The Beauty is in the Flaw

Chapter 4

A/N: Just a warning, this is the chapter that earns this fic its mature rating. It's nothing terribly graphic, but if depictions of sexuality make you uncomfortable this is probably not for you. There is a break partway through the chapter that will get you past the mature bits if you're not interested in reading that portion.

Night fell in silence in the diner. Everyone was quiet, and all were lost in their own thoughts. Audrey and Kyle were on watch, somehow managing to find common ground between them. Charlie sat silently in the kitchen trying to forget what was happening and failing miserably. Tessa watched from her perch as Jeep came to sit next to her, their quiet but indistinguishable words blending into the sounds of the night.

The angel was restless. Things were in motion, and she couldn't just sit and wait, but she didn't want to disturb anyone either. They all needed their rest; they were going to need it. Standing, she walked silently past a snoring Bob and a murmuring Charlie and Jeep to the backroom where she had sewn up Michael's wounds and where Percy had died. Pacing, she made circuit after circuit of the small room, trying not to think of anything. All her memories from her previous life were bombarding her tonight, not giving her a moment's peace. She felt like she was being driven to the brink of insanity.

"What troubles you, Teresa?" Tessa started at the use of her former name, and at the sound of Michael's voice. Silently, he shut the door and locked it behind him before leaning casually against it, his eyes surveying her troubled features. Tessa took a ragged breath.

"That name is appropriate tonight. That life haunts me while we're stuck in this limbo." Michael took a step forward, taking his time so not to agitate her further. Whenever she got like this she was unpredictable and sometimes dangerous. She stopped pacing, looking at the former archangel with her eyes alight in her agitation.

"Why am I an angel? What could I have possibly done to deserve to go to heaven? I squandered away my life; I broke my mother's heart; I ruined my family's name; I—I didn't fight back hard enough. And even now I can't let go of this anger towards mankind, even though I can see the good in them!" Tears started to stream down her face. Michael stood his ground. She was too high-strung and lost in her past. He needed to wait for her to calm herself. Her inability to let go of her past hatred had worried him ever since she had received her wings. It was something he still didn't understand. Humans generally let go of the negative feelings that weighed on their souls when they received their wings. Tessa had not. Michael was silent for a moment. When he spoke his voice was just as low and calming as it always was. Not a hint of his worry was betrayed.

"I suspect it is because you can see that good and feel for those who carry it within them. It is because you have remorse. What happened to you was not your doing, and even so, you feel sorrow for the pain caused to others. Without remorse you would be no better than the ones who brought about your mortal death. It was your concern towards the innocent and hopeful and you determination to halt the kinds of injustice you suffered. It was you devotion to the potential good in the world that brought you to where you are. That is why you are an angel and that is why you are one of the most compassion and understanding angels I know." The tears had stopped flowing quite so heavily, and her trembling limbs were quieting. Slowly, she stepped into Michael's waiting embrace, longing to feel his comforting arms around her. As a soldier she shouldn't allow her emotions to rule her so completely, but right now she was hurting. She needed comfort from the man she loved. There was no doubt in her mind now. She loved Michael, and she never wanted him to let go.

Michael's hands caressed her cheeks, while his lips began to brush her errant tears away. Her hands came to rest on his hips as she let the sensation of his kisses banish the dark memories of her distant past. It wasn't long before his lips were meeting hers with an increasing intensity. In the first split-second she was struck with fearful hesitation but she forcefully pushed it aside, reciprocating with her own kisses. She wanted desperately to forget the past, while Michael pushed his troubled thoughts of whatever lay beyond this diner away. A small corner of his mind said this wasn't the right time, but Michael no longer cared. He knew what shadows lurked in his near future, and he'd waited too long to feel her in his embrace. His mind was made up before he even considered the choice. Slowly, carefully, he deepened his kiss, savouring the taste of her warm, pliant lips as her body pressed against the length of his.