Brothers against brothers...

[DeletedUser25825]

Mary waited patiently as John made the call to the police, and then nodded in agreement as he suggested they should get out. She accepted his hand and picked herself up. She said, "Coffee is fine. I don't care where we go. " She quietly walked alongside John as they headed for coffee. She ordered tea ultimately, and sat at a table. She still appeared shaken from the attack, and frowned into her drink. She eventually said, "Thanks again for helping out."

She leaned forward and quietly said, "What do you think about that woman? I've never seen her before on campus." She sat back and sipped her drink as she idly began to play with a gold cross hanging around her neck. She shook her head and said, "Those hoodlums too. Why were they on campus?"

______________________________________

The captain did not react negatively toward Alex's outburst, which was outside the norm, but he was making a very odd request to start with. He listened to the questions and said, "She's due to testify in three weeks. So, consider this an early paid vacation without actually having to use the benefit time to get it." He listened to the next questions and said, "Her gear and clothes? I'm not quite sure what she would need, but I'll give you an operating budget of say... seven fifty."

"Let's keep you within the continental United States eh? I have no idea if she has a passport, or if it's being watched for if she tries to leave the country. I'd suggest across the state line however." He smiled at the fourth question and said, "The only people who will know she's with you is myself, you, and her. I don't trust anybody else with this. Our job is to keep her alive until she testifies, and then she'll be the Marshall's problem."

The captain looked at his watch at the last question and asked, "Why aren't you gone already?" He stacked some papers up, and looked at Alex. He said, "She'll be waiting for you in the motor pool. Use your procurement card for expenses, and for God's sake, don't get her or yourself killed."

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Ray nodded and climbed onto her bike. She started it, clapped her visor down, and took off after Dominic. She rode alongside him, but he noted there was no showboating during this ride. She matched Dominic's speed, and little else as they raced down the highway. They rode into New York City very early in the morning, and had to considerably slow down, which almost felt like a snail's pace after traveling as fast as they had been.

Ray pointed down an upcoming turn, and took it. She quickly rolled up to the sidewalk, and killed her engine. She climbed off, removed her helmet, and grinned at Dominic. She set her helmet on the seat, and waited for Dominic to join her. She walked off down the sidewalk and said, "We'll be joining Terry at one of our safe houses." As they turned the corner, Dominic found himself blinking as he looked at a dilapidated apartment complex. It wasn't so much the complex itself, as the brightly shimmering, complex appearing blue symbols that bathed the outside of the building.

He noticed there were other humans, and was struck by the thought that he thought of other people in that manner, mingling around the area. All of them appeared to be going about their own business and not noticing the building, or its odd exterior. Ray stepped up to the door and opened it. She waited for Dominic to enter, before she walked in behind him.

The interior was nothing like the exterior. It was clean, and appeared to be well built. A man stood behind a counter in the lobby. He looked up as the two entered, and lifted his hand in a wave at Ray. He said, "Heya Ray. Long time no see. New soldier eh?" The man grinned at Dominic as he observed the look of surprise registered on the man's face, and then raised his arm. On his forearm, a blue glowing brand much like the glyph on the shoulder of Rael was blazing. He flicked his chin in Dominic's direction and said, "Malakim eh? Niiiice."

Ray just shook her head at the man, smiling, and grabbed Dominic's arm and tugged him toward a staricase. They ascended, and Ray stepped up to a door. She opened it without waiting for an answer. As she stepped in, she nodded at Terry, and another woman who sat within the room. It was bare, aside from a single table and several chairs. The other woman, was shorter, and dressed in jeans, a surplus army jacket, and black boots. Her eyes were dark blue, and her hair was fiery red. Terry looked up, nodded at Ray and Dominic and said, "Dominic, this is my sister Lisitrus. She's here because I made a promise to you, but also because she's handy in a fight."

The angel Lisitrus smiled and waved at Dominic. Ray sidled up to the table, sat and tipped back in her chair. She glanced at Dominic apologetically and said, "I'm sorry Dominic, but there's some shop talk I can't share with you." Before he could respond, she began to speak to the other two in the language he'd heard earlier. Again, the same sensation of euphoria came over him as he listened to the three angels speak rapidly to each other.

 

[DeletedUser13682]

"Coffee it is then." John walked with Mary to Coffee of Doom, home of the sharpest tongued baristas in the western world. When he arrived, it was near closing time, and one of the baristas was cleaning up tables. "It's closing time, you moron. Can't you read the sign?" John waved at the barista behind the counter. "I'll have the usual, and a green tea." The barista scoffed at John and made the tea and mocha with double espresso and a pinch of xian hua. "Here's your liquid death and grass water. Hope you lovebirds enjoy." John started laughing and nearly spilled the drinks. After he recovered, John turned to the barista. "Come now Penelope," John said. "You know I have eyes only for you. Just wait, after Wil, you'll be begging to be with me." John walked away before the barista could counter, laughing all the way to the table where Mary was sitting.

