Clip Your Wings
WELL!! You all decided you wanted some Angel angst!! The runner up in the poll was going to be who I killed off so please enjoy! (Also I didn’t proofread because it made me sad)
Warning: Angst, Violence, Character Death, Major Character injury, owie my heart
Summary: The boys go out on a mission and Tank plays body guard. However the night doesn’t quite go to plan.
Angel had been pacing back and forth for about 30 minutes on a rant about who was better at games between Ash and Milo. Tank had watched them practically burn a hole in the rug with how much they had been pacing.
It was always funny, to Tank at least, whenever Angel would get into these fits. It would always be so hard to pull them out of it until they got a clear answer.
“Eh I think you should conclude that Milo is a bit worse than Ash. He’s okay but if you put him in a halo game, Ash has got him beat easily.” Tank yawned into their hand. “Not to mention if you put them in a horror game together.”
Angels eyes lit up with excitement. They had never thought of doing that but knew that it would be entertaining nevertheless. They walked over to the large leather couch and plopped down next to Tank.
“You really think we could make that happen?” Angels eyes beamed with anticipation. No doubt they were already scheming what to do next.
“I’m sure if he lost a bet we could.” Tank nodded and shrugged it away.
The night hadn’t been too bad this far. David, Ash, Cristian and Milo had gone out on a gig to help the department with some underground cult or something. DUMP needed brawn and the pay they provided was too good to pass up.
Since Tank was currently out of commission due to working the past two nights and refusing to tell Sam about a “small” ankle injury, David refused to let them go and instead had them stay with Angel.
Speaking of the Devil, or rather, Angel, they were now inserting a movie, it was Bambi. They loved the classic colors of the film and the adorable little cartoon animals.
~~~~~~~~
The small group of shifters blended in well with the department staff as they breached the cultist base. They walked through the cold cement building, it was only lit up by candlelight.
They soon arrived to a large wenge door, it was covered in scratches and red paint, making out faint markings of what looked to be a skull on a dagger. They slowly opened the large door to reveal the cult leader, who spun around in his chair in all evil villain fashion.
“Ah welcome, welcome friends.” He smiled at them menacingly.
“Blake. It’s over.” Sweetheart walked into the room, past the wolves.
“Maybe it’s over for now. But, not for me.” He let out a dark chuckle, glancing over to David. “You see I have been working day in and day out to…” he sighed. “Well if doesn’t matter anymore. I’m sure you wouldn’t care about me anyway.” He looked down, obviously trying to manipulate them. Then he smiled and made direct eye contact with David again. “But you do care for your precious Angel right?”
“Leave them be Blake, stop your short sighted tricks. It’s over.” Sweetheart said firmly grabbing their cuffs.
“Lets see if I remember your address… and if I don’t… maybe my shade will. He can clip your Angels wings”
~~~~~~~~
As the movie came up to the part (angels favorite part) where the animals find their “love” interests, Angel making plenty jokes about shifters doing the same thing, they heard a knock on the door.
It wasn’t a knock. It was banging. Loud banging.
That was when Tank got a call from David and immediately answered, already heading to stand between Angel and the door.
“Tank?” His voice called out frantically.
“Dav- what’s going on?” They asked, brows furrowing together and face scrunching up. They were preparing to shift if they needed.
“The cult they...” He took a sharp breath. “A shade, please get to somewhere safe and-“
Before he could finish Tank grabbed Angels wrist and took them down to the basement. Tank handed Angel the gun they always kept on them, in case they needed to defend themself.
“What’s going on Tank?” Angel said beginning to get scared.
“Anything comes down here you point and shoot.” They adjusted angels pose. “Just like this.”
“Tank, you’re scaring me… what’s going on?”
“A shade is here and I need to keep you safe.”
“What about you?” Angel asked hands shaking.
“I’ll hold him off until David gets here. I need you to stay here. Do not move from this spot okay?” Tank patted Angels shoulder and handed them their phone, Tanks screen lighting up with a text from Sam. “The code is 4321. Use it to call David if… just don’t move unless it’s to run away.”
With that Tank tan up the stairs, Angel could hear them locking the basement door and Tank shifting. The sound of wood splintering let them know that the front door was broken open. The large oak door seemed unbreakable to them, they could hardly believe it splintered, let alone broke at all.
They heard an ugly hissing sound, it must have been the shade. Then they could hear the sounds of fighting and growling. Angel had heard stories of shades from David. Tank really needed to be cautious… one slip up and they could-
Their thoughts were cut off by the sound of a table breaking and Tank yelping. They could hear the shifter take a large bite from the shade and another scream. Wait why did it sound like there were two shades? Angel swore only one was there a second ago.
They frantically texted Davey to let him know of what was happening.
Tank (Angel): They locked me in the basement. Tanks fighting two shades I think!! Davey please hurry!!
Davey: I’m on my way Angel hold on!
Sam: Hey Darlin how is your night going?
Darlin (Angel): Sam! A shade broke in, now there are two, Tank locked me in the basement and they are fighting them. It sounds bad.
Sam: I’m coming.
