Brendon's feet had barely touched the landing area outside of Heaven's gates before Ryan was barreling his way toward him, his arms wrapping around Brendon's smaller frame and tugging him into a tight embrace, trapping him with his long limbs as if he was afraid that Brendon would try to slip away at any moment.

Brendon returned Ryan's affectionate actions gladly, allowing himself to sigh happily against Ryan's chest, because this was the Ryan he had missed during their brief rough patch, but now their small world had righted itself once again, and Brendon was so fucking grateful that it had.

"Missed you," Ryan admitted softly, finally loosening his hold by a small fraction, but he refrained from removing his limbs from around Brendon's waist, which was just fine with him.

Ryan had been unusually clingy since admitting his fears to Brendon once he had allowed his defenses to finally break, but Brendon didn't mind in the slightest, in fact - he was ecstatic that Ryan was now opening up to him, that he was gluing himself to Brendon's side instead of pushing him away, and even though Brendon knew his boyfriend was still terrified of the upcoming battle with the Leviathan, he was coping with it instead of transferring his worries into anger, and they were actually talking about things which was a much welcomed change from their fighting.

"I missed you too baby," Brendon smiled, although he had hardly been gone a full day, but he always missed Ryan, no matter how small of a time they spent apart.

"So you got the sword, everything went okay?" Ryan asked as Brendon grasped his hand gently, pulling Ryan forward at a slow place, quickly losing sight of Billie Joe, Frank, and Gerard as they headed inside to allow him and Ryan some privacy. Out of the corner of his eye, Brendon noticed Mikey waiting for them in a nearby doorway, and a grin tugged at his lips when he saw Gerard running toward him with an excited look on his face.

"Yep, Frank has it with him right now." Ryan beamed in the way of a response, leaning down so he could lightly kiss the top of Brendon's head as they continued to amble toward the garrison lazily.

The usually bustling structure was emptier than usual of late, mostly because a large portion of the angels stationed there were down on Earth trying to curb the natural disasters caused by the Leviathan, including fighting the wyrens which were appearing more often lately as well.

Billie Joe guessed that the creatures had made their homes deep under the ocean near the Leviathan's lair, and its movements had disturbed them, maybe even destroyed their dwellings, leaving them agitated and bloodthirsty after their long period of dormancy.

"Billie wants to meet up in a bit to talk," Brendon remarked when Ryan remained silent, earning himself a hum of affirmation instead of an actual verbal response. "You doing okay love?" Brendon asked warily, wanting to make sure that Ryan's silence wasn't another attempt at bottling up his emotions. Ryan had been doing so much better lately, but Brendon couldn't help but worry about him.

"Yeah - it's just all happening so quickly you know?" Ryan sighed shakily, tugging Brendon closer as they entered the hallway leading to their room. "We have been talking about this for ages, but sometimes it seems like just yesterday when I was first getting my wings."

"It does, you looked so beautiful then, I'll never forget it," Brendon murmured reverently, gently brushing against the spot where Ryan's pinions would emerge from if he chose to unleash them. "I'm so glad I have you here in Heaven with me, it was so hard only seeing you once a month when you were human, but even after fifteen years, I still get butterflies when I wake up to find you next to me," Brendon admitted, instantly blushing when his sentiment hit the air, but he meant every word of it.

"I would say that was sickeningly cheesy - which it is, but it's also probably the sweetest thing you've ever said to me," Ryan giggled quietly, a red tint staining his cheeks as well which Brendon found absolutely adorable.

"Well it's true." Brendon paused to drag Ryan in for a quick kiss, his lips lingering above Ryan's for a brief moment when they broke apart. "I love you so much, and we are going to make it through this, and then we are going to live happily ever after together for the next million years - sound good?"

