Chapter 5
Solitude was not a concept alien to Michael. Oftentimes, he would embrace the quiet moments in an otherwise lively human society that seemed to bustle with constant energy and activity. It surprised him all the more that, in its absence, he found he was sorely missing it.
After he'd handed an injured Alex over into Noma's care, he'd wandered aimlessly for a while, taking leave from Vega. The Senate had been talking about forced exile before. He preferred to preempt the strike, knowing full well that this time there was no clever ploy working for him in the background. He needed time to conceive of ways how to rebuild the bridges he'd burned.
He'd made a home in a secluded location that had all the basics he needed and all the privacy required to contemplate his future.
Sitting cross-legged on the sun-warmed ground, a soft breeze tousling his hair, the orange sun sinking low on the horizon, it already seemed like an eternity ago that he'd lost control and let the overpowering rage guide his hand.
He'd disappointed so many people in those short minutes where he'd needlessly slain four souls. He'd had his reasons, of course—the justification of them a whole other matter.
Becca's betrayal had cut deep. It still did. Torturing innocent, neutral higher angels for the sake of scientific discovery was an abomination. He had a hard time justifying how that could ever be acceptable in a world that preached peace and collaboration.
In the Stratosphere tower, he had asked her to keep Louis safe. She'd gone and done the exact opposite and deprived the angel of his wings, of his will to live. He could still see Louis' lifeless green eyes staring up at him from a body bent and broken, a body whose life Michael's own sword had claimed willfully to end his fellow angel's suffering.
Did Becca deserve to pay for her wrongdoings with her own life? She had wanted to keep the city safe, and the love she may have had for Michael did not prevail over her sense of duty to a people she had only wanted to protect. The irony wasn't lost on him and it seemed impossible to him now how he could not at least have made an effort to hear her out.
As much as it may have seemed a justified response then to kill Becca for what she'd done, it didn't appear that way to him now. However, for all of their higher abilities and gifts, even an archangel couldn't turn back time, so Michael had vowed to repent and had accepted his punishment in reticent obedience.
There had been a time when he had thought he didn't need company to lead a content existence. The humans had proven him wrong. There was an emptiness inside him now that threatened to consume him. He never thought he could miss the physical contact as much as he did, miss the verbal exchanges, miss the certainty that his presence would be welcome, that his insights would be valued.
So this was how it was going to be; silence had been elected as his sentence and the vast desolation of his new habitat only seemed a natural choice.
He took a deep breath, taking in the unfamiliar smells, when he sensed a new presence. Soft taps of paws, a faint rustle to his left. He opened his eyes and watched his new visitor guardedly approaching.
The fox's pointed ears were pricked up, its snout held high to sniff the air. Watchful eyes were trained on Michael.
A faint smile spread across Michael's lips. Two lost souls in need of companionship. He had a feeling the two of them would become fast friends.
"Alex, I need you. We need you," Claire pleaded.
Wind was whipping strands of her long hair in her face as she stood opposite Alex in the cool night air.
"Oh, now you need me," he countered, turning around to grip the railing of the balcony outside the shabby room of the long abandoned Riviera Hotel they had chosen as their meeting place.
He continued in a raised voice, "Now that William is gone and your father is gone, you suddenly realize how much it sucks to be alone, huh? Well, here's the good news: at least you're a V6."
"Status has nothing to do with it," she told him, her tone carefully controlled.
He shook his head. Status had everything to do with it. "And then what? You'll show me off and produce Exhibit A in front of the Senate: "Look here, I've brought you the Chosen One and guess what, I'm also carrying his child". All hail the great Claire Riesen."
"At least then we wouldn't have to sneak around like this anymore!"
He turned back to face her. "You think I'm doing this by choice?"
"Alex, I've told you. I'm Lady of the City. I can get you reinstated, even make you a lieutenant."
He let out a disdainful snort. "Yeah, like that's gonna solve all my problems."
She stayed silent for an instant, the tension falling a notch. She fixed her gaze on him with an earnest intensity. "You don't have any idea what it's like. The Senate is in disarray. Consul Thorn, William, my father, Michael—they're all gone. David Whele is a shell of what he used to be. Alex, we're barely holding it together. Vega's society is on the brink of collapse. You've seen the riots in the Valley and it's spreading. The people need hope. They need something to believe in. Revealing your true identity will give the people something to live for."
He digested the information for a long moment then said determinedly, "It'll have to wait. I'm leaving tomorrow."
"To go where?"
"The rock formation, I know where it is now. Way out east, at least a day's drive."
"Alex…"
"I know. It's what I need to do."
"Why?"
"God, Claire, I've told you why."
"No, all you've told me were half-lies shrouded in vague innuendo."
"Because the damn tattoos said so, okay?!" he finally yelled.
