"Billie - did you know that Gerard is coming back tonight?" Mikey exclaimed as he rushed into the library, ignoring the tired sigh which emitted from his friend as his reading was interrupted once again.

"Yes I did," Billie answered curtly, burying his nose back in his book in a futile attempt to convince Mikey to leave him be so he could finish this chapter, but Mikey didn't catch on to his not so subtle hint.

"You did - then why didn't you tell me?"

"Because Brendon asked me not to." Billie shrugged minutely, his eyes widening as Mikey's gaze fell into a sorrowful expression that Billie never knew how to handle even after all of these years being surrounding by his more emotional friends. "Come on Mikey, you have to understand why he did that."

"No..." Mikey whimpered softly, his posture deflating as he seated himself heavily on the floor next to the chair Billie Joe was ensconced in.

"Oh god Mikey...please don't cry," Billie begged as Mikey began to sniffle quietly, his body drawing in on itself feebly, his head burying into his knees in a way that looked borderline painful, at least from Billie's perspective.

"I'm not," Mikey murmured, but it was obvious from his hitched breathing that he was.

Billie silently cursed himself for being so insensitive, because he hadn't meant to hurt the other angel, he was only speaking the truth after all, but he had forgotten how fragile Mikey had become lately; the nearness of the seventh prophecy coupled with the chance of being reunited with his long lost brother had Mikey constantly bouncing between a bubbly state and a nervous wreck, and it was entirely Billie's fault that he had hit the lower end of the spectrum.

"I know you are excited to see your brother again, but try and think about this from Gerard's perspective; he is still human for the time being, which means he is most likely confused, and scared, and he will continue to feel that way until he regains his memories, so having a complete stranger meet him at Heaven's gates claiming that he is his brother is not the best way to welcome him, that was why I decided to keep his arrival a secret," Billie explained, doing his best to rectify his previous harsh words with a more caring amendment.

"Oh...well, I guess you are right." Mikey nodded slowly, his expression still morose, but at least he didn't have tears pouring down his cheeks at the moment. "I just miss him so much, it has been fifteen years...do you have any idea how hard this has been on me?"

"No, honestly I don't, and I won't pretend that I can empathize with you, but I am trying to imagine it, and it hurts, but I also know that Gerard is suffering too, so it would be in the best interests for the both of you if you wait until Gerard remembers who you are and how much you mean to him before trying to inundate yourself back into his life."

"Fuck you and your flawless logic," Mikey scoffed gently, and even though Billie had been starting to pick up on sarcasm with a better sense of accuracy, he missed the teasing lilt to Mikey's voice, inspiring him to continue onward in the hopes of earning Mikey's forgiveness.

"I know, I'm sorry, I am sure that isn't what you wanted to hear, and I won't stop you if you want to go see him...I am only trying to help."

"Oh god Billie, I was joking," Mikey assured him instantly, the honesty in his eyes allowing Billie Joe to catch on to his mistake in believing that Mikey was upset with him. "I needed someone to slap some sense into me, which is probably why I came looking for you in the first place, if I had wanted encouragement, I would have gone to find Ray."

"Oh - well then, you are welcome, I think, and if you want, I can keep you company until Gerard is ready to see you."

"Thanks Billie, I would like that." Mikey agreed. "Did you hear that God lifted my banishment from Earth early?"

"Why yes I did," Billie hummed, "which is good, we will need you in the battle that is soon to come."

"Is this all material on the Leviathan?" Mikey queried after a brief period of silence, his eyes dancing across the numerous tomes surrounding Billie's seat as he stretched his limbs into a more comfortable position.

"Everything that I could find," Billie nodded, his hands turning the page which had once again been filled with pointless information that he was already aware of.

"Have you discovered any major weaknesses yet?"

"No...nothing, I don't know if one doesn't exist, or if I am just missing something," Billie groaned, his head beginning to throb lightly as he devoured the next line of text, ignoring the pain to the best of his abilities in favor of hopefully gleaning a new sliver of knowledge that he hadn't possessed before.

