There were no stars in the hazy night sky, but the inhabitants of the city had already grown used to it – all but one man, who stood outside a low-income apartment building, his head craned to the sky, lit cigarette pointed to the moon. As he leaned back against the faded brick wall and slowly closed his eyes, there were a few thumping noises followed by a muffled scream.

“Damnit... couldn’t he have waited a few more minutes?”

Taking one last drag, the Hispanic man flicked the butt to the ground and crushed it under his heel before staring up at the open kitchen window that the sounds had come from, a dark look on his face. Muttering a stream of obscenities under his breath, the man turned to the rusted fire escape and shook his head before testing the slightly warped door a few feet away. Finding it locked, he took a breath and slammed his shoulder into the door, breaking it open.

Pausing for a few seconds to let his eyes adjust to the dim hallway lights, the sound of another scream reached his ears, followed by angry shouts from what must have been the neighbors in this hellhole. His face turning to a scowl, the man walked down the corridor towards the stairs, feet making no noise on the aged green carpet. Rudely pushing his way past two bleary-eyed adolescents necking on the landing of the fourth floor, his scowl deepened, smelling the familiar scent of cheap whiskey and pot.

A flight of stairs later, the man stood in front of the yellowed door, waiting in silence for the next sounds: that of a body hitting the floor. Crossing himself, the man reached into his well-worn leather jacket and drew a machete hanging from an inside strap, his almost-purple eyes glowing like cinders before kicking the door down.

His eyes took in bloodstains on the ground, broken glass, and what appeared to be fragments of a dinner plate. Shaking his head, he kept moving forward through the living room, pausing as he looked at a framed picture of a strung-out looking blonde holding onto a thugged-out man. With a tilt of his head to the side, the man reached a black-gloved hand out and took the picture, studying it carefully.

Another scream came from the kitchen, and he put the picture back down before following the sound, nearly running headlong into the man in the picture holding a candlestick over the bleeding woman on the floor. Raising the machete, the leather-clad man brought it down with a careful precision into the man’s shoulder before he could strike the woman on the ground again. Yelling in pain, the thug rolled around to face his attacker, who regarded him like a cat would a mouse.

“And what seems to be the problem here?”

His voice was cool and professional despite the look of contained anger on his face.

“Man, fuck you. This shit ain’t your business.”

He lifted up the machete, blood running down the edge as the thug squirmed in pain.

“I just made it my business. Talk.”

“You know who you’re fuckin’ with? You know who I am, bitch?”

The man’s eyes met the eyes of the thug briefly before a cold, sadistic smirk replaced his scowl.

“Dead men don’t have names.”

Before the thug could react, an iron hand was clenched firmly around his throat as the man lifted him bodily off the ground, holding him a few inches off of the ground. As the thug gurgled and frantically kicked at the man’s shins and tore his nails across the black leather sleeve of the man’s jacket, the man spoke again.

“Go to hell.”

With a casual flick of the man’s wrist, the thug flew across the room, his skull breaking through the top of the glass before his body impacted with the ground five flights below with a sickening crunch. Wiping his hands on his faded black jeans, the man turned to the stirring woman on the ground.

“Are you alright?”

The only reply was a moan and a slight nod of her head up and down.

“Where’s your phone? I’m going to call an ambulance for you.”

She shook her head and slowly moved to a sitting position, her arms wrapped around her bare legs.

“Please don’t… who are you? Where’s my boyfriend?”

“Adoni, and he’s dead.”

Adoni indicated the window, and the woman gasped before meeting his eyes, staring mindlessly at him as he gazed back into her.

“You’re going to call the police and tell them what happened here: he went crazy, attacked you, and fell out of the window. You never saw me.”

Breaking off his gaze, Adoni turned on his heel and walked out the door, his job done for the night as the woman stared blankly off into space, rolled under his gaze.

As the sun began to rise, Adoni pushed open the door to a small café and took a seat by the window, his cup of coffee already waiting for him. Taking a sip, he smiled, staring out the window at the procession of cars and joggers who were slowly streaming past before raising the Styrofoam cup in his hand at a woman dressed in running attire outside. Nodding back at him, she entered with a ring of the bell and took a seat opposite him.

“About time you showed up. I’ve been circling the block for about ten minutes already.”

Adoni took another long drink of coffee, sighed, and stared at the woman. She was dark-haired, blue-eyed, and almost deathly pale, her hair chopped short and spiky.

“Spare me, Lily. How’re things?”

He waved for another cup of coffee before turning back to her.

“The usual. How was your shift?”

“Well, I did end up throwing someone out of a fifth-story window.”

Lily gave him a wolfish grin, flexing her muscular arm.

“I’m sorry I missed it.”

“Oh, you would have enjoyed it.” Adoni assured her, placing a five on the table as the waitress dropped off another cup of coffee with a professional tip-me smile before going back behind the counter to get his change. “Hell of a job, isn’t it?”

