A/N: Here's the next chapter!

Angel's Wings

.17.

"I can explain!" Connie blurted, eyes wide as she waved her hands, Book and dress having fallen to the ground at her feet. Angel lifted her own hands, palms out, and patted the air in a 'calm down' gesture, smiling a little.

"There's no need to explain," she soothed gently. "You're not in trouble." Connie hesitated, eyes darting to the Book of Joseph, it's white cover standing out brightly against the pink dress. "Connie, look at me," Angel said; those blue eyes shot back to her, still anxious and frightened, and Angel offered her the gentlest smile she could, stepping forward and carefully setting her hands on the tense shoulders of the girl. She had to bend down a little so that they were eye-to-eye, but Angel didn't hesitate to touch their foreheads together in a little, affectionate bump.

"You are not in trouble," she continued firmly, kindly. "Being curious, wanting to understand others, is not a bad thing. Wanting to know something and taking the steps to learn it is not a bad thing. You are not being bad, or doing something bad, no matter what anyone else says, just because you're reading that book. Okay?" Connie hesitated, before slowly, hesitantly nodding, bumping their foreheads together again. It made her giggle a little, still nervous sounding, but Angel just smiled back.

"Now, the reason I'm here," she said, straightening up and pulling her hands from the girls shoulders. "I've got a mission to go liberate the radio tower, but I need a guide. Your mother said that you have a tree house somewhere near the tower?" Connie blinked, obviously a little thrown from the topic change, before her eyes lit up.

"Are you asking me to go on a mission with you?!" She asked excitedly; Angel smiled a bit and nodded.

"If you're up to playing guide and staying out of firing range."

"Yes!" The girl blurted, Book forgotten as she bounced in place, eyes glittering brightly. "Yes, I am totally up for that! And more! I can shoot, I can, so I can totally help you out!" Angel once more patted at the air, laughing a little as the girl wriggled and bounced in place like an eager puppy.

"Easy, easy, Connie!" She laughed, smiling warmly at the bright grin she got in return. "Bring the gun just in case, but your part is to just guide me safely while staying safe, understand? I'd get lost otherwise and the last thing we all want is for me to head one way and somehow end up on the other side of the county." The teenager laughed, nodding excitedly, and Angel bent down to scoop up both the dress and the Book.

"First things first, however," she added, watching the excitement melt once more into anxiousness. "You're going to finish up with mending the clothes here, and I'm going to take this to my little nest to put it with the others. I understand you wanting to know more about the Project at Eden's Gate," she added kindly, "but it might not be the best time to go looking for answers, especially here..." Connie winced a little and nodded sheepishly, accepting the pink dress as Angel handed it to her.

"I'm almost done with the clothes," the girl told her honestly, smiling a little as she fingered a half-finished spot on the hemline. "I was just taking a break is all..." Angel smiled and reached forward to stroke a hand over the girl's blond hair, currently tied back in a messy bun.

"Curiosity isn't bad, Connie," she reminded simply. "Next time you want to read, we'll go out of town on a hunting or fishing trip or something, and I'll bring one of the books I have. Lord knows I have my own library's worth of them now," she added dryly, amused as she remembered the large number of books and crosses sitting in a crate in her claimed house.

"Okay," Connie agreed, a tension Angel hadn't even noticed slipping from her thin shoulders as she finally relaxed. She'd probably believed that Angel, despite her reassurances, would have denied her access to the Book, most likely with some sort of 'for your own good' or 'you're not old enough' excuse. Angel had seen plenty of people, especially adults, do such things, after all, and it had always left her feeling weirdly bemused.

She'd never understood denying information to children. Sure, some things should definitely be explained in the least traumatizing way for younger children than for teenagers (sex and violence, for example) but outright denying them or otherwise refusing to answer, just because of their age or you not wanting them to know? It had always seemed very stupid to her in high school.

"Come and find me when you're done," she told the teenager, blinking away from her thoughts with a small smile. "I'll just head back towards my home."

"Okay, Deputy," Connie agreed, pulling her headphones back up and sitting back in her chair, plugging the cord back in and plunging the room back into muffled silence as 'Oh, John' played on. "I'll see you in about an hour!" Angel nodded and let herself out, slipping the Book of Joseph into her backpack before leaving the house.

With plans made and the Book hidden safely out of sight, she walked away from the Richardson House and towards her own.

^.^.^.^.^.^

Angel hummed softly as she finished clipping zip-ties around the wrist of the last Faithful guard. Boomer was panting happily beside her as he stood guard and Connie was excitedly asking her questions about the sleeping gas canisters and how long they'd be unconscious and other things. Angel answered each question patiently and as best as she could, and soon enough the teenager was content to stand guard with Boomer as Angel carefully began to climb to the top of the tower.

"The quickest way to reclaim the Radio Signal is to flip the breakers up at the top, Kid," Dutch grunted at her over the radio on her hip. "It'll still be connected to the peggy stations, but it won't be under their control anymore. We'll be able t' reach from Holland Valley up through the Henbane and into the Whitetails. It's a damn good job, Kid."

"Thank you, Dutch," Angel responded a minute later, as she paused on one of the small 'decks' of the tower, using a hand to shield her eyes as she peered out over the treetops. "Can it reach outside of the county?" she asked, a little hopefully, as she watched a distant herd of deer grazing.

"I don't think so, Kid," the old man responded after a moment. "Definitely not far enough t' reach the National Guard or anythin', at least." Angel hummed lowly, disappointed.

