"Thanks, but you know I could've gotten to school myself, right Barb?" Angel asked from the passenger seat of her car. The past night, she had helped get some of the kids down and had accidentally fallen asleep on the couch. Barbara called Douxie to let him know where she was before covering her up.
"I know, but the last time you were hurt and teleported like that, it just made it worse," Barbara countered, then punched her arm playfully. "Also, I wanted to. Is that so bad?"
"No, I guess," Angel smiled before examining her left forearm. It was still slightly red and sore, but otherwise ok. "And I'm not hurt like I was. It's just a tattoo."
"Just promise me you won't do it for a couple days, alright? I don't wanna risk it."
"Ok, ok. I won't, Doc. I'll listen to your medical advice." Angel glanced sideways at her, a small smile on her features. She couldn't help but think about how lucky Jim was to have her as a mother. She was kind, caring, even with someone who wasn't her kid.
Like Angel's own mother...
She shook her head as Barbara pulled up to the school. It wasn't that she didn't want to think of her mom, at least the good bits of her...
But that dumb demon brought back memories and feelings she never thought- never wanted to feel ever again. That was a long time ago, her mom was never the best but she was good. Good at some moments and Angel had made peace With the fact that she would be like her...
Like her lies.... Her inability to get help when she needed it... Not telling anyone how she really felt. Barbara's hand fell to Angel's shoulder, sensing her change in mood, but her phone rang and she checked it with a disappointed sigh.
"It's the hospital, I have to-"
"Go on, Dr. L," Angel said as she got out of the car, smiling though it didn't reach her eyes. "Duty calls."
"Have fun at summer school." She scoffed and the smile she gave was genuine, exactly what the doctor was hoping for.
"Those are words that have never been uttered before."
. . .
Angel walked into the classroom with a bit heavier feeling than she should have had and her smile wasn't all the way there until she noticed some of her friends were there. Mary and Toby, obviously. Weirdly, so were Darci, Aja, and Krel.
Mary and Darci stopped talking for a moment to each give looks to her left forearm and give her smiles and a thumbs up in approval. Mary pointed to the tattoo then to her phone, silently asking permission to post about it. Angel held out her arm with a chuckle so Mary could take a decent picture, the flash startling her a second, before going to sit somewhere else.
Darci could be easy to guess as to why she was here but the curiousity she had for the siblings (and Arrrgh as he was trying to sit in a desk next to Toby) had her sitting next Aja.
Coach came in finally, muttered something about Steve, and began to take role, she didn't get to ask. Especially when he spotted the troll in the room.
"Wha- Arrrgh?" He exclaimed. "What are you doing here?" The troll finally got situated in the desk but it broke not a moment after.
"He's looking to expand his educational horizons," Toby explained with a nervous chuckle as Arrrgh picked up a nearby textbook.
"Also got hungry," Arrrgh said simply.
"Just imagine if we got you on the wrestling team," Coach gushed. Arrrgh scratched his head, not sure what that meant. "We'd finally make it to state."
"Glad to see your priorities are in order, Coach," Angel said as she rolled her eyes. She earned a few chuckles as Coach cleared his throat.
"I'm getting ahead of myself. First, we gotta do attendance. Wait, Tarron? You don't belong here."
"Finally, we agree on something," Krel said, standing and readying to leave.
"Slow your role, DJ Kleb- Aja it says you need to make up gym? But you're my star athlete." Angel tilted her head as Coach tried to make sense of the situation.
"This doesn't make any sense; there must be some mistake," Aja told her brother before turning back to Toby. "What are you in for?"
"I missed 45 days of school," Toby answered and Angel winced. "Yeah, apparently Trollhunting's not good for your GPA. You ok over there, Wingman?"
"Education tasty," Arrrgh said as he downed another book. Angel chuckled, turning the siblings heads. Aja's eyes lit up when she saw Angel's arm.
"Ooo, your body picture is so very lively!" She exclaimed, trying to grab her arm to get a closer look.
"Careful!" Angel exclaimed, pulling her arm back quickly. "It's still healing."
"Oh, sorry."
"Your good. When it's healed all the way, I'll let you poke at prod at it if you want."
"Why are you here, Angel?" Krel asked. "I know you weren't the best student, but you definitely didn't make bad enough grades to be here."
"And you didn't miss that many days either," Aja said.