"Perfect actually."

~~~

After a brief separation during which Frank and Gerard had safely stored away the sword of Michael, everyone gathered in the Holy Library to discuss what would happen now that they had the sword of Michael, even though this was a topic that they had covered numerous times in the past, but Billie Joe still felt that it was necessary to make sure that everyone was on the same page since the Leviathan could literally awaken any day now.

And as Gerard glanced at the familiar faces surrounding him, he suddenly felt adrift and afraid, which wasn't a sensation he thought he would experience in the presence of the people who meant the world to him, still - Gerard was struggling to adjust to everything, and the disconnect between his numerous lives was especially prevalent at the moment.

Frank had filled the role of being an angel again with an ease that confounded Gerard; it was as if he had sloughed off his human skin and slipped into his angel form without a second thought, but Gerard couldn't make that transition just yet.

He knew he was a demon - obviously, the claws and wings made certain of that, but most of the time he felt like the person he had been back when he had no idea that supernatural creatures existed outside of movies and Frank was the only angel in his eyes.

Gerard hoped that acceptance would come with time - if he was granted that, which was questionable given the massive battle that was awaiting them on the horizon, and as much as he didn't want to admit it, their survival was most definitely not guaranteed.

Gerard had been refusing to allow his negative thoughts to gain any purchase in his already frazzled mind, but deep down, he had a terrible feeling that this encounter with the Leviathan was going to end badly, no matter how much planning and care they took with it.

Gerard prayed he was wrong, and that he and Frank would make it out of this unscathed, not to mention Mikey and everyone else he cared for, and maybe once this whole ordeal was wrapped up, Gerard could find peace with himself and his new state of being.

It wasn't that Gerard was unhappy with his change of race - not entirely. He wished he could be an angel of course, that had been a desire of his ever since he first met Frank fifteen years ago, which could still happen once God's powers were restored, but being a demon wasn't that bad.

He still had Frank, and that was all that mattered in the end, but a part of Gerard missed their human existence, he missed having their own house, their intertwined life that wasn't filled with constant dangers and pitfalls that Gerard wasn't sure they could bypass successfully, but that was all gone now, and dreaming about what would never be would do nothing except bring Gerard down and take his focus away from more important things.

Gerard wasn't as terrified as he thought he would be though, even if a small portion of him seemed to be in a constant state of internal panic, but that section of himself was stored far away in the back of his mind, and it was relatively easy to ignore, especially since Gerard was almost constantly occupied with one thing or another.

In fact, it was almost as if all of this was happening to someone else. Even in the cave, Gerard had done his best to pretend that everything was fine, covering his fear in a thin layer of humor and determination that had helped him travel through the unknown cavern without having a breakdown or something else equally as debilitating.

But now the pinnacle confrontation was looming before them, and with nothing left to do but wait until the Leviathan revealed itself from its ocean hideaway, the misgivings and doubts that Gerard had been steadfastly ignoring were creeping their way up his spine, and despite Gerard's best efforts at not paying them any mind, they weren't allowing him to hinder their progress through his brain at the moment.

Gerard made sure to always present a brave face in front of Frank, not wanting to add to the stress his husband was already under, but Gerard knew that Frank was aware of his internal struggle, his actions showed that, even if he hadn't specifically forced Gerard to talk about it yet.

Gerard didn't want to give a voice to his doubts though, mostly because Frank was so confident in their ability to do this, he seemed truly convinced that they were going to defeat the Leviathan and live out the rest of eternity together, but Gerard was secretly afraid that he was going to let everyone down.

Maybe the old Gerard could have done this, his first demon form had seemed different - stronger maybe. Gerard recalled fighting for his and Mikey's life, not caring what happened to him as long as his brother was safe, of returning to Hell without flinching even though so many things could have gone wrong, but Gerard wasn't that person anymore, he was still the artist that enjoyed cuddling with Frank and reading comic books more than anything else, not some fearless hero that could be trusted with the fate of the world.

But really - he never had been, that was always Frank. Even during Gerard's first stint as a demon, it was Frank that had helped him run away from Hell in the first place, Frank that had saved him after he received so many grievous injuries from that demon, Frank that had started a war in an attempt to rescue Gerard from Lucifer's grasp.

Gerard had hardly contributed to anything back then - in fact, he typically made things worse with his actions, and Gerard was so fucking scared that this fight with the Leviathan would only be a repeat of the past.