“We’re angels, after all.” Lily reminded him, taking a sip of her coffee. “God, this is crap. How can you drink this?”

Adoni’s face twisted into the same grin as he stood up, not concerned with the rest of the money.

“It’s called brand loyalty, y’know. I happen to like it.”

“Well, you always did have bad taste. Remember the time you were out and met that woman-”

Adoni raised a hand to stop her, grimacing as he thought back.

“Please, don’t remind me, Lil. I had to throw away the sheets. You’re on shift, right?”

“Yes. In fact, I’m supposed to be taking care of someone now. You coming?”

Adoni gave a shrug before holding the door open for her, enjoying the view as she passed him, pushing the coffee into his hands.

“Don’t even think about it.”

“Too late.” Adoni retorted, speeding up his pace to walk beside her. “Where’d you park?”

Lily waved in the general direction of the skyscrapers, stepping up into a full jog as Adoni groaned in mock distress, pausing only to tie his own shoes more tightly before catching up with her. Five minutes of jogging later, the pair stood near a dinged white sedan, and Lily popped the trunk to reveal a sledgehammer and a Kalashnikov assault rifle hidden under a change of clothes.

“So, you finally decided to have the hammer, eh?” he asked. Lily looked at him. Her Russophilia was well-known to him, and the decision over whether to use the sickle or hammer was a tough one.

“Yes. It can cause more pain, and besides, it's got the nonconformist values to it also.” Lily admitted. “Now, if you don’t mind, could you turn around? You’ve already got your view this morning.”

“Aw, damnit…”

As she dressed, Adoni looked to the sky again, sighing a bit.

“Did you remember to bring it back?” he called out, shifting his weight slightly on his feet.

“It’s in the glove compartment. Come on, get in.”

As the two drove off, Adoni popped the compartment open and took out the silenced black P226, checking the clip before sticking it into a pocket of his windbreaker. Aside from the morning DJ’s chattering faintly on the radio, the ride passed in silence until Lily parked beside a meter and got out before putting in a few quarters.

“Come on.”

“Em… just how do you plan on hiding your weapons?”

“Under my coat.”

Adoni blinked a bit, staring at her as he got out of the car, amused.

“You still have the trenchcoat?”

Receiving a middle finger as a reply, the angel snickered at her, decidedly amused by this. As Lily adjusted the strap and threw her jacket over it, Adoni again glanced up into the morning sky, already turning brown from the smog.

“The only city where you wake up to the birds coughing...”

With a shake of his head, Adoni followed Lily down the alleys, taking turn after turn and eventually coming to what seemed to be a dead end – a large brick wall closed it off. Not bothering to break her stride, Lily leaped up and cleared it, Adoni landing a few feet behind her.

“You go left, I'll go right.” Lily ordered him tersely before taking off. With a shrug, Adoni turned and started walking, patting down his jeans for another cigarette. Not finding any, he cursed again before turning down another side alley, just in time to catch a crowbar right to the back of the head, wielded by another thuggish man in the same colors as the one he'd disposed of last night. At the same time, Lily was faring no better – she'd gotten a bottle broken over her head, and then was repeatedly kicked into submission.

Overhead, another woman stared at the crowd of men gathering around the fallen angel, blinking in surprise when the assault rifle was revealed as a man stripped the unconscious Lily. Drawing a knife in her left hand, she waited until the man dropped his own pants to take advantage of the situation before lodging the blade between the man's eyes. As the group began to panic, she continued with her volley of destruction until they fled, catching one last man in the back of the knee as he tried to escape with the rifle.

“Next one's going to make you sing falsetto. Drop it and get out of here.”

She stepped onto the railing of the fire escape and dove off, pulling another blade from a wrist sheath as the man hobbled off as fast as he could, not looking back.

"Wow, she's cute. Too bad she's probably a human." the woman murmured as she checked Lily for injuries – aside from the more obvious one. As the back of her hand brushed against the side of Lily's cheek, she started.

“Oh..." she whispered. "You're one of us."

Looking around, she saw a dirty window. She looked into it. She was about 5'5, light- skinned, with shoulder length black hair. Her lips were a dark red, and her eyes were a deep hazel color. She ran her fingers through her hair, hoping she'd look good. She'd been called "curvaceous" by one of her older girlfriends, but she regarded herself as heavy. Picking up Lily in a fireman's carry, the woman climbed up the fire escape to her apartment, and put Lily down on her bed, waiting for her to wake up.

Adoni was in a load of pain. Through the haze of blood and a mild concussion, he noticed that the crowd had disappeared. Wiping his face, he sat up. He noticed what appeared to be half a human head rammed into a street light, and surged to his feet before nearly pitching himself right over.

“Avarielle? Is that you?” he asked incredulously.

A laugh echoed out, and Adoni turned to see Avarielle standing behind him, who was removing a set of blood-splattered brass knuckles from her hands. Holding out his arms, the two angels hugged, and Adoni broke it off early to look at her.

