Angels Unawares

By Wesa

Series: Brimstone

AU: TTD

Disclaimers: Brimstone characters belong to Ethan Reiff and Cyrus Voris, Warner Brothers, and now I guess to SciFi. Cassie and Lindor belong to me (Sorry, Luke). Israfel belongs to himself and to God.

Rating: PG-13 for suggested violence.

By Wesa.

Zeke was surprised to see Israfel, dressed in jeans, boots, and a chambray work shirt, leaning on Max's counter, talking and laughing with the perky little hotel manager. With his wings discreetly out of sight, Israfel looked as if he might have dropped in from the construction site down the street. Zeke allowed them their privacy, going on through the lobby and up the stairs to his apartment, yet he was concerned by the sparkle of happiness in Max's eyes. True, Israfel wasn't your garden variety fallen angel; Zeke wasn't sure whether he had fallen at all. But if Israfel was showing an interest in Max, nothing good could come of it, for either of them.

Zeke reached his door and was taking out his key when he heard a noise inside the apartment, the pitter-patter of small feet, followed by childish laughter. "Put it down!" Luke said sternly.

"No!" Lindor replied, and his laughter pealed happily once again as Zeke opened the door and entered.

Luke looked at him in distress, but covered quickly.

"Is that -?" Zeke gestured to the child carrying his unprotesting cat around the room. "But how -?"

"How should I know?" Luke retorted. "I'm as new at this as you are." He sighed, turning to watch his son crouch down behind the chair facing Zeke's television, whispering to the cat. "He put on a growth spurt and started talking. Most of it is completely unintelligible to me, though Cassie seems to understand him. 'No' is his favorite word. That one I can understand."

"Yeah, I heard him from outside," Zeke said, trying to repress a smile. He wasn't very successful at it, his dimples giving him away.

"What's so funny, Detective?" Luke demanded.

"Just the irony," Zeke told him, putting his sack of groceries on the counter and starting to unload it. "First you were the disobedient son, now you have one of your own. No one's any help?"

"My son has so many doting aunts and uncles, he's probably the most spoiled child in existence," Luke grumbled. He looked at Zeke calculatingly and changed the subject. "Did you enjoy yourself last evening, Ezekiel?" he asked. "Are you just now getting home?"

"You mean you don't know?" Zeke asked in astonishment. "I figured you'd watch."

"I have a very young son, Mr. Stone," the Devil replied. "His growth spurt was accompanied by an equal spurt of activity. I was busy." He gazed at Zeke expectantly. "You're visiting Rosalyn frequently. Aren't you concerned that one of the other fugitives will find her, as Ashur Badaktu did?"

"Of course I'm concerned. That's why I still live here, and not with her. But Ros ... I had to explain to her, you know."

"Did you tell her the truth?"

"Sort of." The Devil inclined his head questioningly. Zeke shrugged. "I told her I'd made a deal with the Devil, and that it would be too dangerous for her if we lived together before I had completed the terms of the contract. I don't think she entirely believed me."

"Of course not, Detective," Luke chuckled. "She was never allowed to see your body because it was so badly damaged. Have you been taking lessons in lying?"

"I didn't lie to her!" Zeke protested.

"That's my point." Luke grinned at him.

"Daddy!" Tired of not being the center of attention, Lindor threw his arms around Luke's knees. He followed the exclamation with a flood of gibberish, and Luke picked up the little angel.

"He's learned to hide his wings," Zeke observed. He tried not to smile at the sight of the Devil accepting a kiss from the little boy who rode astride his father's hip. "Where's Cassie?"

"House-hunting."

"Excuse me?"

Lindor struggled, and Luke let him get down to run after the cat again. "Just like anyone else, Lindor has to be free to make his own choices, Ezekiel. The things he would see if we were to take our residence in Hell would take that choice away from him," Luke explained. "Cassie and I have no wish to live in Heaven; a soul can only take just so much sweetness and light. We must therefore live on this plane until he comes to be responsible for his own decisions."

Zeke laughed shortly. "How're you going to pay the rent?" he asked.

"Now don't you worry about that, Detective," Luke chastised him. "You concentrate on catching my fugitives. Cassie and I aren't hurting for money." He changed the subject. "Rosalyn got her teaching certificate, didn't she?"

"Yeah, she's working as a substitute teacher for the local school district. She's hoping - oh, no. No," Zeke protested. "No!"

"We will need a tutor for Lindor, Ezekiel," Luke insisted. "It would be best if that tutor already had some idea that we are not exactly the usual family-next-door, especially if her student is going to be putting on growth spurts like the one he had last night. And," he added, "it would give you a place to talk to her without raising suspicions. After all, you have to report to your employer."

"Wouldn't it be better for another angel to do it?"

"We want him to learn from the human perspective. You will be there from time to time, I expect. Your friend Max will no doubt come to visit Israfel. Cassie remembers all her lives. It will be an intensive teaching experience." He looked at Zeke steadily. "She accepted your explanation, didn't she? Though admittedly with reservations." Zeke nodded. "Of course, Lindor will always be guarded. We want no repetition of his abduction."

