Dark watched the sky turn from the endless black to grey and then soft hues of pink and orange, as he walked down the empty streets of the city. Occasionally, he would pass a vagabond or two muttering nonsense to themselves. These mortals not only disgusted him, but a few managed to unnerve him slightly, one dirty old lady looked to be an old gypsy. She took one look at him and kept repeating, "Wings drip red." He made his way out of the area before anyone else could see him.

He ducked into an old alleyway. The air was suffocating to him as he felt he was breathing the early morning smog of air pollution and waste from the early rising mortals on their daily routines to work. Quickly scanning the surroundings, he noted the fire escape stairs and figured that the top of the building would have better air quality than what was trapped in between the close-knit network of buildings.

The air wasn't much better, but the breeze made it more bearable. He cast his gaze upon the city the sunrise reflecting on the windows and reflective surfaces of the skyscrapers in gold and pink. Highlighted by a slightly cloudy bright blue sky backdrop. Dark sighed and closed his eyes, he saw many human cities up close from far above in the heavens.

"Dia, come here. If we are to be partners, you must learn about the mortal realm. Otherwise, you will be lost in the confusion of their world."

She turned her head to show her disinterest, "Why must we only cast our eyes down upon one world when there are so many stars above that need examining?" She resisted when Dark attempted to drag her away from where she sat. "The human world is so boring anyway. It's just another war after another."

Dark groaned at her reluctance and simply tossed her over his shoulder, "We're going down to the Earth's surface today, surely then you will take our job more seriously."
He opened his eyes, he could draw out her expression that day, it was one she often had. He felt off since the day she left, disappeared without a trace and had been on the move to avoid him even since. He gritted his teeth, there had to be a reason as to why. There was no fight, no sign that one morning she would be gone. No explanation why. He demanded to know why she did it, he wanted her to come back as well.

Many of his partners have come and gone. Some reassigned to different tasks others had fallen, but seldom were they destroyed. However, out of them all, there was only one that mattered, only Dia was the angel he wanted to work beside until the day the universe ends.

He endlessly replayed the last moments they were together in his head, trying to find what he missed in her spoken word, in her body language. Any clue that she was going to leave so he could have stopped her, so he could have known that the next day he would wake up and feel something in his soul was missing.

"Why Dia, why did you run away?"

After a moment of pacing the edge of the rooftop, he jumped back down to the ground. One or two people ogled at him for making the incredulous leap from several stories up, but he kept his face from the mortals view and proceeded further into the city.

As the morning progressed, the streets sprang to life around him, as the bustling metropolis eased awake. The road rapidly filled with cars, the exhaust sickening. Dia chose this city carefully, with all the mingling energies, finding her, even with her energy, is like a needle in a haystack. There will be many that will have her energy lingering on them, but 90% of them will be brief encounters, passersby and people with no known relevance.

Dark paced the outskirts of the inner city, waiting to find someone with a substantial amount of Dia's lingering energy to interrogate. No one that he came in contact with stuck out to him until a quarter past noon.

He nearly missed the old building, as it was located on a hidden road that ended shortly down the lane. It was an apartment building, not a cheap one either despite the era, the house looked to be made from. Dark proceeded inside and was met by a stern lady with greying hair and bifocals that enlarged her eyes to the point that she would be considered legally blind.

"I'm sorry, but we have no vacant rooms left you'll have to go somewhere else," her words cross and condescending. Dark ignored her and stepped toward the stairs. The old lady stood up and moved to block him, "You're not allowed up there unless you are a resident." She stood firm despite being considered nothing compared to Dark. He stopped for a moment deciding it was better not to make a scene and alerting Dia on how close he was on her trail.

"I'm investigating a missing persons case, madam," he finally said with a charming smile, briefly flashing a random item in his pocket, blurring it from her vision just enough to confuse her. "We received a tip that she could possibly be staying here in your hotel." He stepped forward to lean on the counter separating him from the old lady. "Is there a Ms. Dia staying here?"

She squinted at him suspiciously, "That troublemaker? Ever since she arrived, she had been a disruption to my other patrons. There's always something or another. I even managed to call other apartments, and they have dealt with the same thing."

