Soohyun stood in the presence of the archangel Leeteuk. Although this position is said to make an angel the most numb and cold out of all positions; he was really patient and kind.

But get him angry... Prepare for wrath.

“Soohyun. Hoon,” Leeteuk greeted with a smile on his face. The two bowed. “Have a seat,” he suggested, waving a hand toward two armchairs just across from his desk. The two instantly obeyed.

“Our mission, sir?” Hoon asked, politely getting to the point.

“Ah, yes. I'm sure you've heard of Kevin Woo, the human, correct?”

“...Yes,” Soohyun said slowly, wondering what he's getting at. Hoon just nodded affirmatively.

“It always takes demons forever to realize what's going on up here,” Leeteuk laughed, “Fifteen human years, and they've just now figured out who they should be capturing. Stupid creatures,”

“Sorry, sir,” Hoon asked, interrupting the leader's laughing spell, “But what does all this have to do with us?”

He frowned, slightly, before continuing, “We've gotten word that Hell is finally making advancements toward Kevin. Kibum down there will need some back-up,” the smile never left his face, “You two have been chosen. Kiseop will be going down with you, as an apprentice. Please be safe,”

“Wait! Wah... What!” Soohyun exclaimed, after letting the information sink in. They were going down to Earth, just like that? Because they were 'chosen'?

“Why us?” Hoon asked his next question, “What do we have that's special?”

Leeteuk laughed, “A lot like Kibum. Listen, every angel is evaluated carefully for their strengths and weaknesses. Even as Guardians, we put special thought into whom you protect. While Kibum had been enough strength, up until now, the demons are sure to use his weaknesses against him. All three of you have something to bring to the team. Kiseop hasn't even made it to the Guardian position yet. We spent years deciding who should go down there, when the time came. You three just happened to make it,”

The two were still in disbelief as they stared at the mission leader. Such low-class angels getting such a high-class mission...

It's surreal.

Leeteuk chuckled, “You are dismissed,” he waved his hand as if shooing them away.

“What will happen to the humans we were Guarding before?” he asked, after Hoon had already left the room. Soohyun wasn't stupid. He knew that such a mission would prevent him from carrying out his duties to Cheolyoung.

“They'll be assigned someone new. Don't worry so much,” he smiled.

Soohyun felt a pang in his heart at the knowledge. His cute little Cheolyoung... He won't be able to take care of him anymore.

“Just... Make sure it's someone that's fit for him, okay? Choose carefully. I don't want him getting hurt,” Soohyun requested.

Leeteuk smiled, amused, “Okay, I will,”

“And also... He doesn't take too well to commands. Tell them to try planting thoughts into his mind, instead,”

“Soohyun--”

“I know, I know...” he sighed heavily, trudging his feet to the doorway.

Just as he passed the threshold to the door, Leeteuk spoke up once again, “But Soohyun--” he started, gaining the man in question's attention, “Don't think we don't know about the little demon you saw,” Soohyun's eyes widened as he looked back over his shoulder, “But don't worry; we did our research. We have plans for him. Big plans,”

Soohyun opened his mouth to answer, but his words were cut off. In just one blink, Leeteuk was nowhere in sight.

Because he was now on Earth.

When Dongho and Kyoungjae arrived on Earth, and met up with their 'teammates', it was quite clear that Xander's unfit as a squadron leader. The poor guy can do nothing but sit in the corner, rocking back and forth, muttering about how 'he wishes he could still fly'. Honestly, he's more of a liability, right now, than an asset.

AJ pulled the newcomers aside, “He's been doing this since I got here. And since he told me he couldn't fly anymore, I looked at his wings. While he was asleep,” he started, “The bones were bent every which way and the feathers had all been plucked off,”

Dongho and Kyoungjae stared in disbelieving horror, “Not all of ours are like that, right? “ Dongho asked, worried. He was pretty sure he would have noticed if his wings had been broken and stripped, though.

“Mine are fine,” AJ says passively, “Besides; when I asked him about it, he said it happened a 'long, long time ago'.”

Dongho looked at Xander, pity clear in his eyes. The only one of his kind that he'd ever met; and he was like this. In fact, it was a strange occurrence to meet someone of this race, nowadays. Dongho was one of the last to form, completely, and most of his brethren had already holed up by the time he came around.

The unstable man stared evenly at him, as if deciding that Dongho would be the only one that could understand him, “They thought I was the Heart. The Heart,” he repeated over and over.

Dongho took a step closer, examining his face in the dim lighting. While there wasn't much, it was still more than there was in Hell, “The Eye...” he whispered.

One of Xander's eyes was a deep brown, like all demons' when exposed to light. But the other-- the left one-- was a pale, almost incandescent blue. Just like that of an angel's. A trait that would go certainly unnoticed in the pitch black of Hell.

There were so many myths revolving this very thing, but Dongho had never believed any of them. He even doubted its existence, until now.

He now understood why Xander wasn't all here. It's because he simply wasn't.

“Is it... True?” Dongho asked, fairly certain Xander would understand the question.

Xander stopped babbling incessantly, and looked at him with pure relief, “Yes,” he sighed, happy someone understood, for once, “I see everything he sees,”

Dongho couldn't imagine anything worse. To see the world you live in through one eye, but Satan's world through the other... While he didn't know the specific body part he'd originated from-- he suspected the calf, or possibly an arm--, he's glad it wasn't the Eye.

