Jean's eyes slid open, and for a second he just stared at the blurry blob above him before blinking the sleep out of his eyes and leaping out of bed, attacking the intruder.

"All right, all right I'm sorry!"

Jean grumbled as he got off Michael, who was rubbing his cheek. The ginger glanced at his clock. It was six in the morning. Jean turned right back around and tackled Michael.

"You stupid little-" Micheal scrambled to get away from the angry ginger. Jean grabbed Michael's shirt and pulled. Micheal fell to the floor with a curse. Jean straddled his best friend and made sure he couldn't wiggle free.

"It is six in the Goddamn morning." He hissed,

"I said I'm sorry!"

"Six in the morning Michael! I'm going to kick your ass!"

Michael huffed in amusement. "If you were you would have already. Now come on and let me up."

Jean sighed and rolled off of Micheal and onto his feet, walking over to his desk and grabbing his glasses. He slid them on and ran a hand through his curly hair.

"I see what you mean by staring at you like you're gonna die."

Jean blushed beet red. "You- you were awake?!" He felt mortified. Cole probably thought he was a violent person now. What if he told people, or started avoiding him!? Well, the avoiding he could deal with but-

"Yeah. You're surprisingly good at capturing. Were you taught to fight?" Cole sat up and stretched, grinning crookedly at the ginger. Jean rubbed his neck and chuckled, suddenly feeling shy.

"Yea-yeah. An old friend taught me."

"Neat. Now that we're up, what do we do? I don't have class until nine."

Jean sighed. "I have no idea. I have a class at eight though. I'm probably going to take a walk down the nature trail and see if I can spot any deer, or maybe a wolf. There are a few around here. They don't come on campus though."

Cole nodded, putting on a leather jacket and slipping black bootcut jeans on over his boxers. "It's getting pretty cold out, it is late November, so there might not be too many deer out and about. Mind if I join you? I've nothing better to do."

Jean nodded and slipped on his tennis shoes. He grabbed a hoodie and a red knit toboggan and put them on as he grabbed his phone and keys and walked out the door.

"I like how you two completely forgot about me..." Michael murmured. Jean laughed.

"Sorry, I was, how'd you put it, 'making a friend'."

Micheal snorted and faked a hurt tone. "I didn't mean replace me! Why oh why do you hurt me so!"

Cole chuckled and pulled his hair up into a ponytail. It was kind of spiky. Jean guessed he just had coarse hair. Jean locked the door and put the keys in his pocket, walking down the hall, tuning out Michael's complaints about the cold.

The walk to the nature trail was mostly quiet, and Jean basked in the chilly morning air, breathing in the comforting earthy scents and taking in the sound of leaves rustling under their feet as they walked.

"It is pretty out here." Cole murmured as his green eyes took in the forest. The sun had yet to rise, and stars twinkled above the canopy of multi-colored leaves as the tall treetops swayed slightly in the morning breeze.

There was an old tree a bit deeper in that Jean liked to sit under and read or draw, so the ginger made his way deeper into the forest. Cole and Michael wordlessly followed, one in curiosity, the other out of boredom.

Jean sat beneath the large aged oak and stared through the canopy. The leaves were orange, red, and yellow, a few falling every so often. Fall was beautiful, one of Jean's favorite seasons.

He felt Cole lean against the tree next to him but didn't look at him. Instead, he closed his eyes and saw himself at home, back in Mesalin City.

He was in front of his house. It was simple but beautiful. One of the few homes that had any nature left in it. It was a miniature forest. The house was a light baby blue, a flower garden on either side of the porch, where a rocking chair rested, rocking ever so slightly in the wind.

He remembered the day he found the man he would come to call brother. He had stumbled into their backyard, leaning against a tree. Jean had been eight when he found the man. He had had a gaping hole in his stomach, his arm barely stopping his organs from falling out. Jean had been scared, but not of the man, nor the gore. He had been scared that the man would die.

He had ran to grab his mom who had called for an ambulance before she was out the door. She was a waitress, and hadn't studied much of anything related to medicine, but the wrapped a sheet tightly around his stomach, keeping his organs in, in an attempt to prolong his life.

The man got to the hospital in time, but was in a coma for two and a half years. Every day Jean had visited telling the unconscious man stories about playing with his friends, or the new chores his mom was teaching him to do. He'd been ecstatic when the man awoke, and as soon as he'd been released, Jean's mother had insisted on housing the man.

His name was Nanami Kuo. He was from the Dark Continent, a place that no one had ever been able to get to, due to a barrier that was formed when a giant meteor rocked the planet. From space, the continent looked like a giant black blotch. Apparently, when the meteor struck, a few humans within the blast zone survived the radiation from several nuclear plants exploding and they evolved, developing the ability to see what people like Jean could see. They had a special energy in them that they called Chi. The ability was passed down, and certain families had certain traits.

