A Fool's Chance *Ghostbird One-Shot*

A Fool's Chance

I stared at the memo, my brain frozen and uncomprehending as the words before me blurred in and out of focus. There was a small part of my awareness that understood the reason I couldn't focus on the typed letters was because the hand holding the paper was shaking too badly, but it was so far in the back of my mind I couldn't even acknowledge it. I'd read the first two lines of the memo before shock crashed over my body, freezing my thoughts in place as I tried to understand.

They couldn't be dying. This was a mistake, a misprint, it had to be. But here it was, in plain black print written on a clean white sheet of parchment that carried the official seal of the Guardian Council. Fate had spoken and their times were up, the boys were going to die. My boys!

I crumpled the paper in my fist before lighting it on fire, wishing it was just as easy to change the course of Fate as it was to destroy the cursed parchment that had delivered my change of assignment. My stomach felt sick, twisting in agony at the thought of losing the boys. They'd been my wards since they were born, though I hadn't known at the time that they would all come together later to form their team, their family. They'd been together almost eight human years, not that any of that even mattered now.

I knew that they would all be okay once the end came because none of them were cowards, they wouldn't fear Death when it came to collect them. No, they would move on to the Here-After, though some may decide to stay as Guardians, their desire to protect and nurture following them even in Death. But even with that knowledge, my heart-or at least the spot in my chest where my heart had been-burned fiercely with pain which quickly turned to white hot rage.

How dare they take them away from me! My boys were good people, always trying to help others as well as each other. Of course they weren't perfect, they were human after all, but they were always striving to be better to make their world a better place. Even now, they worked tirelessly to track down a dangerous masked man who was currently spreading toxic drugs through Charleston by way of the local college.

But was that rewarded? No! Instead, they would fall prey to the madman's ambush, burning up in a raging inferno that would melt their skin from their bones and turn them all to ash. Dead, all nine of them. And I would have to stand by and watch. I was strictly instructed not to interfere or try to change the outcome. I was their Guardian and yet I could do nothing to discourage them from their current course of action.

As I thought about my boys, my eyes burned with the desire to cry, though I knew I didn't have the ability to do so. It had been so long since I'd been hit with such human emotion that it almost distracted me from the horror that was about to become reality...almost.

A fissure of power crackled through the room, bringing me from my pondering and I knew another Guardian had entered my room. It was rather rude for one to appear unannounced and without consent, but I would have expected nothing less of my mentor. He knew how the news would affect me, and though I would refuse access to others, I would never turn him away...not that he'd listen even if I did.

"Marcus." I said simply, blanking my face from the roiling human emotions that threatened to overcome my angelic form as I turned to face my Adviser. He stood before me in the plain white robes of the Guardian Angels, his golden skin glowing softly. His eyes were pale blue, so light they looked almost colorless against the dark wavy hair that fell to his shoulders. He was entirely beautiful, like all the other angels, like me.

His face held something akin to pity as his icy eyes scrutinized me and it made my mouth turn sour to see it. "How are you?" He asked, though he already knew the answer. I couldn't hide my feelings very well, much to my dismay.

I scoffed at the inquiry as I let the ash from the burned memo filter through my fingers and fall to the ground in hushed silence. "What are you doing here, Marcus?" I asked, my voice coming out harsh and biting. I regretted my tone immediately and I sent him an apologetic look.