In Frank's mind, it seemed as if Gerard's transformation took ages to be completed, eons even; his screams went on for so long that his voice cracked and grew weak, his body collapsed onto the hard floor as God continued to grasp onto his shaking shoulders, his hands scrabbled weakly against the tile in an attempt to escape the pain, but he couldn't, and neither could Frank.

Even though Frank wasn't actually experiencing the sensations Gerard was suffering through firsthand, watching his husband's torment was Frank's personal version of Hell, and he barely managed to contain himself from launching his small frame at God so he could tear them away from Gerard before Frank went insane.

But as all things must, Frank's vivid nightmare that also happened to be reality ended as well, and with one last painful gasp, Gerard fell still, his skeletal wings now protruding out of his back as God stepped away from his huddled form. The hair hanging over Gerard's face was now a startling red instead of the ebony shade that Frank had become accustomed to, and even though Frank was still on the verge of tears, he found himself smiling at the sight of the Gerard that he had first fallen in love with.

Frank's eyes glanced toward God, asking permission to approach Gerard now that the transformation seemed to be complete, noticing that their own stance was stooped and projecting exhaustion. Brendon seemed to catch on to God's weakness as well, inciting him to finally release Frank before hurrying over to God's side instead, steadying him with his touch before they joined Gerard on the ground.

"Gee," Frank choked out, scrambling over to Gerard's prone body now that he was free to move once more, ignoring everyone else in the room until he had ascertained that Gerard was alright, but his husband didn't answer him, instead, he only shrunk inward on himself, his frame shaking with almost silent sobs as he tucked his knees into his chest feebly. "Baby, it's okay - I've got you," Frank murmured, gently pulling Gerard into his lap and off of the unforgiving floor.

"Frank - I...is it over?" Gerard whimpered softly, a violent tremor wracking his limbs as he did his best to burrow into Frank's chest, his tears quickly soaking Frank's t-shirt as he began stroking Gerard's hair soothingly.

"Yes love, you did it, you are so strong, I'm so proud of you."

"I - I think I'm gonna be sick," Gerard heaved out, giving Frank just enough warning to help Gerard turn to his side before his stomach decided to empty itself of everything it had eaten that day.

Frank hummed a random tune under his breath as Gerard wretched noisily, his heart aching at his husband's miserable state, but Frank should have expected this, he had gone through a similar experience when he had regained his own memories after all, which only made him feel like an idiot for ever letting God talk him into abandoning Gerard throughout this process, but he was with him now, and that was all that mattered.

"Do you need something, water maybe?" Frank asked when Gerard's vomiting had been reduced to nothing but soft dry heaves.

"No...please don't leave me," Gerard begged, stark terror inundating his voice as he dug his fingernails into Frank's forearm with a surprising amount of strength, causing Frank to wince slightly in response.

"I won't love, I'm not going anywhere," Frank promised rapidly, taking note of the way some of the tension left Gerard's muscles as his words sunk in. "So..." Frank asked warily when Gerard remained silent for a prolonged amount of time, "did it work...do you remember your past life now?"

"I - yeah," Gerard nodded slowly, his eyes glazing over as he sunk down into the newly awakened areas of his mind. "I do, even though I sort of wish I didn't have to experience dying again...doing that in reverse is not a fun way to spend your afternoon," Gerard laughed roughly, the fact that he was injecting humor into their conversation soothing some of Frank's worries for the time being.

"I am sorry for that Gerard," God spoke up suddenly, and much to his embarrassment, Frank jumped slightly. He had almost forgotten about the company sharing the room with him and his husband, but now his attention was drawn back to God and Brendon. "I would have warned you beforehand, but that would have allowed you to build up mental barriers to protect yourself, and ripping those down would have only made the transformation even harder."

"No - it's okay, I shouldn't have fallen apart like that, but I never had a very high pain tolerance," Gerard chuckled weakly, his spine pressing into Frank's chest as he relaxed against him tiredly.

"You did wonderfully Gerard, and now the worst is over."

"So what do we do from this point?" Frank questioned curiously, because they had yet to discuss what would happened once this step had been reached, and even though he wanted nothing more than to spend the remainder of the day recovering with Gerard, he knew that the world wasn't going to wait for them to get their heads screwed on straight, and he wanted to be aware of what was lurking around the corner.

