On a wing and a prayer

[the_baking_vampire]

This isn't the first charge he's ever had as a guardian angel, so it's not exactly as if he's new at his job. He's never broken the rules before or failed in his task. He's always followed strictly to the rules and protected his charges with the utmost care and diligence.

He never thought things would be so much different with John Grimm.

As a boy, he'd lost his parents, and Seere had been tasked to him without any real explanation of why. Sometimes, that's how it goes; an assignment without a reason. It's never bothered him. All he knew was that he needed to protect the boy, and by extension, that usually meant protecting his twin sister, as well, inseparable as they were.

For years, Seere watched him grow, a sad, shy, and reserved child who turned into a handsome young man.

It was difficult when John entered the military. Seere can't fix mental anguish. How does one protect against that sort of thing without keeping a soul from gaining the necessary experiences to benefit from having lived? So, he watches as John struggles through bootcamp, watches as he struggles with the deaths of his friends, with the guilt that comes with it. He wants to help, but there's nothing he can do. He can't protect everyone. Only John.

Seere is wary when John gets selected for the RRTS. It's such a dangerous squad. Protecting him becomes a full-time task, flitting in and out of John's vision, exploiting those fractional blind spots that all humans have to subtly change the trajectory of bullets or nudge him away from a falling object or protect him from an explosion.

During these years, he's grown closer to John. He knows he shouldn't get attached, but John is such a sweet, loyal person, Seere can't help but care for him. He's gentle and protects those around him, gives everything he's got to try to keep his friends safe. He's grown into a man that Seere is proud to watch over, even if it's become dangerous to do so. Angels aren't allowed to love.

Still, his job goes well up until John is in his 26th year -- and he suddenly disappears.

Seere tracks his last signature to the point where it disappeared. It's a portal to Mars. Seere knows this, but he can't go. He can't leave the sphere of influence that Angels have on Earth. He can't travel to Mars with him, can't protect him. For once in his eternal life, Seere is afraid he will fail. He's not afraid of the punishment for it, he's afraid for John.

So, he heads back to Heaven to wait, and never have two days seemed so long for someone with as much patience as he has.

As soon as John's familiar tug reappears on Earth, Seere seeks him out.

He finds him at the hospital, beside the bed of his sister, and he immediately looks the both of them over for injuries. John is perfectly healthy, as far as Seere can tell, but Sam seems as if she has been wounded. Not fatally so, thankfully.

He breathes out a sigh of relief. He is so glad to see his charge is safe.

Comments

[the_baking_vampire]

Seere goes a little wide-eyed at the very idea of touching himself in that manner at all. He can't even think of an appropriate response, so he just stares, flabbergasted, for a moment before he goes back to his quiet vigil.

John doesn't really think Seere would masturbate, right? Of course not. Hopefully.

[beautifulanimal]

No, he doesn't really think that. He's already thinking of Seere according to everything he's heard about angels. How they're good and pure and sexless and shit. Doesn't occur to him that maybe he's wrong on some accounts.

He sleeps through the rest of the night, still sleeping away when morning comes and his alarm rings. It's gonna take more to wake him up.

[the_baking_vampire]

Seere shuts off the alarm when it starts off, and he doesn't bother to wake John up. Instead, he starts cooking up some bacon and eggs. He's not sure of the last time John ate, so it's probably good to get something in him if he can.

[beautifulanimal]

Which leads to John jumping out of bed 45 minutes late and CUUUUUURSING on his way to the bathroom. He has his debrief today and the standard post-mission psych eval, and he can't afford to be late.

[the_baking_vampire]

"Eat your breakfast. If you're late, I'll take you to the base." Seere knows where it is, of course. He's been there with John plenty of times.

[beautifulanimal]

"You can't come to the base. Are you crazy? They'll pick you apart like a kid with a new science set!"

