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“Angels need body guards?” I sighed.

“Ironic, I know.”  Jensen lightly brushed his lips against my forehead.  “Rest now, my sweet Avalon.  I’m right here with you.  And I love you so much.”  I tried staying awake but my eyelids wanted to close, to drift.  And that’s exactly what they did.

*      *      *

When I awoke from a dreamless sleep, a bandage was on my hand, keeping my fingers close together so they could heal the best they could.

I was all cleaned up - no blood on me except for my dress.  Next to me were a pair of blue drawstring pants and an oversized t-shirt.

          “I thought you might like to change,” alleged Jensen’s voice.

Where is he?  I can’t see him.

            Just then he appeared, coming out from the hallway in his apartment.  He had changed into some new clothes: a black long sleeve t-shirt and black pants.  A bandage was around his burn.  His face was clean-shaven, a six o’clock shadow on his cheeks.

          “And when we get back down to earth,” he continued, “I’ll take you to the hospital.  Your wrist might be broken as well.”

          “Great,” I muttered.  I tried getting up but my whole body was so sore.  I collapsed back on the couch.  Jensen was quickly by my side, helping me up.  “Thank you,” I said, low.

          “Would you like some help?” he asked, motioning towards the clothes.

          I nodded.  Jensen helped me take off my dress so that I was just in my bra and underwear.  I blushed at the memory of Jensen and I in his apartment.  It felt like so long ago.  “Angels have clothes?”  I was too tired to laugh.  But if I could have I would have.

          “We need to keep a stash of clothes to walk around when in our human form.  We believe in modest behavior.  We don’t have our wings to cover ourselves.”  I smiled, thinking back to the times Jensen and I witnessed one another naked.  I wondered if he had let all of his inhibitions go because he was on Earth.  Or was it all because he was in the presence of the woman he loved for so long?  “Better?” he asked, putting my bloody dress to the side.

          “Much,” I sighed, feeling the warmth of the clothes he had given me.  He helped me to put on a forest green sweatshirt, without bumping my hand into anything.  I hadn’t realized how cold I’d been until I shivered, snuggling into the fabric surrounding me.  “I appreciate this.”

          Jensen shook his head.  “None of that was supposed to happen to you, Ava.  I’m so sorry.”

          I thought back to when Aiken was breaking each one of my fingers, how I wanted to die.  Now, the pain wasn’t so bad.  Jensen must have given me some sort of medication to numb my senses.

          I shrugged.  “How’s your burn?”

          “I’ll live,” he said, staring at his hand.  “Should heal within a couple hours.”

          Before I could question, he said, “Angels heal a hell of a lot faster than humans.”  He cleared his throat.  “However, since my humanity seems to be taking over my wounds are taking a much longer time to heal.  Faster than a normal human but slower than the angel I’ve been for three hundred years.”

I didn’t know how to respond to that so I just smiled meekly.

“I wish your hand would heal just as fast as mine, or faster,” he added.

            “I’ll be okay.”

            “I know you will be.  You’re a very tough woman.”

            We sat in silence for a long while - tranquility and a sudden surge of still peacefulness filled the air.  For the first time in weeks I felt like a weight had been lifted off of me.  And I knew why.  I finally had some clarity.  As insane as that clarity was it was still what I needed to help me get past my fears.  Aiken had possessed Cole, which meant Cole had nothing to do with my rape.  However, because of being raped Aiken had given me his premonition power.

Jensen still didn’t know about it; not like he was asking about anything abnormal I’d done recently, like busting him out of that angelic cage.

Interrupting my thoughts, Jensen started humming a tune I didn’t recognize.  It was sweet and flowed into each other - every note sounded different, yet the same - coming together in a harmonious, magical piece.  A glimmer of a smile crossed my lips.

A couple weeks ago, after I’d had another one of my deathly premonitions and Jensen attempted to sooth me, he began to hum.  It was the same melody.

          “What is that?” I asked, intrigued by the song.

          The serene humming stopped.  “What is what?” he answered.

