by CC Bridges
This place, where was he? Gabriel should have been taken to the angels’ infirmary, if his distress call had made it in time. Instead he was in this dimly lit room that looked as if someone had pieced it together from old and new fragments. Part of the wall sparkled like new construction, silver metal and glastic window, and it gleamed in comparison to the rest of the room’s stained and dirty fabric and wood that hadn’t yet gone rotten. Gabriel wrinkled his nose, not liking the mix of smells assaulting his senses, musty and burnt.
“Gabriel 1089.” He made eye contact with the man. Jeff. Who was he? An ordinary citizen would have taken Gabriel to one of the hospitals, if they didn’t have an angel contact. What kind of man lived in such shambles, keeping an injured angel on an old uncovered mattress?
“That’s a mouthful.”
Gabriel brought shaking hands to his forehead, feeling nothing but skin and open ports where his halo should be. His thoughts whirled, alone in his mind for the first time since he’d become an angel. He probed at the empty space left behind, wincing at the ache that caused. Nothing made any sense.
“How did I get here?”
Jeff turned away and began fiddling with a box of tools and instruments. “What do you remember?”
“Fighting demons.” He answered as if he remembered, but Gabriel didn’t, not quite. But that’s what he had to have been doing. An image of glowing eyes flashed behind his eyelids, and Gabriel shivered as he felt the charge go through his body again.
“They must have left you to die. Tore off one of your wings.”
Gabriel reached back, looking for the wing he couldn’t feel. Jeff grabbed his wrist and stopped the motion. Those fingers were warm on his cool skin, sending a different kind of feeling through his body.
“Where am I?”
“Old Trent,” Jeff said. He clarified, “Downside. Earthbound. Off the grid.”
“I understand.” Gabriel pulled his hand back. The demons had ripped him from Heaven, from everything he knew. Perhaps they thought it hilarious to leave a one-winged angel trapped below, at the mercy of the demons who ruled here. Gabriel knew it was dangerous down here. Without the protections Heaven Corp offered, it was a miracle any humans survived.
He still didn’t understand this man before him or this strange structure. Why would someone from below rescue an angel? Did Jeff hope to gain Heaven’s favor by doing so? Gabriel would do all he could to help if that were the case. But, and he rubbed at his forehead once again, Gabriel had no way to contact Metatron or get himself back up there.
“Dad?”
They both looked over as the child paused halfway down the stairs along one wall. Stairs, when was the last time he had seen actual stairs? Something itched at the back of Gabriel’s mind. They should move, he thought, though lifts were far more efficient.
Jeff sat back on his heels and let out a sigh. “This is Kayla. My daughter.”
A girl. Gabriel hadn’t noticed. She wore her hair in a short shaggy cut, bangs falling into her eyes. Her clothes were like her father’s, simple and sturdy, dark pants and a brightly patterned shirt with heavy boots that matched Jeff’s.
“Hello there,” Gabriel said, not certain how to speak to a child of below.
A creature galloped down the stairs after her. Gabriel searched his memory for the name of the animal. This was something he should know. It wasn’t until the cold black nose bumped his fingers that Gabriel remembered. Dog.
“Trixie, come,” Kayla called, and the dog shuffled back after giving one last lick of Gabriel’s fingers.
“Funny,” Jeff said, as if to himself. “She doesn’t smell the cybernetics on you.”
“Still my own skin.” Gabriel ducked his head. His bones were another story. You couldn’t fly without hollow bones, and they needed to be strong enough to fight. He never thought about the metal inside him. It wasn’t something to dwell on.
No, he shouldn’t be dwelling at all, lost in memories when there was much to do. “I need to, I need….” He had to contact Metatron, get back midlevel. Somehow. Gabriel’s hand went to his forehead again.
“What you need is some food, a shower, and to rest.” Jeff crossed his arms over his chest.
Gabriel’s scattered thoughts disintegrated at Jeff’s words. He couldn’t recall the last time he’d eaten, and perhaps rest would clear the haze that clouded his mind.
