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Keith

After Pidge had yelled at all of the cadets (with many expletives), she'd turned towards us with a sweet smile and offered us a tour of the SAL HQ. Lance and I had nearly choked at how quickly her demeanor changed and I'd whispered to him to make sure I always stayed on her good side.

It turned out that Lance and I had been sleeping in the hospital quarters of the SAL on the top floor, but that the actual headquarters were in the lower levels. Pidge explained that, in the six-story building, the 1st floor was used for meetings and outside interaction, the 2nd floor was used for personnel quarters and the 3rd and 4th for training. Then, the 5th for recreation and eating, and the 6th for the hospital. However, Pidge showed us the basement first.

"This is where the real magic happens," she said proudly as we stepped off the elevator. As our eyes adjusted, I realized that the basement was actually much bigger than any of the other floors. Tables upon tables of computers and electrical equipment took up most of the room, with angels sitting in front of the screens, furiously typing away or scrolling through text or watching CCTVs. The whole room thrummed with electricity, and not the angelic kind.

Though the angel's halos spun furiously as they worked, none of the beings seemed to be using their Energy while they worked. I wanted to ask why, but I didn't have the nerve to. I also had begun to notice that each angel had a different set of wings.

Lance's were so cliche, I thought that they had been the uniform shape, but as I walked past the angels working, I realized that each set was different from the next. While Lance's were classic white, like the kind you see on Catholic angels, I saw colors ranging from black to brown to orange, even light pink, all with different patterns. And all the shapes were different too. Lance's were large and curved at the top with thick, fluffy feathers, but I passed angels with two sets of long, slim wings, or tiny cherubic sets that fluttered slightly.

Taking my eyes off the feathers, I focused instead on the back of Lance's head as we walked through the aisles of angels. I thought back to when he'd rushed through the crowd of cadets, wings sweeping up around us, his arms crushing me to his chest.

I had been so vulnerable and I hated the feeling of being saved, but at the same time, I could still feel his arms around me. I could still feel his morning breath on his face as his worried eyes checked my face. I could still feel his palms on my cheeks as he told me he'd always come back.

Then, I had only slightly been aware that physical contact usually made me feel sick. Then, I hadn't cared about how close we'd been, our faces inches apart. Then, I'd been starstruck.

I looked away, ashamed. What was I thinking? What the hell was I even doing? Father didn't send me up here to get all cuddly with an angel. He sent me up here so I could get my 'teenage angst' out of my system or some bullshit.

Plus...

I didn't even have the genetic capacity to... love? What did that word even mean? It sounded slimy to me, like a smothering hug, but maybe that was just the internalized message from my father.

"I love you, Daddy!" I'd told him happily at the age of 5.

He'd scowled. "You don't love me, Keith. You cannot love."

Lance was the complete opposite of me, in every way possible, and maybe I envied him for that.

Or maybe I admired him.

Pidge's voice startled me from my thoughts. "Lance, this is Rover."

I watched Pidge loop her arms loosely around the young man's neck, resting her head on his shoulder. The angel, with a shock of electric teal hair and triangular glasses, held out a hand for Lance to shake. I stayed behind Lance and looked over his shoulder at Rover's computer screen.

Green code stood out against a black screen- he was hacking. Pidge smiled at the man happily, kissing his cheek before turning back to Lance to lead up deeper into the alcove of the basement of the SAL HQ. "He's a genius," she stage-whispered to Lance and me, smiling happily.

I wondered if Rover knew how scary Pidge had been upstairs with the cadets. I wondered what it would feel like to kiss Lance's cheek. I wondered what it would feel like to disappoint my father.

Finally, Pidge reached a door on the wall and opened it, leading us into a small office space. Inside, a red-headed man sat in a black office chair, a smile on his face greeting us as he stood.

"Hello, young ones. How are you today? I was so sorry to hear about what happened to you earlier, please don't base your opinion of the Legion on your first impression. I can assure you, we are much more than a few cadets failing to do the right thing."

The man held his hands out to me first, which took me off guard, but his eyes were so kind that I almost felt happy to shake his hand. "My name is Coran, and I'm the man in charge of this headquarters."

"It's nice to see you, Uncle Coran," Lance said respectfully when he shook the man's hand. Uncle? So this man was the Missus' brother?

Coran gestured to the two chairs in front of his desk and Lance and I sat, Pidge moving back to stand by the door.

"So, boys, how have your adventures here on the Midworld been? Good, I hope?"

And just like that, Lance launched into the story of our travels. Flying from New Hampshire to Seattle, seeing the beach and the Arboretum, the Ferris wheel, my driving incident, the flower festival, laser tag and go-karting, and then the concert. As I listened to Lance's rendition of our journey, I realized just how much we'd packed into so little time.

Lance pulled a piece of paper, folded, out from his bag, showing it to Coran. I realized that it was The Plan that I'd made for him. The first two objectives were neatly crossed out.

Coran read over the other three, then looked at me with a puzzled look. "'Go on a spy mission', 'Go to an Island', 'Find a forest'." For some reason, I felt embarrassed.

As if sensing my discomfort, Coran leaned forward. "Three very interesting hopes, Mr. Keith. Very noble."

I swallowed, unsure of what to say. Luckily, Lance swooped in with his own interrogation. "Coran, why are we here?" I was wondering the same thing, to be honest.

The man laced his hands behind his head, reclining in his chair. "Your mother contacted me." I glanced at the angel behind me, watching his smile droop. "She wanted me to check in on you, Lance. You and Keith are young, wild, and, let's face it, very different."

I saw Lance's eyes well up with tears. I didn't know what he was sad about, but I didn't want to ask. "She's worried about you, Lance. You know, Matt and Adam were a lot older than you when they guided Shiro and Kuron."

I looked up at Coran. I knew very little about those two angels. All I knew was that whenever Shiro and Kuron talked about them, it was in hushed voices. I made a mental note to ask Lance about it later.

"She just wanted me to bring you in for a few days in case something bad was happening or you needed a place to stay, just so that you could plan your next moves without being stressed about everything else." Coran reached across his desk to pat Lance on the shoulder, "Don't worry, Lance. She's not mad."

Lance looked up at Coran with a confused expression. "So... she's not assigning a new angel to Keith?" His tears fell down his cheeks, but his eyes were hopeful.

Coran barked a laugh, smiling genuinely at Lance. I looked at him again. Was that really what he'd been worried about? I looked over my shoulder at Pidge, who was looking at Lance sympathetically. I thought about having her as a guide, then gulped. She'd kick my ass.

I pressed my knee against Lance's and managed to smile at him too. He grinned tearily at me, wiping his eyes with his sleeve.

Coran handed The Plan back to me and I shoved it into my pocket, still a little embarrassed. "So, Lance, do you have a plan? What's your next move?"

Lance composed himself, sniffing a few times before continuing. "Well, I usually don't tell Keith where we're going until he can figure it out himself, but the next task on the list is a little bit tricky. I've been thinking about how I'd ever be able to bring him on a spy mission without using a crap ton of Energy. The other two I have planned out, but I can't tell you about them now, with him," Lance shot me a grin.

Coran grinned, "Well..." he glanced up at Pidge, an odd, excited look falling over his face, "We might be able to help you."

...

bahahaha look at me- a double-update, who even am I? 

qotd: are you a writer or a reader? or both?

lllloooooove you <333