Seishi springs at the thing as soon as she's close enough - no attempt at
purification now; she leaps at it, leading with the curved steel blade of
her tachi, channeling her energy to speed and strength and slashing at it
with her sword to drive it back.

Oh, lucky Kitty. Broken and bleeding, she sprawls to the pavement, no
longer having the strength to hold herself upright. Scarlet trails from
her throat, down and across her breast, across the silver star and the
oak-leaf medallion. Her one hand still holds the black feather as she
sprawls. Brown eyes, still open as they begin to glaze, are just able to
recognize Liam - and close as he touches her, relief. There's a tiny
motion, almost a nod. She didn't understand, but she remembered - and she
knows. Claire told her, showed Pete, months ago. It'll be all right. No
struggle, no panic, because that would only make the blood flow faster.
Her lips try to move, try to form words, all the same. /Sera. Truth./

Kess is heedless of the talons, letting them scrape over kevlar and
through leather, not caring if they find the flesh between the armour
plates, or slash across her unprotected face. She's concentrating on
grappling with this thing, with clamping down a hold and trying to catch
those dangerous wrists, her own wings thrashing to keep it still. "You
know," she grits out between clenched teeth. "I think I preferred you
without hands." Disgusting as that was. Eyes narrowed, the need for
revenge still tightly curbed, she seeks only to pin and hold for now,
though Seishi's attack brings a grim quirk to her lips.

The momentary mindless, instinctual rush of panic subsides, and
Constantine finds his steely faith--faith not in some distant God but in
himself and the world around him--starting to falter. He's brandishing a
medallion at the creature. He must look ridiculous. Doubt flickers in his
eyes for a moment. Then he drives it back fiercely. He must believe in
this, must believe that Liam can reach Kitty in time, must believe that he
has power over this vicious black-winged creature. Although he'll probably
get mocked later.

Oh, and a knife. He has a knife too. Timothy puts said knife to good use
after he slams into the creature, slashing at it as it slashes at him,
barely seeming to notice when he inevitably begins to bleed. He's doing
his damnedest to make *it* bleed too, after all. Fair's fair. His common
sense has clearly long since wandered off to go drinking with his sense of
self-preservation (and the two bastards 'forgot' to tell his misplaced
sense of nobility, and that bit of him that HATES to see powerful things
beating up on weaker things that they were going. Bastards.) He makes no
effort to keep close quarters with the thing, though, if (and when) it's
driven away by the attacks of others. After all, he's also got that gun.

Writhing in Kess's arms, the Sera-thing shrieks, still clawing, struggling
to get free as the scent of roses seems so /cloying/, so thick and so
intense it's as though the world itself is an opening bloom, the perfume
trapped here within this strange little space as the snow continues to
fall. It'll continue to slash at everything and everyone within reach for
awhile, just as destroyed and twisted and horrifying as the black-winged
things ever were. Angels move to surround Liam, and help him, while some
move to Claire, and the rest move to touch John, Timmy, Jack, Kess,
Seishi. If they can. Offering up courage, strength, power, comfort, peace,
love. Do what you will. Do what you must. Slashed by tachi, by knife,
beaten by fists, threatened with gun and fended off by medallion, the
thing loses its talons, its wings; they break away, tear away, and leave a
bleeding, broken body, pregnant and breathing blood. It gives up the
fight, and will drop to the ground, hands reaching, twilight eyes opening
wide, startled, afraid. No, no no. My friends. Help me.

Far enough away that she's hidden in shadow and snowfall, looking on like
some drugged observer, Seravina watches them do what they will. What they
must, an curls her arms around her lower belly, thoughtful. Lost.

Liam's here, which is good. It lets Jack devote his full attention to
smashing the thing that hurt Kitty into a bloody pulp. Not quite a berserk
frenzy, but pretty damned close; he's furious enough to try and scramble
past the rest of those attacking to get at it. Though the stray touch of
one of the white angels is enough to make him remember himself, at least a
little, and he turns to blink at it, owlishly...then withdraws, to a
little distance, to watch Liam and those surrounding Kitty. He wraps thin
arms around himself, but the rage and fear has subsided enough to leave
him dumb and shivering. The healing he can see - death'll be fended off,
this time. He closes his eyes and extends the entropy sense as far as it
can go, to seek for any more areas of corruption. Are there yet more?

