A/N: This fic was originally written for a series of drabbles I've been writing in the TDI Forum "The Writer's Lounge". I've expanded on it (It's almost half-again as long as the original) since writing it and finally worked up the confidence to post. It's not Duncan/Noah, though I think I said that in the summ. so XDD forgive me for that. This was experimental and written very late(?)/early in the morning, and so I beg you to not have high expectations.
Reviews are loved!
Disclaimer: I do not own TDI/A. That's good enough, right?
I will be glad and rejoice in your love,
for you saw my affliction and knew the anguish of my soul.
Psalm 31:7
There is an angel and a demon.
Theirs is a complicated story, beginning on a clear summer night.
-
"Angel, white angel, so pretty," the Demon drags his hand through soft white wings, grinning wickedly as the form below him shudders and whimpers. He delights in Felling angels, delights in the way their feathers gray and blacken with time, their silky, ebony feathers rustling as they roll their tongue on his hip, drag claws over his thighs. "Come to me, and I will show you the true Heaven," his voice is gravelly and rough.
This angel in particular pleases him the most, though it is not the most lovely, or the most important, it is pure, pure as the day it was birthed, innocent of the hatred of the world, innocent of Lucifer. New and unblemished, it doesn't know that what he is doing is filthy -disgustingfilthyevildemon-
"Your wings are magnificent," he whispers as he strokes hypersensitive appendages, leaning forward to suckle at the back of the angel's neck, purring as the creature shifts and cries his name out, unable to unbind his hands and escape.
"Nngh-Noah!"
-
It is strange, no matter what he does the angel remains white, pure, unblemished. He takes the angel to his bed every night, wraps him in red silk and cuts his flesh, whispering his name as he licks a path from tip to toe, "Oh Cody, do you like this, yes? What was that? More?" He suckles the junction of his neck and jaw, just below the ear, savoring each tiny whimper and groan he drags out from the younger creature. "How could I resist?"
The angel in turn tends to him outside of the bedroom, leading him up from beneath the Earth's crust to explore the cities and towns, exclaiming happily, delighting in the simplest things, a flower, a child, a small animal. Noah has felt nothing for these things in millennia, it amuses him to no end and he stands back, allowing the Holy being the chance to be near the things it was meant to before dragging it back to hell to take his pleasure once more.
-
The years pass, they grow closer.
Eventually Cody convinces Noah to make their home 'topside' -as neither Heaven nor Hell are appropriate for either of them to live indefinitely- they live near the ocean in a flat that Noah pays no rent for, much to the angel's chagrin, spending each day by the beach and each night curled up together under red silken sheets.
Noah feels more at peace than he ever did in heaven, the pure angel's soft words and gentle touches paradise itself for him. He wants this to go on forever, knows it can't. He is ever the selfish creature though, and knows that if they try to separate them, he will fight back with fang and claw until the streets of Heaven run with gore.
"Noah, Noah," Cody tugs at his sleeve one night. "I can hear them calling me. They want me to come home, I don't understand, they never cared before-" he pauses, looking down, his large eyes filled with sadness. "I don't want to leave."
He grabs the angel by the neck, tosses him to the bed and mounts him with a growl, pulling at the angel's bedclothes. "I will never let you leave." He swears it in every language as he takes the angel with angry, almost bruising thrusts, drowning in the scent of lilies.
-
He watches from above, in almost awe of the two completely different creatures down below. They fit together almost perfectly, so well so that He wondered if it would become a hassle when things came to a close between the forces of Light and Darkness.
The angel He know's doesn't know any better, but it almost pains Him to see the pure creature caught up with such a vile demon, cast out from Home for unmentionable deeds concerning the painstakingly created human race. He stands, waving His hand idly, calling His soldiers to His side.
They appear, each dressed in white robes trimmed with gold and armor, brandishing golden spears and swords. They bend to one knee, bowing before Him, heads almost to the ground. He conjures an image of the mismatched pair, shows it to the Principalities, "You must remove the demon and his influence from your little brother," He whispers, for if He used His voice normally they would all be destroyed within seconds by the booming sound.
"By any means possible," they nod their agreement at that statement.
One of the angels, a male figure with straight and shoulder length blond hair grins almost sadistically. "Any means possible.." he laughs, disappearing moments after his brothers, lance gripped tightly in hand.
He sighs before turning to focus back on His work, a little side project He had been wanting to do for quite some time.
-
Noah comes home to find the door burnt open, signs of fighting evident in his home. There is no blood on the walls, a sign he takes as good, but the window's are all broken and there is glass covering the floor along with pots and pans and the remains of lunch that Cody must have been preparing beforehand. He drops the pale orange flowers he had sto-er-acquired from a neighbor's garden, calling out for the angel worriedly as he takes in the destruction, walking carelessly across the glass, hearing it crunch beneath bare feat though no shards dare embed themselves in his skin.
He makes his way to the bedroom, falling to his knees as he see's his angel, impaled on a golden spear, white, white feathers scattered on the carpet.
"C-Cody!" He cries out, twin trails of blood streaming down his face as he makes his way to the angel, yanking the spear from his body, biting back a hiss of pain as the holy weapon burns through the skin on his fingers and palms, gently lifting his lover from the ground.
There is no response from the young angel, no heartbeat, no twitch of fingers or puff of breath. He shakes the angel a few times, unwilling to accept his death before breaking into sobs, clutching the still-bleeding body to his own, burying his face in the cold, limp shoulder of his lover and swearing revenge.