[the_baking_vampire]

"You realize they won't be able to see me, don't you? How do you think I've watched over you for two decades? Humans can't hear or see me unless I want them to." Seere smiles a bit and dishes the eggs and bacon out onto a plate and sets it out on the table with utensils, a napkin, and a glass of orange juice.

[beautifulanimal]

And the door goes SLAM as John shuts it behind him on his way out.

[the_baking_vampire]

Seere just calmly packs John's food into a container, and puts the container into a bag with plastic utensils and a napkin.

Then, the only warning John has is a flutter of wings before he's scooped out of the hallway and flown (although, it probably seems like teleportation) to an empty spot outside of the base where no one will notice a man suddenly appearing.

"Here's your lunch," he says as he holds the bag out.

[beautifulanimal]

He cries out a curse and clings to Seere with all he has. IT'S NOT FUCKING TELEPORTATION. HE CAN FEEL THEM FLYING AND HE'S PRETTY SURE THERE ARE NUMEROUS LAWS OF PHYSICS THAT ARE BEING BROKEN AND MAN WAS NEVER INTENDED TO MOVE THIS FAST AND OKAYSOHE'SALITTLESCAREDWHOWOULDNTBE?!

And then they land and he cracks his neck and coughs.

"Not bad."

[the_baking_vampire]

"I'm sorry if I scared you. I probably should have warned you first." He does feel bad about that. He didn't think John would even notice the trip.

Then, he starts walking towards the base. Nobody will even notice he's there.

[beautifulanimal]

"I was NOT scared."

But fuck, his heart is still racing.

[the_baking_vampire]

"Of course not," but his tone suggests he knows the truth and he's just trying to be nice.

[beautifulanimal]

"I WASN'T!"

He follows now, still a little shaky. Still a little off. What the fuck, man? Can't just NOT warn a guy.

[the_baking_vampire]

"I didn't say that you were." Seere is just serene calm as they walk up to the gates, and although he takes a moment to stretch out his wings because he knows there won't be much opportunity to do so in the base, nobody seems to notice the man with the fifteen-foot wingspan.

[beautifulanimal]

One guy notices. It's enough to trip him so he lands on his knees in the dirt and barely notices.

"Holy... fuck."

[the_baking_vampire]

Seere raises his eyebrows at him, trying to figure out what John tripped on. "Are you alright?"

[beautifulanimal]

"I just..."

Just seeing him for the first time.

"You have wings."

Smooth, John.

[the_baking_vampire]

Seere comes back over to help him stand up, thinking perhaps maybe John has hit his head. "Yes. I am an angel. I have wings."

[beautifulanimal]

"But... you're so..."

Watch him turn beet red as he pulls himself together and then pulls himself back up on his feet.

"And you're sure no one can see you?"

[the_baking_vampire]

"Unless they're like you, they will not be able to see me." He's never had this problem before, of people being able to see him. There's no other records of this happening, so Seere is fairly certain John is an anomaly and that he will be the only person who can unexpectedly see him.

[beautifulanimal]

"I'm pretty sure anyone who would be like me is long dead..."

And there goes the rest of his little bubble of awe and curiosity. They're going to enter the base now, so he's pretty sure he can't talk to him either as he makes his way down to the medical center for his appointment.

[the_baking_vampire]

Seere walks with him, unnoticed. Not even the security systems will pick him up. Not cameras or motion detectors or pressure sensors. Absolutely nothing.

He's glad that John pretends he's not there. A one-sided conversation in a medical center would be... ill-advised.

[beautifulanimal]

Not that it does him much good. Eight hours later, after a full de-brief and every psychological test he can think of, John leaves the base with a stack of papers that all basically say he's NOT fit for fight.

So now he's got nothing to even busy himself with to hide from the pain and the people haunting him, and on top of that, he has to fucking walk home because someone jumped him out here without his bike. Great.

[the_baking_vampire]

He doesn't have to walk home. Seere's waiting for him, even after those eight hours, and as soon as they're clear of the building and out of sight, John's getting whisked back home.

"I'm sorry. It seems like that was a tough day."