          “That music.  What song is it?”

          “It’s called
Live for a Miracle
.”  I chuckled at the title but the music sounded very beautiful.  “It was something my mother used to sing to me when I was little,” he acknowledged.  “An old folk song.”

          “You remember that?” I asked, stymied.

          “Now I do,” he respired, then shrugged.  “Since coming to Earth I’ve started remembering a lot of my human memories.  I forgot most of them when I became an angel.”

          “Ah,” I assented, as if I knew what he was talking about.

          “Did you know I knew thirteen different languages?”

          “Wow,” I said.  “I struggle with English at times.”

          We laughed.  It felt good to laugh - something we hadn’t done together in what seemed like ages.

          “When I became an angel, every language in the world was programmed into me.  But since being exiled to Earth I only know about…thirteen.  Just as I had in my human life.”

          “Oh my.”  That must have been hard for him to deal with.  “What was something you enjoyed doing as a human?”

          “Whoa, such a long time ago,” he laughed as he thought back into his past.  “I loved riding horses.  I could have done it all day.”

          “That’s really sweet.”  I pictured him riding a horse in an open grassy field, a smile on his face - acne, bad eyesight and all.  He still looked inhuman and perfect to me; that was a good thing.

          “Too bad I was as blind as a bat.  Sometimes, I wouldn’t be able to control my horse because I couldn’t see where I was going.  That was actually how I died.  A riding accident.”  I immediately felt uncomfortable.  I held his hand in mine.

          His face fell suddenly.  “Avalon…about what happened with Aiken today,” he spoke slowly.

“It’s okay, Jensen,” I assured him, although the very thought of Aiken touching me made me physically ill.  “Really.”

“No, it’s not okay.  Look at you!  You’re extremely injured - 
literally broken
.”

“It could be worse.  I could be dead right now.”

“Avalon,” he shuddered, “don’t you
ever
say that.”  He kissed my forehead and whispered, “Ever.”

I shook my head in comprehension.  He didn’t like to think of me that way just as I hated to think of that ever occurring to him.  You know what our problem was?  We cared about each other too much - willing to sacrifice ourselves for one another.  When would it stop?  When we were both de -

I told Jensen I wouldn’t say it.

“I think you love me too much,” I semi-teased.

“No,” he said, kissing the palm of my injured hand.

“How do you know when enough is enough?”

He gave me a questioning look.  “Avalon,” he breathed, looking into my eyes, his -  almost onyx, “my love for you is endless.  It’ll never be enough.”

At that moment Jensen put things into perspective for me - we would never stop caring about each other, worrying about one another.  We needed to be together.  Now until forever.

“May I please kiss you?” he whispered.

            “Yes,” I said softly, smiling at him and shivering at the thought of it actually happening.

            Jensen pressed his warm lips to mine - intoxicating and enticing all at once.  My breath hitched and I found myself grinning as our lips crushed against each other’s in harmonization.  Every time we kissed it felt like the first time - new and comforting.

“Hey,” I breathed in between Jensen’s insistent kisses.  “Will they find us here?”  I didn’t want to think about it.  But knowing me Jensen knew I was bound to bring it up; and at the worst possible time, too.

            “Yes.”

            I was panic-stricken.  I was so tired of being scared all the time.  I was nauseated by the constant nausea in the pit of my stomach.  I just wanted things to go back to the way they were when I was just Avalon Leah Montage and nothing more, nothing less.  Only human.  Even if I was ignorant about all of this supernatural angelic stuff, at least I’d still be innocent.

“I’m sorry for asking, I’m just so nervous.”

“Everything’s going to be okay,” he said, chuckling.  “You have my word.”

And his word was as good as anything.

*      *      *

Okay, so maybe his word was straight up crap.

I was asleep when a loud banging noise came from the door.  Although the door was clear I couldn’t see who was on the other side of it.  But Jensen knew.  He cautioned his way over, opening the door just a crack, until someone barged in - the door slamming against the wall.  The place shook around us.

