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“You alright?!” Angel screamed up to his little brother who he held up in his arms, allowing Rami to fire frantic bullets at the crowd chasing after them. Angel didn’t dare look back to them, choosing to instead keep his eyes locked onto Logan up ahead. The older mutant was leading them, calling out his directions (left, right) moments before they took them. Angel was thankful Logan remembered the way back to the truck, because Angel sure as hell couldn’t form the way back clearly in his head with the high pitched ringing in his ears that bullets created alongside his own voice telling him, internally and constantly, to “keep Rami safe”.
They had found the youngest, and that meant he was safer already because he was in Angel’s arms, but for how long?
“Yeah!” Rami screamed back down to the blond, breathless. The boy was obviously exhausted, and once they were safe Angel was sure the boy would sleep a decade after all of this was over (because Angel promised himself he would be there when Rami was safe and back at the mansion where he belonged. Angel wasn’t letting him be torn away from his family. He couldn’t, and wouldn’t, let that happen ever again).
“I think I’m getting better-“ and Angel didn’t have time to smile or laugh at the boy’s comment, regardless of their situation, because he was suddenly pounced on by a force from his left from deep within the trees, sending him and Rami tumbling down to the ground in grunts of shock and yells insudden pain.
Angel grunted as the body who rushed into his side didn’t let go, rolling to be pinned down by a too familiar face with too familiar claws slashing at the pinned, outstretched, and once white wings. Angel cried out in agony, his scream piercing his own ears as he kicked and waved his arm frantically to get this fucking person off of him.
Angel kept his eyes shut tight, but opened them with the intention of looking to see if Rami was nearby. He hoped he wasn’t as much as he hoped he was. If Rami saw this, Angel knew it would break the boy, but if he was nearby then once Angel escaped he could grab his little brother and they could continue going back to the truck to get to safety quicker.
Angel wasn’t going to admit defeat. Not when Rami was staring and watching with wide eyes, his small body still covered in drying blood from before Angel had got to him. This couldn’t go on any longer, Angel couldn’t let Rami see this for any longer.
Angel snapped his head back to the person atop him: Logan - no, his double. The one from the cabin during their first run from these people, the one to kill that innocent family simply caught in their crossfires through the goodness of their hearts.
It itself was covered in Angel’s blood, and he kept kicking as wailing out in pain as he felt each claw dig itself all too fast into the bones of Angel’s wings with each stab. It had three claws, like Logan, but these seemed to be sharper than the older mans. They hurt so much more.
Angel, still kicking and wailing out in pain, suddenly felt the weight upon him lift itself completely, and suddenly he was free. He opened his eyes, his throat closing on a sob of pain as he looked up at his Logan - the one who wouldn’t dare to hurt him or Rami - who snared at his evil double in spite. Angel took his sudden freedom from the double whilst he could, and sat up to scoot over towards Rami who reached for his older brother with a sob.
Angel grabbed the boy’s extended wrist and pulled him into his arms, standing with a limp and shivering wings (that dropped feathers like a leaking faucet, one by one falling away to the ground as the blood dropped alongside them) with his brother pulled closely to his chest. Rami was sobbing, his chest heaving as he breathed frantically, and Angel turned to watch as Logan deflected each bullet with his claws expertly.
As Angel watched, he cupped the back of Rami’s head and stroked through the blood matter curls to comfort the youngest. He felt so small in Angel’s arms, and he fought off the sting of tears as Logan turned to him.
That look said it all. The sight of Angel holding Rami, the person the two had put aside their differences for to find, whilst the winged beast himself twitched in his own agony, was enough to convince Logan to sacrifice his own life for them.
But Angel couldn’t have that.
Angel knew Rami adored Logan, saw him most definitely as a father figure after being pushed away by his own years ago. It was special what Logan and Rami had, Angel could see that even through the many differences he and Logan held. They had been ‘enemies’ before. But now...
Now, Angel was ready to sacrifice his life for him.
If it meant Rami was safe...
