Owner	Pose
Cael Becker	As the pair arrive back at the temporary quarters Cael and Sara have claimed at the Triskelion, Cael dumps her belongings carelessly on a chair and then announces simply, "I'll start a kettle for some tea." It's bagged tea, but it isn't //Lipton// at least. She moves quickly, and with just an edge of frenetic energy to show up uneasy the idea of watching the tape made her.     But she was determined to do it. Determined to //try// - because how can she be any help if she can't handle what they're up against?     "I assume we can just hook it up to a laptop to watch it?" she calls over, as she's filling the kettle at the sink. "You need anything else while I'm in here?"
Jonathan Sims	Jon seems much better with a meal and two cups of tea in him. Calmer, more focused, though he's generally seemed that way all week, since the vision of Gaea. But he sits and waits for Cael to make tea, radiating an aura of calm. How bad can the footage be, after all?     "I would assume so, yes," he calls. "Looks like it's a simple USB hookup. Umm, make sure you have tissues or something? In case there are any... strong emotional reactions."
Cael Becker	Bear settles in next to Jon while Cael moves arond the kitchen - his head resting on Jon's knee, and his gaze looking up towards the man.     "We've got a box or two of Kleenex around," Cael confirms. She comes out eventually with a thermos of hot water, a pair of cups, a variety of tea bags from a decent brand, and some sugar and half-and-half. She nods them towards her bedroom - which was a simple affair with a desk, and a bed pushed up against the wall. There's a dog bed for Bear that rarely gets used - because as soon as the door to the bedroom is opened, the pup jumps up onto Cael's bed, taking up a good chunk of it as he settles into place. "I don't think you'd mind if we all just... Got a little cozy?" she suggests.     The tea is put on the bedside table, and the laptop - well, she boots that up, and positions it her office chair next to the bed before she starts to settle in next to Bear, with her back to the wall, and the pup's head in her lap - and the box of Kleenex in easy reach.
Jonathan Sims	Jon reaches down to give Bear pets, because he is a good boy who always deserves pets. Then he gets up to follow Cael to the bedroom. "Wherever's most comfortable," he agrees. It's always nice to not have to fret over heading into someone's bedroom. No weird weight of expectations, just... well, just watching a potentially traumatic bodycam video with his girlfriend. Okay, maybe it's a /little/ weird. But weird in a way Jon's used to handling.     Jon settles himself on the bed on Cael's other side, sliding an arm around her shoulders since he's expecting to need to provide comfort. "We can stop watching whenever you need to," he says deliberately. "I can always finish up watching it in my office if need be. Alright?"
Cael Becker	Cael gives a nod of understanding, leaning into Jon's arm and resting her head against him. "Hey, maybe it won't fluster me at all," she says in a tone that she means to sound relaxed, and confident - but just sounds forced instead. "I'll keep it in mind, though." She scratches at Bear's head as she adds, "Thanks for doing this with me. I, uhh... I'll admit, I didn't want to take up too much of your time right now. But I mean, since you need to watch it anyways..."
Jonathan Sims	Jon reaches up to strokes Cael's hair gently, where her head rests on his shoulder. "It's fine," he murmurs. "I... I've missed you, anyway. It was nice to have the excuse to come up here every morning, though I'm glad you're doing better. I think we should keep having breakfast, but... it's not the same." He sighs, and shrugs. "It's good to take the time, though, even if it's for this."     He reaches out to press 'play' on the recording, then. The first bits are of the defenders getting set up, Terry talking to people as he gets directed to take up position near the Bosque Fountain. Jon's situated himself in the fountain itself, there are others there--SHIELD, the civilian militia, several of the Justice League Dark, a Brotherhood mutant.     Things really get into gear when the sky suddenly /fills/ with angels. The bodycam catches the huge force that flies down Broadway from St. Patrick's, the way a couple of buildings just /crumble/ from the force of their movement.
Cael Becker	"I like our breakfasts," Cael agrees quietly, a more genuine smile ghosting across her lips. As much of a fuss as she makes whenever he ruffles her hair in public - in private, like this? She could think of few things as comforting, and relaxing.     She watches the defenders prepare themselves as the video starts, each person ending up assigned to positions that defend the Fountain - and Jon. "She's not glowing yet. That happens somehow during the battle?" she asks - as Lydia and Terry exchange brief words.     It's as the sky lights up with a truly countless number of angels, and she see them approaching down Broadway that she starts to tense, her voice catching in her throat. "Oh God Jon..." she breaths out quietly. Fuck.     That many?     Her fingers tighten in Bear's fur as the pup starts to whine at her softly, nuzzling his wet nose into her chest.
