10 | draco

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"Run," Axel tugs at her arm, panicked, "RUN!"

It only takes a fraction of a second to snap out of the daze of realization before they're spinning on their heels, taking off like lightning.

This time, however, it's panic that fills their veins along with the adrenalin, not determination.

The only thing he can hear past his own heavy breathing and thudding hearts are their hurried footsteps and the rustling of leaves and branches, as their feet slap against the forest floor. Some sharp branches cut into his skin, making his face and neck sting, but he doesn't let it stop him. He can't.

He knew that the bomb was too tiny to have a blast radius more than fifty yards, but even that much was enough to trigger all the traps- the land mines- that the ground had been laden with.

That would mean trouble. Big trouble.

Stella's eyes dart behind her, to where Axel was- and for a second, she considers revealing her wings, and flying them to safety. It would take a second, maybe three, but no less- and they'd be safe.

But as she continues to run, she realizes something, that makes a tiny blip of panic find its way into her heartbeat.

She couldn't even if she wanted to.

The trees were too many, the woods were too thick, they had run too far into the greens to bare them in time. There would be no room for her to even let them spread, let alone fly them to safety.

A certain helplessness engulfs her body and mind for a second, and it nearly makes her falter because it's something that she's never felt before.

It wasn't the feeling of having wings that you couldn't use, like a bird in captivity with tied wings.

It was helplessness because this time she couldn't save Axel if they didn't make it out of there in time.

It wasn't her life that she was concerned about, for there was only one thing in the universe that could kill her, and it was not a bomb constructed by mortals.

But Axel?

He was a mortal. Many things could end his life, and a bomb was definitely among them.

Her eyes are wide with dread, as they dart back to him once more, but just as she turns, an explosion wracks through the ground, throwing them both off-balance.

Tremors erupt from behind them- one after another, each bang louder than the last, and even as they tumble to the ground, arms wrap around her, crushing her to a strong body, with a hand covering her ears and face- shielding her from the blast.

Her ears ring, but even with one ear pressed against his chest, close enough to hear his heartbeat, loud and clear- and all she can think is,

Why?

Why on Earth would he do that? Why would he shield her body with his?

"Stella? Hey, hey- Stella?!"

There's a hand, a warm but rough hand, placed underneath her chin- forcing her to look upwards into stormy eyes that bore into hers with startling intensity and concern.

"Are you alright?"

She can hear him past the ringing in her ears, and even as her lips part as she looks up at him, she can't bring herself to respond. There's a scratch on his cheek, and one on his neck, dripping of deep scarlet blood- ash and soot covering the back of his clothes, with thick clouds of fumes and smoke billowing from behind him, and not more than a few scrapes on her.

But here he was, asking her if she was alright?

"You're bleeding," she hears herself say.

He winces, as his eyes dart back to the woods that are now in flames, as the tremors from the explosions finally die down. The sound of splintering wood fills the air, as a tree collapses into the fires.

"I know."

And Stella can only stare at him, incredulously. She wasn't the one that needed protecting from the bomb- he was. She had never had someone to protect her, and she never needed it- because she was an angel- a protector herself.

No one protected them, they protected and fought for themselves- it went without saying, like a permanent unsaid rule, that she had grown to learn when she was created, eons ago.

But this human had done it for her, without hesitation- even though his life was the one in peril.

"We have to get out of here quickly," she hears him say, and she can only nod mutely as she pushes herself away from him, getting to her feet.

She doesn't even know why it seems like much, but it refuses to stop plaguing her mind.

Whether it's because no-one has ever protected her the way he did, or because she's simply surprised of the show of selflessness of a human- even when they return and find themselves staring out of a huge glass window, into the rain that had begun to descend, she doesn't stop thinking about it.

"Again," she can hear him murmur from her side, "I- Someone tried to-" he lets out a frustrated breath, running a hand through his hair.

"You shouldn't have done that," she says, without turning to him.

"Done what?"

