"What do you want?"

"Your light," the demon answered in a growl. "I need your light, you wretched star."

The demon was truthful in his answer. Castyr was stunned. How does he know I am a star?

Taking advantage of the star's shock, the demon wrestled out of Castyr's grasp. It did not take long for Castyr to recover, and he immediately surrounded his fist in a bright glow before punching the demon in the gut. My secret is out. Might as well use it.

Castyr had never fought using his abilities as a star for fear of drawing dangerous attention to himself and his team, but now that demons knew of his true identity, the star held back no longer. Castyr released a bright pulse of light that blinded the demon and gave him the opening to slice his knife across his enemy's throat. The star then drew his gun and shot three bullets into the demon's head.

Castyr was careful not to sever the demon's cervical cord. He wanted the demon alive for questioning. He needed to know how his identity was now known to Hades.

"Aish," Castyr cursed under his breath softly as four new demons landed on the roof. It would take a while for the demon he shot to recover from his wounds, so he turned his focus to fighting the newly arrived soldiers of Hades. However, as Castyr prepared to charge the four, the flapping of wings alerted him to Kilo and Azyr's arrival.

"Are you alright?" Kilo checked in on his star while Azyr opened fire on the four demons. Castyr quickly nodded to let Kilo know he was unhurt. "Later," the star said briefly. He would tell Kilo everything that happened once they had eliminated the surrounding demons.

Understanding the star's intentions, Kilo nodded in agreement and drew his sword. With Castyr, Kilo, and Azyr's combined forces, they quickly eliminated the four demons while the remainder of their teams cleared the surrounding area.

"How is everyone? Roll call," Azyr relayed through the comms when the demons had been terminated. Various voices from both teams responded, alerting their commanding officer to their positions and health. A lieutenant from Beta Team was injured, but, thankfully, there were no fatalities.

Castyr stood on the roof with his head turned to the night sky, his lips parted slightly as he caught his breath. After delivering the subdued demon to Beta Team, Kilo joined his star on the roof and wrapped his arms around Castyr. Castyr sighed in relief when he felt Kilo's touch. We are alright. We are alive, and we are together.

Determination filled Castyr as he thought back to how many times he and Kilo had nearly lost each other. Now that he had Kilo back, his fear of losing his angel once more was greater than it ever was. So, Castyr was going to do something about it.

Pulling away from Kilo to turn and look his angel in the eyes, Castyr firmly stated, "We're doing it. Tonight. I can't go another day without it."

Kilo looked at Castyr with wide eyes. What does he mean by "it"? Is it..."it"? The angel did not have a chance to verbally respond to his star's sudden request as Sinjae's voice sounded through the comms, "Okay, people, let's load up. The craft is here."

Without giving Kilo much more time to process what he had just said, Castyr took the angel's hand and led him down the stairs to the ground floor. When the two hovercrafts landed, the two teams piled on and began the journey back to base. While on the flight, Castyr leaned his head on Kilo's shoulder and closed his eyes, just soaking in Kilo's presence.

"Debrief as soon as we land. Conference Room 204," Azyr informed his team as they neared the base.

Since Alpha Team suffered no injuries, Sinjae had caught a ride on Beta Team's hovercraft to aid them in healing their member's injuries. The lieutenant was able to walk by the time the two crafts landed on the roof of their base. Once landed, Kilo and Castyr followed Major Azyr to Conference Room 204 where Ilios was waiting with a few of his assistant officers.

Ilios listened patiently while Azyr debriefed him on the mission and informed him of the captured demon. Azyr then fell silent and allowed Castyr to describe his encounter with the subdued demon. Ilios' brows furrowed with concern when he heard of the demon being aware of Castyr's identity.

When Castyr completed the debrief of his fight, Ilios said to him directly, "Meet with me tomorrow. With Kilo. We need to discuss this further."

"Yes, sir."

"I will discuss this information with my commanding officers. We will hold a meeting tomorrow morning at o'eight hundred to debrief the base. For now, rest up. You've worked hard, everyone," Ilios concluded before dismissing the soldiers.

Immediately after saluting Ilios and exiting the conference room, Castyr grabbed Kilo's wrist and dragged the angel back to their tent. As exhausted as they both were, Castyr refused to wait another second!

"Castyr, what's-" Kilo started as Castyr closed the entrance to their tent. The star cut him off by facing him and saying, "Let's do it. Now."

"Are you sure? Here? In a war zone?" Kilo was baffled by the star's request.

Castyr, who was confused by the angel's hesitation, returned, "Yes! Especially because we're in a war zone! We don't know what could happen tomorrow. We need to do it tonight."

"...Okay. But...I thought you'd like your first time to be somewhere nice and...well...not here." Kilo understood Castyr's excitement, but he had wanted to make their first time special and not rushed.

Castyr's brows furrowed slightly in confusion. "What do you mean "first time"? We're only doing this once." And why wouldn't I want to do it here?

Sadness filled Kilo when he heard the star's response. "We-we-we're only doing it once? Wait, is it not your first time?"