Zeke considered: where else would Ros be so safe from the actions of the fugitives? And with Cassie there, and sometimes Israfel, she should be safe from the Devil, as well. He nodded slowly. "I'll tell her you're looking," he said, "but perhaps it would be best if Cassie spoke to her."

**********

When Ros had found her way to the address given her by the woman who had called her the previous evening, she got out of her car and stood looking at the house. It was large, though not a mansion, nicely landscaped, and walled away from the street. As she stood in the circular driveway trying to get a feel for the place and the people who lived there, the front door opened and a tall, willowy brunette came out onto the front step. "Mrs. Stone?" she asked pleasantly.

"Yes." Ros gathered her wits. "Yes, I was just admiring your home. It's lovely."

"Thank you. I think we're going to like it. Do come in; would you like some coffee?"

Ros accepted, expecting perhaps a maid would actually bring the coffee, but there was a silver service already waiting on the coffee table in the living room, and the woman served her with her own hands, graciously. Her hostess had some experience with elite society, Ros decided, if she was not, in fact, nobly born. "You'll find our son a somewhat unusual child," the woman told Ros solemnly.

Everyone thinks their child is unusual, or exceptional, or beautiful, Ros thought to herself, but she replied, "I'm sure he's an absolute angel, Mrs. Malkira." She was a little surprised by the startled expression that crossed her prospective employer's face.

Her hostess recovered quickly and smiled at some private joke. "So is the Devil," she replied. "And please, Mrs. Stone, call me Cassie. I'm just not used to that 'Mrs.' stuff."

"Then I'm Rosalyn, or Ros," Ros told her. "You haven't been married long, then?"

"Luke and I lost track of each other for a while," Cassie replied. "We didn't know then that I was pregnant. We married only a short while before Lindor was born."

"How did you happen to hear of me?" Ros asked abruptly, wondering why she was questioning such a wonderful offer. -Because it's too good to be true, that's why. Just like learning Zeke is still alive. How could the forensics department have made such a dreadful error? And who is buried in Zeke's grave?

Cassie poured more coffee for each of them. "Zeke has been searching for you ever since he arrived in California," she said. "We were very pleased to learn that you had earned a degree in Education. Frankly, Rosalyn, I would far rather keep this 'in the family,' so to speak, than to have to hire outside help. The work Zeke is doing for my husband is ... very sensitive. We don't want to draw attention to ourselves." Outside a motorcycle roared from the circular front drive along the side drive to the back of the house, and Cassie turned to look out the window, one long-fingered hand pressed lightly against her cheek. She sighed. "And then there's Israfel," she murmured.

"If you don't mind my asking," Ros said, "what's so sensitive about it? From what Zeke told me, it sounds like bounty hunter work."

"It's the fugitives, mostly," Cassie explained slowly. "Some of them ... Well, the ringleader kidnapped Lindor a month or so ago. There are ... constraints on what Luke and I are allowed to do, though of course we would have walked through the fires of Hell to get our son back. If it hadn't been for Zeke ... He recaptured Ash that night."

"Are they all so dangerous?" Ros asked in a hushed voice. Zeke hadn't told her he was a hero; fifteen years ago in New York, she hadn't needed to be told, but since he had disappeared, leaving her to think he was dead, she wasn't so certain she knew her husband anymore.

"Ash was the most dangerous," Cassie replied. "I think most of the rest are afraid of Luke, if you're thinking it would be wiser to stay away. Some of them do know about Zeke, though, and might track you down to try to use you against him. That's why he watched you from a distance even after he found you."

"He was protecting me?" Ros's eyes filled with tears.

Cassie nodded. "You're more important to him than his own soul," she said softly. She paused a few moments to let Ros regain her composure before asking, "Would you like to meet Lindor and see the schoolroom we've set up?"

**********

Lindor was in the back yard, watching Israfel tinker with his motorcycle, but he turned when the two women came outside, his sunny smile competing with the brightness of the California sun when he saw Cassie. "Mommy!" he exclaimed. "Can I go for a ride with Uncle Izzy?" Her prospective student appeared to be around three years old. Older than Zeke told me, Ros thought to herself. Maybe this isn't so far out of my field after all.

"The proper phrasing is 'May I,'" Cassie corrected gently. "Not right now, dear. I want you to meet Mrs. Stone. I've asked her to be your teacher. Would you like to take lessons from her?"

Lindor approached the two women cautiously. "She's like Max?" he asked. "Not like the other one, the one who wanted to hurt me?"

"Who's Max?" Ros asked, scrunching down to child height.

"Max is my friend," he told her.

"She manages the apartment building where Zeke lives," Cassie explained, then assured her son, "Yes, Lindor, Mrs. Stone is a nice lady, like Max. She's Zeke's wife."

"I hope you and I can be friends, too," Ros told Lindor. She reached out to him and fingered a dimple in the round babyish cheek. "What's in here? A buried smile?"

Lindor's face lit up and he laughed in delight, then announced, "Uncle Izzy likes Max."