Not too late. He has her. Liam takes Kitty's hand, slipping an arm under
her, holding her gently, pouring all his healing in. Mending torn flesh,
broken vessels, veins slashed, lungs soaked with blood. It's alright. The
pattern goes /here/, and /here/, and there's no need to be afraid, or feel
pain. Then he has help, white wings, a font of power he can't possibly
equal. Liam turns Kitty's head to the side, gently, for the blood she'll
need to cough out -- and then his eyes raise to the fight, wide with
shining sapphire horror. "Don't!" His voice is low but carries well in the
snowy dark. Suddenly pleading. "Don't. All they want is to be loved."

Seishi might have pursued, but the change of form and Liam's shout and
everything else happens all at once and she catches herself, falling back,
braced with her sword protectively in front of her. "I can still feel
corruption," she says shortly, a little too loudly - hearing's still
scrambled.

Kitty can't speak aloud, but Liam is quite capable of perceiving the flood
of relief at his words - one independent from the first breath she manages
of air, between the hacking coughs. No need to be afraid. It's still hard
to think straight, dizzy and half drowned in her own vital fluids. But the
words, rasped and unclear and quiet enough so that she's no idea how far
they'll carry, aren't hers, and aren't ones she's ever likely to forget.
"F'give her. It's ... all she knows." Here's hoping the guess is right.

Kess lets her grip slacken as soon as the body so like Sera's gives up the
fight, letting it slip to the ground as she sinks, feet finally touching
down. Breathing hard, she stares at the figure, frowning with confusion
and disbelief, the warming touches of angels distracting. She's trying to
be numb, here. Looking around, her gaze falls on Kitty, worry flaring,
meets Liam's sapphire one, and she nods, once. Right, yes. "I don't think
this works any more," she says to whoever's listening, lifting the hand
bearing the ring. It feels odd. So what do we do? She crouches down by the
pseudo-Sera, wings folding close behind her, and her gaze shifts to the
white angels. "Can't you do something?" It's all your fault. She remembers
the last time she saw this thing, and would rather not see it that way
again. Would rather see it whole, hale and loved, like the real Seravina.
Forgiveness? Close enough.

Constantine slowly lowers the medallion, letting it slip back beneath his
shirt, at Liam's cry. "Where?" he asks Seishi, a little dazedly. If he was
about to say more, it's abruptly cut off as he suddenly shivers violently,
the adrenaline and the cold combining to shake his body like a ragdoll.
Kitty's words get a blink, then a thoughtful look. Still trembling
slightly, John kneels down next to the other-Sera, then reaches out to
take her hand and signal his acceptance of her.

"Oh, well, that's okay then," is Timothy's a-bit-too-cheerful reply to
Liam. Though he does feel a bit more like himself (selfish coward and all)
since the ministering angel's touch. "Let's all join hands and sing
tra-la-la and be happy." A stern glance at the Serathing. "You know, if
you really do want to be loved, not eviscerating people for fun would be a
good start. You'd be surprised what a difference that can make." Well,
it's not exactly forgiveness, but neither is it outright hostility. So
long as it doesn't do anything aggressive, at least.

Corruption reigns, Seishi is right. Perhaps they were right to back off of
the fight... perhaps not. Aggressive? Sera's head turns toward Kess, and
she murmurs, sounding miserable, "Aw, Kessie. And I tried so /hard/." The
tears running from her eyes turn darker, and begin to spill as blood, and
she moves, faster than thinking, to tear her hand from John's and slam her
fist against the bird-girl's head, raking newly hooked claws over Kess's
face. Maim. Blind. Hurt. "Are YOU JUST STUPID?" she wonders. She'll
probably be slapped down really quickly, but as quickly as she can, she'll
look to Liam, snarling, "They'll *never* see." To their credit, or perhaps
their damnation because they seem ever too late, the angels move to try
and drag Kess out of the altercation, if she'll let them.