“I’ll get something.” Kayla jumped down the last step and ran to the other end of the long room. Gabriel caught sight of a modern-looking microheater, an outdated fridge, and some positively ancient cabinets made from split and peeling wood. Kayla brought him a plate with a dark red cube, which quivered as she offered it. “I hope a nutricube is okay. We have to go to the market to get real food.”
“It’s all right.” Gabriel attempted to smile at her, but his face felt too heavy. He put her words aside for now, mind too clouded to make any sense of them.
“Kayla, come help me clear out a room for our guest.” Jeff took his daughter by the arm. “He can’t stay on the floor.”
Why not? Gabriel was too comfortable to move. His body felt like sinking into the soft mattress. He could barely keep his eyes open, and he had to force himself to focus on eating his meal. Why was he so tired? He attempted to engage his biosensors to check his status gauges, but his forehead only throbbed in response. Without his halo he couldn’t access any of his physical data.
He looked up at Jeff’s dark eyes and frown, the girl’s bright expression, and hoped he could trust them.
GABRIEL GRIPPED the wooden railing as the stranger led him up the stairs—and it was real wood, not the synth they used uplevel. It creaked under his grip, and if he squeezed hard enough, the material would crumble beneath his fingertips. It smelled too, stale and old like it had gotten wet.
The stranger—Jeff Werth—paused at the top of the landing. “You all right there?”
Every bit of movement hurt. It wasn’t the excruciating agony of his lost wing, but Gabriel ached to his hollow bones. Pressure pounded behind his eyes, the pain making it difficult to push past the fog in his mind. If this man wished him harm, there would be little Gabriel could do to fight back.
“I will be.” He healed fast. All Gabriel needed was time.
“This here is the shower. It’s small but works pretty good. I did the mod myself.”
The tiled room was almost too bright for his eyes, especially after the dusty dimness of the rest of the house. Inside Gabriel saw a chipped old sink next to a blue commode that looked to be hooked up to a newer pump. Behind that he saw a very modern-looking enclosed shower cubicle with a rather large showerhead.
“Water,” he blurted. “How do you? Down here?”
Jeff jerked his head toward the tiny window in the wall—glass, not glastic. Outside Gabriel could see stacks and piles of junk. None of it made any sense to his ordered mind. “Got a tank out back. Hooked to the river, but it’s got the best filtering system they make this side of Heaven.”
Since Gabriel knew next to nothing about this side of Heaven, he’d have to take Jeff at his word.
“I’ll lend you some clothes,” Jeff continued in a softer voice. “The attic is at the top of the stairs at the end of this hallway. I can drag a mattress up there while you get clean.”
The dismissal was obvious. Gabriel nodded to show he understood before venturing into the shower stall and closing the door behind him. He figured the controls out quickly enough and got under the warm spray as soon as he’d stripped out of his bloody and torn uniform and pulled off his regulation boots. Gabriel closed his eyes, the water relieving the pressure in his forehead.
He remembered his ports only belatedly, forgetting they were exposed without his halo. Gabriel stepped back out of the spray, rubbing the tiny slots in his forehead as if he could rub the water away. With the way his thoughts were fractured, Gabriel didn’t know what could happen. Were the ports waterproof? He’d never had the halo off before. It was too much a part of him, like h
is arms or legs. Or his wings.
Wing. Losing that hurt more than just physically. Gabriel couldn’t simply fly home. He couldn’t fly anywhere. Instead of the graceful soaring of an angel, the protectors of Heaven, he’d have to scurry on the ground, this place where demons ruled and no angel dared to invade alone.
When he finally emerged from the stall, Gabriel found a towel and a stack of clothing waiting for him. As he dressed, the ache in his muscles turned into weariness. Finding his bed seemed like the best course of action.
If Jeff meant to do him harm, there was nothing Gabriel could do to prevent it. He might as well take the offer of a bed and regain his strength. Gabriel climbed the steep attic steps, surprised to see how large the loft room was. Jeff had placed the mattress in the center, covering it with linens and several mismatched pillows. Gabriel moved to the single window, dismayed at the dim filtered light. The sun never reached down here since the sky had been filled with the cities of Heaven. Gabriel ached for the sunlight.