"I kept up with my assignments, so I just have to make up hours," Angel explained, though her features portrayed suspicion and confusion at the information she gave. "Though, I could've sworn I already made up all of them. I had to make them up before I could graduate, or so I was-"
She was suddenly interrupted by the sounds of vehicles approaching and everyone's eyes were drawn to the window as large government trucks rolled up. Angel shared a glance with Aja and Krel. Those looked familiar and eerily so. Their suspicions were confirmed when people in hazmat suits marched on the school.
Everyone but Arrrgh, Toby, Aja, Krel, and Angel left the room to see what was going on. The three had stopped Arrrgh and Toby from leaving, Angel shutting and locking the door with her magic quickly.
"Why'd you do that?" Toby complained, too loudly for anyone to find comfortable.
"Quiet Toby," Krel whispered as Angel put up a quick glamour spell on the windows to keep the people still outside from looking in. Then she and everyone else moved to door to listen to what was going on beyond the door.
"There have been reports of a localized biohazard," a muffled voice told presumably Coach Lawrence. "We have to make sure no one is infected with this foreign pathogen lest we have a full blown outbreak." After hearing Mary complain about 'Jim Lake Disease' and Toby wincing slightly, Angel stopped listening and turned back to the group still in the classroom with a grimace.
"Why do I get the feeling these aren't the kind of doctors that hand out lolipops?" Toby asked nervously.
"Because these so called doctors are here- for us!" Krel realized. "Summer school- it's a trap!"
"And those are words that have never been uttered before," Angel muttered sarcastically as she crossed her arms.
. . .
"Ahh! Fuck!" Angel muttered as quietly as possible, though pain was now shooting up her arm after teleporting Toby and Arrrgh. She had tried to get them to the sewers directly, but found she couldn't go that far. She didn't realize exactly what until the third teleport. "Ok, so teleporting out of here is out of the question."
"Really should have thought of that before you got that thing," Toby said, a bit snottily. Angel glared at him.
"It's a tattoo and sorry for being an adult and putting something I wanted on my own body." Toby immediately backtracked, blaming his nana as he raised his hands in an apology.
"Shush, both of you," Aja said as two hazmats passed the small hall they were in. Doing a horrible job of patrol. "This is bad. They are everywhere!"
"These people imprison extraterrestrials," Krel explained.
"And they won't have a problem throwing you two under a microscope either." Arrrgh and Angel shared a worried glance before saying pass together.
"You guys get out of here. We'll distract the guards and meet back up at the Mothership." Krel and Aja turned back towards the main hallway, silently trying to decide a plan of action.
"Are y'all sure about this?" Angel worried. "I mean, they're here for you-"
"Hey!" Aja yelled as she ran into their view. Krel followed nervously. "Evil mad scientist henchmen! Distraction, distraction!"
"I guess they are," Toby muttered.
"Your distraction is a little obvious," Krel told his sister.
"Hey, get back to quarantine!" A hazmat told them.
"Let's see you quarantine this!" Aja yelled as she pulled out her serrator and turned both herself and her brother back to their normal forms. Her face showed immediate regret for a second before fading to steely resolve.
"Not gonna lie, that was pretty cool move," Angel whispered to Toby as the guards began chasing the siblings and they ran to the door the two were guarding.
"I'd write it differently, but yeah," Toby said as he followed Arrrgh further down the hall. But the sound of a scuffle had her running back.
She had finally caught up to them as Aja knocked a fire extinguisher down, covering the hall in a fog. Hopefully none of the men noticed her silloutte as she ran through. While the spell she used made her invisible to the naked eye, the physicality of her would always be noticable.
Still, they were in the clear soon enough and the siblings turned back to their human forms. Angel stayed invisible just in case. The element of surprise always gave her a little leg up, even with her sub par spell casting and combat.
And when the lights went out, and the fog Aja had created caught up with them, Angel was happy for the decision. Blue lightning shot out of an outlet at the end of the hall accompanied with a yell.
"Running is useless," Tronos said once he appeared in full. He stalked down the hall like he had all the time in the world. Angel called to a spell but waited to cast it lest she be discovered too soon.
"So is hiding!" A military lady who seemed to be in charge yelled from behind them, holding some kind of glowing green weapon. She was flanked by others doing the same. Angel couldn't wait anymore, putting up a shield between them and her while Aja aimed her serrator at Tronos. It was a weapon that Angel hadn't seen before but hoped would take out at least one of their blocked ways of escape.
"Focus Aja," Krel urged as Aja glanced backwards to see Angel reappear. She clearly didn't like the fact that she was even there if her glare was any indicator, but turned back to Tronos all the same.
