Inky ^beta

He needed to get back one way or another, fast; it was clear the distraught angel couldn’t take much more of his own choice, of the heaven he now despised. Emotions, sins and the entire spiral had made him much too weak to return on his own, and it would be much harder to leave heaven than it was to enter. Thankfully, his demon companion had ideas of his own.

Pure lost himself in crowds of angels, just as much as he lost himself to autopilot. His mind was already blocking out the shouts of “Pure, wait!” from behind him, ignoring Cupid’s pleas until they were too far to hear. He’d slipped into an alley between two buildings before the chaos had been traced to him, pulling the closest angel in with him and staring right through with eyes of blood red.

“You..” the other angel’s eyes went wide, already gripping the cross from her chest. “You’re that fraud the others have been talking about! I should’ve known you were vile. Et in terra domini…”

Pure didn’t hear much of it; the demon’s whispers were much more interesting. ”Bon, I knew you could listen.. Now, repeat after me.”

Silence made the other angel nervous. “What.. now you’ve succumbed to the devil?! You are too weak minded to destroy me, traitor.. You will be made to regret anything you do to me.” She scanned the red eyed angel’s disheveled appearance with more judgement than any holy being should’ve exhibited, then snarled. “You’re not even a real-”

One of Pure’s fingers pressed to her lips suddenly, shushing her in instantaneous fear. “Invideo virtuti tuae..” It came out as a whisper, as if Pure was only experimenting with the words he spoke. “..et mea est.”

The angel sank rather suddenly against the wall behind her, uttering pained groans until she doubled over at her feet. It was a miracle in itself that Pure didn’t panic, cry for repentance or run back to Cupid for his reassurance; it was, once again, up to the demon to reassure him.

”T’as bien fait. Now, we should have enough power to return home. That wasn’t so bad, was it?” He had cleverly omitted the fact that the words Pure spoke were of a demonic spell.. Surely, it wasn’t important. ”I am proud of you.” The angel felt an inexplicable warmth in his heart as he closed his eyes to summon a portal.

“Pure, stop it!”

His face dropped to a grimace as Cupid called for him again, finally catching up to the scene in the alleyway Pure had tried to hide in. His eyes were still a piercing, unholy color as he tilted his head back to burn holes in the love angel, newfound contempt growing.

“What they say down there about this faith.. I am beginning to believe it as well, crétin. I take it back, I am not sorry.” As Pure’s expression soured to somberness the red started to fade. “No matter what you do, you will be forgiven..” By the time they returned to glimmering blue, the angel was close to tears. “I will not.”

Cupid nearly tripped into the portal that opened at his feet- and he would’ve, if it wasn’t gone in an instant; along with Pure. He’d done all he could; now, the estranged angel could only save himself.

Pure had not returned to Brutal’s shack. He quickly identified the rubble surrounding him as the remains of a BLU base from the crushed metal sign on the ground, then deduced that Brutal was close by from the strangely bent machete next to it. The freak was not known for stealth, of course, leaving a trail of blood and red footsteps for the angel to flock towards. It was almost second nature to run towards the presumed carnage; it didn’t matter how gut wrenching the blood curdling screams ahead were or that the blood on the ground pooled so thick that it seeped into the angel’s shoes. Sensation was nothing compared to the adrenaline of turning a corner and seeing Brutal again.

The freak was absolutely covered in the blood splatter of too many mercenaries to count. He was hardly breathing, panting from the exhaustion of non stop battle, swaying as he tugged his favorite blade from the BLU Soldier’s chest cavity. When the angel’s glow fell upon him he swayed only slowly towards the light, almost like a zombie out of his mind; seeing the angel again only riddled his red smeared face with more agony.

“..Another nightmare, ain’t ya? Why do ya torment me so much, even now? I know ya ain’t comin’ back. Just like him..”

It was like the angel lost all of his strength again, collapsing to his knees with a splash of crimson and hugging the freak as he wept for forgiveness. “Mon Brutal.. I am so sorry, I’m so- It is me, I am here.” He peered up hopelessly at Brutal’s frozen expression, reaching for his hand and squeezing it as his other hand wiped tears. “This is real, tu m’as tellement manqué. It was terrible.. I could only think of you.”

When Brutal didn’t respond immediately, the angel was filled with a million worries; namely that he was too late, that the freak could never forgive him for his foolishness. He rose, stumbling on his feet to hold Brutal’s face and wipe some of the blood from it. “Please, please speak to me. Je sais, I only caused you pain.. This is all my fault. Je suis un imbécile, je mérite quelle que soit la punition que tu me donneras.”

The freak’s voice grumbled in protest as he spoke. “Shut up, yer… I don’t know what yer sayin’. I know yer talkin’ about yerself though, stop it.”

“..Would you prefer if I left you alone?” Pure knew he didn’t want to leave Brutal alone, of course, though he’d do it in a heartbeat if it was the punishment he’d earned. “You never have to see me again, or- perhaps you would like to tear me apart? I will let you.”

“Shh, stop allat.” Brutal pulled him into a much tighter, innately aggressive hug that made the angel sink with relief; there was nowhere else he’d rather be. “‘M just terrible at speakin’, I- I missed ya. I’ve been through this before.. I never thought ya’d come back.”

It was all too much emotion at once, the angel could only continue sobbing and smile at the same time. “I did not learn anything, perhaps everything I have yet to learn must take place by your side. I will never leave again, I promise you.”

The freak gave him another squeeze. “Angel, I’d love ‘ta believe that. But I just.. Fuck.”

Pure didn’t know how exactly to reassure him, but he would go to any length to do it; starting with taking off his mask, which Brutal seemed to despise. He was still hesitant, reluctant even, but as soon as he tore it off it disappeared into white mist; the softened expression on the freak’s face made the commitment worth it. “..I promise.”

The guardian angel used the opportunity of Brutal being stunned to carefully remove the knife forgotten in his side and heal the wound left behind, which somehow the freak had hardly noticed; then he removed his gloves, earning a skeptical glance before he tossed them and began smearing the freak’s blood on his own hands.

“Angel! What’re ya-?!” Brutal was about to panic when Pure took the knife to slice into his own hand, the sting enough to mix their blood together; then, the angel knelt once more.

“I am your guardian angel, sworn to protect you under the lord’s oath.” With one kiss to the back of Brutal’s hand the angel glowed brighter, light enveloping them with a flash until his power seemed to subside. Just as the freak was about to question, Pure stepped back, and he felt a tug against his neck.

“You..- the tether..”

“Oui, we are tethered once more. I am your angel, and.. I would like to return home. My true home.”

That was enough for Brutal, who didn’t even hesitate to sweep Pure off of his feet. “C’mon then, princess.”