Christina was napping on the floor of the meeting room, while Kelsey was outside, pacing the hallway angrily and yelling at someone on the phone. Glenn was on her laptop, sitting primly and typing slowly.

"Hey guys." I whispered.

Glenn looked momentarily confused. "Hey."

"So, the hospital's been captured."

"Yeah, we're aware."

"Any good news?"

"We did kill a lot of people." Glenn said. "But otherwise, no. They've taken the hospital hostage, and we're pretty stumped as to what to do. It doesn't help that none of us are really the leader types to begin with."

"What happened to your actual leader, Occasio? Or Alexander?"

"Alexander's missing, he tends to do this. Occasio's concerned for his safety, so he's holed up in the penthouse. He's a good leader, money-wise. That's how he got here, being super rich on Earth. I just think he wasn't anticipating needing wartime leadership during his reign. I think all of us were thinking we were done with that."

"What's the plan?" I asked. "Look, my sisters are in there. So I really need to know that there is a plan."

"Oh god, I'm sorry." Glenn looked at me blankly. "There really isn't one. At least... one you'd like to hear."

"What is it?" I asked impatiently. "Where's the rest of you? The police lady, and the fat man? Don't they have something to contribute to this situation. And where's Micky?"

Glenn continued to appear blank, empty-eyed, tired. "Stacy's no good at public maneuvers. Kell was pretty certain he ran a kind of pseudo-mob, but that's no good versus rebels. Lane's..." She swallowed. "Noel's paralyzed. She's at home with her wife. Moll's still in the hospital and... that's it. That's all of us."

"So what is Kelsey planning to do? And where the hell is Micky?"

Glenn didn't seem up to answering. "I don't know."

I turned out of the room a little bit louder than I should have, and found Kelsey slumped against the wall, still bickering on the phone. I stared him down while he talked, not paying attention to his words.

When he got sick of my glaring, he rested his phone against his shirt and gave me a look of utter irritation. "What?"

"What are you planning to do about the hospital."

"Kill them all."

"No."

"I'd really rather not, but it's looking to be the only option, Blake. Demons don't exactly get sick- the only innocents there are dying of terminal disease, or are really old. There's a few like Moll who... are fine. Recovering from a wound. But we can lose them."

"My sisters are in there."

"Should have thought of that before leaving them there."

"What? Thought the rebels would seize the hospital and that you'd deduce the only way to handle the situation would be to destroy it?"

"The rebels took the hospital because they figured we would be powerless to stop them. But we can lose it, Blake. So we're going to." Kelsey stressed his words very precisely, like I was a child. "There's a small tunnel system below the city. I'm going to have placed a number of explosives at the base of the hospital. Then I will tell the rebels this, and demand either surrender or flight. I don't want to do this."

"You can't do it." I said. "My sisters are in there!"

"Kell's in there. Moll's in there. Numerous innocent doctors and nurses are in there. Thousands of dollars worth of medical equipment- a collection that took years to obtain- is in there. There's probably a baby or two in there too. This is not a great plan- it is our only plan."

"You can't fucking do it though. I won't let you!" I shouted, though I knew it was pointless.

"What are you going to do about it?" Kelsey asked, and though he didn't mean it, his words felt like a taunt. "What should we do instead?"

I was speechless for what felt like a milosecond, but it was enough for Kelsey to jump back in again:

"I don't want to do this." Kelsey's voice was dry and rough, he probably smoked. "It is a necessity, Blake. Never in my life- once or twice in my life, but not now, would I want to kill Kell. He means a lot to me." He said this so flatly, all I could think of was Christina, her tired exhaustion, her strange marriage. Mannie had referred to Kelsey as Kell's ex, as odd as that felt to realize.

"So don't kill him."

