without fear

And then You Run

When they found Abbadon in an old house three towns over from Putnam, he was ready for Yaeli, and Cass who decided to tag along for 'safety precautions.'

He really just wanted to make sure Yaeli wasn't working with him in the end.

She wasn't, it was clear to him once they finally had him strapped into a chair they found.

"Why would I tell you where Lucifer is?"

Yaeli dragged the knife Nathaniel had given her along his olive skin. "I have my ways."

"Such a lady," he laughed.

She dug in deeper, he screamed loudly.

The next time he screamed it was Cassiel's doing.

"Brother, I thought you were one of the ones who implemented the rule about not hurting your fellow brothers."

"Yes, I am. It's a good thing we are the farthest thing from brothers then, right?"

"Ouch, I think that hurt more than your knife."

Yaeli dragged the knife again, he yelled again. "Tell us where he is."

"And here I thought we had something going, Yaeli."

Drag, yell. "Tell us!"

He laughed. "You'll kill me either way."

Drag, scream. "We could make it quicker."

"No thanks."

Drag, yell.

"Wyoming! He's in Wyoming!"

"Wyoming? Why would he be there?"

"It's the last place you'd look for the devil. Plus, he like Yellowstone."

"Thanks," Yaeli said as she drove the knife into his chest.

--------------

"I was wrong about you."

"What?" Yaeli asked Cass.

"I was wrong. I know you're not evil. You wouldn't have killed an ally if you were."

"Actually, I would. Less ways for me to be discovered, you know. I wouldn't leave any open ends."

"You're not helping me here."

"Right, apology accepted." Cass held her gaze for a while, Yaeli couldn't keep him on her trail. She had to lie about still thinking Jess wasn't who she said she was. "I'm sorry for what I said about Jess. It's not my place to start saying things about her that aren't true, I know she wouldn't hurt a fly. It's just what Charmaine said got me thinking and I just assumed it was her. I shouldn't have done that."

"Apology accepted."

"I know I said that I didn't want angels to contact me after this, but what's the deal with that Nathaniel guy. He single?"

--------------

"Lucifer went to Wyoming?" Jophiel asked.

"Yeah, apparently, he likes to go sightseeing."

"So you two killed Abbadon?" Jessica asked them.

"Yes."

"Good. That's good." Jess looked unsure about the fact that she was okay with the death of Abbadon, but Yaeli would ignore it. She wouldn't betray Cass's trust like that. She told him she was sorry, and as far as he knew, she meant it.

--------------

Yaeli found Jophiel alone in the dining room at four in the morning the next day. She stayed silent as Jo cried.

"Hey."

"What do you want?" Jophiel asked coldly.

"I just wanted to get some water, I saw you and I wanted to know how you were doing?"

"It is not your concern."

"Right. I don't know why I thought this would work." Yaeli was about to walk away, but she sat down instead. "Look, I know I'm probably going to get shot down, but I know how you feel."

"No, you don't Yaeli. I loved Charmaine. She was my sister."

"I may not have loved my mom the way you loved Charmaine, but I did love her. In my own messed up way. When the hospital called me, I broke. Because every chance we had to actually get back together and be a family was crushed on the spot. I loved the idea of her. Not her. But that idea became fantasies and those became dreams. I hoped she would call one of us one day. Never did. Now she never will. I broke when I watched her die. You have the luxury of not seeing the moment Charmaine died. I don't."

"Yaeli, I never thought a human could teach me so much. Greif is not a normal feeling for me. I'm not really close to many angels outside of Ana."

"Shocker."

---------------

Yaeli began training Jessica the next day. It wasn't hard she was a natural.

"Do you think I'll be able to come with you to see Lucifer."

"No way! You are not going."

"What? Why? I thought that was why I was training, to be able to help you defeat Lucifer."

"Do you realize how dangerous it'd be if we took you? If Lucifer gets to you, we lost. Everything will end."

"Well then I will be careful."

"Cass would kill me."

"She's right, I would," Cass said as he walked into the backyard where they were training.

"I have to help you."

"No you don't."

"I'm just going to go inside..." Yaeli said as she was backing away from the two of them.

--------------

"She is not going Cass. I cannot believe she roped you into it. You are easy, you know that. You have to stand your ground. This is too dangerous."

"I honestly don't even remember what happened. I just remember her saying that she was glad I let her go? I don't-?"

"Damn, she's good."

"Hey, I just want to say thanks for defending my cause out there." Cassiel kept her gaze.

They stayed like that for a while before Yaeli remembered to speak and not stare. "Right, yeah. No problem. You keep this up, you'll get roped into a lot more than just taking her along to kill the devil. I'm just the emotional support."

"I hope you'd still like to contact my siblings after all of this?"

"Yeah, I think I changed my mind. Jo's not that bad. And Nathaniel really changed my mind." Yaeli chuckled.

Cassiel chuckled nervously. "Right, yeah. Nathaniel might not be as interested as you, seeing as he is an angel."

Yaeli snapped her fingers in a way that showed defeat. "You can't get them all," she said.

Cassiel held her gaze again, a weird look in his eyes. "No, you can't."