The instant the door crashed in Michael took his shot, Sandra's head snapping back with the impact. Charlie and Audrey screamed as Sandra fell, the baby flying from her arms. As Michael fired again, pushing Sandra's body out to door, both Jeep and Audrey rushed forward, their eyes fixed on the falling bundle. Jeep was too far away, but the teenager was not, catching the baby even as she landed hard on the tile floor, the wind knocked out of her. Even so, as she struggled to catch her breath, she hugged the baby close, shielding him with her own body. Charlie gasped in relief, but it was short lived.

Silhouetted by the blinding light outside, a massive figure strode through the door. Tessa eyes widened as he became visible. Taller than Michael and easily twice as broad, he towered over the rest or them, his cold ice-blue eyes surveying them all in turn, lingering for a long moment on Tessa, his expression impassive and focused. His immense frame was arrayed for battle, his breastplate and pauldrons shining in the light and a gigantic, deadly mace held in his hand. Audrey cried out in shock while the others looked on in horrified amazement as Gabriel spread his huge iron-grey wings, his gaze shifting to the girl at his feet. Jeep froze a few feet from her, his hand still outstretched to reach the teenager.

Audrey and Gabriel locked eyes for the briefest of moments before the Archangel brought his mace to bear, his face twisting as his arm swung the weapon towards the girl. Audrey managed to twist away just in time as the mace crashed through the tiles with a loud, metallic thud. He brought the bladed mace to bear again, this time only missing Audrey by a hair as Jeep lunged forward and pulled her back, yanking her to her feet. Tessa pushed Charlie toward the pair of them as Bob opened fire. Gabriel just spun, his feathers deflecting the bullets with little more than insubstantial pings. Tessa and Jeep pushed Charlie back into the kitchen as Audrey laid the baby in her arms. Bob continued to fire ineffectually at the angel.

With a soft metallic swish, the gunfire stopped. Jeep, Tessa and the girls looked back to see Bob staring down in shock at the deep slice Gabriel's wing had made across his stomach. The diner was silent as his blood began dripping to the floor. With a snarl, the archangel backhanded the diner's owner, sending him flying clear over the counter into the kitchen. Jeep yelled out in agony as his father crashed into the stoves before landing heavily on the floor.

"Don't, Jeep! No!" Michael was there in an instant, pushing Jeep towards the back of the diner as the boy screamed, trying to reach his father. Bob didn't move from where he fell. Tessa pulled him back too, helping Michael get him away from his father's body. The former angel grabbed Jeep's face, forcing him to make eye contact. "No! The child! Get the child out of here." Tessa frowned, only just realizing what her lover was planning to do.

"What about you?" He didn't break eye contact with Jeep, even as she practically screamed in his ear, desperation sinking in. He just continued to speak to Jeep.

"Don't be afraid." His voice hardened as he thrust the keys to the police cruiser into his hand. "Find the Prophets. Learn to read the instructions." Jeep was bewildered, as was Tessa, who felt a familiar sense of resolve settle in the pit of her stomach. Jeep continued to yell at Michael as he walked away, toward Gabriel.

"Prophets? What Prophets? What instructions?" Michael turned, pointing past them.

"Go! All of you." Tessa pushed past the others, single-mindedly heading for Michael.

"No. No! I'm not leaving!" Michael grabbed her shoulders, his fingers digging in almost painfully. Their eyes connected, and she saw there the same desperation and determination she had.

"Go, Tessa. I need you to keep them safe. I need you to get them out of here!" She almost snarled at him, trying to fight off his iron grip as he pushed her back too. She caught a glimpse of Gabriel's face over Michael's shoulder. She saw his expression soften for a moment before the resolve she feared most in settled in his eyes. She was all but sobbing now.

"I'm not leaving! I'm not going to leave you!" Michael's voice was soft and quiet, the agony in it causing her to close her eyes in her own pain.

"Please, Tessa. I want you safe!" A sob tore at her throat as he pulled her close, kissing her hard before pushing her towards the others.

"Go!" He yelled, his grief tearing her heart apart.

"Michael—"

"Go." Her whisper was too quiet to be heard before he cut her off, his own voice barely audible. Yet the man in front of her nodded in understanding at everything she tried to say in the one word she had managed to get out. She watched him mouth 'I love you' back at her before tearing herself away, pushing the others almost violently towards the back exit, swiping her tears away as she went. She ignored to looks of sympathy and pain Charlie and Audrey shot back at her as she pulled her sword from its sheath, resolve once more settling in her stomach.