"He's nearly dead already." He sounded so hopeless, each word hoarser than the last, though his dark eyes revealed nothing. "You've been brown-nosing in our business long enough. You ought to know he never really loved me. Never really loved anyone. Had a wife and daughter, left them for this city. Left me the moment he had an excuse. Getting himself hurt like this... it's like he's running away all over again. And none of it really matters- because no matter what, you don't risk everything for one person you really love. You risk hundreds of innocents for thousands of strangers."

"That's... not good."

"A lot of things are not good. Less than the amount of good things in the world, but they tend to overpower. Sometimes you have to embrace the bad for the greater good, or the lesser good, or really, for whatever is best. This is what you do when you're the bad guy, Blake."

"Are you really the bad guy though? Or... do you really have to be? Just don't blow a bunch of babies up, and you'll be set."

"Blake, we are all the bad guys here. This is a revolution of the people, the oppressed rising up against their all powerful leaders to try and install a better system. They're wrong in so many ways, but right in a lot too. The both of us would probably be rooting for them from the outside. Instead, we're here. Bad. I've lived with that label long enough, but I hope it doesn't stick too long on you."

"Can't we... surrender? We shouldn't have to be evil. Plus it'd save a lot of lives." I said weakly. "I mean, we were debating on maintaining the people's popularity. Going to lose all of that anyway once you kill a few babies."

"If we surrender, we'll probably all be killed. Maybe not you, so I can see how that sounds like a good plan to you. But I don't want to die." Kelsey looked off into the distance of the other hallway. "I suppose I could die. I wouldn't mind. But I know Glenn's scared, and you know what? I'm not a close friend of hers. But I've known her a long time. And if she's scared, I'm going to protect her. Sometimes that's all it takes to want to do something- someone who needs you."

"I know self preservation is... a thing and all, but really? About eight deaths instead of a hundred?"

"Yes. You can kill me now if you're particularly insistent on stopping this, but I wouldn't suggest it."

"I'm going to stop it." I threatened, but by the time I got the words out Kelsey was already back to his phone.

I returned to the conference room. Christina was awake, and sitting at the table eating a packet of crackers.

"Christina, you like peace, right?" I said quickly. I had meant to be asking an amiable question, but instead it sounded like a demand.

"Enough. Is this about exploding the hospital? Yeah, that's pretty shitty, isn't it?"

"So you know."

"We've known for a few hours now. I wasn't happy with the plan either. Actually, I'm right pissed. But I can't think of anything else to do."

"Kell's in there." I reminded her, like she might have somehow forgot. "My sisters are in there too."

"Sorry about your sisters. And Kell's... not good. I gave you that whole spiel already, didn't I? He's probably not getting any better."

"I'm not letting my sisters die."

"Okay. Good idea. Think of another plan."

"I-"

"And peaceful negotiations have yet to work."

"I'm not going to give up." I sighed. "Do you know where Micky is?"

"Have you tried calling him?"

"Yeah."

"Then I'd fear the worst." Christina made a motion like she was shrugging but didn't have the energy to see the action through.

"Where's Michael? He seems like the sort of person who would have ideas."

Christina raised her eyebrows. "If you think Michael cares about the deaths of demons, you're nearly one hundred percent wrong."

"There's babies in there! Probably."

"Okay, he does give a shit about babies. I don't know where he is." Christina dug her phone out of her pocket and slid it over to me. "I don't feel like calling."

I hit call on his number, and he picked up immediately. "Chrissie!" Michael exclaimed.

"This is Blake."

"Blake!"

"Yeah. Have you heard what Hell's been planning to do in regards to this hospital hostage situation?"

"Kill them all, right? Bomb through the foundation and collapse the place? Real shame. I wonder how everyone in Hell has access to so many explosives."

"You know there's kids inside? Children, probably, and babies. Newborn babies, Michael!"

"Oh shit. Seriously? Why are there babies in the hospital?"

"I..."

"We can't kill babies. That's not good."