It must have shown on his face, because Logan suddenly looked shocked, eyes wide as he looked as if he was about to object. But before Logan could so much as dare utter a word, Angel ripped Rami away from his chest, and ultimately his heart, and thrusted him into Logan’s arms with a challenge.
Dare try stop me now, his eyes spoke for him, and Logan had no choice but to give the smallest of nods as he held Rami close to his chest and started to run away.
“Angel?”
Angel watched as they disappeared, his heart strings ripping at the confusion in that small little voice. Angel cursed himself for his decision, not because he was afraid, because he wanted to say so much more to Rami before he ultimately died for him.
“Angel!”
They were coming closer. Angel could hear their yells clearly, but preferred not to identify them. He stood in a fighting stance, twitching and aching and bleeding wings forcing themselves to spread completely in preparation for battle. He would fend them off for his little brother and for Logan for as long as he could. He would try for them both.
“ANGEL!”
He felt hands ripping at him as they finally reached him. They pulled and shot at and cracked ribs, and Angel fought it all back.
He punched and screamed and killed and murdered until half of them were dead. A bloody body pile had formed around him, and the other people had backed away from the snarling beast and his red wings that flapped dangerously.
There was no way he could fly away now.
His wings, the only thing he had left now, were truly done for. Without Rami’s healing, he would never fly again, and there was no way Angel had any chance to get back to his family.
Still, he had to stall.
He attacked the rest, getting to the last that he grabbed at the front of to throw off towards the side, yelling out in a battle cry as he went to stomp over to the last to kill him once and for all.
“Please!” The scientists screamed his plea.
Angel just shook his head, his face contorting into a disgusted smirk.
“Is that how my brother sounded when you split him apart? When you tried to kill him over and over again, only to fail and just try it all again the next day?” Angel responded as his wings fluttered violently.
“We were following orders! We-“ the man tried to finish, but a claw made it’s way straight through the begging scientist’s middle before Angel had a chance to kill him for himself.
Angel stopped, and stared, as Logan’s double threw the last kidnapper, now dead, to the side and revealed itself to Angel. Angel backed away frantically, falling to his butt as it came closer and closer.
It got so close, Angel caught sight of the dog tags it wore: ‘X-24’.
It grabbed at Angel’s front, and held the winged beast up with a snarl, it’s opposite claws hand raised above his head and aimed for Angels own.
Angel spat at X-24, kicked yet didn’t scream at the beast before it killed him.
“You’re a fucking monster.” Angel choked, not bothering to stop the blood and dirt stained tears trickling down his cheeks. “I hope Rami and Logan fucking kill you.” Angel spat, and the claws stabbed straight through Angel’s chest with a loud, elongated cry of agony accompanied with the squelching noise the claws-through-muscle situation provided.
The claws came back out again soon enough, going this time straight for Angel’s head, but a sobbing cry stared he both of them. They both worked up instantly, looking down the woods as Angel’s mouth trickled blood from the attack.
X-24 dropped Angel instantly, and went running for the sound of Rami’s crys.
“No...” Angel choked, having fallen onto his back once he was dropped by X-24. “Don’t-“ don’t hurt him, he wanted to say, don’t hurt my little brother.
He choked on his own blood for a moment, breathing weezy and hollow through the noise as he coughed and spluttered thick blood pooling from his lungs and flooding his mouth completely.
He laid there for a moment, surrounded by dead body’s from his doing an looking like his own victim, before he finally had the tiniest bit of strength to get up, and start stumbling down the way X-24 went.
The path was long, and the thought of saving Rami and Logan from death was the only thing keeping him from stopping dead in his tracks and dying on the spot.
He got closer to the cries and grunts of a fight, and heard that small voice whimper the word “no...” beneath the trees.
He knew that voice, and he took to the sky’s with broken wings and only hope coursing through his veins and keeping him alive long enough to find Rami, with a gun pointed to his head, and Logan laying on the floor ready to be slaughtered next by X-24, and what looked like a double of Rami holding the youngest back.
“I love you, Dad. I love you.”
With all Angel had left, he flew down to save them.