When I Look Up At The Stars

02 | aquila

Blood loss could do that to you, he reminded himself, but there was something in him that was itching to confirm it.

He was a stoic man, and ordinarily, he wouldn't ask questions that could be deemed stupid- but his mind was already unclear, so the words tumbled past his lips without restraint.

"Are you-" he coughed, another trickle of blood running down his lips, "Are you an angel?"

Her lips curved upwards, only in the slightest- almost as if she's amused that he's asking her that. "I might be."

The slight hilarity in Stella's eyes dies down when they see the look in is. There's an almost broken look in them- and certain despair swirling in his eyes that she can see, no matter how hard he's trying to hide it to maintain his composure.

The man could pass as a heavenly being himself- with a sharp jaw, a chiseled face, and a muscled frame. But there was an earthly ruggedness to him, and a certain darkness that swirled around his fingertips, that confirmed that he was human.

He was a tough man, emotionally too. To see him struggling to maintain a composed façade and hide his vulnerability, even in the hands of death- made her eyes soften again.

"What happened?" she asks him gently, the pad of her thumb gently tracing his cheek. It was almost an unconscious action- though she knew it was keeping him alive.

"I-" he coughs again, croaking the words out, "I only wanted to look at the stars- this- I don't know how this happened-"

Stella's eyebrows furrow gently, her eyes flickering to his abdomen for a second. "Why venture out without protection?"

"I- I don't know," he says, the despair in his eyes deepening. She can tell that he's disappointed in himself for that too.

"It's alright," she says gently, pressing another finger to his forehead, both to calm him down and to allow herself to search his mind for his most recent memories.

The images of his latest recollections flicker before her eyes and a party, with loud music, full of intoxicated humans is the first thing she sees. 

Then she can see him stepping out of the party for some peace- casually walking towards this spot by himself to watch the stars. She can feel the memory of a pleasant emotion that surged through his body as he watched them twinkling above and hear the sudden shots that ring out in the dark, hitting him.

So that's what had happened. She let's go of his forehead, moving back to his cheek.

There was no memory, or trace whatsoever in his mind, of who might have done this to him.

That made Stella pity him even more.

Because it wasn't the light of a struggling soul, neither was it the scent of an oncoming death that had made her find him.

It was the unnaturally strong scent of betrayal in the air.

Axel had been betrayed.

"I- I don't know-"

His eyes were drooping, despite the energy that was buzzing through her fingertips, and she realized that the blood loss was finally getting him- once again.

She had a decision to make. To save this man, or to not.

On one hand, she could see the sins tainting his hands. There was blood on his hands, the blood of plenty- because this man killed for a living.

But on the other hand, he was a hitman. Not any hitman, but The Falcon- one of the best across the globe. It was his job to take out humans that contributed to the darkness on the planet. Even if he was attracting darkness to himself, he was wiping out plenty from the world- and in some ways- the action and responsibility that it took, was commendable.