Radicle (Terminal trilogy #2, can stand alone)

37: The boy, lost

"You're coming with me." Michael said, and he slipped his hand into mine.

"I should go." I said, but I let him lead me forward.

I did not need to be here, and almost in connection I felt a small trickle of blood fall down my lips. Just a nosebleed, but surely meant to be a sign. Or was it an omen if it called for bad things?

Hell really needed better security. Truthfully, I had no idea if they even had security, or what good security looked like- I just felt it was very easy for us to head into The Few's main office and ride up to their meeting room. And walk in.

Glenn pointed at me. "I left you to die."

I sighed. "Not yet."

Kell and Stacy were the only other people present. Stacy seemed absorbed in his touch phone and barely looked up. Kell looked happier than the last time I had seen him, but that meant very little. And his mood immediately dropped as the Brothers and I walked into the room.

"Can we not." He said. "God. What are you doing back here again?"

"Calm down, blood dog." Michael said, gesturing for his brothers to sit but not doing so himself. "His death will come on my whim. But that's like, not right now. So relax."

"Why are we here?" Raphael asked.

"Business, of course. What else would I come visit you with?"

"More transophobic garbage?"

"You consistently forget English isn't my first language." Michael shrugged.

"Yes it is." I heard Gabriel say under his breath.

"I'm the older one here, I think I know a bit more than you." Michael said, switching to angelic to scold him.

"A year is barely anything when we've each had two hundred of them."

"Stop your bickering and return to... whatever we're here to talk about!" Raphael interrupted.

"Uh, yes." Michael straightened his posture as he spoke. "Regardless, this is a serious time, and one not meant for vaguely rude remarks."

"It wasn't a rude one. It was say, fact." Stacy was still speaking off hand though, not too invested.

"If I want to fuck on my brother for putting on a long skirt, I'm pretty certain that's something I'm allowed to do."

"You're wearing a dress though." Glenn pointed out.

"But at least I don't go around calling myself a girl because of it."

"You... do always use feminine case when talking to yourself in angelic though. And call yourself a mother like all the time." I said.

"Yeah, but only to prove that anyone can do it. I'm not a girl. Neither is he. You can't just change those things."

"Were you honestly talking about Lucky again?" Gabriel sighed. "Michael, when will you let it rest?"

"When it dies."

"It can't die anymore than we can." Raphael said quietly. "You should leave Lucy alone."

Michael was angry. Fully angry. Worse than I'd ever seen him before. He was an emotive man usually, but it was always positive- grinning and laughing and smiling instead of letting his eyes lose their sparkle and letting a room sit quiet. But now he was hunched over protectively, mouth slightly open, staring with dead eyes at the table.

He could have looked repentive if you didn't know him. Stunned by the others' words. Ready to try life over again.

But I knew he was raging, even if I had yet to grasp why.