He was about to mentally call out to Mike, who still had the pack on and was a few yards away from him, when he stopped and wondered something. Closing his eyes, he focused on the contents of the bag and reached out a hand, willing a soda to appear there. He could mentally feel it, locked on, then felt something snap into place. Startled as the familiar metal shape suddenly appeared in his fingers, he almost dropped it, his eyes flicking open to look at the soda in wonder.
“Hey,” he said, then a little louder so that Mike could hear. “HEY... lookit...” He held up the can and started to grin, looking between it and his brother. Mike blinked at him, a little confused as to why Brian seemed so excited about a soda, then realized it was one of the ones they’d brought.
“Hey, did you just...” A grin broke across Mike’s face as he connected the dots. The backpack did seem a little lighter.
Nice job. Barrett was striding over to them, ready for a break himself. He plopped down onto a convenient piece of building and pulled his own soda out of the bag in the same manner that Brian just had, the can appearing in his hand out of thin air.
“Salud,” Barrett said, then tapped his soda to his brother’s and popped it open, grimacing a little as he took a sip. “Warm.”
Brian chuckled softly, nodding. “At least it’s wet. It’s not manna, but...”
Barrett suddenly held up a hand. “Wait... but it could be. It could be manna.” He stared at the can’s label as if it would tell him something, then closed his eyes. Reaching out and in at the same time, he found that connection inside himself to where they’d just been. Brian’s eyes widened, watching him.
“Are you...?” he started to ask, but Mike shushed him. Their older brother’s head cocked a little in concentration, eyes still closed, brow creasing a little. Suddenly a little shock went through his body and he gasped, eyes snapping open, the hand holding the can glowing faintly golden. Before his brothers could say anything, he took a quick sip of the contents, a huge smile lighting up his face. They stared at him, unsure what to say, until at last Barrett broke the silence with a chuckle.
“The pause that refreshes, as the old commercial goes. Lemme do yours too. It’s like drinking liquid rest.”
Brian handed over his half-finished soda, and Mike shrugged off the bag to get one the old-fashioned way, handing it over. Two more times Barrett changed the contents of the cans, and they all drank gratefully. He couldn’t stop grinning.
“And here we are,” he said, indicating the area with a sweep of his arm, “in the middle of all this death and destruction, looking like we’re having a picnic. Just three guys drinking sodas, nothing to see here, move along, go back to your homes.” He chuckled, then downed the remaining beverage, sending the empty to the backpack, watching in fascination as it disappeared from his hand.
“It’s like when we jump from place to place, but it’s with other stuff other places,” said Brian. Mike nodded, standing back up, then stretched his back and heard it make a couple very satisfying snaps.
“You have it, Watson. So... onward and upward?”
“Something like that.” Brian sighed and looked around. There was an endless amount of work to do. Even after three hours they’d never left sight of the library, and had seen only one fire truck several blocks away. No one had come to help save people in the area other than the Masons. It wasn’t from indifference, it was from the system being completely overwhelmed by the magnitude of the disaster.
They began to move west down Flower Street, when something made them stop. At first they thought it was the afternoon sun reflecting off something in the distance, but then they realized the light was moving, and the sun was in the wrong place anyway. They felt an immediate connection, and looked at each other.
“It’s...” started Brian, his words dying away as Barrett nodded. As one, they turned invisible and brought their wings back out, flying over to where the bright golden light was coming from.
A pretty, young angel in a long gown with white wings with a touch of gray at the tips was watching a rescue scene in the street below, an ambulance in attendance as several cars were being untangled. A few bodies still lay strewn around the street and sidewalk, the injured living being tended to. She looked up at the approaching brothers, blinking in surprise and tilting her head a little.
I was beginning to think I was the only one here. I don’t recognize you.
The closer they got, the less she shone like a beacon, and was now simply glowing golden with a hint of aqua. She looked as if she were about sixteen years old, with skin so pale it was almost white. Her ivory gown had something of a Victorian look to it, with a little extra lace here and there and multiple layers to her skirts, her golden hair perfectly styled up in a loose bun. She couldn’t take her eyes off their clothing, fascinated by how ordinary it was.
We’re new, explained Mike with a little bit of a chuckle.
I see, I see... She looked down, making sure one last time that she wasn’t needed, then led them up to the top of a building and sat down on the edge of the roof with a sigh. The heels of her high buttoned boots kicked the wall as she swung her legs back and forth gently, her wings fluttering delicately in the breeze that was starting to pick up. They sat down beside her, tucking their own back. It felt good to have them out again.
“Barrett Mason,” he said, putting out his hand. “My brothers, Mike and Brian.” He indicated them with a nod, and she graciously gave them her hand in turn – not to shake, but with the graceful fingers pointed down in the manner of a lady attending a fancy party. It took them a moment to figure out what she was doing, but then each took her fingers and bowed his head a little, smiling.
“My name’s Helene. I don’t usually speak like this with anyone any more,” she said, looking between them, half listening to the sound of her own voice. “You’re not like the others.”
“No, like I said...” started Mike, but she shook her head, interrupting.