"If the tea's too strong, I could always grab some honey," John offered. He took a sip of his drink, and started feeling a bit wobbly, as usual. But that went away after a moment. "I wish I could do more," John said, his mind going over the attack again. "I don't know who that woman was. Whoever she was, she knows martial arts. That's not suspicious in itself, but that cigarette. No cigarette issues that much smoke. You need a room full of cigar smoking Victorians to get that much smoke. That is the only suspicious thing in my eyes, besides showing up when she did. The Dead Dogs, I don't know why they came that deep into Stanford. Maybe they're losing street cred, and want to gain a lot quickly by expanding their territory into a high risk place."

 

[DeletedUser]

The morning after Elliot's miraculous sleep, he woke up with a runny nose. As Elliot sat up in bed, he remembered there had been a patient in the circle of chairs the day before that had an annoying sniffle. Elliot cursed the patient, as he stood and walked into his small and sterile bathroom.

Many patients, those that were not at-risk, as the doctors put it, had bathrooms of their own, and since Elliot had no suicidal history, he had a bathroom with a shower, toilet, razor and toothbrush. Elliot considered himself very lucky in that, his bathroom actually had a door, which he had closed when he walked in. As bathrooms went, his was small, but the thought of the patients who had their toilet just standing in a corner of their room, made Elliot feel very grateful.

Reaching into the shower, Elliot turned the water on and put his hand under the stream of hot water, it was a little too warm, so he turned the nozzle down a little, until the water was lukewarm. Elliot blew his nose on some toilet paper, before he stepped into the shower.

An hour later, for he didn't rush himself, Elliot stepped from his bathroom and stretched his arms and legs, before looked at a red LED clock that was built into the wall, it was 8:59 in the morning, good timing. For the remaining minute, Elliot stood by his window and looked at the tree that grew straight and strong in the yard. As Elliot watched, a squirrel darted out of a nearby bush and climbed up the side of the tree, an acorn or something clamped in it's jaws.

A moment later Elliot was startled out of his reverie by the sound of a key being shoved into his rooms door. Elliot turned to see the smiling face of Dr Liskam, the chair-circle organizer. Dr Liskam had the kind of face that made a person wonder if he ever felt anger, a warm kind of face that made everyone trust him. Dr Liskam looked Elliot up and down for a moment, before saying "You look quite well this morning, Elliot, it's a good change." He scribbled something on his ever present wooden clipboard.

"Well, I don't feel as good as I could, Doctor. I woke up with a runny nose this morning." Elliot replied, as he motioned to the multitude of snot filled handkerchiefs in his trash bin. "I think I got it in the group session yesterday."

"That is quite possible, Elliot, I do remember that Van had a slight sniffle. Never mind all that, however, I'll just write you a slip and you can go get some cold medicine in the infirmary." Dr Liskam scribbled out a note and sent Elliot down the hall.

A nice looking nurse that worked in the infirmary sat Elliot down in a room that had two men laying in beds, one on each side of him. Elliot sat, drumming his fingers on the arm of his chair, before one of the men next to him stirred from his slumber.

"Been here long?" the man said.

"Yes." was all Elliot wanted to say, but he finished it off with friendly "What are you doing here?"

 

[DeletedUser31931]

"What you doing here?" Elliot asked at which Ben pointed to his back.
"It has ripped muscles and sometimes they go into spasms if I do to much exercise. Why are you in here?" He replied in a polite manner "Also my name is Ben."

 

[DeletedUser]

Elliot looked at the man, as he pointed to his back and said he had muscle spasms. Elliot had seen a man with the same problem, during his second tour in Afghanistan. Try as hard as Elliot could, the man's name couldn't come to him, however Elliot remembered the man's story perfectly: the man had been in a skirmish line, advancing across a bridge, when the man next to him stepped on an IED and the flying shrapnel had taken him out of service, for the rest of his life. Elliot remembered the man had been paralyzed from the neck down after that day. What a bad way to go. Elliot thought as he looked back at Ben, his eyes clearing of the far off look that goes with remembering something long ago and far away.

Elliot reached out and shook Ben's hand "My name is Elliot Replogul, former major, USMC, though that doesn't seem to matter anymore."

Looking at the door, Elliot wished the nurse would come back with his cold medicine, it can't take that long to punch out a few Tylenol.

 

[DeletedUser28032]

