They had finally managed to get each other caught up on everything that had come to pass – Kibum was scandalously delighted to hear about Gunwoo and Changmin, though it took some prying on his part – when the door opened to admit Myungsoo. The pair paused, easy smiles falling from their faces quickly, and waited to hear what he had to say. Impassively, he regarded them with unreadable eyes and then moved to take a seat at the end of the table, guaranteeing he could address them both and that this would likely not be a short conversation.

                “I have received word from the Negal Cemeste,” he began simply, focusing his attention on the Heir.

                Gunwoo cringed slightly and made an apologetic gesture towards Kibum. “My parents?” he wondered hesitantly.

                “The Council.”

                “Oh…” That was even worse.

                “They have dispatched the Stella Viatorem Prime to retrieve all non-human parties involved in the meddling of Planet MRD-176-HP-25,” he explained, glancing at Kibum. “That does not include you.”

                Kibum frowned slightly but held his tongue on whatever witty retort he might have said otherwise. “But it does include Gunwoo.”

                “Yes. Per his parent’s request, the Council is officially sending a retrieval party for the Heir. As well as the demons currently being held in the attempted assassination of said angel.” His expression turned thoughtful and he added, “I sent word of the injuries and they agreed to include a Royal Medical Squad as well.”

                “Will they be able to heal them completely?” Gunwoo murmured hurriedly, grasping at threads of hope.

                The Discoverer shrugged. “You would know better than I, little angel.”

                It was not the answer he wanted to hear but he was right. “And the other Discoverer?”

                “Alphamega?” At Gunwoo’s nod, Myungsoo quirked his mouth to the side. “Alpha Prime will be the judge of that one.” His gaze turned speculative then as he regarded the Heir intently. “I am surprised you have not asked about your own fate.” Gunwoo looked away, glancing up at Kibum before staring at the table in front of him. “You already know then?” he laughed once, hands raised in open inquiry.

                He sniffed once and gave Myungsoo a sidelong look. “I know that partaking of Kirin’s blood without express permission is an intergalactic crime. I have no doubts that I shall be charged accordingly. As will Changmin,” he sighed, depressed about the thought.

                “Indeed. But I do suppose that we will need to hear from Beta One Alpha Four before that judgement can be truly made.” The Heir turned a confused look towards the Discover but he continued, “The bigger concern is actually the situation regarding you and your betrothed-”

                “Betrothed?” Kibum squeaked.

                “-as well as the relationship between the Angel and Demon Empires after this… debacle,” he rolled his eyes. “One would think the Great Feud would be reason enough not to risk squabbling again,” he snorted in irritation.

                “Great Feud?” Kibum hissed at Gunwoo.

                “If the Demon Emperor had a hand in the assassins following you, it will be most inconvenient for the peace in this sector of the universe,” Myungsoo huffed. “The humans on this planet are easy enough to mollify. The rest of the creatures in the universe… perhaps not so much,” he grimaced, digging a finger in his ear as if he was trying to hear something better.

                “So what will happen to Kibum then?” Gunwoo murmured, glancing across the table to his human friend, who seemed surprised by the question.

                Myungsoo frowned as if that was a silly question. “He’ll become my assistant of course.”

                “I’ll what?!” Kibum chirped, staring at the Discoverer as if he’d gone mad. That expression quickly faded when galaxy filled eyes peered back at him, unmovable in their decision. “Sure,” he drawled instead. “Assistant. To one of the most powerful things I’ve seen in my life. Right,” he nodded, throwing his hands up since he didn’t know what else to do with them.

                “Given what you know, it’s probably one of the safest places for you,” Gunwoo shrugged apologetically, flinching when he saw the way Myungsoo was looking at him, disappointment etched into the too human face.

                “I’ve half a mind to be insulted,” he eventually muttered, rolling his eyes again. “Regardless. Kibum will be my assistant here on Earth. You and the rest of the angels and demons and artificial angel and demon, as well as V - Taehyung – Alphamega – whatever he’s calling himself these days,” he waved in irritation, “will return to the Negal Cemeste for sentencing, judgement, returning to your normal lives. Whatever it is that the Council ends up deciding.”

                “You’re not coming back with us?” Gunwoo inquired, brow furrowed when he immediately tried to figure out how he was going to convince the Discoverer, since he had a better grasp of what was going on right now.

                “Of course not. But I shall send a full briefing of my findings here with the ship. I must stay to clean up the mess you,” and he pointed directly at Gunwoo, “brought to my doorstep.”

                The Angel Heir at least had the good grace to look sheepish. “I never meant for any of this to happen,” he admitted quietly, threading his fingers together on top of the table.

