Ark Angel:Henry's Saving Grace

Covenant Decree

As Henry notices the steam coming out of the shower, he says, "We can return to that later; you need a shower to wake up." Amy looks at Henry and says, "Well, I'm not just going to strip in front of you; I barely know you." Henry replies, "Okay, I'll walk out for a minute, and while you're in there, we can talk about boundaries; how does that sound?" Amy was surprised that Henry remembered she was trying to make some ground rules for the new relationship; she thought it was nice; usually, the guys ignored her and pretended they didn't hear her. Others she's known refuse to acknowledge that relationships actually need rules. As Henry leaves the room to give her privacy, Amy takes her clothes off, puts them in her laundry basket, and gets in the shower. Henry seemed to set the water just right for her; it was rare that a guy knew how she preferred her showers to be borderline scalding. But how would he know that? "Can I come back in so we can talk now?" Amy shouts, "Yup, I'm just washing my hair, come and sit on the toilet or floor if you like." Henry says, "Okay, ground rules, how about this? I will try not to be too protective; sometimes, you say amusing things, and I can't help but laugh. I will only kiss you if I know you are in a safe headspace to do so. I know you have a lot of trouble on your mind; kissing me could become too much to handle. I respect you, Amy, and I love you. It's my job as your guardian to take care of you and ensure you are okay...Amy?" Henry peeks into the shower to see Amy curled up into a ball, sitting on the shower floor, crying. "Why are you crying?" Amy looks up with her wet hair and arms wrapped around her knees and says, "You said you're going to take care of me; no one has ever done that. I don't know if I should feel sad or relieved." Henry looked at Amy with a sympathetic look. "Are you done washing, Amy?"....."Yeah," as she wiped away the tears. Henry shuts off the shower, gets a large bath towel, opens the curtain and stands in front of her tub as a mother would with a child, holding the tower open before him. He closes his eyes as she goes to get up, and she walks into the towel. He wraps her up, picks her up and over the tub, and rubs her from her shoulders to her sides to dry her off. He remembered his mother doing this for him and knew this would help Amy. She needed someone to take care of her. Yes, she's an adult, but knowing someone would take responsibility for the little things meant she was okay. Henry towel-dried her hair as she stood in her towel; as he rubbed her head, Amy giggled. "What's so funny, Amy?" she replied and said, "Are you going to dress me too? and brush my hair?" Henry stops momentarily, lifts the towel's corner to peek at her eyes, and says, "Only if you would like me to?" Amy has the biggest grin on her face. Henry chuckles and says, "I'll take that as a yes." Henry puts the hair towel down and tells Amy, "I'm going to get you some comfy clothes while you wait. Bush your teeth, please; I know you have been so preoccupied with running from your family and dealing with so much more stress you've forgotten you need to take care of yourself; you need to do that to survive. My first order to you as a guardian angel is to take care of yourself. I will help you learn how to do that, okay?" Amy looks at Henry with amazement; this man is my guardian angel. As Henry leaves the room, Amy grabs her toothbrush, puts a large glob of toothpaste on her brush, and turns on the water in the sink. Henry says, "Okay, sweats and a t-shirt, sound good?" With her toothbrush still in her mouth, Amy brushes away and nods her head. "Amy, once your teeth are brushed, I'm going to brush your hair; then you can get dressed, okay?" "Sure!" Amy is starting to like Henry helping her, and he is easy on the eyes, making it less of a chore. Amy understands he is only trying to help her and has noticed she isn't taking care of herself as she should. Life has gotten so hard; constantly on the run from her family takes so much out of her. Henry notices while he is brushing her hair. Amy is in deep thought. He takes it upon himself to say, "You can talk to me; you don't have to feel so alone in there; I am here for you." Amy snaps out of her trance-like state and looks up at Henry in the mirror, and says, "You're right; I haven't taken care of myself; I'm sorry" Henry puts down the brush and says, "Listen, you don't need to apologize to me, I am here for you, no one else. It is my job to take care of you, and whoever lets you get to this point needs to go back to basic training." The thought of guardian angels needing military-grade training to watch over and protect people seems ridiculous to Amy. "It's true; we undergo rigorous training and testing to ensure we can do our job without directly interfering with our assignments. Unfortunately, I had no choice in the matter. I didn't have the tools for my looking-glass. That red truck was coming for you, and I couldn't bare to see you hurt on my first assignment. I didn't go through all that training to watch my first assignment die in the first ten minutes. I broke the rules; I came down to save you; I don't regret it." Henry kisses Amy's cheek as he finishes brushing her hair, "I'm going to let you get dressed; you should be able to handle that." Amy looks at him and contorts her face and starts walking fun to her room, and says "Yes, master," in her best Igor impression she can muster.

Henry goes into Amy's kitchen to start a pot of tea. He hears a light knock on the door. Amy was still getting dressed, she didn't hear it. Henry goes to the door to see who it was. Henry opens the door and is shocked to see a young boy, "Jay, what the hell are you doing here!?" Jay looks at Henry with a big goofy grin and says, "I was sent down to give you this message." Henry rolls his eyes and says "Okay, let's hear it" Jay, with the happiest-looking grin on his cherub-looking face, says, "Henry, we of the Ark recognize a mistake has been made concerning your rooming assignment; your orb was placed in the wrong room. We have reviewed the covenant and are investigating the responsible parties; they will be reprimanded once discovered. As per covenant regulations, you will not be prosecuted for the crime you committed by directly interfering with your assignment. We recognize that your particular assignment is a difficult case. We recognize the severity of the situation; you are where you must be. The address below is a safe house with all necessary accommodations for you and your assignment to relocate until further arrangements can be made. We apologize for the inconvenience this has caused and have sent support for you. At the Ark, we will do everything we can to make your transition back to modern society on Earth, with your assignment as seamless as possible. Regards, Ark Complaincy Board."

Henry looks at the shimmery-looking paper Jay is holding; Jay looks at him with a devilish grin and says, "They also hooked you up with some transportation that is more acceptable for humans; it is best to stay under the radar," Henry nods his head to Jay and moves back so he can now see on the street is a stunning brand-new Harley Davidson with two helmets sitting on the seat. Henry smiled as he saw the bike, "I have a feeling I know someone who is going to love this," Jay said, "she always did have a thing for bad boys, didn't she?" Henry gave Jay a confused look, "what the hell are you talking about?" Jay winked at him and said, "I'd recognize that broken soul anywhere; that's Millie" Henry darts toward Jay, "How did you know!?" Jay said, "Since you got to earth, I've been doing recon for the Ark on you; I've been watching you the whole time. Nice moves, man. Do you plan on doing any more fun stuff?" Henry is furious, looks at Jay, and says, "You're lucky you look like a 13-year-old kid, or I'd be drop-kicking your ass back to the Ark right about now!" Jay replies with an exaggerated surprised look, "Easy, buddy, I'm not going to say anything, just let me know if I should grab some popcorn to enjoy the show, is all" Henry continues to lose his temper and says, "Jay, if you don't get the hell out of here, I'm going to take that bike and shove it so far up your....I'll just send you back to the Ark myself."

Amy is done getting dressed by this time. She sees Henry at the door talking to a young blond boy. "Henry, who is that?!" just as she approaches the door, Henry slams the door shut in Jay's face as she sees the young boy laughing.