Jonathan Sims	Jon runs his fingers along Cael's scalp, gently. That always helps him relax. "I know," he says softly. "I know. It's going to be okay. Lydia's got a way to stop them for good. We've got this."     On the recording, Jon's voice is speaking to the defenders, in that same reassuring tone, if louder. There's a flash of green energy as he creates a barrier around the fountain and tells the others to keep the angels past it. "And... don't /die/," he adds. "I... I think I can probably heal anything short of that."     Terry quips about having Hamilton tickets for 2024. Phoebe declares her assurance of being able to heal whatever needs healing, Lydia wryly comments on being already dead. There's other murmuring, people reacting to the flood of angels.     Then they're /there/, and the angels stop and hover in the air. There are thirteen of them, Michael in front and six to either side. For a moment, the camera focuses on that entirely, and even through the recording Cael can probably /feel/ their names. It's one of those things, magic stronger than almost anything else in the world.
Cael Becker	Cael is silent in Jon's grasp now - her posture tense, her breathing shaky and uneven. Both her arms cling to Bear, hugging the massive creature close to her as she studies the strength of the heavenly host. Michael she'd expected - it didn't make looking at his image easy for her, but it was expected.     Raphael, though, was like a punch to the gut, and she can feel the bile rising in her throat as she struggles to force it back down. Yes, he'd warned her that he could have to fight alongside Michael - that he wouldn't have a choice - but seeing him there, arrayed alongside her enemy, against someone who had wronged her so deeply - it still hurt. Tears start to blur her vision, though she tries to blink them away.     She can do this. She's strong enough for this. If she can't handle a //video// - how can she defend her planet, and the rest of reality, from this invasion?
Jonathan Sims	"They aren't all happy about it," Jon says. His own gaze is fixed on Uriel. His informant, his patron in many ways, but also the one who demanded that his role include dying. He pulls Cael closer. "I say you call him down to yell at him later if it'll help, though," he adds."     Michael speaks, offering a chance for them to surrender. And then Gaea appears--Terry turns, briefly, to get her in the footage--and She sounds... /angry/ as she demands the game begin. Jon takes heart from her words and casts his own defiance at Michael, though he says "I hope we can forgive what you've done."     From Terry, about the archangels: "You know, the traditional costume section of the Miss Universe pageant gets more and more ridiculous each year." He knows damn well this footage is going to be seen by millions, maybe billions. He's quipping on purpose.     Ten archangels vanish, leaving only Michael, Raphael, and Zadkiel. The hosts advance, and the defenders ready their spells, chanting around Terry and militia raising weapons.
Cael Becker	"I'm not forgiving that asshole," Cael breathes quietly. "Can you really? After what he did?" She lifts one hand now, rubbing it across her eyes as she tries to focus on the screen. Why is it Raphael that stays? Why //Raphael// - out of all of them?     "It's, uh... it's good to see we really do have Gods on our side," she adds. Not that she'd doubted Jon's word - but there she was, on screen. Caught on film.     The battle hasn't even truly begun - and she feels like a mess. A quivering, boneless mess. How could she ever hope to stand up to something like this? If she had to - would she find the strength?
Jonathan Sims	Jon sighs. "I don't know. Maybe. I'm not going to ask anyone else to do so... you least of all. But that's part of... what I need to do. For myself. Determine whether I can forgive what he's done. It might matter, given my role in this."     Firebombs of magic erupt under the angelic forces, which slows them but does not stop them. Gaea leaves the field, and Michael orients on /Phoebe/ of all people. Lydia blinks herself into the midst of the host and begins to just /wreck/ them, while portals redirect beams of fire from the Thrones. Zadkiel is distracted by the appearance of the second Ghost Rider, and Raphael takes on Asariel, who'd been hovering on the edge of the battle but has taken to the sky. And a good chunk of the angelic host get sucked into one of Terry's Rabbit Holes, opened to the vicinity of Mars.
Cael Becker	"He- he's going to do it to you too, though," Cael answers quietly. She can't forgive him for torturing her - or for wanting to torture Jon. How can Jon even consider...?     If Jon and Sara had been just a few minutes later...     But her thoughts can't linger there as the battle truly begins. She gets grim satisfaction out of seeing the damage the angels take. Somehow... it gets better, and some of the tension in her form begins to ease.     "What sort of bombs were those?" she asks - trying to focus on some of the more mundane features of the video.