Israfel stood up, smiling at Ros and giving Cassie a casual wave with the hand holding a wrench before he turned back to the motorcycle. The white shirt and blue jeans he wore accentuated his broad shoulders and narrow hips. Ros caught her breath at the sheer beauty of him. "Handyman?" she asked in a choked voice. Will Zeke be jealous if I accept the offer? she wondered. And will I be tempted with him so close?

"Brother," Cassie corrected, smiling a little at Ros's reaction. "Yes, I know, he's very decorative, and not as naïve as he sometimes seems to be." She seemed to know what was going through Ros's mind. "Don't worry, Rosalyn. Zeke likes and trusts Israfel, more than he does my husband, actually. You're perfectly safe around my brother. At least from him." She held out a hand to Lindor. "Shall we show Mrs. Stone your schoolroom?"

**********

"Zeke!" Lindor ran across the schoolroom to greet his friend.

Zeke picked up the little boy, ruffling his dark red curls as he leaned over to collect a kiss from the boy's teacher.

Lindor giggled. "Mommy 'n' Daddy kiss sometimes," he announced.

"That's what mommies and daddies do," Ros said.

"Did you catch another bad guy?" Lindor asked.

"Yup," Zeke replied. "How're you doing on your lessons, buddy?"

Lindor scowled. "I don't like math," he grumbled. "Mommy and Daddy say I have to learn it anyway. How come?"

"Because even humans can cope with mathematics," Ros supplied. "Don't be discouraged, Lindor," she added, laughing. "You're only - what? - six months old. Human babies are just starting to crawl at six months."

Zeke gazed at Ros approvingly. "So you believe me now?" he asked.

She smiled wryly, her mouth pulling to the right. "You'll notice he's had another growth spurt. I had to call off class that day. I just couldn't manage him indoors. I took him out into the back yard ... He was chasing birds, Zeke. He has wings."

Zeke looked at Lindor. "Are you supposed to be doing that?" he chided the boy softly.

Lindor shook his head solemnly. "You won't tell my Daddy, will you?" he asked.

Zeke considered. "No," he decided. "You know it was wrong, and you won't do it again, right?"

The angelic child hesitated. "Why is it wrong, Zeke?" he asked. "It's fun."

"You know what? I'm not exactly sure," Zeke replied, "but I know your mother and father don't want you to do it."

"Rosalyn?" Cassie appeared at the schoolroom door, dressed casually in a blue sweater and khaki slacks; she managed to make them look expensive. "Hello, Ezekiel. Rosalyn, if you're through with Lindor, I'd like to take him downtown with me."

"Of course," Rosalyn acquiesced with a smile. "We were just about through for today anyway."

"Thank you. Lindor, go dress to play with the children of the ladies Mommy talks to." Cassie smiled after her son as he ran out of the schoolroom.

Zeke frowned. "Cassie, I know you go to help them connect with social and church service organizations that can help them get their lives back on track, but do you really think you should take Lindor to that part of town?"

She smiled at him. "It's okay, Ezekiel. A mere living human can't harm my son - No offense, Rosalyn."

"None taken," Ros assured her.

"And my husband is coming with us, so he is most likely safe from the fugitives as well."

"He's going with you?" Zeke repeated. "Doesn't he object to what you do?"

"Why should he?" Cassie asked. "I'm trying to help them live better, Ezekiel. Whether they continue to prostitute themselves after they no longer have to do it in order to survive is entirely up to them. It does make Luke's job somewhat easier if he can prove they weren't whoring in order to feed and clothe their children."

"I thought he was the Devil," Rosalyn said uncertainly.

"Luke is the ha-satan," Cassie replied. "It's a little like being the District Attorney."

"And his name is Luke?"

Cassie smiled at her. "No. Nor is my name Cassie. Zeke, I was under the impression you had told her about us."

"Are we ready?" The Devil asked, draping his arm around his wife's shoulders. He was dressed in a plain but expensive-looking black suit and wearing the collar of a priest. "Mr. Stone, why are you still here?"

"You told him he could visit his wife in our home, Luke," Cassie reminded him softly, "for her safety, so he wouldn't need to be concerned for her welfare while he catches the rest of your fugitives."

"Did I? How uncharacteristic of me," he replied with a frown.

"You don't like to be too predictable, remember?" Cassie teased gently.

"Oh, yes." He smiled at Rosalyn. "How are Lindor's studies coming along, Mrs. Stone?"

"I have no standard with which to compare him," Rosalyn admitted. "He learns everything I can teach him as quickly as I ask; he's the student every teacher would like to have."

Zeke was staring at the white collar. "You surely don't expect anyone to believe you're a priest, not with the way you and Cassie behave, do you?" he asked.

"Some of those who wear collars are addressed as Reverend," Luke pointed out. "Their faith allows them to marry and father children."

"And whatever you may think of me, Ezekiel," Cassie laughed softly, "I can keep my hands off him when I want to do so. I just don't want to very often."

"But the collar doesn't - like - burn you around the throat?"

"You're thinking of vampires and crosses," Cassie told him as Lindor returned.

Ros and Zeke stared at each other as their employers' family walked together down the hallway. "Vampires?" Ros gulped.

Zeke held up his hands calmingly. "Sometimes Cassie has a strange sense of humor," he reassured his wife. "She was probably teasing. I hope."

**********