“I haven't seen you in thirty years, cousin. You're changed.”

She stood at about his height, a green baseball hat covering her dark shoulder-length hair, a collar cinched around her neck as she grinned at Adoni. Although not as lean as Lily, she nonetheless conveyed the impression of being in better shape than most.

“Not much, really. You look like shit.”

“Gee, thanks. What the hell happened?” Adoni asked her, rubbing at his temples.

“You got hit upside the head, so I took care of it.”

Indicating the head smashed into the street light, Adoni raised his eyebrows.

“Like I said, I took care of it.” she replied, snickering. “I was on my way to see Callista, actually; it's a good thing I came along.”

“Callista's here? Where's she living these days?” Adoni asked, his voice showing his surprise.

“The other side of the alley.”

“Hey, that's where Lily went.”

“Good. We can meet them both there.”

The two angels walked towards the other side of the alley, talking to each other about their life along the way.

Lily woke up to find herself lying down in an unfamiliar room on top of a lumpy mattress, wearing somebody else's clothes. She struggled to her feet, swaying slightly as the room span around in a dizzying circle. She hobbled across the room to the opened door, and looked outside. A woman with longish dark hair was standing across the room, stirring a pot full of something. As Lily watched, she leaned to her right, opened a pantry door, pulled out a saltshaker, and poured a bit of salt into the pot. Lily considered speaking up and asking where in the hell she was, but thought better of it.

After all, I'm still dizzy, so I won't be any good in a fight, right? she thought, moving quietly out of the room. She tripped over a pile of what appeared to be her own clothes, cracking her jaw on the floor.

“Ow.” she moaned. The woman at the stove turned around with a cheerful smile, still stirring whatever was in the pot.

“Oh, you're awake.”

Lily stared at her, confused.

“Oh, right. You'll want to know where the you are. After you were knocked out, I brought you up here because you're, well, one of us.”

“Who are you?” Lily asked her, rubbing her jaw to see if anything had broken as she walked to the greenish couch and flopped into a seat.

“Oh, I'm Callista. I know you already. The infamous Lily, who enjoys the company of Russian males a bit too much.” Callista replied, laughing. “You came here with Adoni to find and kill someone, I'll bet. Or maybe you got lost, in which case you'll certainly find him in a few-”

There was a knocking at the door, which broke off Callista's speech.

“Or maybe my darling ex'll find you,” she added, walking over to the door. She opened it to find Adoni leaning heavily on Avarielle, his gun in her hand.

“Speak of the devil, and he shall appear.” quoted Callista, shaking her head slightly at the pair. “Come on in. I've got food cooking.”

The two walked into the apartment and quickly went for the couch. Adoni collapsed on it without greeting Lily, staring up at the ceiling in pain.

“Got a washcloth or something?” he asked. “I'm a bit bloody right now.”

Callista grabbed a washcloth from a drawer, wet it under the sink, and tossed it to him.

“Here you go, sweetie,” she called out as Lily got a good look at him for the first time. There were several bloody cuts across his face, his nose was bleeding, and his eyes were black.

“Jesus! What the hell happened to you?” she asked concernedly. Adoni waved his hand in the air as he dabbed the washcloth around his injuries, wincing a bit.

“Stumbled into some bad company,” he replied, pushing air through his teeth as he pulled a small glass shard out of his cheek. “You?”

“Callista here saved me.” Lily replied, pointing at Callista, who came over to the couch and sat next to her.

“It's a good thing I did, or you'd be more that a bit dead right now, dear.” Callista told her, eyes sparkling mischeviously.

“I wasn't being ungrateful.” Lily protested.

“Oh, I'm sorry, honey. I didn't mean it like that.” Callista replied apologetically. “Not like that at all.” She put her arm around Lily, who snuggled closer to her and closed her eyes, glad for comfort. She didn't notice Callista gazing at her hungrily, but Avarielle and Adoni exchanged a glance that held an entire conversation in it as they noticed.

So? his eyes seemed to ask.

You know exactly what I mean. her glance answered.

“Umm...we'll be in the other room if you need us.” Avarielle said, half- dragging Adoni into the bedroom by his arm. He glared at her when he'd gotten a seat on the bed.

“So?” he asked belligerently as Avarielle closed the door.

“We both know that Callista's falling for Lily, who is decidedly straight. So what do you mean by 'so?' What are we going to do?” Avarielle snapped back.

“Damnit, I was hoping I was the only person to see that.” Adoni sighed. “Let's not say anything about it to either of them. Let them work it out on their own.”

Avarielle nodded, stood up, and opened the door. The two walked back out into the living room. Lily was lying asleep on Callista's lap, having her hair stroked.

“She looks so cute when she's sleeping.” Callista grinned. Avarielle and Adoni exchanged glances again, but made no comment.

“Yeah, she does.” Adoni agreed, leaning on the counter. “I'm hungry. Let's eat.”