Dominic crawled through the early morning New York traffic, glancing down at his speedo in disgust when he realised that he was only doing thirty. Just in front of him was Ray on her own bike, she had seemed a little off ever since their encounter with the fallen angel back on the highway Dominic hoped that her seeing Terry would bring her back to her usual happy go lucky self.
Taking a left turn down a side street Dominic brought his bike to a gentle stop behind Ray's own machine although by the the look of the place Dominic wasn't too keen on the idea of leaving his new toy in this particular neighbourhood. The row of apartment blocks on either side of the street all look dilapidated and in dire need of a fresh paint job, on the corner a group teenagers were hanging around outside a corner shop no doubt waiting for a friend of theirs to come out, with what he couldn't care less about so long as they didn't touch his bike.
Removing his helmet Dominic followed Ray toward one of the battered looking apartment buildings only to stop dead in his tracks for covering the buildings flaking white paint were a myriad of blue shimmering glyphs that to Dominics eyes seemed to be constantly fading in and out of focus at random causing the entire block to glow. He watched as two other humans walked past the building completley oblivious to its presence as they went on there...Wait...did i just refer to them as humans? Dominic wrinkled his brow as he tried work out what exactly had just happened to his mind before shrugging his shoulders and following Ray into the building.
The interior was nothing like how he'd pictured it, clean magnolia paint covered the walls from the high ceiling where the ornate light fittings hung down to the dark blue carpet that covered the floor. Behind a dark wooden counter a man stood smiling as the two of them entered, his dark hair cut and gelled to look like James Dean "Heya Ray. Long time no see. New soldier eh?" he called happily as they approached, grinning at the look of suprise on Dominics face, Rolling up his sleave the man proudly displayed the glyph on his arm, it was the same mark as he'd seen on Rays shoulder back in the restaraunt and glowed the same eerie blue as the buildings exterior. Dominic nodded his head smiling in appreciation but found himself being dragged away before he could reply to the man. She led him up a set stairs to the next floor ignoring his protests as they entered a room to find Terry and another angel whom he dind't recognise waitng for them.
"A pleasure to meet you Lisitrus" he replied flashing the red head a dazzling smile as Terry introduced them "So are all angels female or I have just struck lucky by having to spend my time with three pretty ladies" he asked trying to sound suave but more likely sounding like an idiot as he took a seat at the table unzipping his leather jacket as he did so. He sat and listened the angels speaking in their strangely musical tongue finding the words to be somewhat calming almost hypnotic, although after a several minutes and with no end to the conversation in sight Dominic politley excused himself and went in search of a bathroom in the hope of stretching his aching leg which was beginning to seize up from sitting down too long.


Cracking open the small window a little, Dominic looked out onto the street below him blowing a stream of smoke out into the early morning sun thinking not for the first time that he should really try quitting.
In the background he could hear music coming from somewhere within the apartment block although he couldn't identify the song or even what type of music it was.
He sat perched by the window with his legs stretched out for a good half hour staring out at the bustling streets and the people that walked them contempleting the strange but oddly positive turn his life had taken since meeting Terry and Ray. If you had told Dominic two days ago that angels existed and that they were fighting a secret war out on the streets then Dominic would have laughed and told you to reduce the dosage before walking off to find someone with a full deck of cards.
He rolled up the sleeve of his bright red AC/DC T-shirt having thrown his leather jacket onto the floor upon entering and studied the tattoo of his previous time in the army,the ink was beginning to fade and he noted that he no longer had the same amount of muscle as he had had previously, then again he had been inactive for almost a year with his injury. Letting his sleeve drop over the old tattoo he got up from his perch on the window ledge and stretched. Somehow he didn't think his time with this army would be the same as the last one but maybe he'd be able to make a difference by helping them, after all that was why he agreed to join, wasn't it?
Tossing the cigarette butt out of the open window Dominic retrieved his jacket and made his way back to the girls where they would no doubt be still talking amongst themselves in their enchanting speech.

 

[Deleted User - 819397]

Michael made it out of the library without too much trouble. It was early morning, still too early for the library to be open, so he locked it up again. He then looked around, wondering what to do. The simplest option would be to just get rid of the stupid piece of wood. It had brought him nothing but trouble and Janissary had told him that as long as he had it, it would continue to do so. However...something about the fact that it was so valuable to so many people made him want to hold onto it...he almost felt like it was his duty to hold onto it. Of course, at the same time he was scared to death as the weird devil-beast that had taken the manuscript hadn't had any trouble getting through the best security the library had to offer...if they could do that...what couldn't they do? Finally, Michael decided that he should at least take care of himself...he'd hold onto the wood for now. With those thoughts in order, Michael headed off to Starbucks, his usual morning haunt.

 

[DeletedUser31931]

"It matters to a fellow army man my friend" he said "I did a tour of Afghanistan myself. On the second tour my helicopter was shot down and captured. I'll never know how I survived that. It was the worst year of my life..." Ben tailed off thinking of his past. he never went there it hurt too much.

(OOC: Is anyone going to post any time soon?)

 

[DeletedUser25825]

Lisitrus smiled and nodded as Dominic greeted her, and it seemed his "all angels being female" comment fell on deaf ears apparently, as none of the angels responded. Of course, Dominic had seen the male angel in Heaven so they might figure he'd answered his own question already. Once they began conversing, the three angels barely took notice as Dominic excused himself. The only oddity Dominic discovered as he was outside the room, watching the world as it were, was he was now sporting a glowing blue tattoo on the same forearm as his other tattoo. The symbol was similar to the brand Dominic had seen on the back of Taerael's neck.

As Dominic re-entered the room the angels sat within, they all looked up briefly, before returning to their conversation. It didn't last very much longer, before Lisitrus turned toward Dominic and leaned forward. She rested her elbows on her knees and studied Dominic for a long disconcerting period of time. She smiled and said, "My sister and cousin tell me you are serving in our army as it were. I think that's great, and calls for a small token of appreciation from us. Not to mention, you probably would be much better off with full faculties of your being."

