken. It had only been a few weeks. I still needed time to heal whether I wanted to acknowledge that or not.

"Don't look at me like that," I told Cody as I threw a fry at his face. At the moment, we were eating lunch in some teenage hangout diner place and I guess I had spaced off since he was staring at me with a pitiful look.

"I can't help it. You know how much I hate it when you're sad."

"I know but I'll get better. I just need time."

"But Rosy, we don't know how much time we have. Why spend it being sad when you can be happy and carefree?"

"Because it's a lot harder than it seems to get over feelings. Much harder than I thought." Cody put his hand on top of mine and gave it a soft squeeze. He shot me a small smile as well.

"I know but you'll get through it. You're a strong girl." I shrugged before taking a sip of my milkshake. Through my peripheral vision, I saw someone approaching our table. She had long pale pink waves of hair, a tall, model body, and looked just like me. What the hell? She shot me a smile as she plopped down beside me. "Tori," Cody asked, seeming just as shocked as me by her open appearance. The last time I saw her, she was an Angel and had to be all dramatic. Now she was just being spontaneous. This girl was definitely something else.

"Hi guys," she said, shooting an award winning smile at me and Cody. I merely raised an eyebrow at her. Cody, on the other hand, was still gawking at her but I could see the utter adoration in his eyes. He was still in love with her. How cute.

"What are you doing here? Aren't you supposed to be in hiding," I asked as my doppelganger plucked a fry from my plate. She chewed on the fry idly as she considered her answer.

"Well, word on the street is that you finally left that douchebag of a Dark Angel and that you decided to join Heaven. So I decided to come help out. As for the hiding part: Scourge has better things on his mind rather than taking his rage out on me." Her eyes widened in concern when she noticed my face twist into a frown as she said the last part. "Honey, I'm so sorry. I didn't mean it that way. It's just that Hell has lost its secret weapon. How do they expect to win now that their Princess is gone?"

"I didn't even understand that concept, honestly." Victoria looked to Cody who was still staring at her with his mouth gaping open. Damn this dude was really whipped. I wanted to tease him about his attraction towards her but I couldn't really bring myself to it. Her being here was actually a very serious matter. I mean, how could she just pop up out of nowhere like this? Scourge may not have her one his number one priority list at the moment but once he's done with me then I'm pretty sure she'll be next.

"Do you wanna explain it to her or should I?" Cody sighed, shaking his head to snap him out of his daze. He slowly looked over to me and tilted his head.

"What part of it don't you understand?"

"How is Scourge a prince first off?"

"Because he's the Original Dark Angel. First of the bloodline therefore heir to the throne after Lucifer," Victoria said as she popped another fry into her mouth daintily.

"But before I left, he said something about us ruling all the worlds if Hell won the war. Doesn't Lucifer want that job? Wasn't that the actual reason he fell from Heaven in the first place? To have more power than God? He would if he won the war so why give it to his successor?"

"Because Lucifer is a misguided bastard," Victoria muttered as she inspected her perfectly manicured nails.

"Tori, use helpful information please," Cody told her before looking back to me. "Lucifer would have full power but he would just enforce it through Scourge. He already does it now. As much as I hate to admit it, Lucifer is actually pretty smart. He gets Scourge to do his work for him because he knows that Scourge will do the job better than him."

"So Lucifer works through Scourge basically?"

"Through all the Dark Angels. That's why he created them. His own specialized flying monkeys," Victoria said. Cody rolled his eyes at her. She smirked at him. "What? You're the one who said it in the first place." Cody let out a laugh as he blushed.

"Only because it is true. But if I do recall, you were the one who slapped me in the head and told me to be nice. Now you're enforcing it? You really have changed through the years."

"Hmm, living life in secret does things to a girl. But I haven't changed all that much."

"I sure do hope not." I looked between the two, taking notice of the resurfacing feelings between them. A pang went through my heart. They both loved her but she chose Cody who obviously was deeply in love with her. They both loved me but I chose Scourge who wanted me forever. Maybe we were made this way for a reason. Whatever that reason was, I wasn't sure and I don't think I had enough time to figure it out. Running could only take me but so far.