                “But they happened nonetheless,” Myungsoo shrugged, easily standing up as he got ready to depart. “As mentioned, you have approximately two pulsar hours to prepare yourself before the ship arrives. I do not think they will want to linger,” he warned as a precautionary measure.

                “I understand,” the angel sighed, sinking further on the bench.

                In silence, the two watched the Discoverer head out the door, leaving them to their heavy thoughts. Kibum broke it first though. “Is it really going to be that bad?”

                The angel shrugged but nodded. “Probably worse. At least, I should be preparing for the worst…” he added hesitantly.

                “How much worse?” Kibum scoffed, conjuring a half-smile. It faded when Gunwoo’s expression remained impassive. “Oh.” Uncomfortably, he shifted on his seat and took another breath. “I won’t see you again after this will I?” he finally asked, brushing at his fringe irritably as his dark eyes flickered between the surface of the table and Gunwoo’s face.

                “Probably not.”

                “For real this time, right?”

                “Yeah…” Gunwoo exhaled, managing the ghost of a sad smile for his longest Earth friend.

                “So then. How long exactly is two pulsar hours?” he asked, very much confused.

                Gunwoo’s answering smile was much stronger. “About five and a half Earth hours.”

                “I guess we better not waste them then,” Kibum grinned with an encouraging nod at his friend.

                They were both the longest and shortest Earth hours of Gunwoo’s life. They talked mostly, reminiscing about all the things they’d shared while living together. Gunwoo filled Kibum in on a few things he didn’t know about, like the Great Feud and the fact he had a betrothed, but for the most part, they kept the conversation about Earth. It wasn’t like either would be much use in getting the others ready for transport, and when Insoo joined them, he listened in with interest as they continued their discussion of misunderstandings, silly stories, and good times.

                By the time the Stella Viatorem Prime was approaching, Gunwoo could feel it even without trying to use his divination. The amount of power it contained was absolutely astounding and it was no wonder it was able to reach Earth in such a short amount of time. His stomach was a bundle of knots when the angels, accompanied by a Celestial Captain and a Discoverer there specifically for Alphamega, virtually appeared from one of the doors leading into the anchor point. Myungsoo wasn’t far behind and they took in the four individuals with a sweeping glance before breaking off into smaller groups.

                The Healing Squad – recognizable by their Healer’s Emblems: glowing outstretched palms – immediately moved for one door. Gunwoo had to fight the knee jerk reaction to follow them when he noticed a standard and Royal angel heading his way. They were unfamiliar and he figured that was likely meant to make sure he had no connection to try and sway them in any way. After a brief pause, the Discovered moved to another doorway and then the Captain and a small squadron wandered through another portal – presumably to retrieve the two demons as well as the artificial angel and demon.

                “Time to go, Woo,” Insoo reminded the younger angel with an apologetic hand on his arm.

                “I know,” the Heir sighed, glancing at Kibum sadly.

                “You take care of yourself. Jerk,” he grumbled, immediately hugging the taller man as he rested his head on the nearest shoulder.

                “You too,” Gunwoo murmured, laying his head gently atop Kibum’s for just a moment.

                Being able to understand each other did not make parting any easier this time around. Nor did being chaperoned to the Stella Viatorem by the accompanying angels. Even more disconcertingly, Gunwoo found himself essentially imprisoned in one of the rooms with a permanent guard. It was better than a holding cell but it did not allow for him to go check on any of the other travelers he was with. The only good (or bad) thing he had to look forward to was the fact that it wouldn’t take long to get to the Negal Cemeste at all…

                Their arrival to the space station was so smooth that Gunwoo didn’t even feel them docking. One moment, he was silently brooding about his current situation and the next, his door was opening with his parents standing there. He inhaled sharply, more than surprised upon seeing them, and then awkwardly stood up as his mother rushed in to embrace him, her perfectly made up face slightly crumpled with emotion.

                “Gunwoo!” she cried, holding him tight while he slowly wrapped his arms around her. It was good to see them, he knew, but it was so hard to let himself feel when he didn’t know how much of his mother’s performance was real or an act.

                His father, on the other hand, offered no such theatrics. His dark brown hair had a touch more gray than before, and there were lines on his face Gunwoo did not remember seeing previously, but the taller angel gave a genuine smile that shined through his dark eyes. “Welcome back,” he encouraged, stepping close to wrap his arms and wings around both of them.

                Unaware of just how much he’d actually missed them, missed this, Gunwoo sniffed and exhaled once, holding tighter. “I’m back.” By force or by choice, he was basically home.