She sat up when Dominic made no move to protest, and closed her eyes. She smiled and said, "Thank you for this opportunity sister. I haven't sang this song in so very long. It gives my being joy to do so." She opened her eyes and looked at Dominic and began to sing very softly. The were no words to her song, which was filled with trills and impossible changes in octaves outside the range of human possibility, and yet very pleasant to listen to. Dominic became aware of a tremendous itching sensation within several parts of his body. Deep itches without hope of satiating by any amount of scratching. As the sensation increased, he was oddly reminded of his mother's voice telling him several times as a boy about the old adage of "if it's itching, it's healing right", and shortly thereafter the sensation faded completely.

Dominic found himself feeling similar to the way he felt in Heaven. The absence of pain in its entirety. He felt limber and spry, and all of the aches of the past seemed to have melted away entirely. Dominic found Lisitrus sitting quietly, with her eyes closed still and smiling in what could only be described as raw elation. He dared to lift his pant leg, and found himself staring at a leg that showed no scars of the past, and was certain the screws and pins keeping his leg together were no more.

____________________________________________

Vy sat in the rec room, staring out the window as she unconsciously rubbed her bandaged wrists together. She had a haunted look about her, and paid no attention to the people or activities around her. Dr. Liskam took note of this, before going about his regular activities. As Elliot approached her, and was finally able to drab her out of wherever it was in her mind, she gasped as if struck suddenly by icy cold water. She frowned at Elliot for a few moments, as though unsure of where she was, before recognition returned to her face. She nodded at him and said, "Hey there. Sleep well?" She looked at Ben as he hovered nearby, but did not address him, not recognizing him.

She looked back out the window and sighed. She murmured, "It will not be long now. I had a dream last night. They're coming, even now. Two of them, disguised as always. Death is looming. You'd best stay away from me, lest you become involved with things that are best avoided for now."

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Mahtras looked up as Michael walked by. He smiled, knocked on the screen, and waited for it to lower. He said, "There he is. Let's invite him for a little chat." The driver nodded and pulled the sleek limo out into traffic. He slowly crept along the street, until they were traveling alongside Michael. Mahtras rolled his window down, poked his head out slightly and called out, "Excuse me! Might I have a word with you?" The fallen angel smiled charmingly at Michael, obviously uncaring that Michael's dawning look of recognition from the airport tarmac. As Michael looked ready to bolt, Mahtras shook his head disapprovingly and said, "I wouldn't friend. Might just be your last mistake."

_______________________________________________

Mary took occasional sips from her cup, nodding in agreement with John's observances about the woman and gang, but made very little in the way of small talk. She was still visibly shaking from the encounter in general. After finishing their drinks, she asked if John would walk her back to her dorm. She accompanied him, smiled and thanked him for his assistance. She mentioned needing to go to bed due to a paper she was researching. When asked about it, she informed Ben it was concerning a recently discovered city out in the Middle East. It was actually the first time John saw Mary become animated about something. She said, "It's quite exciting actually. This city was supposedly lost to a sand storm before Christ was born. Almost like Indiana Jones."

__________________________________________

(OOC)

Ok folks, sorry about the long wait. I'd warned you I was going to be scarce. I shouldn't be any longer as this week is less hectic than last. I apologize for discombobulated thoughts, or short story posts. I've lost a bit with this story, and need some fresh posts to work with. Looking forward to seeing this story move forward once again.

 

[DeletedUser28032]

Dominc sat in his chair listening to the angel in front of him sing, her voice was like that of an opera singers and yet there were no words or at least none he could understand.
His bad leg began to itch and burn as the song progressed, he gritted his teeth resisting the urge to scratch although something in the back of his head kept telling him that this was a good itch, the kind itch you got when you grazed your knee as a kid.
By the songs end the itching was gone as was the pain in his leg, amazed Dominic rolled up the leg of his jeans and marvelled at the fact all the scarring that had once covered it was now gone, his leg was like brand new. He laughed happily bending and flexing his leg this way and that overjoyed that he would no longer limp.
Looking back up at the angel in front of him he smiled "I don't know how to thank you this is just...incredible" he owed them and he would find a way to repay their kindness.
Letting the leg of his jeans drop back down he looked to the others "So where do we find this Michael and what do we do when we do find him?"

 

[DeletedUser25825]

Lisitrus merely nodded as Dominic thanked her. Her eyes remained close, and the rapturous smile remained on her face. Rael and Taerael watched Dominic's reaction with bemused expressions on their faces. Rael began to rhythmically rock back and forth in her chair, as Dominic began to find she did almost constantly. Or more specifically, that she rarely was seen sitting still, as if she were the epitome of Attention Deficit Disorder. Taerael sat in a surprisingly relaxed state, and nothing like when Dominic had first met her.

In response to Dominic's question, Taerael said, "It's a little tricky really. If you hadn't guessed, Ray's source, if she's actually correct..." She looked over at Rael, who frowned and stuck her tongue out at Taerael, before saying, "I was right Terry. There is no doubt in my being that she was Grigori." Taerael sighed, obviously believing nothing of the like, before she continued her answer by saying, "So, if she's who Ray says she is, the information will have to be very carefully approached. There's no reason this thing should be sharing information of this calibre."