There were so many sounds happening. The sounds of Tanks phone flooding. The sound of wood splintering, glass shattering, a wolf yelping, shades screaming. It was all so overwhelming and suffocating. Luckily, the sound was getting quieter. Tank must have gone against one shade and won, but then they heard Tank yelp, a yelp similar to the one they let out when they rolled their ankle. Shit! They broke their ankle!!!
Angel tried to run up the stairs to go help but the door was locked and wouldn’t budge. The cold golden door knob now becoming their worst energy.
The sounds continued and the yelps got quieter, that was until it fell silent. Too silent.
Angel couldn’t tell how long it had been silent for. Seconds? Minutes? Hours? The silence was more deafening than anything and they now longed for the crashing and screaming and banging because that meant someone was still alive.
They sat against the door silently sobbing and curling up into a small ball. That was until the intense rush of footsteps ran into the house.
The basement door was very close to the front door. You only needed to take a left down the hallway. Footsteps, fast, and loud echoed throughout the hallway but Angel couldn’t stop themself from crying. The door suddenly flung open and Angel fell through to the floor, falling onto a familiar pair of hiking boots. It was David.
He gently picked them up and held them close to him. Cradling them and giving them soft kisses trying to comfort them. That was until Asher’s voice could be heard yelling from the kitchen.
“DAVID! DAVID HELP!” Asher sounded frantic and afraid. David stood up and ran over to Ash, fearing that his friend was being attacked. Angel followed behind David rushing through the hall.
Both of them froze upon arriving to the kitchen. There under Asher’s hand was Tank, a quickly fading Tank. Next to them, two dead shades. Their body was covered in blood and scratches and their ankle was popped out of place. Their face was becoming sickeningly pale and their lips were losing all color.
They smiled at Angle and gave them a sad nod.
“I won…” they said weakly coughing out.
“Hang on Tank! Sam is going to be here any minute! Please!” Angel said dropping to their knees at the shifters side. “You idiot! You should have run away! You shouldn’t have fought them… not for me!” They cried out loud.
“Hey…” Tank coughed. “I’d do anything to protect my Alpha.” They smiled softly.
David finally found his feet and moved to sit next to them. He tried to use his magic to heal them, he had taken a few classes after the last incident, but it didn’t work.
“Tank hold on please.” David said squeezing their hand.
“Davi…d T…Tell Sam… I love him… te…tell him he… he is the best… thing to…” their words got quieter and quieter and they began closing their eyes. David shook them, slightly slapping their cheeks.
“Hey! HEY! No no no no no You stay awake! You stay awake now!” David pleaded with Tank.
“You survived through all of this! You don’t get to die!” Angel cried out loud clutching Tanks hand.
“T…thanks for… for being… my family.” Tank smiled.
“Stop no final fair-wells! You don’t get to do that.” Angel patted their face. “You are gonna live! You and Sam are gonna get married, and I am going to force you to dress up, even though you will hate it.” They squeezed Tanks face and brought their forehead to touch Tanks cold skin. “Sam will look so dashing and smile at you like how he always does! You two will live a long happy life, and you will grow old, and be the godparent of any kid David and I adopt, if we do that.”
Tank chuckled which trailed off into a small fit of coughs. They felt so cold, so scared. They knew that it would happen sooner or later but god how they wished it wouldn’t be now. They wanted to live that life with Sam. To explore their new friendship with Angel. They wanted to be a part of the pack, to be a part of something that didn’t just involve fighting. They wanted to live.
But life was cruel. They learned that day one. They got colder and their eyes grew heavier. It was happening it was always gonna happen.
Angel remained in their spot. Their forehead pushed against Tanks.“Please! I need you to be here! You can’t die you can’t-“
“Darlin?” Sam walked in. The pit in his stomach grew and he felt physically ill. He immediately got down and tried to heal them but nothing seemed to work. They squeezed his hand and slightly shook their head.
They had talked about this, Tank wanted to live their natural life. They wanted to die when it happened. They didn’t want to be turned.
“Darin you know I gotta ask you one more time. Do you.. do you want me to.” He began to choke on his tears.
“Tank please…” Angel said sobbing out loud.
“Hey… I’m su..posed to… be th.. one cryn…” they looked back at Sam and shook their head. Denying his final offer. He solemnly nodded and lifted their head to rest on his lap. He ran his fingers through his mates hair as they drifted of to an eternal rest. “I… luv… y’all …” was the last thing they told the room before finally succumbing to their injuries.
Their lifeless body laid on the floor, in their mates arms, hands holding their Alphas and their best friends. Their family, Milo, Cristian, and Asher, stood in the corner of the room, holding one another.
This day would be one that broke Angel. They truly loved keeping company and being the friend of Tank. Watching tanks bored expressions during pack meetings always brightened their day. When they went to the first meeting without Tank… or Sam. They had to excuse themself to cry.
They moved out of the previous home they built with David and into a new one closer to the woods. They would go to sleep and still feel the cold wall of the basement, and hear the screaming and crashing and banging of their home.
They would hear tank screaming for help before dying in their hands, being suffocated by the loss. By the fact that they couldn’t do anything.
And in the end Angel never got over that feeling. Tank made them feel like they were strong. That it didn’t matter that they were unempowered. However, this situation reminded them of one thing. They were powerless. They were human.