                He knew they had dozens of questions for him, but even as his parents, they were still the Emperor and Empress of the Angel Empire. In public, they otherwise maintained their regal façade and simply retrieved him from his ‘room’ on the Stella Vitorem. The same angels from before followed him out, unofficially becoming his current guards. Gunwoo looked at his father and the Emperor merely gave the barest of shrugs and a shake of his head.

                So the Heir was stuck with them… Well, there were worse things.

                To Gunwoo’s immense relief, he was given the rest of the day and the night to be with his family. On the morrow, he was assured that he would be detained for an extensive debriefing, but per his parent’s request, he was given the opportunity to remain with them for the time being. Oddly, it was both comforting and awkward. That his parents wanted to pry was no secret. That he wanted to tell them most of everything was also true, but he didn’t even know where to start. He didn’t think it would really matter since when they questioned him on the morrow, he knew his parents would be privy to that information, but he wanted some of it to come from him directly.

                How did one explain running away for nearly two and a half pulsar years? And cutting off his wings. And getting them back. And being at the center of all the trouble that happened on Earth… In the end, he couldn’t find the words, so they settled on small talk: how he was, how he had been treated, how his life had been on Earth. He could see the hint of disapproval in his mother’s eyes about who he had been living with (a human) and what he had been doing (playing future teller), and that only added to the pain of missing it all over again. At least his father seemed mostly curious.

                They offered tentative questions of polite interest and the occasional deeper one, but Gunwoo’s hesitant silence prompted Yunho to ask about something else. Gunwoo was grateful, but tired, by the end of the day. And due to his delinquent status, he was not allowed to stay in his usual quarters upon the Negal Cemeste. Instead, he was taken to a room closer to the security force hold and politely detained for the night. Apparently, he was not to be trusted moving around on his own either, for his guards shadowed him at every point. Uncomfortably.

                That wasn’t even the worst of it. When the next day came, he was retrieved and taken to speak directly with Royal Angel Captain Yoochun, the second highest ranking angel officer on the Negal Cemeste. He knew the angel by reputation only, and dreaded the full detail of questions he knew would be coming. Gunwoo was not wrong.

                A full day of questioning about everything that had happened since Gunwoo had left the RAS-1 Celestial Scion left him exhausted and drained. Worse, it was not the end of it. “You are free to go for now. I will be in contact with you again once we have spoken with the survivors from Planet Earth,” Captain Yoochun explained, holding the door open for Gunwoo to exit, the holo-board he’d been reading information and making notes on held close to his chest.

                “Yes, sir,” Gunwoo weakly managed, stepping out as he threaded his fingers through dark brown hair in a tired gesture. That would take a few days though.

                During that time, he was mostly confined to his quarters. His parents dropped by to visit and retrieve him from his pseudo imprisonment, but the Heir was otherwise left alone. No previous friends made the attempt to see him, either because they didn’t wish to or they weren’t allowed, and he was mostly left to his solitude. His biggest surprise came when he was unexpectedly summoned to a private meeting room.

                As soon as he stepped in to see who was waiting for him, Gunwoo wanted to sink into the floor and disappear. “Lady Hyosung,” he greeted stiffly, managing the respectful half-bow that had been drilled into him since childhood. His gaze jumped to the personal attendant in the corner and the two guards – a Royal and standard angel in the back of the room. His own guards filed in behind him, making sure they were not unattended.

                “Welcome, Grand Prince Gunwoo,” she smiled back, the expression admittedly beautiful, if a little forced. She was seated across the small, clear table with her hands demurely folded in her lap, resting on the pale blue gown she was wearing. Waterfall sleeves coyly hid the porcelain expanses of her arms while black rimmed eyes and painted lashes starkly contrasted with the lightness of her face. Mocha eyes regarded him thoughtfully as stained, strawberry lips curved up pleasantly.

                Gunwoo imagined Kibum would have been impressed with her. Especially her hair. Stained walnut colored curls draped around her face and shoulders, falling elegantly from the pins that pulled them back and out of the way. “It’s an honor to officially meet you,” he murmured the words he figured were half-expected of him.

                “It’s my pleasure,” she nodded, surprising him with the omission of the expected ‘honor’ in her response.

                He nodded in concession and hesitantly took a seat, making a mental note: one for the Lady. “To what do I owe the pleasure of your company today?” he inquired, threading his fingers together on top of the table as he leaned back in his chair, feeling his wings settle on either side of the thin back with slightly awkward ease.

                “Given the situation, I felt that it would be beneficial for us to speak of our betrothal,” she reminded him plainly, the smile never leaving her lips. “Should that arrangement still be valid after all.”

                “Ah,” Gunwoo responded without thinking, the word slipping out before he could stop it. “Of course,” he immediately added, forcing a smile to pretend he had meant to do that. “I mean,” he cleared his throat, shifting on his seat, “as far as I am aware, the marriage arrangement between us is still in place.” He ended the sentence as a slight question, since he wasn’t sure her family would want the agreement now. That hadn’t been clarified for him yet.