She was taken aback, as if she was suddenly reminded of who he really was. "The markings said drive to a specific rock structure with no clear idea what's waiting there for you?"
He sighed. "Not in those exact words but, yeah, something like that."
"It sounds like a pretty big leap of faith, even for you."
"Look," he said, lightly touching her upper arms, "I've done this before. It's always led me to the next step. I really need to do this."
She seemed to deflate beneath his touch, already relenting. Her hand came up to his forehead, her fingertips brushing away a stray curl of his short, blond hair.
"Please be careful out there. I need you back in one piece."
"I'll need a vehicle."
"I will have them prepare one first thing tomorrow morning. The second East Gate."
He whispered, "Thank you," then he leaned in and their lips met for a soft kiss.
Alex had barely left the city, the tainted silhouette of leftover glory fading in his rear view mirror, when he heard a familiar swooshing sound overhead. It didn't take long for Noma's winged form to come into view.
She fell in line with his vehicle beside the driver's side, matching its speed. Alex rolled down the window. "Go away," he called out the window.
"Come on, Alex, you know me better than that."
He did and he knew, of course, that he wouldn't get rid of her unless they had a proper conversation. He sighed and hit the brakes until the car came to a halt. Noma got in through the passenger side door and Alex continued driving. He didn't want to lose any more time.
"Geez," she lamented, "took you long enough to leave the city. I've been waiting forever. Used to be easier when Michael was still around, he always knew where you were."
Alex frowned. "What do you mean, he always knew where I was?"
"He was given a special gift, a close connection to you. Kinda like a sixth sense."
"To me? Wow, that's creepy."
"No, to all humans."
Alex hadn't known this; it was a whole new revelation. "Please don't tell me he can read minds, too."
She shrugged. "I'm not sure, but I think it was more like a general sense of presence. He never talks about it. All the higher angels know about it though, but we don't question it. It's just his thing, you know?"
Yes, Alex knew exactly. Michael seldom revealed any personal information. If he was the master at anything, it was how to answer questions with other evasive questions. All the more surprising had it been that Michael had given him a glimpse into his past out by the abandoned waterpark.
Noma looked at him curiously. "If I was to hazard an educated guess, I'd say you spent these last weeks looking for your scraggly Holy Grail and now you've finally found it. How close am I?"
He smiled. "Pretty darn close."
"And you couldn't loop me in?"
"It was something I had to do by myself."
"Says who?"
"Says… I dunno. The universe."
"Oh, so this is like a Chosen One thing, is it?"
"Yeah. Now can you leave it alone already?"
"So where are we going exactly?" she asked.
"Who says that we are going anywhere? What part of 'I have to do this by myself' did you not understand?"
"What part of 'you know me better than that' did you not understand?"
He hit on the brakes again, this time so abruptly that Noma had to brace herself on the dashboard in order not to hit the windscreen.
"Jesus, why can't you all just get off my case?!" he said in a raised voice. "I'm the one carrying the damn tattoos, I'm the one trying to figure this out, I'm the one living with the consequences!"
She started at him intently. "But that doesn't automatically mean you have to do it alone."
"Yes. Yes, it does!"
"So what if you run into a pack of Eight-balls—or worse? There's raiders all over the Cradle."
He let out a derisive chuckle. "Really, Noma? After eleven years on the Force together? You know I'm perfectly capable of defending myself."
"As proven by a set of broken ribs and a punctured lung?"
"I think we can hardly expect for Gabriel and Uriel to randomly roam the desert."
"I guess I just don't understand. Why is it so important that you take all this on by yourself?"
He sucked in a deep breath, trying to find a satisfactory answer. "The truth is, I don't know. Call it a gut feeling, okay? I know that's not a good explanation. It just feels… right."
She gave him a benevolent look. "It's okay. I get it."
"You do?"
She grinned. "Divine intuition, right? Who am I to argue with that?"
This caught him off guard. "Okay, this is weird."
They looked at each other and mutual smiles turned into light-hearted laughs.
"How is that for plain-old-Alex, huh?" he asked.
"Yeah, not quite plain-old-Nomes either."
He cast a cursory glance at the rear-view mirror then turned to her. "You know, there's something you can do in Vega. Claire said the government is on the verge of collapse. There's upheaval, the people are getting restless. Anything you can do to keep things under control."
"Like… what exactly?"
"I don't know. Get creative."
"Could you be any less specific?"
"Sorry to break it to you, but divine intuition only gets me this far."
"Well, it was worth a shot."
She opened the passenger side door, getting out of the car. Leaning in through the open door, she said to Alex, "You better come back in one piece, Lannon."
Before he could respond, she slammed the door and lifted off into the overcast sky. Alex turned the key and revved up the engine, dreading the miles and miles of outstretched road ahead of him.