She scoffs- but it's not rude or sarcastic. "Shielding my body with yours was stupidly selfless, not to mention your life was in danger- not mine. You shouldn't have done that."

"I do what I want," Axel's voice is just as firm as hers, "and you forget that I owe you my life, Stella."

She turns to face him with narrowed eyes, ready to retort but stops when she sees his expression.

He wasn't facing her either, staring out into the rain- but his jaw was tight, his expression was hard, and though he was trying hard to conceal it, there was a look in his eyes that Stella recognized that was all too familiar.

Pain.

Instantly, her expression softens.

She couldn't imagine the pain of having someone betray her. She couldn't ever understand what it'd feel like when someone she considered a friend went so far as to try and take her life, and that made her feel terrible for him.

Her gaze flits to the burner phone in her firm grip that had lit up with the mysterious message, as she runs a thumb over it.

Bea.

"I don't know who to trust," he mutters under his breath, and it's obvious that he didn't mean for her to hear it.

For a moment, Stella has no idea how to comfort him, as she glances at him from the corner of her eyes.

But after another second of thought, she extends her hand, slipping into his, interlacing their fingers, and giving it a small squeeze.

He turns to her, clearly surprised with the gesture, as she smiles at him.

"You have my loyalty," she tells him, as resolutely as she can.

He meets her eyes with a long look of his own before he squeezes back, looking outside again. "I already trust you, Stella."

She nods, ignoring the warmth in her chest, as she pulls her hand away. The touch of both their fingers linger, but she doesn't allow herself to ponder too hard over it.

"I'm sorry about your spot," she says sincerely, "It was beautiful for the stars."

"It's okay," he says, but she can hear the sadness in his voice, "I can always watch them from somewhere else."

It's quiet for one moment, the sound of the droplets of rain filling the silence until she turns to look at him once more.

"You really love them, don't you?" she asks softly.

He turns to her, and when their eyes meet, he can't help but think that the reason she had always seemed so familiar, yet unfamiliar, was because of them. The stars.

"Yes," he admits, as his eyes soften, "There's comfort in them. I find my cosmic insignificance reassuring because the stars don't care who I am or what I do. When I look up at the stars, even if no one's listening to what I have to say, it's comforting to know that I have an entire universe to talk to."

Stella smiles at him. If only he knew.

But instead, she says, "Have you ever considered that instead of looking up at the stars, you're gazing down, with only gravity holding you onto the surface of the earth?"

"Oh," Axel's eyebrows shoot up in surprise, "Wow... I've—I've never considered that. Damn, Stella, that's.. that's a smart way of putting it."

Stella gives him another smile, and Axel can tell there's something different about this one. It's more wistful and contemplative than carefree and for a fraction in time- gone before he can make much of it, the same smile drifts into his memory, from a vision that he can't seem to remember.

"You know what else you've never considered?"

She doesn't wait for him to respond, as her eyes bore into his.

"You've never considered your own significance. You're made of the elements of the stars, we all are- and they'd never forget what their atoms birthed."

She looks back at the rain, her eyes lifting to the clouds that concealed the sky.

"Because we're all just stars, that have people names."

Surprisingly, that was a human quote. It was still one of the wisest she'd heard.

"That's-" Axel blinks, dragging his gaze away from her. "That was beautiful."

There was something about the way she spoke about the stars that brought in a very strong sense of familiarity in him, something Axel simply couldn't understand, because he had never met her before. Yet she reminded him so strongly of the feeling that filled him, every time he looked at the sky, and gazed at the constellations and stars.

He was sure that if she spoke the same to the universe, the stars would sigh in unison and the galaxies would align to hear it.

He takes a step back, suddenly overwhelmed. "And uh—I-I should probably get myself cleaned up."

"You do that," Stella says, and in a split second she chooses to add,

"Next time, you'll tell me about the stars, won't you?"

Axel's lips lift into a smile, as he shakes his head, almost fondly. Looking at her, he can almost see the silhouette of a pair of golden wings resting on her shoulders, even if they aren't actually there anymore- so he lets the same words slip past his lips once more.