Far enough away, Sera begins to walk toward the grouping, coming out into
the moonlight, bathed in silver, in blue, half-covered in snow. In one
shaking hand is a gun--standard police issue. It looks just like Ray's.
Feels just like it, too. "Of course they will," she says sadly. "Someday."
Fear /lives/ around her. Fear, and determination.

There. It doesn't give up, does it? And quite right it'll be slapped down.
Opening his eyes, Jack moves back to hit it as hard as he can with the
pistol, square in the skull. "Be _still_," he hisses at it, before aiming
the gun at it again. "And I'll forgive when it actually repents and stops
hurting my friends." It comes out as a snarl - the anger's back again in
full force, and the wish for vengeance. "But what are we supposed to see?"

Oh, hell. He didn't mean she wasn't /dangerous/. A brief tightening of his
arm, subtle hug, and Liam has to put Kitty down now -- he leaves her
surrounded by white wings and capable healing hands, as carefully as he
can but as fast as he can; his own dark wings spread, speckled with
snowflakes, as he lunges forward, trying to get past the others and to the
Sera-thing. Light spilling from him, strength and love and resolve to
whoever it touches. He'll heal her too, if he can, and no hesitation to
it. Liam loves everything.

Seishi doesn't attack again, although she flinches visibly when she/it
lashes out at Kess, and she doesn't dare drop her guard. "Jack," she says,
more quietly now, "don't you remember? The dream - the Truth? The sword
that saves?"

"Joy," Kitty gasps. "Love. /Life/." Given that she can't manage more than
a whisper, the words are, in essence, useless. White wings around her,
till she can't see past them, just let her head sink back and close her
eyes and pray silently. Let /this/ guess be right. They're almost out of
time.

Kess' look to the Sera below her is sympathetic, right up until it moves.
There's only time for a shocked widening of her eyes and a warding lift of
her hand, before she's hit and clawed. She falls to the side with a pained
cry that edges on sonics, one hand catching her on the snow as the other
tries to cover the bloodstreaked side of her face, wings flaring and
finding themselves butting up against incoming bodies. Reeling,
half-blinded, she protests any hands on her, skittering raggedly away from
them all. It /hurts/, and she wants to curl up, and she sobs, trying to
clear her good eye of blood, but more keeps rushing over it. Head wounds
do bleed harshly, and she coughs as blood runs into her mouth. And she
tried so /hard/, she didn't /want/ to hate, and they keep hurting. How
much is enough? When is it too much? "Don't let them win," she murmurs
brokenly, mostly to herself, not knowing if anyone is in range to hear.
Don't become what they are. It hurts, and it's growing darker; it's not
far before she has to lie down, whimpering to herself. Darkness steals in,
and it's so much warmer than the world.

Constantine springs back to his feet, going tense again, anger replacing
his hesitant forgiveness. See, this is what happens when I let my guard
down. The trembling is gone, replaced by the perfect concentration of
anger.

"See," says Timothy conversationally, as he fires a stasis-blast at the
Serathing, more a reflexive action than a planned thing. (Which means he
didn't take much time to aim). "This is exactly what I'm talking about."
Somehow, the idea that this thing doesn't need to be hurt so much as
stopped has penetrated his head, though, else he'd have used the more
conventional gun. And then the *other* Sera shows up. He looks back and
forth between the two. He opens his mouth. He closes his mouth. He opens
it again and says, "Should I even *bother* asking at this point?"

Thrashing, shrieking, screaming. I /hate/ you. Whose fault? Whose? I
/hate/. I *hate*. Jack's gun hits her square in the skull, and though the
skin splits and blood flows, it won't stop her. Venom and fear and anger
and rage and it suddenly seems to sag as the Sera that's standing watches
all of this with a look of something like pained awe. The gun in her hand
melts into a white feather, and she holds it in her hand, as though she
might crush it to pieces.