Jeep opened the back door, shielding Charlie and the baby with his body. Outside the possessed stood silently, moving to creating a gauntlet as they walked toward the LAPD police cruiser Michael had arrived in. The tiny group inched forward, Jeep leading with the gun held in front of him, ready to fire if any of them so much as moved. Audrey clung close to Tessa while Charlie pressed herself to Jeep's back, holding her son as tightly to her chest as she dared.

A single possessed figure didn't move out of the way as the group approached. She was young and slight, wearing a ribbon-trimmed white nightdress that matched the deathly pale colour of her skin. Over her head was a blood spattered and soaked paper bag, her long dark hair matted with gore. She watched them seemingly without eyes, following their every movement, and began to rhythmically beat the piece of iron in her hand against the hood of the car. Tessa was severely tempted to tear her apart.

Jeep opened the passenger side door and helped Charlie into the car while Tessa pulled open the back door, gently guiding Audrey inside. As the angel moved to close the door, Audrey stopped it, half getting out again as an expression of bewilderment bloomed on her young face. Jeep and Charlie paused, watching as teenager stared at the angel.

"What are you doing, I thought you were coming with us!" Tessa sheathed her sword, gently reached inside and pushed the girl into the seat. Removing the girl's hands from the door, the angel shut it gently behind her. Looking to Jeep and Charlie, who also watched her in fearful bewilderment, Tessa sighed.

Without hesitation, she took a step backwards, shedding her long black jacket in one swift motion, throwing it to Jeep, who caught it. With a soft, vaguely metallic rustle, her pewter-grey wings unfurled behind her, stretching to their full, staggering width. Charlie and Jeep couldn't help but look on in a terrified amazement, and a gasp of surprise and wonder escaped from Audrey. Shuffling them slightly before drawing them back toward her body, the angel once again met their eyes as her small, almost cynical smile crept to her lips. It looked more like a grimace now.

"Get in the car. I'll follow. After all, I've got my own transportation."

* * *

Inside, Michael stood in one corner of the diner, staring at the floor, reliving Tessa's last words to him, both the one spoken and those he hadn't let her say. His own resolve had been tenuous at best as the pain had surfaced in her eyes. Hadn't he once sworn never to hurt her? When he had promised that, she had been new to her wings, and Michael had never imagined they would be in this situation now. No one could have.

His brother stood across from him, the metallic swish of his wings furling behind him the only sounds breaking the silence. Gabriel stared back, contemplating his brother, a strange expression on his face. Michael took a deep breath, his words quiet and resigned in the empty diner.

"I knew he'd send you, Gabriel." He looked up, meeting his brother's icy-blue gaze with his own, "You were always so eager to please him."

"Unlike you," The slight waver in Gabriel's low, deep voice betrayed his conflicting emotions, "the rebellious son." Michael knew his brother well enough to know the contempt in the voice of God's Messenger wasn't wholeheartedly felt. Gabriel shook his head, a hint of despair in his expression.

"Your wings—" He paused, momentarily overcome even thinking about what Michael had done to separate himself from Heaven to help the child. When he spoke, the emotionless tone had returned, attempting to mask the Archangel's pain at his brother's situation. "They would've helped you now." Michael nodded slightly.

"To not feel their burden is a dream." Even as he said those words, his tone was sad. The two archangels continued to stare at each other.

"Do you think you can defy him and . . . not pay the price?" Michael watched his brother carefully, taking in every fluctuation in his tone and every expression he made. The price was higher than he'd expected, since he hadn't dreamed that he was going to be followed. That, he did regret. He started to move closer.

"The child lives," he moved closer still, looking for a hint of compassion in his brother's face. Only the Messenger's eyes betrayed his conflict. "He lives. It doesn't matter what happens to me." Michael noticed Gabriel stiffen, his resolve wavering for the briefest of moments. They were standing face to face now. Gabriel considered his brother for a moment, hard pressed to keep his despair to himself. He had a job to do.

"Yours is a fool's sacrifice, Michael. You can help them run, but they won't escape," he clenched his jaw for a heartbeat, wishing he didn't have to say what came next, "Neither will you, my brother." Michael felt strangely calm, meeting his brother's troubled gaze without hesitation.

"I'm not running anymore." Gabriel's face hardened, his jaw clenching again. Michael looked at him for a moment, placing his hand on his brother's cheek, forcing him to meet his gaze. "It's enough. There's another way." Gabriel's control crumbled, his eyes glistening with grief. No longer able to meet his brother's calm, resolved gaze, he lowered his eyes, fighting to regain control. A part of him didn't want to. Part of him wanted to join Michael. Inhaling deeply, he grasped his brother's hand in one last farewell, slowly pulling his emotions in check as he gazed at their clasped hands. He hesitated to speak, not sure if he could. In his heart he wanted to believe. He didn't want to be the one to strike down his brother. They were two parts of a whole. He couldn't imagine existing without him.

