Rekker’s smirked grew a little more. “Then just bury me on the moon.”

Rekker stretched one of his legs out. “I’d be careful going to space with him, Ace. He likes to pry, and there’s no escaping in space. Unless you wanna leap out in the suffocating void, which I personally would not recommend.”

Nehemiah’s brow rose. “You ‘personally’ would not recommend? You sound like you’re speaking from experience.”

“Hank and I went to space the first time we met,” Rekker replied, sending a look at Hank.

“Please tell me you didn’t try to go outside of whatever air bubble you had.”

“No, Hank pushed me out of it.”

“What?”

“In his defense, I was getting kind of mad at him.”

Nehemiah made a noise sort of like a small wheeze.

The cave warmed up steadily with the heat Hank put off. It made it cozy warm, like there was a fireplace right in the middle of the cave. That mixed with the rhythmic pitter-patter of the rain outside made their surroundings nearly perfect to fall asleep in.

In fact, that was what was sort of happening to Nehemiah. He was definitely fighting it, but it was hard to ignore the lull. He, too, was also drawn to Hank’s warmth. He stayed in his spot by the wall, but slid his feet just a little closer to Hank.

He listened to Hank talk about taking Rekker to Jupiter. The poisonous gas part didn’t sound too good, and Nehemiah would definitely disapprove the trip unless it was absolutely certain Rekker would be safe, but disregarding that, Nehemiah was sure Rekker would like it if he could go there. Playing with space lighting would probably make Rekker’s day. In fact, Nehemiah wouldn’t mind it either if one day he himself got to play with Jupiter’s lightning. 

Rekker rose an eyebrow. He didn’t think Hank had been all that serious about going to Jupiter back then.

“Yeah. I think I would much rather not die by poisonous gas. Though, if I do, just bury me on Jupiter.” Rekker gave a slight smirk behind his apple, knowing Hank would likely remember their bit about Rekker telling Hank to bury him on the moon during their first space trip. The old angel was seriously critical of the idea, even though Rekker was only joking. Half joking. 

Rekker took another bite. He chewed thoughtfully for a moment. 

“I think it would be cooler just to fly to Jupiter. You could see more that way.”

Thomas and Nehemiah also accepted the offer of food. They took a banana. Rekker took an apple.

He pulled one of his bags closer and pulled out one of the blankets he’d packed inside. He gave it to Ace. He also gave Ace a pair of soft pajama pants. Rekker knew how miserable it was to be uncomfortably cold.

“You could just act like a space heater. Then I don’t have to figure out how burn a fire with you all around,” Rekker said, wiggling out of his jeans. He wanted to put on something more comfortable, so he pulled on a pair of gray pajama pants. He swapped his shirt and socks, too. Then he put his hoodie back on.

Dorothy walked around the cave, investigating everyone in her home, then she went back to Rekker and hopped into his lap. He gave her a pat on the head. She was probably hungry, too. He took her bowl out and gave her some food, which she happily munched on. When he was sure she was good, he leaned back against the wall and bit into his apple.

Dorothy rubbed her head against Ace’s chin. Ace smelled familiar. Rekker often came home smelling like him. Rekker must’ve liked him since they visited so often, so Dorothy liked him, too.

When Ace brought her over to Ebony, Dorothy ears went up and she looked at Ebony intently. It’d been sometime since she’d played with another cat. Despite the growl, she trilled at the black cat. Hello! Hello!

Thomas stepped inside and set Ebony’s carrier down away from the mouth of the cave. He was pretty sure the cat would appreciate not getting wet. He set Ace’s suitcase in the same area. 

It was a bit of a tight fit to have five angels in here, but there was enough room where they wouldn’t be touching too much. There was a little room so they could spread out some. So long as everyone didn’t try moving around a lot, it would be fine.

Rekker blew a long breath into his bangs. He wasn’t fond of crowds, but what was he going to do? Kick everyone out into the rain? Had he known it was going to rain, he would’ve sent some of them off to go seek shelter in town. Unfortunately that wasn’t the case. They would just have to make the best of it. 