"Um, I feel like a third wheel so I will be taking a walk around the block while you two catch up," I said, sliding out the booth with Victoria who looked at me with gratitude in her eyes. Cody grabbed my hand as I tried to pass his side of the booth.

"By yourself? You know he could be-"

"Anywhere? Yes I do. I'll be careful." His face hardened, signaling that he was about to come up with some logical argument that would lead to me staying somewhere in his sight.

"Come on, Cody, she's a big girl. I bet she can take care of herself," Victoria said, sending a wink to me. I shot her a smile. Cody sighed and let go of my hand.

"Alright but you better call me if anything goes wrong. Go right back to the house when you're done exploring."

"Will do, dad," I said before walking away from them. As soon as I went through the door, my stomach twisted painfully. Alarmed, I looked around. Usually when I got that sensation I would guess that it meant Scourge was somewhere near. Then again, I also usually brush it off since I was with Cody who I knew would protect me. But now I was alone and in public. I couldn't use my powers in public. Scourge, on the other hand, can probably hurt me without using his powers since he is a guy and naturally stronger than me. But hey, I'm already out so I might as well live with my chances. I started walking down the block with my eyes moving around to look at all the shops and things. After doing this for a couple minutes, I found myself relaxing in my surroundings. It was a busy day which meant that if something were to cause a scene than everyone would notice and someone was bound to help me – hopefully.

As I was inspecting a dress in some junior store, I felt a hand running up my arm. I turned almost immediately in alarm, holding up my fist. The boy backed away from me, letting out a laugh as he put his hands up. "Whoa there," he said, his deep voice a bit scratchy. I let out my tense breath. To my relief, it was only some beach blonde boy with green eyes and a surfer body. Totally harmless if you ask me.

"Sorry. You scared me," I said, blushing in embarrassment. The boy smiled softly at me.

"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to scare you. I just saw you over here by yourself and thought to myself 'Self, there is a beautiful girl over there who you need to work up the courage to talk to'. And so here I am, talking to the most beautiful lady I've ever laid eyes on." I blushed even more.

"Well now that you are over here, wanna introduce yourself?"

"Ah yes. My name's Dylan. What's yours?"

"Rosy. Nice to meet you." He nodded, looking me over.

"So, Rosy, you doing anything later on tonight? There's this party and I was wondering if you wanted to go with me."

"Sure. What's your number?" He whipped a piece of paper out of his pocket and handed it to me.

"I was hoping for the best." I laughed as he blushed bashfully. "Can I have yours?"

"Sure. Why not." He smiled and went through his book bag to pull out a pen and paper. I scribbled down my new cell phone number on the paper before giving it back to him.

"What's going on here," I heard a familiar voice say. The hairs on my neck shot up as did I freeze. Dylan looked over to the new person and raised an eyebrow.

"And who are you?"

"I'm her boyfriend."

"Ex-boyfriend," I spoke up, causing both boys to look to me. Dylan looked between me and him before nodding slowly. "Call me later?"

"Of course." Dylan looked at Scourge in suspicion one last time before walking off. I glanced at my Dark Angel to see that he was staring at me with anger in his eyes. Shit… Slowly, I turned towards him and looked at him fully. He was wearing a fitted blue tank top that made his ice blue eyes glow with a pair of jeans and sneakers. His hair seemed to have grown out since the last time I saw him, green waves covered his head and curled at the nape of his neck. Some of it fell into his eyes and my fingers itched to push it away.

"What are you doing here," I asked him. He raised an eyebrow down at me.

"Shouldn't I be asking you the same question? Florida is a long ways from New York."

"I think you know the answer to that question."

"And you also know the answer to mine. Didn't think I'd keep up my promise?"

"A girl can dream can't she?" He grunted in response as he looked away. My body yearned to step closer to him, to feel his body heat, to be wrapped up in his muscular arms. Seeing him now didn't put fear in me but instead filled the emptiness that I had felt for the past couple of weeks. I had really missed him despite how much of an ass he was. I had fallen for him when he was sweet and caring and to my emotions: that was all that mattered. "You aren't really going to hurt me in front of all these people, are you?"

