Lou turned to look at me, seated on my sofa, arms over the back of it as if he owned the place. "Oh, hey, Ryleigh. Didn't see you there."

I raised an eyebrow, switching on the lights. He didn't even blink at the sudden brightness. "What the fuck are you doing here?" I repeated.

"Came here to see you." He flashed me a charming grin, head still lolling over the back of my sofa. "How you been?"

I felt some irritation form, followed by a quick burst of resignation. Turning away, I shrugged tiredly. "Pretty good since you saw me yesterday." I decided to let the casual home invasion go. "Why didn't you come today? Still mad about yesterday?"

"Maybe." He replied vaguely as I dropped my bag on the stool. "I had other work. The shooting was a political mess for the truce."

"I'm starving." I opened the fridge door as I spoke, bending to look through it. "Am I a part of this political mess?"

"In part, yes."

I jumped at the nearness of the new voice, snatching my hand back and stumbling away from the fridge. Mike glanced down at me, slight irritation crossing through his face. "Do you have to do that each time?"

My eyebrows shot up. "Excuse me?"

"Act surprised." Mike rolled his eyes. "You knew I was coming."

"How would I know you're coming?" I turned to the side to exhale harshly. He always got me. My heart was beating out of my chest.

"You knew Lou was here."

"Yes! It's because I know his presence! I've done this before too!"

"She has." Lou nodded. "Back when she was human, of course. She has amazing intuition. And improv abilities."

"Thank you." The adrenaline was draining out of me. "I guess."

"It is a compliment." He sounded like he was still by the sofa. Good. "What are you doing here, feathers?"

"I'm watching the human, remember?"

"She's not human anymore."

"I'm not- yup. What Lou said."

"Could have fooled me." Mike mumbled. My head turned up to find him eyeing me skeptically. "You are mostly human."

"Yeah." I nodded, standing up straight again. "A human who's been through a light coma, can see auras, and can't sleep anymore. I feel very human. Thank you." Mike stepped aside as I yanked the fridge door open again. "What's so important that it couldn't wait till bar tomorrow?"

"Get a drink. We'll talk about it." I could hear the grin in Lou's voice. "We have all night if you can't sleep."

"I have a boyfriend." I replied blankly, pulling out a juice carton I'd popped open last night. Alcohol would be nice too, but I'd rather be sober in their company.

"I can compromise." Lou replied easily as I stood back up.

"Of course you can." I replied dryly, filling up a glass before taking a seat on the kitchen island's stools. Mike was still being a creep and standing in his spot like a statue as usual. I took a sip. A very long sip, before putting my glass down. It clinked in the silence and I took another moment to let the rising tension between the angel and the demon settle in. "Alright." I pointed at Lou. "Speak."

He raised an eyebrow at my manner. "Speak? What am I, your dog?" Deja Vu, but our places are switched.

"Dogs are nice." Was my curt reply. "What do you want, Lou?"

His black eyes roamed over my form before he shifted. "Alright. Right to business, I see." He turned away. "I like a woman like that." There was the sound of shifting fabric and then a lunch metallic thunk as Lou twisted to drop a familiar black duffel bag right on my hardwood floor.

I grimaced. "Careful with that."

"Yes." Mike sounded irritated again, but that was nothing new. "Careful with the angel's confiscated evidence."

"If it's confiscated evidence..." Lou smirked, kicking the bag to antagonise the angel beside me. "Why are you hiding it at Ryleigh's? Surely, you can't be breaking the rules now."

"I'm not breaking any rules." Mike stepped up beside me. "It's still evidence."

"Oh, really?" Lou leaned forward, hand wrapping around the bag's straps as he pulled it into his lap. "Then, pray tell, why the fuck is this here?" His eyes flickered to me. "And hidden in Ryleigh's bedroom?"

I looked away from him, sipping my drink. "It was a favour. I don't care about the guns, and I want no part of this."

"You do favours for the angel, you give free drinks to the angel. I see you have a favourite."

"Oh, shut up, Lou." I snapped, glaring at him. "All you do is threaten me and freeze me with that weird shit. Of course, I'm a little biased towards a being that doesn't do that, and stops you from doing that."

"Aww." I felt a familiar chill travel down my spine as his eyes turned black. "I thought you liked this, Ryleigh."

"Never have, never will." I took a sip, mumbling into the glass. "You freak me out."

"That's the spirit." He chuckled as he winked. His hand moved to the zip on the duffel bag.

Mike took a step forward. "Stop. That's evidence."

