>> Bang bang, baby shot me down

[witchmaker.livejournal.com]

[ Angela appears on the Plane suddenly, stumbling backwards. Her gun is in one hand, pointed toward something that was before her mere seconds before. Her other hand is pressed up against her chest, right above her left breast. The arm aiming the gun is shaking, and the gray suit fabric beneath her other hand is slowly turning a dark red, as are several other spots on her abdomen and one on her right thigh. Suddenly the hand holding the gun goes slack, and both the firearm and Angela tumble to the ground of the Plane. ]

[Firo appears seconds after she does, dropping to his knees to catch her as she falls.] Angie? Angie! Angie, come on--someone, goddamnit, do something!

[ The hand at her chest falls to the side, revealing a nasty gunshot wound. Vaguely, she can hear him and she opens her eyes, trying to focus on his face. ] Fi... Fir...

Shouldn't have let you come, shouldn't've so stupid--come on, dollface, someone'll come. Someone'll come and help you.

Comments

[immortalmistake.livejournal.com]

[He smooths her hair away from her face, humming under his breath.] Come on, say something.

[witchmaker.livejournal.com]

Not-- not y-- [ She struggles to breathe and remain conscious. ] fa--

[immortalmistake.livejournal.com]

I don't-- [He presses down on the wounds, gritting his teeth.] Gotta be some way--not going to let the Twins have you, not now, got it?

[witchmaker.livejournal.com]

[ There are tears in her eyes now. She gives him an empty little smile. She's starting to lose her focus on him. ] It... okay... I... be-- [ A shaky hand grabs his coat ] back.

[contract_star]

Firo? Angela! [Running over now.]

[immortalmistake.livejournal.com]

No, stop that. Stop it.

[witchmaker.livejournal.com]

[ She attempts to give him a little smile, but it takes much more effort than she's used to. She can hear her heart, thumping in her ears, its beat gradually slowing. Thump... thump... ... thump... ]

[witchmaker.livejournal.com]

He... i... [ She attempts to turn her head at towards his voice, instead it simply lolls to the side. ]

[lamb_of_gold]

Angela!

[witchmaker.livejournal.com]

M-- Mu. [ If Mu can help her, maybe... She's already starting to fade, though, her life ebbing away with the large puddle of blood building about her and Firo. ]

[contract_star]

[Seven years only change so much. He's immediately back in cool, calm Contractor mode, pressing both hands to the gunshot wound.]

What happened?

[lamb_of_gold]

[Drops to his knees next to her, not even questioning as he presses his hands against one of the wounds, pulling out the bullet with telekenisis and trying to close the flesh as fast as he can - it might be too late, but he doesn't want to admit it]

I'm here, Angela. So is Firo. Keep talking to me.

[witchmaker.livejournal.com]

The-- oth-- fam-- [ That's about all you're getting from her, Hei. She bites down, closing her eyes. It's hard to keep them open, pain searing through her chest. It's not going to be long, and that realization causes tears to well up in her eyes. ]

[witchmaker.livejournal.com]

[ She's trying to, she really is. Her mouth moves, but she can't seem to force any sound out.

Her heartbeat is starting to quiet. Too late... too late. ]

[lamb_of_gold]

[Moving on to the next wound. He knows it's probably too late now, but that isn't stopping him] Damn. Angela!

[witchmaker.livejournal.com]

[ Shuddering, she looks up at Firo, trying to memorize his face, hoping it's the last thing she sees.

She gets her wish. She's gone. ]

[immortalmistake.livejournal.com]

[He gives up on keeping the wounds under pressure and just sits with her in his lap, humming and stroking her cheek.]

[contract_star]

It's alright. You don't have to say anything else. [Pulls off his jacket, folds it up and slips it as gently as he can under her head. He then goes back to putting pressure on her wound.]

[witchmaker.livejournal.com]

[ She wants desperately to say something, anything, everything she's been holding back from saying, but there's nothing left in her to force them out.

Her breathing is shallow, the sound of her heart fading from her ears. Then the beating in her chest fades. She fights to look up at him one more time, then everything stops, and the world vanishes. ]

[lamb_of_gold]

[Mu lets his hands slide off her chest, covered in dark red blood. He says nothing]

[witchmaker.livejournal.com]

[ The pressure keeps her alive a bit longer, but her heart's starting to quiet, and her breathing is growing more and more shallow. She looks up at Li momentarily, tears spilling out over her cheeks, running down to linger on her earlobes before getting lost in her hair. ]

P-- proud... f... you.

[ That's all that's left. With one final breath, her life slips away. ]

[immortalmistake.livejournal.com]

[And he'll just be sitting here for a bit, staring at her.]

[contract_star]

I'm sorry. Angela...I'm sorry.

[Watches her fade, his face screwing up a little. When her heart stops beating he sort of sinks inside himself and slumps a little, his hair in his eyes.]

[witchmaker.livejournal.com]

[ Blackness, silence, absolute stillness. She wonders what will happen next, whether the Twins will collect her body or if it will simply dissolve away. She imagines waking up in her bed in Altena, and realizing everything has been a dream.

No! It can't be! It can't, it just can't...

Ah, there's a light. She tries to move away from it, shunning the promise of a Holy Land in favor of the darkness behind her.

Send me back! Send me back! Please send me back!

Her heart shudders to life. ]

[witchmaker.livejournal.com]

[ It's dark. Pitch dark and quiet. There's absolutely nothing, nothing to feel, nothing to hear or see. She finds herself floating there, silent.

She wonders when she'll be able to come back, and if she'll have caught up to Hei and Misaki by then. Maybe she'd get to meet her godson, and Hei's daughter. She wanted to, eventually.

She wonders if this is part of what Hei remembered, or if his future deviates from her own. Perhaps in this future, she wouldn't come back.

Maybe she'd go home, and the Plane would vanish from her life completely. No, it can't. She wouldn't let it. What else did she have to look forward to?

The darkness is still there, but the numbness is becoming less and less. Vaguely she's aware of a soft feeling in her chest. Her heart was starting to beat again... ]