"Well, two heads work better than one, so let's find a way to kill this son of a bitch."

~~~

"Can I touch them?" were the first words out of Gerard's mouth when Brendon and his companion alighted in their living room just as the sun began to set, his eyes comically wide as Frank did his best not to erupt into a fit of laughter at his boyfriend's odd request.

"Go for it," Brendon grinned, turning around slightly so Gerard had full access to his wings, which had been the object that had captured Gerard's attention so thoroughly, a joyous expression crossing Gerard's face as he began running his fingers through Brendon's feathers slowly.

Frank giggled under his breath at the scene before him, his gaze meeting the taller angel who had so far stayed silent, and after digging through his newly returned memories for a short while, Frank recognized the quiet man, his mouth turning upward in a smile as he stepped closer to his one-time friend.

"Ryan...it is you right?" Frank asked warily, the picture in his head slightly differing from the person standing before him. Ryan's hair had grown out into long curls instead of the choppy style he had sported before his death, but his chocolate irises had remained the same, and Frank was positive it had to be him.

"Yeah - hey Frank, it's been a while," Ryan responded, his feet shifting back and forth minutely as he spoke.

"Fuck - it really has, you look different, but in a good way. How is being an angel treating you?" Frank prodded, doing his best to contain the thousands of questions he had for the other man, because he had never been exceptionally close to Ryan, even in the past, and it seemed that time had built up a wall around Ryan that Frank didn't recall being there before.

"It's interesting to say the least, but I've adjusted." Ryan shrugged slightly, his eyes glancing over to where Gerard was still examining Brendon's wings curiously, his mouth constantly running the entire time, something about how he wondered if he had enough time to produce a rough sketch of the feathers before they left, or if he would be allowed to have Brendon model for him in Heaven, or something like that.

"How about you two, still madly in love?" Frank ventured to ask, because he hadn't missed the slight hint of jealousy that crossed over Ryan's face when he had observed Gerard touching Brendon so intimately, even though Gerard didn't remember that an angel's wings were especially sensitive, but Frank now did.

"Basically, we have had our ups and downs, but he still means the world to me." Ryan smiled at Brendon affectionately, allowing Frank to catch his first glimpse of the real Ryan that he had once known all those years ago.

"Frank," Gerard called out, interrupting the private conversation with his giddy tone, "come here and look at this intricate pattern, it is amazing, birds don't even have wings like this."

"I think that is enough examining Brendon for now love, but I promise I will let you stare at my wings for as long as you want when I get them back," Frank chuckled fondly, crossing over to Gerard's side so he could capture his probing fingers in his grasp, successfully calming Gerard down from his excited state as well as freeing Brendon from the artist's inquisition.

"You're right, I'm sorry, I got carried away," Gerard apologized sheepishly, "I just - fuck, angels are real, that's pretty fucking cool."

"Well you are about to meet a lot more of them," Brendon stated, shaking out his feathers quickly before retracting his wings for the time being. "So...are you ready to go?"

"I think so," Frank responded, his gaze darting to Gerard who had suddenly stiffened by his side, "but we were wondering what we should tell our parents about this. Gerard works from home, and I am temporarily out of a job, but our families are going to wonder what happened to us if we disappear without a trace," Frank asked, voicing the question that Gerard had brought up earlier, even though he was unsure if Brendon would have a satisfactory answer for the two of them.

"Well - this is sort of hard to explain, Billie could do it better, but basically, when you died, you weren't exactly reborn again, God created vessels for you and placed your souls inside of them, then they twisted reality around you so you could fit in seamlessly with the lives they had planned for you, but you aren't truly a part of this world, so if you are taken out of it, everything will go back to the way it was before you existed."

"I - I don't understand," Gerard mumbled quietly, his trembling digits clutching Frank's hand in a fierce grip, the new information shaking him slightly even though he was obviously doing his best not to show it.

"Well what Brendon is trying to say is that you weren't born like most humans, you popped into everyone's life and God made it so that your parents had memories of you as children, even though they didn't know who you were until fifteen years ago. I am not fully knowledgeable on the subject either, but you two are almost artificial beings, not your bodies, but your presence here. That is why you don't have many friends, and why you don't feel the need to seek out any other people's company. It is a strange process, one that has never been done before as far as I understand it, but regarding your loved ones, once you are transformed back into your original states, everyone will forget about you automatically," Ryan attempted to clarify Brendon's words, and even though it helped, Frank's brain was still spinning wildly.

