"Dreamy!" Lucifer brushed past Astrid and leaned over, searching for any sign of the girl. But from his hitched breathing, he must not have been able to locate her.

"She...she fell," Astrid's dry mouth tried to form more words, jaw struggling against the invisible wires holding it shut. "I..."

"I know that!" he snapped. "I don't see her!"

Woodenly, she sat down and pulled her knees to her chest. Even with her face buried in her arms, the heavy scent of blood still assaulted her nose.

"Where is she?" 

Pull it together, Astrid! You can't do this now, you're vulnerable! Get up!

"No," she whimpered, hugging her knees tighter. 

This all had to be a nightmare, an illusion her tortured brain had conjured as a result of sleepless nights caused by her parents' arguments. There was no way they were dead. First Tommy, then Dreamy, and now this man...

Tommy. She lifted her head just enough so she could see the small heap. Pebbles and grit digging into her knees and the slashes on her palms, she crawled over.  His eyes were frozen in a look of terror, staring at ghosts she couldn't see. Trembling uncontrollably now, she rolled him onto his back and started taking off her jacket. Those empty eyes seemed to follow every move.

"Get away from him!" Lucifer screamed. He grabbed her by the shoulder and wrenched her away.

"Let me go!" Astrid struggled, but that only made him clamp down harder. The pain was now too much to ignore, and tears started trickling down her cheeks. "Please, you don't understand!" 

"What were you going to do to him?" He was still shouting, shaking her.

"I just...I was just going to cover his face," she stuttered. "With...with my...my jacket."

Her chest heaved as her sobs became more uncontrollable.

Lucifer released her, snatching the jacket out of her grasp. He crouched down in front of Tommy and didn't move, wings tucked against his back as Dreamy's had been. They fluttered just slightly before folding even tighter,  his shoulders shaking now as he cried silently. Slowly, he reached out a hand and touched the boy's face, running a finger down his cheek and along his jaw. He lingered there for just a minute longer before retracting his hand. Unfolding the jacket, he reverently laid it over Tommy's face and chest.

It wasn't right to watch this; Astrid stood. Her nose and the lacerations from the man's wings on her arm and hands were bleeding, but the only pain came from her injured shoulder. It was the only thing that she couldn't ignore, couldn't label as part of a dream. Her eyes were heavy and her head felt hollow. But worst of all was the numbness that filled her.

"Who are you and what are you doing here?" Lucifer asked quietly, all anger gone.

She turned around to face him. Tears streaked his face, his shoulders sagged, and the grey hoodie was now tattered and covered with maroon splotches.

Swallowing hard, she wiped her eyes with the back of her hand and took a deep breath. "I'm Astrid and... and I was running away from home."

It had been ages since her parents had fought and she had climbed out that window--a fading dream of another life, it seemed. Another universe altogether.

He just looked at her. A tractor-trailer blared its horn and another answered; the hum of voices and the clank of machinery blended together. A jet flew over leaving a thick streak of white.

"I need you to help me move the body," he said at last.

Astrid nodded. "Okay."

The wind picked up again, blowing clouds in front of the sun. And for once, Astrid wished it would go away and never come back so she wouldn't have to look at those broken wings anymore.

"What about him?" she asked.

"Leave him."