"Now you rest, and so shall I," God grinned mischievously, and Frank knew that they had sensed his exhaustion. "Billie Joe will stop by your room later to heal your wing, and then he and Brendon will explain everything to you in greater detail. I will not be able to involve myself any further from this point on, so place your trust in them, and I know you will defeat the Leviathan together."

Frank had further queries he wanted to voice, so many what ifs that were burning the skin at the tip of his tongue, but before he could decide what to say first, God was already walking away, and even though a part of Frank wanted to follow them, the majority of his heart was tied to the man lying heavily in his lap who he refused to leave, even for a few minutes, and Frank knew that pursuing God would be considered rude, so he was content to wait for his answers for just a little while longer.

~~~

After some much needed shut eye, Frank was feeling like his old self again, but Gerard still seemed off, distant almost. He was trying to pretend that he was asleep with his face half buried in the pillow, but Frank could tell by his breathing patterns that Gerard was wide awake, and as much as Frank wanted to respect that Gerard was most likely trying to shift through his newfound memories on his own, Frank couldn't help but nudge his shoulder softly.

"What are you thinking about love?" Frank murmured softly when Gerard stirred slightly, his eyes fluttering open for a brief second as he gazed up at Frank slowly.

"Everything," Gerard chuckled halfheartedly, his lashes brushing against his cheeks as he allowed his lids to drift shut once more. "You mostly if I'm being honest."

"What about me?" Frank continued to pry, his curiosity getting the better of him even though he could sense Gerard's reluctance to speak.

"Well...I - I saw you Frank, I didn't the first time, or I blocked it out, I don't know, but now I can't get it out of my head, your face Frank, you - I have never seen you cry like that."

"What are you talking about baby?" Frank interrupted Gerard's ramblings, needing some clarification to make sure that Gerard was referring to the incident that Frank thought he was before he began jumping to conclusions.

"When I died...God made me relive it again, but I had to experience all of the things I had missed originally: your pleading for Lucifer to stop, you holding me as I slipped away, you weeping over me, it - I think that hurt more than anything, and every time I close my eyes, the image is right there waiting for me."

"Oh baby...it will fade away. The same thing happened to me when I first got my memories back, but they won't stay this vivid, I promise." Frank tried to keep his tone positive, but even though he wasn't lying, he knew the pain Gerard was feeling wouldn't disappear as easily, his hadn't gone away yet at least.

"I - I guess it just made everything one-hundred percent real, not that I didn't already believe you by this point, but fuck - that could happen again Frank, I could die a second time - well, a third technically, or even worse, you might, and I don't know what I will do if that happens," Gerard wailed softly, a single tear slipping down his cheek as he nuzzled into Frank's side, searching for comfort without actually asking for it in words.

"I won't deny that I am terrified of that too, because I am Gee, but dwelling on it is pointless. We are together right now, and if we had stayed on Earth, we would have most likely died in one disaster or another very soon, but now we have a chance to do something about that. We can save everyone, and I chose to believe that we will make it through this - we have to."

"My brain knows you are right, but I'm so afraid, I am honestly not sure if I can do this."

"Well I know you can, fuck - you are the strongest person I know. You didn't break under Lucifer's torture, you were brave enough to sneak out to be with an angel even though you knew you would be put to death if you were caught, you ran away from Hell, you fought a demon all on your own to protect your brother, even though you knew that you most likely wouldn't make it out of the situation alive -"

"Oh my god," Gerard exclaimed loudly, his body shooting upward so suddenly that Frank almost fell off the edge of the mattress in shock. "I have a brother Frank - I have to go see Mikey."

"See, there is a good side to all of this, you wouldn't be able to remember him if you hadn't become a demon again," Frank grinned cheekily, Gerard's happiness infecting him instantly. He felt like an idiot for not mentioning Mikey sooner, but at least Gerard was smiling now, which had been Frank's goal this entire time.

"Okay - fine, you are always right, now come on, let's go find him," Gerard huffed impatiently, literally bouncing up and down as he waited for Frank to join him, his excitement having already carried him to the door before Frank could finish extricating himself from the bed.

"God, I haven't seen you move this fast without coffee in ages," Frank grumbled under his breath, his affection for Gerard bleeding through his tone as his husband threaded his fingers through his, eagerly tugging Frank down the hallway even though he had no idea where he was going, but Frank didn't have the heart to correct him just yet, he was too busy enjoying the happiness that was practically radiating off of the older man who was soon to be reunited with his long lost brother.

