He ran all through the day and the night, through the biting chill that he hadn't known for years and the rain that hammered down on his skin. Elias was still asleep in his arms, and whilst Wander really hoped the angel would wake up soon since his arms were tired he also wasn't looking forwards to it. Elias would probably feel angry and betrayed at how Wander had bitten him, and Wander wouldn't blame him in the slightest if he decided that he wanted nothing more to do with him. He'd done what he felt like he needed to do to get the two of them out, but what if he'd been wrong? What if there had been another way, what if he'd just been a little bit better at getting Elias to calm down, what if he'd-

He wasn't sure when it was along his run that he'd started crying, and if he was honest the constant rainfall made it difficult to pinpoint when the tears that had stung in his eyes had begun to fall. He was cold and wet, and as of right now he was alone with only his unconscious friend in his arms to keep him company. Right now he couldn't afford to let that overrun his mind however, for he needed to get home. He knew home was far to the north from here, and he'd come across a few large maps and travel guides by the side of the road and in small petrol stations, so he'd at least had a bit of knowledge on how to get where he was trying to go. He wondered for a moment if anyone from back home actually remembered him, or at least still told the stories of him as the strange spider-creature that lived in the foggy hills and woods of the Cairngorms. Whether they did or not, he didn't care anymore. He just wanted to go home.

He'd started his journey by running parallel to the A1, but he'd turned off just before reaching Peterborough since he figured that, as one of the major north-south roads in the country, that would be one of the most monitored areas for any escapees like him. He crossed over a small river called the King's Dyke then carried on passed Crowland, and it was just past that small village that he felt a stirring in his arms.

"Elias?" He asked quietly, gently jostling the boy a little to see if he could be stirred into slumbering. "Elias, are you okay?"

"Yeah... I think so, anyway. Are we out? I can't really... you said you'd get us out, right?"

"Yeah," he said, forcing down the lump in his throat as he gently helped Elias get clumsily to his feet.

"I was... I was..."

Elias snapped up to look at him and scrambled back, the angel's face quickly becoming angry as he looked at Wander.

"I was hiding with you, and you bit me. You knocked me out like prey! I trusted you, and you bit me!"

Wander nodded sadly, not trusting himself to be able to keep from crying if he spoke for too long.

"I had too to get us out. I've carried you north all through the day and the night, and I hated that I bit you, but please believe me when I say I wish I hadn't had to."

Elias said nothing, only maintaining his angry glare. Then, after a few seconds of silence, the angel unfurled his wings and took off without even a single word of goodbye. Wander stayed stood where he was for a few moments, numb, before turning himself back on the path to his home and carrying on along his way. This time he couldn't pretend that he didn't know when he'd started crying.

The rest of the going had been slow. Not actually slow, since he very much doubted that any normal human could have covered the same distance he had in so short a time, but compared to his mad dash from the facility up to Crowland it felt slow. He'd followed a series of roads and trails north for a full week without stopping, and with barely any food to boot. He'd first started to feel a little faint at the end of that week when the sun came out and glared down at him as he'd arrived at Alnwick, so to try and keep out of the light and maybe scrounge up a little more food he'd decided to go cross country across the border into Scotland until he reached Hawick. Half a day later Hawick became Selkirk, and six more days of little sleep and almost constant travel saw him arrive outside Falkirk. By this point he'd been on the run for more than two weeks, and he knew he couldn't last much longer. He was so close to home, just a little bit further, and then he'd be fine. He just needed to make it to the Cairngorm mountains, and he'd be fine. Just a little bit further. Just a few more days. Just another week. I'll be fine.

He would be fine, he swore it. Even if he hadn't stopped feeling terrible since Elias left him, he would be fine. He had to be. He hoped Elias was doing well, wherever he was. The angel deserved far better than whatever Wander could give him; what was a life in the wilderness compared to all the comforts of the heavens above?

He was lost in thought, but not so much that he could ignore just how exhausted he was. He felt like he needed to sleep for months to recover from this, but even a full nights sleep would be impossible until he found some safe shelter for him to hide in, and the on;y place he knew of that was safe for him lay at the end of his journey. As soon as he was back in the wilderness of the Cairngorms, he would be able to rest and recover. He just needed to make it there.

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But he was so tired, and he was so hungry. His vision began to blue, and his steps became more and more staggered as the hours wore on.

Come, on, I can walk... just a little bit further. I just need... a few more... days...

And then, in the woods somewhere north of Dunblane, he collapsed.

