Angel Wing Chapter Six
Title: Angel Wing
Pairing(s): Linkara/Spoony
Rating: PG-13
Word Count: 10,414
Warning(s): Violence, strong language, overt Christian themes and theology
Summary: When an angel loses his wing and falls to Earth, he learns more than he ever expected and finds more than he ever dreamed of.
Spoony woke with a start. He lay still for a moment before leaping to his feet. “Linkara!” he called. “Linkara!”
There was no answer from the room down the hall. Spoony glanced at the clock. Midnight. He had learned over the last few weeks that it was almost impossible to wake Linkara at that time. He sighed, wondering how he was going to get back to that place.
Well, there was nothing for it. He’d have to walk. There wasn’t time to wake Linkara and flying was out of the question. He would have to hurry, though. He didn’t want to risk being found in the daylight by another human.
Spoony headed out the door, hoping that no one would notice him as he ran through the streets, ducking into the shadows, trying not to attract attention. It had taken an hour to reach those woods by car and it would take a mortal several hours, but Spoony wouldn’t tire. He could run-not particularly fast, but without stopping. If he found the sword quickly, he could be back to Linkara by sunrise. If not... well, then he would have to remain in the woods until night fell. He couldn’t risk being on the main roads in the daylight.
He reached the woods two hours later. It was pitch dark and there were no cars coming, but Spoony didn’t need light. The sword would be found-it had to be nearby and it would still have the light of Heaven. He simply had to look for the light.
Spoony closed his eyes, spun around in a circle, and began to walk. He had to trust his faith to lead him now.
He didn’t know how long he walked. He felt tree branches scratch at his face and arms and tear at his wing, but he didn’t stop, didn’t even open his eyes. He just kept going, hands at his side, wing tucked behind him.
At last, he felt it. The light shining through his eyelids. He slowly opened them and spotted the sword lying on the ground in the middle of the forest. He hurried to it and picked it up. It still didn’t feel right in his hand, but after weeks of having almost no contact with the Kingdom of Heaven, it almost felt like an old friend.
Spoony looked at the moon and realized that he only had two hours to get back to Linkara before the sun rose. He turned and ran, trusting the light of Heaven to lead him back.
*
Linkara woke up as the door opened outside. “Spoony?” he called, wondering what the angel could be doing outside at this time.
There was no answer. The door slammed shut. Linkara frowned. Spoony never slammed doors. He was always so graceful, so gentle in his movements… “Spoony?” he called again, getting out of bed and padding down the hallway toward the living room.
Spoony was gone. The blankets were thrown back on the futon. Linkara swallowed. Had Spoony’s prayers been answered? Had he returned to Heaven? Would Linkara see him again or…?
No. He knew this was going to happen. He had known from the beginning that Spoony wasn’t going to stay. Why would he? Spoony was an angel. He belonged in Heaven, in paradise in peace. Linkara was only human. No one would forsake the Kingdom of Heaven for a mere mortal.
He only wished that Spoony had said goodbye…
A hand suddenly reached out and grabbed his shoulder. Linkara whirled around and found himself staring into a very familiar and yet completely strange face.
It was Spoony, but it wasn’t. The smile was too wide, the teeth too sharp, and over his eyes was a pair of goggles, swirling with a thousand colors. And the wings… the wings were all wrong. There were two of them, but they weren’t angel wings. They were black, scaly, sharp… just like in his nightmare.
There was a demon standing in his living room.
Linkara tried to scream, to call for help, to pray, but the demon was on him in a moment, knocking him down and pressing one clawed hand to his throat, cutting off his breathing, making it impossible for him to cry out. “Hush,” he said. “I’m not here to kill you… yet.” He produced a sword and held it to Linkara’s throat. “I’m just here to finish something.”
Linkara stared up at him, afraid but silent, praying desperately in his head. The demon’s grin widened as he removed his hand and the sword from Linkara’s throat, though he remained on top of Linkara, pinning him down. “Now,” the demon said. “Where is your angel?”
“I don’t know what you mean,” Linkara said quickly. This must be the one, the demon who had cut off Spoony’s wing.
The demon scratched him, his claws cutting Linkara’s cheek. Blood fell onto the carpet. “You do know.” He laughed manically. “It’s hard to find a fallen angel, usually, but when a human falls for one… it’s like a signal flare. Love… that pitiful little emotion that humans feel…it has a very distinctive signal, especially when angels are involved.”
Linkara shook his head. He didn’t love Spoony, that wasn’t it at all! He just like the angel’s company…his voice…his eyes…his hair…his body…and his wing, oh, God his wing…
The demon laughed again. “Don’t try to deny it!” he cackled. “Anyone can see it from a mile away. You love an angel in spite of the fact that he could never love you back! Now where is he?”
