Highway To Heaven: The Trumpet Resounds

Disclaimers: I don't own anything….yeah, I'll let yalls keep thinking that! MWAHAHA

AN: A little last episode I thought up to close off the ending of Highway To Heaven to reunite Mark & Jonathan in the great glorious day of the Lord.

PLEASE READ THE FIRST PARAGRAPH OF MY PROFILE BEFORE READING THIS STORY. THANKS! : )

Summary: Jonathan is at last called back to heaven, but not before leaving Mark with a warning of what was to come. The Boss offers Mark a deal which, if accepted, would make Mark a major player in the Final Events of Earth's history. Now, Mark must prepare both himself & others for the great glorious appearing despite the threat of the New World Order.

(Remember: read the first paragraph of my profile before continuing. Thanks.)

(AN: Before anyone comments with 'It won't happen that way or the other.' I have not written this to promote one belief over the other. Some believe Rapture, some don't. Some believe the true Sabbath vs. Sunday will play a role. Some don't. Most agree the microchip will be a part of it. What I did do is only use the beliefs mentioned in the series. Both characters have used the 7th day Sabbath twice so that will be mentioned here. Both actors, Victor French & Michael Landon, were Jews with Michael also having a Catholic background while Victor was Jewish in belief as well (which is why the name Jesus only showed up once in the series by the way as both would use the word Boss instead so as not to clash Jewish & Catholic beliefs). Neither mention Rapture as being part of the events in the series, so I have gone with the non-Rapture belief system. Hope that clears things up.)

(1) The Sharp Edge

"Mark. Mark!"

Mark grunted & opened one eye. Not being able to see anyway, he removed his hat from his face to send Jonathan a glare. "Wha—" He was about to complain but the old car hit a pothole, making him bounce a little. He sat up, noticing it was night. He had a sinking feeling he wasn't going to get any more sleep tonight if Jonathan suddenly had another assignment. "What?"

Jonathan slowed the car to a stop at the light near to the next town. "We'll stop in here for the night."

Mark suddenly felt hopeful. Food & sleep! "Our assignment is here?"

"We don't have one yet," Jonathan said. "All I'm told is that we should stop here for the night."

Fully awake, Mark stretched a little in his seat as Jonathan turned the car towards the town. "Alright! Hopefully they'll have some good food!"

Jonathan laughed at him. "Mark you always find good food. Like a bloodhound."

"Cute," Mark grumbled. "I know we've been working together for over seven years, but don't you ever miss it?"

Jonathan shook his head. "Nah I don't need it. Why miss it?"

"Right," Mark muttered. He knew there were precious few times when the angel would share a meal or a drink with someone but it was rare & only to appear human when he didn't want to reveal his true nature.

Jonathan parked the car in front of a motel. "I'll get a room while—"

"I get some supper!" Mark finished, hurrying out of the car. "Sure you don't want me to pick up some holy water & a wafer from a church?" He teased.

"Mark!" Jonathan glared for a moment but ended up laughing. Mark turned away to leave but Jonathan clapped a hand on his shoulder to stop him. Their eyes met & Mark couldn't help but notice that Jonathan suddenly seemed concerned, almost worried. The angel leaned in & whispered, "You will hear the trumpet resound." They stepped away from each other, staring. Both appeared stunned. "I don't know what that meant," Jonathan said quietly. "I was just supposed to tell you that."

"Maybe it has something to do with our next assignment," Mark offered.

Jonathan stared off into space for a moment, then shook his head. "No." He headed inside to the office without another word.

Mark headed down the street & around the corner to a small restaurant alone. Despite his earlier plans, he ended up only ordering a small meal of a burger & salad. He finished it there & headed out to go back to the motel. Before reaching the corner, Mark slowed & glanced around. His cop senses that had never died due to working with Jonathan all these years screamed inside him & he felt as if someone or something was watching him.

Mark moved away from the turn & made his way towards the restaurant once more. He saw a shadow move out the corner of his eye & stopped dead in his tracks. After a moment of watching, Mark called softly, "Jonathan?" There was no answer. Mark moved towards the restaurant again, intending to stay in a public place. He turned down the street beside the restaurant, keeping the nearest late night store in sight, a small gas station up ahead. Mark stopped frozen once more. He felt something coming up behind him. "Jonathan what are you do—?" Mark whipped around to meet the angel face to face.

But it wasn't Jonathan looking at him. Another man was coming for him, hand raised, holding a dagger. Mark's eyes went wide when he realized he was about to be stabbed in a second & had no time to react. Next moment, Jonathan was there between them, holding Mark firmly, using his own body as a shield. The blade pierced Jonathan through the back between his shoulder blades. For a moment, Mark didn't worry. People had hit, shot at, thrown things at the angel countless times with no luck. A stabbing wouldn't hurt him. But then he saw pain in his friend's eyes & Jonathan's grip became hard enough to hurt Mark. Jonathan slowly went limp in Mark's arms. The man wrenched his dagger away & ran. Mark yelled at him, wanting to run after him but something was wrong with Jonathan & he couldn't just leave him either.