She rubbed her temples as she continued, "There is a lot more to this whole war that you're most likely not going to learn. I guess I could start by saying you are on our side. The side of heaven. There are others, the angels that sided with Lucifer and fell, or have fallen since, that are on the side of Hell. But that's not all there is to the war. There are holy soldiers, like yourself, and unholy solders, who you will meet before you're wanting to. There are beings that are not angels or humans. This woman that you and Ray saw, if she's correct, is none of those. The Grigori are angels, but they were cast out of heaven long before this war ever started, for reasons I will not talk about today. The arch angel Dominic tells us we are not to associate with them, and it has been long accepted that they are no more. The fact that one suddenly appears, with information such as this, and willingly share that is very disconcerting to us all. Maybe you understand, and maybe don't, but it is what it is."

Lisitrus opened her eyes and said, "My sister is long winded, but it's to be expected with her new soldier. Story time can come later. We should decide on our course of action now, before this whole mission becomes moot." Taerael nodded and said, "Lisa speaks true. What we need to do, is find this Michael person and either retrieve the item, or decide how to protect him if he chooses to keep it." She smiled at the look of surprise that crossed Dominic's face, and said, "That's right. You're on heaven's side. Free will. We can't force him to give it up. Also, we will not reveal our natures if he doesn't realize what he has, or what we truly are."

Taerael looked at the other two angels and said, "I've been listening intently, but haven't heard anything indicating where this artifact might be. The Grigori said a name, and that New York City was his location. I'd like to send Lisa and Ray out to scour the area, and keep you with me Dominic. Maybe you could Google this guy. I have no knowledge of computers." She looked at Lisitrus and Rael, who both nodded in agreement and stood up. Rael reached into her jacket pocket, pulled out a cell phone and handed it to Dominic. She winked and said, "I'm in your contact list if you need to call me, and are away from Terry." She smiled, and walked out with Lisitrus.

Taerael looked at Dominic and asked, "Questions?" She waited, and answered them as they exited the room and headed toward the lobby. She nodded at the man behind the counter, who looked both surprised and somewhat in awe of her presence, before she asked to borrow his laptop. He nodded quickly and slid it toward Dominic. Terry moved off to look out the window, and the man whispered, "Are you HER soldier?" He whistled impressively, even as an expression of envy crossed his face, as Dominic indicated he was. He gave a thumbs up, and moved off into the room behind the counter since people were in the lobby to watch the entrance.

 

[DeletedUser31931]

"Who are coming?" Ben asked puzzled "And if there's a fight and an innocent person is attacked I won't stop to think before I help."

 

[DeletedUser28032]

As Dominic listened to Terry's somewhat complex explanation to his question He came to realise how complex this war truly was. He'd known about the war between heaven and hell, admittedly he'd thought it to be a fictional war confined to the Bible and Paradise Lost but he'd been aware of it. However upon learning that there was now a third team, so to speak just meant that Dominic had more questions to ask however Lisitrus was right it would have to wait for another time when they had less pressing matters to attend to.

"Lisa speaks true. What we need to do, is find this Michael person and either retrieve the item, or decide how to protect him if he chooses to keep it." Dominic was somewhat surprised by the last part of Terry's statement after all wasn't whole point of finding the item in the first place was so that they had it in there possession? Terry smiled at him the confusion he felt obviously showing on his face "That's right. You're on heaven's side. Free will. We can't force him to give it up. Also, we will not reveal our natures if he doesn't realize what he has, or what we truly are." Dominic nodded his head in agreement although personally he would have felt more comfortable if the item was in their hands after all if it was dangerous did they really want it in the hands of a civilian? "That’s ok though I doubt he would believe us if we did tell him"

Pocketing the cell phone given to him by Ray, Dominic followed Terry out into hallway, pulling his jacket on as he went "I keep hearing people referring to me as your soldier as opposed to a soldier...Am I to believe that each Angel has their own kind of fief?" he asked descending the stairs back into the lobby, he'd noticed that his mark was the same as Terry's or at least very similar "Also if that is the case how many soldiers do you have?...just out of curiosity" he listened to the answer intently as they approached the front desk, the man with the James Dean haircut upon seeing Terry approach him reacted the same way Dominic had when he'd seen Dave Grohl, the man definitely in awe of her...hero worship would probably be a better way to describe it though.
"Are you HER soldier?" he whispered conspiratorially once her back was turned "I guess I am" Dominic replied rolling up his sleeve in order to display his mark "From your reaction I take it that it’s a good thing?"

Leaving the apartment block the two of them found a small café with Wi-Fi close by, wlking down the busy street Dominic became aware of teh fact that he was no longer thinking of the people around him as just people but as Humans or civilians it was beginning to kind of scare him that his thinking had changed so radically over such a short period of time.
It upon entering the café that Dominic realised how hungry he was, he hadn’t eaten since the restaurant back in Portland, and the smell of frying back made his mouth water.
Finding the two of them a table in the corner Dominic set up the borrowed laptop and then with a cup of coffee by his elbow and a piece of toast in his left hand Dominic started to search the web for any viable references for a Michael Souldern in the New York area how hard could it be?
He was half way through his second cup of coffee by the time he found a potential candidate lurking in amongst an article on rare books, rather dry stuff in Dominic's oppinion he'd take a bike any day over a book but that was where his search had taken him.
"Bingo...Michael Souldern of the New York city library, what do you reckon? Worth checking out?" he asked, it was a long shot that it was actually the right guy and if it was whether he actually still had the item in his possession if he ever had it at all, but so far it was the only lead they had.

