Teardrops in the Rain.

My body felt heavy, like it was made of steel as I struggled to move, a soft hand kept tapping my face, there was yelling in the distance.

"C'mon baby it's time to get up, please baby you've gotta wake up" The soft voice of Julia whispered above me, as rain pattered down around us all.

My mind was sluggish as my eyes opened, blinking in the morning light. I gazed up into the crystal blue eyes of my ex, well I guess now my girlfriend again, noticing how much she had been crying, her makeup running down her face.

"Oh gawd baby, I thought we lost you there" She exclaims as she wrapped her arms around my head, hugging it to her chest.

"I'm fine, just tired... where's Azara is she ok?" I ask as I sit up, but my eyes tell me what I need to know.

Across from us both, is the weak form of Azara laying face down in the dirt, Angela and Helena scrambling to stop the bleeding on her back as her eyes gaze off into some far away place, her purple skin has faded to a pallid violet colour and her lips were slowly turning blue.

In an instant I leap up, accidentally knocking Julia back onto her bum, falling to my knees in front of my demoness I cradle her limp head in my hands,

"Azara! Azara talk to me!" I cry, rubbing her face as I feel tears welling in my own eyes.

"Honey, honey it's gonna be ok, alright? Amy has gone to the house nearby for help, we're gonna get her through this" My mom offers, her hands as shaky as her voice, but I appreciate what she is trying to do. Angela seems to focused on trying some spells to stop the bright red blood from gushing out from the brutal gash on Azara's purple skinned back.

Heavy rain falls all around us, slapping the ground in its torrential downpour, I feel soft warm hands hug me from behind, Julia, attempting to comfort me as I hold Azara's limp head in my hands.

"What the fuck are you all doing out here?!" A familiar voice calls out through the din of the rainfall.

"Please, please you gotta help us!" Amy cries, my head snapping up, realisation flooding into my mind.

Before me in a pair of biker styled black jeans, the cuffs pulled up over a pair of desert issue combat boots, with a faded white nirvana top hastily pulled over herself under a heavy navy blue raincoat, was Hospital Corpsman First Class Katerina Vostroya, the Hospital Corpsman assigned to my platoon whilst on deployment in the Middle East, a woman I had known for the better part of the past six years.

Her sharp green eyes suddenly drew into a confused, and angry glare, even beneath all the changes she knew who was kneeling on the ground in front of her.

"God damnit Silva, what the fuck have you got me into this time" She seethed suddenly rushing forward slinging a patrol pack I hadn't noticed from her shoulder on to the muddy ground next to her.

"Kate, please... please help her" I beg, my voice small, shallow. But my misery is sharply dismissed as a vicious slap connects with my cheek, Kate's eyes furrowed in frustration.

"Snap the fuck out of it Sar'nt, I need you, not some fuckin girl crying in the rain" Kate snaps as everyone simply watches wide eyed.

I nod, it's all I can do at the minute, listening to Kate's instructions as she works with me to stem the bleeding as best we can before we decide to move Azara to the house. It took a lot of effort, and the rain and cold didn't help but eventually we got her into Kate's home, Azara's body shivering in the sudden shock of entering the warm house, which was a good sign.

It was a very nice house to be honest, Kate's mother was a restauranteur from New Orleans, and her father was the CEO of tech company down in Silicon Valley, at least they were. The back garden was huge, which was where we all ended up, complete with a pool and a BBQ as well. The main room was a massive open planned kitchen-dining-living space with huge glass panels that opened up onto the back garden and flooded the space with natural light. The kitchen extending out to the right with a partition wall separating it form the dining room beyond, to our left the living space descended into the floor, three large three seater sofas forming an open square around a large coffee table, fire pit combination, a very large 70 inch tv looming above another fireplace opposite the setup. A nice wood and glass staircase rose from the ground in a lazy curve in the far left corner near to the double front doors that gave access to the second floor. It was a very pretty room.

"Sergeant Silva don't make me slap your ass again" A sharp voice snapped at me yet again as Kate and I gently lowered Azara down onto one of the three seaters, yanking me out of my reverie, "I need to get the rest of my kit, stay with her and we'll stitch her up here." Her voice was bossy, commanding, just like how she was in the field when we took on wounded, completely professional and no nonsense. I nodded in response.

Kate's powerful legs soon propelled her up the stairs three at a time before she sprinted down the walkway and disappeared into a hallway. A soft, cold hand suddenly squeezed my own, looking down I caught Azara's eyes looking up at me weakly, a very weak smile tugging at the corner of her mouth.

"You're... ok..." She murmured in a croaking voice as I dropped down to my knees, sitting as close to her as possible, resting her head on my bicep as I stroked her cheek.

"You're the one that got hit, not me" I chuckle, kissing her forehead, my heart tearing itself apart at how badly she was hurt.

"She would have.... would have killed you..." Her voice was raspy and weak, barely a whisper as I held her in my arms as best I could.

"Don't worry about that, ok Azara? We're gonna fix you up, make you all better and we'll figure out what to do, all of us" I reassure her, tears welling in my eyes again. I can't hear her thoughts, or feel what she is feeling anymore, and that worries me.

"You won't lea... leave me?"

"No. Never again."