Esmeralda closed her eyes when she finished speaking. Brianna gently withdrew her hand from beneath Charisma's and stood, and Charisma slowly followed her from the room. Esmeralda sighed. She'd done what she could and far more than she should, and she imagined there'd be hell to pay for it eventually. But she couldn't make herself care about the possible consequences, and at least she'd given them their best chance... finally. It would be up to them to take it... or not.


Chapter XCVI

"Ruby? What are we doing here?" Opal asked for the rest, looking around at the waiting room they'd been placed in as soon as they'd arrived home. The call had been unexpected and without warning had jerked all of them out of their attempts to make themselves scarce from the house they shared with Esmeralda and Saphira. They knew they couldn't stay while Brianna and Charisma et al were there trying to offer Esmeralda support as she grieved her loss of Saphira. Ruby shook her head and scrubbed a hand over her tired face before running it through her hair.

"I don't know, Opal. I was sound asleep when I got yanked, so you know as much as I do at the moment." She glanced around at the other Angels currently quarantined with her, noting they were still dressed in their earthly garments and not their heavenly robes. "If I was to guess, though, I'd say it has something to do with our assignment. Was anyone with either Charisma or Brianna while they were at the house?"

Indi was the first to speak. "No - we didn't expect to be needed there... not with you and Amber there, Ruby. Especially since they were there to be with Es."

Brows furrowed, then Turq uncrossed her arms and pushed off the wall she'd been leaning against. "You don't suppose this is about her instead, do you? I mean, we've all seen how this is affecting her; maybe we're gonna get some directives on how to help her cope with all this or something."

Amber shook her head. "The only thing that's gonna help Es cope with this is for Saphira to not be dead anymore, and I'm pretty sure there's nothing we can do to change that particular situation."

"So then why are we here?" Mal asked. "I don't know about the rest of you, but things still aren't resolved that I can tell."

"Why don't you let me be the judge of that?" Michael asked as he strode pompously into the room.

"How about you tell us why we're here first and then we'll decide what you get to be the judge of?" Amber snapped. Michael frowned. Amber had never been so short with him before, not even before they'd become involved with one another. He couldn't fathom a reason for her to do so now. Slowly, he let his gaze wander around the room, meeting each Angels' eyes before moving on to the next, and what he found there was startling.

Every woman in the room met his eyes squarely... unflinchingly - a surprise in itself. Generally speaking, all Angels - male or female - briefly lowered their eyes out of respect for the office he held, but not this time. Yet beyond that lack of respect was a weariness... a frustration and anger that he had never witnessed singly - much less in a group so large and diverse. He silently questioned what he had not been told about what was going on.

"Amber?" he finally replied, choosing to direct his comments to her in an effort to show her that he wasn't the enemy.

"Why are we here, Michael?" she asked resignedly, losing all traces of venom in both her voice and her posture. Instead, she dropped into a chair with her head down and her hands clasped loosely between her knees - the textbook picture of defeat. Michael tilted his head and looked around the room again, seeing discouragement and disillusionment reflected back at him. He carefully eased into a seat and folded his hands on the table in front of him.

"Tell me about Esmeralda," he instructed softly, keeping his eyes on his hands. He felt Amber's head pop up, but he kept his eyes down, wanting to hear what she had to say without reacting to what he was sure was anger. Most had been unhappy about the Father's decision to cast Esmeralda and Saphira from heaven, but only Amber had actually said so to Him at the time despite Michael's admonition that she'd be wiser to hold her tongue. Her rash actions had caused them to be separated for months and Michael had missed her. This certainly wasn't how he'd pictured their reunion.

"What do you want to know?" Amber replied, her voice a whisper, but the bile in it burning into his heart. He didn't answer and Amber took that as her cue to continue. "She's dying, Michael!!" ignoring the gasp her words drew from Michael as well as the way his gaze wrenched up to meet hers. "Saphira is dead and the rending is going to kill Es as well. So you tell me exactly what it is you need to know."

"Wait... WHAT?? Saphira is.... No. What??" He looked around the room. "Saphira's dead?? Is this true?"

Amber sighed and scrubbed a hand through her hair. "Guess they don't tell you anything either, huh?" She met his eyes again. "Michael, I've never lied... to you or anyone else. That's what got me into trouble in the first place, remember? I couldn't keep my mouth shut. Why would I make something like that up? By earth time, Saphira died late last night. Her funeral is the day after tomorrow."

Michael covered his face with his hands and breathed in deeply, holding it in until he could blink away the unexpected tears. Then he released it in a shuddering stream before looking back at Amber. "That explains a lot," he muttered. "Can you fill me in... bring me up to speed on what happened? Then I'll tell you why you all were called home so unceremoniously."

"As long as it's quick, Michael," Ruby supplied. "We have to get back to Es."

Michael shook his head. "I'm not sure that's going to be possible." He held up his hands to silence their protests. "It's not up to me, and you know that."

"We'll give up our wings, Michael," Amber said with confidence. "Every last one of us," seeing every head in the room nod in agreement. Michael's jaw dropped and he looked stunned.

"Now, ladies... let's not be hasty."

"This isn't hasty, Mike," Turq replied, smirking at the riled up expression in Michael's eyes at her address of him. "This is us being sick and tired of the politics and bureaucracy that has been constantly thrown at us during this cluster of a mission. Nothing about this whole cock-up has been handled right, and this was the last straw."