"Sounds fascinating," his tone dull. "May I have the room number and key now?" The lady scoffed at him for interrupting and reluctantly handed him the spare key. Quickly ascending the stairs, he barely caught the lady calling, "Second room to the right!"

The muffled sound of movement came from the other side of the door. Only keen hearing had the possibility of noticing if they were seeking it out. Dark muttered some words under his breath and focused on the other room. After a moment to determine there was nothing that would be able to hurt him, he proceeded to open the door.

He took one step before feeling the sudden shift in energy, it shot up from the ground running up his spine stiffening his nervous system. The magic behind the spell, however, had an angelic alignment rendering it completely useless. While it still has a temporary effect, whatever the spell was intended for would have been rendered immobile and an easy target to finish off.

"God Damn, that's 20 minutes I'll never get back." A redheaded girl muttered bitterly. Sarah walked into the room her rifle in hand. A blue haired man stood right by her shoulder. He silently observed and let Sarah take control of the situation.

"If it takes you 20 minutes to prepare such an easy spell, you're in the wrong business, girl."

She snidely replied, "Oh it doesn't. It takes me under a minute, the rest of the time was arguing over which spell to use. Apparently, it would have been better just to use a universal spell; it would have solved a problem for Dia."

Dark felt his finger twitch as he was regaining control at a rapid rate. He callously smirked, "so I assume you know where Dia is?"

"Are you daft? If I knew where she was, don't you think I would be there taking care of this supposed Demon problem instead of waiting for her to come home, where I find myself in your..." She took a moment to find the right word then sneered, "Charming company instead."

"Why don't you leave everything regarding Dia to me, I am sure you have a ghoul or two to hunt elsewhere."

"Not in your dreams angel-boy." Dark stood poised, his face twisted in a feral grin, and his eyes gleamed a faint red. Sarah daintily stared at him unimpressed, "Oh yes, I know exactly what you are." She looked down and started checking the ammunition she was using. After deeming it was adequate enough to use against the angel she reloaded the gun and held it ready.

He replied with an empty, soulless laugh, "Oh Sarah, your obsession with Dia is scrawled on your face. Such a shame you spend so much time and focus on your love for her at the expense of the devotion of the man that stands by your side. Such irony is it not? Dia will never return your love just like you won't return his."

"Oh, that's cute. Taunting me only makes it worse for you." She pressed the barrel of the gun to his temple, his eyes not once flinching away; he simply stared at her; daring her to pull that trigger. "This won't kill you," with a rueful groan she focused her energy. "Oh, but it will hurt a lot, almost worth it."

Mark grabbed her wrist gently; her eyes blazed with sudden anger and bore her eyes into his. "Sarah, we don't have time to waste. Otherwise, we'll miss it." The anger subsided, and she gently smiled.

"Until next time, Angel-Boy." She bid him adieu and packed up her gun. Dark all the while focused his energy to speed up the recovery process and intercept them before they could actually leave. "Oh, and one last thing," Sarah calmly spoke as she closed the gun case. Dark stared at her waiting, "perhaps you should be more aware of your surroundings."

Pain broke through his soul as if fire spewed from his heart. An erupting volcano of a searing inferno as though his soul has been tossed into the depths of hell. He felt the pain consume him, a feeling he knew all too well. He staggered to the ground, remembering the countless years he spent feeling this pain. Once the initial shock passed, he sharpened his mind and saw past the pain until it was nothing more than a light simmer. He looked up to find himself standing in an empty room, his wings fully extended. Fury rolled off them in waves.

"Only a minor setback. It won't be much longer now, Dia."

*

"What took you so long," Sarah demanded. Steve gave a snarky laugh as a reply. Patience was not a virtue Sarah cared for as she glared at him and began scavenging her bag for something to make the ghost feel a lot of pain.

"You left us in the dust four hours ago. Be it as it may, we can run through things but it doesn't mean we're going at 90 mph." Steve growled, "not to mention that with every step I felt blistering heat increase to the point we almost gave into it. Should have saved that pain for the demon, but I don't like that an angel is looking for Dia."

"That's nice, where's is Dia?"

Steve ignored her demanding tone, "It's easier for me just to lead you to her."

