Ascension

Chapter 2

Mick blinked at the clouds, where parts of it deepened and faded in various shades of purple, and stepped back into the alley to avoid getting hit by a dog’s skull. People around him grumbled and pulled out umbrellas, or ran through the streets, screaming in horror. Mick breathed out a small sigh and retreated back into the alley to the shelter of the diner kitchen.

“It’s raining bones, Gabe,” he said.

“I know it’s raining bones!” Gabe nearly shrieked. “People are freaking out, while some are acting like it happens every day! Why the hell is it raining bones, Mick?”

“Gabe, calm down,” he said slowly. “Calm down. There’s nothing to worry about. It’s just your first bone shower, that’s all.”

“Bones, Mick! They’re bloody bones!”

“Actually, they’re quite clean. No blood.”

“Mick...” he said in a warning tone.

“Baby, relax. They’re animal bones. It’s just the Watchers, that’s all.”

“The Watchers? What do you mean, the Watchers?” He still sounded panicked. “What do the Watchers have anything to do with this?”

“Calm down, man,” he soothed. “Just listen to me for a moment. Remember how I told you about Betsy’s weekly cleanup crew? Augustus and Bartholomew?”

“Yes...”

 “Well, Betsy pays them with peach cobbler, right?” Sam entered the kitchen and settled herself at a counter, watching him talk with a silly grin stretching her face. Mick stuck his tongue out at her when she fluttered her eyes.

“Yes,” Gabe replied, “though I still don’t get how...”

“Yeah, me neither. They don’t have mouths, but still, they do eat. Also, they have wings, right? They actually live above the clouds when they’re not doing civil maintenance or being driven around by Sheriff Dawson. And a few times a year, they dump the remnants of their meals.”

“So all this is...Watcher poop?”

Mick blinked and combed his fingers through his tousled hair. “Not exactly. More like the bones that animals leave behind once they finish with the meat. You know, like the condors we saw on that TV special?”

“You two watch Animal Planet together?” Sam rolled her eyes. “God.”

“Shut up,” he told her.

“What?”

“Not you, Gabe.”

“Uh huh.” Mick could almost see Gabe’s nose wrinkling in a mixture of distaste and grudging acceptance. “So it rains Watcher trash. They didn’t have these back in Detroit.”

“Yeah, what’d you say? You had robots on your police force?”

“Among others.” His voice sounded more relaxed. “Detroit was very different from Arcadia.”

“So you’re alright? Not freaking out anymore?”

“I’m done. You want to go out for dinner?”

“What’s the occasion?”

“Your brilliant pick-me-up coffee that saved my life today morning, and me making it up to you for coming in late last night.”

Mick grinned to himself, ignoring Sam making kissy faces behind him. “I can roll with that. Want me to pick you up?”

“No, I took the subway to the university today. There was a quick stop somewhere at the edge of the Andromeda Galaxy and I swear I saw the Colossus of Rhodes at one point.”