You had to have Chi to be able to pass through the barrier, so when Jean was twelve, Nanami had gone back home, promising to visit.

Then the whole, 'Touched by a Fallen', thing happened.

Jean was drawn from his memories by a tap on his shoulder. He looked up at Michael. "Yeah?"

"You okay? You've been spaced out for an hour." Micheals brow creased in concern.

Jean nodded. "Yeah, I'm fine. Just remembering. I miss Nanami. He's been gone for two years. I know he's probably busy, but during break, we should visit. It'll take three days to get there if you're carrying me, Two if we rent a boat."

Michael nodded. "That, or you could write to him. He's probably looking for an excuse to skip out on work."

"Hm. Hey, Where's Cole?" Jean looked around. The raven was no longer leaning on the tree next to him.

"He went to take a leak. He should be back here in a minute or two. I wanted to talk to you about him. He can see me."

"Yes, we've established that."

"What if he's one of Lily's?" Lily was a group of people like Jean, Touched, that were going around the world, gathering all the Touched they could find for one sole purpose. To raise Lucifer from the Underworld. Most Fallen end up going to Lucifer for sanctuary, and they Touch humans in an effort to gather sacrifices so Lucifer can rise and rule the human realm, eventually clashing with God to usurp his power.

"I doubt it. I don't know why, but I get a feeling he's just another stray Touched or a psychic. And you know most Psychics are neutral in the power play."

"What if though? We need to keep a close eye on him-"

"I'm back, Did you get Jean out of his stupor?"

Michael jumped, and Jean chuckled. "Yeah, I was just thinking about some stuff." He stood, stretching, and yawned, the cold air sharp against his throat.

"Let's walk a bit more before heading back. I really want to see if the wolves are out."

"I think I'll stay in the trees then."

"Michael don't be a wuss."

"Guys!" Michael whined.

The two just laughed, Cole slinging an arm across Michael's shoulders and putting him in a headlock. Jean laughed as Michael struggled.

It was nice, having more than one friend.

Class was boring, and during study hall, Jean pulled out a history textbook and began flipping through it. He skimmed over the meteor, the restart of civilization, the Dark Continent discovery, and sighed. He was bored. He wanted to find the few textbooks from before the meteor, but only a few survived, and were relics in museums that you had to pay at least two hundred bucks to read.

He listened idly to Michael ramble on about the latest gossip and how bored he was. Abruptly he stood and packed his stuff, walking out of the library.

"You good?"

"Yeah. Just didn't want to sit there any longer. I also wanted to ask you how many good Fallen you know, or knew."

Michael raised an eyebrow. "Well, there's maybe ten of us total that aren't sucking up to Lucifer. As of how many I know personally? Maybe two. There were three, but one dropped off the map about ten years ago. I haven't been in contact with any of them since you were fifteen. It was a year after I was cast out."

Only ten? "How many Fallen are with Lucifer?"

"Around forty?"

Jean gaped at Michael. "Then why do the good Fallen fight if they're so outnumbered!? A fallen can only touch two or three people before their touch doesn't affect people anymore. So there's more on the enemy's side!"

Michael looked sad. "We fight to survive. If Lucifer takes over it's death or become a mind slave, adhering to his every whim. We few prefer neither. We don't actively go against him, but we aid the Archangels in any way possible."

Jean hummed as he walked by a group of girls chatting and painting each other's nails. They hardly spared him a glance before going back to being girls. As soon as he was out of earshot and sight, he turned to Michael.

"Look. I love helping people, but I have to become a doctor. That's how I can help. I need to find a way to fix my mom. Medical science is the fastest way."

"I know."

The rest of his study hall was spent wandering campus and stopping by Moonbeam, a popular coffee shop on campus, to grab a caramel latte with a shot of espresso. Michael had wandered off, probably to stretch his wings in a field deep in the forest.

Jean had to fight down the chill that raced through him. He had a bad feeling and tried to convince himself that it was just him forgetting something.

In an undisclosed location

"Two and a Fallen? Where did this report come from?"

"Jackson County. Our informant is Kei Brant. The one with Detection. He said he was passing through the area and felt them. A ginger with glasses, and a chain-smoker with piercings, black hair, and paler than my bedsheets."

"Send Matt and Kim. We need to see if they are recruit-worthy, or if they need disposed of. Those two should be enough to take care of them. I want to know who the Fallen is too.'

"Yes sir. I'll send them out at once."

"Dismissed."