Jonathan Sims	"Phoebe's angel traps, actually, Blast Circles, etched in chalk and blood. It let her pull in more angelic energy." Jon sounds almost insufferably proud. "I'll admit I wasn't certain about the plan, to begin with, but she's proven it to be /incredibly/ useful, and she's handling the power just fine thus far."     Terry is joking, moving around a bit giddily, so the camera work gets shakier. It's hard to keep track of everything--there are angels firing on the circle protecting Jon, Terry casts an illusion that confuses the angels, Phoebe fights Michael, Zadkiel fights Noble Kale, Raphael fights Asariel. Jon's doing some sort of intricate spellwork that Terry only gets glimpses of. But he gets a good shot of the Seraphim coming at Lydia.     Jon tenses up more himself as the battle goes on, watching his friends fighting the angels. He lets out a soft cry of alarm--he hadn't /seen/ the angel going after Lydia, after all, and he grips a hand round Cael's shoulder as if for support.
Cael Becker	"They're working?" Cael asks - with a distinctly dubious quality to the question. She has a hard time believing that that's really possible. It seemed like //such// a bad idea to her. "Well... good." No, she doesn't sound at all certain as she says those words. She's still afraid it'll bite them on the ass, somehow.     As the fight continues, and she can see - just for a moment - what she suspects was a member of their militia being reduced to ash, she can feel Jon tensing up beside her. "Jon..." she says quietly. "Your friend did all make it back. Right?" She knew they'd lost people - but not anyone Jon cared about... right?     Maybe it shouldn't matter - a death was a death. But it //did//. They all know it did.     Freeing one hand from around Bear, she wraps it around Jon's middle, so she can squeeze him in return.
Jonathan Sims	"Yeah," Jon says. "We only lost ten people. I... none of them were personal..." He didn't lose any /friends/, no. But it's still hard to watch.     There's a wave of green energy that seems to reinvigorate the defenders, and Terry starts helping Phoebe fight Michael--sending Raphael's blow on Asariel to Michael's head, though the staff goes right through. Phoebe blasts Michael, that's where most of Terry's attention is focused just now--but the camera catches the Seraphim /eviscerating/ Lydia. There's a cry from nearby, the mutant calling out her sister's name.     Jon suddenly turns and buries his face in Cael's hair, sobbing and clutching at her. "Oh, gods," he whispers. "Oh, gods." Over, and over.     Thus, he misses Lydia surge up with a roar and latch herself onto the Seraph's back with tentacles of her ectoplasm, draining its blood.
Cael Becker	Cael reaches out with her foot - and taps the spacebar on her laptop - freeze Lydia in mid-leap, as she lets go of Bear to wrap both arms around Jon now, letting her eyes close as her own tears continue to fall silently. This was certainly not how she'd pictured this going, when Jon offered to watch it with her. ...had he been thinking of himself as much as her?     Bear whines quietly beside them, nuzzling at both Jon and Cael, and licking and hands, arms, and faces when he can, trying desperately to comfort the pair.     She allows herself to simply cry as she clings to the man, fierce strength in her arms. "There's so many of them, Jon," she finally manages to breathe out. How can they stand against that many?
Jonathan Sims	"I didn't notice," Jon gasps. "I wasn't watching. My friend might've /died/ and I wasn't watching. I can't... I can't be everywhere, I can't save everyone, I can't..."     He shudders, actually sobbing with sound for once in his life. "I thought... I thought we'd done so well. Oh, gods. Lydia almost /died/ and I didn't even notice. Wh-what kind of... how can I... oh, gods, I'm going to fuck this up. There's too many, you're right, I'm..."     Caldwell has /surely/ mentioned 'spiraling' to Cael by now. Jon is /clearly/ doing that. He... does that.
Cael Becker	Bear continues his desperate attempts to nuzzle, and lick the pain away, whining softly as he does. He even tries to force his way between Cael and Jon - perhaps in the hopes that he can crawl into both laps at twice. That is, after all, his job. And he's very dedicated to his work.     "Jon... Jon..." She can hear the rising panic in his voice, and she's not quite sure what to do. She squeezes him tighter for a moment, her mind racing and then- quite unexpectedly, she starts to sing. It's shaky, interrupted by a few sobs at first - but it slowly grows more steady. No more talk of darkness, Forget these wide-eyed fears, I'm here, nothing can harm you, My words will warm and calm you. Let me be your freedom, Let daylight dry your tears, I'm here with you, beside you, To guard you and to guide you...     She's singing... Phantom of the Opera?