“No, I mean, not like the other angels. There’s something... I can’t put my finger on it.” She looked between them more closely, trying to identify what the feeling was. “It’s like there’s three of you, but one person. Does that make any sense at all?”
Barrett cocked his head a little at her, Brian nodded.
“Perfect sense,” said the youngest Mason. “That’s what we just found out ourselves. Michael and Raphael said...”
Her eyes widened. “Oh...! You’ve seen... they let you talk to them? I’ve never been up to talk to them. They scare me a little.”
“Talk to them?” said Mike with a snort. “Michael beat the snot out of us, and Raphael sat us down to tea. You’ve never talked to them?”
“Oh no. Nonono. I’m just... I’m not that important. They don’t talk to just anybody.”
Brian blinked at her, confused. “But you’re not just anybody, you’re an angel.”
“Well, yes,” Helene said with a hint of a blush to her cheeks as she smoothed her skirts over her lap. “But garden variety, really. Dime a dozen. But you lot... you must be really extraordinary to garner that much attention from archangels.”
“It’s possible,” said Barrett, not wishing to tell someone they’d only just met all about what they might have been once. He wasn’t even sure he believed it himself – the other side seemed so dream-like and far away now. It had been hard enough to swallow the fact that he was an angel, let alone one third of a far more powerful creature.
“You seem anything but ordinary to me,” said Brian with a soft smile. Helene beamed at him.
“That’s so kind of you. Really. It’s hard, trying to help people, and they don’t even know you exist. People don’t listen much. I try to heal them, and keep them out of trouble, but...”
“Wait, what do you mean they don’t know you exist?” Mike’s brows creased in confusion. It was all he and his brothers could do to prevent people from knowing that they existed, and this young woman seemed to have the opposite problem. She looked back at hi
m, equally confused.
“Well it’s not like they can see you,” she said with a little laugh. “You can’t be that new, can you?”
“Well, sure they can,” said Brian, looking between them. “I mean, we’re new, but not... that’s not what I...”
Barrett suddenly got it. “What he’s trying to say is that yes, people can see us, and we actually have to be pretty careful. But then, we’re not dead, either.”
Helene and Brian gasped and looked at each other at the same time, but for different reasons.
“You’re not?”
“You’re dead?”
Barrett just chuckled.
“Well, that explains a lot,” said Mike.
As an uncomfortable silence settled over them, Helene stared between the brothers, Mike looked down at the accident scene, Brian stared at Helene to see if she was transparent at all but tried not to get caught, and Barrett rummaged through the backpack. He pulled out the last remaining soda, concentrated, his hand shimmering gold for a few seconds, then popped it open and held it out toward her.
“Manna?”
Helene’s eyes widened and she moved back a little. “But that’s... you can’t... that’s reserved for...”
Barrett shrugged. “I didn’t hear any rules about who gets it. And besides, I just made it up fresh, you don’t want it to turn.”
“You... you MADE...”
“Does manna go bad? I don’t think it goes bad,” quipped Mike, amused by the whole thing. Barrett just shrugged, smiling a little and still holding out the can.
“Want it or not?”
She looked between him and the can, not quite sure if they’d all get in trouble, or if it was a trick or a trap, or what was going on. Finally she nodded a little and slowly took it, studying it for a minute, then taking a sniff of the contents. She took a delicate little sip, her eyes closing in bliss.
"...Oh..."
Mike quickly took the can as her hand went limp. The inner light at her heart seemed to grow more intensely gold and aqua, then settle again as the liquid spread throughout her body. Opening her eyes, she looked at herself and, seeing nothing different, patted herself down. She looked up at Barrett.
“I’ve only ever had that once, when they first found me. When I went from just a spirit to an angel. That was so long ago... or was it... I don’t remember exactly...” Her gaze began to drift inward, but refocused when Brian put a hand on her shoulder.
“I’m going to say at least a hundred years ago, from how you’re dressed.”
She smiled at him. “Yes. That’s right. I remember now. I drowned in the ocean, just offshore. Boating accident. My father never really recovered, although I think he may have seen me a few times.” Helene smiled wistfully, then stood and started walking along the edge of the roof, arms out for balance, like a child following the edge of a sidewalk.
“We should get back,” said Mike, feeling a little guilty that they’d taken such a long break. They all stood, and he grabbed the bag. The three of them shared the rest of the manna before putting the empty back inside it.
“Hey, I wonder if...” Barrett took the bag and focused, the whole thing disappearing. He grinned at them. “If my aim is right, it should be in the living room somewhere. I tried for the coffee table.”
Brian giggled, then realized Helene was staring at his oldest brother, open-mouthed.
“You can...” she sputtered, but then blurted out the other thought that had crashed into the first one. “You have a house...?”
Mike chuckled softly at her, then suddenly took off without warning, flying straight up above the city. Brian started to follow, then looked back at Helene.
“You coming?”
She nodded timidly, now clearly put off by these strange, powerful angels, and lightly pushed off after some hesitation.
Where are we going? she asked, looking up at Mike.
Hunch. Wanted to see if there were others. He’d stopped a thousand feet up, and looked out over the smoggy, dusty basin of the huge valley filled with city like beach sand in a shallow bowl. The higher they rose, the more of it was revealed.
