theo

Malachi saw it happen in slow motion and it felt like it took a century to get to Theo before he could drop to the ground. “Don’t you dare!” He put his hand on his chest and tried to heal him but he knew deep down in his heart that this wasn’t going to work. Mal looked up at the sky that had returned to its normal colour then back at Theo, all you could hear was Mal’s shaky breaths then his sobs. “You can’t leave me too.” 

One minute he had been on that hill to with Mal and the next there was nothing/. No pain, no nothing. Then it suddenly crept up on him, a warmth. It wasn’t painful, it was an inner warmth - completely indescribable other than the sense of peace. He opened his eyes, staring across a golden field - the sun setting, the breeze soft and warm against his skin. He was on top of one hill, and there was another opposite him, the two meeting down in the middle where there was a small stream reflecting all kinds of colours Theo’d never even seen before. He couldn’t explain it, but something was pulling him towards it - he had to cross that bridge. As he started to make his way down the hill, he caught sight of a figure on the other side, chin-length brown hair and a stance unmistakable for anybody else. He moved into a run, though it was effortless and before he knew it he was stood at the foot of the bridge. There she stood, still on the other side, with her hand held out for him to take and a smile on her face warmer than the sun. "Jane.” He whispered, stepping across the bridge and taking his sister’s hand and walking into the unknown.

Mal got himself ready, but Theo jumped in between and he stood straighter. “Theo no!” He didn’t know how long the witch could hold the other angel off. The energy from both magicks just built stronger and stronger, that meant Mal could do nothing but hope that Theo could hold him off till he could get up there himself and smite the other angel.

Time stood still. Everything happened in seconds, and yet it seemed as though it was a lifetime. First Theo’s magic gave up, the light flickering away. He knew, he knew there and then that he wouldn’t live past this. He turned, his eyes broken as he looked at Mal. He couldn’t say anything, there wasn’t any time. But he hoped more than anything in the world that the look he gave the angel said everything he needed to. I love you Malachi. And then there was an astounding flash of light - frighteningly beautiful to any who knew what it meant.

“Theo no!” Mal tried to stop him from doing it but it was too late, the other angel became enraged, but he still didn’t come down and stayed in his corporal form. “Don’t do this!” Mal called up, trying to hold the angel off, distract him even. “You’ve got to go Theo!”

Theo stumbled back, somewhat in shock that his blast had done some damage. “The flower,” he mumbled under his breath, he remembered speaking with Mal so long ago about how angel’s could be killed - the whole smiting business. The figure in the sky seemed intent on killing Mal, and without warning a blast was heading down in their direction, straight towards the angel. “NO!” Theo jumped forward again, this time sending a stream of angelic magic up to meet the other’s.

Malachi took his angel blade out and backed off a little, making sure to take Theo with him. “He knows there’s a barrier stopping him from coming down completely, he’s not that stupid.” Then he glanced back at him. “You know I love you, right?”

“But you broke through the barrier, surely he’d be able to?” Theo scowled, “Shut up right now, that sounded like a Goodbye I love you. And we’re not doing that...I’m not scared of some fucking punk-ass angel who thinks he can ruin my date.” He raised his palm to the sky, sending out a wave of energy, energy combined of his witch magic and the angelic magic he siphoned from Mal’s flower. 

Mal turned a little to support Theo so he wouldn’t completely sink to his knees as he listened to what the other angel wanted. “What? No.” He shook his head. “He wants me dead.” Mal glanced back at Theo. “We don’t have the best relationship in the world.” That was an understatement. 

The anger was bubbling up inside of Theo again, like it had done the whole of his life. Without realising, he began to siphon from the flower that hung around his neck. “Well...” His eyes were sad, conflicted. “We have to do something...we have to kill him first.”

“No. Cos is… gone.” Malachi looked up at the heavens opening, yes, a part of him wished it was Cosimo, but no, this was someone who actually hated him. “It’s Bartholomew.”  He sort of shuffled in front of Theo to make sure he had him shielded. 

His feet practically gave up, knees shaking in fear as he squinted up at the sky above them. He couldn’t even see the face of the angel, just the silhouette of huge wings - even bigger than Mal’s ones. “What does he want?” He had to shout, his voice carried away by the wind.