Rekker turned to his pile of pillows and tossed one out for everybody so that they didn’t have to sit on the rock floor. Yes, he even gave one to Hank. He bumped Ace in the head with a pillow.

“Quit whining.”

He went over to his mat/sleeping bag and sat down. Thomas also took a seat and so did Nehemiah. Nehemiah looked especially grateful to be off his feet. He let out a little sigh and loosened the armor around his feet and took off the outer pieces.

Rekker reached over to pull a small basket closer to himself. He removed the checkered cloth that covered the top.

“Anyone want an apple? I have a few left in here. I have some bananas, too.”

He also had some jerky, but that was his. And peanut butter, but that was also his. 

Rekker shot a glare at Hank when he squealed. Well there went keeping that secret for a little longer. 

“That’s sweet,” Thomas chimed in, making it two old guys grinning at the apparently adorableness of a boy naming his cat after his mother.

Rekker rolled his eyes. He handed Dorothy over to Ace. She settled into Ace’s arms, but kept her eyes on Rekker. He was packing. That meant a trip! She shook her head and looked up Ace. She meowed at him and then looked back at Rekker.

Rekker grabbed the three bags he had and began stuffing the things he owned into them. Nehemiah knelt down to help him. Not everything fit, but that was mostly extra pillows. Since he was going back home, Rekker wouldn’t need all of them, so he just picked out his favorite two. He’d give the rest to the store in the town. He also set aside anything relatively unnecessary. He kept his few sets of clothes, his laptop, a couple books, and few other little things. All of Dorothy’s things too of course. 

He was zipping up the last bag when he heard the familiar pitter-pat of rain falling onto the rocks. He turned to look and sure enough, a steady rainfall was starting outside. Thomas stretched his hand out and let the water fall over his fingers.

“Looks like we may have to stay in for a while. We’ll get soaked otherwise.”

Nehemiah shook his head. “It’s okay. I can understand why you kept quiet. Thank you for looking out for him,” he leaned in a little closer so Rekker wouldn’t hear, “I know keeping an eye on him is no easy task.” 

“Her name is Dorothy,” Rekker said slowly, knowing he was now giving away that he had named his cat after his mom.

Nehemiah caught on to this detail and tilted his head a bit at Rekker. He looked amused, much to Rekker’s dismay. Rekker gave his dad a small pout. Nehemiah decided kept quiet about it, for now anyway.

Dorothy meowed and nudged into Ace’s pets. Her fur was nice, soft, and fluffy. Rekker obviously took care of her, probably better care than he gave himself.

Dorothy purred. She was getting a lot of attention tonight. She didn’t mind this. 

“It’s alright,” Thomas gave Hank one more reassuring pat.

Rekker picked up Dorothy and scratched her neck. She purred happily. He looked over his shoulder at Ace. 

“Don’t worry. Not all of them are like that. Hank’s a special case,” he said with malice. 

Nehemiah stared at Hank nearly dumbfounded. It took him a few tries to respond. 

“Y-you knew he was here?” Nehemiah looked hurt. Did they not know how long he’d been looking for his son? And Hank hadn’t said anything?

Nehemiah’s wings sort of drooped. He could understand why though, even if he didn’t want to. He sighed quietly. He lifted his wings back up.

“I understand. You came here to check on him, you said?”

Thomas shook his head. “No. I’m not going to kill you.” He reached in a pocket of his robe and pulled out a handkerchief. He offered it to Hank.

Nehemiah nodded slowly. “He’s…one of the Councilmen from Aberle. Why he’s all the way out here though, I can’t tell you.”

After Hank wiped his face, Thomas stood up. He held out a hand for Hank. “Come on then. Back to your feet.”

Nehemiah staggered out of the way, blinking bewildered.

Rekker kept his face scrunched up in an irritated snarl. “Nobody important, just an annoying old man.”

Thomas watched as Hank sunk to the ground. He smiled softly and knelt down. He patted Hank on the back.

“I’m not here to harm you. I’m just an escort for a new angel here. Come up off the ground. There’s no need to cry.” Thomas continued to gently pat Hank’s back like he was consoling a wounded child.