-
The trek to Heaven is excruciatingly painful, Noah had left Cody's limp form at the Gates, storming past Michael. As the angel reaches out to grab his arms, he slices through Michael's hand with his claws, barking out a 'don't touch me' as the angel regrows his hand within moments, sending a dirty look to the quickly moving back as Noah storms forward before running back to check on Cody.
Once angel or not, Noah has never had excuse to visit His Holiness; standing before the pillars of ivory and gold, lined with precious jewels and scented with oil lamps suspended from the Heavens themselves Noah feels small, insignificant. He almost wonders if he shouldn't just leave, but he reprimands himself for even thinking that way.
There is much to dissuade any demon from entering God's Palace, Noah comes to discover, there are Guardians, two sphynx who stare at eachother, freezing anyone who dares to pass through their gate, forcing them to solve a riddle to move forward. There is a sixteen headed snake, each head with its own personality and set of horns - Noah barely manages to slip past it by conjuring a decoy, a small imp from Hell, sneaking past as the snakes begin to tear their snack apart.
The last challenge is a staircase, leading high into the clouds. It is impossible to see where it ends, it seems to spiral endlessly.
With superhuman strength on his hands, the stairs would be easy for Noah, save for one thing.
To reach the final Heaven, one had to continuously walk through a waterfall of the Holiest water; the staircase had been built directly beneath so that every inch was covered in spray.
Noah spread his wings, but found he couldn't fly, the only way up was through the water and up the stairs.
He took a deep breath and began his ascent.
-
Noah claws his way through to the top, black wings stripped bone bare the holy water he had been forced to trek through, scorching, burning, eating away at him. He pants and groans as he lifts himself onto the clouds that encircle the final Heaven, barely resisting the urge to snuggle into the clouds and purr, cover himself in Holiness and drift into the sleep of ages.
God is, unsurprisingly, expecting him, clad in gold, faceless in his throne carved from the very matter that birthed the universe itself. An anger fills Noah like none he's ever felt, and though the risk of being smited is there, he drags himself to his feet and stomps over to the Heavenly Father.
He is unrepentant as he screams, claws cutting welts into his palms, "Bring him back, you bastard! I know you had him killed! Bring! Him! Back!"
His blood stains God's immaculate floor, black and boiling as the creator whispers in a voice that cuts deeper than any knife. "No."
"Damn you," he cries, tearing his hair out in by the fistful, naked and broken, "Damn you! Why did you take him from me? Why?!"
"They came for you," His Holiness says in a cold voice. "And He would not give you up to them, though you were to be his Mortal Enemy. He professed his love for you-"
"No, no," Noah cradles his head in his hands, "He love-he would, no, not for me, he would have, he died for you-"
"No," the Lord whispers, holy light dimming a fraction, and Noah looks up through red ringed eyes. "He died for you. And for that, he will not be returned."
The Principalities return from their never ending battle with Hell, flecking blood from gold trimmed swords. They are shocked to see him there, before his holiness, they cry blasphemy grab his arms, his broken body. Noah digs his claws into the floor and holds tight, screaming still.
"Show him mercy! God, if you ever loved anyone, if we were anything more than play toys to you, you'll do this, goddammit, bring him BACK!"
God stands and they all fall still.
He waves his hand.
The universe grows dark.
-
Noah wakes, groaning, every fibre of his being aching as though he's been dragged through hell and back - and really, he has - he sits up, drags his hand through his hair and stretches before freezing, everything coming back to him, hitting him as if it were a tsunami.
Cody.
He lets out a broken sob, closing unseeing eyes tight and curling up, heedless of his surroundings. "Oh merciful--Lucifer, oh GOD, Cody-"
He hears a whimper beside him. "..Noah? W..what're you...you okay?" A soft hand touches his face.
Noah jerks back, falling back onto the earth - sand? - beneath him, feeling tiny grains stick to his hair. His skin. It doesn't hurt, his skin doesn't hurt - he keeps his eyes shut tight, knowing this was nothing more than a dream - a cruel nightmare.
"Noah, Noah, open your eyes!" His cheeks are slapped lightly, then with more force, the voice above him almost desperate and he opens them, cringing as he imagines the Demons above him, laughing as they tease him cruelly with lances and - Oh Heavenly Father.
"Cody," The word is like a prayer on his lips.
"Good morning," His lover whispers, leaning down to kiss him, all white feathers and innocence.
Noah kisses him back fiercely, not about to waste one moment with Cody. He thanks God breathlessly in his mind, over and over as he rolls the laughing angel beneath him and drags his robes up, breathing deep the scent of purity as white white feathers envelop him and soft skin presses against his-
"I love you," he whispers against the others mouth, licking the corner where his fangs have pricked the pure skin.
"Love you too," the words are breathy and soft and he knows that being dragged through hell and back was worth it, just for this.
-
God looks down on the both of them, their reunion - He loves His children though He doesn't show it often enough, the words of His Fallen had shaken Him to His core.
They are laughing, together, hands and fingers and lips tracing smooth skin and He orders His angels silently to let them be, to let them have their Reward.
"My children.." He whispers before tuning back to Heaven, ready to start forming life on a tiny planet He had been experimenting on for quite some time.
-
There is an angel and a demon.
Their story begins anew under indigo skies, hands clasped clammy and hot, unwilling to relinquish their hold on one another, tears running hot and salty over cheeks and lips, pressed tight.
They have forever, and somehow, it'll never be enough.
Love does not delight in evil, but rejoices with the truth.
It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.
Love never fails.
I Corinthians 13:6-8