Both women jumped at the sound. Ruby pulled a handgun from under the table and edged toward the door to look through the peephole. Seeing the person on the other side, she sighed and switched the gun safety back on before pushing it down the back of her jeans' waistband.

Ruby opened the door for a chubby guy with a long, fluffy mane of curly ginger hair. He wore a black corduroy sports jacket with matching pants and a Kiss band T-shirt under. The guy carried a large black leather bag that house-call doctors used. He looked out of breath. Wiping the sweat off his forehead, the guy walked toward Kye and Michael.

"What's the deal, Ruby? Who are these---"

Before Ruby could answer the question, the guy stopped dead in his tracks. His eyes widened a saucer when he recognized who was lying on the table.

"Don't tell me you're stupid enough to take him back to your place!" The chubby guy lowered his voice to a hiss. "Not even any angel, but him! You know better than this!"

Ruby walked over to put both hands on the guy's shoulders and gave them a proper squeeze.

"Look, Fig, don't worry about anything else but fix him. I'll take care of the rest."

"How? Is it before or after you get us all killed?" Fig pointed his sausage index up Ruby's nose. "You know what? Don't say I didn't warn ya... Why the hell it's always my ass that helps you clean up all the messes?"

"Because," Ruby sang, "You love my cute ass, and I love yours too. You know I always got your back."

Ruby soothed him the way someone would soothe a child before slapping his rear and pushing him forward.

"Now get to work! Mama ain't got all night. Chop, chop!"

Fig looked extremely uncomfortable and unwilling. He sighed loudly and cursed under his breath while shuffling through his bag to pull out a series of small glass bottles and medical tools. He set them on the chair, then took off his corduroy jacket and threw it on the mattress. After tightening his hair into a ponytail, Fig gave Michael a once-over and looked at Kye and Ruby.

"Now ladies, I may need your help to hold him down."

***

The night was long and stressful, with Michael's breath occasionally hitched when Fig dug too deep into his wound, trying to gain access to the archangel's grace under the bloody mess. It soon turned into whimpers and then screams. They had to stuff some cloth into Michael's mouth to keep it quiet and also to prevent him from biting his tongue off. Not that he couldn't fix it eventually.

Ruby and Kye held on to the archangel with their dear lives. He was extremely strong despite his unconscious state.

"Should've remembered to buy some rope!" Ruby yelled.

Kye would laugh if she wasn't also trying her very best not to be thrown to the side by Michael. His muffled screams were deafening. They scratched Kye's every nerve. Every passing minute threatened to push her over the edge.

It's difficult to see Michael in that state. His whole body was covered in sweat while a flow of thick black liquid oozed out from his wounds. Michael was always this strong, untouchable being that it was unimaginable for Kye to see him this vulnerable and damaged. But here he was, fighting for his life.

Fig observed the long silver needle he had just pulled out from Michael's shoulder and hummed with approval.

"Time for the hard part," he said and poured a clear liquid into Michael's wound.

Fig leaned closer to watch it shimmer for a moment before getting absorbed. A strong ozone smell filled up the space, followed by a pulse of energy that everyone in the room could feel.

All streetlights outside and the desk lamp next to the table flickered for a full five minutes before something exploded. As soon as it started, everything stopped.

Fig straightened his back and exhaled. He wiped his hands, then walked over to Ruby's mattress and threw himself facedown on it.

The girls stared at his round back in bewilderment.

"So what's next?" Kye asked.

"We wait." Fig's voice muffled from the mattress. "Wake me up in 10."

He snored before the girls could say anything else.

"Guy has some special talent," Ruby commented. "You want something to eat? I'm starving."

Kye leaned her hip on the table and turned to look at Michael. He seemed peaceful.

"No, thanks," Kye said while wiping the sweat off Michael's forehead. "And I doubt you have anything edible in that tiny fridge of yours."

"Hey, beer is edible. Or drinkable...Whatever! There's some leftover Chinese if you want to share." Ruby looked up from the opened fridge and winked.