“I…I don’t know,” Linkara whimpered. “He’s gone…he’s gone and he probably won’t come back…” Tears were falling down his face now, smearing the blood from the scratches. Not from the physical pain, though. He wasn’t crying for that. He was crying for Spoony, for all that they would never share, for the heart that was breaking in his chest…maybe he did love him after all…not that it mattered. Spoony would never love him back, not like that.
The demon studied him for a moment. “You might even be telling the truth,” he said softly. “But there’s a simple way to find out…” He picked up the sword and stabbed it into Linkara’s leg.
Linkara screamed, not caring if he woke his neighbors or even the entire town. Maybe someone would come, maybe someone would call the police…maybe Spoony would hear…
“Hmm… I’m not sure if that was loud enough. If he’s already back in Heaven, that wouldn’t reach him…” The demon stabbed the other leg, drawing a louder scream from Linkara. Please let someone hear me, he prayed. Please let someone find me… A stab to each arm, cutting through his biceps and pulling louder and louder screams from Linkara.
The demon raised the sword one more time, setting the tip over Linkara’s heart. “One more,” he said quietly. “One more to draw him back.” He started to press the blade down. Linkara closed his eyes, preparing for the oblivion. Maybe Spoony would be waiting for him…
The door banged open and the blade was suddenly gone, the demon’s weight pulled off of him. Linkara opened his eyes and saw a bright light clash with a great darkness in front of him. He tried to sit up, but he couldn’t. The pain in his legs and arms and chest and cheek was too much.
There was a crash of swords and Linkara’s eyes adjusted enough to make out two figures, one dark and harsh, the other light and soft and with only one wing.
“Spoony…” Linkara whispered and then everything went black.
*
It was a miracle that they hadn’t woken the entire town. Between the screams that Spoony could hear three blocks away and the crashes their swords made whenever they hit, the angel figured that a neighbor at least would have woken up by now.
But no one was coming. There was no one pounding on the door, no one shouting through the ceiling, no police sirens blaring in the distance. Spoony wondered why that was, and then he mentally kicked himself for thinking about that when Linkara was bleeding out on the carpet and Insano had breached the mortal world.
“So,” Insano said as he pushed Spoony’s sword back. “You survived the fall. Impressive.”
“Not really,” Spoony responded, pushing Insano back. “Anyone who isn’t a pussy can survive that.”
“With only one wing?”
“My one wing is stronger than both of yours put together.”
“So why was I able to cut one off?”
“Because you drained me first. Because you made me lose a bit of faith. Because you tricked me.”
“Because I’m stronger!”
“A demon can never be stronger than an angel!”
“Oh, yeah? So why is your boyfriend dying by my hand? You’re not even strong enough to save him!”
Spoony growled and lunged forward, pushing Insano back into the wall. “He will not die!”
“You can’t stop him from dying.”
“Can’t I?”
“You can only save him if you defeat me… and we both know you can’t do that.”
Spoony’s eyes flashed. “I can,” he said. “I can!” He thrust his sword forward, knocking Insano’s aside and pushing the blade through the place where the demon’s heart should have been.
And inhuman scream filled the air, sending a chill down Spoony’s spine. Insano’s body seemed to twist and unform, to melt and shatter all at once. At last, with one last shriek, the demon exploded into a puff of black smoke, leaving behind the heavy scent of sulfur.
Spoony threw down his sword and rushed to Linkara’s side. The young man was still breathing, but barely. Spoony fell to his knees beside him and took his hand. “Linkara,” he said. “Linkara, wake up… please…wake up…”
Slowly, Linkara’s eyes opened. “Spoony?” he whispered. “You came back…”
“I never left,” Spoony assured him. “I just went to get my sword…I’m sorry, I didn’t realize…you shouldn’t have been hurt…”
“He…he wanted to call you back…”
“I know…fuck, I know…Linkara…”
“It’s all right…” His breathing was growing short. “It’s all right…I’ll see you again soon…”
“Linkara…”
“Spoony…”
“I love you.” Spoony bent and pressed his lips to Linkara’s. “I love you… and I bind myself to you.” He lay down beside him. “So yes… you will see me soon.” Spoony gathered Linkara into his arms, laying his wing over them both again. “Are you…comfortable?”
“Spoony…”
“I’m bound to you…that means…I die with you…and I share your fate…no matter what it is.”
Linkara stared at him. “Spoony…”
“It’s all right…it means an eternity with you…and there’s nowhere I’d rather be.”
“What if we don’t make it to Heaven?”
Spoony could feel the tears welling in his eyes, but he swallowed them back. “Then I’ll take whatever Hell they give us.”
Linkara nodded weakly. His eyes closed. “Thank you,” he whispered. “I love you…”
“I love you too…” They kissed again before they both fell back on the carpet. “I love you so very, very much…”
As the world faded to black, Spoony heard Linkara whisper faintly.
As I lay me down to sleep,
I pray the Lord my soul to keep,
And should I die before I wake,
I pray the Lord my soul to take…
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