"I was just hoping for a way to reach my sisters, is all," she informed him honestly. "It's almost been two weeks now. If they haven't heard from me in another week, we've got a contingency plan in place that means they'll come looking for me themselves and, well, that's probably not the best idea, all things considered..." Dutch cursed over the radio, huffing in agreement.

"Damn bad time for it, that's for sure," he stated firmly. "You gotta cellphone, Kid? Should have enough of a signal up at the top for a call or two, at least."Angel thought about it for a second before nodding.

"It doesn't have much of a battery, but yes, I have one." Dutch grunted over the line.

"It'll kill your battery faster'n much anythin' else, but you should have about five minutes worth of a call if it's got about half-full." Hope renewed, Angel quickly returned to her climb, ignoring the sting in her hands, healing blisters and the beginning of new callouses from grave digging biting into the ladder despite her gloves. Her arms ached by the time she made it to the very top, the only thing that lead safely back to the ground besides the ladder being a sturdy looking zip-line that had a sign stating it was 'Made by Sharky' on it.

Angel eyed it bemusedly, wondering if that made it more likely to somehow catch fire or more likely to break. (She had grown more than aware of Sharky's weird form of pyromania in the last two days, after all. One temporarily out-of-control forest fire was enough for her, thank you).

"So I just flip all of the breakers in this box, Dutch?" She asked over the radio, eyeing the large flips and small battery-like cells within the metal box curiously.

"Yeah, kid," he replied instantly "Switch 'em all off, then on again, and you'll be good t' go."

"Roger that," she replied, clipping the radio back onto her hip as she followed his instructions. She waited a full five Mississippi's after turning the breakers all off, just to make sure, before flipping them back on again. The box sparked, and a shiver of static flew up both of her arms as she carefully closed the box once again.

"That's it, Kid, you did it!" Dutch exclaimed over the radio, making her smile a little as she heard distant cheering from the direction of Fall's End, the setting sun painting the forest in reds and gold around them. Connie hooted and Boomer barked excitedly in response way down below her, and Angel chuckled as she carefully sat down on the small platform, shifting her bag onto the spot next to her. It was full of food and clothes and a specifically folded blanket, as the two of them (three, counting Boomer) would be camping out in the teenager's Tree House, but there at the bottom was a small cellphone she'd found and claimed from one of the abandoned houses in town. It had been one of a few different ones she'd found, but the only one that hadn't been password locked, so she'd kept just just in case.

And now, she'd be able to use it!

And, indeed, she had a single bar of signal on the tiny screen, and a little more than half of her battery to spare. Quickly, eagerly she dialed Mercy's number, turning the volume up as high as she could and pressing the plastic to her ear tightly.

Two rings, then—!

"Mercy Brook," her sister's voice stated sharply; Angel closed her eyes.

"Hello, Little Sister," she breathed, tipping her head back with relief.

"Angel," Mercy breathed back with equal relief. "You get lost on the road to life or something?" Angel chuckled a bit, lifting her free hand to press over her eyes, feeling tears begin to burn in them.

"I found a Prophet," she said weakly, voice going slightly hoarse with emotion. "And started a Holy War. Also, the world is going to end." There was several second of silence, and then:

"Well, fuck." Angel laughed, bright and relieved and filled with so much Light and Love and Joy at reconnecting with her Family, even if only briefly. "You want us to come to you?" Angel, still chucking, shook her head immediately.

"No, it's a bad time," she replied, pausing to take a deep breath and just Listen for a moment. "...Four months from now, if you can," she replied, voice soft and slightly Dazed as the Warmth Crooned through her. "If you have to come early, head for the Project Center and ask for The Prophet. Tell them you're the Lost Lamb's Flock and it'll work out. The Prophet will Know." The phone beeped a little, battery drained down to a quarter life already, straining to keep a hold on the signal it had.

"I can't fucking believe you found a fucking Prophet," she complained. "Only you would go for an arrest and find God's personal Speaker System in the flesh." Angel laughed again, before sighing as the phone beeped once more, insistantly.

"I have to go," she told her Sister mournfully. "I'll try to call again in a week or so."

"Yeah, yeah, if you don't get lost again, I know," Mercy chuckled back, something relieved and warm in her voice. "Love you, Sis."

"Love you too, Little Sister," she murmured; moments later, the phone buzzed and died in her hands. Angel slowly lowered it to her lap, and just let her head fall back, eyes closed as she slowly breathed.

"...Thank you, Lord," she whispered, chest tight. "Please, please, keep them safe until we meet again. Please." And, in her Heart, the Warmth Sang, filing her with the Peace and Light of the Lord, the Holy Spirit, and her next breath was easy, the tightness of her throat and chest soothed away by His Will, and Angel smiled with her eyes still closed. Thank You, she thought, before opening her eyes once more and getting up.

It was time to see if that zip-line was safe or not, she decided mischievously as she tucked the phone back into her bag and did just that.

And, later that night, if she slid the Book of Joseph she'd hidden in the folded blanket over to a bored Connie, and winked when the girl's face lit up excitedly, well.

She had promised the teenager, after all.

A/N: Sorry this chapter took so long, I've been working for the last 11 days straight, mostly Closing shifts, and while I'm mostly nocturnal, there is such a thing as working too much overtime. I've just been too damn tired to type lately, which sucks but w/e.

Don't forget to review, you guys! ^-^