 

[DeletedUser13682]

Middle East, eh? "That's interesting. Kinda like Petra in Jordan, right? My uncle, he went to Petra. Well, good night, Mary. See you around." John waved goodbye, and walked back to his dorm. John looked at the time when he got back to his room, two fourty three, how did that take so long? Exciting night probably did it. But, now it was sleep time. He could think more about what happened last night after a good night's rest.

When morning came, John was up and running with the rest of his unit. It was a nice run, through the campus. When it was done, John switched into normal clothes. He was feeling plain that day, so he wore jeans, a dark green sweater, and his favourite leather jacket. Of course, it was dangerous to go alone, now that the Dead Dogs were moving into campus territory, he carried his KA-BAR underneath his coat. Now, he had a few hours before class, he decided to find out more about this city. "Can you tell me if Mary's around?" John asked, when he arrived at Mary's dorm. "Well, I can't tell you her last name, but she's the one with the hearing problem. I'm not trying to be mean, I just can't think of a better way to describe her."

 

[DeletedUser25825]

Taerael nodded at Dominic's summation of Michael's likely reaction to them all showing up and saying, "Hey we're angels, and you have a piece of the true cross. We'd really appreciate it if you handed it over to us for the betterment of Heaven." As they walked out into the hall, Dominic heard the familiar sound of the departure of the other two angels, but was thankfully spared the sight of it.

As he asked his question about being her soldier, she stopped abruptly and frowned at him. The frown put him on edge for a moment, until he realized it wasn't so much anger, as frustration of her own. She said, "First of all, please don't think of yourself as my property or being owned by me. Free will. You willingly accepted my offer, and unlike Hell, you can leave when you like. Being on Heaven's side is a double edged sword really. Bear in mind, that while you may freely leave the service as it were, you'll forever be branded as an enemy of Hell, so might want to very carefully consider that choice."

She sighed and looked out one of the nearby windows and shook her head as she continued, "Perhaps I rushed you into this decision. Yes, you are my soldier." Taerael took Dominic's arm in calloused, yet surprisingly gentle hands, pulled the sleeve up, and revealed the glowing tat on his forearm. She looked into his eyes, and for the first time Dominic understood what ageless looked like, as she continued to speak, "You have a variation of my brand, which identifies you as serving me. It makes you no less a soldier of Heaven, and you are still marshaled by all its forces, but other holy soldiers and even angels will look at you differently because of this." She rolled his sleeve back down, and started walking down the staircase.

Taerael explained, "The Corporeal, um Earth, is not broken up into fiefs or anything of that nature. You served in the military, and it's just as easy to relate that to this situation. We are all serving in Heaven's army, and it's structured to accomplish short and long term goals just like any other military venture. This is a mission we are on. Ray, Lisa, yourself, me, and perhaps a few other soldiers make up the squad. There are objectives. They being; retrieval of the item, saving the innocent if at all possible, and stopping Hell's army from ITS objective." Dominic understood what she was saying of course, however, he was sure she was dumbing it down for simplicity sake. She said, "I do not have any other soldiers I directly marshal. I... I lost one centuries ago, and haven't asked another since."

They arrived in the lobby and she moved to the window to stare out into the night, obviously lost in thought. The soldier behind the counter made his comments, and his eyes nearly bugged out of his head as Dominic asked, "is that a good thing?" The man looked over at Taerael, then back at Dominic as he leaned closer and whispered, "You DO know that's Taerael right?" He ignored the rolling of Dominic's eyes and continued, "She serves the Archangel Laurence." He frowned at Dominic's look of non-reaction and said, "Come on... you know? Archangel Laurence the commander of all of Heaven's armies?" He turned his eyes toward her and said, "She is one of his most trusted captains. If she's on Earth, there must be something huge going on. I envy, and pity you pal." He straightened and began looking busy as Taerael turned away from the window, before he made his retreat into the back. Taerael stepped over next to Dominic and asked, "Ready?", before leading them outside.

As they walked down the sidewalk toward the cafe, Dominic observed she was very much like he had first seen her. She had the coiled spring look to her, and she constantly was watching their surroundings as they moved. After entering and choosing a table, she sat across from him with her back to the wall and the entrance in her field of vision. As Dominic finished his task, and turned the laptop around, she looked down at the picture of Michael and nodded. She said, "Curator and material appropriation? That's our man. Commit his appearance to memory. The library is opening soon. Maybe we can get an appointment set up with him. Great work Dominic." She stood, and began walking toward the exit, pausing for Dominic to gather his meal up. "I'll call Lisa, and you call Ray to update her." She pushed the door open and walked back out onto the sidewalk.

_________________________________________

The person John approached did in fact know where Mary lived. She directed him to her room, and upon knocking a very sleepy looking woman opened the door. She informed John that Mary had woken at about 6 in the morning, and was most likely at the library studying as always.

Upon arriving at the library, John quickly located Mary in the reference section. She looked surprisingly awake and collected for having had only a few hours of sleep. She smiled at John as she noticed him, and waved him over. She said, "Good morning. Surprised to see you here." She looked back down at the large book she was reading, and John found it was written in Latin. She placed her fingertip under a passage, and then looked back up at John.