"No, it's not. My sisters are in there too, so I'm not letting this plan go through. Do you-"

"Aw, man, your sisters? That sucks. I'd probably do anything to protect my brothers from harm. Aw, wait! Raphael volunteers there- he's probably working right now!" I hear Michael snap his fingers. "Good thing he's immortal though, huh?"

"Yeah, but my sisters aren't, and neither are all those poor babies. So do you have any ideas as to another plan?"

"Nah, but I'll think of one. Be right over!" He hung up.

"Michael says he has a plan," I told Christina and Glenn.

"What is it?" The former asked.

"He said he'll have a plan."

"That's not very reassuring."

"I will sabotage the current plan if it gets anywhere near completion."

"It's already set up." Glenn mumbled. "Kelsey's been delaying activation for a while now."

"He mostly seems to be yelling over the phone."

"No one's happy about this. This isn't a good plan. This isn't something anyone wants." Christina said. "But it's something that, right now, has to happen."

"Let's wait for Michael." I suggested, and for once I was very unhappy to be sitting still. It was quiet here, and for once, I wanted to break that.

I wanted to run. To save the day, somehow. Not to be a hero, but to keep Ria and Adeline safe- and to find Micky. And make sure he was okay.

Which he was.

I had to keep reminding myself that.

Michael walked into the room quietly, for once managing to give off an energy that wasn't obnoxiously hyper.

"I have a new idea." He announced solemnly.

"Great. What is it?" Christina asked cautiously.

"We attack them again. To take the hospital, they had to move out of the south, right? Well, they took most of their guard with them. If we send another group into the rebel base, they'll be really easy to destroy."

"They might kill hostages in retaliation." Christina suggested. "They certainly won't be pleased."

"They hopefully will retreat back to the base in order to protect their leaders. What we need to do is take a few cameras in there, and then hold their leaders hostage. Do an exchange."

"There's no way to say if this will work. These guys are pretty dead set on their goals- I'm not sure how much their leaders mean to them really." Glenn said. "Not to mention we lost most of our available soldiers in the last attack. The leftovers aren't going to want to go in after what happened to the last group."

"Our only goal in this maneuver is to get them away from the hospital. I have slightly racist, very angry angelic soldiers. And, keep this under wraps, I don't mind sacrificing them if the rebels demand it."

"Whoa, I thought the angels were like your sacred children," I said. "You'd send them to die?"

"As I just said, yes. For the sake of the children. The real ones."

"We should get Kelsey in here," Christina said. "This could work."

"We're going to try it," I said. "Anything except the explosions."

"Except, uh, one thing guys?" Glenn said nervously. "Michael, isn't your daughter still down there? That's sort of a huge risk, right?"

"Hey, fuck, you're right... actually, nah. I have some really crazy angels. They'll tear through anything. Of course, most of them don't even know I was married to Vic, but they'll be ecstatic when they learn my lineage legally has a successor. Don't sweat it."

I sighed. "I think we should. Michael, they'll probably hold her hostage. God knows if we're not careful we could end with some sort of freaky triple hostage situation."

"Hey!" Michael slammed a hand on the table. "How long are we going to be sitting here, debating the worst, versus actually going out and facing it? If Amy dies- who cares! I do! But whatever!"

"I'll go get Kelsey." Glenn offered.

"If Amy dies, I'll live through it. I always will." Michael climbed onto of the table and started kicking his legs. "Grief exists for me to overcome. But for a lot of other people that's..."

Kelsey reminded us several times that the original plan was still all set, and that, if things started to wrong, he'd go through with it. He was frowning the whole time through as the debate circled on- would Amy be at risk? Would the rebels attack hostages? Did anyone have any other ideas?- but I had the feeling he was relieved that we had come up with something.

Michael left to gather his angels, and Christina accompanied him dutifully. At one point Stacy stopped in, heard our plan, and nodded a couple of times.

"Should have put more work into propaganda." Was all he had to remark on, for some reason. He then went to chat in private with Kelsey.

There was still no word for Micky.