“Even his memories...” Xander continued, after a short few minutes, “Killing all those angels and humans...” he flinched at something unknown-- or unseen-- and pulled his knees up to his chest, burying his face into them.

So, if the Eye is true, what else is there? The Wing, for one. Is it true that the Wing could be converted into an angel? What if it already had?

And what of the Ear; could it hear what Satan hears?

The Heart... Does it feel what Satan feels?

More importantly; what is Dongho?

Xander whimpered, drawing his knees closer to his body until he was in an impossible ball. Satan probably tortures him with thoughts and memories day in and day out.

How can he pledge allegiance to someone so cruel?

“Come on, Dongho,” AJ said, “We've got things to do,” No one objected to him taking the lead.

Firstly, they needed to get closer to where Kevin is. So they registered into his high school. Since AJ is the only one with this type of experience; he got to go into the main office to talk to the ladies in the office for the trio.

A few bad-boy charms and winks later; the group was able to get the registration information without a parent or guardian present.

“Dongho, you're a Sophomore. Kyoungjae; you and I are Juniors. If Xander ever becomes normal again, he'll be attending as a Senior,” AJ informed, then turned to Dongho, “You and Crazy Buckets look close enough to be siblings. Put the same surname on the card,”

The other two blinked to each other. They'd surely have to have help on filling out the information. What was this establishment, anyway? If this was a school; Hell and Earth certainly had different ideas of education.

The scowl is clear on AJ's face as he looks down the hallway, past rows and rows of lockers, “Back in this hellhole,” he seethes.

“Was this your high school?” Dongho asks.

“No. But it's all the same,” He turns to the main doors, slamming them open, “Why couldn't this brat have been in college, or something?”

“Hell is worse, though, right?” Kyoungjae supplied.

AJ shot him a glare, “What an angel way of thinking,” he scoffed. Kyoungjae grit his teeth. “I committed suicide at the beginning of my Senior year,” he continued, “Then I chose Hell. What do you think?”

Everyone is breathlessly quiet for a long time. No one says anything until the car doors are slammed shut, and the trio is well on their way back to the apartment they're staying at.

“How bad was it?” Dongho asked, quietly, unsure if he'd get an earful from the still steaming demon.

“To put it in terms you can understand; the memories from that building is what they tortured me with in the hole,”

Ah, yes. Dongho could understand that. But he's not sure if AJ could. The memories replayed over and over to the human souls in the hole are altered; made to seem much worse than they really were. Sometimes, they even create new ones to add effect. Or if the soul isn't cooperating.

What AJ is probably remembering is the corrupted memories. School most likely isn't as bad as he might remember it.

The rest of the car ride is completely silent; each demon lost in their own horrific thoughts.

When they get home, AJ takes charge of filling out registration, too. Xander seems a bit better now; functioning and eating. He says that adjusting to the new environment made Satan's thoughts and memories nearly impassable in his mind and that he'll be okay, mostly, from now on.

“Dongho,” AJ says, “You're taking Painting. Try to keep your twisted mind from doing anything too dark,” he goes back to scribbling things down on the paper.

Xander strikes a conversation with the youngest, over a bowl of cereal and milk, which Dongho doesn't have much of an appetite for.

“So, you're a pure demon, like me,” Xander states the obvious, “Do you know what you originated from?”

Dongho shakes his head, “No. I've never really thought about it. It took a long time for whatever it was to grow a new body, though. By the time I remember existing, most of you guys were in the darkest depths of Hell,”

Xander leans over to look at the side of his head, “Well, it's not the Ear...” he says, ponderously, “Or the Tongue,”

“How can you tell?” Dongho asks, astonished.

“Satan can see through the eye, too, you know. Nothing in me sparks in recognition. Plus; the Tongue of Lucifer was said to be made of light, shining brightly even in the blackest dark. And the Ear would have been a lot paler,”

AJ leaves to drop off the packets just thirty minutes before the school office is set to close. He returns and tells everyone they'd be starting school tomorrow morning.

“The Angels are already here,” Kyoungjae sighs, “I've felt their presence close by for a while now,” he still had some of his 'Angel Senses', it would seem, even years after his fall.

AJ goes to the couch and turns on a glowing box with moving pictures on it. Everyone else crowds around; mesmerized.

“What is that?” Xander asked, shocked.

“It's called Television,” AJ laughs, “And it sure has come a long way in the last thirteen years,”

“Are these... Real people?” Dongho asks, touching the screen with his fingertips.

“Don't sit so close. You'll go blind,” AJ nags, “And yeah, they are,”

Kyoungjae looks skeptically at the current show. Two people were depicted on the screen, examining a dead body and asking someone called an 'Mortician' questions about the 'cause of death'.

“Is this a true story?” he asks.

AJ laughed out loud, “It's Law and Order. Of course not!”

The quartet sit and enjoy the moving pictures-- AJ referred to them as 'TV shows'-- until their eyes started to droop and the sun had well gone down.

All four fell asleep on the couch, with a loud advertisement blaring through the speakers on the box in front of the couch.

That night, Dongho dreamed of two sounds, and two sounds only.

The erratic beating of a heart, and the steady ticking of a clock, set slightly out of time with each other.

Ba-bump. Ba-bump, ba-bump, ba-bump. BabumpBabump...

tick... tock... tick... tock...

Time is running out.

A/N: *GASP* plot thickening so early??? When did this happen with me???

Since I actually wrote a worthwhile story. LOL.

Just how this one was mainly demons; the next one will have the angels ^^ Excited?

Thanks for reading ^^