Castyr took a step back when he saw Kilo's expression. Why does he look sad and disappointed? We can only do it once. The star's throat closed up when the thought occurred to him that Kilo might not want to do it with him.

"What do you mean? Of course, it's my first time. I know we can only officially make the connection once, but I'm sure we can do things to make it stronger." Castyr looked up at Kilo desperately. He wanted to connect with his angel so badly. "Don't we just have to connect once?"

Kilo paused when he heard Castyr's words. The angel brought his hand to the back of his neck and ran his fingers through his raven hair as he released a breath. "Co-connect? Oh! Yes, we definitely need to do that."

The angel now understood what the star was requesting. Castyr had suffered the fifty years the two had been apart not knowing whether or not Kilo was alive, if he was in pain, or if he had managed to escape. Now that Kilo had gained his wings along with his full expanse of angelic abilities, the two could now foster a connection that would allow them to share thoughts and intertwine their lifelines, so they would forever know how the other was faring.

"I've been wanting to bond with you for a long time. I thought we could do it since you have your wings," Castyr said shyly.

Kilo's expression of shock turned to a sweet smile, and he took Castyr's hand. "I'd love to bond with you."

The star was pleased to see that Kilo seemed to have recovered from whatever surprised him, and he was relieved to know that Kilo wanted to connect with him just as badly. "How does it work?" Castyr asked while returning his angel's smile.

Taking the initiative to begin the bonding process, Kilo placed Castyr's hand on the side of his neck while explaining, "By an interchange of our energy. It's kind of like letting our souls mingle and meet each other." Kilo then placed his hand on the side of Castyr's neck, gently caressing the star. "Basically, we envelope each other with our energy, and when we pull away, a little piece of us will be left in the other."

"Wow..." Castyr liked the idea of always having a piece of Kilo's soul within him. He stared up at Kilo in awe as the angel closed his eyes and brought the two's foreheads together. How is he so cool and hot at the same time?

A shimmering, purple energy flowed from Kilo as a shining, silver energy emerged from Castyr. The star smiled as he was engulfed in Kilo's warm energy. The purple and silver intermingled for a few minutes before withdrawing back into the angel and star's bodies. Happiness and warmth flooded Castyr as Kilo's presence now resided within him, a familiar presence touching his mind.

Following the successful bonding, the first thing Castyr saw was Kilo's intoxicating purple eyes. Wow...is he even real?

Kilo's lips parted into a smile. Why? Am I handsome?

Yes. Very much so. Wait...Your lips aren't moving. My lips aren't moving. Can we talk through our minds? Castyr gasped quietly in excitement as Kilo smiled and nodded.

The angel then verbally confirmed, "Yes. We now have a mind link."

"So, we can have secret conversations?" Castyr's heart fluttered with happiness.

"Mm-hm," Kilo sounded with a nod.

"Wow! This is so cool!"

Kilo smiled as he watched his star get all excited. "You're so cute," he said while ruffling Castyr's silver head.

Curiosity entered Castyr's veins as he thought back to his and Kilo's conversation. "Wait...so, what were you thinking we were going to do?" The star looked at Kilo suspiciously and a little bit flirtatiously when he realized the two were talking about two very different topics at the beginning.

Kilo's face turned a very light shade of red when he realized he had been caught. "What? I don't know what you're talking about." Kilo did not even try to sound like he was telling the truth.

"Yes, you do," Castyr returned teasingly with and smile before tackling Kilo. The two landed on the bed, and Castyr started tickling and messing with his angel playfully.

"Okay, okay, I surrender!" Kilo laughed between breaths. The star smiled with triumph while pausing his attacks. "So you gonna tell me, now?" Castyr interrogated teasingly.

"Never!" Kilo exclaimed playfully as he flipped Castyr over and landed on top of the star, his face hovering just a breath away from Castyr's.

The star held his breath when he found himself staring up at Kilo. The angel's eyes trailed down to Castyr's lush lips, and the star's heart skipped a beat when he heard Kilo's quiet panting in reaction to his playful attacks.

Castyr gazed up at Kilo through love-glazed eyes while breathily inquiring, "Can we at least kiss in a war zone?" The words were not fully out of Castyr's mouth before Kilo's lips covered his. Castyr closed his eyes and kissed his angel passionately. Kilo's hand found Castyr's on the bed, and the two's fingers interlocked while they shared a deep kiss.

The star craned his head into the bed and caught his breath as Kilo left a trail of kisses down his neck. Castyr's free hand caressed Kilo's neck as the angel nipped at his skin lovingly. Kilo kissed down Castyr's collarbone before making his way back up and softly sucking on the star's ear in passing. Castyr turned to face his angel, and the two's lips met once more in a passionate kiss.

Is it possible to fall for you more than I have? You've completely destroyed me, Kilo. There is no way I can ever recover from you.

Don't worry, love. I won't completely consume you right now. I want you to be comfortable and ready.

Kilo's voice resonated through Castyr as the angel's touch covered him. Kilo's response sent excitement and respect through Castyr. His lips gave the star love and life while leaving him breathless. The more he touched him, the more he craved.

Ahh. I'm doomed.