Gabriel, Interrupted 12/?
A/N: Thank you so much for the continued feedback and reviews! We are getting closer to the end...
Chapters 01 │ 02 │ 03 │ 04 │ 05 │ 06 │ 07 │ 08│ 09 │ 10│ 11
They got back to the group home without incident, though Tillie’s head was pounding to the point she just wanted to curl up in a ball and…well, she didn’t really want to finish that thought. Theo was waiting on the porch when they got back and happily greeted them upon their return. Everyone was in a good mood and seemed to have been happier for having gone out, so Tillie considered it worth the effort.
Even Gabriel was jovial and greeted Theo pleasantly. “Hey big fellow! Did you enjoy yourself while we were gone? Find any bitches of your own to hang out with?” When Theo barked at him, Tillie burst out laughing, despite her headache. Maybe it was the memory of the Gabriel trying to flirt with angles from this dimension at the bowling alley or maybe it was just the stress of the day finally getting to her, but Tillie couldn’t stop laughing. Gabriel just stared at her as if she had sprouted a second head. “It wasn’t that funny,” he pouted with fake indignation.
“You really have no idea,” she gasped between laughs, and Gabriel cracked a smile again. But no sooner had the words parted her lips than blood soon followed out her nose. And it wasn’t just a regular nosebleed, it was a gusher. She had copious amounts of blood coming out of her nose and then soon her mouth. She quickly sat down and leaned forward. As she did so, she instinctively grabbed onto the locket around her neck, the one her parents had given to her on her sixteenth birthday. It had always been a source of comfort for her when she was upset, even more so once they had died.
“Shit, Tillie! What the hell?” Gabriel exclaimed, as he ran up to her, trying to help.
She waved him off saying, “Towels…I need you to get me towels.” As Gabriel ran off to get towels, she looked at Theo. “Isn’t there anything you can do?” she asked. He just looked at her and cocked his head. “Of course not. You wouldn’t want to blow your precious cover.”
Gabriel returned at that moment with some dish towels and he held one to her nose until it became completely soaked. He exchanged the soaked towel for a fresh one. “This isn’t a normal nosebleed,” he observed.
“It goes hand in hand with my headache,” Tillie said, trying to wipe up some of the blood off of her face, clothing and even her locket, now that the flow had finally subsided.
“Headaches and nosebleeds aren’t supposed to go together, Tillie,” Gabriel said, his voice full of concern. “That’s not normal. Have you seen a doctor?”
“No, I just get all of this medication I carry around with me from a dealer off the street,” she glared at him and he took a step back from her. “Of course I’ve seen a doctor, and yes, I know nosebleeds aren’t normal with headaches. I don't get the nosebleeds as often as the headaches. But having a small blood vessel burst at the back of your nasal passage is better than having one actually burst in my brain, don’t you think?”
Gabriel looked at her as if she had hit a raw nerve. “Tillie, if you think you’re going to be alright, then you really need to go home. You can’t stay at work all the time and expect to get better,” he said coolly.
When she realized she offended him, she apologized. “Sorry, I don’t do vulnerable all that well. For once, I’m not going to argue with you,” Tillie said. She just picked up her things and headed to her car, without saying any further goodbyes. Not surprisingly, Theo followed her, and Tillie allowed him into her car without explanation to anyone.
*gi*gi*gi*gi*gi*gi*gi*gi*
Aaron Steeple held his head in his hands. What had he done? Ruined his life. That is what he had done. For the most part, considering where he grew up, he should have counted himself lucky. Or blessed. His grandmother would have said blessed. He had managed to stay out of gangs and trouble thanks to her. He had even managed to get good grades and a college scholarship.
That didn’t mean he didn’t know people who could procure a thing or two. That is how he managed to get his hands on some fake identification. And a few other things when he was younger. Not that his grandmother ever heard about that. He was almost finished with grad school and would have had a great recommendation from a wonderful employer if he hadn’t blown it all to hell by those stupid choices he made.
The voices in his head kept reminding him how stupid he was, how foolish he was, how worthless he was. He had drank down all the alcohol he had left in is apartment. And now the voices were telling him he had no real reason to go on. His grandmother had died last year and he would never get a job now. If he was lucky that was the worst that would happen to him. But more than likely, he would end up dead or in jail like all of the other kids from his neighborhood. It just took him longer. The voices in his head suggested that dead might be better as he swallowed the pills from the medicine cabinet. But he immediately regretted it. “Dear God, please help me,” he prayed before he sank into oblivion.
