That night Rene lay away on the couch for a long time.  He was worried, deathly worried.  If the gang decided to come back and attack Magpie without Rene being around, would the angel of love be able to protect himself?  There was no question of sending him home to battle his ‘problems’ alone.

And then there was Rene himself.  As nice as Magpie was and as much as Rene wanted to help, after only two almost solid days in his company he was tired.  He needed some freedom in his own apartment.  Besides he liked order, especially in his own home.  While Magpie was conscientious and kind he didn’t live the same way Rene did, and little things like laying a book down or messing up sofa cushions irked Rene.  But he was far to polite to pester Magpie about it, and Magpie would probably think he was crazy.

He turned over, trying not to fall off the sofa.  The situation was so complicated, and his brain couldn’t take it without his head throbbing.  Perhaps best to save the complex thinking until the morning.

Rene awoke at around 6.00 in the morning, with the sheets tangled round his torso.  His mind has been plagued with dark dreams and confused memories, and he knew he wouldn’t be able to drop off again.  He blinked blearily at the clock on the wall, then clambered to his feet and padded over to the window.  The sun was beginning to peek over the horizon, catching each cloud formation and bathing it in a hot red glow.
Rene sighed.  He needed someone to talk to, someone to discus his fears with and to help him find a solution.  Who did he know that would be awake this early? He rubbed his eyes.  There was only one that sprang to mind.


Raphael was in one of the local gyms training.  Normally he would be out training in the set up ‘training fields’ scattered round the island.  But this time he was practicing attacks on a punching bag.  Suddenly his mobile phone, which was siting in a nearby window ledge, vibrated itself off the ledge and onto the floor with a clatter.  Raphael retrieved it.

“Hello?”
“Raph?  It’s Rene.”
“Rene, how unusual to talk to you so early.  What’s the matter, your lodger keeping you awake?”
“Very funny.  Can we talk?”

Raphael could hear an odd tone in Rene’s voice, and the way he responded to the joke about Magpie was odd too.  Most of the time Rene batted jokes like that aside.
“…sure.  Where and when.”
“The Halcyon Retreat.  Ten minutes.”


It was even to early for the Halcyon to be open, the windows were dark and the outdoor tables were deserted.  Raphael lent against the gate as Rene approached, wrapped up in a brown woollen coat.
“Getting colder now” said Rene placidly, leaning alongside Raphael.
“Cut to the chase” said Raphael bluntly, staring out at the forests that glistened with dew and mist, “What’s bothering you so much that you come and talk to me at 6am?”
“Last night the gang showed up again outside my apartment.”
“The gang who beat up Magpie?”
“I assume so.  I sent them packing but they’re determined kids.  They’ll be back.  And now they know where Magpie is no doubt they’ll try and get into my apartment to get to him.”
“So you want Magpie to go back home…just because some cutthroat hooligans might smash their way though your pristine apartment to get to him.”

Rene scowled at Raphael
“Are you listening to my problem or are you going to just stand their and criticise my way of living?”
“Look me in the eye and tell me that’s not the case then.” Said Raphael flatly, his focus still away in the forest

Rene opened his mouth to argue, and then stopped.  Raphael heard him exhale sadly.
“It’s not that I don’t like Magpie,” Rene said finally, “he’s a great friend, and I’d do anything in my power to help him.  But I’m not used to someone sharing my apartment and it gets me down.  But I don’t have the heart to tell him to go home, and with this gang around I’m worried about him.”

Raphael nodded and straightened up.
“Have you spoken to the Angel Guard about this?”
“Not yet”
“Then that’s the solution.  Talk to them this morning, give them all the details.  Did you know any of the attackers?”
“Arthur Gillian, Mattie Carver, Seraphim Bailey, Claude Verak, Damien Sigma, August Palad-“
“Ok ok, jeeze I forgot you had a photographic memory.  Come on, I’ll walk you back to your apartment.”

They padded back past the sleeping houses.  The morning sun was already glinting off the misty scenery and windows of houses.  It wouldn’t be long before the streets were busy with life.  

“What do you think would drive kids like that to act this way?” Rene pondered as they walked.  Raphael shrugged with a grunt.
“Money, power, a sense of belonging maybe.  All bullies are the same; they pick on those weaker than them to feel powerful, but inside they’re insecure.  If any one of those boys were cornered on their own by a gang of homosexuals they’d be just as scared as Magpie is.”
“Well maybe that’s the answer” said Rene, stopping in his tracks, “Magpie’s not the only gay angel in the Kingdom, there are a lot of others who’d stant up alongside him.”