"No, it's not." Lou replied easily, challenging Mike as he met his eyes. "It was cleared from evidence. Which means you're hiding something."

"Yes, evidence. I'd rather a demon not contaminate it."

Lou shook his head, tsking as the zip opened to its full length. "Over-zealousness is not a good look on you, feathers."

My eyes flickered to Mike as I felt the temperature rise. His narrowed blue eyes were glowing, hands clenched into fists so tight I could see the veins in his forearm. "I am warning you, demon."

"You can't do shit against me if it comes down to a real fight, feathers." Lou turned his attention to the bag as he slipped more and more into his real appearance. The sharp teeth glinted as he grinned down at the open bag, the changed voice reverberating through my head. "Now just stay there like a good boy."

Mike lowered his head, the heat shooting up beside me. "I said, let it-"

"And I said..." Lou cut him off, the veins in his face intensifying and the cold rising to another level. It encompassed the heat. My body felt frozen and my lungs felt like they were being squeezed from the inside. "Stay there. Like. A. Good. Boy."

My eyes shifted to Mike. He was trembling. No. He was shaking with effort. Lou's strength even had him subdued.

I closed my eyes, turning away from Lou and exhaling softly. "Get it... over with, Lou."

"Oh, so this does affect you. Interesting."

"Shut up." I forced my hand back to the counter, placing the glass on the marble and unclenching my frozen fingers before meeting his eyes with a glare. "Let me... go, Lou."

"Why?" He grinned, his mouth stretching impossibly wide showing off his sharp teeth. The lights dimmed around him even further. "It's fun watching you like this."

I forced out a breath once more, breaking eye contact. "Bastard."

"Haven't heard you talk dirty to me in a while, Ryleigh." He chuckled, the sound made my head hurt.

The cold partially released its hold on my body. I took a deep breath, shaking my head before looking at Mike. He was still frozen, still trembling as he fought against Lou's hold. Didn't see to have made any headway. I reached out to pat his bicep, turning to face Lou again. "Stop fighting it. He won't let go until he's done what he wants to."

"And you have experience about that don't you, Ryleigh?"

"More than enough." I sighed, remembering when I'd passed out, been forced to sit in front of him and almost been choked to death. The scene with the angel didn't count. He didn't start it.

Lou chuckled again. Actually that sounded more like a giggle. Picking up my glass again, I watched quietly as Lou pulled out the first gun.

Some long gun. A machine gun? I'd seen those on TV. And then another machine gun, differently shaped. Then one with a scope, one with army camouflage paint, something that looked like a Tommy gun, a... shotgun?

I choked slightly on my juice as I saw that. Lou snickered at my reaction. "It's a sawn-off. That would hurt like a bitch even for me."

"I'll keep that in mind." I replied dryly, watching the guns on my floor with my eyes wide open. "Anything else there that could hurt you?"

"Not without the special bullets from that night. But even those would, at best, annoy me." Lou placed one hand on the short barrel of the shotgun in his hand. There was a harsh screech of metal before the gun snapped in half.

Mike growled, pulling both our eyes towards him. Lou smirked, droppin the two pieces right onto my floor. That's going to leave a mark. "How's that for contamination?"

I patted Mike's bicep again. He had a good bicep. "It's just an empty gun. Relax." His skin was burning up.

Lou reached into the duffel once again. Pulling out some smaller handguns. There was even a revolver. Lou seemed slightly offended looking at it. He reached into the now deflated looking bag, pulling out two daggers clutched in one hand. One dagger seemed fairly new. The other one had a peeling leather cover and rusted hilt.

"Interesting." I pushed off my stool, walking over to Lou. He glanced up at me as I placed a hand on his shoulder to support myself as I looked over the two knives. I pointed at the new one. "That's available online, or at an army surplus store. The other one seems like an heirloom."

"You have a switchblade, don't you?" Lou asked, looking at me with interest. His grey face and sharp teeth were terrifying this close.

I nodded, standing up straight to avoid the odor of rancid meat from his mouth. "I used to know how to handle a butterfly knife too. I lost it though."

"How do you lose a knife?"

I shrugged. "Probably at some party. I learnt those tricks to impress a guy and kept them to impress others."

Lou gave me a sceptical look. "If you have to impress someone using knife tricks, they're probably not right for you."

"I just wanted to sleep with him. And it's a really good opener." I smirked. "Guys seem to really like girls who can do knife tricks."

