Chapter 13: Dangerous Actions

Moments ticked away as Gabriel remained motionless on his faux throne. He was virtually a statue except for the few angry twitches in his face when Michael thwarted him. The two brothers were at an impasse, but Gabriel was banking on wearing Michael down.

The room seemed colder than before and it took Alex a few tries to open his eyes. His body ached as he slowly straightened himself out and pushed himself upright. He took a few more moments and then stood up, achingly. He kept Gabriel in his line of sight, noticing how the archangel was still struggling to possess an uncooperative Michael. The angel started gripping both armrests and a sheet of sweat was dripping down his face. Gabriel appeared furious all of a sudden and Alex wondered if it was at his brother or his own frustration at not being able to best him.

Alex moved closer and then halted, leaving extra distance between them. His bruised ribs reminded him that he didn't want a repeat performance of Gabriel's wrath. He closed his eyes for a moment, breathing deeply. The tattoos had started moving, as they usually did when he was within Gabriel's proximity. It was a strange sensation and he decided to heed it this time. Opening his eyes, he glanced down at his left arm and then immediately shrugged out of his warm jacket. Pulling up the sleeve of his sweater, he watched as the tattoos scrolled around his forearm and then in an instant they stopped. Words formed immediately, the meaning becoming clear to Alex. It had an oddly calmative effect on him. It was then that Alex knew what to do as an extraordinary sense of power rushed through him, rippling out from his chest and down his arms.

Immediately, he set his sight on Gabriel, glaring at the archangel intensely. Lifting his left hand, he turned his palm outward so that it faced the angel. With a deep breath, he concentrated on Gabriel and focused all of his newfound energy on the angel. "Secure this intruder!"

At first nothing happened, but Alex was determined so he tried once more, his voice getting stronger as he stepped closer. "SECURE THIS INTRUDER!"

Gabriel shuddered for a moment, blinking and then looking directly at Alex. He stood up, anger crossing the angel's face. "What do you think you're doing, boy?"

Alex yelled again, "SECURE THIS INTRUDER!"

Something severe was happening and it made Gabriel take notice. The anger was abruptly replaced with concern. His head was starting to tingle as his vision blurred a little.

"SECURE THIS INTRUDER!" Alex continued, stepping closer.

Gabriel grabbed his head as intense pain suddenly struck him. He tried to keep the connection he had established with Michael as he gripped his head and squeezed his eyes shut. A cry of pain escaped his lips as he stumbled forward and fell to his knees.

And then surprisingly the Chosen One was standing directly in front of him, roughly grabbing his jaw with both hands. Gabriel could barely move as Alex's touch brought even more pain, radiating through his head and down throughout his body. It was almost as if he were unexpectedly paralyzed.

Alex didn't know what made him launch at the angel. It made sense to him somehow and as soon as he touched Gabriel, a flood of images clouded his sight. Without realizing it, he had gained access to whatever he had been seeing.

The vision was not quite clear, most likely due to Michael's resistance against Gabriel's connection. However, Alex could still make out the haphazard room that Michael was in. And then the vision shifted as presumably Michael turned to an opened window. The skyline was gray with tall buildings and clouds that threatened rain. Someone winged was flying towards him. Alex could almost taste the pain that Michael was suffering from.

The winged being landed in front of him. It was a woman with black and blue wings dressed in red and black soldier gear that looked oddly familiar. She held a look of concern. Wanting to know more about Michael and his whereabouts, Alex was almost pulled deeper into the vision. His concern for the archangel made him feel torn as well, but he remembered what the point of all this was and shifted his focus one more time.

Alex whispered, hoarsely, "Secure this intruder."

And then the vision went dark as the tenuous connection disappeared. Alex opened his eyes to find that Gabriel was still on his knees in front of him. The angel was rigid, yet his head lolled in Alex's hands. Gabriel was breathing heavily and was noticeably in a lot of pain.

The Chosen One leaned forward and whispered, "You have not shown your worth, Gabriel. Bring what may come, but you're not hurting those I love anymore. I will make sure of that."

Gabriel slowly opened his eyes and looked up at Alex. The fury started to creep into his expression as he haphazardly yanked himself away from the human. "You dare say that?" Gabriel rasped angrily, his voice low and menacing as he finally found his feet, taking a step away from the Chosen One.