Jonathan Sims	Jon clings to her, and weirdly enough, the song /does/ soothe him, slowly. Like he clings to the song as much as to Cael. His sobbing has calmed by the time she reaches the end of the second verse, and he pulls back enough to sing, himself. Say you love me every waking moment Turn my head with talk of summertime Say you need me with you now and always Promise me that all you say is true That's all I ask of you     He pulls back, sniffling, and kisses Cael for just a moment before pressing his forehead to hers. "Sorry," he whispers. "Sorry. I just... I didn't know it would hurt so much to watch. I didn't realize how close we came to losing more people."
Cael Becker	"That's not how my mother sang it," Cael murmurs quietly, her tone slightly amused as Jon takes over the song. She presses her forehead against his as she tells him quietly, "We're going to lose people, Jon. People we care about... But if we give up- You heard him. He //said// it - the end will come swiftly. We'll cease to be."     Would that be better? Would that be easier? What if they fight, and suffer, and die - and lose the battle anyways?     "Would you rather take his deal - give up all hope and surrender to despair? Or do we fight, and suffer, and die - to have a chance to save trillions and trillions of lives?"
Jonathan Sims	"I highly doubt your mother was a baritone," Jon says with amusement. He sighs, and pulls up his head to rest his chin atop Cael's head. "I'm not giving up. I /can't/ give up. Trillions and trillions... it's too big to wrap my head around. But you, and Martin, and Agnes. The Justice League Dark, SHIELD. New York. Gaea. You're all depending on me. So I won't give up."     He sighs. "It's just... overwhelming, sometimes. Every life is precious. I don't want to lose anyone, at all." He squeezes her. "But I know, I know... you're already facing that. I shouldn't be selfish, not wanting to deal with it myself."
Cael Becker	"I meant the words," Cael answers dryly. "She'd change the words when she sang it." She'd long since learned that the version she knew from her childhood... wasn't the way the song actually went.     Hell, she remembered a time when she'd thought her mother had written the song for her... That was a long time ago.     "I wish no one had to die. I hate Michael for every death he forces in this stupid contest of his," Cael says with bitter heat leaking into her voice. "And yeah, the thought of losing you terrifies me, but if- if this is what we have to do to save everything..." Then she can't give into that despair, can she? She has to cling to even the smallest hope...     "I want to be able to fight again..."
Jonathan Sims	Jon frowns for a moment, then nods and pulls back a bit. "Then let's keep watching," he says. "You're doing really well. I know it's hard, and terrifying--but I believe in you." He smiles down at her. "I believe you'll be able to fight, in time. That you'll be there by my side. That you'll help me when it's my turn."     He looks back to the laptop, dark eyes considering the image there on the screen. "I think this is close to the turning point," he says. "If you think you can handle the rest."
Cael Becker	"I, uh... I think watching all the angels arrive, and Michael making his threats was a lot worse than watching the actual fight for me. I dunno. Maybe I could manage - if I can get over the initial anxiety."     But if she can't? That's an awful risk to take.     She picks up the box of Kleenex now, offering it to Jon, before she cleans up her own face, and leans in against Jon once more. "I think I can handle the rest," she offers. "...you think we should do this on the reg, now? Watch these videos once or twice... to help you plan your strategy?" And to help numb her to the horror that was their current reality.
Jonathan Sims	Jon nods, as he wipes his own face with the Kleenex. "I think so," he agrees. "There are obviously things I miss, and Terry's not going to get everything either but every angle I can get helps that little bit more."     He sighs and settles back, reaching over to pet Bear gently for a moment before he just leaves his arm there for Cael to move back to where she was sitting. "East Harlem next," he notes. "After that... I'm not certain. I suppose we'll see how scouting goes."
Cael Becker	"Maybe you set up a few stationary cameras as well?" Cael suggests. "Or a few more folks out there with body cams? I mean - not that you'll watch //all// of them - but a little redundancy, yeah?"     With a smirk she adds, "Breakfast is going to be the less morbid of our two habits," she adds, dryly. She reaches up, running her own fingers through Jon's hair before she settles back against him again, one arm around his waist - ahd her free hand stroking Bear, who's calmed down as well, once the tension had broken.     "Okay," she says. "...ready."