Touched By An Angel Who: Phanuel, Derek What: Bargaining Where: Searchlight When: Present Ratings/Warnings: Low
It was shortly after sunset. Derek walked down the dusty road, his feet dragging slightly in the dirt. He watched the toes of his sneakers turn orange with little care. He was heading to the storage unit, the site of much frustration, but a place he couldn’t help return to time and again. The vampire could also make his routine check of Phanuel’s locker, as he had promised. It was important to him to keep his word. It was one of the last things he had.
As he approached the facility, he noticed a figure up ahead.
It hadn’t dawned on her to get Mitchell’s locker unit number. True to her word, she’d visited the young vampire’s family and returned to share the gathered news.
But, she realized only upon coming to the front gates, she didn’t know where he actually lived.
“Well. Fuck me.”
What should she do? Leave a note with whatshisname, the security guard? And how would she explain it anyway? Squatters were always chased out.
No note then.
She could wait.
She could.
She could.
“Nope.” Phanuel turned ninety degrees and prepared for the long walk home.
Phanuel came into view, and Derek perked up. “Oh, hey!” He waved an arm through the air and stepped toward her. “You’re here. I was just about to check on your locker. Make sure everything looked copacetic.”
He hadn’t seen the Angel in an age. Part of him wondered if he ever would again.
Serendipitous. That was the word.
“Mitchell. Just the … person I was looking for.” Phanuel managed a small smile. “I see you’ve managed not to get yourself killed since I last saw you.”
Derek grinned. “Nope, still alive. Well, not alive, exactly…” He leaned against the wall. He had some questions for her, but thought it might be rude to start asking straight away. On the other hand, he didn’t suspect the Angel of enjoying small talk.
“No one’s been skulking around your place,” the vampire offered, gesturing to her locker. “Me and Manny have been on point.”
“Manny! That’s his name!” the Angel exclaimed. She’d eventually get his last name. “Okay, so he knows you’re here.”
Phanuel dropped her shoulders slightly; she held them tighter when something stressed her. “I dropped in for tea with your parents earlier today.”
Derek’s grin dropped instantly. “You...you did?” He stood up straight, locking his gaze on her face. She didn’t look like she was fooling around.
He jittered nervously. “What did they say? Did they remember me? I…” The vampire felt the urge to take a steadying breath, then remembered it wouldn’t help anything.
Phanuel nodded her head. “They think of you every day.”
He swallowed, the nervousness fading and turning into something else altogether. “Did they say anything good?” Derek looked away from her now.
“Your mother talked incessantly about how loyal you were, so sweet and caring,” Phanuel replied. “That you were a good uncle. And how their days were a little darker without you in their lives.”
She crossed her arms and leaned against a concrete wall. “And your friend Cade, apparently he visits them often. Convinced for a while that you were… haunting him?”
“I didn’t know if he’d remember that.” Derek rubbed his face, letting his stubble brush against his fingers. “He was the one who encouraged me to go off alone, with the woman who turned me. I wanted to let him know that I forgave him.”
He slid down the wall, settling into a sitting crouch. “My mom. Said nice things about me.” The vampire closed his eyes.
Surprise. That was the word.
Genuine surprise to see Mitchell so moved.
“That surprises you?”
He nodded slowly. “I guess I thought…” Derek paused, fighting the instinct to bury that vulnerability. “I was worried they would be relieved, to be rid of me. But it actually hurts more, knowing they miss me. I let them down.”
The vampire was hit suddenly by the reality of everything. He had been moping around about being turned into a vampire, and hadn’t thought of how it truly affected the people he had loved.
“I need help, Phanuel. I’m losing someone. She’s slipping away from me.”
“They never felt that way, Mitchell,” the Angel countered. “Your mother, especially, felt the opposite.”
She would’ve continued, but Mitchell’s confession caught her short. When someone prayed to her specifically, Phanuel would respond. When asked for help…
“What can I do?”
“I love someone. Penny. And there’s this...Emissary.” Derek looked up at Phanuel plaintively. “Lady Elfleda. She visited me, and I liked it. She made me feel special.” Derek knew it was a lot of information to take in at once.
“But then she visited Penny, and turned her into…” He didn’t want to say monster. That’s not what he thought of his wife. “She’s killing a lot of people. And I would do anything to have her back the way she was.”
“And there’s this...Emissary. Lady Elfleda.”
That’s a name she recognized. The name alone sent chills down her spine. “Jesus, Mitchell. You don’t know who you fucked with.”
If Phanuel had owned an otherworldly compendium, Elfleda would have her own chapter.
The blonde took a deep breath. Her intervention meant metaphorically crossing swords with the Corruptress. Which could lead to literally crossing swords. She made a note to retrieve her angel blade from the storage locker and put it under her pillow tonight.
“But I can help.”
“I told her no,” Derek confessed quietly. “I refused Elfleda.” He knew it would have consequences, somehow.
The vampire stood up. “You’ll help me?” He tilted his head, surprised.
“What can I do for you?”
As Phanuel considered the request, there was an extended pause. She sized up the vampire, tried to find a suitable exchange. Looking after her storage locker ad infinitum was just the start.
“You’re gonna have to make a sacrifice, Mitchell.” The Angel had decided. “You’re going to have to give up killing.”
Derek considered this. He thought of Penny, the one person who made him feel truly connected to the world. He thought of his family, who had spent the last ten years thinking he had been gruesomely murdered. About Annie, how disappointed she had been when learning his true nature. Of Nesryn, who refused to stop believing there was something good about him.
“Okay. I’ll stop. Like I said, I’ll do anything.” And without warning, the vampire leaned forward and wrapped Phanuel into a hug.
Awkward. That was definitely the word.
And crap. She was wearing a dress with no sleeves, and her guard was down, which meant skin-to-skin--
Contact.
Mitchell’s flood of emotion washed over her. She felt his earnestness after her impossible request, the love he had for his--
“Wife? When did you get married?”
“A few weeks ago,” Derek admitted. “It was kind of a...spur of the moment thing. But what I feel is real,” he added somewhat defensively.
“So, I stop killing. I can handle that. But how can you fix Penny?”
Phanuel drew in a deep breath. “Exorcism, in a nutshell. I’m going to drive out Elfleda’s… influence.” The Angel made it sound easier than it was. This was going to require tapping into Heaven for an added boost. Which would put her on both Elfleda’s and their radar.
“Thank you. I mean it. And I’ll do anything to help, anything I can.” Derek felt like a weight was being lifted. Of course, he couldn’t understand the true consequences or effort required. “For everything you’ve done for me.” He shook his head almost disbelievingly.
What was the protocol with an Angel? Should he bow? Offer penance?
“I need to gather a few things. Items of power,” the Angel commented. “It might take a day or two. You’ll have to keep your wife under wraps until then. But don’t tip her off. Elfleda will pick up on it and it’ll be that much harder to shake her free ”
“Don’t make me regret this and have to smite you.” Phanuel’s smile made the comment appear opaque.
Derek randomly decided to cross himself. It seemed appropriate. “I won’t. Promise.”