"I'll tell the stars about you."

She smiles back at him. It's no longer the wistful smile, but the soft, fond smile- and the sense of familiarity comes back to him all over again, making him step back, once again surprised at how easily something as simple as an expression manages to dazzle him.

Even as he walks away, that is all he can think about. The fact that she only smiles at him like that, and there's such hidden adoration behind that smile like she's known him her entire life.

If only he knew.

Stella turns back to the glass window with the same smile resting on her lips, allowing herself to focus on the rain as it descended from the heavens.

A moment passes when her eyes focus on her own reflection instead of the rain outside.

It was known that an angel's eyes morphed into something they loved most about the planet during a descent, and she finds herself staring back into the familiar pools of green in her eyes, much like the lush, fresh green of earth's nature that she had always loved.

But this time, she finds a tiny, nearly unnoticeable streak of grey in them too.

"Oomph!"

"Down Marli," Axel's stern voice has the dog retreating away from Stella's sprawled figure instantly with a whine, as she sits up once more with a laugh.

The dog's tail hadn't stopped excitedly wagging in her presence, and as soon as she sits up, her cheeks are greeted with the dog's tongue.

"She's adorable," Stella says softly with another delighted laugh, running a hand through her fur and gently scratching behind her ear, "Aren't you? You're a cute d-"

"Stella!"

Both Axel and Stella instantly look up at the familiar voice.

"Hey girlie," Bea gives her a small smile, looking slightly out of breath, "I've been looking for you all over the place!"

Have you, now?

"Where have you been?"

It isn't Stella who asks the question, but Axel. She looks up at him to see his arms crossed across his chest, with his jaw tight and his eyes narrow- standing stiffer than ever.

Marli, completely oblivious to the tension in the room, sets her head down on Stella's lap, with her tongue lolling out and her tail wagging happily.

"Woah," Bea blinks at the hostility in his tone, before she jerks her head back defensively, "I've been out. What crawled up your ass and died?"

Axel's eyes narrow even more, but Bea doesn't seem to pay attention to him anymore, looking back at Stella.

"So," Bea says, smiling at Stella, "I think I gave you the wrong burner phone today, and this one's yours. Can I have mine back?"

She holds out another cell, and Stella doesn't know if she's looking too much into it, but it's almost like there's something jittery about her smile- so she only continues to eye the phone in her hand skeptically.

"You know what I don't get?" Axel says again, his voice cold and his tone hard.

Bea snorts, glancing up at him. "Laid?"

"Laid?" Stella repeats, frowning at her, "How can he get laid? Humans don't lay eggs to produce offspring, do they?"

Bea snorts again, biting her lip to prevent a laugh from bubbling out.

"You have so much to learn, Stells," she says, leaning down to pat her shoulder- to which Stella's frown deepens.

Axel would've laughed at the entire conversation if it weren't for that they were nearly killed an hour ago. Possibly, by the very person standing in front of them.

"What I don't get, Beatrix," he says, as if he didn't hear any of it, "is why you disappear at odd hours a day, and no one seems to know where you go."

Bea's eyes widen for a second- whether it's out of surprise or disbelief, Stella can't tell, before her entire posture goes back to being defensive again.

"What's that supposed to mean?" she challenges, crossing her arms across her chest, and leaning on one hip.

"That's supposed to me-"

The door flies open with a bang before he can finish his sentence.

Elijah, the man who was assisting with the investigation, stands there- his eyes wide, hair disheveled and a laptop in his hands. What he says next, instantly has the three of them straightening.

"We have a new lead."

Thank you for reading! Do vote and comment! :)

And et voila, here's the last update for this week! I had some time on my hands after finishing an exam earlier this week, so I spent most of it writing :) January was a tough month for some reasons, and I didn't exactly talk to people about it, but I'm feeling much better now!! I also made myself a schedule that manages both studying and writing and I'm hoping that I stick to it lol. Updates from next week onward: once a week maybe?

Theories? *intense eye emojis*

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