Mary said, "You know, I was thinking about last night. Not so much being attacked by those people, but the woman. That cigarette thing, remember?" It was, of course, quite impossible not to, but she continued, "Well, it got me thinking about something I recall reading. I just found it here." She tapped her finger on the page, and began reading the passage. "This recounts one of the battles in the First Crusades. It was a skirmish really of a collumn of knights being ambushed."

She read aloud, "As Sir Mallory and his knights advanced from their mission in Oea, he was happened upon by a tribe of dervishes. The devils attacked the collumn relentlessly, and only by the witchcraft of producing a tremendous amount of smoke from the mouth of one of its fighters were they able to retreat." She looked up at John to see if he was listening, smiled, and then continued to read, "My Lord Mallory truly won the day, for countless devils lay slain upon the desert sand, but I still saw sadness in his eyes. Upon askance of what vexed him, he merely replied the loss of a treasure gained in Oea. One he dared not risk his remaining knights with retrieving."

Mary looked up and shrugged. She said, "Now, doesn't that seem like almost exactly what that woman did? Blow a lot of smoke." She grinned playfully and said, "Maybe she's a witch", before laughing at its absurdity. She frowned thoughtfully and said, "Anyways, Sir Mallory continued on toward Jurusalem, and was subsequently killed in a battle later on. So, whatever the scribe referred to is as a good a guess as anything." Mary raised her finger and said, "But, there is mention in another book I'd read that talked about Oea being one of the cities", she lifted her fingers to trace quotation marks in the air, "claiming to be in possession of a thorn from the crown of thorns." She looked at John and said, "I don't know if you're Christian, but they mean the crown that was placed on Jesus before he was crucified." She shrugged and shook her head as she looked back at the book. Mary said, "I think it's all quite interesting."

 

[Deleted User - 819397]

Michael couldn't believe his bad luck...the man who had ripped up the tarmac (or at least instructed those who did) had somehow found him. To make matters worse, this guy was confident that running would be the death of him. He was, in a word, trapped. There was no conceivable way out of a conversation, but he could at least keep a slight distance. He approached the limo slowly, hoping that some impatient driver behind Mahtras would get him to move before he reached the car.

(really not too much for me to add at this point)

 

[DeletedUser28032]

Dominic was somewhat worried by the reaction he received for what he considered to be a fairly innocent question, he listened silently as she explained their mission falling into the vacant yet attentive state adopted by soldiers when speaking with a superior officer. However upon mentioning her previous soldier Dominic suddenly understood why she reacted how she did.
He smiled sympathetically he understood how she felt his co-pilot had died in the same crash in which he had shattered his leg...he still had the nightmares after two years and yet by looking at Terry he got the impression that she was older than she looked...a lot older that was a lot of time to dwell on something "Don’t worry about me, I am a big boy Taerael I can look after myself" Dominic replied using the angels real name for the first time as he walked out into the lobby.

As he threw the laptop into its case, Terry already waiting outside for him on the street, he remembered the doorman’s statement I envy and pity you it reminded him of a kid he’d known back in the army, the boy had asked one of the legionaries he was flying what a top secret mission was the legionary had simple replied A top secret mission is the kind of mission which earns you a medal but they send it to your next of kin yes Terry was definitely one of those commanders teh kind that got you killed for a noble cause and this would be one of those missions, he’d have to be careful if he didn’t want to end up in a box.
With half a piece of toast still in his mouth Dominic left the café and joined her outside "Follow me we’ll take the bike" he said after swallowing his hasty breakfast, although her method of travel would no doubt be faster the prospect of it made him feel ill "Have you ever ridden pillion before?" he asked although from the look he got he guessed not then again when you could travel the way they could why would she need to?
Pulling the mobile from out of his pocket Dominic made the call to Ray "Hi Ray?...Yeah its me, we’ve found Michael he works at the New York Library as a curator, I am going to take Terry over there on the bike...Don’t worry I promise not to go too fast...no she’ll love it, meet you there" Dominic disconnected the call as he approached the Hayabusa parked by the side of the road "You know Ray just gave me the impression that you aren’t fond of bikes" he laughed tossing her Ray’s helmet, she wouldn't be needing in for a while "Just hang on tight and you’ll be fine"
Mounting the bike he waited for the angel to put her arms about his waist before starting up the engine. He weaved gracefully through the traffic sticking as close to the speed limit as he dared, even though it was still early he'd hate to get a ticket just because some cop had insomnia.
It didn’t take him long to find the library, following the route he’d memorised off of the internet it brought him to the opposite side of the street where he killed the engine before dismounting. He saw the limo parked outside and thought nothing of it until he saw the man approaching it, frantically tugging on Terry’s arm in order to draw her attention he pointed at the man from the photograph, just as he began to bend down to speak through the window to whoever was inside in the limo.
Fearing that he would climb into the Limo Dominic began to cross the road quickly, shouting as he went "Mr Souldern we need to speak with you"

 

[DeletedUser13682]

"Yes, thank you," John said to Mary's roommate. He headed over to the library, making sure to avoid any seldom used alleyways. When he arrived at the library, he started searching for Mary. His first stop was the nearby reference section. "Good morning, Mary. You look awake. I wanted to know more about the city they found." But, instead of the city, John learned about an attack, during the First Crusade. "So the woman knows some Ottoman magic? Interesting..."