*gi*gi*gi*gi*gi*gi*gi*gi*
After the rather odd experience of bowling among humans, Castiel was given his newest assignment. As he waited outside of the apartment to be officially invited in, he watched what was happening. It saddened him that Father’s creations were so susceptible to manipulation by demons. That this petty creature could twist the thoughts and words of this young man so that he would do her biding, only then to turn on him so that he could be disposed of made him burn with righteous anger.
This is the world that Lucifer wished to create. Full of lies, insecurities, backstabbing. There was no purpose in it other than to destroy what his Father had created, to destroy what his Father loved.
The boy was miserable because he had made poor choices, but those choices had been made under demonic influence. And that demon was now trying to destroy the boy she had used. But little did she know, the boy had cried out to his Father for help. And as soon as he did, Castiel stepped in to provide it.
Ruby was no match for Castiel. She wasn’t expecting him and his size alone overwhelmed her. He didn’t even have to draw his sword. A few words from an old Enochian ritual and she was gone. Dead. Banished to Hell.
The harder work would be the boy. Calling emergency services was easy. But if he truly wanted to live, if he truly wanted redemption, then Aaron Steeple had a very long road ahead of him. And he would have to forge new relationships to accomplish it. Because he would have to do it without Tillie, without his grandmother and without a job. He might not know it, but he would have Castiel to guide him. He wouldn’t get that wonderful job after grad school and he might very well end up in jail. Redemption is never easy work. But it is always worth it.
*gi*gi*gi*gi*gi*gi*gi*gi*
Gabriel had been around for a long time. And he had been known for plenty of things. Being the Messenger of God, the Angel of Death, Loki the Trickster, having a great sense of humor, being the life of the party, and one heck of a lover, even if he did say so himself. But he had never been known for being stupid.
Tillie had been right that he had his powers of observations. And he had picked up on many things since he had been here. He had kept them all to himself, biding his time, trying to put all of the pieces together. Today had been full of revelations. But as he picked up the blood soaked towels, he realized he was running out of time. And he might not be the only one. Seeing the blood, well that gave him another idea entirely.
The last time he tried to contact anyone he knew, or thought he knew, he didn’t even understand that he was in a different dimension. This time, he had that going for him, so he was going to have to be a little more straight forward in his approach.
He set up the candles in his room, performed the ritual that he had learned eons ago and hoped to the gods that someone was listening. When he opened his eyes, he wasn’t disappointed, at least in the fact that she had actually shown. Her fashion sense in this dimension left a lot to be desired, but that isn’t why he summoned her here. So maybe things were starting to go his way after all.
“Why did you call me here?” the new being in the room demanded.
“Good to see you, too hot stuff,” Gabriel answered with a smile.
*gi*gi*gi*gi*gi*gi*gi*gi*
Castiel arrived back outside the group home to inform Michael that the demon Ruby had been killed and the Steeple boy was in the hospital receiving medical attention. For now, he was also under the watchful eye of his sister Annael as Castiel updated his older brother and helped him prepare for the battle to come.
As they were talking, Castiel noticed a disturbance in the area. “What is that, brother?” he inquired.
“It seems that one of our charges has fallen back into his pagan habits. He is calling on someone he knows from those days. I assume he thinks they will be of use in getting him home,” Michael answered. “He doesn’t realize how close he is to getting there without help from outsiders. Besides the fact that she won't recognize in this world, she doesn’t have the power to get him home. Only our Father does.”
“Are you sure that is all he is doing Michael?” Castiel wondered. “He seems the type that you could easily underestimate.”
“There is very little the pagans could bring to the table in this matter, Castiel,” Michael scoffed. “Whatever Gabriel is discussing with her, I am sure it will have little consequence on our overall plans.”
*gi*gi*gi*gi*gi*gi*gi*gi*
Tillie was silent the whole way to her house, despite the fact the Gabriel had changed from his dog form into something more familiar, something more…human.
“You’ve been unusually quiet,” Gabriel observed as they entered her home. “Especially considering the questions you had earlier today.”
“I’ve been unusually jerked around today,” Tillie retorted. “With all of your angelic powers, I don’t think I have to tell you what my questions are, so you can either answer them for me, or better yet, why don’t you just make my headache go away so I can sleep?”
Gabriel said nothing. Instead he just passed his hand over her face and as Tillie collapsed into unconsciousness, he picked her up and moved her to her bed.
*gi*gi*gi*gi*gi*gi*gi*gi*
“How is it that an insignificant human such as yourself knows one of my most secret summoning rituals,” the goddess hissed.
“Aw, sweetheart, in another time and another place, I wasn’t so insignificant to you,” Gabriel said waggling his eyebrows. “I also wasn’t so…human.”
