Lucifer's Angel

I sighed to myself as I kicked my feet up on the desk to relax. It had been a slow day and all of us were definitely feeling it. Yeah, there was plenty of paperwork to do, but that would put us all to sleep. Even Lieutenant Barrett had slacked off for once. The chief certainly didn’t care what we did today. He was probably asleep in one of the storage rooms again, having the receptionist keep watch. Right now, I had peace and quiet, having the office all to myself. Barrett was probably at the shooting range, O’Conner had said he was going to get something to eat, and Fallman was probably taking a walk around the building.

I on the other hand had reserved myself to solitude, to peace. I had always preferred to be alone. I hadn't always been that way, though. It was the price I'd paid for a 'gift' I had never wanted in the first place. In fact, I can't recall anytime where I had had a true friend until I met Barrett. The circumstances of how we met had been grim and unfortunate, but even in the wake of the tragedy that Maria had fallen victim too, she had some how found enough light left in the world to befriend me, to help me... We'd helped each other, pulled each other off the ground over and over again until we could both stand on our feet together. Ever since then, we had stuck together as best friends, and later, we both joined the military.

I pulled off my uniform jacket and leaned back in my chair, letting old memories flow through my mind, playing somewhat like I movie. It was summer here in North America, so the AC had been kicked up on high for most of the day until the up-there’s decided to turn it off. Now the heat was starting to set in again and with the damn long sleeved black jacket it was getting hard to do much of anything. That was the one part of the uniform I absolutely hated.

The uniform regulated jackets were jet black, long sleeved, went to the knees, and had a high collar. If you had the jacket on, it had to be buttoned up completely and you were required to wear a plain white shirt underneath. All ranks went on the left side of the collar, and if you were an officer, a gold aiguillette went around you arm and was pinned to the shoulder of the jacket by a Celtic knot, the symbol of the united military. Warrant officers’ uniforms were adorned with a dark blue aiguillette. Any ribbons were supposed to be six and a quarter inches from the shoulder seem on the left side of the uniform and were always centered. When you join the military, uniform regulations were the first thing taught to you, and then the ranks from a recruit to a command general. Those things were pounded in your head until you could name them all in order or backwards without so much a split second of hesitation.

I smiled, thinking back on the day I officially graduated from the year long, non-stop rigorous training and was finally stationed somewhere for the first time. Ever since then I’d worked my ass off and was now 1st class warrant officer and was under the command of Colonel Michaels. I definitely wasn’t the scrawny, little kid that everyone knew me as when I first joined anymore. I was someone much different, much greater.

I yawned slightly, and looked around the office. The hard wood floors had been shined late last night, so I’d nearly done the splits when I got here this morning. I was glad I’d waited to get a cup of coffee, that’s for sure. The walls were an off white color and hurt my eyes with the way the sunlight from the window was bouncing off them. The office itself was a large room. The colonel’s desk was up front, stacked with paper blocking the sunlight from the window behind it, and a book shelf was against the wall on either side of desk. From the doorway, to the right, parallel to the Colonel’s desk was a large table, also stacked with paperwork for the rest of the team and I. This table was the one I sat at, despite the colonel not being here. I could’ve sat at his desk, being that the chair was a hell of a lot more comfortable, but I’d learned the hard way not to do that.

Suddenly, from the void my silent observations, my ears picked up on a quiet squeak from somewhere in the room. My eyes widened. Fearing the worst, I threw my feet down off the desk and looked around on the floor, spinning in the chair as I did so. Seeing nothing, I groaned, annoyed that I’d been so easily disturbed from my serenity. I leaned back in the chair once again, and moved to put my feet up on the desk, but froze feeling something climbing up leg. My eyes moved slower than snails as I looked down at my leg to see what was there. When my eyes finally fell on what was there, it seemed to me almost as if I’d stared at the little white ball for hours until it finally connected in my brain that what was crawling up my leg was in fact a mouse.