"What does it look like I'm-" Tronos swiped his tail, knocking over Angel and Krel, the former hitting her head on the lockers. Her vision was blurry for a moment, but she still saw that the lady quickly took down Aja.
"Perhaps you didn't notice my medals-" The military lady said, getting closer to Aja. "You're not the only female with combat training." She threw her into her brother, knocking them both out and returning them to their normal forms. "I've made a few-"
Angel ran and tackled her before she could get anything else out. It got her a punch in face that she gladly returned. Her right bracer lit up as she readied another attack, but her left arm suddenly shot up with pain. Kubritz had hit the still sore area, noting the weak spot by the redness. She kicked Angel off towards the lockers.
Before the girl could get back up, something green hit her. She could barely hear Kubritz say to take them to gym before passing out.
. . .
Douxie was glad for the extra shift at the bookstore. They had finally gotten more help at the cafe, so his schedules began to even out. And since there hadn't been many people in today, he could practice some of his incantations and spell casting.
So, he scrolled through runes on his bracelet before settling on a rune combo. A blue glow encapsulated all of the books on the shelf, after he had made sure no one was coming in anytime soon, and they began to move by themselves to the spots they needed to be. Organization at it's best.
Angel had always been jealous that he could do that, but she was studying runes so she wasn't be far off from doing things like that. And he was kinda glad that Arch wasn't here to rub it in his face that he wasn't using a latter in place of magic. His surface reason was practicing magic, but if he were being honest, he just didn't want to organize all of the books by hand.
It was nearly five now, so Angel should be coming home soon. Since practically no one was coming in today, he closed the shop and turned to walk outside. Douxie shot her a quick text to tell her that he would be home in a bit if she got there and he wasn't there so she didn't worry, then backtracked quickly to leave a note for Arch and Flapjack so they didn't worry when they came back from their trip.
As he walked down the street and the sun began setting, he finally found a moment to think. He'd pushed off Zoe's words due to work, trying to help Claire, and simply just him not wanting to dive into them. At all.
His days of rummaging around in trash bins of Camelot or even his own hometown were far behind him. The day he found Archie had given him hope long enough for Merlin to find and take him under his wing.
"Get out of here!" Was what he'd always hear when he got caught eating some thrown out, almost spoiled food. At the time he was thankful for his seven, almost eight-year-old body was small so as to dodge any projectiles coming his way. "Stupid freak..."
"Buckets.." Douxie muttered as he pushed his messy black hair out of his eyes with a sigh. A year of this treatment and he still wasn't used to this. "Now what am I supposed to eat?"
A few minutes of retreating into the woods so the townsfolk wouldn't go after him anymore tonight, because that had been the fifth house he'd gone to to no avail, he made it to his camp.
It was dusk now, so he very unsteadily lifted two sticks up in a blue glow to rub together so he would have light for the night. Before he left that afternoon, he'd made a new pile on his firepit so he could just come home and light it.
Though it was difficult, a spark turned to roaring flame in a second. Douxie had to shield his eyes from the sudden onslaught of heat. He'd never made it that big before, so he yelled in joy.
His stomach growling painfully stopped him and he held his middle as he groaned. The brightness of the fire illuminated the dirt and grim on his hands, and likely all over him. Douxie sighed again as he sat down, pulling his knees to his chest and drawing in a shakey breath.
"I just want some food. Is that too much to ask?" He asked aloud. To whom, he didn't know. The townsfolk? The world? But most of all his father.
If the man hadn't deemed him dangerous at a young age, even before he turned seven and showed his more magical gifts, he wouldn't be here- fending for even the worst scrap of rotten food.
He didn't know tears had started falling on his face, but he couldn't stop them. As was true for most nights out here. Sometimes he was too exhausted to even do that. Sometimes sleep was the only cure for his hunger.
A meow followed by a rustle of bushes had him turning his head. Though his vision was blurry, it was still very clearly a black cat. Kitten more like. He was pushing something with his head. Wiping his eyes made the picture in front of him clear enough for him to spot-
"An apple!" He shouted excitedly as he crawled over to snatch the morsel. He didn't think about any other possiblity than it being the best piece of food he'd ever tasted. He only had enough clarity of mind to ask the kitten if it was ok for him to grab. When the kitten nodded, he pet him gingerly in thanks and grabbed the apple. The juice that fell down his chin washed away a few streams of dirt.
Little did Douxie know that he had met his familiar at that moment or that Archie had been watching over him for awhile and was the cause of his fire being bright and big.