Kye shook her head and gave Ruby a tired smile.

The awkward silence returned and engulfed the sisters as they both remembered their conversation before Fig had come in. Each was lost in their own thoughts, Fig's snores, and Michael's slow breathing.

"Look, Kye..." Ruby finally spoke.

"Please," Kye stopped her sister with a sigh. She knew what Ruby was going to say. "You don't have to say anything. I understand. It was not right or fair to us the way you left like that, but it's your life, Ruby. You make the best decisions for yourself, and we won't stand in your way. I just hope everything works out in the end, and... You know you can always come home."

Ruby leaned back on the fridge and looked down at her boots. Kye thought her sister wouldn't reply, but after a long moment, Ruby lifted her head and looked at Kye.

"Thank you, sis."

That was all she said. Kye smiled, savoring the tinge of sadness and understanding before turning back to Michael. They had removed his jacket and dress shirt a while ago, so his torso was exposed-bloody and stained with black goo. Kye grabbed a piece of relatively clean cloth and started wiping.

His skin was cool under her hand, and a familiar zing rose to the surface. It was barely detectable at first, but then it got more, and more powerful with each second. Kye was flooded with overwhelming hope.

"Wake up, please," she cupped Michael's cheek and whispered to him.

His hands twitched, and his eyeballs moved around under his eyelids as if he could hear her.

Kye ran toward Fig, who was lying on the mattress like a comatose horse and gave him a shake. "Hey, Fig, looks like Michael's about to wake up!"

"Who? What? Where?" Fig spurted out a chain of random questions before slowly coming to his senses. "Oh, right... Him. It's about time."

He checked his watch, swept his long hair out of his face, and sat up. Fig looked like he had been to hell and back in that ten-minute nap.

He walked over to Michael and put his face very close to the wound. It now looked like a-few-day-old one, already covered in new skin.

According to Fig after that, the problem was not Michael's gunshot wound. It was his damaged grace that was fatal.

Grace was an angel's life source and energy---what made them what they were. It was pretty much like the human soul. All of their superpower and abilities came from their grace. Without it, the angel was mortal.

Grace could be manipulated in different ways. It could be charged up, drained out, bound, or shared between individuals. All angels could use each other's grace interchangeably, with some exceptions. Only a true vessel---a human from a chosen bloodline---or a strengthened one could contain an angel's grace for a long time without deteriorating.

It was easy to see that the attack at the restaurant had targeted Michael. The bullet, carrying some deadly sigils to any lower-level angel, had punctured Michael's grace, then dissolved itself, and poisoned him from the inside out. If it was not for the fact that Michael was an archangel, he would've died the moment his body came in contact with the bullet.

The Resistance had known about these bullets for a while, but they couldn't get their hands on them. It was a well-known fact. Only a limited number of these bullets had ever been manufactured. By Alastair's company.

Alastair had acquired ninety percent of all unclaimed angel blades after the War and guarded them with his life. He had bragged about it on some channels, but no one had taken his claim about an "angel-killing weapon" seriously. It was purely fictional.

Turned out, Alastair had succeeded.

What made these bullets special came from a combination of Enochian sigils carved onto them. Charlie-one of Alastair's head engineers-had poured her life into this. It was her best work, a lifetime's worth of research to perfect the combination...

Kye remembered a walk with Michael some time ago. They always took one together before dinner and talked about every random thing on Earth and, occasionally, Heaven. Out of the blue, Michael had asked her about immortality.

He had carried this strange, hesitant but hopeful, look in his large blue eyes that reminded Kye of a child presenting his best artwork, waiting for compliments. She had thought that was weird of him but just chucked it up to Michael's often curiosity and boredom due to his long existence.

She had answered him, as truthfully as she could, that she had not thought much about it at all, and while it seemed nice, the truth was immortality was more like a curse than a blessing to her.

"It would be a lonely existence. Everyone I love would be gone, and I would have to mourn their deaths, one by one. There would be no true connection or love with anybody because I would outlive everybody anyway. I would just slowly wither..."