"Well I could easily drag you outside and into a dark alley and do some damage there before teleporting to my torture zone back in Hell." I sucked in a breath but I didn't feel scared. His purpose wasn't to hurt me. Not now anyway. "But right now, I just wanna give you another chance."

"Another chance for what?" He looked down at me, his eyes softening. One of his hands reached out to caress my cheek.

"For you to change your mind. Look, I really don't want to fight with you. I don't want to kill you. I love you. You mean the world to me. If you could just see that then come back home with me. We can forget about this whole war. We can move on. Start a family. Spend eternity together."

"Scourge," I murmured, putting my hand on his chest since he had moved dangerously close to me. "As much as I want to forget this war and be with you, we both know that can't happen."

"So you're seriously going to break your promise?"

"I have to, Scourge. I'm so sorry but-"

"Rosy, please. You don't know what's in store for you if you don't come back with me. Word has already gotten out about your betrayal and a lot of Dark Angels are angry. I'm trying to protect you. Just please come back to me."

"You know that I can't." He shook his head.

"You can. Baby, you can. Please. For me." I shook my head, feeling tears brim my eyes.

"I'm so sorry." I broke out of his embrace and hurried out the store. The emptiness that had been momentarily filled immediately came back. I wanted to be with Scourge. I needed to be with him. But I couldn't turn my back on humanity. Not when I know there's only bad things to come for it. I ran back to my new house as fast as I could, hoping that Scourge wasn't following. My inner voice told me that I should call Cody and tell him what happened but I couldn't bring myself to. Scourge gave me another chance because he really loved me. Why bother Cody with that information? Sure, he is a threat to be reckoned with but if he wanted me then he could have me. All he had to do was make that first move and my attempts to live would be over. I didn't want Cody to know that my days could now be even more numbered than they were before. Not when he just now found happiness with his old flame.

I went up to my room and flopped down onto my bed. "Last chance," I heard him say, making me shoot up. He was standing across the room, staring at me with his red and black eyes. "Either you come with me by will or I will force you to."

"How did you get in here," I asked, trying to stall time. Not that it ever works in movies but hey, it was do or die here now.

"That's not important." He began to stalk towards me. "You know, either way, you are coming with me and you are going to fight with me whether you like it or not."

"Scourge, please, don't do this to me."

"Too late." Before I could build up enough power in my hand to blast him, he lunged towards me. I practically flew away to dodge him and ran out the room. Of course, I didn't make it very far before I felt a sharp burning sensation in my back. I tumbled down the steps from the impact. My head hit the ground with a loud thud when I reached the bottom. Damn… My heart started to beat rapidly, signaling that I was about to panic. With a sigh, I tried to focus. Running from impulsive panic wouldn't do much good on my part. I heard Scourge's faint footsteps coming down the steps slowly towards me. Although my head pounded in protest from me putting any more stress onto it, I managed to put enough power into my hand for a blast. When his footsteps got close enough to me, I turned and fired at him. The pink fire hit him in his abdomen but he didn't seemed fazed by it. Instead he merely stopped, looked down at the wound and shook his head. "Bad, bad move," he murmured. I swore quietly before getting up and rushing away from him. Apparently my powers weren't going to affect him. The reason why, I'm not completely sure. Maybe his rage was stronger than I anticipated.

I reached one of the secret doorways behind a bookcase and tried to push the huge shelf away. To my surprise, my strength had reduced so I couldn't even move the object an inch. I heard Scourge's chuckle echo through the hallway. "What the hell did you do to me," I yelled, looking around in the darkness.

"The male in the bonded couple is the dominant one so he therefore has the right to control his mate's abilities. Comes in handy, now doesn't it," I heard him say from behind me. I turned quickly to see him standing right behind me. He was so close that I could feel his body heat. The emptiness filled again and I felt somewhat whole again. If he would give me back my powers then I would feel great.

"What are you here to do? To hurt me? To kill me? Or do you just want to make me weak so that I won't be of any help to the Angels?"