"You're a slow ass? Dark will find her long before we get there then."

"Maybe I should have transferred that pain to you if you're going to have that attitude."

"Maybe you should have and watch as I still beat your ass senseless."

"Perhaps we can get back on track now before nightfall?" Mark called over from where they stashed their bikes in the alleyway. Sarah nodded justly at the statement tossed her gun over for him to load it on her bike. She seized the moment to check her phone. She had several messages from unknown sources; it was wise to remember numbers rather than risk leaking names of assets.

She scanned through the brief messages and updates, such trivial matters. She opened one message to view several pictures of a sultry lady and a message, She's here and looking for someone named Fatima. Find her; she'll come right to you. Sarah sighed, she'll have to put that task on hold; Dia was far more important than a simple job.

"Hey, Sarah hurry up, or a damn Angel will get to Dia first!" Steve grumbled standing by Mark growing increasingly impatient. She stuffed her phone into her pocket and joined the boys. "What was so important on your phone anyways?"

"Mind your own business and lead the way already."

*

"How much further till we get to Dia?" Tommy asked attempting to stifle the distress in his voice. Several grunts and deaden glares were the invoked responses. They ran until they couldn't, they walked until they faltered and still trudged on. They all knew full well of the price to leave her side for long, but they all carelessly forgot over a blind vendetta that serves no merit. Granted, the lines of right and wrong had always been blurred for them. Good intentions for the wrong reasons, horrific acts committed for it was the only thing they could do. They sensed danger with that girl and every single one of them would thoughtlessly put themselves in danger just for her, for Dia.

Andrew replied, "not too much further if memory serves the apartment is right around the corner." Sure enough, they soon came into view of Fatima's apartment complex. A wave of relief came over them but quickly replaced by severe dread. Dia was none too forgiving and was especially harsh on them whenever they went against her word. She would rather watch them burn and suffer for what they did than simply let them back in. Something was in store for them, they all felt her wrath before, this won't be something they would easily get by unscathed.

Cautiously, they approached the entryway, where they happened upon Leonard. He sat on the railing and extended his legs onto the other railing and tried to be as comfortable as he could. With hardly a glance at them, he lamented slightly, "about time you showed up. I thought, you weren't going to, I wouldn't have." He made a face, but his eyes remained cold, hollow and genuinely apathetic. "Positively livid, you went against her word. She blames us as well, after all, we should have stopped you but why should we. Didn't give the poor girl a single chance." With a peeved grumble, he jumped off of the railing and landed a few feet before them.

"Enough Leonard. We'll explain ourselves to Dia," Jacob aggravatedly yelled, he had enough of the searing pain and facing off with each other was not something they would take lightly on a normal day.

"Only if you can get past us," Chris spoke up. He leaned against the side of the building in case one or two tried to make a break for the alleyway. Jake glared at the group from the other side of the building and the twins cut them off at the back.

Andrew and Jacob glanced at each other before facing back to back ready to fight them off. Four against five was a reasonable fight, if not for the scathing handicap they had for being too far from Dia too long. Chances were they could manage a good fight for ten minutes before things lean in their opponent's favor. Tommy and Alex wearily put up a decent stance, not actually wanting to fight, but will none the less, for they'll be attacked whether they sit out or not.

Abruptly, the twins charged at Tommy, Dawn ducked as he went to take a swing at his face. Light swooped low kicking Tommy's legs out from underneath him, as Dawn instantly slammed him down on the pavement with enough force to break a rib or two. Tommy had rolled to the side before they gave him a finishing blow to KO him before the fight even began. He swung around knocking them off their feet while standing back up. The twins were back on their feet as fast as they were knocked on the ground.

Andrew stared down Chris, waiting for him to make his attack. At nearly blinding speed, something silver sliced through the air, whistling as it was aimed for Andrew's head. He caught it, as he had anticipated some sort of attack like this. Wordlessly he assessed the kitchen knife while still making eye contact with Chris.

