That Beautiful Miracle

Eric and Hyde: A Powerful Pair

Location: Eric's Bedroom

3rd POV

Angel was thoroughly irritated. Despite coming to what she'd thought had been an understanding, Eric and Hyde had continued to trade her between them, and once Fez and Kelso had left, they had gotten decidedly worse.

So now she was lying down on Eric's bed, him on her left and Hyde on her right, both of whom were smoothing their hands over her bruises and nibbling worriedly on their bottom lips. She had long since stopped answering their questions, her arms crossed over one another as she stared straight up at Eric's ceiling, sighing periodically in hopes that the two boys would get the message.

They didn't, and now she was bored and annoyed.

Both boys let out startled sounds when she suddenly sprang up into a sitting position.

"Be careful, Angel baby!" Hyde cried as he propped himself up on his elbow to block her from getting off the bed on his side.

"Yeah, cupid! You're already hurt enough!" Eric grumbled. He reached up to tug on her shoulder in hopes that he could pull her back down again.

"Get off me!" She hissed, her arms still crossed as she sat facing away from them. "I thought we talked about this already. You're still trying to smother me, though, so obviously, that conversation didn't end how I thought it did." Angel knew that she must sound like some kind of spoiled brat, but she really couldn't stand it when her boys treated her like she was a child. She wasn't. She never really had been, there had never been a time that Angel could remember when she hadn't been her own primary caregiver and that alone had forced her to mature early, not to mention her awful father and her desire to avoid being childish in order to be nothing like him. "So, please explain to me. What is so hard to understand about me not wanting to be treated like a child?"

"Angel baby." Hyde's voice was low, his tone warning, but Angel was so tired. No, Angel was beyond exhausted. She just couldn't reel herself in and pretend to be okay with it.

Angel rose to her knees and shuffled down the bed as quickly as she dared, fumbling her way over the footboard but moving no further once she was stood there holding the thing like it was the only thing holding her up. With the weak feeling on her knees and obvious tremor throughout her body, it probably was.

"Cupid!" Eric gasped, he moved to sit at the end of the bed, Hyde quickly joining them as each of them took one of her hands and held on tight.

"Explain!" Angel cried. "Or I'm going to sleep in your sisters room."

Eric's eyes flashed at what only Angel knew was an empty threat. Suddenly, he had a tight grip on both of Angel's shoulders, and he was towering over her from where he had kneeled up on the bed. His fingers dug into her flesh, and she tried desperately not to think of her father as she grunted in pain. It became a lot easier when, as soon as he heard her noise of pain, his hold loosened until it didn't hurt any longer.

"I understand that you are frustrated, cupid, but you do not get to threaten me or Hyde." He looked down at her with a sharp look that almost had her cowering, but she held her ground. "I'm sorry for hurting you, Cupid. Can you please come lie back down so that we can talk about this?"

"I -" Angel tilted her head thoughtfully. She didn't really feel awake enough to be rebellious and besides that if Eric was willing to listen to hear her out this time, as he seemingly hadn't listened the first time, then she might as well hang around. "Am tired." She nodded decisively.

Hyde shuffled up to join Eric, the pair lifting her bodily and arranging her on her side on the bed, her head resting on the pillows. Hyde snuggled up behind her, and Eric was close to her front. His hand rested on her face as Hyde's rubbed at her hip softly. There was silence, and Angel let herself doze a little, drifting in and out of lucidity. Even when she was upset with her boys, they could still offer her a comfort that she would never experience from anyone else.

"You're very independent, Angel baby." Hyde's face was buried in her hair, and he inhaled deeply when he was done talking, the scent of Angel's strawberry shampoo, no doubt invading his senses. "We just want to take care of you. You're our girl, and maybe that makes us overprotective, but we only want what's best for you." He nuzzled further into Angel's hair and tightened his arm around her.

"He's right, Cupid. We just want you to be okay, and right now, you aren't. You're hurt, and you won't tell us who did it. It's driving us insane." Eric tacked on to the end of Hyde's speech. "Is there a reason you aren't telling us who it was?"

"There's a reason for everything I do or don't do, Eric. Every action I take, I spend hours thinking about the consequences or possible rewards before I decide whether to do it or not." Angel hummed. She was close to sleep, fading away even as she spoke.

"Are you saying that you knew this could happen, Cupid?" Eric's face drew closer to hers as he rested their foreheads together and smoothed his thumb over her eyebrow.

"Of course, I know what he's like. I only did it because he was already going to be angry about Red's question." Angel mumbled as she moved forward a little so that her nose touched Eric's to draw even more comfort from him.

"Who?" Hyde asked.

"My dad." She sighed out, her eyes finally fluttering closed as she let herself fall asleep, unaware of the two boys sharing a look over her head before they both settled in to get some rest alongside her.