“Jensen Marx and Avalon Montage,” spoke a tall and dark man with a very deep voice, eyes red as rubies, “you have been summoned by The Angel Vaad to join them in a meeting for judgment.  You must come with us. 
Now
.”

I hadn’t seen him before and I’m not sure how I missed him, was another large man - but even bigger than the one who just spoke.  He was broad with red eyes as well.

Jensen came over to me and helped me up and out the door.  I held onto Jensen for support.  I shut my eyes as we blinked to where The Angel Vaad would be.

We were now in an extremely vast, polished - what appeared to be a - ballroom.

Everything was translucent, yet it still looked stunning.  The ceilings were miles high and so was the width.  The two bulky men who had brought us there turned and left.  Just then a large man I’d never seen before entered the room, dressed in modern-day clothing.  He stood still, arms folded across his chest.

“That’s a Shadow Angel guard for The Angel Vaad,” Jensen whispered to me.  The guard stared Jensen and I down.  I took a step closer to him for comfort.

After a few seconds the doors creaked open again.  My heart caught in my throat.  That’s when I saw the first angel come out into the light.

“Well, well, well,” said an astonishingly tall man with cropped sandy blonde hair and very big dark brown eyes, “look who decided to join us.”  His skin was pale, having the brown of his eyes stand out prominently against it.  He appeared almost out of nowhere with three others following in a single file line behind him.  They were all wearing long, gray robes, walking straight and tall.

A petite young man who didn’t look more than sixteen had a smug look on his ebony colored face with piercing black eyes.  Right behind him was a bulky elderly man - white hair landed on his shoulders, and light green eyes - but did not look withered in any way.  To me, he looked odd because of it.

And finally, emerging from behind was an average sized woman; her long, dark brown hair was in braids down to her waist, making her look childish, although you could plainly see she was mature.  The color of her hair complimented her fair skin.  She smiled, frightening me, as I caught a glimpse of bright white teeth.  They glistened.  Her dark hazel eyes went right through me, smirking as she went by, standing as still as ever in the direct center of the room, waving Jensen and I over.

Jensen held my hand tightly.  We did not look at each other for we knew what was to become of us.  Well at least I knew what was to become of
me
.  Jensen had no clue.  So I assumed he was making assumptions.

“Hello,” said the woman, loud and clear.

“Hello, Erin,” Jensen said.  To the three men, in order from left to right, he nodded to each one, and said, “Hello, gentlemen.”

The ebony skinned one nodded.  “Nice to see you again.  Sorry it had to be on an occasion like this.”

“Yes, it’s too bad isn’t it, Trey?”

The next man, the tallest one smiled at us.  “As always, a pleasure to see you Jensen, my boy.”

“Likewise, Spade,” he spoke.

And finally, the bulky, oldest looking angel frowned.  “Such a sad occasion.”

Jensen smirked.  “It doesn’t have to be, Leslie.”

“But then again, it does,” spoke Erin, her voice soft, like a mother caressing her child.  Her eyes quickly fixated themselves on me.  “Hello there, Avalon.  Pardon my manners for not noticing your presence first.”

I didn’t know what to say so I nodded my head and bit my lip.  I wondered if Erin and the others had been human before being turned into angels or if G-d created them to be the first ever full-blooded angels.

“When shall we begin?” asked Spade.

“Now is the best time,” Erin suggested.

I hadn’t expected to be judged like this until I was, well,
dead
.  But who knew?  My brain was so messed up these days maybe I was and didn’t even know it?

Wouldn’t that be laughable!

“So, to begin our trial, I would like to welcome you, Avalon,” spoke Erin.  “It’s nice to finally meet you in person.  And sorry about your injuries.”

“Thank you,” I said quietly.  Jensen smirked.  I was shaking so much he had to pull me closer to him so he could support me more efficiently.

“You’re very beautiful,” grinned Trey.  “You get your looks from your mother.”  My mouth dropped open a little.  I’d forgotten they’d watched me grow up.  “Although I apologize for what Aiken has done to your eye.  He can be a bit theatrical at times.”