“What the fuck are you talking about? Another angel?” Theo’s eyes were wide with panic, their date having been interrupted by the sudden gale force winds surrounding them, lightning crashing down right near where they stood on top of the hill they stood on. “Couldn’t it be Cosimo?”

He felt it happen and didn’t hesitate to drop what he was doing and teleport to his side but he got there just as the blast shot out which he quickly move out of the way of. “Theo?! What?” Mal quickly went over and threw his arms around him. “I got you.” He tried to soothe him. 

Theo would never ever want to get away from Mal’s grip, but after what he and Cosimo had talked about, he couldn’t help the guilt knotting up his stomach. Shrugging out of the embrace, he looked up at the angel with sad eyes. “I’m sorry, Mal.”

That was– well– a show. That now KNOWN red light that came with power absorption. What was it called again? Hm. The whole battle cry and the huge explosion that came right after. –MEN? He probably wasn’t expecting company– But hey, she just happened to be there. “Nice shot, COWBOY.” 

He was barely in control, and he knew that he needed to get a grip of it. And fast, before someone got seriously hurt. “Thanks...you should see what I can do when I’m not pissed off.”

He was walking because he needed to be alone. It was a lot to take in and maybe he wasn’t ready to tell Liv how confused he was. He paused when he saw the magic in the distance. Luke took a deep breath. He can’t just keep running. He took a step forward. “Put your hands down.” Luke warned sternly, his own hands glowing. “I don’t want to hurt you.” He hoped he wouldn’t hurt him regardless. 

Theo’s eyes widened when he saw the other appear, quickly dropping his hands and stopping himself from siphoning. “Trust me - I don’t want to hurt you either.” Facing up to Theo was never a good idea, he was fiery, even more so thanks to his meeting with Cosimo. “Who are you?”

𝐜𝐨𝐬𝐢𝐦𝐨 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐬𝐮𝐫𝐩𝐫𝐢𝐬𝐞𝐝, a lot of people did not know how to look past their own feelings. “if you know how he feels about you, i’m sure you can imagine how UNBEARABLE it is to watch you being hurt or sick. you don’t have to prove that you would be fine on your own, you know? the whole point of a relationship is that you stop facing things alone, isn’t it?” if only he listened to his own advice every once in a while, but oh well. the angel’s eyes dropped to his hands, but he did not take them. “there is no need, but heed my warning. if i find out that you even THOUGHT about hurting him, just for one moment? you are going to curse the day you were born.” theo’s next question was no surprise either, but the blond only shook his head. “it’s not my place to tell you. you should not push him to open up about this either. he is going to need some time.” understandably so.

Theo just shook his head. Did Cosimo really think he’d ever even acknowledge the thought of hurting Mal? He clenched his fists, the anger rising again. “I would never.” He simply said, his tone firm. “And I wouldn’t push him to open up about anything,” that wasn’t exactly true. Theo wanted to know everything, but now he would purposely not so that Cosimo wouldn’t be proved right. “Well...good chat I suppose.” He shrugged, not entirely sure where else this would go. “I just wanted to clear the air but obviously nobody is every gonna be good enough for Mal, so why don’t you just fucking marry himself yourself.” He turned to leave.

𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐛𝐥𝐨𝐧𝐝 𝐬𝐡𝐫𝐮𝐠𝐠𝐞𝐝 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐬𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝𝐞𝐫𝐬. “fair enough. why don’t you ENLIGHTEN me?” he tilted his head to the side, listening to theo’s explanation, though his expression remained stoic. maybe he would have felt something for him in any other moment, but ( harsh as it was ) it was his best friend’s well being that mattered to him in this instant. “that is all very sad, but don’t you think you owe it to him to let changes happen? we are angels, theo. when we care for someone we care in ways you cannot even begin to IMAGINE. i get it, you have a tough past, but does that really mean that mal should suffer? just so you can be yourself, while you ignore who HE is?” double standard much. “maybe you are working with katherine, what do i know? to be perfectly honest, i don’t even care what you are up to. i just don’t want malachi to get hurt and in case you didn’t notice, he has enough problems right now.” especially since they found out that he forgot about their daughter, just in time for rosie to show up in san francisco —— not that he was going to tell him that.

