CHAPTER 15

When the door to the cabin burst open, a strangled cry escaped the little boy's throat at the sight of the blonde man he didn't recognize, but relief filled his eyes at the sight of Monica, though he was uncertain as to why she was in a long dress that made her look like she was lit up somehow.

"It's all right, Aiden," Andrew reassured the boy as he knelt down and untied the ropes and pulled the gag from his mouth.

"W…who are you?" He sobbed, his entire body trembling from cold and fear, "Monica?"

"Hush, wee Aiden," Monica wrapped her arms around the child, tears in her own eyes at him being found and safe, "Andrew is my friend and he was sent to find you."

"A..and you….the light…." He was so glad to see her, so glad to not be alone.

"Aiden, your sister was right. I'm an angel and I was sent to help your family, much in the same way Andrew was sent to help you."

He pulled back enough to look into her face, his own eyes wide, "An angel? And him? Andrew?"

Monica's eyes moved to her husband. His face was pale and she could tell he was still coming to terms with finding Aiden alive, "Andrew is an angel too, but right now, he is human, much like I was when I was taking care of all of you."

"But Jane…she could see…"

Andrew managed a small smile, looking at the young boy in Monica's arms, "Small children, like Jane, don't believe that anything is impossible, Aiden, so they see what is truly there instead of allowing their minds to talk them out of it. That's how Jane knew."

"Oh." Aiden looked up at Monica once more, "Can we go home now? Please?"

"Not going to happen."

The door to the cabin, which had been left open, was now being blocked by a woman Monica had never seen before, but her husband instantly recognized her.

"Beth."

Aiden had instantly started crying again, and Monica tightened her arms around him, "Stay calm, wee Aiden. She cannot see me, but I am right here with you and so is God."

Andrew slowly rose to his feet, all the while looking at the gun that Beth, the secretary for their agency, had trained on him, "Beth, you have to let him go. He has a family that loves him."

"I would have loved him!" The woman cried out angrily as she pointed the gun at Aiden, "I haven't hurt him and all he had to do was love me but he is just like the others! All they had to do to live was love me!"

"But you cannot force that from a child, Beth," Andrew kept his voice as calm as he could manage, "He already has parents that love him and a brother and a sister that miss him. You are a stranger to him, Beth, who took him away from all he ever knew."

"He's a child! He adapts! The same way I tried to adapt when my child was killed! All he had to do was TRY! But you wouldn't, would you?" Beth's voice held deranged venom as she waved the gun at Aiden once more.

"I wanna go home!" Aiden cried out at her, "You wanted me to call you 'mom' but you aren't my mom! You would never be my mom!"

"Shut up!" Beth growled at him.

"Aiden, please be calm, sweetheart. Please. Father, please help us. Keep us safe." Monica soft words were a constant mantra in the little boy's ear, but she could feel how badly he was trembling up against her, a combination of rage, fear and cold.

"Beth, you have to let him go," Andrew took a step nearer to the woman, hoping to be able to take the gun from her hands. He had been given no instruction to reveal himself to her and he could only assume that in her current state of mind, not even angels would have an impact on her.

She fell silent for a moment as she looked at Andrew and then back to the little boy and the defiance in his eyes. She almost seemed to consider it for a moment, but then she raised the gun once more and pointed it directly at Aiden, "No."

As the shot rang out in the cabin, Monica watched in horror as her beloved husband cried out and then threw himself toward Aiden. The look in his green eyes was one she would never forget as long as she existed; it spoke of his determination to not allow suffering to come to another of God's youngest children, no matter the cost. He was not going to allow Aiden's story to have the same ending as the last child he had taken Home.

The bullet hit the angel in human form, pushing his body back and causing him to land up against the wall, blooding flowing freely from a wound below his shoulder. His eyes were wide, surprised at first by the lack of pain but then it suddenly seemed to hit him and it flooded his eyes and his face.