Mark helped the angel down to the ground. Jonathan leaned sideways on one hip, panting. When Mark put a hand to the angel's back, he felt something wet. "Are you bleeding? What is the Boss doing?"

Jonathan managed to look up at Mark & said in a shaky breath. "This is not the Boss's work."

Mark looked Jonathan over & was about to say something but then, Jonathan disappeared into thin air. Mark looked up to the stars. "Take care of him so he can hurry back." He ran back the way he had come, keeping his eyes open for their attacker, but he made it back to the room without further incident. Mark lay on the bed, expecting Jonathan to return during the night once he was healed. He couldn't sleep, wondering what on earth could harm an angel. He wanted to go out looking for the man with the dagger but knew better by now. When dealing with something supernatural, it was best to have Jonathan by his side, so he waited for him to come back.

Morning came instead. Mark jerked himself out of a fitful doze, then looked around uneasily. He was still alone. Mark went to the window to see if maybe the car was gone, but the old silver dented rust bucket was still there. He let the curtain fall, stepping away from the window as if avoiding someone seeing him. He had hoped Jonathan would be back by now. After waiting another hour, Mark decided to go out around the town to see if he could find any information on who had tried to kill him during the night, not to mention why.

He took the car, feeling safer after he locked all the doors once he was inside. He didn't worry about the angel getting in since the guy had a nasty habit of just blatantly appearing whether he was welcome or not, which annoyed Mark every time. There was no use arguing about it either. He knew that the angel got a derided sense of amusement every single time & there was no way to repay him in kind; though it was not for lack of trying on Mark's part. He only hoped Jonathan was nice enough to not freak him out while he was driving.

Mark drove around for half the day, but no one had seen anyone lurking about with a weapon on them. Jonathan didn't appear in the car either & he was not at their room when Mark returned shortly after lunch.

He stayed in that town for two weeks, partly to find the one with the dagger, but more & more, it was for waiting around for Jonathan who had yet to appear. Mark was starting to worry. What if Jonathan couldn't be healed? Shot through his mind. Mark immediately dismissed such a folly. Nothing was impossible for the Boss. So why hadn't Jonathan returned then?

After two weeks waiting, Mark was nearing his wits end. There had been no sign or word about Jonathan. Mark was also feeling an increasing sense of urgency to leave that place. He wasn't used to striking out on his own, but during the night, he suddenly woke up fast, got out of bed & left before dawn. He drove fast until the town was about two hours behind him, then he slowed to well below the speed limit. He pulled to the side of the road & stopped. After a moment, he got out & went to the front of the car to lean back onto it as he looked around. The road was long & empty. To one side, a small river rushed along. "Ok Boss. Where is Jonathan? Not even a note? Come on. Give me something. I can't let that guy get away with stabbing him either." He waited a few minutes. "What do you want me to do?"

"Hello Mark."

Mark stood up fast. Smiling he turned around to the one coming towards him. "Jonathan! It's about time! What took you so…so—what it is?"

Jonathan hadn't returned his smile. He was looking rather grim. "Come." Jonathan held up a hand, indicating a direction. "A Friend of ours wants us to sit with Him."

Mark looked across the river & saw a picnic table was set up under a tree. A man dressed in white was standing beside it. A small stone bridge formed over the river in front of Mark's eyes. He followed Jonathan over to the table & both sat down opposite each other. The table was covered with a pale blue linen. In the center lay a long candle holder that held seven small red tea candles, all lit up. Beside it lay something that looked like a twisted horn, but it was made of silver. The One who had set up the table was dressed in white & He handed out three pieces of something white & fluffy like cotton candy. He gave one to Mark, one to Jonathan (which Mark found strange, more so that Jonathan accepted it without a word) & kept the third for himself. He then poured out two glasses of deep reddish purple liquid & passed them to Mark & Jonathan before sitting down at the head of the table.

The three of them ate the white fluff in silence. It was sweet like honey, yet had a taste of coriander to it as well. Next Jonathan reached for his glass & Mark did the same. Mark looked over at their Host who still had yet to pour out His own drink. "I'm sorry but ..." Mark began. Jonathan paused from lifting his glass. Mark cleared his throat, feeling suddenly awkward.

"Don't be," Their Guest finally spoke with a soft laugh. "Speak child."

Child? Mark sent a look at Jonathan but the angel merely nodded. Accept the term. Hard though it was, Mark forwent commenting about child & asked, "Would you like something to drink as well?"

"He can't Mark," Jonathan answered. "Not yet. He promised the first disciples He would wait until we are all together." Mark looked at him, but the angel lifted his glass to drink. In silence, Mark copied. It was the best wine he had ever tasted even though for some reason it seemed unfermented.

They finished their drinks & placed the empty goblets on the table. The three sat in silence for a minute until the Guest reached out both hands towards Mark's, taking up the ex-cop's palms into his own. The hands were scarred right through. Something had pierced them.