Bastard probably lost his phone. He's no doubt at his home, wondering where I went.

Glenn was left in the conference room, tapping away at her keyboard, looking constantly nervous.

I wasn't given anything to do, but I left when Michael and Christina did, following them outside. The square was packed with people now, probably evacuated from the areas surrounding the hospital. Right at the very front were the remains of a school group, most of the kids sitting on the ground with a couple very tired teachers resting against lampposts.

The sky was still set to warning mode, and it was as bright as the afternoon- but it was well into the night now, around six-thirty.

As I traversed the fields of children, a thought came to me: they were probably up here for a reason, gathered around the headquarters of the government instead of sent home- a tiny human shield.

Gross, but you know, I got it. Then again, if these rebels weren't above holding the sick hostage, who said hurting children wasn't out of the question?

I went north, behind the square, to the very edge of the city. The sky started around twelve feet up, leaving an old grey wall around the circumference, like a snow globe. Every so often there was a heavy, locked door.

When I mentioned my plan to Christina- to find the explosives Kelsey had placed and remove them- the first thing she warned me was that it would evoke my claustrophobia. I hadn't even been aware she used to know me.

Then she told me how to get there. And yeah, it was going to be awful.

Christina hadn't be sure where the keys were, so I had to smash the door open in my hellhound form, a full weighted body slam being plenty.

There was a narrow staircase up the dome of the city, but I took the seemingly narrower path down.

I really should have brought a flashlight. There were lights down here, but they were dim and motion controlled, only slowly flickering on when I was directly underneath them. I couldn't see the path in front of me.

I should have entered this passageway closer to the hospital, but I had thought it'd be unsafe. A few feet in and I was considering heading back out.

The space here was bigger than the shafts, though about as high. I couldn't tell for certain, but I had a feeling this dense jungle of support beams was as wide as the city itself- I would've said something out loud to test this, but I was busy feeling like I was in a horror film.

Something was dripping. There were signs, tiny plaques noting street numbers. I followed them west, wondering exactly how I was planning to remove the bombs- could they even be moved? They must have already been armed, so was it even safe to touch them? Was I going to drag them out of here? I hadn't brought a bag.

My mind was full of questions that I knew I wasn't going to be able to answer until I arrived, but tracing them over kept me... well, it kept me anxious, but at least I was focusing on burning to death instead of suffocating in this darkness.

I saw something shine as I got closer to the hospital, and then blink. A light. Okay. Bombs probably had a lot of those.

My biggest problem became apparent when I came closer: the foundation of the hospital was pretty big, and there were a lot of bombs. There were small, flat ones against every support pillar under the hospital, and then several large ones on the ground beneath them.

I was semi-curious how Hell had acquired such a cache, but mostly horrified at the task ahead of me. I couldn't carry all of these out. I'm not sure what I had thought I would find, three tiny bombs tops? Kelsey meant to wreck the foundation, collapse the building, and then just to be safe, set off another round of heavy explosions.

Cautiously, I reached a hand out and grasped one of wall bombs. I locked my fingers around the edges and gently pulled, feeling the sticky mechanism disengage. The light was still blinking as I removed the device.

I resumed breathing after a minute of waiting.

The hospital wasn't far from the edge, and I traced the wall until I found another door. I put the small bomb on the staircase there, and went back.

This was going to take a while.

I didn't bother counting how many I had when I was done. I just knew the stairwell was full of blinking machines.

Time for the other hard part: getting them out of here. I peeked out of the door and things looked pretty good, so I gathered an armful of bombs and started walking. My plan was to store them somewhere harmless, one of the decrepit buildings. This amount of firepower still might tear through the foundation... but as long as no one was nearby, it'd be okay, right?

I got one street down before someone was pointing a gun at me. Two rebels emerged from around the corner. "What are those?" One of them asked, gesturing with their gun.

"Uh. Hey guys." I said. "These? They're, uh, bombs. Please don't shoot."