“You dare claim to know me?” she asked, anger in her voice rising.
“Now Kali, no reason to get upset,” he said. “I’ve never met you here in this dimension. But where I’m from, you and I know each other in every possible way. And I’m hoping that counts for something.”
She eyed him suspiciously for a moment. Despite being an annoying little pest, he had to learn the ritual from somewhere. She only shared it with those she trusted it the most. “It buys you enough time to explain to me why I risked the wrath the archangel protecting this place to answer your call.”
Gabriel raised an eyebrow at that. He had suspected that there might be some supernatural involvement, but Kali had just confirmed for him that there was definitely something happen behind the scenes here and his “distance relatives” from this world were involved. So he told Kali exactly why he called her. He asked her flat out to help him and what he thought she could to for him. And then he showed her the towel he had held onto from earlier in the evening.
“What you are asking,” Kali said. “I have never done anything like that before.”
“Sure you have, or at least in my world,” Gabriel said with all the charm he could muster. “I am not actually asking you to do the heavy lifting. I’m looking for you to arrange more of what the kids on the playground would call a piggyback ride. And to do that, all you need to do is one of your traditional spells. I’ve seen you do that plenty of times.”
“These are not the materials I am used to working with,” she chided. “I usually get my own.”
“Well, it’s all we’ve got,” he admitted. “And the Kali I know never did back down from a challenge.”
“I’m not afraid of a challenge,” she replied. “But it will just increase the risk to you. And besides, if I do this for you, what do I get out of it?”
“Only my undying love, adoration and worship,” Gabriel said as he tried to win her over. “At least as long as I am in this dimension. Then once I’m gone, I’ll be out of your hair for good.”
“That is the best part of your offer so far,” she responded.
*gi*gi*gi*gi*gi*gi*gi*gi*
Meg Masters had a long day at the FBI office in St. Louis. It was hard enough investigating crimes. But when you added on the fact that she had to plant evidence and coerce confessions in order to place these weak humans into positions of bargaining for their souls, it became wearisome at times. Especially given the fact that she had to do much of this on her own, away from her beloved Father.
But tomorrow all of that would change. He had come here for a special mission of his own. One that now involved her. A seemingly boring case that involved identity theft and fraudulent use of government funding had caught the attention of her Father. And he had decided to go along with her tomorrow on her “investigation”. She could hardly wait. She hoped her work would be pleasing to him.
Chapter 13
Chapters 01 │ 02 │ 03 │ 04 │ 05 │ 06 │ 07 │ 08│ 09 │ 10│ 11
They got back to the group home without incident, though Tillie’s head was pounding to the point she just wanted to curl up in a ball and…well, she didn’t really want to finish that thought. Theo was waiting on the porch when they got back and happily greeted them upon their return. Everyone was in a good mood and seemed to have been happier for having gone out, so Tillie considered it worth the effort.
Even Gabriel was jovial and greeted Theo pleasantly. “Hey big fellow! Did you enjoy yourself while we were gone? Find any bitches of your own to hang out with?” When Theo barked at him, Tillie burst out laughing, despite her headache. Maybe it was the memory of the Gabriel trying to flirt with angles from this dimension at the bowling alley or maybe it was just the stress of the day finally getting to her, but Tillie couldn’t stop laughing. Gabriel just stared at her as if she had sprouted a second head. “It wasn’t that funny,” he pouted with fake indignation.
“You really have no idea,” she gasped between laughs, and Gabriel cracked a smile again. But no sooner had the words parted her lips than blood soon followed out her nose. And it wasn’t just a regular nosebleed, it was a gusher. She had copious amounts of blood coming out of her nose and then soon her mouth. She quickly sat down and leaned forward. As she did so, she instinctively grabbed onto the locket around her neck, the one her parents had given to her on her sixteenth birthday. It had always been a source of comfort for her when she was upset, even more so once they had died.
“Shit, Tillie! What the hell?” Gabriel exclaimed, as he ran up to her, trying to help.
She waved him off saying, “Towels…I need you to get me towels.” As Gabriel ran off to get towels, she looked at Theo. “Isn’t there anything you can do?” she asked. He just looked at her and cocked his head. “Of course not. You wouldn’t want to blow your precious cover.”
Gabriel returned at that moment with some dish towels and he held one to her nose until it became completely soaked. He exchanged the soaked towel for a fresh one. “This isn’t a normal nosebleed,” he observed.
“It goes hand in hand with my headache,” Tillie said, trying to wipe up some of the blood off of her face, clothing and even her locket, now that the flow had finally subsided.
“Headaches and nosebleeds aren’t supposed to go together, Tillie,” Gabriel said, his voice full of concern. “That’s not normal. Have you seen a doctor?”