"There is no other way." Gabriel's voice was soft and sad, but if was also full of conviction. He would do what he had to—even if it tore his own heart apart. Michael closed his eyes, his head lowering as his last plea fell on ears that refused to listen. Gabriel roughly pushed him back, his gaze once again hard and cold. Michael brought his gun to bear, ready to face the archangel before him in a battle that would likely lead to his death. He didn't flinch or even look up as the blades of Gabriel's mace extended into place. Flicking the safety off, he looked up to see his brother extending his formidable wingspan to its full width, the feathers hardened and battle ready, creating an impenetrable shield. The razor-sharp primary feathers were quite possibly even more deadly than his formidable mace. Gabriel's voice was soft as he asked one last question, unable to keep the hurt out of his voice.

"Do you love her?" Michael inhaled deeply, memories of Tessa going back centuries flitting through his mind. How he wished to have even one more minute with her, to hold her in his arms and breath in the sweet scent of her hair. He exhaled, hating to hurt his brother in yet another way. He knew from the expression on his face that Gabriel still loved her.

"Yes. More than I have ever imagined I could."

With a grimace, the Archangel charged, his wings swinging forward to shield him as Michael opened fire. Leaping onto the booths to try and get around Gabriel, he just barely missed getting his leg torn off by a viscous swing of his brother's bladed mace. The booth behind him splintered in a shower of wood and metal fragments. Jumping down he opened fire again, not surprised in the least when the bullets ricocheted off Gabriel's metallic wings. Gabriel took another swing, his wings following through in a deadly fan, just missing as Michael ducked in time, rolling out of the way.

Knowing the action was futile, he continued to pull the trigger, trying to track Gabriel as the angel used his wings to propel himself up and across the room. The former angel rolled over the counter into the kitchen just as Gabriel's mace came crashing down, shattering the countertop in a spray of shards. He spun, his wingtips whistling above Michael's head right before he sprung up, dealing Gabriel a heavy blow to the face with the butt of his rifle. Unfazed, the archangel spun again, the primaries on his wings slicing through the air as Michael propelled himself over his brother's attack. He landed lightly on his feet, turning to let loose another barrage of bullets. Gabriel charged again, Michael launching himself over the metallic wings to land behind him.

Gabriel spun with astonishing speed, anticipating Michael's next move. The spike on the tip of his mace was rammed down the barrel of Michael's gun, the archangel's expression daring him to pull the trigger. Taking the chance, Michael's finger squeezed. the gun exploding between them. Gabriel jumped up with the help of his wings to slam both of his feet into Michael's chest, propelling his brother across the room. Michael crashed into the wall, falling to the ground as the Archangel charged forward, a fierce battle cry on his lips.

He leaped into the air, using the momentum of his falling body to further enhance the swing of his mace. The former angel slid to the side just in time, watching as the mace embedded itself in the clapboard wall where his head had been a moment earlier. He shouldered Gabriel hard in the chest, causing him to stumble back, the mace pulling free from the wall. He awkwardly tried to swing his weapon, but Michael was too close for it to be effective.

Michael took his chance, trying to push him back with first a kidney-shot then a blow aimed for his head. Gabriel, however, dodged his second punch and, using both hands, jammed the mace's handle to his throat, trying to cut off Michael's air supply. Barely able to get his hands up in time to prevent the blow from crushing his windpipe, Michael struggled to push the mace away. He almost missed Gabriel twist the handle, causing the mace-head to spin dangerously close to his face. With a yell, Michael managed to push the weapon away with one last desperate shove, catching his brother's jaw with his fist, but he was unprepared for Gabriel's return attack as the angel slammed the mace's handle first across his face before thrusting it into his gut. As Michael doubled-over against the wall, the wind knocked out of him, Gabriel backed away, arching back to bring the mace crashing down on his brother.

It was then that Tessa smashed through the diner window, slamming into Gabriel's side with a thunderous crack, throwing him off balance. Gabriel howled in pain as she rolling to her feet. She faced him in a crouch, her blue-eyes furious as she prepared to move in again. Gabriel spun to face her, anguish spreading across his face for the briefest of moments. Michael took the opportunity to leap onto the counter and grab Bob's fritzy tv, smashing it down toward Gabriel's head. The archangel barely got his wing up in time to shield himself, but Michael was already ahead of him, throwing a powerful punch into his jaw before he could fully recover. As Gabriel staggered back, Michael raced to Tessa's side, pulling her back.

