For the next few hours we sat on the bed and he just held me. We talked about irrelevant things, like our lives before the taskforce. We exchanged stories about our lives as assassins. He'd been a part of a band of assassins whereas I'd been alone for most of my career.

"Have you ever been married?" he asked. I blinked and looked up at him.

"Have you?"

"I asked first," he laughed, pulling me closer to him.

"I was engaged once," I admitted. "In 1802."

"Really?" he looked at me, trying to conceal the jealous spark in his eyes. I smiled, men are men, no matter the species, it didn't matter to him that this had happened over 200 years ago. Well he'd brought it up.

"Yeah," I couldn't help but laugh. "To a demon. I was really homesick and we met on a job. It didn't last more than three months, I realized that I wasn't in love with him, I was in love with how he reminded me of home. Why are you asking? Were you married?"

"I just wanted to clear the air," he laughed. "I was married in 1688."

"Was she a fallen too?" I asked, glad my voice didn't betray the little spark of jealously I felt. It was nothing like how effected he'd appeared, but I couldn't help the little squeak of anger at the known girl Nick had obviously loved.

"No, a human," he kissed my forehead. "You know I fell in 1509, I was lost and confused for years."

"Years?" I looked up at him in disbelief. "Wasn't there a fallen waiting for you?"

"No," he smiled ruefully. "I was an arc-avenger Vic, they wanted me to suffer a little before helping me out."

"How long?" I murmured.

When an angel fell, there was always a fallen to take them to hell, get them accustomed to life without grace. I've heard stories about what angels are like when they first fall to earth... and it's not pretty. I can't imagine a newly fallen having to tough it out alone.

"Just over two years," he smiled bitterly. "One week for every fallen I'd killed."

"I'm so sorry," I reached up and put my arms around his neck. "I can't imagine what that must have been like."

"I survived," he shrugged. "I left hell in 1670, I'd had good companions there, but I wanted to see the world, the human world. I wanted to know if it looked different without my grace."

"Did it?"

"No," he smiled wryly. "It looked exactly the same."

"So you don't regret falling?"

"No," he shifted his weight, laying on his back with me pressed against his side. I rested my head on his shoulder, feeling his chest vibrate through my hand as he spoke.

"So how did you end up falling in love with a human?" I asked.

"I wasn't really in love with her," he took a deep breath. "I just wanted a human life to see if I would see things differently then. I was obsessed with perspectives at the time. So I found a young woman that fit the description of what other human men were looking for and I married her."

"Did your perspective change?" I asked, no longer jealous.

"No," he laughed. "I went back and forth between earth and hell for a long time, then around 1812 I joined my group of assassins and stayed on earth until the taskforce."

"I wonder if we could go back, after this," I murmured.

"What do you mean?"

"After all of this, I wonder if your King would let us live in the fallen kingdom," I said, craning my neck to look into his eyes.

"Would you want that? He asked softly. "To live with me?"

"Yeah," I nodded. "I do."

We may only have been together for a short time, but the attraction had been there for a long time before. It just felt like we were right for each other, just that it was meant to be.

"Then we'll find out," he grinned. "I'll do all I can to make it happen."

"Thank you," I grinned back, nuzzling into his neck.

Then he stiffened. I looked up in confusion and saw his stare was just above my head. I turned to see what was freaking him out. It was the clock. It was eight fifteen. Only half an hour until I had to leave... I took a deep breath and turned back to him. He was staring at the ceiling like it completely fascinated him.

"Nick-"

"I know it doesn't mean anything." He sighed. "But that doesn't make it much easier."

I refused to let Nick take me to Times Square. I didn't want to hurt him anymore and seeing me walk away with whoever Ryder was possessing would not help him in the slightest. So I took the subway alone, walked up the street to Times Square alone. I sat down on the first bench I saw and took a deep breath.

For a split second, I let out my demonic presence. It was just a flash, so only someone waiting for it would know that it was me. It would lead him right to me. I hoped it would take him a while to find me at the same time I wanted this all over with. I sat on that bench, stared straight ahead and waited. I wasn't sure if I was upset of relieved when a tall, gorgeous, heavily muscled twenty something year old man made his way towards me. I knew instantly that it was Ryder. He wasn't bothering to cover his presence.

"I like the body," he smirked.

"I'm not going to comment on yours if that's what you're after," I stood up.

"So where are we going?" He threw an arm around my shoulders which I instantly pushed off.

"There," I pointed to a Hilton hotel a block away.

"How fancy," he smirked.

"You're paying."

"Fine with me, Alexander is a model, he has plenty of money."

"Why am I not surprised?"

We walked in silence the rest of the way to the hotel, checked into a suite, and went to the room. Don't think about it. Pretend it's not happening. I sat on the bed and stared out the window. Well I tried to stare out the window, but the sun was going down so mostly I just saw Ryder taking off his shirt behind me. Pretend it's not happening...