i know guys, its been a while. I'm sorry! my original computer was for school, and i had to give it back at the end of the year. and that meant finding a computer i could use. but I'm back and ready to write! again i want to thank all my reviewers. you all keep me going
...
The hunters and flightlings stood on the roof, staring at each other, waiting for someone to make a move. The old and twisted flightling that Gibbs had shot stared up with completely white, silvery eyes that saw nothing. The much younger Twisted was being held by Tim and Victoria.
Now the question remained: what next? Did they all go their separate ways? What did this truce entail?
Instead of addressing the issues, Gibbs cleared his throat.
"We'll...we can take him, if you want," he said, gesturing to the younger evil being, who was standing sullenly, ignoring Victoria's grasp on his shoulder.
"That's alright. I have a friend who will take him away from here," Apollo informed. Both Tim and the nameless man looked at Apollo inquisitively.
"Fine," Gibbs said simply, quite willing to have the beast out of their hands.
"With that, we'll be saying goodnight," the elder flightling said. "Let's go, Victoria."
They took off, carrying their prisoner with them. McGee waited behind to talk to his former team.
At first, no one spoke. Tony decided to break the ice by saying, "thanks again. For saving me, I mean."
"Don't mention it," McGee grinned. "Uh...so are you guys staying longer, or...?"
"We do not know," Ziva offered, picking up the conversation. "Will we get to see you again?"
"Sure," the former agent said, relieved that they wanted to stay in touch. Secretly, some part of him ached to rejoin his old family and go back to America with them. But he knew he wasn't ready to leave the Clarks yet. "Do you...do you want my phone number?"
"Of course," Tony said, handing him the phone to enter a new contact. "You know, Ziva and I still haven't taken you sightseeing."
McGee laughed, entering his number and handing back the cell. "I think I should be the one showing you around at this point. You're missing an amazing view."
With that, he spread his wings out as far as they would go. The white and touches of silver reflected in the moonlight, and it looked like Tim was wearing his own cape made of the night sky.
Once again, with his wings and eyes and physique, McGee looked absolutely angelic.
"I'll see you soon," he said, and let himself fall over the roof and out of sight. A small sound of worry escaped Ziva's lips before Tim appeared again, gliding up and over the city.
...
McGee arrived home to find Victoria and Apollo in the library. He was on his loft, speaking softly into the phone. She was sitting in a lounge chair in front of the blazing fire, aiming a fire poker at the flightling they had caught. The flightling in question was kneeling in between her and the fire, staring at her maliciously.
"What's going on here?" Tim asked, coming up behind her.
"He was too strong for me to hold. He kept wriggling out of my grasp," Victoria sighed. "So I told him if he tried to attack us, that I would push him into the fire."
McGee sat in the chair next to hers. "What's your name?"
The twisted being just stared at him, so Tim asked him in Italian.
"He won't answer," Victoria said. "He speaks English, but he refuses to tell us his name."
His investigative instincts kicking in, McGee asked. "Did you check his wallet?"
"I didn't have time to yet. It's on the mantelpiece."
Tim retrieved it and opened the wallet. "His ID says his name is Jude Damien. Age 22."
Victoria looked at him. "Well, Jude, will you talk to us now that we know your name?"
All she got was an inhuman growl.
Apollo joined them. "I don't know if you two remember Simon Priestly, my friend from Kenya. He was at the party-"
"Oh I love when Simon comes to visit! He's lead such an interesting life," Victoria said.
"Then you're in luck, because he's coming over to take care of our friend here. What did you say your name was, my boy?"
"He didn't," Tim interjected. "He won't talk to us. His name is Jude, though."
"When will Simon be here?" Victoria asked.
"Soon. He's at his home in Valero Notte, thank heavens, and not in Africa. He is bringing something that we can contain Jude in, and..." Apollo looked at a clock on the mantel. "And we missed dinner. Simon will most likely be hungry as well."
"I'll make something," Victoria said, heading to the kitchen.
"I'll help," Tim said as he followed her.
Apollo took up Victoria's place in front of the fire, facing Jude. "I'm afraid you've gotten yourself into some trouble," he said to the young man. "But we can help you."
...
Victoria opened the fridge and peered inside. McGee looked over her shoulder.
"I need some sort of inspiration," she said. "I have no idea what to make."
Tim looked at the contents of the fridge. "It looks like we have several options...why don't you start with a wine and pick a food to compliment it?"
His surrogate sister stared at him. "That is brilliant," she said, her eyes flashing in delight. She straightened and walked to the corner of the kitchen, where she opened up their enormous wine room. It was only as narrow as a phone booth, but it stretched on for ten feet, with racks of liquor on all sides.
