Copyright © Tiffany Aaron 2014. All Rights Reserved, Total-E-Ntwined Limited, T/A Totally Bound Publishing. The lights of New York shone like small, brilliant diamonds on black velvet. Christian studied the city below him as he stood on the roof of his apartment building. So much had changed over the centuries he'd lived and the city had grown. He remembered being there when the Statue of Liberty had risen above Ellis Island. He was there the day the Twin Towers had been brought down by bad men intent on hurting innocents. He sipped at his scotch, thinking about Chicago and what had gone on there. Seeing Lucifer face-to-face again had cracked the carefully constructed walls around Christian's sanity. The worse thing he'd seen was his own downfall reflected in Lucifer's black eyes. Over the centuries, Christian had seen his own eyes darken from bright blue to midnight blue as he'd began to lose whatever humanity he had. Sighing, Christian shook his head. Could angels have humanity? Well, he was losing his sympathy for the mortals he lived amongst, and that scared him. He didn't want to become like the unrepentants he punished. Yet as hard as he fought to not fall over the edge into that abyss, it was becoming a slippery balancing act. As he contemplated getting another drink, he felt a sudden influx of power, strong enough to almost drive him to his knees. He grimaced, knowing who had just arrived to visit him. "Would you like a drink, Mika'il?" He didn't turn to look at the archangel, annoyed that Mika'il felt he could just come and go as he pleased. "No. I don't know why any of you insist on drinking when it does nothing to you. You can't get drunk, so why waste the time?" Mika'il walked up beside him, then sighed. "I don't know that they'll ever get used to the new skyline." "It's different, but within a couple of years, no one will think anything of it. Change happens, whether they are prepared for it or not." Christian held up his glass. "We drink to fit in. It is a very human activity, and we don't want to stick out amongst the crowd." Mika'il pursed his lips, but didn't look convinced. Christian gritted his teeth, not feeling up to dealing with Mika'il at the moment. "What do you want?" He tossed the glass into the air, and with a simple wave of his hand, made it disappear. "Don't you want to fit in? Doing things like that stands out, Christian," the angel pointed out. Christian shrugged. "There's no one up here to see us. I could run around naked, and no one would care." "Heck, you could do that down on the streets, and the single thing that might happen is you'd be propositioned by someone." Mika'il chuckled. "I have to admit, that's one of the things I like about this city. Nothing fazes people here. They go on living their lives, no matter what. It's like they won't let anything keep them down for long." "Why are you here, Mika'il?" "I can't come to visit one of my friends?" Christian rolled his eyes. "You and I haven't been friends since I fell, plus you don't visit people for idle chit-chat." "Maybe I'm starting a new practice," Mika'il commented. "Just stop dancing around the subject and tell me what you want, Mika'il. It's going to piss me off, isn't it?" Christian clenched his hands then shoved them in the pockets of his pants. Mika'il shifted like he was unhappy with Christian's tone. "What makes you say that?" "You normally just show up, throw me orders then disappear. I've never seen you uneasy or uncomfortable about anything." Christian frowned. "Why didn't you show up in Chicago?" "Couldn't. Had other things to do. Besides, you all had it under control. I knew you could handle Lucifer." Mika'il rubbed his chin then said, "I need you to check some...