Callie's Shadow Ch. 15

It took him five minutes to die. Five minutes to melt into a burning pile of nothing, until the first of the morning breezes blew him to the four winds.

Shadow looked down at Callie, then back out the hole in the window. "Let me say, in the words of Callie... that was...ick!"

"I completely agree," Marcus said weakly from where they'd propped him up next to the railway car. "That was pretty gross. I hope you got the council's okay for that."

"Marcus!" Angel cried, giving the square of sunlight a wide berth before hurrying to the winged warrior. "Are you all right? God, I thought he'd killed you."

"It'd take more than nancy-boy there to kill me," Marcus said, groaning as she hugged him. "Ouch, careful of the feathers, baby."

Angel cupped his cheeks, her lips kissing every inch of his dear face. "Thank you for being alive," she whispered when she lifted her head.

Shadow came over to pick Callie up from the floor. "You okay?"

"Fine. Takes more than some ancient vampire to hurt me," she teased. Lifting her hand, she brushed at the two fine holes in his neck. "Are you all right?"

"Yeah." He picked her up, pulling her until she was flush against him. With a sigh of relief, he found her lips with his own, taking his time and kissing her thoroughly. It was only the chirp of a communicator that made him lift his head. Even then, he didn't take his eyes off of her flushed face, holding his hand out and feeling Angel put the small box into his hand.

"Shadow," he said.

"Daniels," he heard come through the slight crackle of static. "You've got council approval to finish Amante off."

"Phew," Marcus joked. "That's good to know."

"Ten four," Shadow said, unable to keep the laughter out of his voice. "Target has already been erased. Team returning to base."

"Great work, Shadow. We'll be here waiting."

"Shadow out." He tossed the communicator back to Angel.

"You watch too many movies, Shadow," Angel laughed. "Target has been erased," she said in a voice that sounded a bit like Shadow. "Way too many movies, boss."

"Well, maybe Callie can figure out something we can do besides watching movies," he joked. "You three stay here. I'll go get the SUV."

He drove the truck right into the building, helping Angel get Marcus into the back seat. His bleeding had stopped, his broken wing was beginning to knit, but he was still pretty weak.

Angel climbed into the back seat with him, closing the protective blinds against the sunlight.

"Come on," Shadow said to Callie. "Let's go home."

"I! AM! BEOWULF!"

Angel laughed, shaking her head and taking her dagger back from the winged idiot that she was madly in love with. "Okay, okay, I'll admit that Ray Winston would have looked better if he'd had wings. Now are you happy?" she asked, straightening up from sliding the weapon back into her boot.

"Ecstatic," Marcus sighed, wrapping his arms around the slender vampire. "The only thing that would make me happier would be you on your knees doing that thing..."

"Hey!" Callie said, interrupting his words. "Other people here, you know, ones that would like to keep down their dinner." She snuggled against Brian, her hand in the back pocket of his jeans.

Shadow chuckled. It was one of those rare nights when the four of them had off and could actually enjoy themselves. Marcus had suggested the movie and they'd all enjoyed it, well what he and Callie had actually watched. He chuckled again, thinking of the things she'd done to him with that little hand that rested against his ass inside his pocket.

It had been three weeks since they'd dispatched Dorian. Since that day so much had changed in his life. Callie had given up her apartment, moving in with him. Just having her with him had created a peace inside of him that he hadn't felt since before that fateful July in 1945.

They'd confronted her father. The wolf had actually wept when told that Aidan was dead and Dorian was no longer a threat. He'd greeted Shadow with an open heart and welcomed him into the family. Shadow had been mostly worried about how her father would react to her being with a non-were. Now his doubts were put to rest and he carried a small blue box in his coat pocket, waiting for the perfect moment to give it to her.

"What are you thinking?" Callie asked as Marcus and Angel walked ahead of them on the busy street.

"Oh, I was thinking of a certain little minx who needed her butt whipped for what she did in the theater," he said, chuckling again when her cheeks grew rosy in the light of the streetlamps.

"You enjoyed it and you know it."

"Well, I'd have to say I've never enjoyed a movie better than that one," he said, tucking her even closer to his side. He slid his hand in his pocket, feeling the box with his fingers. "I love you, Callie."

She grinned, wrapping her arms around his neck and pulling his head down to find his lips. "I love you, too, Brian," she whispered when he lifted his head.

What the hell, he thought. No better time than the present. "Uh, Callie," he began, pulling the box out of his pocket. Before he could go any further, Angel called his name. Shadow looked up just in time to catch the communicator Angel tossed him.

"It's base," she called.

The conversation was short, crisp and concise. He sighed, tucking the ring box back into his pocket. It would have to wait for another time. "Okay team, we're saddling up." Kissing Callie once more, he winked down at her and they headed for the SUV.