Nehemiah stepped into the cave when he heard the yelp. His concern turned to puzzlement for probably the fifth time this night. He did recognized this new angel and he had no idea why this angel, this Councilman, would be here.

Rekker stared down at Hank. He opened his wings up a little more. He certainly looked like he might kill Hank. After their last encounter, Rekker wanted little to do with Hank.

“Get. out,” Rekker snarled. 

Rekker gave a short sarcastic laugh. “Yeah, right.” Rekker knew Ace knew about all the kisses Ace had given Rekker.

Nehemiah and Thomas chuckled. They laid off. No more jokes about mints or kisses.

Rekker, Nehemiah, and Thomas all fell into a comfortable silence, only making small talk here and there, but for the most part just focused on flying and following Rekker.

Two hours later, the group came up on a quiet seaside town. Rekker went over it and headed for the cliffs the lined the shore nearby. He landed on a wide ledge next to opening in the cliff’s wall that was covered by some curtain. He waited for the others.

Thomas helped Ace land so that the younger angel wouldn’t hurt himself again. Nehemiah hovered until there was room for his feet on the ledge.

Rekker pushed the curtains aside and ducked in. He frowned. Something wasn’t right. Dorothy, his cat, usually bounded right up to him whenever he returned. She was nowhere in sight. Rekker worried. Maybe she’d gotten out? She never wandered too far out on the ledge, but maybe she had while he was gone and slipped. Rekker hoped not.

Something else was off, too. His blankets that were usually spread out somewhat neatly over his mat were all bundled up around something. Rekker feathers bristled. Something was definitely in his home.

He walked up and carefully pulled some of the blanket back so he could maybe catch a glimpse of what was underneath. It kind of hard to see because it was still dark, but regardless, Rekker felt he had a good idea of what it was. He scowled.

He straightened up and gave the thing under that blanket a kick. A hard kick.

The three angels looked back and forth between Hank and Ace during the exchange. None of them said anything. Even Rekker kept a straight face. He jumped up after Ace. Nehemiah followed.

Thomas waved goodbye to Hank. “Thank you for fixing up the apartment. Goodbye!” Then he was off too.

Rekker caught up to Ace and flew by his side. He was quiet for a minute.

“Don’t expect me to kiss you if you get stressed out.”

Thomas snorted a little bit.

“You want a mint, Thomas?” Nehemiah asked.

Slick got another message: “Wow. It’s been a long time since we’ve seen him. And you telling us not to worry about the background is making us worry more about the background…. We have a lot of questions when you get back.”

A little “oof” was Joel’s response to Slick’s hearty smack to his back, and a louder yelp was his response to being lifted off the ground and whisked away by her. Nehemiah shook his head with an amused smile. 

“Those two are something else, aren’t they? They’d make a cute couple,” Thomas commented. Nehemiah nodded in agreement.

Rekker fluffed his feathers. Well, that was two of them gone. Still, he didn’t think the remaining three needed to join him back to his cave. He was pretty sure any complaints he had would fall on deaf ears, though. They were all ready to go with him. Slipping away from them would not be easy. Great.

“I can carry your things, Ace,” Thomas offered, picking up Ace’s suitcase and cat carrier. “Alright Rekker. You lead the way.”

Rekker grabbed his bag that he had brought to Ace’s and slung it over his shoulder. When everyone was ready to go, Rekker lead them outside.

“I live a couple hours from here. Are you all sure you want to come? You don’t have to. You really don’t have to.”

There was a few seconds of silence from the rest of the team, like they needed a moment to process what they were just told. Then one message came in, sent to Slick only. “You mean…his son?” Even in text they sounded like they were in disbelief. 

Joel smiled up at Ace. “Told you.”

Rekker glowered at Bambi, but his sour attitude towards her lifted when Ace distracted him. He looked at Ace with a confused expression for a moment before it actually dawned on him. They were all expecting him to go back, weren’t they? Had he said anything about going back to Aberle? Sure, he’d blubbered out an apology when he was face to face with his dad, but he was pretty certain a promise to return home was never mentioned.