He collapsed onto the mattress, which was much softer than he deserved. Sleep came quickly, catching him in waves of darkness.
JEFF KEPT an eye on his domain from the comfort of his workshop, surrounded by piles of scrap metal and half-finished projects as he reclined on his chair. He’d made it himself, and though the fabric boasted five different colors, it was the most comfortable thing he’d ever sat in. Unlike the mess of monitors and screens inside the house, here he had one large view screen that could tap into any of the cameras.
Kayla and Trixie wandered in the north side of the junkyard, doing the inventory for this week. She’d probably go to her own workshop afterward. Jeff had told her not to go back to the house until he did. He might feel bad about lying to the angel, but that didn’t mean he wanted to leave his kid alone with him. The last time angels had been in Old Trent, they’d been fighting demons in a war that nearly destroyed the city. There was a good reason the other Corps left Heaven alone, giving up most of the East Coast.
That was what Jeff had sleeping in his house—an angel just like the ones who’d almost destroyed his city. But what he knew about angels didn’t seem to fit the injured young man he’d just met. He switched the camera back to the house, but Gabriel still slept, curled up on the bed in the attic loft. Jeff had loaned him clothing to replace the torn-up jumpsuit, but the sweatpants hung low on the angel’s narrow waist, the sleeves of the shirt dangling past his wrists. They’d have to take a trip to market anyway to find him something that fit.
That was if he didn’t have Heaven Corp breathing down his neck. Jeff dragged his fingers across the old clicky keyboard and patched in to the network. “C’mon, Chase, don’t fail me now,” he murmured.
The screen flickered as Chase responded, revealing the smiling image of a young man with bright blue eyes and dark hair swept high on his forehead. Jeff knew it for the illusion it was. Chase hadn’t been a young man for a very long time, locked in his subterranean haven, constantly jacked in.
Jeff shuddered. That could have been him, once upon a time. There had been days he’d forgotten to eat, so unaware of his own physical body while riding the net. Back then it had been worth it. Jeff had considered his flesh nothing but an impediment, when he could fly online.
“Werth, my man, you couldn’t jack in for a chat?”
“Don’t even have the ports anymore,” Jeff said, hand moving to scratch the back of his neck before he realized what he was doing. Just talking to Chase brought back memories of soaring into the network, his mind one with the flowing tides of information. “Need a favor, man. You up for it?”
The image of Chase leaned forward, eyes gleaming. “Something juicy?”
“Could be. You see anything on the net about a missing angel?”
“Missing?” Chase blinked. “Not on any of the channels I frequent. I can do some digging, but it’ll take time.”
“Just check,” Jeff said. “Keep it between us and consider us square.” Chase owed him more than a few favors. Without Jeff, Chase would still be trapped in a security loop, unable to get back to his body. Damn hacker always did stick his nose in where it didn’t belong. But this was too important to worry about holding something over Chase. He needed to know how much danger he and Kayla were in.
“You sure, old man?”
“Yeah. Like I said, don’t spread it around.” He didn’t want anyone guessing why Jeff Werth wanted to know about missing angels. Gabriel wasn’t just valuable to Luca and his demons.
“You got it, old man. I’ll message you when I’m done.”
Jeff disconnected. His fingers twitched, his body remembering what it felt like to be jacked into the system, hands plugged in to specialized armrests while his mind flew inside the network. He licked his lips, tasting nothing but the memory, sweet against his tongue. Every time he popped in it was like this, an addiction that wouldn’t let him go even though Jeff had been net-free for five years now, since he’d nearly lost everything he cared about.
Before he could get lost thinking about that, the proximity alarm went off. “Fuck.” Jeff called up the display on the screen. He didn’t mind business, but today was not the day to have clients in the yard. Two men were walking up to the main gate, clearly here to do business.
He’d better hurry down there before the alarm woke the angel.
BY THE time Jeff made it down to the gate on his hover bike, Kayla had already opened it. He couldn’t blame her. Ian and Hank were longtime customers, more friends than anything else despite being unable to fix anything themselves. The two men were both tall and fit, looking too well-fed and healthy to be downsiders, despite being dressed in a mishmash of cast-off clothing. That was because they weren’t downsiders, not really, even though they’d defected from the upper levels.