My eye ached at his comment.

“Here, let me fix it.”  With a twitch of his hand the aching went away and so did the bump that formed itself around my eye.  My black eye was gone.

“Why not fix her hand as well?” Jensen practically growled, insinuating he should be doing much, much more.

“She has to leave here with at least
one
battle scar,” smirked Leslie.  Was he hinting that I’d leave here alive?

“I think the memories alone could be considered as one.”

“Ah, yes, my boy.  But here’s a better question: Why don’t
you
fix her wound?”

I turned to face Jensen, wondering what Leslie was talking about.  The Angel Vaad seemed to be more powerful than any Light or Shadow Angel.

Jensen’s eyes drifted from the floor to my eyes, then to my broken hand.  “I can’t,” he said softly.

“Excuse me?” asked Erin.

“I can’t,” Jensen repeated, louder this time.  “I tried but nothing came of it.”

“And why is that?” Spade antagonized.

“You know why.”  Jensen glared at all four of them.

Leslie and Spade laughed.  Erin and Trey did not, however.

“You used to be able to heal like them Jensen?” I asked, my voice a low whisper.

He nodded, then looked at The Angel Vaad once more.  “It’s a basic power.”

“I’d like to start off by saying how much grief Jensen has caused us, Avalon,” Leslie said, glaring at him, but speaking to me.

“Did you really think we wouldn’t find out?” asked Spade.  “I mean,
really
, Jensen, you should have known you would have gotten caught eventually.”

“I know,” he answered.  “But that’s what you wanted from the beginning, wasn’t it, my friends?”

Ha, friends?  More like life-long enemies.

“We did what we thought was best for you, child,” Erin spoke.  She sounded faintly like my mother.

“You knew I would seek out Avalon after being exiled to earth.  And that’s exactly why you did it!”

“We left it up to you.”

“If you had left
anything
up to me you would have let me leave The Middle Plane freely - to come and go as I please - without all this rubbish,” Jensen declared.

“We couldn’t have let you stay here, to corrupt others with your way of thinking,” believed Trey.

“
My
way of
thinking
?” Jensen challenged.  “And how might that be?”

“On your own,” said Leslie, annoyed.

Jensen took a deep breath.  “I wish you would have left Avalon out of this altogether.  It wasn’t her fault I fell in love with her and needed to see her.”

“You made all the wrong choices my dear Jensen,” spoke Erin.  She stood up even straighter.  “We assigned you to this girl,” she pointed at me, “because we thought she would be like everybody else - human, and nothing more than that.  Someone to watch and guide a bit here and there.  But then you started developing
feelings
for her.  I don’t know how or why, but that’s when this whole situation started.  We told you what would happen if you continued being her Guardian Angel when we assigned you to Tory Marie Walt.”  She glared at him.

“And no thanks to you, we had to assign your current human to another angel, who now has
two
watch-overs to look after.”  Jensen nodded and drooped his head.  “But you went behind our backs and looked after her anyway,” Erin continued.  “You were going to go down to earth to protect her!  From something we - the other members of The Vaad and myself -  designed!”  Her voice shrilled through the gigantic room.  Jensen looked like he was ready to kill them - one by one.

“We took action and exiled you to earth, commanding you
not
to see Avalon Leah Montage.  But you defied our wishes.  So we sent the Shadow Angel, Aiken, as your capturer.  He never disappoints.”  She looked at me and I felt sick.  I knew what she was talking about.

“Let’s deal with the problem at hand,” interjected Spade.  “Jensen, do you not realize what you’re becoming?”

“Which is what?” Jensen asked innocently, although he knew very well.

            “A filthy human!  You had a wonderful life as an angel.  Why throw it away?”

“Sometimes it’s better to be different,” Jensen said smugly, then looked at me with loving eyes.  “It’s not like I could have controlled it.”

“You were such a good angel.”

“I still
am
a good angel.  Just…different in some ways.”

“Look at you!” Leslie shouted.  “Facial hair, a mind of your own
and
a beating heart!”

