WHEN AXEL FINALLY OPENS HIS EYES AGAIN, he's sitting under the night sky.

It was the same night sky, under which he had nearly lost his life.

His eyebrows furrow in confusion. What-?

He looked down at his abdomen. There wasn't a trace of all the crimson he had spilled. Huh?

It didn't feel like he was in the realm of the dead either. His mind was surprisingly clear and alert, his fingers and muscles no longer felt weak or numb, but the world around him was silent. Still.

Naturally, his eyes drifted back up to the night sky. There was something more defined about the stars tonight, almost as if they were shining a tad bit brighter, and as if the constellations were more distinct.

But then he blinks, and the sky instantly changes.

His eyes widen. The sight around him has him gawking, lips parted and all- because this- god, it's better than anything he has ever imagined.

A tapestry of diamonds, glimmering above his head. That's what it's like- almost as if darkness itself is pale and glittering.

Billions of stars, some so close that they appear massive and some so far that they appear as faint pulsing specks- with thousands of them morphing into constellations and patterns, right in front of his eyes.

"It's beautiful, isn't it?"

His head whips to his side.

She sits beside him, a serene smile resting on her lips, hair tumbling down her back in graceful waves as her eyes drift between the stars. There aren't any wings resting on her shoulders this time, so apart from the faint glow that she seems to emit, she looks human, like he is.

"This is what the universe really looks like," she murmurs, almost wistfully, "and to the earthlings, it once looked like this too, before the invasion of darkness began."

"It's-" Axel breathes, looking back up at the sky with awe. "It's more beautiful than anything I've ever imagined."

"I know," her voice fills the silence- yet there's something so pleasant and melodic about it, like tinkling water or the murmur of a stream, that he could spend his forever listening to it.

His eyes drift past the expanse of the sky taking it in, and committing it to his memory, the best he could- before she speaks again.

"The universe," she says, "is always sending us messages, causing coincidences and weaving the tales of fate."

The stars above begin to morph into something. Some brighter, some smaller- some further spaced than others- but they begin to form different figures.

A man, he realizes. The stars are morphing into a man, gazing up at the night sky. There isn't all that much detail, but he can tell that the man is smiling- with a sense of nostalgia- because he can feel an identical emotion inside his own chest.

The man continues to do so until a sudden force has him staggering. He glances around frantically, his hands going down to his abdomen.

The more Axel stares at what's playing out in front of his eyes with furrowed eyebrows, the more he recognizes the odd familiarity of events.

And then it hits him. It's him that they're depicting.

"Our stories are written in the stars," her voice says, "and we weave the stories of our existence through space-time along with the universe. This is your story."

"How- How did I let this happen?" he murmurs, gazing up as the man in the stars, collapses. "What- who-?"

Another figure appears in the stars. Her, he realizes. Though he isn't looking at her, he can tell that she's smiling as the events play out. She leans above him, a hand extended towards him, and the moment her figure touches his- he can feel the memory of life zipping down his spine.

Only when, many moments later, three other figures appear, do they fade away, and the stars go back to glimmering innocently above.

"What-" Axel looks at her, confused, "Why'd it stop?"

"The stars can only tell you the story till the present," she says, not taking her eyes off the sky, "you must wake to allow it to tell you more."

Wake? Was he not awake right now?

"Oh," he gulps, releasing a shaky breath.

To think he was going to go back to the land of the living, with the person who was responsible for this still out there- undoubtedly unnerved him. She had saved him, this time- and he was counting his lucky stars for it, but what if it happened again?

He dismisses the thought quickly. He was The Falcon. This incident would never let him forget to carry his gun around with him, and he knew that he'd be fine as long as he had an armed weapon.

Something was nagging him, however. Since he was obviously in the expanses of his own mind, there was no way to confine the thought.

"And- and what about you?"

As soon as Axel asks the question, he can feel his face heating up with embarrassment. Why the fuck would you ask someone that? Stupid, stupid-

"Me?" for the first time, she turns into him. He had remembered her eyes as a vivid green- but instead, they are a bright metallic gold as bore into his own. Her lips lift into a reassuring, but wistful smile as she looks at him.

"I promised I wouldn't leave, didn't I?"

He didn't know where the relief from that statement came, but he can't find it in him to respond to that, so he turns back to the sky. It still shines with the light of a thousand suns above him, and for a second it overwhelms him.

"The sky," he says a little hesitantly, "Can you put it back?"

He blinks, and it's back to normal- making it feel like the entire thing was simply a figment of his imagination. But he can still feel her presence next to him- and he knows he couldn't have imagined something as surreal as what she had just shown him.

"The universe isn't what it seems like to earthlings," she says, and when he turns to her, she's still looking at him with the same thoughtful smile, "you've seen a side to something that no one else has."

There's a certain tone behind her voice that has his curiosity growing, making him tilt his head and look at her intently.

"What do I do with it, then?" he says.

She rises from where she's sitting beside him.

"Just like the universe, there are sides to people that no one has ever seen."