"I considered the first two but the latter sounded the best to me. If you are no use to them then they won't want you. They'll throw you straight to the curb and the only person you'll have to turn to is me."

"Cody would never abandon me."

"If that's what you wish to think." We heard the door creak open and laughter from my two Angel friends fill the room. I heard Victoria playfully scolding Cody on the matters of being a gentleman while Cody made weird sounds in response to make her laugh. They sounded so happy together. My heart grew heavy as I realized that I had been that happy a time that felt so long ago with a person who still held my heart. I took a step towards the noise but Scourge grabbed my arm.

"I wonder if Rosy's asleep," I heard Cody muse as his footsteps moved towards the steps. Scourge pulled me into the dark corner next to the bookshelf as Cody came into view of passing it. Victoria came up behind him and put a hand on his shoulder to stop him. I looked to Scourge to see if he had felt anything in seeing his ex but I saw no emotion change on his face from the sight of her.

"Well if she is, you shouldn't wake her," Victoria said, turning Cody around so that he would face her. His attention quickly averted from his gaze of the staircase to Victoria.

"But maybe I should check on her, ya know. Make sure she got home okay."

"I'm sure she's fine. I feel her presence close by so she's probably around here somewhere."

"But still, I should go make sure she's okay."

"Cody," Victoria yelled at him, pouting out her lips in frustration. "You have to stop treating her like such a baby. The girl is fine. If Scourge came after her then I'm pretty sure she can handle him. I mean, she kicked his ass every other time."

"I know but this isn't every other time. She hasn't been herself."

"She only hasn't been herself because she misses him." Cody lowered his eyes to the ground as he frowned. Victoria frowned as well and stepped a bit closer to him. "I know you really love her Cody but you have to move on."

"I'm not in love with her, Victoria. At least not anymore. I've seen the way she looks at Scourge. It was the way you used to look at me."

"The way I still look at you," she said, putting a finger under his chin so that he would look up at her. "In the end, Rosy will choose him. If he finds her then she's going to go without a fight. You and I both know that." Cody sighed. I could only stand there and feel betrayed somewhat. I sacrificed my feelings for Scourge to help them multiple times but yet they still thought I wasn't fully on their side. I practically betrayed him in all but still that wasn't enough for them. What else could I possibly do? Kill him? Then again, that was what Scourge wanted to me to do to Cody in order to earn his trust back. I guess both sides were more fucked up than they wanted to portray.

"I know. But since we have you now, I guess the war will be played out fairly close. Maybe it will never end at all."

"No, it will end. Just not the way everyone expects it to." She looped her arms around Cody's neck and stood on her toes to kiss him softly. Cody contently kissed her back, wrapping his arms around her. When they finally pulled away, they smiled at each other. Well at least for a second they did. That was before I pulled harshly out of Scourge's grasp and stepped out from the corner.

"Rosy," Cody exclaimed, blushing bashfully but also looking a bit angry. "How long were you standing there?"

"Long enough," I murmured, trying to shrug off the hurt feelings I had. How could those two try to judge my feelings for Scourge and then anticipate my actions? If I do recall, Victoria was head over heels for Scourge at one point but yet she still turned her back on him. Why were they trying to make me so different? I turned my head to look back at Scourge who was still standing in the dark corner, watching quietly.

"Why do you look so pale? Are you alright," Victoria asked, taking a step towards me. I avoided her gaze.

"My powers are gone and my superhuman strength seems to have declined as well."

"What? How," Cody asked, seeming concerned but not fully. "You know we can't use you without your dark powers to help against Lucifer's army."

"I know. Scourge paid me a visit earlier and he took them from me. Apparently, since we're bonded, he's allowed to do that."

"Scourge was near you? When?"

"Now," I heard his silky voice say from behind me. Cody glared at the Dark Angel while Victoria looked a bit scared of him. "You know, this is a nice place to run to but my girl is very easy to find. I think you've already witnessed that with the first one."

"You better leave Rosy alone or else-"

"Or else what? You'll try to kill me? Please. Your attempts for my destruction is getting quite tiresome, Angel boy." Scourge walked to my side, his eyes surprisingly gentle as they looked down to me. "I'm waiting on your call to make my move."

