This show is wonderful. Great characters, and a crazy plot that has finally given me good inspiration for a fanfiction. I've only seen the first four episodes at this point, and since I'm in Canada where it just aired, I'll be watching all the episodes as they are posted on the internet.

This fic is slightly AU, but its barley anything. I'm trying to keep it as close to the show as possible minus a few things. The main thing is the established romantic relationship between Mike and Julie. It's a fairly large chunk in this, but it's not going to be overwhelmingly just romance.

This fic is also rated M for a reason. At this moment, I'm unsure just how graphic this will all get. I like to have lots of lemon-y bits through my stories, so that's to be expected. Also watch out for violence, gore, and other things along that line. If it's not your thing, then I don't blame you for not reading. But for all those who do read, I hope you enjoy.

Of Angels To Be

Chapter 1: The Deluxe Movement

She hated hospitals. They were always too clean, and the waiting rooms were never big enough. The nurses were always too happy. The doctors were never around unless you were going into cardiac arrest or dying. There were too many ways into a hospital and not enough ways out. She despised them, and in return, they scared her, and she didn't scare easily. Maybe that's why she was so hesitant to open her eyes. The potent smell of rubbing alcohol and living people decaying away hit her like a wave the moment she woke. She kept her eyes screwed shut for as long as she could. It was a truly childish move, but she couldn't help it. She could ignore the smell, and she could pretend she was elsewhere with her eyes closed. Elsewhere sounded good about now.

And for a little while, she did and it was nice. She wasn't at home in her pod or even at Claire's. For a brief moment, she was in Motorcity, asleep in the back of her car with the uncomfortable odour of Jacob's newest creation slipping in through her open windows. The guys were laughing in the distance, maybe at Texas, maybe not, – all except one. He was with her. His arm draped over her side, and the two of them were pressed together just trying to fit on her back seat. Stark naked, cool sweat beaded their bodies, and she couldn't care less about how grimy she felt. He was still asleep, snoring softly, and he sounded strangely like Mutt's engine, a low grumbling purr. She had never stayed before. She never could… she never did.

The hospital smell seeped into her dream, and her eyes were forced open. The bright white of the room blinded her for a moment. Her chest tensed up at the sight of the curtains around her bed. She could feel her heart pounding behind her breast. She braced herself as she went to move up into a more comfortable position, but was forced to lie back down when a sharp pain shot up her spine and flourished in her shoulder blades. She cried out, clinging to the sheets until the pain ceased, but didn't try to move again. The covers around her were soaked with sweat, and she herself was still hot to the touch and wet. Looking down at her hands, the sights of needles and tubes of all sizes pierced into her veins shocked her. It took all her restraint not to pull them out herself. Heavy, beeping machines surrounded her cot. It almost felt as if they were closing in on her.

Suddenly, she heard a door open and shut from somewhere in the room. The curtain blocked her view, but the footsteps were coming imminently closer. She instinctively clung to the sheets harder, waiting for her visitor to arrive. Despite her waiting, she still jumped a little when the doctor pulled back the curtain, and stood before her with her chart covering his face. Her stomach sunk… doctors only showed up when you were going into cardiac arrest or dying and she certainly wasn't in cardiac arrest. Which meant… she was dying.

The doctor waved his hand in the air dramatically, and a nurse rushed to his aid from the hall. She watched with wide eyes, as he continued to read her chart, not even taking a moment to look at her as he did, and the nurse began removing the machines and IV tubes stuck in her hands and body. The nurse recognized her, but never said a word to the doctor, too scared to ask him a thing. He was a rather unapproachable sort of man, however frail as he was. She more than understood the nurse's uncertainty.

"Alright," The doctor cleared his throat and she prepared for the worst to leave his mouth, but it never did, "The surgery went splendidly. I'll write you a script for some pain killers, and it will take a little while until you'll be able to perform normal work again. I'll have the nurse assist you in changing, and then you can go back to your pod for a few days bed rest. No picking at your enhancement or using them until you're fully healed. Understood?"

"Yes," she hoarsely answered.

The doctor didn't say another word, and left. She kept her eyes on the nurse as she carried her clothes and laid them on the bed beside her. She helped her from under the covers, and started to aid her in changing. The pain in her back was dreadful, hot and jagged, and the nurse knew it too, but continued to keep her moving. She refused to look her in the eye. Something was off, the nurse wanted to say something so badly, but was holding her tongue. When she had her pants half way up her legs, the nurse finally spoke, "What are you doing here?"

"It's complicated," she told her starkly, but the nurse seemed even more unnerved by the answer than the question.

"Miss Kane," she whispered.