She presses something to his palm, closing his fingers around it. Both her touch and the object in her hand, thrum with energy, but he tries not to let it distract him, keeping his eyes on her. When she looks back up at him, there's a wary look in her eyes.

"You must be careful."

Everything goes dark.

His eyes snap open.

He squints at the white walls that surround him. What the-?

It takes him a few moments, past all the fogginess in his brain, until it all comes back to him slowly- but that does nothing to lessen the befuddlement.

The last thing he remembered was looking up at the stars, knowing he was going to die- so why the fuck was he in the room that looked suspiciously like their unit's hospital wing?

His tired eyes groggily survey the small room, until they come to rest on a slightly slumped figure right next to his bed. He squints at the figure, blinking away the bleariness in his eyes the best he could.

"Corban?"

Even his voice sounds hoarser than usual because his throat feels scratchy and drier than a desert. It nearly sends him into a coughing fit, even as the figure beside him snaps his head up immediately.

Corban's eyes widen at the sight of him.

He looks like he hasn't slept in a few days, that's for sure- since his curly hair isn't styled into its usual dreadlocks, and his dark skin doesn't seem to be glowing the way it usually does.

For a second, Corban only looks at Axel- his brown eyes wide, with both surprise and relief, before they narrow into a sneer.

"You fucking little shit," he hisses, glaring at him, "what the fuck did you think you were doing?"

"Good to see you too, boss," Axel rolls his eyes at the man sitting next to him before he glances down at himself.

He was no longer in the clothes that he had worn to go out, he notices. Instead, a hospital gown adorned his frame, and there was a tiny lump on his upper abdomen, right where he had gotten shot- and he assumed that that was where he was bandaged.

"How long have I been out?"

Corban glares at him. "Two days. Seriously Axe, why the fuck did you decide to leave the party, to take a walk in the middle of the goddamn night without your gun? And nearly two miles away, really?"

Axel's eyebrows furrow in confusion, as his hand shakily reaches for the glass that Corban's holding out for him. He takes one long gulp, letting the cool liquid bring relief as it slides down his throat before he looks back at him.

"About that," he says slowly, "how did you find me?"

"What do you mean?" confusion dawns on Corban's face as well, "You called me."

"What?" Axel sputters, attempting to straighten in the bed. A small wave of pain- much less than what he would've thought- blooms from his wound, making him let out a hiss through his clenched teeth.

"Idiot," Corban mutters, getting up from his seat to help Axel. "Do you not remember calling me?"

"That's the thing," Axel glares right back at Corban, "my phone died on me."

Corban gives Axel an unimpressed look. "Quit playing around."

"The fuck do you mean?" the annoyance in Axel only grows at his dismissal, "Why would I be playing around?"

"Because your phone was at a hundred percent," Corban deadpans, "even now, the battery percentage hasn't wavered."

"W-What?" Axel sputters again. "I- what? That's not possible- I- I distinctly remember-"

But Corban holds up his phone, right in front of his eyes, and he can see it. 

A hundred percent. 

The look on Corban's face has him stopping too, since it's a look of equal deep confusion.

"What the- you-you're serious?" he mutters disbelievingly.

"Yeah man," Corban runs a hand through his hair, "things have been weird as fuck."

"They have?"

"Yeah," Corban sits back down in the rickety chair next to the bed, wringing his hands together, "one, you're healing."

"How is that weird?"

"It's weird because you're healing at an inhumanly fast rate," Corban gives Axel a drained look. "You got shot twice, and you lost a lot of fucking blood. You needed blood transfusions, a whole ass surgery and all that shit- but when they checked your wound a few hours after they stitched it up- two days ago, mind you- it was completely healed."

Axel can only blink. Wha-?

"And two," Corban reaches for something on the table, "when we found you, you were holding this."

He holds up a feather.

"It's... uh- pretty?" Axel murmurs staring at it, still confused. It was a long, gleaming snow-white feather, with tints of gold to it- but he couldn't for the life of him figure out where he got it.

"It is," Corban holds it out, for Axel to take, "But notice how there isn't a single drop of blood on it. Weird how you were fucking bleeding out, but no blood managed to touch it, right?"

"I-" Axel stares at the feather, wracking his mind for where it could have possibly come from. "This is weird- I have no fucking idea where that came from."

He reaches out for it, and the moment he touches it, a zing runs down his spine.

I won't leave, I promise.

"What the-" he pulls his hand back as if he had been burned, looking up at Corban who only gives him an odd look.

"Did you- did you feel that? And did you hear that?"

"I didn't hear or feel anything," Corban says, giving him a concerned look, "man, are you okay?"

"I-" Axel didn't know if he was fine. 

What on earth was happening to his mind? He stares at the feather with suspicion, narrowing his eyes at it.

It was weird. Very weird. The feather looked like it had never seen dirt, and it was almost glowing even in the little darkness of the room- but if he had been clutching it with bloody hands- how had it not turned scarlet?

Before he can continue, however, a light knock resounds on the door.

