The soldier came knocking upon the queen's door; he said, "I am not fighting for you anymore."[Lock]

[thrillofthekill]

This is not a situation that Vincent really wants to be in. This is every time he's come running to stop Romana from doing something he wanted to believe she'd regret later dialed up to two hundred. A good captain wouldn't question the motives and morality of his general. A good captain would stand and take it just as he's been doing, but he

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[of_rageandruin]

It's hard for a psychic to miss the distress and anger and grief that came with Martin and Alma's return to the basement, and the general sense of Vincent's mind isn't that much more encouraging. She's at the door a half-second after he knocks, pulling it open and meeting Vincent's eyes. "What happened?" That seems to be the question more and more often these days. What happened, what went wrong...

[thrillofthekill]

Vincent stands ramrod straight and delivers the appropriate response in a practiced militarial monotone. He's never done that before, which is enough to raise warning flags, but his actual thoughts are as guarded as he can get them.

"Harkness knew about the attack and warned 'em. It was a slaughter. Thirteen died and only two got out alive and one of 'em's sure to Fall if she's not kept under observation. Harkness says they won't retaliate." He pointedly forgets to mention the part about collecting the dead and leaves it out of his thoughts too for no reason other than having an archangel inside the building right now might send her into a frenzy- he's not really sure what might set her off about this, honestly.

He gives her a look, a serious What now? look. If she decides not to retaliate, then this can all be over. If not... Well, it's only just beginning.

[of_rageandruin]

Romana lets out a slow breath, closing her eyes for just a second. She's old, and she's been on the losing side of battles before, but she just... wasn't expecting it this time. Harkness. Of course it's Harkness. Bad enough when he was swaggering around the hotel as if it were his command, but now thirteen of her angels are dead and it's because of him...

This has gone on long enough. She may not be able to kill Harkness, but she can take out every other major threat in this city and then find a way to deal with him when he has no one left on his side. "I want your angels ready to go by morning and we'll move on the demons. I'm ending this." She's tired of Chicago, tired of this stalemate. Tomorrow, it's going to be over.

[thrillofthekill]

This is it. The moment he really didn't want this situation to come to and yet always knew it would. His heart seizes up his chest and he plants his feet firmly on the ground, clencing his fists and tilting his head upward- not defiant, but adamant. This is his opinion and he's sticking to it.

He's about to destroy one of the best things he ever had going for him with a single word, all because he just can't see things her way anymore.

"No."

[of_rageandruin]

Romana stops, and just stares at him for a moment, disbelieving. It's not that Vincent has never told her no before, but not like this. Not to a direct order in a military context. "What?" she asks. It's soft, almost gentle, but there's the suggestion of a threat, underneath it all. "This is not negotiable, Sterling. That was an order."

[thrillofthekill]

He doesn't grimace, but God, he wants to. He wants to back down like a dog and remember who he's talking to, but that woman's not standing before him now. He's not sure who he's looking at anymore. She might still be a First. She might kill him if he told her he wasn't fighting her wars anymore, but he will not do this for her.

"I don't know what kind of war you're tryin' to fight here, Romana, but it's not mine. This isn't you. It isn't what you used to believe it- sacrificing innocents because they could be a threat. What you've been doing, what you plan to do... I don't want this. So you either take Harkness up on his word and call this off or I'm walking out and I won't be back. You can add me to your hit list if you want, but I won't fight for you. Not anymore."

It hurts. It hurts worse than lying, because it's so true. And he's sucked it up before. He's dealt with her war with Torchwood, her springing Hart, and Tay being put in danger because of all this, but no.

No more.

[of_rageandruin]

"They have allied themselves with demons, Vincent. And I don't care if that demon has a guardian angel or if it hurts when I shoot Sam Tyler, they are still not innocents, and if the old laws don't apply now, mine will." She takes a step forward, just inches from Vincent now, glaring down into his eyes with wings flared. "You are not leaving. Not tonight, and you will be there to fight tomorrow morning."

[thrillofthekill]

Vincent goes quiet for a long time, not sure if he wants to poke the angry tiger any more than he's already done, but there's no backing out of this. Not now. Point of no return and all that.

"You're gonna Fall, Romana." His voice is quieter, huskier than it should be. "Do you really want that to be your legacy? The First Among Firsts brought down by her own arrogance and bloodlust? If that's your law... If that's what you want, then you can burn out and fade away, but you won't do it with me there to watch it. That's not how I want to remember you."

He briefly thinks of telling her he's sorry, but it's too late for that now. It's stupid to turn his back on her when she's like this, but he's beyond caring. He's walking away now and washing his hands of this whole affair.

[of_rageandruin]

Romana doesn't think, just lunges, grabbing Vincent by the shoulders, spinning him around, and pinning him to the wall, her wings flared to form a sort of wall around the two of them, muffling their words from any outside observers.

"You can't just walk away. You can't. This isn't choice, this is your calling, and you can't turn your back on that. If you leave now, more of our angels will die without you. Is that what you want?"

[thrillofthekill]

Vincent barely even reacts to any of that. On one hand, he expected it, because turning your back on Romana invites that kind of disaster. He's starting to wonder if she'll ever let him walk away.

"What I want is for this to stop. My calling is to kill demons, not everything that thinks to side with 'em. No, I don't like that there's a Neqa'el here and I'd love to see 'em die too just because that's what I am, but I'm over killin' just to watch 'em die, Romana. Angels are going to die, whether I'm there or not, because you're not even thinkin' anymore."

He doesn't push her away, because he's not that far gone, but he does raise his voice a little bit. "So what are you going to do, Romana? You gonna kill me? You want blood, then take it. Better I die here than out there fightin' a war I don't believe in, watchin' you fall further from grace. If those are my choices, then I choose death."

But I am not going to watch the woman I love Fall. I'd rather die than live to see that.

[of_rageandruin]

Romana doesn't think. There's a gun in her hand, suddenly, and she doesn't have any real memory of how it happened. There's a bang, and a recoil, and the gun falls from her hand. Romana never drops a gun, but just this once, she does, to catch Vincent as he falls. There's white angel's blood on her hands, splattered across her face, and for a second, nothing but pure shock in her expression.

"Vincent. ...Vince?"

Damn it. Her expression hardens again as she lowers him to the ground, gently as a child. She checks his pulse at his throat - heart's still beating, and he's still breathing. More than a lot of people can say after having been shot by Romana. She can't remember the last time she had angel's blood on her hands.

"Grace!"