Okay, calm Theo, calm Theo. He spoke, his voice softer now, “I hadn’t thought of it that way.” Cosimo was right, Mal had to watch him suffer knowing he could have helped him. “I know exactly how he feels about me, I feel the same way about him.” The soul-share they’d been through, he didn’t doubt the angel’s feelings towards him. “If you really believe that then why don’t you do that creepy magical search thing,” he held out his hands for the other to take, “Let me prove myself to you that I don’t want anything but the best for him.” To let someone else into his head wasn’t exactly his favorite thing, but if it was the only way. “What do you mean enough problems?”

𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐚𝐧𝐠𝐞𝐥 𝐫𝐚𝐢𝐬𝐞𝐝 𝐚𝐧 𝐞𝐲𝐞𝐛𝐫𝐨𝐰 𝐚𝐭 𝐡𝐢𝐦. it was a silent WARNING —— he did not take well to people losing their control around him, especially since hephaesthus set the penthouse on fire, and he did not appreciate that tone either. “don’t make it sound like you gave me a reason for the opposite, but fine. let me explain it to you: you know, it’s really strange when someone gets kidnapped and starts acting weird, but REFUSES to let their boyfriend heal them. it kind of makes you wonder if that’s a case of stubbornness and pride, or if someone is not as honest as they should be.” 

He was taking deeper breaths now, his anger growing every second. “You have no idea what you’re even talking about.” Of course Cosimo knew about Katherine and the whole possession fiasco, but him not letting Mal heal him was something else entirely. “I didn’t want Mal to heal me because I’ve always looked after myself, since I was a little kid left without a home or a family to look after me...that’s just the way I am. It wouldn’t matter if it was Mal, you or freaking God himself. I wouldn’t want anyone to heal me.” He bit his lip, calming himself slightly. “So what’s my evil motivation if I’m so suspicious, Detective Angel?”

𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐩𝐨𝐨𝐫 𝐦𝐚𝐥𝐞 𝐬𝐞𝐞𝐦𝐞𝐝 𝐬𝐨 𝐧𝐞𝐫𝐯𝐨𝐮𝐬, but cosimo was not going to change his opinion because he looked SHY right now. it would take more than that. “i don’t have an issue with you, not really.” he wanted to remind him that he was nothing to him, but he bit his tongue. malachi could not expect them to become best friends, but he knew that he would want them to be civil, so he tried. “i don’t trust you.” he admitted. “there’s a difference.”

That bugged him. The nervousness melted away, and Theo clenched his fists, trying his best to keep his magic under control. “I’m sorry - what? You don’t trust me?” He scowled at the other, “What have I ever done to make you not trust me, Cosimo?” His voice was raised slightly.

𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐚𝐧𝐠𝐞𝐥 𝐬𝐮𝐩𝐩𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐬𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐮𝐫𝐠𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝐦𝐚𝐤𝐞 𝐚 𝐟𝐚𝐜𝐞 𝐚𝐭 𝐡𝐢𝐦 when he announced that he was not here to see malachi. truth be told, he did not TRUST the male and he had no idea what his best friend saw in him, but he was trying to be civil. that included hearing him out, instead of throwing him out. still, he could not keep himself from asking: “did we?” cosimo himself was fairly certain that it was just PERSONALITY, but who knew.

“I don’t know,” he shrugged awkwardly, shuffling further towards the blonde. He wasn’t going to give up, he was shy when it came to confrontation like this now. Especially when the person he was confronting had the power to basically do whatever the fuck he wanted. He swallowed the lump in his throat, “I want to know what your issue with me is.”

𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐚𝐧𝐠𝐞𝐥 𝐝𝐢𝐝 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐠𝐞𝐭 𝐮𝐩 𝐟𝐫𝐨𝐦 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐜𝐨𝐮𝐜𝐡, he flicked his wrist to grant the unannounced visitor entrance —— and he narrowed his eyes as soon as he looked at the male’s face. “THEO.” now that was what cosimo liked to call a bad timing, but oh well. “mal is not here.” he told him, just like the last time. “you know, for a couple, you two really suck at coordinating these things.” and there was no other reason for him to be here, was there? 

The door opened, and Theo just stood there holding his wrist nervously in front of himself before shuffling into the penthouse. “I’m actually here to see you,” a nervous laugh filled the moment of silence as he stood across from the blonde. “Look - I know we’re not the best of friends...and I think we kinda got off on the wrong foot before.”