It was instinct.

He couldn't help it when his wings re-spread and he found himself chasing after Mattie through the sky. She was always considerably faster than him when it came to flying, running, or anything in general, but his sheer rage fueled his speed as he pumped his wings faster, faster, and eventually enough to catch up with her. They were, luckily, in the desolate part of town when he collided with her, wrapping his arms and his wings around her. He was growling and panting, and he didn't even register Mattie's screams or his own as they plummeted to the ground. Something clicked inside of his head, and he immediately positioned himself so that when they made impact with the ground, Mattie would land on him and he would take the damage.

They miraculously landed in front of the motel that Nicholas and Jacob had been staying at. And guess who happened to be coming out?

Obviously, Jacob was dumbfounded. His brother and his brother's ex(girlfriend) thing had just landed in front of him in what appeared to be the aftermath of a fight. Everything was eerily still for the first few minutes, and then Jacob dropped his keys and rushed over to the scene.

Nicholas was disoriented. Very disoriented. Something had stabbed him and it was hurting. He still had an iron grip around Mattie, but felt himself being pried away from her. He heard his name being called. Over. And over. And over.

A slap to the face brought him out of his confusion. "What?!" he snarled, throwing his arm in a useless punch that didn't hit anything.

"What are you doing?! What have you done?!" Jacob shook him like a rag doll, voice raised.

Nicholas tried to push Jacob away, but found his strength to be failing him. He looked for Mattie -- was she hurt? Did he hurt her? Oh God, did he hurt her? What stabbed him?

"Did I hurt her? Did I hurt her?" he kept asking.

"She's fine," Jacob growled, practically throwing Nicholas on the ground only to pick him back up by his shirt. "What did you tell her? What did you do?"

Nicholas shook his head, then went limp in Jacob's hold, blood pooling around him.

"Mattie," Jacob said, turning his attention toward the woman. He was prepared to defend himself. He seemed to be completely ignoring the emergency state that Nicholas was in. "Are you hurt?"