“No, I just get all of this medication I carry around with me from a dealer off the street,” she glared at him and he took a step back from her. “Of course I’ve seen a doctor, and yes, I know nosebleeds aren’t normal with headaches. I don't get the nosebleeds as often as the headaches. But having a small blood vessel burst at the back of your nasal passage is better than having one actually burst in my brain, don’t you think?”
Gabriel looked at her as if she had hit a raw nerve. “Tillie, if you think you’re going to be alright, then you really need to go home. You can’t stay at work all the time and expect to get better,” he said coolly.
When she realized she offended him, she apologized. “Sorry, I don’t do vulnerable all that well. For once, I’m not going to argue with you,” Tillie said. She just picked up her things and headed to her car, without saying any further goodbyes. Not surprisingly, Theo followed her, and Tillie allowed him into her car without explanation to anyone.
*gi*gi*gi*gi*gi*gi*gi*gi*
Aaron Steeple held his head in his hands. What had he done? Ruined his life. That is what he had done. For the most part, considering where he grew up, he should have counted himself lucky. Or blessed. His grandmother would have said blessed. He had managed to stay out of gangs and trouble thanks to her. He had even managed to get good grades and a college scholarship.
That didn’t mean he didn’t know people who could procure a thing or two. That is how he managed to get his hands on some fake identification. And a few other things when he was younger. Not that his grandmother ever heard about that. He was almost finished with grad school and would have had a great recommendation from a wonderful employer if he hadn’t blown it all to hell by those stupid choices he made.
The voices in his head kept reminding him how stupid he was, how foolish he was, how worthless he was. He had drank down all the alcohol he had left in is apartment. And now the voices were telling him he had no real reason to go on. His grandmother had died last year and he would never get a job now. If he was lucky that was the worst that would happen to him. But more than likely, he would end up dead or in jail like all of the other kids from his neighborhood. It just took him longer. The voices in his head suggested that dead might be better as he swallowed the pills from the medicine cabinet. But he immediately regretted it. “Dear God, please help me,” he prayed before he sank into oblivion.
*gi*gi*gi*gi*gi*gi*gi*gi*
After the rather odd experience of bowling among humans, Castiel was given his newest assignment. As he waited outside of the apartment to be officially invited in, he watched what was happening. It saddened him that Father’s creations were so susceptible to manipulation by demons. That this petty creature could twist the thoughts and words of this young man so that he would do her biding, only then to turn on him so that he could be disposed of made him burn with righteous anger.
This is the world that Lucifer wished to create. Full of lies, insecurities, backstabbing. There was no purpose in it other than to destroy what his Father had created, to destroy what his Father loved.
The boy was miserable because he had made poor choices, but those choices had been made under demonic influence. And that demon was now trying to destroy the boy she had used. But little did she know, the boy had cried out to his Father for help. And as soon as he did, Castiel stepped in to provide it.
Ruby was no match for Castiel. She wasn’t expecting him and his size alone overwhelmed her. He didn’t even have to draw his sword. A few words from an old Enochian ritual and she was gone. Dead. Banished to Hell.
The harder work would be the boy. Calling emergency services was easy. But if he truly wanted to live, if he truly wanted redemption, then Aaron Steeple had a very long road ahead of him. And he would have to forge new relationships to accomplish it. Because he would have to do it without Tillie, without his grandmother and without a job. He might not know it, but he would have Castiel to guide him. He wouldn’t get that wonderful job after grad school and he might very well end up in jail. Redemption is never easy work. But it is always worth it.
*gi*gi*gi*gi*gi*gi*gi*gi*
Gabriel had been around for a long time. And he had been known for plenty of things. Being the Messenger of God, the Angel of Death, Loki the Trickster, having a great sense of humor, being the life of the party, and one heck of a lover, even if he did say so himself. But he had never been known for being stupid.
Tillie had been right that he had his powers of observations. And he had picked up on many things since he had been here. He had kept them all to himself, biding his time, trying to put all of the pieces together. Today had been full of revelations. But as he picked up the blood soaked towels, he realized he was running out of time. And he might not be the only one. Seeing the blood, well that gave him another idea entirely.
The last time he tried to contact anyone he knew, or thought he knew, he didn’t even understand that he was in a different dimension. This time, he had that going for him, so he was going to have to be a little more straight forward in his approach.
He set up the candles in his room, performed the ritual that he had learned eons ago and hoped to the gods that someone was listening. When he opened his eyes, he wasn’t disappointed, at least in the fact that she had actually shown. Her fashion sense in this dimension left a lot to be desired, but that isn’t why he summoned her here. So maybe things were starting to go his way after all.