"Why did you come back?" Her fury withdrew for a moment, revealing her anguish at leaving him behind.

"Because I couldn't just let him kill you!" He pushed her back as Gabriel wound up for another pass, rushing forward to halt the swing before he could unleash it, crashing into Gabriel's arm. He was knocked down with a powerful punch from Gabriel's other hand before being lifted from the ground by his neck. Tessa didn't hesitate, rushing forward herself to deal the archangel a blow to the back of the head, causing him to loose his grip. The arm gripping the mace swung back, Gabriel's elbow catching Tessa hard in the gut, flinging her across the room.

Michael dealt his brother another strong blow, rotating to dodge away as his arms tried to wrap around him, using Gabriel's momentum to flip the angel onto his back. He aimed a kick at his stomach, Gabriel nearly getting propelled upright again in the process. The archangel slammed both of his fists forward, sending Michael sliding away from him. He leapt to his feet, grabbing his mace as he spun allowing his wings to fan out around him again. Michael dodged the feathers, but not Gabriel's hand as it whipped out, grabbing him and throwing him down on one of the few undamaged sections of counter. As he wound up to swing again, Tessa used her wings to propel her forward, latching onto his back. Gabriel let out a roar as he twisted, dislodging her grip. As he spun again, she was thrown clear through the last remaining unbroken window at the front of the diner, crashing through the boards as if they were no more than paper.

Michael howled as he watched her body land heavily on the other side of the window, knocking down the remaining comatose Possessed like bowling pins. He grabbed the handgun lying nearby and swung it around to Gabriel, but his brother's mace was too fast for him, wrenching it from his hands. Swinging around for a roundhouse kick, Gabriel caught Michael again, throwing him back. As Michael regained his balance, Gabriel's right pinion slashed across his abdomen. It wasn't as deep a wound as Bob's, but it was deep enough, and Michael felt the blood begin to seep from the gash. They were still for a moment as Michael looked up at his brother. Gabriel, his face contorted with anguish, dealt his brother another blow with his fist, then another, and another. Michael looked about ready to collapse as Gabriel wound back to stab him with the tip of his mace, but at the last second, the former angel deflected it, twisting it out of his hands.

Anguish was now coursing through his own body, driving him on. Michael hit Gabriel again before spinning and aiming a kick to his chest. Gabriel stumbled back. As he recovered, he lowered his head to charge, but Michael was already leaping over him, his arms fastening like cables around Gabriel's thick neck. Gabriel struggled to dislodge him, pumping his wings and smashing Michael into the ceiling, but the former angel refused to let go. Gabriel's air was slowly being cut off, his hands groping at Michael's slowly tightening arms.

"That's enough." Michael said into his ear, his voice ragged from the fight. Gabriel continued to struggle, eyeing his mace just a few feet from him. Reaching out, he felt it under his fingers. Pulling it to him, he straightened again as his vision began to flicker. "Gabriel, that's enough." The archangel turned the mace, positioning the head tight to his shoulder.

* * *

Outside Tessa groaned as she pulled herself to her feet amidst the unmoving Possessed, her thoughts still muddled from the blow that tossed her through a window. It hadn't taken her long to regain consciousness, but getting to her feet had been another matter. All she knew was that Michael was still in there. Ignoring the pain shooting through her body, she looked up, ready to propel herself forward and back into the fight. Michael was hanging onto Gabriel's back, his arms wrapped around the archangel's throat. Gabriel was tucking his mace to his shoulder, carefully positioning his hands as he started to wobble on his feet from air-deprivation.

Right as Tessa started to surge forward, Gabriel twisted the handle, the large spike on the tip of his mace punching through his own shoulder and right through Michael's heart. She could see the look of shock on her beloved's face as the metal spike tore into his body, jutting perversely from his back. Tessa stumbled in disbelief, halting her charge as a scream tried to escape her throat. She found herself choking instead, unable to breath. His face screwed up with more than one kind of agony, Gabriel retracted the spike. Michael slid limply off his brother's back.

This time the scream left her throat, a howl of anguish that ripped through her as her heart felt like it had just been ripped from her chest.

Gabriel looked up to see her standing a few feet from the window, staring at Michael with a look of utter shock and devastation on her face. Tears began to fall from his eyes, his own heart breaking as she took one glance at him before stumbling backwards a few steps, taking to the sky a heartbeat later.

A/N: Thanks for reading!

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