‘’HOLY SHIT!” I screamed, jumping up, sending my seat flying into the nearest bookcase, knocking it over. As the creature fell back to the floor, I hauled ass back to the table and jumped up on it, screaming the whole way. Like it knew where I was, the mouse came towards the table, in the direction of my jacket that was hanging off the edge. Before it could start climbing up, I pulled my gun from its place in the holster and shot at it only to miss. I shot a second time, and this time, the bullet had hit the floor just right and left a trail all the way to the wall. I screamed out multiple cusswords and went to shoot again, but suddenly the animal start to morph and change. In a matter of seconds, the infamous prankster, Major D’Angelo Monaco was sitting on the floor in front of me, laughing his ass off.

‘’Don’t shoot! Don’t shoot, French Fry it’s me!’’ he yelled in gasps as he continued to laugh hysterically. With what little dignity I had left, I climbed off the table, put my gun away, and tried to stand tall in front of my superior.

‘’Major Monaco,’’ I said bluntly, my voice a bit squeaky still. This only made him laugh harder.

‘’Dude, you scream like a girl,’’ he laughed, grinning at me. I narrowed my eyes at him in an attempt to hide the embarrassment. The Major wiped at the tears coming from his eyes from laughing so hard.

‘’Oh, that was the greatest thing I’ve seen all day,’’ he continued.

‘’Is there something you need, Major?’’ I asked politely, trying to keep my formality, even though I wanted to choke him right about now. It would be pretty easy, considering Monaco was only stood five feet and five inches tall. Though Major Monaco was a small guy, all who knew him knew well that it was a terrible idea to piss him off. Underestimating the man would definitely get you killed. Monaco only came up to my shoulder even though I stood even at six foot. He had short, messy black hair, glasses, and he was actually a quiet natured person, despite what it seemed at first glance. With an appearance like his, you'd never expect him to be as powerful and threatening as he was.

‘’Actually, French fry, there is,’’ he replied.

‘’Sir, are you ever going to start addressing me properly rather than using that damn nickname,’’ I questioned, getting even angrier seeing his grin. That grin was almost as infamous as the man flashing it. Major Danny Monaco was Colonel Michaels best friend, and he was known around the world as a prankster. Despite his relaxed and joking nature, he had made a name for himself as a hard worker and excellent leader. Like me, he was also a guardian, having the power of animal mimicry. Having such a power only further his reputation as one of the militaries best pranksters. He was also notorious for letting formalities slip at the right times.

‘’When you start playing ball with the big boys, I’ll think about it, Frenchy,’’ Monaco chirped. I took a deep breath, getting pissed off. I always got hell from Monaco, the Colonel and the team for my rank.

‘’With all respect sir, if you are not going to tell me what you need, then I would appreciate it if you left so I can get back to work.’’ Or before I throw you out the window. I added in my head.

‘’Geez Lafayette, lighten up, I know damn well you weren’t working,’’ Monaco laughed with a small smile. Instead of replying, I walked over towards the table. Monaco grabbed my arm, and I turned back to him. His smile had disappeared and his face was straight.

‘’I’m only here because the Colonel sent me,’’ he spoke finally.

‘’There is a guardians meeting today,’’ he continued, speaking quietly as if he wanted no one but me to hear him. My eyes widened slightly.

‘’The Fuhrer called it, and none of the older guardians have kicked the bucket lately, so it’s not an induction of a new guardian, like normal.’’

‘’Does that mean he’s back? Or has found the girl?’’ I asked.

‘’I’m not sure, Jean, but I have a gut feeling that shit’s about to hit the fan,’’ was his reply.

‘’We’d better go see what all the commotion’s about then, don’t you think,’’ I asked.

‘’Of course,’’ he replied with a cheery, loud voice as he practically skipped to the door. I raised an eyebrow and then followed him. The Major’s demeanor was certainly strange today, and I assumed it had something to do with the possibility of what this uncalled for guardians meeting concerned. I went over the small list of things that the random meeting could be about, but quickly, I marked out many of them mentally.

What if he really is back?