Rekker looked at his dad. Nehemiah seemed to be waiting on an answer. It was apparent that he was just as uncertain on how to react like Rekker was, which was strange to Rekker. Nehemiah always knew what to do. Then again, Nehemiah had never been faced with this particular situation before. He looked like he had a lot of thoughts running though his head, just like Rekker did.

“Actually, I have…to go get s-some of my stuff from my place…” Rekker mumbled.

Thomas placed a hand on Nehemiah’s shoulder. “I know tonight is a busy night for all of you. Not exactly the best night for a reunion, huh?” he smiled a bit. Thomas hadn’t been given all the details, but he’d put a few pieces of the puzzle together.

“If you can’t leave your duties, I can take Rekker home.”

Joel looked at Rekker, then over to Nehemiah. He piped up “Nehemiah can stay.” He went on before Nehemiah could voice any objections, “Slick and I can handle ourselves, and our team can manage without our captain for the rest of the night. This is pretty important for you, sir.”

Joel situated himself so he could care for Ace’s ankle. He was as careful as he could be to minimize any pain, though he knew some pain was unavoidable. He told Ace everything he was about to do before doing it and made sure Ace was okay with it. His concerned attentive behavior was sort of endearing, or annoying, depending on the patient’s point of view. 

Meanwhile, Nehemiah, Slick, and Joel’s phones bleeped. Joel didn’t answer his. He figured they’d all got the same message since they’d all gone off at the same time. Nehemiah checked his, rubbing the back of his neck again. It was the rest of their team checking in with them. They had gotten word of Joel’s stop at the sector, so they were making sure they were alright and asking when they would regroup. 

Rekker eyed Bambi suspiciously. He made a move to go over and see what see was jotting down and probably snatch it from her. Thomas carefully stopped Rekker by tugging on the hood of the boy’s jacket.Thomas shook his head. Rekker shot the old angel an irritated look and huffed, but settled back down.

Ace sort of wished Joel would stop talking so much, but he could tell Joel was just trying to do a good job. He nodded at whatever Joel said so they could just be done quicker.

Nehemiah reached up and rubbed the back of his neck. He was a little uncomfortable having his wings out for humans to see. In fact, none of them seemed to have remembered to conceal them. Not that it really mattered right now. 

Nehemiah offered Bambi a small smile. “It’s been a long night,” he said. Rekker didn’t answer.

–

Ten minutes later, someone knocked lightly on the doorframe before peeking their head in. Joel had returned. He slipped inside. He had crutches strapped to his back, and some extra supplies. He also had his wings hidden from view, but slowly revealed them once he noticed everyone else had theirs out.

He walked over to Ace and loosened the crutches from his back. “Here you go. These’ll help you keep the weight of your foot and help you heal. When you’re done with them, we can just take them back to whatever sector. They’ll use them.”

He examined Ace’s ankle next. “Good. You’ve got ice on it. Do mind if I stabilize it? I’ve also got some stuff that will ease the pain and help with the swelling.”

Thomas nodded at Bambi. He bent down and picked up the bag. “I’ll take care of it.”

Thomas left the apartment again, saying a polite “excuse me” as he went around Hank.

Rekker set Ace down on the couch. He found a pillow to prop Ace’s ankle up on, then went in the kitchen to get some ice.

Nehemiah looked around the apartment. It was pretty bad, and he assumed it had looked even worse earlier before some clean up had been done. There was still a slight smell of burning (probably from the rather scorched couch) and a heavy scent of what was most likely bleach and something else like rot. Things were broken, claw mark decorated some spots and black burnt spots marked others. It must have been one heck of a fight, and in such a small space, too. 

Rekker returned with an ice pack wrapped in cloth. He took Ace’s shoe off and put the ice on the ankle.

Rekker didn’t really know what to do now. This whole situation was still very uncomfortable. He lapsed back into silence and fidgeted with his hands. 

“So, have you been here the whole time?” Nehemiah asked.

Rekker shook his head.

Then they were quiet again. Nehemiah had a feeling Rekker wasn’t up to talking about himself right now. Nehemiah didn’t think he’d get details that easily anyway.