The Beauty is in the Flaw

Chapter 1

Disclaimer: I do not own Legion. This story was written for fun and I gain no profit beyond the pleasure of sharing it with others. I only own my Original Character. 

Additionally, this story was originally posted on FanFiction. net, under the same title and penname.

Chapter 1

At the moment Heaven was far from peaceful. A battle was coming, and there was no stopping it now. Already, it seemed, there had been a casualty, one that was a bitter blow to many of the angels preparing themselves for the onslaught ahead.

They had all been looking to Michael, their General, for guidance and for the strength to do what the Father ordered; orders that seemed to contradict everything they had believed until this point. It was easy to see that the Archangel was displeased with the task God had given him and the orders he had been forced to pass down to his soldiers. But none of them had ever expected him to disobey. It was unthinkable. As the first wave was deployed Michael's defection became known. Now, with Gabriel taking up the slack left by his brother, the Soldiers of Heaven who had yet to be summoned to the battlefield were preparing for what was to come.

All but one.

* * *

Michael stood silently regarding the pregnant woman in front of him.

"I told you not to do anything brave." Charlie's face was still white with fear from nearly being dragged out the window by the hoard of creatures outside. Before she could respond though, Kyle, a young black man with a serious bad boy look about him rushed into the diner portion of the Paradise Falls Gas'n'Grub. The adrenaline from the fight moments ago still pumping through his system, he smiled at the group in from of him.

"We got 'em runnin'!" The smile from the success of driving the creatures back fell from his face as he noticed a conspicuous absence. Mere moments ago, Howard, the upper middle-class man who had been so viciously attacked earlier that day had been pulled outside by the same creatures who had tried to take Charlie. The mournful casts on the faces of those around him dampened Kyle's mood immediately as he asked where Howard was. The only sound that answered him was that of the sobs coming from Howard's wife Sandra and 17 year-old daughter Audrey.

Kyle was soon followed by Bob, the crusty owner of the diner and Percy the cook with an obvious military past and a hook in the place of his left hand. Michael noticed their entry immediately and broke the emotion-filled silence as soon as the newcomers realized what happened.

"Someone needs to be on the roof." Percy was the first to volunteer but Bob held him back as soon as the words left his mouth.

"Hold on," he took a few steps toward Michael, intent on his desire for an explanation, "You better start talking." At once, every eye in the room was turned on the Stranger who had just effectively saved their lives. He turned and headed back to the office behind the kitchen, everyone following as he laid his weapons on the table in the centre of the room. Tense moments passed before he spoke, his voice quiet and serious as his hands ran over the weapons arrayed before him.

"The first time God lost faith in Man he sent a flood. The second time . . . he sent what you see outside."

"You sayin' this is the Apocalypse...?" Percy was the first to speak, his voice incredulous. Michael turned his startling blue gaze to the cook.

"I'm saying this is an extermination." Michael could see a mix of dread and incredulity in the faces around him. "Those things outside are just vessels; they're possessed. The weakest willed are the easiest to turn." Next it was Kyle who interrupted, a similar doubt to Percy's apparent in his voice.