Look... said Brian softly, a note of wonder to his inner voice. Here and there were little points of golden light, as if someone had sprinkled a little bit of glitter among the beach sand in the bowl. He shivered, feathers standing on end a little, gooseflesh on his shoulders.
More of us, Helene said with a little nod. The sun was low over the ocean, the shadows long, the night warm but the breeze cold, the air growing a little stale down below.
Good. So those areas are covered, and we can focus on the same area where we’ve been. Keep fanning out from there, said Mike, thinking tactically. Brian wanted nothing more than to go out and meet them all, but knew that would have to wait for another time. They were needed.
I need to stay here. The young angel waved at them, then flew back down to street level, angling off toward the convention center without even a goodbye. Barrett sensed nervousness lightly radiating off her, and it made him a little sad. As one, they glided in the opposite direction, back toward the area around the library, Barrett lost in thought.
“You all right?” asked Mike softly, drawing close and touching his big brother’s shoulder.
“Yeah. A lot going on today.” There was more, and Mike sensed it, but didn’t pry. They’d all been through a lot that day, and there was a lot more to come, they knew.
The sky was growing dimmer, and it was apparent that entire chunks of the city were without electricity, more without it than with it. They dropped down into the stale darkness that had become the city, then put their wings away, searching for more to rescue, looking with sadness upon those it was too late to save.
“How long are we going to be here?” asked Brian at last, voicing what had been on everyone’s mind for hours. The sky was now pitch black, dotted with stars, Brian sitting on the hood of an abandoned car and looking up to see if any of the little points of light were moving. Another four hours of work had been done, the three of them coated in dust and smoke and other peoples’ blood.
Despite one more round of manna using sports drinks summoned from the house, they were completely exhausted and couldn’t go on forever, much as they wanted to help as many as they could. Barrett was the most tired of all, because it was no simple thing to conjure the stuff of heaven and transmute common foods into it – each effort cost nearly as much energy as the substance replenished. He sat quietly on the sidewalk, back up against a building, head in his hands.
“I think we’re done for a while,” Mike said softly. “Maybe the big guys can call in replacements while we go home and rest.”
“Always thinking like a soldier,” came Barrett’s voice from the shadows with a soft chuckle. Mike smiled a little wryly.
“Yeah, well... once it’s in your blood...”
Brian smiled and hopped down off the car. “Home? I could use a shower, dibs by the way, and some actual food food. Like...” He cocked his head, thinking. None of the words he was looking for seemed right. He at least wanted a phrase that didn’t sound like it was out of a bad science fiction movie.
“I know what you mean,” said Mike. “Normal food like we grew up with.”
“Yeah,” he said with a soft smile. “That.”
Barrett used the wall to help draw him back up to his feet, but then leaned against it, head back against the cool surface, eyes closed.
“I don’t think I can get home without help.”
His brothers moved over next to him, concerned. They hadn’t realized until that moment how deeply exhausted he was, and they all held each other close. They wanted to keep going, almost feeling compelled, but there had to be a line drawn somewhere, and that was it.
“We’ll all go together. We’ll rest up, then be back first thing in the morning so we can see what we’re doing.” Mike’s voice was gentle and soothing, and Barrett was almost half asleep on his feet at the sound of it. Brian and Mike caught each other�
��s eyes, nodded, and then took their brother home.
The sudden change in air and temperature and scent made Barrett open his eyes. As was usual after one of their rescue missions, the familiarity of their home was a sight for sore eyes, today especially so. He caught sight of their dusty backpack on the floor next to the sofa and smiled.
“Only a few feet off.”
His brothers blinked at him for a second, then realized what he was talking about. Brian grinned brightly, Mike chuckled and picked it up, taking it into the kitchen to put the empty soda cans into the recycling bin. He turned around and stopped, blinking at what was on the counter.
Mary had made them a complete hearty dinner of homemade macaroni and cheese still bubbling hot from the oven, green beans with slivered almonds, biscuits with butter and honey, and fresh lemonade made from scratch.
“Do you smell...” said Brian, wandering into the kitchen, then stopped and stared along with his middle brother. “...Biscuits?”
“Mary?” Mike called out, and the grandmotherly spirit floated down from the upper floor through the ceiling, quite pleased with herself.
Do you like it? I had an odd feeling that you might need something like this when you got back... and come to think of it, she said, looking at the food a little distantly, I had a feeling when you’d be back, too.
She shrugged it off cheerfully and took some plates to the table, which was already graced with an assortment of roses from the back yard in a vase. Mike helped carry food over while Brian excused himself for a quick shower.
Barrett watched the food coming in and misted up gently with the pent-up emotion of the day. It was like Thanksgiving and somebody’s birthday and a summer barbecue and every other wonderful, earthy, comforting family meal all rolled into one. It was just a simple home-cooked dinner, but at that moment it was the best food he’d ever seen in his life. He stole a biscuit off the plate and took a bite, needing not just the basic nourishment, but the sensation of being grounded and normal and home. It was perfect.
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