And sure he was frightened when Archie revealed himself, but mainly intrigued by a talking cat with glasses. He'd never tell Steve, but he'd had practically the same reaction to first time he saw Arch with glasses and heard him talk.
But he had quickly worked Douxie's heart. Arch taught him as the cat learned himself. From whom, he never found out even centuries later. He'd have to ask-
A cold chill went up his spine as he passed the next alley. He remembered that chill and wished to never feel it again. Douxie wouldn't make the mistake of thinking it was a spectorgast again, not when it was something that dangerous. Yet just as he moved to investigate further, wind rustled his hair and nearby litter.
So he had just been paranoid. He guessed that tracked with Archie's observation of him being able to do wards and shields since he was young. He was overprotective at times, and yes that meant trying to prevent bad things from even happening in the first place.
"Douxie! Steve, wait a minute!" Toby's voice drew his eyes to the street. Eli was breathing into a paper bag on the back of Toby's bike nervously and panicked. Steve stopped in annoyance and barely there patience.
"What's happened?" Douxie asked, the tension having ridden in with the small group.
"Come on, we don't have time for this!" Steve complained. "We've got Akkiridians to save."
"And possibly Angel," Eli added between breaths. Douxie's eyes widened with fear. She literally just went to summer school; what could've happened?
"Some evil government agency has them all trapped!" Toby added.
Apparently that.
. . .
Angel felt like her eyes were glued shut. She guessed that was a good because she didn't know if Kubritz was around or anything else. That bounty hunter could be around, though she wouldn't mind an electric boost from him.
"I know you're awake," a voice drawled from beside her. It wasn't fully sinister, not like she was earlier. Instead there was an air of self righteousness to it, like she was always right.
"What have you done with my friends?" Angel asked with as much bite as she could muster while trying to open her eyes again.
"The invaders are getting a different treatment than you. You are from earth, however unnatural you are."
"I'm not as unnatural as you think." Angel finally got her eyes open finally tried to raise her head but found it to be impossibly heavy. Glancing to her side showed an IV drip with some sort of translucent liquid and Kubritz entering her vision. "What did you do to me?"
"A precaution," she smirked, running a hand down her arm, stopping at her tattoo. "We can't have you using your mutation, can-" Kubritz stopped upon actually examining the artwork on her skin. Then chuckled almost maliciously. "You think you have integrity?"
Stretching the length of Angel's forearm was the word Integrity. Behind it was a smoldering phoenix feather, bright red embers scattered around it.
"More than you," Angel countered. "After all, I'm not the one imprisoning innocent people." She was getting used to the feeling that the drugs flowing through her system were giving her.
A pink glow began to cover her binds just as something akin to shame crossed Kubritz's features. However, the sight of her magic had her turning the IV to let more whatever drug into her system.
"I'm not imprisoning anyone who doesn't deserve it!" And with that, any glimmer of hope that Angel would be able to get out on her own left. Her limbs felt like a million pins were pricking at them. Angel blinked and things became blurry; Kubritz smirked before she too became blurry. "Oh trust me: you'll live." Another blink and she was gone completely.
Angel tried to get up again but no matter what happened, she couldn't move more than a finger or her head from side to side.
Sounds of fighting came from beyond the walls that served as her prison. Angel couldn't make out anything specific as the morphine and/or whatever else they put in her body kept her brain foggy. She blinked about three times before a familiar silloutte came into her distorted view.
"Douxie..." Angel slurred, her eyes having trouble focusing. The wizard shushed her slightly as he took out the IV drip in her arm. Then held her face in his had as his magic took off her binds.
"I'm here, love," he whispered before pressing a kiss to her forehead and muttering, "I'm right here." The binds came off and stubborn as she was, Angel tried her best to stand on her almost liquid legs. Douxie caught her as she fell, the coldness of her seeping into his warmth.
"Guys, Royals, wizards, we've gotta go!" Toby yelled as Douxie practically carried Angel out of her box just as Krel and Aja rushed out of theirs with Steve. Both looked upset at the sight of their friend, but the latter Akkiridian was steaming with rage.
"Is there no low she won't stop to?" Aja managed to get out before having to run out of the gym in it's entirety. Aja said she would make sure to keep them away from the two wizards, claiming they could get away easier than them at the moment. Douxie began to protest, but when Angel beat him to it, he complied with Aja's plan.
The two went to the sewer entrance as Toby and Steve kept the gym door closed. Thankfully that's where most of the forces were stationed, as well as out front, so the halls were empty. The entrance to the basement was dark but Angel called to her magic, her bracer lighting up.