"Don't you hurt her," Victoria yelled, making a move towards Scourge before he sent her a devil glare that made her stop in her tracks.

"If I wanted to hurt her, I would have done it by now."

"Then what are you doing with her?"

"Giving her chances that I never gave you." With the twitch of his eyebrow, Victoria went flying against the wall. Cody made a move to lunge at Scourge but with the simple wave of his hand, my best friend went flying into the wall and landed on top of Victoria. With a sigh, Scourge turned to me. "Rosy, I can only offer you two options."

"Either I join you or you kill me?" Scourge's eyes seemed sad as he slowly shook his head. He raised his hand to caress my cheek. His soft fingers made my skin tingle.

"I wish that I could continue my coldness towards you enough that it would drive me to kill you but I can't find it in my black heart to do it. You mean everything to me and if our paths do cross in battle then know that I will protect you rather than fight you."

"Rosy, don't listen to him. He's lying," Cody yelled as he struggled to get up from the floor. "If you turn away from him then he will kill you. You know that."

"What's the other option then," I asked Scourge, ignoring Cody. If Scourge was lying then so be it. I didn't care anymore. Honestly I would rather be dragged around by Scourge than be pitied by my new rival race. Hell, being dragged around by Scourge sounded better than a lot of things. At least then, I wouldn't feel so empty.

"If you don't join me then I will leave you alone. Forever. When the war is over, I will simply watch over you like I did when you were a child and make sure nothing harms you. You won't have to see me or interact with me at all. I will just be a shadow of your past and a protector of your future."

"So you would really walk away from everything we have?"

"Only if you do."

"Rosalinda! Don't listen to him! He doesn't love you," Victoria yelled. "Trust me, he cares for no one but himself! He will only kill you when he's done with you! He will never love you!" Tears started to brim at my eyes. Her words combined with the new choice I had to make hurt. Everyone kept telling me that Scourge didn't really love me. That he was only using me. But how would they know? They didn't see the side of him that he only showed to me. The side where he was sweet and caring. The side where the teenager whose life had been taken by force still lived. I loved Scourge and I knew that was one thing that I was sure of.

"I'm sorry," I said, not looking at any of them. "I'm sorry of what I have to choose." I felt a hand grab my arm softly. The hand started to pull me away from Scourge.

"Don't worry, Rosy. We'll protect you in case he tries to attack," Victoria said, wrapping her slender arms around me. I looked up at Scourge to see that his expression held one of sorrow and love. I knew then that his new chance was genuine and that he would actually be really hurt if the latter happened. I only smiled at my boyfriend, letting a tear fall from my eye.

"I'm not worried," I said. Victoria looked to me, confused. Cody also looked confused at my words, stumbling to stand between Scourge and us girls.

"Why," they both asked in unison.

"Because I'm going with him."

"What," the two Angels yelled in unison. They both looked at me as if I had three heads. I could only keep my gaze locked with Scourge who smiled back at me. Or at least he did for a second before his smile fell into an evil smirk.

"I'm sorry," I murmured before breaking out of Victoria's arms and running towards Scourge. Cody tried to grab me but Scourge punched him so hard that he went flying through the wall. Victoria also tried to intervene but by then I was in Scourge's arms and he was halfway launched into the air. His voluminous black wings spread from his back and he soared out through the roof. I could only stare down at the house as it faded through the clouds. As I left Cody behind, I felt my heart start to hurt. I clutched my chest in alarm causing Scourge to look down at me. "What's happening," I asked as I felt myself start to change. My eyes hurt and my head burned.

"You finally entered the dark side."

"How?"

"You let go of what was holding what was left of your humanity."

"Cody?"

"Yes. Now we have bigger plans, my love. Much bigger plans."

"And what's that?"

"First, your official incarnation as Princess."

"And then?"

"We end this war for good."

I honestly am not a big fan of this chapter. Yes this is her final choice of the side she's on for the war but I have a couple surprises for the last few chaps which will be coming. This story only has a little bit left before it's over so yea. Yea..

PLEASE REVIEW!