                “Good,” she smiled, leaning forward to rest her elbows on the table so she could prop her chin on her threaded fingers, the single word tacit confirmation. “Then perhaps we should take a moment to get to know each other,” she offered, quirking one brow in open invitation for him to start.

                Inwardly, Gunwoo winced. The prospect of small talk with the woman he was still supposed to marry with an intergalactic hearing coming up in the near future did not make him particularly happy. But… she was here now and agreeable to the match despite his episode of running away. And it wasn’t like he had anything better to do. “Alright,” he eventually nodded. “What would you like to know?”

                As the days crawled by, Gunwoo’s one consolation was finally hearing from his cousin, Insoo. Their meeting was not particularly long, since the other angel was getting ready to return to the RAS-1 Celestial Scion and active duty, but he had been given permission to speak with Gunwoo one last time before he departed. It was a bit awkward, to say the least, since he had been the one to find Gunwoo which set everything after into motion, but if the Heir hadn’t run away in the first place, none of it would have happened at all.

                They both acknowledged those points and, Insoo at least, kept to the main purpose of his visit. “Everyone pulled through,” he smiled with a nod. Gunwoo’s eyes lit up and Insoo held a hand out to stall him before he could ask questions. “Victoria will have partial use of her wings. She will never be able to fly as she once did, but the Healers have said she will be able to glide and otherwise use her wings as normal.”

                “That’s… good,” Gunwoo spoke hesitantly. It wasn’t what he’d been hoping for but it was better than the alternative.

                Insoo shrugged in understanding and went on. “The human angel – Wonshik – also mostly recovered. He’s got a slight limp when he gets tired. He and Taekwoon are to remain on the Negal Cemeste until the Council can decide what to do with them. It’s clear they don’t want to be separated and there have never been artificial angels or demons before.”

                “Understandable,” the Heir grimaced, waiting impatiently for the rest of the information. His cousin was intentionally taunting him with the order of persons he was talking about.

                “The demons are fine and being detained until the depth of their involvement with the Demon Empire can be ascertained. As such, Emperor Jiyong and Empress Chaerin are being summoned for their own Council meeting,” he shrugged, a slightly amused smile tugging at his mouth when he noticed his cousin’s growing impatience.

                “Soo,” Gunwoo semi-whined, his expression as close to pleading as it was going to get.

                “I know,” Insoo relented at last, the smile turning sad. “Changmin is fine. He’s set to make a full recovery.” Relief washed over the Heir like a waterfall. It left him weak in his seat and happy, for the moment. “You know you won’t be able to see him before the Council meeting,” his cousin reminded him simply, a slightly apologetic cringe in place.

                “Yeah,” he sighed, nodding slowly. “I figured that might be the case.”

                Uncertainty made Insoo shift in place. He raised one hand and offered, “Is there anything you’d like for me to tell him? Before I go and all.”

                Gunwoo thought about it for a long moment, but eventually shook his head. “No. He already knows whatever else I might say.” The words were soft and sad, but his heart felt lighter for the truth of them. “Thank you though,” he smiled, looking up to meet his cousin’s gaze.

                “Yeah,” he chuckled once, shoulders rising and falling with the motion. “I guess I should wish you good luck at this point.”

                “You too,” Gunwoo shot back immediately, one brow rising.

                “I’m not the one going into the Council’s den,” he reminded the younger angel.

                “Still. Good luck to you too. All the same,” Gunwoo offered, extending his hand sincerely.

                Insoo accepted the shake but then pulled his younger cousin into a tight hug. “Take care of yourself, Woo. Something tells me you’ll need to,” he admitted, pulling back enough look the other angel in the eye.

                “I’ll see what I can do,” the Heir laughed once, shrugging at the uncertainty of it all.

                “Good. So, bye for now,” Insoo stepped back and waved, hurrying to exit before they could prolong the awkwardness any longer.

                “Bye for now,” Gunwoo echoed, sitting back down with a heavy sigh. It was mostly good news, which he was happy for, but now, with everyone awake, it was only a matter of time before he was called for judgment. Even he didn’t know what that would entail…

(a/n: Finally! After much too long a delay, for which I apologize profusely, I have rediscovered my muse - thank you Tigress for the short contest to get things moving! - and have been able to make progress. I'm terrible for getting most of the way through something only to pause for some reason or other. Ironically, I only foresee there being a few more chapters at most. Right now, I'm thinking three more after this one. We'll see though. Thank you for being patient with me and I wish you all the best!)