“All angels’ hearts beat when they’re in love,” Jensen said to him.

“No, son, you’re wrong,” Leslie explained.  “Angels are incapable of falling in love with one another!”

Jensen looked perplexed.  To be honest, The Angel Vaad sounded like a bunch of bickering teenagers.  It was annoying.

“Precisely my point,” Leslie declared at the sight of Jensen’s confused face.  “If you fall in love with a human your heart shall beat.  Why?  Because now you are undeniably connected to them in that way.  Their heart beats so now does your own.”

“What’s your point?” Jensen asked with an attitude.

“The point,” Spade said with a loud sigh, “is that once that happens other human traits follow.  Such as your hair growth and now becoming quote-unquote,” he made air quotations with his index and middle fingers, “independent.”

Erin spoke, “Not only did you make things difficult for yourself by falling in love with a human and developing human characteristics that way but you also spent a great deal of time on earth, which sped up the human transformation process even more so!”

“You’ve become so…
human
,” said Leslie.  He said the last word with disgust.

“They’re not bad.  Just misunderstood,” Jensen said defensively.  Erin smirked, Spade laughed and Trey and Leslie snorted.

I’ve had enough of this stupidity.

“Why do you four get to make up the rules?” I asked infuriated by this whole conversation.  Jensen looked at me in disbelief.  Erin’s face fell, as did the three men’s expressions.

“We were here before any other angels had been created,” spoke Erin.  “We rule over The Middle Plane.  Did Jensen not teach you about us?”

“No, he did,” I answered smugly.  “But what does G-d think about all of this?”

The room became tense.

“That’s only for us to know,” answered Leslie.  He turned to Jensen.  “I suggest you
tame
your human friend before we do something rash.”

Jensen snarled.

“They won’t,” I interjected.  Leslie looked utterly appalled by my response.  “They need me for their little plan.”  I stared into Erin’s eyes.  “Aiken told me.”

“What?” Jensen said.  I felt him looking at me, yet I did not turn to face him.

“You might be here because you broke a rule or two, Jensen.  But
I’m
here for something completely different.  I think you got in the way.”

“In the way of what?” Jensen asked, appalled.

“My rape wasn’t an accident.  They had Aiken kill Cole, possess his body, rape me and give me his premonition power, in hopes they’d finally - after centuries of trying - create their first human-angel - a Barak.  And they did.  I’m the only one in all of existence.”  I flared my nostrils.  “But wait!” I said, all too enthused and ready to vomit, “it gets better!  Once I die, I’ll become a Shadow Angel.  And I’ll be connected to Aiken for always and eternity.  Some leaders you have here.”  I wanted to murder them all.

Erin applauded - slow, taunting claps as she walked from her position over to me.  Jensen held onto me tighter than before.

“You are smart, young Avalon,” she mused.  “Very smart.  You will be perfect for our plan.”  She touched my face with her fingertips.  They were relatively warm but I shivered at her touch.

“Don’t touch her,” Jensen warned through gritted teeth.

“Or what?” Erin challenged.

Jensen went silent.  He didn’t blink.  He didn’t breathe.  All he did was shake.

“Shocked at all this, eh?” asked Spade.  “Didn’t see that one coming did you?”

Jensen unlocked his hands from mine.  “It all makes sense now,” he whispered, talking to himself.  “She started having premonitions right after he raped her…and in the Light Angel Prison Chamber…that’s how you were able to set me free from the cage,” he thought out loud.  “That’s why I trusted to let you in.  Not because I thought you were good…but because you have Aiken’s power inside you.  Your Shadow Angel side took control in that moment - allowing me to break free of my trance when you commanded me to acknowledge your presence and communicate with you.”  We both stood there, frozen.  “I even noticed your aura was different.

“Why hadn’t you explained any of this to me, sweetheart?” he asked, stunned.

“I-I,” I stammered, “I didn’t know how to tell you.  I only found out from Aiken when I first arrived in The Middle Plane.  I wasn’t sure whether or not to believe it
myself
.”