Raphael turned sharply
“Firstly from what you’ve told me these guys are not your average homophobes.  They don’t like Magpie because he’s the partner of the Lord of the Underworld, and somehow they think that’s against the ‘code’ of angels.  Secondly if you did round up an army to fight back that would only encourage the bullies to get stronger.  It would be a never ending cycle.”

He reached forward and gripped Rene shoulder.
“Let the authorities handle this.  It’s their job.” He said firmly.  Rene nodded, looking a little deflated.  ‘That was all there was to it’ he thought as they continued walking, ‘call the angel guard, it’s their job’.  A simple solution, and yet he still felt empty.  The angel guard would probably just charge the kids, but Rene had seen what they did to Magpie.  He knew it was selfish and cruel, but he wanted those boys to suffer.

They rounded the bend that lead the hill Rene’s apartment block was on, just as the sun rose and bathed each block with a clean fresh glow.  As they reached Rene’s block, he fumbled in his pocket.
“Hang on Raph, I’ll just get my key for the front door” he muttered
“You won’t need it” said Raphael, “The front door’s open”

Rene looked up.  The main door into the block was indeed open, which was odd because normally it shut automatically once someone had entered.  A closer inspection revealed that the automatic lock has been smashed.  His blood ran cold.  He looked sideways at Raphael, and the expression on his face said that he was thinking the same thing.
“If thay could smash the automatic lock…they’d have to problem getting upstairs…” muttered Rene, his voice tinged with dread.  Raphael grunted
“Maybe they’re still here.”

Rene pelted up the stairs two at a time not bothering to wait for the lift.  Raphael followed at a similar speed, hoping the catch the gang in the act.

To confirm Rene’s fears, the door of his apartment was ajar, and a few neighbours hovered around outside it like a gaggle of geese.  Raphael shooed them away as Rene prepared to step into his apartment, terrified of what he would find.

Firstly he found that the door was half blocked by a chair, and he and Raphael had to squeeze round the tiny gap to get in.  Rene went first, but the shock of what he found made his blood freeze in his veins.

The room was a tip.  The gang hadn’t bothered to keep tidy.  They knew what they had been looking for and had gone at it like a shot.  The sofa had been overturned, and the little table that had stood behind it had been smashed.  The curtains round the huge windows had been ripped down.  A whole bookcase had been cleared out, its contents lying strewn on the floor.  The television has been shoved behind a door, the carpets were a tangled mess, and the smaller chairs were on the other side of the room, their cushions lying all over the place.

All Rene could do was to stare at the mess, trying to take it in.  All his belongings that he spent meticulous hours arranging and taking care of had been ripped apart in a matter of minutes.  He could barely hear Raphael snarling with anger.
“Look at this place!  Those hooligans they have no honour or respect for their fellow angels!  It’s disgusting, they’re not religious zealots they’re common thugs!”

Raphael picked about the wreckage.
“Look at this, nothing is sacred, the barge into your home and look at the pandemonium their cause.  Maybe it was better that you were out when…Rene?”

Looking round Raphael was in time to see Rene crumple to his knees.  His face was pale, and he was twitching.  The angel of humour clutched at his shoulders, breathing deeply, but his eyes were wild and staring.  As Raph picked his way back towards him, Rene toppled sideways.  He hit the floor and lay very still.  By the time Raphael reached him, Rene was out cold.

***

Rene awoke with a start finding a plastic object covering his mouth.  He tried to remove it, then realised it was a breathing mask.  An unseen hand pressed him gently to the floor again, and an unseen mouth said ‘lie still’.  He did as he was told, taking deep breaths.  Someone had placed a pillow behind his head, and as his eyes focused he could see Raphael standing behind what appeared to be a paramedic.

“Will he be ok?”
“I think so, most likely it was shock, and by the look of this place I wouldn’t be surprised.  Make sure he stays still while I got and help the others.”

The uniformed angel stood up and left Rene’s field of vision to be replaced by Raphael.
“How are you feeling?” asked Raphael bluntly
“Dizzy.” Murmured Rene, “What happened?”
“You fainted, perhaps that’s a good thing.  You looked a wreck.  I called the ambulance and the police…and I found Magpie.”

Rene sat up.
“The gang didn’t take him?”
“No, they left him tied to a chair in your bedroom…” Raphael tailed off uncharacteristically.  Rene frowned and lent up on his ‘elbows’ eyeing Raphael quizzically.
“Was he ok?”
Raphael coughed sharply and looked at Rene with concern.
“No…not really…lets just say the paramedics were a good idea.  It was more than just a torn out wing and a few bruises.”