Timmy's gun hits /Kess/, rather than the Sera-thing, but that's good,
because now the angels will be able to take her, to heal her. They'll
offer all they are to Liam, to Kitty, to Kess. To anyone else broken and
bleeding. They only /look/ at the Sera-thing, who whimpers up at the one
holding the feather, "Someday?"

The twilight-eyed woman stares down at the bleeding, ruined replica of
herself, and at the torn, bruised companions around her, and prays to
whatever may be listening that it isn't naivete that answers. She nods.
"Someday." The feather slips from her fingers, and is carried away on a
light wind, as the snow continues to fall, and the creature laying on the
ground disintegrates into feathers, rose petals and ashes. The world
itself seems to wake up, and only one white-winged angel remains -- even
Claire is gone, leaving behind her drawings.

The look Jack gives Seishi is utterly blank, for the moment, before the
confusion ebbs from his gaze, to be replaced by dawning comprehension. He
stands, irresolute, and wonders, more gently, "What now, then?" His gaze
goes to what is presumably the true Sera, wondering, before he seeks
Claire. Where's she? Nowhere.

Liam wasn't fast enough, didn't make it on time, and he skids to the
ground to touch only ashes and rose petals, drifting white feathers. Oh.
And then he's looking up at Seravina, bemused, blue eyes absent. He tried.
But if he's not needed, there's that shock waiting (dying and healing and
dying and healing and all those sweet tastes of heaven), and his focus
scatters, a little.

Seishi's tachi lowers as the images dissolve, and she looks around, dark
eyes wide and a little baffled. For lack of anything else to find a grip
on, she focuses on the one remaining white-winged angel, her brow
creasing. What now?

Kitty lies quietly, curled on her side, one hand cupped over the
medallion. Just breathing is interesting enough. Still coughing
intermittently, quietly. Just watching. Just watching.

Constantine stares at the ground where the otherSera was just moments ago.
Then he lets out a long, shaking breath and turns to stare at the real
Seravina. "Sera, love. Are you all right?" It seems a ridiculous thing to
ask now, but he can't think of anything else.

Timothy looks back at the now-disintegrated Serathing. And then back at
the real Sera. This optical ping-pong match continues for several seconds.
"Riiiiight," he says, finally. For lack of anything better to say. And,
with that, he just turns and wanders vaguely back toward his car,
muttering something to the effect of "...got to get out of this city."

The white winged angel looks to Sera, who looks relatively numb, herself,
and he murmurs, "Some of you... Some of you can, in fact, see. That others
cannot is no great shame; it will come to you in time." Wonderful words of
wisdom? Infuriating platitudes? Either way, the angel will move to take
Kess, once the stasis gun has worn off; she needs to be home, needs to be
rested. Snowy white wings lift, imposing, graceful, wondrous, and the
noble creature stands, tall, proud--does anyone wonder if Kess would find
herself horrified to be in the arms of the thing she blames?

Sera moves to reach her hands out for Seishi, for Jack, for John, turning
to look at Kess and Kitty. She's thin and shaking, wide-eyed and
shivering, but her answer, to John, is, "Mmm-hmmm." The world is still
crazily /alive/ around her, but the fear is slowly being stripped down,
and down, and down.

The angel remains, not ascending just yet, mild, sapphire eyes watching
the group. "The dream is this," he whispers. "Before it ends... will you
ask anything else?"

Jack asks the question one would expect, voice gravelly with weariness and
too much smoke. "How can I reach the Tower?" he wonders, regarding the
blue-eyed one with that barely hidden eagerness. The pistol's placed back
in its holder, to ride at the small of his back.

Is there still need? Sera, perhaps, thin and afraid, but she has others,
she has her friends, she doesn't need Liam. The little angel turns his
head, then rises, limping slowly back to lower himself beside Kitty.
Brushing at her hair. Only then does he lift his gaze to the other angel.
Certain that Kess will be alright in the other's hands. And he wants,
terribly, to know -- is this the end? Will this be the last of you,
brother? But the words don't come.