"I remember Simon's favorite wine is...where is it...?"
Tim leaned against the door frame and stared into space. There was something that had been bothering him all night. "Victoria..."
Noticing the tone of his voice, the young woman stopped searching and turned to him.
"That other Twisted...the older one that Gibbs killed...his eyes. What was that?"
She leaned against a large barrel and looked up at the light. "I've never seen anything like his eyes before. I've heard of it, once, a while ago, but it was a legend. It is supposedly an effect of consuming too many souls, but...I've met flightlings that have hunted for decades. They are always horrid and frightening looking...but they never had eyes like that."
"The man didn't look that old."
"He has either absorbed an ungodly amount of souls, or something happened to him. Who knows...ah, here it is."
She pulled out an ancient looking bottle. "I'm sure we have something to compliment this quite nicely. Quickly, sous chef. We don't have much time!"
The meal was gently placed in the oven at the same moment that the doorbell rang. Tim ran to get it. He opened the door to a dark skinned, robust man with a friendly smile and fine clothes.
"Hello Mr. Priestly-"
"Hello Timothy!" the man boomed, hitting him on the back. "Please, call me Simon."
Victoria left the dinner in the oven and came to greet their guest. "Thanks for coming," she greeted with a kiss to his cheek. "It gets much too quiet around here without you."
"Of course it does," he smiled. "Now where is that old man you call a father?"
"In the library with the boy we caught," she said, striding across the room to the big doors.
Apollo still had the fire poker trained on their prisoner, right where they left him.
"You sure owe me for this one, Clark," he chortled. "I had a hell of a time getting that cage here. Do you know how hard it is to inconspicuously move a big game crate from one end of the city to the other? Even at night..."
"I know, and you have no idea how much I appreciate it," Apollo said, standing and shaking his old friend's hand. "I'd like to get young Jude here to St. Stephen's as soon as possible."
"By all means, I can get him out of the country by sunrise. Let's get that cage inside before someone sees it."
It took the combined super-strength of Tim, Apollo, and Simon to get it inside. This was partially because it cage was made of steel, the one metal that flightlings couldn't bend. But the size played a big role in it, too. The crate was nothing but four barred sides, a top and a bottom. Back in the era of colonizing Africa, it was used for displaying game like large monkeys or big cats. Now, these cages were perfect for transporting flightlings.
Apollo and Tim finally found a way to get Jude into the cage, and Simon locked it tight.
"Where are you taking him?" McGee asked as they say down to supper.
"St. Stephen's hospital."
"I've never heard of it."
"I'd be surprised if you had," Simon said, wiping his mouth on a napkin. "The place is hidden deep in the Congo. Not even guerillas from -whatever tribe is warring at the moment- can find it."
"Who do they treat, then?"
"Flightlings," Apollo said. "It isn't like the usual hospital that cares for the sick or injured, Timothy. It's more like an addiction treatment facility."
"It's for flightlings who want to give up hunting humans," Victoria said. "Like a detox."
"Who runs it?"
"Flightlings who are members of one religion or another," Simon explained. "Nuns, monks, priests, rabbis. They're all there, serving as doctors of sorts."
"They can't force our young Damien to give up hunting, but it seems to me that he is unhealthy. The least they can do is fix him up."
"And get him far, far away from here," Victoria added.
After this the conversation shifted to Simon's adventures in Africa. He was in the middle of describing a safari with Ernest Hemingway when a horrible shrieking noise made them all freeze.
A low groaning sounded from one room over.
The four flightlings were up and running to the library when the resounding smash of glass was heard.
Tim and Simon threw the doors open to find a horrible sight.
The cage looked...melted. It was warped and bent, the bars spread far enough apart for even Simon to slip through. An enormous gaping hole stretched sixteen feet up the window, also large enough for a person to fit. Jude Damien was gone.
"Oh my god," Victoria gasped.
"We have to go after him," Apollo said. He and Simon spread their wings and took off through the window after the volatile flightling.
McGee went over to the cage and felt one of the bent bars. "Incredible."
"How did he learn to bend steel?" his sister asked.
"Maybe the bars are faulty," Tim said, gripping the metal. He gave it a tug, one powerful enough to easily bend silver or iron. The cage didn't yield.
Both Tim and Victoria pulled at the bars with all of their might, but nothing happened.
"How do you get that strong?" McGee panted.
Victoria quickly scaled the bookcase in order to inspect the broken window up close. "No idea. But whatever we're dealing with..it's way beyond the ordinary."