It was warm here, wherever here was. Not hot, and thank whatever God existed for that because he couldn't stand it when things got too hot, but it was comfortably warm. He was in a cave in the Cairngorms, one he'd spent his childhood years in before the Agency had found him and brought him south. Looking out of the entrance he could see that he was situated above the forest, with the view being just as beautiful as he could remember. The treetops were visible below, though half obscured by cloud and fog. This was where he'd grown up. This was where he'd always wanted to be. This was home.

But he wasn't here, was he? He was dying somewhere on the road still a good many miles from this place, despite his best methods to get here before he collapsed. Hey, maybe if he got into heaven he'd be able to ask around and see if anyone knew how Elias was doing! Or maybe this was heaven, and he would be able to live forever in his only real home in a haze of memory and dull euphoria. That sounded nice to him.

His vision was still a little blurry, but not so much that his vision was actually impaired but just enough that the edges of his vision looked distorted and weird. There was a soft light coming from somewhere in the cave, and he moved around with a great deal of effort and groaning to find its source.

Perhaps predictably, the light was coming from his friend sat a little further back in the cave.

It was coming from Elias.

"Oh. So I am in heaven then. That's cool."

Elias scoffed where he sat next to Wander's still prone form.

"No, you're not. We're in the Cairngorms."

"Yeah. Heaven. Because this isn't real, obviously."

"And how do you know that?"

"Because," he started groggily, "the real Elias is a long way away from me and probably still very mad."

The angel sighed in what seemed like a mixture of annoyance and sadness.

"I am still mad at you, but not enough to just let you die. I could have done something a little earlier, but I... I was still mad at you. Even still, I admittedly might have kept tabs on you just in case you got into trouble. It didn't take long for that to happen, did it?"

"Felt like it took forever." He grumbled. "So I'm not in heaven? Then how are we back in the cave I lived in as a child?"

Elias shuffled and moved to sit a little closer to him, though the angel still kept some distance between the two of them.

"I... I felt you had a connection to this place. I didn't know it was where you'd lived as a child, but I knew it was important to you. It felt like you. I carried you like you carried me, and stayed in the dark areas like you did. You were very light."

Wander lay his head back down on the ground, unable to really process this conversation. His stomach rumbled a great deal, but he still felt too tired to do anything about it at the moment.

"Here, have some of this. I know you prefer meat, but I can't really hunt anything like you said you can."

Wander sniffed weakly at the spoonful of the offered food. It wasn't good per-se, being quite bland and a little earthy, but he was too hungry and tired to care. He ate as the two of them spoke, managing probably about twenty mouthfuls before he couldn't physically eat any more. It seems hardly eating for the last... however long it had been since leaving the facility had really done a number on his appetite.

"You ran your body ragged and past the point of exhaustion to get here, Wander. Why?"

"Why? Why what?"

"Why not go somewhere else, somewhere closer to where you were? Why not wait until you were safely able to make the journey?"

He shifted again, ignoring the protest of his body, and creakily sat up to talk to his friend.

"This is home, Elias. I had to get here."

The angel looked around, obviously confused and a little sad.

"What's that like?"

"What do you mean?"

"'Home'. What's that like? I've never really had a home before, not one I remember anyway. What's it like?"

"Home is warm.", he started, still groggy but meaning every one of the words he could barely get out, "Home is nice. Cosy. Comfortable. You wanna stay there forever. Not trapped there, just nice. Home is here."

"That sounds nice." Elias responded in a small voice with a sad smile. Wander looked up at him and took one of his hands, being slow and gentle so as to let his friend move away if he wanted.

"Would you like a home? Here, with me? Would you like to see what it's like?"

Elias was silent for a moment, then suddenly closed the distance between the two of them and hugged him.

"Yeah. I would. I've missed you these last few weeks. It wasn't as nice without you. It was scary."

"Well," he said with as big a smile as he could muster in his tired state, "that's good, because you aren't allowed to try and get rid of me anymore."

"Really? Not even for a little bit?"

He leaned into Elias' side, the warmth coming from the other already lulling him back to sleep. He slowly closed all eight of his eyes as he fell back into slumber, his exhaustion not yet finished with him.

"No. Banned."

Elias giggled a little as he responded.

"Alright, if you say so. Now go back to sleep. There'll be more food for you when you wake up."

Now that sounded wonderful. Things really seemed like they were on the upswing at the moment.

Maybe he'd get a 'happily ever after' after all. That would be nice.