Hank lifted Kayla and spun her around in a circle, Trixie barking and wagging her tail furiously. Kayla laughed and stumbled dizzily toward her dog. Jeff’s heart pounded. He was always thrilled to see her laugh but worried whenever she tripped or fell.
“Don’t tell me it’s the implants again,” Jeff said, reaching out to grasp Ian’s hand. Ian, the more sensible of the two, gave him a slight smile and a shake of his head.
“It’s the bike actually.” He gestured to the hoverhitch behind him where one of the speed bikes Jeff had built them lay on its side, looking more than a little bedraggled. The exhaust pipe had come loose of its moorings and was discolored with black dust.
Hank dropped to the ground, letting Trixie lick his face as he scratched her ears. “And before you ask, I didn’t do it this time. I changed that weird greenish fluid, just like you said.”
“Did you change the filter?” Jeff tried not to smile.
Hank pouted, his blond head tilted against Trixie’s dark fur. Funny how they looked like a pair, both in collars made of dark leather. Ian patted his lover’s head just like he would have petted Trixie. “S’okay, boy, I still love you.”
“And I could use the extra credits.” Jeff went to take the bike off the hitch, happy to have a simple project to work on.
“Dad.”
Kayla’s low voice warned him just as Hank burst out, “Oh, Jeff, you didn’t tell us you got a boy?”
Jeff whirled to see the angel walking out of the main gate of the junkyard toward the bikes. The oversized shirt hid the stump of his left wing, that mottled bit of metal and wire over a red, swollen shoulder blade that made Jeff ache just to look at. The right wing had folded neatly against the angel’s back, easily hidden. Jeff hoped he’d stopped Gabriel from feeling any pain, but he worried at the stiff gait as he approached.
“He ain’t my boy,” Jeff told him. “Get your mind out of the gutter, Hank.”
“I’m sorry.” The angel paused a few feet away. “I heard the alarm ringing, and I saw you on the….” He made a hand motion, probably meant to signify the wall of screens.
“That’s fine,” Jeff said, though it really wasn’t. These were the last two people he wanted Gabri
el to meet. “Ian, Hank, this is Gabe. He’s going to be staying with us for a while.”
“I just bet.” Hank moved to stand next to Ian, sliding his arm around his lover.
Ian smacked Hank’s ass with an audible crack. “Be good.”
“What’s the fun in that?”
Gabriel watched the whole tableau with wide eyes. They were green, Jeff realized, a pale green visible even in the dim daylight that made its way downside. Somehow he’d expected the angel to have blue eyes, and he hadn’t gotten the chance to look closely earlier. He couldn’t blame Hank for thinking Jeff had taken this beautiful young man as a lover, even though it had been years since Jeff had taken another man to bed. Before he met Leah, at least, and not since she died. He’d had his pick of both men and women, and Jeff never really chose one over the other until she walked into his life.
“Thanks for looking at the bike, Jeff,” Ian said. “We gonna see you at Ronnie’s place later?”
Another terrible idea. “Not sure. Bit busy. I’ll let you know when the bike’s ready.”
Gabriel stayed with Jeff and Kayla as they watched Hank and Ian leave. “You have unusual friends.”
Jeff didn’t know what to read into that toneless voice.
“Says the angel.” Jeff rolled his eyes.
That got a smile out of him. Then Gabriel’s face crumpled. “Not much of an angel, with one wing and no way to call home.” He touched his forehead, rubbing at the dented skin.
Jeff swallowed. Right now Gabriel seemed more like a lost and lonely young man instead of a fearsome protector of Heaven. The angel hadn’t asked about his missing halo yet, but it was only a matter of time.
Chapter Three
GABRIEL MISSED the sun. Down here, below the city that rose into the clouds, the light never got much brighter than a dim glow. Nighttime seemed to dazzle, because then the junkyard exploded with blossoms of bright lights against the black sky. He still couldn’t identify the piles of metal, wires and, well, junk, that stretched as far as his eye could see. But at night, it didn’t seem to matter.