"What happened to your hands?" Mark blurted out before he could stop himself. It was as if the words needed to be said regardless of how he felt about it.

"They were pierced for you."

In that moment, Mark's eyes were opened & he understood a few things. Who this was & why he had called Mark a child. Child. Yes, of the Boss. "Ohh," Mark couldn't lift his eyes even to look at Jonathan.

"It's alright My child," Jesus said, laughing again.

Mark forced himself to look up. "Thank you," he breathed, wondering exactly why he had just said that.

"You're welcome," Jesus looked down at his scars for a moment, then at Jonathan. "You're quite fond of My angel here aren't you?"

"Well ...yes, of course," Mark began, wishing he could stop feeling so darned insignificant. As if reading his thoughts, an old Bible passage went through his mind about how more than one of the Old Testament prophets felt the same way when they had met the Boss only to fall down onto their faces. It was a natural human response. Mark slowly relaxed.

"I have come to tell you in person that Jonathan must return now."

Oh there it was. Mark felt the blow so hard it was almost physical. "Will he come back?"

"Yes but not for a long time."

"It's why I was gone these passed two weeks," Jonathan said. "The Boss had something to tell us. He has gathered enough angels to replace the third Lucifer stole. We have to prepare now."

"Prepare? For what?" Mark asked, but Jonathan could only look at him. Mark suddenly saw vague images in his mind that he dared not dream in his worst nightmares. "Jonathan!"

"The time is at hand," Jesus said. "You will meet again." He leaned closer to Mark. "As will we."

"Can I ask something?" Mark said. At a nod from the Boss, he went on. "I know no one is supposed to know not the hour. So I won't ask, but how long approximately?"

"Near your mortal life's end," replied Jesus.

Mark gasped, putting both hands over his mouth. "That's not long. Not long!" It didn't matter if Mark lived only a few more years or lived to be ninety, the time left was less than a human life span!

"I have to go," Jonathan began. "I'll be training under Gabriel for this."

The two stood up together. Mark slowly got up from his seat last. "Wait. Wait. What about the man who stabbed you?"

Jonathan glanced to the Boss who nodded. "That wasn't a man. That was one of the fallen angels that left with Lucifer many eons ago. Don't even bother finding him. He will be dealt with soon enough."

"So that blade…"

"An ungodly weapon designed to try killing the angels who didn't bow to him," Jonathan explained.

"KILL? You can die? Again?"

"No," Jesus said. "It's just something Lucifer tries. But only I can destroy both body & soul."

"The edge is sharp," Jonathan began. "Once his mind turned to war, Lucifer could come up with the worst sorts of instruments imaginable. Look what he tried to do to the Boss two thousand years ago." Jonathan took up one of the scarred hands into his own. "We have to go now though we are never truly gone."

"When will I see you again Jonathan? There is nothing about not knowing the hour when an angel comes back, so can I ask that at least?"

Jonathan managed a small smile. "I'll be back before you know it."

"Before I come back."

Mark glanced between the pair. "Well. Kemo Sabe." He held out a hand but Jonathan pulled him into a hug. "I'll miss you. Goodb..." He sucked back a sob, unable to finish.

"Goodbye isn't forever," Jonathan said as they released each other. The angel looked deadly serious into the human's eyes. "Don't accept the chip when it comes & don't follow any manmade rules that go against the Boss's rule."

Mark nodded shortly, then looked at the Boss, partly raising his hand as if to shake but not sure what to do. Jesus wrapped His arms around him. "I am with you always." When He let go, Mark was standing alone. The table had disappeared. He crossed the bridge which also disappeared once he was over & got into the car. He sat there for almost an hour, absorbing the incident as well as the fact that…it was over. Jonathan was gone & he wasn't coming back any time soon. No more assignments to do & Mark suddenly felt too old to return to being a cop.

Jonathan was gone. Mark leaned back in the seat, wondering what he would do without the angel around. Sure there were plenty of angels with him right now, even all around the world. But either they stayed invisible or sometimes they would appear but not tell anyone who, or what rather, they were. Some have entertained angels unawares. Just...angels, the old Bible verse said. It didn't say if they were holy or fallen. Mark thought again of that man, that fallen angel, with the dagger. He thought of Jonathan popping in like nothing, always startling him, then laughing. Entertainment indeed! Mark knew he was going to miss it but wasn't about to admit that vocally.

But nothing changed facts. Jonathan was gone & though other angels were watching over him since the day he was born, it just wasn't the same as having one visibly in the room teasing you with his antics, or working on helping others.

Helping others. Mark wondered. Could he take on assignments on his own? Isn't that something like what a cop would do, serve & protect?

Mark looked over to the empty passenger seat beside him to find it not so empty after all. A long brilliantly shining gold feather lay there. Mark picked it up. It felt warm to the touch & unlike most feathers he had come across; this one didn't break down or get ruffled despite petting it with his finger tips. It would instantly spring back to its original form. "You got your wings Kemo Sabe." Mark put the feather away into the glove department. He laughed softly, turning the car onto the road. "You got your wings."