Lou's thin lips peeled back in what was probably supposed to be a seductive look. But it seems like he'd forgotten what form he was in. "That is sexy."

"Yeah. Yeah." I waved my hand dismissively. "If you're done here, leave."

Lou's eyes moved back down to the old knife. He threw the new one aside, raising the other one to look at Mike. "You guys probably researched this." His voice was so grating this close. "What is it?"

"Don't you... recognise it?" I could see a vein throbbing in Mike's head. He was really straining.

"Why would I?"

"It's from World War 2."

"Oh." Lou glanced down at the covered knife again. "Why would I remember a knife?"

"You were playing... both sides."

"I know that." Lou scoffed.

I raised an eyebrow. "You worked for the Nazis?"

"I just went to whichever side was killing more at the time." Lou brushed it off. "I do not care enough, and never have, about you humans and your trifling issues."

"Trifling." I turned away from Lou, deciding not to push this further. "Right."

"Anyway, feathers, continue."

"It's... Italian origin. Beretta 38A-"

"-folding bayonet knife." Lou completed, pausing for a moment. "I'm surprised I remember that."

I really need alcohol. This conversation should not be happening.

He unsheathed the dagger. The blade was rusty. The sound of metal scraping against metal made me grit my teeth. The full blade was less than a foot. The tip was pretty sharp. Even if the entire thing was rusted, I think it could still cut pretty deep.

"I remember cutting bread with this." Lou frowned, some of the colour returning to his skin. "Weirdly specific."

"Humans cut everything with that blade." Mike was speaking easier now. "Necks, skin, bread, tobacco."

"Very hygienic." I mumbled dryly, trying not to throw up.

"Hygiene was the least of the human's worries then." Lou turned the dagger over in his hands, his eyes were slightly blank. He seemed distracted. "It was always cold, no matter what."

There was silence for a few moments as he stared down at the knife. I never knew Lou could g-

A sharp gust of warm wind distracted me. I turned to look at where Mike was standing only to find him frozen right in front of me, fingers inches from the rusted blade.

Lou was silent. I felt a sharp chill shoot up my spine. My breath frosted in front of me. This was a different chill. This was the killing kind from when Lou had that showdown with the other angels about me. I... My chest...

"Let go of it." Mike hissed, he was radiating heat. "You've touched enough." I couldn't breathe.

"What is it..." Lou's voice was low, quiet. "... with you feathered, fucking freaks." His voice was filled with contempt and a sense of loathing that I'd never felt or heard before. His eyes were pitch black, the veins intensifying across his face once again as the colour that had returned faded away. "This does not belong to you."

"It doesn't belong to you either." Mike's voice was slicing through my skull. There was a ringing noise in my ears everytime he spoke. "Drop it."

"No." Lou's hand tightened on the dagger. My lungs were burning. My chest was empty. A choked sound escaped me. Lou didn't seem to hear it, turning to face Mike. "I do what I want." He raised his hand, grabbing Mike's jaw and pulling him closer. "And you, puny insect, cannot stop me."

My vision was blanking out now. "L... Lou..." I choked out, frozen in place by his will and unable to even fall to my knees. My legs were going to give out.

I felt some of the chill dissipate, air rushed back into my lungs almost immediately. I fell to my knees, the hand holding the glass held out very carefully to not drop it. The liquid in the glass shook as I moved to keep it on the table. I was heaving deep breaths, but the only emotion in me was irritation, not fear. "For fuck's... sake..." I gasped out. "Can you two-"

"I will end your existence, demon." Mike spoke again. My eardrums hurt. "I will come down on you with all the glorious might of the angels." It felt like a tuning fork pressed against my eardrum.

"You can come down on my fucking pinky for all the strength you fucking birds have." Lou snapped. I placed a hand on my coffee table, starting to push myself up as he continued. "It won't even take me a minute to decimate half your measly population." His voice sounded like he gargled broken glass in his free time.

I had some of my breath back now. Enough to speak a bit more. "Please jus-"

"You touch another one of my brethren, and I swear the every angel on this piece of rock will descend on you."

"And do what? Peck me to death? Bore me with your long-winded speeches? Glare at me with those fucking laser eyes?"

"All very hilarious." I got to my feet. "Now, we-"

"You will die painfully, demon."

"And you will never be alive to see that happen, feathers."

The tension was thick in the air. Mike stood no chance against Lou. And with the grip Lou had on Mike's jaw, I was afraid he was going to rip his head off, literally.

