Demonic Influence (I hate my co-workers)

Isolation

A/N: Okay I want to preface this work with a word of thanks, to everyone who read through, voted on, or commented on the last chapter. You all are too sweet and kind and I want to say thank you, from the bottom of my heart. You all are so kind and I honestly couldn't ask for better readers. You guys make my day, and all your comments and support are the reason I got this chapter together so quickly. T-T It's not perfect, but it's starting to head in the direction it needs to, and I hope you all enjoy it!

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Brett had left hours ago, the angels snickering as they parted and showed him the door. As he passed Gabriel by, the archangel had actually reached out with two fingers and tweaked at one of Brett's charred wings, causing the former angel to let out a sharp hiss of pain and recoil from the touch. Despite the whirling turmoil that were his current feelings for Brett, it had taken everything in himself to stop just short from throwing himself at the older archangel.

He watched Brett's retreating form, his shoulders slumped and head held low.

Eddy wasn't sure if he was going to return, and that thought scared him more than anything had in a long while.

It had been so long. Or maybe it hadn't been very long at all. Eddy wouldn't have been able to tell you either way. All he knew was that his entire body ached all over, and that he was completely, utterly alone. No one had come to feed him, but he wasn't really hungry. So that at least was okay.

It was ages before he even saw another moving creature. Hearing the authoritative clicking of heavy boots, Eddy looked up to make eye contact with an angel he had never seen before. Very slowly, he moved to stand on shaky feet. He could feel the cool wall behind him, and he pushed his full weight against it.

The angel's eyes were calculating, and she chewed on her lip even as she looked at him. "You look depressing. Surely you can't be the one that caused so much ruckus around here?"

"That's me." Eddy flashed a wary peace sign at her.

She just smirked. "The other archangels have decided your fate."

"Good to know." Eddy couldn't physically move any further away from the angel, who he looked over once more. Something about her just didn't seem right, something about her eyes...

Then it clicked, the few puzzle pieces laid out in front of him connecting, everything about her making sense.

"Well, don't you want to know what we've decided?" Raphael spread her wings lazily, her golden eyes locked onto Eddy's red tinted ones. However, it was uncertain whether the red tint was from his demonic nature or just crying and lack of sleep.

"Not really," Eddy replied truthfully.

Raphael just chuckled. "Well, you might know the saying 'If you can't beat them, join them'?"

Eddy nodded slowly.

She smiled at him. "Then even you should understand what's about to happen. That's basically all there is too it." And then she started walking towards him, her hands glowing with that same deadly golden hue.

Eddy began to shake his head, but it was already too late.

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Brett was mad. He was tired, his wings were throbbing almost painfully now, and he had never felt so emotionally bruised in his life. All those hundreds of years serving under the archangels, and all it took was a couple of months with Eddy Chen to shatter his whole world and make his life fall to pieces.

A formless scream ripped past his lips. His left hand shot out, the impact against the wall seeming to shake the very foundation of his house. When he removed his hand, cracks spiderwebbed through the cream colored wallpaper.

Shaking it off, Brett let out his wings and stalked over to the kitchen, making himself something. He wasn't really sure what he wanted, but he knew he was hungry. His wings continued to throb rhythmically, the bases of them beginning to itch slightly.

His window was open. He could see a raven peered into the kitchen at him from its perch on his windowsill. That was odd, Brett didn't remember leaving any windows open. Then again, he was whisked off suddenly against his will, as though he were nothing more than a simple puppet.

Thoughts like that made him angry again, and Brett gritted his teeth. "Don't look at me like that!" He snapped irrationally at the raven and its judgemental gaze. "I didn't ask for this!"

The bird said nothing.

"I mean sure, I had a stupid 'holier than thou' auttitude when I met Eddy, but it's not like being a little haughty should have a punishment this severe." There was a long pause. "But he was just so nice to me... and I had kidnapped him, for Christ's sake!" Brett was so worked up he didn't even realize he let that slip past his lips. "It's not like I asked to fall in love with the guy or anything!"

He stared at the raven. It stared back.

To fill the silence, Brett continued, all but hissing. "And when he waltzed into my life with that stupid smile and that stupid happy-go-lucky auttitude, of course I was going to fall for him! He was the only thing that had treated me with kindness and love in four hundred years, it just made sense. I didn't even deserve his kindness either." Brett slid down the wall opposite the window, the corners of his eyes pricking with tears. "I just didn't expect to fall for him... because of him."

The bird sat there, unimpressed.

"But screw him!" Brett groaned. "I was- I'm an angel, and he's a demon, and we're from two worlds that never should have collided. Bad things happen when our worlds collide."

Case in point, the raven's eyes seemed to say. It ruffled its feathers.

"And he kept things from me anyway," Brett whispered, even quieter than before. "He hid what was happening from me, reported it to his boss, waiting until I was too fragile to put up any kind of a fight. He left me scared and alone and completely in the dark. I thought I could trust him, I threw away my faith for him, and this is what he gave me in return."

There was a long pause.

"Don't worry about losing him, the letter said. He'll be dependant on you." Brett bit his lip, tasting a slight metallic tang. "It'll be cake, getting him to come to terms with working in hell."

There was a screech from his window, and Brett looked up, making eye contact with the raven again.

"Was he just using me this whole time?" He whispered into the open air.

No one answered.