"Why this gloomy thought? What if... You don't have to go through it all alone? What if you could spend eternity with someone you care about, isn't it good then?"

"Yes, it may be the case... but I wouldn't know, would I? And to be honest, I don't think humans are designed to live forever. Being immortal, our bodies would stay the same, but our minds would grow old and dull. We would slowly lose it, and then ourselves..."

Kye sighed as her eyes wandered far away before continuing.

"...Like this is better. Everyone has one life to live. We do our best to fulfill that life, and when it's our time, we lie down and rest. Same for everyone, so it's fair. It may not make a lot of sense to you, Master, but I wouldn't trade it for anything else."

Kye remembered a disappointed look on Michael's face, so brief that she had thought her eyes must've been mistaken. He then put his permanently calm, unreadable smile back on and took her arm in his. They had resumed their walk back to the loft without exchanging any more words.

Listening to Fig now, It started to dawn on Kye. What Michael had really wanted to ask. Her heart felt like it was hit by a train. She saw Fig's mouth open and close, but Kye couldn't register a word he said. Everything was a blur, and Michael's face became the only focus.

Kye walked over and leaned down, ignoring the "What are you doing?" look on Ruby and Fig's faces. She gently traced Michael's features and ran her fingers through his thick brown hair.

Her eyes started to swell up. God, Michael really had that effect on her.

All Kye wanted was for those deep blue eyes to open and look at her again.

***

They waited for what felt like an eternity before dawn. The colors slowly returned to Michael's face, and his breath evened out. His grace started to work again, apparently, repairing the damage on his vessel.

Fig closed the leather bag and put his jacket back on.

"Ok ladies, I've done my part. His grace is recharging at the moment. He should be back in no time. Now, if you excuse me, I have to get myself out of here before His Highness wakes up. Don't feel like going to Aax today!"

Fig waved as he walked as fast as his short legs allowed out of Ruby's place, slamming the door after him. Kye and Ruby both stared at the door for a moment before busting out laughing.

"Jeez... Now what?" Ruby wiped her eyes.

"Now, We'll wait for his men to come. They should be here any moment. Took them long enough already..." Kye gave Ruby a look. "You should get out of here, Ruby. Sorry, but you may have to wait until the coast is clear to reclaim your place."

"Ah, no worries about that. I would love to stay with you if not for the fact that I'm literally on top of their watch list. At least top twenty, if I'm being modest." Ruby sighed, then gave Kye a mischievous wink, "Take care of your winged boyfriend, but just... Don't overdo it."

The way she emphasized "take care" made Kye groan and roll her eyes. Typical Ruby with her crude sense of humor. That was a nice thought, Kye must admit, but it was the last thing on her mind right now.

"You still use the same number?" Ruby asked while typing something on her phone.

Kye nodded.

"Then, I'll call you later."

Ruby switched her phone off and put it in her back pocket. Before walking out the door, she stopped.

"Tell Ma and Nick that I'm ok," she said without looking back. "And...I'm sorry for everything."

Just like that, Ruby was gone. Kye stared at the empty door frame for a few minutes before turning back to Michael. Greeting her was a pair of familiar, most intense azure eyes.

Notes:

Remember "Work smarter, not harder," I said in the last chapter's note? I accidentally deleted my work, twice! The first time, all 3000-something words of not only this chapter but some drafts for the next chapter. I tried to retype everything and ended up making some changes, and some new details, and then I found out the original work was still there on my phone. I had 2 versions to work with! I picked the details I liked from each one and blended them together. Cool, very happy, ready to post, then again deleted half of this new work! 😂 Please, someone grips me tight and raises me from perdition! Now I had to go back to the unedited original one that was on my phone, edit it again, and put it together with the undeleted half of the ready-to-go one. Thank Chuck very much!

People, save, save, save your work, email it to yourself if you have to. (Which I did) Don't be a dummy like me! After everything, this is what I've got to offer. So please enjoy it and give it some love. Thanks a lot!