Lucifer's Angel

‘’What the hell is wrong with you,’’ I asked bluntly, leaning against the front of Colonel Michaels desk. He looked up at me, dark eyes narrowed in a glare.

‘’Excuse me,’’ he snapped. I stood up straight, crossing my arms. He knew damn well what I was talking about. He knew with the kind of power I possessed, I didn’t even really have to ask, but he still liked to play stupid. The whole ‘lone soldier’ attitude annoyed me, but of course, it was pretty much impossible to keep your emotions to yourself if I knew you. It was undeniable that I was everyone’s indestructible wall of support, of sympathy. I was everyone’s helping hand, the one to pick them up whenever they were down.

‘’Don’t play stupid, you know damn well what I’m talking about. Come on, dude, don’t make me read you freaking mind,’’ I replied.

‘’Warrant Officer Lafayette, I think it’d be a good idea to be mindful of that fact that you’re speaking to a superior.’’

‘’That may be so, but in this case, it’s you, you don’t care,’’ I snapped bluntly. Colonel Michaels sighed.

‘’You see, this is one of the reasons I like being apart of the military. I can be blunt and tell you guys something out right, and you’ll keep your emotions in check, keep a straight face, just like you were trained, like we were all trained…’’ he trailed off.

‘’Where are you going with this, sir,’’ I asked warily.

‘’I can handle that, I know how you’ll react, no matter what I tell you, but a seventeen year old girl, there’s no telling.’’

‘’No, there isn’t, but I guess, that’s where I come in.‘’

‘’In a way, yeah,’’ he replied.

‘’What exactly do you plan on telling her?” I asked.

‘’She’s a smart girl, so I was surprised when she didn’t ask how we knew Lucifer was back, but then I realized that she was keeping that question to herself. She doesn’t want but she needs to know,’’ Colonel Michaels replied, still giving me an indirect answer. He wouldn’t say what was on his mind out loud because that meant that whatever had happened was real. That’s was why he kept things to himself. He thought if he didn’t talk about it, he could pretend it didn’t happen, though he knew that wasn’t true.

Colonel Michaels stood up from his desk, an opened envelope in hand. He walked up to me, but even the way he walked was not normal. The way he moved in general lacked the purpose and prestige that his movements usually held. Colonel Michaels handed me the envelope, but he did not move to go back to his seat. Instead, he stood there, blank faced, eyes emotionless. I looked down at the paper I now held in my hands and quickly, I read over the crisp black words that were printed. As I comprehended them, my eyes widened.

‘’What,’’ I breathed out.

‘’Exactly,’’ the Colonel replied.

‘’That can’t be, how did—how did no one see?”

‘’I don’t know,’’ Colonel Michaels replied quietly. ‘’But somehow he slipped through the cracks.’’

‘’He’s a God, I hate to say it but it’s not that hard with his power,’’ I snapped.

‘’He’s limited to the powers of the elements without the Cor Omnium though, so I can’t explain it. I can’t tell her why, or how, and it’s killing me,’’ he replied, turning sharply. He walked over to the window, back turned to me. I looked down, thinking over what I’d just read and what was being said.

‘’I’ll tell her,’’ I said finally. The Colonel turned back to me, his face unreadable.

‘’It’s not your place,’’ he stated.

‘’Maybe not, but you being in charge of protecting her doesn’t make it yours either,’’ I replied. Colonel Michaels remained silent after that.

‘’I will tell her,’’ he spoke finally. I let out an exasperated sigh.

‘’Who do you think she’d rather hear it from, you, or someone who can actually understand. This is what my ability was meant for.’’

‘’Fine.’’ The word came out with a flat tone, but nonetheless, I could hear the anger in Colonel Michaels’ voice. Telling people bad news was never something he was particularly good at. According to Maria, he’d had to do it so many times during the war. He’d become a very sympathetic person, but that was left behind once the fighting was over. I could see in his eyes that he wanted to be there for the people, he wanted to feel sympathy to the same extent he had during the war, but other memories from that hell had left him hardened and apathetic in most ways.

‘’I’m sorry, Chief,’’ I said finally. He looked over at me, steel grey eyes locking with mine almost instantly. His emotions were kept guarded with a straight face, but I found my mind sinking into his thoughts.

This is not how I thought this would be.