"You get back," she told him, pushing herself up and away from him. "I can make it home from here." Douxie looked like she had just slapped him, which was near impossible in her state.
"What!? No, no. I'm-"
"I know you feel horrible for not going with Aja and Krel- I'll be fine." Angel put a hand on his cheek, albeit shakily. Still, he leaned into it with a kiss.
"Go invisible, stay here till I get back." It was more a request than an order, though an outsider wouldn't see it as one. But all that mattered was that Angel understood his intentions. With a quick peck to the lips, she removed her hand and went invisible like he asked.
. . .
"Is she alright?" Aja, in her human form, asked as she practically shoved her way through the side door of the bookstore, the one that only led to the apartment. "I came as soon as I could."
"She's fine Aja," Douxie said as he followed her upstairs. After messing with the air conditioner a minute. Angel may like to sleep freezing, but without his hoodie or long sleeved shirt, he couldn't stand it at the moment. He'd turn it back down before he went to bed.
"Kubritz went too far this time! She had no reason to go after Angel!" Aja turned around to face Douxie, making the boy freeze at her fierce and questioning eyes. "Why would she go after Angel?!"
Before Douxie could even answer, Aja began stomping up the steps to see her friend, immediately going for her room when she wasn't on the couch.
Opening the door shone the kitchen light on her bed. The sheets and blankets were pulled tight and smoothed out, the pillows nearly perfectly fluffed like she hadn't slept there in weeks. Douxie arrived at the top of the stairs and, when he saw where Aja was, blushed deeply.
"Um, she's not exactly in there," he muttered. She quirked a brow at him.
"Why not? This supposed to be her bedroom, is it not?" If Douxie's face could get any redder, it would. There was something strangely intimate about admitting the fact that they'd been sleeping together for a couple weeks-
Well, not sleeping together sleeping together- they were just sharing the same bed... And that he woke up with her so close her warmth bled into him. That he could smell the ocean breeze shampoo she used, sometimes the perfume she wore when she chose. That he got to see how peaceful she was before she fell asleep and before she woke up.
"Douxie!" Aja yelled, waving a hand in front of his face to get his attention. When he snapped back to reality, her gaze was confused and slightly worried expression. "Are you alright?"
"I'm fine," he answered but before Aja could push any further, Angel emerged from Douxie's bedroom wearing a black hoodie. His hoodie.
For a split second the man forgot how to breath, to formulate thoughts, every god damn function in his brain stopped working. Angel looked beautiful but it was moreso the beautiful she always looked plus the fact that she was wearing his hoodie.
Based on her rubbing her eyes tiredly, she had likely just woken up and was cold so she grabbed the first thing she saw.
At least he knew that in his head.
But after centuries of seeing the gossip and the implications that simple action had, loosing a couple in the past because he tried it only to almost immediately break up with the person, his face wasn't letting the red pigmentation leave anytime soon.
"Aja!" Angel exclaimed as the girl wrapped her in a bone crushing hug. "Easy!"
"Are you alright?" Aja asked, ignoring her. Still, she'd pulled back and put her hands on her shoulders. "What did Kubritz do to you?"
"Nothing that isn't undone by some rest." Aja didn't seem convinced, so Angel rolled her eyes and pulled away. She had gotten up because she was hungry after sleeping since she got home after everything, so she moved to the kitchen. "If I had a nickel for everytime I've been kidnapped, I'd have two nickels. Which isn't a lot, but it's weird that it happened twice."
Douxie couldn't help but chuckle despite himself, the Phineas and Ferb reference (that she'd always wanted to say in some context) cutting through his little stupor. Even if his face was still red.
"I feel this is more important than having two of some of your smallest currency," Aja countered, crossing her arms. "This is serious. She must think you are an extraterrestrial or something because that-"
"No, she knows I'm human- Or, close too it, anyway." Angel turned around with an apple in hand, about to take a bite as the fridge closed, when she saw the confused looks the two had. "Ok, she called my magic a mutation. Which means she doesn't exactly believe in magic- Though, I suppose from a certain standpoint, magic could be considered a mutation of biology. Possibly the other way round if Archie's history lessons are any indication."
Douxie ignored the fact that she admitted that she paid attention to at least some of Arch's lessons and instead focused on the information she'd first let out.
He couldn't be mad or upset at her not telling him right away this time. She had been, and still slightly was, waiting off the drugs in her system. But the fact that Kubritz didn't go after her solely based on Angel helping the royals, it meant...
It meant that she'd come after her again.