"So you're staging a coup... like Lucifer did?"

"Not at all," Opal said. "We don't want to take over the place," gesturing around them vaguely. "We simply want to support a friend who needs us, and if we can't do it as Angels, we'll do it as humans."

"Okay, wait... all of you stop! Just hold on a minute!" Michael clutched his hair for a moment, the ephemeral pain giving him something else to focus on briefly. Taking a deep breath, he closed his eyes and meditated, and only when he felt a sense of calm return did he open his eyes. "All right. Amber, start from the beginning, and don't leave anything out. I can't help you if I don't know what the whole story is, can I?"

Amber blew out a frustrated breath and nodded. Maybe telling the story to Michael would help them to see something they missed.

************

Michael sat slack-jawed for several long minutes before finally closing his mouth with an audible click. He took a deep breath and released it slowly, trying to organize his thoughts into something more coherent than the chaos that was currently swirling through his brain at an alarming rate. The rest just sat back and took in his reaction, wondering what was going on. Eventually, Michael pulled himself together and cleared his throat.

"Well, that explains... so much." He looked down at his linked hands a moment before bringing his eyes up to meet each and every pair now focused solely on him. "This morning, by human standards, Esmeralda told Brianna and Charisma to do something," he paused, shaking his head. "She told them to make a choice concerning one another, and that their best choice WAS each other." He felt the other Angels' jaws swing open and he wanted to laugh. He didn't - this was serious. But he was more than a little gratified to know that he wasn't the only one who reacted so gobsmacked by the whole situation.

"So," Ruby started slowly, bringing all eyes to focus on her. "We were brought here because Esmeralda finally gave Brianna and Charisma a shove in the right direction?"

"She broke protocol," Michael responded, not thrilled with the looks of disgust that followed his accusation. He sighed. "You were brought here so we could find out if she acted on her own."

"It doesn't matter, Michael. We're standing with her on this." This from Amber.

"All of you?"

Amber let her eyes study each of her comrades in turn, saving Ruby for last. Ruby merely nodded and Amber turned back to Michael. "Yes, Michael. All of us."

He sighed again and rose from his seat, keeping his eyes on something beyond normal sight. "I can't really blame you, I suppose - not given what you've shared here. I'll make sure you are sent back to give Esmeralda the support she needs, but I don't know how long it will last."

"Make sure He understands we'll be there for as long as Es needs us, Michael. She didn't deserve what's happened and her reaction to Charisma and Brianna shouldn't have been unexpected."

"I'll do what I can," he offered without looking at them again. "Take care of her... and yourselves. I'm sure I'll see you all again soon." And without another word he walked off in the direction he'd come from, disappearing into the mist.

They waited for him to be swallowed up and remained silent for several minutes beyond that. At Amber's nod, they took seats around the table and settled in to wait.

************

"I don't like it," Kay said above the protests that were given by the rest of the family gathered in Esmeralda's living room when Charisma finished explaining Esmeralda's request to them. "She's too unstable - this is a very dangerous time for her to be left alone."

"We don't have to like it, Doc," Charisma said with barely a bite in her tone. "But we should respect her wishes."

"Even if it puts her in harm's way?" Kay ground out.

"Even then," Brianna suddenly spoke, causing all eyes to turn towards her. "Es is going to have to find her own strength... her own will to live. We can't do that for her. If she really wants to die, she'll find a way." She felt Charisma's indrawn breath, but refused to meet her eyes. Instead, Brianna stared at Kay and willed her to see what she was unable to say aloud. Finally Kay nodded.

"All right. I'm not happy about it, but Brianna's right." She turned to Charisma. "Should we try to rouse Ruby... let her know what's going on?"

"I don't think so. Es was fine with her staying in the house as long as she was sleeping. Maybe we could leave her a note to call one of us...?" looking at Brianna.

"I think that's a good idea," writing a brief note and adding both their numbers at the bottom. Then Kay snatched the missive out of her hand. Brianna glared. "Kay! What the he...?" cutting herself off abruptly when she remembered Adam was still in the room and listening.

"I know where Ruby's room is. Be right back," she added, heading up the stairs.

Meanwhile, Patrick and Okasa had gathered everyone's outerwear together and brought it into the living room, and they started sorting it out so they could leave as soon as Kay was ready.

When Kay reached Ruby's room, she hesitated, then quietly opened the door and let her eyes adjust to the dimness she was surrounded by. She guessed the older woman had finally fallen asleep, so she tiptoed across the floor and propped the note in front of the clock, sure it was the best way for it to be noticed. Then without making a sound, she retraced her steps and closed the door silently behind her. When she arrived back in the living room, it only took a moment for her to don her outerwear, and then they left Esmeralda to her grief.

************

"Oh Es," Amber said as she gently pushed the blonde hair away from Esmeralda's swollen face. "What have you gone and done, hmm?" Esmeralda didn't respond at all and Amber surreptitiously checked to assure herself that Esmeralda was still breathing. When she found a faint pulse, she released the breath she'd been holding and sighed. This was a lot harder than she'd expected it to be, and she'd expected the worst. She looked around at the other Angels who were in the room as well. Ruby gestured for her to continue talking, and Amber rolled her eyes, but resumed her one-sided conversation as a single tear escaped its confines and slid down her cheek.