“Why did you call me here?” the new being in the room demanded.
“Good to see you, too hot stuff,” Gabriel answered with a smile.
*gi*gi*gi*gi*gi*gi*gi*gi*
Castiel arrived back outside the group home to inform Michael that the demon Ruby had been killed and the Steeple boy was in the hospital receiving medical attention. For now, he was also under the watchful eye of his sister Annael as Castiel updated his older brother and helped him prepare for the battle to come.
As they were talking, Castiel noticed a disturbance in the area. “What is that, brother?” he inquired.
“It seems that one of our charges has fallen back into his pagan habits. He is calling on someone he knows from those days. I assume he thinks they will be of use in getting him home,” Michael answered. “He doesn’t realize how close he is to getting there without help from outsiders. Besides the fact that she won't recognize in this world, she doesn’t have the power to get him home. Only our Father does.”
“Are you sure that is all he is doing Michael?” Castiel wondered. “He seems the type that you could easily underestimate.”
“There is very little the pagans could bring to the table in this matter, Castiel,” Michael scoffed. “Whatever Gabriel is discussing with her, I am sure it will have little consequence on our overall plans.”
*gi*gi*gi*gi*gi*gi*gi*gi*
Tillie was silent the whole way to her house, despite the fact the Gabriel had changed from his dog form into something more familiar, something more…human.
“You’ve been unusually quiet,” Gabriel observed as they entered her home. “Especially considering the questions you had earlier today.”
“I’ve been unusually jerked around today,” Tillie retorted. “With all of your angelic powers, I don’t think I have to tell you what my questions are, so you can either answer them for me, or better yet, why don’t you just make my headache go away so I can sleep?”
Gabriel said nothing. Instead he just passed his hand over her face and as Tillie collapsed into unconsciousness, he picked her up and moved her to her bed.
*gi*gi*gi*gi*gi*gi*gi*gi*
“How is it that an insignificant human such as yourself knows one of my most secret summoning rituals,” the goddess hissed.
“Aw, sweetheart, in another time and another place, I wasn’t so insignificant to you,” Gabriel said waggling his eyebrows. “I also wasn’t so…human.”
“You dare claim to know me?” she asked, anger in her voice rising.
“Now Kali, no reason to get upset,” he said. “I’ve never met you here in this dimension. But where I’m from, you and I know each other in every possible way. And I’m hoping that counts for something.”
She eyed him suspiciously for a moment. Despite being an annoying little pest, he had to learn the ritual from somewhere. She only shared it with those she trusted it the most. “It buys you enough time to explain to me why I risked the wrath the archangel protecting this place to answer your call.”
Gabriel raised an eyebrow at that. He had suspected that there might be some supernatural involvement, but Kali had just confirmed for him that there was definitely something happen behind the scenes here and his “distance relatives” from this world were involved. So he told Kali exactly why he called her. He asked her flat out to help him and what he thought she could to for him. And then he showed her the towel he had held onto from earlier in the evening.
“What you are asking,” Kali said. “I have never done anything like that before.”
“Sure you have, or at least in my world,” Gabriel said with all the charm he could muster. “I am not actually asking you to do the heavy lifting. I’m looking for you to arrange more of what the kids on the playground would call a piggyback ride. And to do that, all you need to do is one of your traditional spells. I’ve seen you do that plenty of times.”
“These are not the materials I am used to working with,” she chided. “I usually get my own.”
“Well, it’s all we’ve got,” he admitted. “And the Kali I know never did back down from a challenge.”
“I’m not afraid of a challenge,” she replied. “But it will just increase the risk to you. And besides, if I do this for you, what do I get out of it?”
“Only my undying love, adoration and worship,” Gabriel said as he tried to win her over. “At least as long as I am in this dimension. Then once I’m gone, I’ll be out of your hair for good.”
“That is the best part of your offer so far,” she responded.
*gi*gi*gi*gi*gi*gi*gi*gi*
Meg Masters had a long day at the FBI office in St. Louis. It was hard enough investigating crimes. But when you added on the fact that she had to plant evidence and coerce confessions in order to place these weak humans into positions of bargaining for their souls, it became wearisome at times. Especially given the fact that she had to do much of this on her own, away from her beloved Father.
But tomorrow all of that would change. He had come here for a special mission of his own. One that now involved her. A seemingly boring case that involved identity theft and fraudulent use of government funding had caught the attention of her Father. And he had decided to go along with her tomorrow on her “investigation”. She could hardly wait. She hoped her work would be pleasing to him.
Chapter 13