It's only cause my mind's been spinning, all of this is just beginning.

[whateverthemess]

Murphy stands out in front of the barracks' open gates, turning Fidelacchius over in her hands as she looks out at the woods. She's just finished putting out a call to potential first responders - and yelling at certain parties for being massive fricking idiots. Now all that's left is to wait until people show up. If they show up

Comments

[painhumbles]

Her first responders are, unfortunately, not the first to arrive at the gate. Gabriel has no real reason to be here, except for the fact that if Murphy gets it in her head to rise against Tempest, they are all very fucking dead, and he... Would prefer that didn't happen. So he's here for moral support and... Making sure people don't die.

And trolling. Let's not forget trolling.

At the moment, he's currently standing on the top of the wall with his hands in his pocket. Tall things are dramatic. Also, he can make sure that he and Murphy are alone at the present moment.

"What? No one-woman-warrior Rambo action? I'm disappointed, Murphy." Okay, not really, but still.

[whateverthemess]

"I'm not in the mood to play Rambo." She glares up at him, briefly, before turning her attention back to the woods. She's busy thinking logistics and worrying about the people who stayed behind.

...Also wanting to kick the ass of certain people who stayed behind.

[painhumbles]

Gabriel vanishes and then reappears on the ground, not so far up in Murphy's space that it would be uncomfortable, but close enough. He doesn't have that much decency.

"No, you're just putting together a game of Cowboys and Fairies. What's the response team look like? A handful of FBI bureaucrats, a few hunters, a wizard, and a partridge and a pear tree?"

He mocks out of... Compassion. And an irrational fear that Murphy's little response team might piss off the wrong person- Tempest- and make everyone die.

...It's a valid concern.

[whateverthemess]

She scowls up at him. "I'm trying to get the cowboys in one spot and backing one person so no one gets his or herself killed starting a war. Are you the bird or the fruit?"

[painhumbles]

"I'm one of the three calling birds." He pauses and then adds, "The one who calls bullshit. You can gather the posse, Murph, but they're not gonna rally if one of 'em gets hotheaded and gung-ho enough. You know it and I know it."

He shrugs his shoulders. "You wanna humor me for a second before you start throwing things at my head and telling me to stop bringing clouds to rain on your parade?"

There's a reason for this and it's not just Tempest- sure it's a big part of it, but he's wary of hunters in large groups- and that's all they are to him, much like monsters get grouped into little pigeonholes, even when they're not. And this place gives him plenty of cause to be worried.

[whateverthemess]

"I can try, and it's better than sitting around doing nothing and waiting to get our asses kicked by the next unexpected thing to come charging out of the woods."

She eyes him, frowning. "Why are you so against this?"

[painhumbles]

Gabriel claps a hand on her shoulder and snaps before she can protest, putting them somewhere at the edge of a clearing. He's facing her, blocking most of the clearing from her view, and intentionally at that.

When he speaks, his tone is somewhere between annoyed and desperate, some little bit of weakness shining through. "Ever been hunted? I don't mean, big scary monster trying to make you its dinner kind of hunting, 'cause let's face it- who involved with those creeps hasn't? I mean the kind where people show up on your doorstep with wooden stakes, the kind that start things like Salem, and the Spanish Inquisition. Hell, the things that Daddy ordered when something on His green earth made things just a little less green. Sure. It starts out as a small-scale national guard and that's fine- I support that. Then a couple of guys start thinking, 'Hey, let's prevent threats from ever occurring. Let's start going out into the Woods and killing everything that even looks like it might hurt us. And that? That's when it gets bad, because

[whateverthemess]

Murphy steps back, looking from the noose to the angel and then settling again on the fraying rope and the withered tree and the dread in the pit of her stomach. There are about a half-dozen arguments she could make, all of them valid. But right now she has a very different question.

"Where are we? Where's the barracks from here?"

[painhumbles]

"Two miles," Gabriel says, without even thinking about it. He leans over her shoulder slightly. "Kinda makes you wonder what really did happen to the people who lived there before we did, don't it?"

He backs up slightly. "I'm not saying don't do it. Believe me, I know you won't go all Terminator. Just... be careful." He has to practically spit the words out, like this much concern and genuine worry is beyond him. Part of him is scared that Murphy might get caught in the crossfire if people get paranoid about him or even Harry- and part of him is still worried about some moron leading her on a rally against Tempest and blowing his deal.

[whateverthemess]

"It does." She doesn't take her eyes off the tree, much as she wants to. She notes the concern - that'll get a comment of its own, later. Right now, though. Right now - "I met your brother, earlier. He said he couldn't jump long distances. He said something about the woods messed with his ability to get where he wanted to go."

[painhumbles]

"It's two miles," Gabriel says, with the duh implied, without betraying even a hint of anxiety that Murphy might have figured out the truth. He has witnesses who can attest that his sense of direction, shitty as it may be has done okay before Tempest gave him a boost. "And Castiel couldn't find his way out of a wet paper bag with the bottom cut out and a detailed exit strategy. I still don't think he's figured out how eyelids work."

[whateverthemess]

Murphy grunts, half-convinced. She'll have to ask Castiel more about the whole transporting thing later. She finally looks away from the tree and at Gabriel again.

"'Where no counsel is, the people fall; but in the multitude of counselors there is safety.' I hope that sounds familiar. It should."

[painhumbles]

Gabriel rolls his eyes. "There's something really twisted about you reciting Proverbs at an angel," he says, moving closer to the tree. "It's not too much to ask to just pretend I know what I'm talking about, is it?" He turns on his heels, so that he's walking backwards and facing her.

[whateverthemess]

"There's something really weird about being flirted with by an angel. Doesn't stop you." She steps forward instinctively and grabs his sleeve to keep him from walking in to the tree. "Don't. Touch it."

Murphy doesn't let go, just looking up at the noose instead. "I know what you're talking about, okay? I've dealt with enough crime lords to know the kind of thinking that decides preventative killing is the least risky way to go. If I have all the fighters in one place, I can at least assess their state of mind and try to keep that kind of thing from happening. I protect people, Gabriel. It's what I do. I can't just say 'Well, something bad could happen if we do this, better not risk it' when people who get dropped here keep disappearing, getting taken by fairies, running away, I don't know what else."

She takes a deep breath and smiles crookedly. "Can you understand that?"

[painhumbles]

"Yes, Mom," he rolls his eyes, stopping and just holding his position, neither tugging his sleeve out of her hand or moving back. This is starting to get really familiar.

He stares at her for a few moments and then drops his gaze with a huffy sigh. "Like I said, I'm not saying don't do it. I'm saying be careful. They're not the only ones who need protecting here." He extricates his arm from her. "And before you start screaming about female liberation and singing Donna Summer at me, I don't mean from what's out there- you got that pretty under control." He circles back towards the way they came. "I mean from yourself."

[whateverthemess]

She turns sharply, bristling a bit despite herself. Her first assumption is that he's saying she'll fold to Kitsune. Which won't happen. Ever.

"I'm fine, and I don't need protecting. Least of all from me." She holds out a hand. "Are we leaving now?"