He arrogantly smirked, "I took a note from Blondie, Knife plus Holy Water equals an adequate weapon we could actually use." He sprinted towards Andrew flinging more of the knives at Andrew, who is turn caught them. Chris barreled into him with a knife in each hand and crossed his arms over to attempt to crosscut Andrew's head off. Andrew, in turn, thrust his arms out to block both knives, followed by ducking under Chris's arm to get out of his way and shoved him forward. Chris swung around to attack again, only realizing his mistake halfway through as Andrew blocked the forearm with his own, wrapping it around his elbow and sharply raising it up to break Chris's right arm.

Leonard bolted right up to Jacob, after he dealt out a few good hits trying to keep him back, and straight kicked him in the chin launching him into the air a few feet and landing straight into Alex, who did nothing more then stood there with Jake watching as the rest fought. Alex begrudgingly tossed Jacob back into the fray. With a glare, he dusted himself off before going face to face with Leonard again.

Leonard gave a taunting smirk and stood there edging Jacob to make the first move. Chris noticed as Jacob stood there, calculating a precise move to go against Leonard. With a few dodges, He managed to get close enough to Jacob that he rolled out of the way just so Andrew's attack would hit Jacob instead. Jacob got back onto his feet and was met with Leonard already flush against him berating him with several punches. Jacob countered quickly, with a well-aimed palm to the throat. Leonard took a half step back, only a half second of temporary immobilization, but it was enough for Jacob to follow up with a few jabs to the gut.

Tommy rolled backwards out of the way of yet another incapacitating attack from the twins, aligning himself back to back with his older brother. They both turned slightly to see the others dashing up to attack. Almost like rehearsed clockwork, they move synchronized as Jacob ducked down and Tommy rolled over him, crushing his foot down upon Leonard's skull. Jacob then round housed Dawn in his gut before coming full circle pushing Tommy into Light knocking them both over, and ending with a kick to Leonard's face, hopefully keeping him down for good.

He scornfully went to defend himself again as Leonard was back on his feet, smearing blood off his face, as his eyes bored right into him. "Was that your best?" He spat with a devilish smile knowing he would get a raging response. Jacob didn't think twice to pummel the little idiot to the ground. However, he was much faster and focused his energy into a sidekick sending Jacob flying back, into the wall.

Andrew gritted his teeth as the fight dragged on taking its toll. He knew it was a losing battle in the first place, but he'll be damned if one of his supposed allies does him in over an insignificant demon. A knife almost managed to take out his right eye.

"Thoughts during a fight get you killed," Chris taunted bitterly.

Andrew grabbed the arm and twisted it flinging Chris a few feet away. "I don't need a reminder," his voice purred in a low grave sneer. His eyes burned with intense rage he channeled to intensify his own attack. He only needed one good hit, which Chris attempted to deny him until his drive wears out.

The twins finally finished off Tommy, who reached his limit. His reluctance and already excessive use of his energy had done him in as, Dawn swept him off balance at the same time Light grabbed his head and directed the force of energy crashing upon the ground.

Andrew took a moment to assess his surroundings, as it suddenly became apparent that it was one against four. Chris dashed again, seeing an obviously fatal opening. Andrew stepped out of the way, snatching the bad arm pulling Chris into a full circle before throwing him into Leonard before he could reach him. He then took a few steps back to avoid the duel aerial strike. Andrew then bashed their heads together and kicked Light in the face to knock him out.

He felt a presence behind him and went to elbow them in the face but was immediately flipped over onto the ground. He looked up to see Dia staring down upon him disgruntled. He felt tired and leaned his head back on the ground.

"Get up Andrew."

"I'm not going to fight you, Dia." She kicked him in the gut and watched him cringe up.

"You will fight each other, but not me. Even though you went against me and decided to try and hurt Fatima anyway."

He slowly stood up and took in his surroundings. Alex hoisted Tommy over his shoulder to drag him inside and Jacob angrily slapped Chris's hand away and pulled himself up from the wall. Jake examined Leonard quickly before deeming he was okay before rushing over to examine Chris's arm as Chris started picking up the scattered knives. Finally, Andrew's eyes fell upon Dia's. Although blank as they seem, he saw their subtle anger and felt as though he could get lost in them no matter.

"Everything we do Dia, we do for you, and no one else." He murmured softly; unapologetically. She turned away and walked back into the house without another word. Leaving Andrew standing there before he gravely sighed and began to help Tommy inside.