"Sera -" Okay, those two syllables worked fine. Then Kitty's interrupted
by another coughing fit. Her one hand rests on Liam's sleeve, but the
other's stretched out toward Seishi and Jack and John, and Sera.
Especially Sera. No questions for her. Maybe she's done with asking them -
strange as that might seem. Blood darkens the rags of her jacket, the blue
and yellow tatters of her shirt ... and the pale grey of the body armour
she was wearing under it. Thank you, Kess; thank you, Claire; thank you,
Pete.

Constantine glances around him, taking in the scene. Then he steps forward
to try to put his arms around Seravina and simply hold her, for the
fleeting comfort the contact will give them both. "It's all right now," he
murmurs, as much to himself as to her.

"With your friends at hand, Jack," the angel murmurs. "What you need will
be left for you there. You'll need to see," he answers softly. "The
shadows will fall, and show you," he promises. "Until then, try to see; it
will be help." The angel goes to Liam's side, carefully crouching to offer
out a hand, to touch the angel--just a touch. No giving, no taking. Just a
touch. There is so much /love/ on his face; he smiles so beatifically as
he shakes his head, whispering, "No. For once, believe my promise." It
isn't a chastisement, so much as a plea. Kitty is smiled upon, by the the
angel, and Sera reaches for the other woman's hand, attempting to remain
close to John. Just hold on to me for a bit; it'll be fine in a little
while, right? The angel just nods to John, as though in confirmation of
the statement.

Not the answer he wanted...but Jack bows his head to the angel in
acquiescence. "I shall," he replies, though he doesn't reach for any of
the others' hands. I don't want to have to take them through this, both
for my own selfishness and their safety's sake.

It's the ability he doubts, not the intent, but Liam would /like/ very
much to believe. He doesn't have any words, just now, and still has one
hand gently on Kitty. His other hand goes to cup the other angel's....
just a touch. More miraculous than anything else that could be offered.
Only for a moment. Not trying to keep, or to hold. One moment to savour.
His own smile is loving, warm, dazed. When the white-winged angel has
moved on, he'll help Kitty to sit.

Seishi lets out a long, shuddering sigh, sliding her tachi carefully into
its sheath and moving to Kitty and Sera, reaching out to her friends. "I'm
sorry," she tells Sera, very softly. Sorry I didn't understand sooner.

Kitty's hand tightens on Liam's arm: there's gratitude, too, and not by
any means just for helping her up. Human chain, angel and Kitty and Sera
and John, Seishi a doubled link, Jack included by glances. "Jack," she
manages in kinder tones, "try to go without us and I will personally -"
pause to cough - "kick your ass all the way across the Atlantic." And her
hand tightens on Sera's, now. Look: not afraid to touch you, or Liam. Not
afraid of it happening again. Someone has to start to trust.

Constantine doesn't move for as long as Sera needs him. "We love you,
Sera; we're with you, we're here whenever you need us." Perhaps because it
comes from someone like John, the statement doesn't come across as quite
so maudlin and sentimental as it might have.

The young woman, pregnant, cold, shaking... she shakes her head, reaching
out to Seishi, aching to pull all of these people into her embrace, warm
and sweet and loving. Hands to hands to hands to hugs to watching. Close.
My /friends/. "No," she pleads. "You try so *hard* and all you've ever
wanted is the best, is to give the best, and to share the best," she
murmurs. "Never be sorry for what a good friend you are to me, and to
everyone." Nuzzling into John's arms is so damn easy; he's comfort and
familiarity, and she doesn't even think about it. To be close to Seishi
and Kitty and Jack and John; it heals things that she didn't know might've
been broken. "I know," she whispers. "And I love you. All of you." Even
when I'm frightened. Even when things happen, and I don't understand.

Maybe people have learned something of this, of themselves, and the world.
And maybe it'll never really be clear what happened, tonight. But Sera
likes to believe it wasn't for nothing. The fact of the matter is, who
knows what tomorrow brings? Maybe understanding will come. Maybe they'll
all see.

Someday.