"Andrew!" Monica cried out his name just as Aiden cried out in fear. Beth, hearing sounds near the cabin, turned and ran back out the door and Monica could only pray it was the rest of Andrew's team.

Releasing Aiden, she moved to her soul mate, the one angel she loved with her entire heart and soul and cradled his head in her arms, "Andrew? Andrew." Her dark eyes were panicked and filled with tears, "I'm here. Help is coming. Stay with me. Please stay with me."

"Aiden? He's all right?" Andrew gasped out the words through the pain.

"Yes, he's fine." The white jacket that she had been wearing was soon shrugged off her small body, and she pressed it against the wound to slow the bleeding, his sharp and pain-filled intake of air, causing guilt to flow through her, "I'm sorry. I'm so sorry," Her voice caught on a sob.

"Is he okay?" Aiden asked, his own voice trembling, as he approached them, "He's an angel…why is he hurt?"

Monica was trying to think rationally enough to form an answer, but her thoughts were interrupted when the cabin filled suddenly with more people.

"Aiden!" Ben Collins' voice cried out at seeing the boy next to his employee, "Andrew! My god!" A heartbeat later, he was on the phone, instructing the ambulance to hurry before he rushed to Andrew's side and pressed the white cloth he assumed Aiden had found down onto the wound.

"Remember, Aiden, they can't see me," Monica managed to say through her frightened tears, before she turned back to Andrew, who seemed to be struggling to keep his eyes open, "I'm with you. I'm not going anywhere. I love you so much."

Aiden stared at Andrew and Monica for a moment, seeing the pain in the man's face and the tears on Monica's and then he looked up at Ben Collins, "He saved my life. Did you catch her?"

"Yes, son, we have her. She ran right to us. Stay with me, Andrew. The ambulance in on its way. She worked for us…how could I have not seen it…"

"You couldn't know…" Andrew uttered, managing to answer but all the while trying to simply concentrate on the feeling of Monica's hands stroking his hair. He wanted to comfort her, hearing her quiet sobs that only he and Aiden could hear. She had been so strong for him and he could now feel her fear in his soul and he was helpless to reassure her.

"Aiden," Greg, another member of Andrew's team motioned for the boy who only left Andrew's side reluctantly, "There is someone on the phone who wants to speak to you."

Aiden took the phone with a tearful, "Hello," and the next word out of his mouth was "Mom!"

"He's safe, Andrew and Beth won't hurt anyone else and it's all thanks to you," Monica's tears fell against his face, "I told you the Father picked the perfect angel for the job. You are so brave and I love you so much. I know you can't answer me now but just hold those thoughts in your heart and never forget them."

When the ambulance crew arrived, Monica watched helplessly as they lifted her husband onto the gurney, hooking him up to oxygen and an IV. He had drifted into unconsciousness by that time and it terrified Monica. She wanted to see his green eyes and his smile and she wanted to feel his arms around her.

Aiden had already been taken in a squad car, bound for home while another squad car held Beth, the lost woman who had kidnapped Aiden and shot Andrew, to the station to be booked for the crimes. A moment later all that was left was one little angel, covered in the blood of the one she loved the most, standing in the middle of the cabin, helplessly wondering what to do.

"Baby?"

Monica's swollen eyes widened as she turned around, "Tess….oh Tess….is he going to be all right? Please, can I stay with him? I can't bear not going…"

Taking a moment, Tess wrapped her arms tightly around her young charge, "The Father is in control, Angel Girl, you know that. Trust what you told Andrew; that He never makes mistakes." As she held Monica close, she said a silent prayer for help and when she pulled away from the young angel, Monica's bloody clothes had been replaced for clean clothes that were much more comfortable for her soon to be human form. She knew that Monica didn't need to see the blood of her husband and Monica had not yet had time to realize she was covered with it.

"Go be with him, baby. I'll see you at the hospital. Stay with him in surgery; he will sense you are there."

"Thank you," Monica whispered before she vanished from the cabin, knowing she would reappear in the ambulance, next to the one who held her heart.