"Alright, alright." I hesitated a bit before grabbing Lou's wrist. His dark eyes snapped to mine before he bared his teeth in a sneer at me. I rolled my eyes, standing my ground. "Leave him, Lou. I'm not having more blood in my home."

"Drop that hand, Ryleigh." Lou growled. "Or else you're going to lose it."

I raised an eyebrow. "The only thing getting lost here tonight is both your fucking alcohol privileges. Now, let go of Mike, drop the knife, and get the fuck out of my apartment."

"Drop. The. Hand. Ryleigh." His growl got deeper. It was vibrating through my chest.

"Back off, human." Mike jumped in. "You do not belong in this."

A huge tidal wave of annoyance rolled through me. I've had enough. "Shut the fuck up, Mike." I snapped, turning my head to glare at him. "Those are guns without ammo, checked and discharged by your higher-ups. I kept them here based on your stupid hunch. I don't mind continuing to keep them here but you need to show a little more fucking gratitude. Got it?"

"Ryleigh..." Lou sounded about ready to lose it. "I said-"

My eyes returned to his soulless ones. "Shut the fuck up, Lou." Unluckily for him, I'd already lost it. My hand tightened on his. "I will not drop the hand unless you drop your fucking attitude. It's a rusted knife you can't use. Those are guns you clearly do not need. Nothing has changed. It's a heavy piece of luggage given into my fucking care. So, stuff it, let Mike go and get the flying fuck out of my damn apartment!"

My chest was heaving with that little rant. Lou loomed over me in this form, but it was no longer scary. Mike felt like a heater standing at my back, but he was no longer scary either. They were both annoying. Annoying parts of my day keeping me from getting some rest.

I held Lou's glare for what seemed like a solid minute before I felt his hand shift under mine. He let go of Mike's jaw, but Mike didn't move. I narrowed my eyes, my nails digging into his freezing skin as I glared at the idiot angel till he took a step back.

Immediately letting go of Lou's wrist, I twisted to place a hand on Mike's burning chest. "Stay, feathers. And you-" I jerked a thumb at Lou over my shoulder, "-pack everything up."

"Why?" Lou growled.

I raised an eyebrow. "Do not question me under my own roof, Lou. I do not want to touch guns! Or World War 2 Nazi relics! Put that shit back where it came from!" No reply. "NOW!"

Lou maintained his sneer, his skin regaining that colour once again as he crouched to start placing the guns back in the bag. I grimaced as I heard the metal scrape my floor. "And fix my floor while you're at it."

There was another growl from the figure crouched at my feet, but no other response until the bag was packed again. Lou zipped it shut, raising it in his hand and holding it out to me. I grabbed it from him, exhaling softly as I adjusted to the weight of the bag. "Great. It's resolved. I'll keep this till either of you need it."

"I did not agree to th-"

"Shut up, Mike." I snapped again, pulling my hand back to myself. "For fuck's sake, you whine so much. Suck it up. I'm keeping these. They're mine now. You need them, come to me. Do not sneak it out of my ceiling or I swear to god, I'll fuck you up." He raised an eyebrow as I narrowed my eyes at him. "I fucking mean it."

I held his blue gaze for a few more moments, breaking it by pushing him back from Lou. Mike's eyes were no longer glowing, his body wasn't radiating much heat anymore. Lou had returned to his human form too.

I met both their eyes for confirmation before stepping back. "Alright." My free hand rose to point at the door. "Now, leave."

"Really?" Lou frowned. "The door?"

"Yes. Get out."

"You have CCTV's outside." Mike reminded me.

I paused. "Alright, whatever. Get lost, you two." I turned away from them. "And don't come..." I trailed off as I felt a gust of warm wind. Mike usually followed after Lou. They're both gone.

I sighed tiredly, rubbing my forehead to ease the stress headache, and the lack of oxygen headache... and the angry headache... and the headache from frowning too much that these guys had bestowed upon me. I need a dri-

No. I need a distraction.

I shoved the heavy duffel bag up into the false ceiling before I picked up my phone. Trace picked up on the second try, voice slurred with sleep. "Ryleigh?"

"Hey, Trace." I glanced at the clock. "Can I come over now?"

***************

AUTHOR'S NOTE
Maybe I should have put an F-bomb warning at the beginning of this chapters.
Whoops.
Anyway, it was fun writing this confrontation. What do you think will happen next? Is Ryleigh going to get shot again? Is she going to shoot someone? I don't know. Maybe you will.
In three days.

See you then!

Hope you enjoyed the chapter!
Vote and comment!