"Seriously...but I have seen baby pictures of myself, I remember things from when I was little, how can that all be fake?" Frank stammered out, his mind churning rapidly as it tried to take in this new information, and Gerard seemed just as stunned as Frank was.

"None of that happened," Brendon nodded solemnly, "God returned you to earth as teenagers, actually, your first day as humans was the one in which you two met, apparently it is much easier to do things that way than to imprint your mind into a child's, plus God wanted to make sure that the two of you would find each other at an age in which you would recognize the love you shared, he said it was his gift to you for being brave enough to stand up for what you believed in, as well as all of the hardships you went through before Gerard's death."

"Oh my god, this is like an epic comic book origin story," Gerard mumbled under his breath, his already pale face carrying an even whiter sheen than usual, but Frank didn't blame him for his reaction, he was having a hard time grasping everything, even with his returned memories, but Gerard's comment released a short bark of laughter from his lips, and he couldn't help but to press a swift kiss to his husband's cheek as a response.

"Once you are a demon again, it will make more sense, I promise," Brendon smiled reassuringly, "but if it is okay with you two, we should probably leave, Earth isn't the safest place for angelic beings at the moment, and the sooner we get you into Heaven, the better our odds of defeating the Leviathan before it fully awakes is."

"Gerard...baby, are you still willing to do this?" Frank questioned gently when his husband remained silent.

"I am, it's just a lot to take in, and I want to say goodbye to my mom, even if she won't remember me," Gerard sighed heavily, inspiring Frank to shoot Brendon a questioning look, to which he received a short nod in return.

"You can call her Gerard, just don't mention anything supernatural to her okay?"

"Really - thank you, I'll be quick," Gerard promised, his eyes lighting up as he darted upstairs to retrieve his cell phone.

"And what about you Frank?" Ryan spoke after a few minutes of silence had passed.

"Hmm?" Frank hummed noncommittally, his attention occupied by the soft strains of Gerard's voice that he could hear emitting from their open bedroom door.

"Do you want to talk to your parents too?"

"I - I'm okay," Frank shook his head, because as much as he loved his family, he knew that being faced with their voices would only make his choice to leave everything he had known behind even more difficult for him to follow through with, and Ryan seemed to understand that.

"You are doing the right thing Frank, without you two, humanity would be obliterated."

"I - I know, I'm just scared..." Frank admitted nervously, "but I'll be okay, I sort of just want to get this over with."

"We will, I promise, everyone is going to help you in this battle, and with you on our side once more, we finally have a chance, so thank you for coming back." Brendon pulled Frank into a quick hug, his embrace still familiar even after their long separation.

"Of course I did, I can't let you have all of the fun without me," Frank chortled softly, trying to convince himself that the choked quality of his tone was caused by Brendon squeezing him too tightly and not his turbulent emotions.

Footsteps on the stairs broke the two men apart, and when Frank glanced upward, he saw Gerard reentering the living room, a sad smile painted across his face as he hefted the bag he had packed earlier onto his back.

"Mom was about to leave for the opera, so she couldn't talk long, but I got to tell her I love her, so I'm ready if you are Frank," Gerard stated solemnly.

"Come here," Frank beckoned, dragging Gerard into his arms suddenly before pressing a gentle kiss to his husband's forehead. "We don't have to go if you don't want to baby, you can still change your mind, just say the word," Frank whispered into his ear, even though he was determined that they had to follow through with this, his friends needed them, hell - everyone needed them, but if Gerard asked him too, Frank would stay here, no matter how many souls he damned in the process.

"No, I want to do this with you, besides, I can't pass up on the opportunity to see you with wings."

"I love you so much," Frank murmured, his eyes squeezing shut as a sudden round of tears seemed to appear as if from nowhere, his throat closing rapidly as he swayed in place with Gerard firmly clutched to his chest.

"I love you too sugar, now come on, let's go save the world."

Bet you guys didn't expect to see an update on this, I didn't either tbh.

I am not quite ready to take this story off hold yet, but this chapter sort of popped into my head while I was at work, so I had to write it down before I lost interest again, so even though it is short, and the editing is shitty af, at least it is something right?

I have some good ideas going now, so I might get back to this sooner than I thought, but no promises, I am having a hard time keeping up with work and life atm, but hopefully I will be able to find time to juggle everything as well as writing sooner rather than later.

So to everyone who is still around even after my hiatus on this book, thank you so much, and I really hope you enjoyed this.

Chapter dedicated to sparklegirl_bvb

((((good vibes))))

<3 starr