Gerard wasn't even sure what he was supposed to do in the conflict with the Leviathan besides keep Frank safe; he obviously couldn't wield the sword of Michael, that was Frank's job since Gerard wasn't able to touch it without being burned, and if the prophecy hadn't specially stated that an angel and a demon needed to be present to retrieve it in the first place, Gerard's presence here would be entirely unnecessary.

Compared to some of the other angels, Gerard actually wasn't that good of a fighter either, and when it came down to it, he would most likely hamper Frank more than help him. That didn't mean that Gerard wasn't going to do everything in his power to protect Frank, but still - what if his best efforts weren't good enough.

Gerard didn't want to die - not again, and he couldn't lose Frank either, both of those options were unacceptable. Gerard wished he could remember what had happened to him after he entered the final death, or where his soul had gone, but whenever he pondered on those memories, he could recall nothing besides an empty blackness.

Gerard had poured over the moment of his death numerous times, trying to gain even a flicker of something that would give him a semblance of peace, but it never came. He could remember the pain - god the pain; he had wanted death to come take him away as soon as possible so his suffering would cease for good, but he also hadn't wanted to leave Frank, and he would have gladly lived with the agony for the rest of eternity if it meant he got to stay by his angel's side during it.

That was one image that Gerard tried to gloss over whenever he reminisced on the events leading to his demise, but that was easier said than done, and Frank's heartbroken expression was debatably more painful than having his throat slit had been.

Gerard had never wanted to comfort his husband more than in those final moments of his life, but of course that was the one time he physically couldn't form words. His regret hadn't lasted long though, it had been drained out of him along with all of his blood until he was cocooned in a void that could have been the final death, but it also might not have been. It was possible that his memories of that mysterious stage had been denied him now that his heart beat once more - Gerard wasn't sure, and he probably never would be.

And maybe that was what scared Gerard the most, because although his lack of recollection could be caused by the fact that no living creature was supposed to know about the afterlife, what if there wasn't one? The thought of not existing was a concept that Gerard's brain refused to grasp, and he couldn't handle it if his conscious mind was left alone forever to float in an endless dark void.

"So that's about it," Billie Joe tied up his summary of what was to come for them. "Anyone have any questions?"

Gerard shook his head no along with the rest of the small group, because despite his internal musings, he had been paying attention - mostly, and even if he hadn't, Billie Joe had been preparing them for this ever since he and Frank had returned to Heaven, so it wasn't anything that he hadn't heard before.

To summarize their strategy, they couldn't attack the Leviathan until it appeared above water, because although angels and demons didn't need to breathe oxygen, they were not used to being submerged, and the darkness of the ocean coupled with the fact that their wings would be hampered by the pressure and damp would surely end in their defeat.

Still - they wanted to catch the Leviathan off guard as much as they could, which meant striking when it was still hazy and confused, leaving them with a very small window of opportunity. To make sure that they used this to their best advantage, the creature was constantly being watched by a team composed mostly of Bob's demons as well as a group of handpicked angel scouts that were experts in their craft.

When the Leviathan began to show signs of awakening, the fastest fliers available would deliver that message to Heaven, and hopefully they would arrive at the perfect moment to strike the beast down before it could retaliate against them.

In theory, the plan was perfect, but that did nothing to assuage Gerard's fears, and honestly, he was going to continue to worry until this entire ordeal was over.

But when Frank leaned into his side absentmindedly, linking their fingers together before giving Gerard's hand a small squeeze, most of Gerard's misgivings melted away under the sudden assault of love he felt for his husband, and Gerard allowed himself to believe that everything would be okay in the end.

Frank was strong after all, he had faced off against Lucifer and held his own for longer than anyone else had expected, so he could do this too, and this time, Gerard would be there to watch his back, he wouldn't be shackled and bleeding, or beaten within an inch of his life, and that had to count for something.

And really - he and Frank had suffered through so much already that Gerard dared to hope that they had earned themselves a respite here, that they would come out of this alive and together. They had the might of Heaven and quite a bit of Hell on their side, not to mention Michael's sword, so if anyone could defeat this creature, it would be Frank.

So this was a bit shorter than usual, but I couldn't think of anything else to add, and I wanted to keep it sweet before we head into the climax of this book.

I can't believe this is getting close to being done, but it is. I've been writing in this series for so long it will be weird to end it, but I'm really looking forward to what I have planned.

Votes and comments are always lovely if you'd like to leave one.

Chapter dedicated to stephiero

I'm a pain in women's clothes

<3 starr