"Come in," Corban says while continuing to watch Axel cautiously.

A man walks into the room. His familiar blond hair is disheveled, and his green eyes look tired, in the faint rays of the sun that had made their way into the room.

"Boss," the man acknowledges Corban with a nod of his head, before turning to Axel, "Axe. Doing good, mate?"

Axel manages a reassuring nod, despite his internal confusion.

"Reynolds," Corban says, finally turning to him with a focused look. "Anything new?"

Gale Reynolds runs a hand down his face tiredly. 

"No, unfortunately," he mutters. "Nothing more than what we already know."

Corban releases another string of curses under his breath, burying his face in his hands.

"Goddamn fuck," he mutters angrily, "I'm going to kill him when I find him."

Axel can only stare at the both of them in confusion, even when Gale nods in agreement.

"What-What are you talking about?" he spares both of them a confused glance.

Gale inhales, moving closer to Axel's bedside.

"Before I can tell you that," he says, "I need you to tell me what exactly happened."

"I mean, it's obvious, isn't it?" the furrow in Axel's eyebrows deepens in perplexity.

"That's alright, tell me anyway," Gale even goes on to pull out a notepad and a pen.

"Well alright then," he mutters gruffly, "I- there was a party, right? There were too many drunk people and too many clingy girls- and I needed some peace from it all, so I decided to step out."

"You weren't armed, though."

"I wasn't," Axel reaffirms, "I walked to my spot, all by myself- and I was looking up at the sky when someone, y'know-" he swallows- "shot me."

"Are you always unarmed when you go to your spot?"

"No," he mumbles, still irritated with himself for being that stupid about it, "only that day."

"So, the one day you go there unarmed is the day you get shot."

Axel scowls at Gale, who simply stares at a spot with a look that was both thoughtful and anxious. Was the fucker trying to rub it in his face?

"Did someone take it from you? Or did you just forget?"

"I forgot," Axel grumbles. Stupid little shit.

"And did you see anyone? Or anything at all?" Gale peers at him intently, before he goes to scribble something down.

"No," Axel hesitates a little before adding, "Well- I uh- I thought I saw someone with red eyes."

Gale's head reels back slightly, as his writing pauses. "Red eyes?"

Corban lifts his head up to look at Axel with the same unimpressed, annoyed- yet slightly disturbed look.

"Red eyes?" he repeats too.

"Yeah," Axel feels stupid saying it out loud, and while a part of him thinks that it's a hallucination a part of him assures him that he definitely saw those eyes.

"I-" Gale looks like he doesn't know what to do with that information, looking at Axel with an expression that he assumed was disbelief.

"Maybe you saw something that looked like a pair of red eyes," Corban mutters, gesturing towards Gale, "write that down anyway, it might help."

Axel frowns at the dismissal. Corban had been setting aside a lot of what he had said, and while that annoyed him- he knew that what he was saying seemed pretty unrealistic. Who'd believe it?

"Are you going to tell me what's this about?" he mutters annoyed, looking at the both of them. "Do you know who it is?"

"Well, about that," Gale glances at Corban before looking back at Axel. "We did a sweep of the area."

"And?"

"There wasn't much that could help us," Gale holds up a small transparent evidence bag, that looks like it's holding a scrap of cloth, "but we found this."

Axel squints at it, as Gale hands it over to him.

"Looks familiar, doesn't it?"

It did look familiar. It was a tiny piece of cloth, but he could recognize that shade of blue anywhere.

"This-" Axel stares at it, completely baffled. "This looks like it's from our T-shirts- the-the unit's T-shirts."

Axel, Gale and Corban- among others, were part of a legal investigative unit. Every legal investigative unit had their own bunch of T-shirts given to them- kind of like uniforms that they had to wear when they were meeting with other units or such. For, reference, these were top-secret groups- something like a tactical unit but with more variety in terms of what members specialized in.

And the piece of cloth staring back at him from the transparent bag was a piece of cloth that looked exactly like it was a scrap from one of their unit's T-shirts.

He wasn't wearing one, that day. It couldn't have been his.

He looks up at Gale and Corban who were supporting somber looks.

"We ran diagnostics on the bullets," Gale mutters, "and we had someone from forensics come to look at your bullet wounds."

"And?" Axel was smart enough to know where this was going, and the dread in him was growing in him, as he silently begged that it wasn't true.

"The person who shot you, knew what he was doing. Sharp aim, with precision. And-"

He pauses, taking a deep breath.

"Both the weapon, and bullet diagnostics match the ones that our unit is specifically supplied with."

Axel inhales sharply.

"There was never a kill order for you," Corban says, glaring into space, "so whoever it was, was trying to kill you, for reasons we don't know. Reasons that are unrelated to our unit."

"What the-" Axel leans back. Below the shock of it all, there's a wave of certain anger bubbling up his chest, clawing its way to the surface, raging inside his mind like a beast- but he holds it back- looking back at Gale and waiting for him to confirm the words that he dreads.

And he does.

"You