An Arrangement was Made

Chapter 7: A Mild Interrogation

Lute was racing through the tranquil skies of a sleeping heaven.

'Where is he, where is he?' Her mind screamed at her over and over. It was a joke, it had to be a joke, they wouldn't just cancel the exterminations! They were her purpose, they were her reason for being. Who was she if not a soldier?! Who was she if not Adam's second in command?!

Suddenly she spotted him sitting on Sera's roof. She flew down to him as quietly as she could in case he decided to teleport away before she got a chance to talk to him.

"Sir?" She touched his shoulder and immediately received a left hook to the face.

"LUTE! OH MY GOD, FUCK!" He immediately went to help her bandage her now broken nose.

"You have excellent reflexes sir." She wiped the golden ichor away from her face.

"You idiot! I told you not to sneak up on me!" He plops his ass back down where he had been sitting. Lute sits next to him. They sit in silence for a moment looking at the stars. Heaven had no need for street lamps when the stars were this close. Nebulas and not quite so distant galaxies painted the night sky with light. Everything was so still. So quiet. Complete tranquility. Lute took her helmet off. A mild breeze flowed through her platinum hair. She broke the stillness.

"Is it true?"

"Hm?" Adam grunted when he was roused from whatever thoughts he had been lost in.

"Is it true?" She repeated. "Are the exterminations really over?"

"Yeah. You think I would lie to you?"

"No sir." She had been hoping this was all some stupid prank, but he was completely serious. "You said you were going somewhere. Where?"

"Don't use the interrogation voice on me." He sighed. "I'm going to-" his words stopped when he tried to say the word 'hell.'

'You are not to tell anyone.' Sera didn't even need to be in the same room as him to give him an order. He hated that she could invade his brain whenever she wanted. She hadn't done it since he was human. He had forgotten how itchy it made him feel.

"Uh...somewhere far away."

"Where?"

"I can't say."

"Have I been there before?"

"Yes."

"Am I allowed to visit you?"

"No."

"Are you allowed to visit me?"

"I'm not sure."

"What did you mean when you said, 'write down anything you don't want to forget?'"

"You're smart. You'll figure it out."

"Why won't you give me a straight answer?"

"Cause gay answers are funnier."

"Answer the question."

"I told you not to interrogate me."

"Answer the question."

"No."

"Are you in danger?"

Adam didn't say anything. Lute's careful eyes flicked across his face and body language searching for answers. She normally wasn't one to pry, but there was something insidiously evil happening. She just couldn't put her finger on what it was.

She looked back to the city. Angelic glass was specially designed to catch the star light and reflect it so that every window looked like a portal directly into the heart of space.

"Lute?"

"Yes sir?"

"I'm...going on a mission of sorts. I'm going somewhere that's..not so nice to say the least. And I don't get to come back unless something reeeeeeaaaally bad happens." He stopped. He hadn't been vulnerable like this in such a long time. It was terrifying and hard. He was only able to keep going because he knew that in a day or two, Lute would forget all this. That was the same as if it had never happened. That made it easier.

"Sir?"

"I need you to not forget me. I need someone to remember that I'm a person."

"Sir, I could never forget you!" She replied immediately. "How could I forget you? You practically raised me!"

"No, Lute, you don't understand." He put his head in his hands. He was on the verge of panicking again. He had one shot to get Lute in his corner and he was failing. He was getting desperate. "I'm scared."

Lute's eyes widened with shock. Her head snapped to the side to look at him. He wasn't joking. She had never known him to be scared ever.

"Look, I need you to write EVERYTHING down. I mean it. Not just online. Print it out, hide it, set reminders to look at it, and don't tell anyone. Trust no one else."

Lute blinked a few times. She summoned a piece of paper and quill and started scratching out a summary of their conversation. Seeing her write brought Adam some comfort. The tightness in his chest relaxed.

"Do we have any allies at all? Anyone I could go to for more information?"

"Emily. Emily is safe. But loose lipped. You can get information out of her, but don't let her know how much you know. Always play dumb."

"What about Sera?"

He shook his head, but didn't elaborate. Lute wrote all of it down.

"Will there be any way to get in contact with you?"

"I don't know. They might not let me keep my phone and even if they do, I might not be able to get any reception down there."

Lute took note of that. 'Down there.' That probably meant Earth. Heaven wouldn't send an innocent man down to hell for any length of time. Hell was for the irredeemable. There was no point in sending prophets there to preach.

"Welp," he stood up and stretched himself out. "It's time for me to go inside. I've been putting off my lecture for long enough."

"You can stay at my house if you want to." She offered.

He wanted that. He wanted to go with her. It would be really nice to spend his last night with someone he loved so much. He wanted to tell her everything. But there was a problem. He had admitted to her that he was scared.
Angels aren't supposed to be scared. Fathers aren't supposed to be scared. HE wasn't supposed to be scared.

'Be not afraid,' (something Adam forgot) 'you will be an example to all men.' Who was it that said that to him?

Just like he had done at the party, he refused to stay for the fallout of his words. He wasn't emotionally equipped to deal with the consequences, good or bad. So he said his goodbyes, dismissed her, and went inside for Sera to yell at him. That was something he was at least used to.