~~~

Once Gerard have given up on his quest to randomly wander around Heaven in the hopes of bumping into Mikey somewhere, eventually allowing Frank to pull him in the direction of where he remembered Mikey's room to be, Gerard's initial enthusiasm began to wear off, his jubilation quickly seeping away as they got closer to their destination, a sudden case of nerves beginning to set in instead.

"Maybe this is a mistake Frank, what if he doesn't want to see me - what if he doesn't recognize me, what if -"

"Gerard - seriously, I love you, but shut up. Mikey is probably dying to meet up with you again, so don't you dare talk yourself out of this now," Frank groaned in frustration, because Gerard had posed these same questions three times already, and Frank was getting tired of repeating the never changing answers over and over again.

"I - I haven't seen him for fifteen years, fuck - I didn't even know he was an angel until today. I am freaking out here okay? This is like our high school reunion all over again," Gerard protested feebly, his footsteps dragging as Frank stopped in front of what he hoped was the entrance to Mikey's quarters. His memory of Heaven's layout wasn't as strong as it used to be, but unless he had gotten completely turned around, he was fairly certain they were in the right spot.

"You are being ridiculous, I hope you know that," Frank sighed fondly, dragging Gerard the last few feet until he was standing by his side, "so if you are done listing off lame excuses, let's go see Mikey."

"Wait Frank - I'm not ready, he might not even be here you know, so let's -"

Gerard was cut off mid-sentence once again, but this time, it wasn't by Frank, but by the door they had been loitering in front of opening quickly, revealing a thin angel with mousy brown hair who they now both recognized as Mikey himself, his unexpected appearance rendering both men speechlessly as Mikey stared down at them with an unreadable expression on his face.

"Gee - is that you?" Mikey was the first one to break the awkward silence, his voice quavering significantly as he eyed Gerard up and down slowly as if he couldn't believe what he was seeing without taking a second look.

"Yeah - hi Mikes," Gerard answered sheepishly, his lips turning upward at the use of the nickname that he had only just regained his recollection of today.

"Oh my god..." Mikey choked out, his eyes widening in surprise as Gerard shuffled in place nervously. Frank took a discrete step backward, trying to give the two brother's some semblance of privacy without actually leaving them alone, knowing that this was something Gerard needed to do without Frank hovering over him like a protective parent as was his habit.

And just when Frank thought he should probably take the initiative and say something, because both Gerard and Mikey had remained eerily silent for at least a minute now, Mikey moved suddenly, his thin arms wrapping around Gerard in a forceful embrace that nearly toppled him over with its intensity.

"I missed you," Gerard murmured softly, returning Mikey's affectionate gesture as Frank smiled widely from the sidelines.

"Fucking missed you more," Mikey responded in a choked tone of voice, his usual composed expression breaking apart as his eyes glazed over with a light sheen of tears that mirrored Frank's, but this time, they were caused by happiness, and Frank made sure to file this moment away in his mind forever in the hopes of overshadowing the terrible memories that both he and Gerard were struggling with, but right now, those unpleasantries were all forgotten, and Frank knew that he would gladly witness a thousand more horrors as long as the last image he saw before he closed his eyes was Gerard smiling as widely as he was right now.

Bet you guys didn't expect to see an update on this story so soon, and honestly, I didn't either, but I got sent home sick from work, and I decided to knock this out before I forgot what I had planned for this chapter yesterday.

I don't really have much to say since I literally just wrote an author's note yesterday, but if any of you haven't seen my new Ryden fic yet, and if you enjoy reading about that ship, maybe go check out That Golden Rule? I am pretty proud of it, and I am going to try and finish it up sometime this week if I can find the time.

You all know how much I love votes and comments ^_^

Chapter dedicated to Captainbutt666

((((i hate being sick but at least i wrote something vibes))))

<3 starr