Though Alex wasn't exactly fearful of the archangel at the moment, he was cautious of those wings. Giving the angel some space, Alex felt the tattoos start to move again. He knew what he wanted to do, the fury in his own chest eating away at him. The sudden power he had felt was burning through his body and seeing Gabriel's smug angry face only fueled his own rage towards the angel.

He lifted his left hand up again, palm facing Gabriel, and he thought about the change in words. The tattoos had given him what he needed, if only he could actually pull it off. If he did this, it would save so many. It would change everything.

"SEAL THIS VESSEL!" he commanded and clenched his fist simultaneously, as if closing his hand over Gabriel's heart. As if he were squeezing the life from it.

Gabriel tried to take a step forward to put a halt to Alex with another backhand, but he abruptly crumpled to the ground, grabbing at his chest and then his head while moaning in massive pain. The lights were blurring for the angel and something seemed to be suffocating him. His heart was pounding and his wings immediately appeared, wrapping themselves around him as if to protect his body. "What…what are you…doing to me?" he barely heaved out.

"I'm teaching you a lesson," Alex told him, still clenching his fist. "If you come near Vega or Claire or anyone I care about, I will make sure to finish this lesson. Do you hear me?" Alex felt…he felt like he was on fire. Whatever was giving him strength was also making him feel…reckless. Out of control. Euphoric.

Gabriel sputtered, fully clutching his head now, and curled in on himself on the floor.

"What…What is happening?" Furiad's confused voice sputtered from behind Alex.

Ignoring Furiad's sudden presence, Alex stared at the angelic heap in front of him. The wings were obscuring his view of Gabriel's face, but he could imagine how much pain he was in from the moans that were escaping him.

Furiad rushed forward, about to tackle Alex and put an end to whatever was happening, but the Chosen One threw up his right hand and concentrated. "Agito," Alex said with an eerie calm, and Furiad was thrown backwards by an unseen force. His wings popped out and slowed his trajectory to the wall as he glared at Alex.

"You're killing him, don't you see that?" Furiad spat out.

Alex didn't move, staring at the pained archangel. At that moment, he wanted it. He wanted to end it all. End the war. Finish Gabriel's ridiculous war on everything. He was the one who tried to wipe out the human race. He was the one who threatened Alex's unborn child. He threatened Claire and everyone he loved.

And yet…

For some reason, Alex hesitated. He knew he had the ability to do it. He had killed before, and Gabriel had given him enough reason to end him once and for all. But something held him back, like a small warning bell going off in his head. Although he could feel the power inside him, he could tell that it was slowly faltering. Suddenly, he wasn't sure how much longer he would be able to do much of anything.

"Noma." Furiad said, quietly. "Just think of Noma. You kill him, the 8-balls will lose all direction. And Noma…she'll be a casualty. I won't be able to protect her." he paused. "As much as I'd like to."

Alex closed his eyes for a moment. Furiad might be right. The tattoos were suddenly very still. He could feel them stop and whatever had made him feel powerful the moment before was rapidly starting to disappear. The decision was rapidly slipping out of his grasp. He knew he had to have enough strength to get Noma and himself out of the aerie before Gabriel regained his footing.

He opened his eyes and looked down at the whimpering angel. He clenched his hand for a second longer and then let it go. The power inside of him reverberated back into his chest and suddenly seemed to trickle out of him, leaving Alex rapidly exhausted.

Gabriel's wings suddenly relaxed and fell to the sides, revealing his face. He was out cold, but still alive. He looked pallid and almost peaceful in his slumber.

Furiad didn't move too close, sidestepping the Chosen One. "You should go. Now. While you can." He hoarsely whispered. "He won't be happy, Alex."

It was the one and only time Furiad had ever called him by his real name. It was usually either "human" or "Chosen One" said in a disdainful way. But this time… this time Furiad was seeing him for what he was. A being with power that happened to care about the same angel as he did.

"Take Noma and go," Furiad said quietly. "I'll keep the others from following."

Alex stumbled backward. He was tiring drastically. Whatever power was running through him before was draining away. And it was taking its toll. It didn't take much convincing from Furiad. Alex grabbed his jacket off the floor and turned on his heels, heading to Noma's room. They had wanted to leave for so long, it seemed almost like a bizarre dream.

~~D~~

A few moments later, he found himself in Noma's room. Since he was so worn down, he barely made any sense when he burst into her space, haphazardly holding his jacket and barely keeping his eyes open. She had been sitting on the bed, staring into space, thinking about Home when the ashen-faced man suddenly showed up.