One week earlier…

The garage was strangely silent. Mike was hunched over on a stool at the bar, absentmindedly twiddling with a fork on his clean plate. He was feeling a little green around the edges, having just choked down a portion of what Jacob called "Squash Surprise". He was, however, sure that the dish lacked everything but the surprise, as the last time he'd seen squash was almost a year ago. It was one of those finicky vegetables they couldn't grow themselves, and for food like that they usually enlisted Julie. As their only good connection to Deluxe, she brought them a lot of luxury items when she could – toilet paper, vegetables… chicken wings. She really hadn't brought squash down in a while… he'd have to mention it to her. He had become particularly fond of the gourd.

He dropped his fork on his plate, quickly thanking Jacob for the meal, and slowly sauntered over to the cars. He watched Dutch's back for while as the lean man worked on the vehicles. They had been pretty beaten up in their last scuffle with Kane and his robots. They'd survive, but not without a decent amount of work. He shifted on the spot as he watched. Dutch sighed, putting down his blow torch and turning to face Mike behind him with a scowl.

"You're hovering again," he spat.

Mike shrugged softly, "No. I'm just checking up on you."

"You're hovering," he sighed forebodingly, "Seriously, go do something – bother Chuck or Texas, but, man, let me work."

Mike's shoulders heaved with tedium and he forced himself to walk away from Dutch and Mutt. He hated waiting, especially when it meant he couldn't drive. They were also at a hefty disadvantage with the cars currently out of commission. They were their portable defence. Without them, Kane could easily walk in and take over. Sure, Mike had his staff, but he was still only one person. Maybe he should consider getting together with Texas and teaching the others some self defence in case of an emergency. It would certainly be entertaining if nothing came of it – and with everything in the shop, it wasn't as if they had anything else to do.

It was settled. He'd go find Texas, and when Julie got back from her shift at Kane Co. they'd start. He circled the garage a few times, each time around narrowly missing Texas. He shoved his hands in his pockets, and his head whipped wildly back and forth in search of the boy. After a few more laps, his patience had grown thin and Mike gave up on his idea. It was probably a misguided hope anyway. Chuck would never think of deploying fighting tactics in battle if it came to it, Dutch was too busy to even take the class. And what was he thinking? Working along with Texas trying to teach people something… the fact he was even considering the feat was proof enough of his boredom.

He trudged back to the bar, momentarily stopping to check on Mutt once again only to have Dutch scold him until he continued on. He sat back on the same stool from before, where his empty plate and fork still remained. Jacob turned to him and with a smile slapped another large scoop of "Squash Surprise" on his plate before returning to the dessert he was making on his stove. Mike poked the yellow-brown mush with his fork, and sighed inaudibility to himself as it jiggled uncontrollably in front of him. He shovelled a few mouthfuls down his throat, swallowing as quickly as he could to avoid tasting the presumed squash-less dish. It certainly was a silent day, and silent, often, meant boring. Mike was, without doubt, bored.

Luckily, things never stayed silent for long. His attention was quickly turned from the still jiggling mound on his plate when one of Kane's announcements popped up on a scarlet screen just to Jacob's left. The two stared at the screen with distaste as Kane's hologram smiled sickly at them.

"Hello Deluxe," He greeted, "It has been a great few years. We, as a city, have made expediential strides in making the greatest utopian society the world has yet to see. Now, it is my pleasure to announce that it is time to continue with the 'Deluxe' movement. Soon, we as a people will be as exceptional as our dear city."

Without another word, the announcement was over and the screen collapsed into itself and disappeared. Mike whipped his head back to Jacob, who looked just as distraught and confused as he was. His jaw tensed up and he slammed his fist against the bar in anger. Jacob's head was shaking to himself.

Suddenly, Julie's contact screen popped up in front of Mike. Behind her, he easily recognized the white, sterile backdrop of Kane Co. She has a slight panicked look to her and he instantly knew she was worried. She frowned, taking a quick double take behind her to confirm she wasn't being watched and spoke softly, "Mike, I think we have a problem."

"We saw the announcement Jules; what's going on," he asked hurriedly and her frown intensified.

"I don't know, and I don't have the clearance to find out, but I have a bad feeling about this."

"Me too," he spat, "how quickly can you get down here?"

"I just want to try and dig up some more information-"

"No," Mike interrupted, "Something is up in Deluxe, and you're safer down here."

"I can take care of myself."

"I know. It's everyone else I'm worried about."

She paused, biting her lip, "I'm on my way."

'Thanks Jules. See you in a few."

She nodded, and the screen dissipated. Jacob had a slight amused smirk on his face, barley covering the fright Kane had placed in him. Mike cocked an eyebrow at him and he only shrugged in response.

"I'd watch what you say to that girl," he mused.

Mike glared at him, "We have more important things to worry about right now."

"I know," he said sadly, his face dropping, "I know."