Then the tale got even more interesting. Oea, the city that Mallory got the treasure from, was in posession of a Jesus artifact. "Yeah, I know the crown of thorns. I was raised Anglican. Strange though, you rarely hear about the thorns. Mostly the Shroud of Turin, the cross, Jesus's clothes, the cup used at the last supper. You know, big name stuff. But you rarely hear of the crown of thorns outside of the Bible. What's its significance?" Though John hadn't been interested in the religious for years, he was getting interested in all this, maybe because Mary's enthusiasm was getting to him.

 

[DeletedUser]

The good looking nurse probably took a smoking break, before bringing Elliot the Tylenol Dr Liskam had ordered for him. Elliot first heard the sterile black high heeled shoes she wore clicking towards him, the sound reverberating off the linoleum giving it an odd sound that Elliot attributed to be trapped at the bottom of a large hole or cave. It seemed an eternity to Elliot, sitting in uncomfortable silence next to the supposed pilot. Finally, after what seemed too long, the nurse appeared holding the Tylenol in one hand and a paper cup of water in the other.

It was always a pride swallowing task, taking pills. After he took them, the nurse made him open his mouth, so she could give a thorough once over to every cavity and chipped tooth Elliot had. It made Elliot feel as though he was half a man, a shadow of the man he once was, not even capable of taking his own cold medication.

Elliot abruptly left the room that Ben was in, after the nurse had gazed into his open mouth for awhile. Ben followed, Elliot wondered what he was doing in a mental institution if his back was giving him trouble. Nevertheless, Ben followed Elliot all the way into the recreation room, where Elliot sat at the table he saw Vy sitting at, alone of course. Not even the slow witted occupants of the hospital wanted to be around her, probably because of the forlorn look she had trained on the tabletop.

"Sleep well?" she asked him, as he sat down, followed by an ominous statement "It will not be long now. I had a dream last night. They're coming, even now. Two of them, disguised as always. Death is looming. You'd best stay away from me, lest you become involved with things that are best avoided for now."

Elliot looked over at the suicidal girl, looked at the curve of her neck, her jawline clenched in a grimace that almost never slackened. He wondered himself why he was so interested in this girl, above all the other patients in the hospital, but Elliot couldn't resist speaking with her.

"What are they disguised as?" Elliot asked, as he continued his study of her.

 

[DeletedUser25825]

Mahtras smiled congenially as Michael walked up to the door slowly. The limo made no signs of moving, even as traffic behind it began blaring horns and shouting vulgarities out the windows. As Michael finally reached the door, Mahtras popped it open. He leaned forward slightly, narrowed his eyes, and then said, "Won't you please join me Mr. Soundern?" Though it was a friendly enough request, and should have been easily declined, Michael suddenly found himself sitting in the plush interior without having quite recalled the motions to get there.

Mahtras shut the door, rapped his knuckles on the screen, and the limo pulled away. He plopped back against the leather chair and smiled disarmingly at Michael. He said, "Mr. Soundern... you have no idea how happy I am to see that you decided to have a sit with me. My name is Matthew Fieldman, I'm the CEO of the up and coming investment firm, Styx Industries. I'm betting you're wondering why it is I invited you off the curb so to speak." Mahtras continued smiling at the mute, and took a long drag from his $800 cigar, and blew the thick smoke up toward the ceiling.

He continued, "You see, I'm new to the area, and I was recently reading about a manuscript the library you work for acquired. I too am a self-proclaimed biliophile, and I was quite interested to learn you speacialize in researching and locating the more obscure, often forgotten, texts, tomes, and what nots from the past." He took another puff from his cigar, and continued to watch Michael closely, almost as if looking into his very core as he said, "I'd like to steal you away from the library, and have you come work for me."

________________________________________

Taerael climbed off the bike, and looked toward the person Dominic had indicated toward. She nodded and said, "That's him." She too checked traffic, and began advancing toward the limo as Dominic called out. As Michael's face took on a peculiar wooden look, she reached out, grabbed his shoulder, and pulled him back as she said, "No, don't approach. Mark is in that limo, and if we fight bystanders will become involved. We're better off trailing." She released his shoulder, and walked back toward the bike. She looked up at the sky for a few moments, and then at Dominic. Taerael said, "I've called Lisa and Ray. We'll follow him until they show up."

________________________________________

Vy shook her head and said, "No. I can't describe them. They hide in the shadows of my dreams. I just know that they're coming for me. It's odd. This last dream, I saw them coming, but there's a bright light behind them and I don't know its intent."

________________________________________

Mary shook her head and said, "I have no idea what its significance is. I agree about the artifacts of Christ. You forgot the Spear of Destiny... but you're absolutely right. Nobody ever mntions thorns, or the crown as something necessarily sought. I was just remembering the smoke thing, and this thorn thing just kind of tacked on." She looked at John, and then passed him, as her eyes widened slightly. She whispered, "You remember that girl? The one from last night?" She nodded passed his shoulder, and as John turned to look he observed the girl perusing the periodical section a few rows over.