She immediately rose from the bed and steadied him. He looked shattered. "What happened?" she asked, with concern.

"We have to go. Take whatever you need and let's get out of here," he slurred, suddenly feeling sort of drunk and uneven. "Can you fly?"

"Yes, I think so." Her eyebrows were knit together with concern. She grabbed his face and made him stop moving for a moment. He tried to focus on her as she asked, "What happened?"

"I did something… to Gabriel. So we need to go before the others find out. Furiad said he'd hold them off." He paused. "For your sake."

Noma studied him for a moment more, searching his eyes which struggled to stay open against the fatigue. "We need to go, Noma," he whispered, almost in a pleading tone.

She didn't hesitate after that, knowing that Alex would explain later. If they could escape without casualty, she would take the opportunity. Grabbing the only jacket she owned, they quickly started down the hallway. Immediately, she noticed that Alex was weaving and definitely not acting like himself.

Pausing to lean against the wall, Alex took a deep breath. His chest was hurting and he couldn't seem to muster up the energy to keep going. He tried to wordlessly wave her on, not wanting to hold her up. But she wouldn't move without him.

"Go, Noma," he slurred. "Just get… get out of here…Find Michael. He needs help…"

A chastising look crossed her face as she grabbed his arm and pulled it over her shoulders. "I'm not going anywhere without you, Alex Lannon."

He looked at her with half-lidded eyes. "I'm just holding you up…" he whispered.

"Not leaving you," she said fiercely and started walking, supporting his weight and practically dragging him along.

They stumbled down the hallway past the Feasting Room. Noma scanned the inside of the room as they passed the doorway only to find Furiad standing over a fallen Gabriel. He was staring at his helmet as if he was debating whether or not to wear it.

Furiad glanced up briefly, noticing Noma as she dragged Alex past the entrance. He nodded ever so slightly, not moving an inch more, the helmet forgotten in his hand. And then the couple moved out of his line of sight.

~~D~~

Moments later, at the aerie's entrance, the wind was howling as usual but the snow was lighter than before. Noma wasn't keen on the idea of flying in such a mess, but it was their only way out. She was strong and quite capable of holding onto Alex's solid body, but it wasn't ideal if he was fading into unconsciousness.

"Alex!" she tried to get him to respond, jostling him. His eyes fluttered open again and tried to focus on her. He leaned heavily against her and tried to say, "I'm ok. Just do what you have to do."

With a glance backward, she noticed an 8-Ball walking down the hallway, crossing one of the doorways. It didn't notice her yet, but it was only a matter of time. All of the 8-Balls knew that she was a prisoner and not allowed to leave.

"Hold onto to me as much as you can, ok, Alex? This is going to be… rough," She said to him. He tried to nod, but felt so exhausted that it looked more like his head was lolling about on its own accord.

Noma locked her arms around his torso and let her wings appear and stretch outward. They were fluttering with the harsh wind, so she relaxed them close to her body so that the airstream wouldn't pick them up prematurely. Alex put his arms around her as much as he could, his face close to her neck. They took a few steps towards the edge and then without warning, Noma tipped them both over the edge.

Alex squeezed his eyes shut and held onto her tightly, feeling as if he were about to pass out in the process. As his heart raced, his stomach dropped as well as they fell. He really hated that plummeting sensation and wasn't sure he'd ever get used to it no matter how many times an angel yanked him off of his feet.

The wind was forceful, immediately responding to Noma's abruptly opened wings. It lifted them into the air, tossing them about as she tried to gain control over their flight path. They flipped around a few more times and she wondered if she was going to lose her grip on Alex. Her wings were aching against the cold resilient winds. Finally she shifted and was able to move them lower to the ground where the wind wasn't as intense.

It was only then that she felt Alex's strength disappear and his body becoming lax. He was no longer clutching her, making it unwieldy to hold onto him. He had lost consciousness, which worried her. What had happened? What had he done to Gabriel? How did he best a higher angel? An archangel at that? And somehow convinced Furiad to let them leave without a fight?

Noma glanced down at the Chosen One's face, now resting against her shoulder. How could this fragile human be so resilient? Not for the first time was Noma in awe of him. She took a deep breath and looked out onto the blanketed white horizon, skimming low against the wind. It was going to be a long night and they needed to find shelter soon.