Fic: A History of Heaven (Gabriel/Various Angels, PG-13 for this chapter) 50/59
For full notes and other chapters, please see the Masterpost.
Notes: Sammael = Lucifer
Chapter Rating: PG-13
Chapter word count: 1,043
Chapter Summary: There’s still one more miracle to do for Jesus, and Gabriel’s back in a vessel. So is Cariel.
CHAPTER 50:
Goodbye, Jesus
The soft flutter of angel wings filled the small tomb. Gabriel opened his eyes and smiled. “Hello, Cariel.”
“It’s been three days.” Cariel approached Gabriel hesitantly before placing his hand on the Archangel’s back. “When will you come home?”
Gabriel closed his eyes again at the touch, sucking in a breath. Contact, physical contact, felt so new and strange to him again. He was in his first vessel in thirty-three years, feeling pinched and constrained, but he could also smell the decay in the air and feel the cool dark across his skin. The inside of this tomb felt like the grief that tugged at his heart, but Cariel’s warm hand against his back was the promise of Heaven, and being reunited with his human friend.
“Soon,” Gabriel promised Cariel. “I have one more task to do here, for which I needed a vessel, and then I may return to Heaven.”
“May?” Cariel asked, always catching the littlest things.
Gabriel rose to his feet and turned to face his Seraph. Cariel was also envesseled. For once, he was actually shorter than Gabriel. “I’ve had thirty years without Raphael. I can’t deny that Earth has been relaxing.”
“You’ve been bored out of your mind!” Cariel’s hand brushed along Gabriel’s arm, and Gabriel touched his hands to Cariel’s chest, eager for more contact. “Every time I came down to Earth, you complained about having nothing to do.”
“I’d been tied to Jesus. He didn’t exactly go to exciting locations,” Gabriel argued. “I’m not restrained anymore. I can go anywhere I’d like, do anything I want.”
“So you want to stay on Earth?” Somehow, Cariel had managed to push even closer to Gabriel.
“I want to stay in a vessel.” Gabriel eased one hand free from between them, skimming his fingers along the side of Cariel’s face. Cariel closed his eyes, his fingers curling around Gabriel’s bicep. “It’s been so long since I could touch.”
“I shouldn’t stay with you.” Cariel turned his face into Gabriel’s hand, opening his dark eyes slowly and looking up at the Archangel. “The choir needs at least one of us.”
Damn the choir. Let’s run while we’re already on Earth… Gabriel wondered if that tulpa had acquired a name yet, or if he had a friend Cariel could slip into. If they could leave while Raphael and Michael assumed them to be on Earth fulfilling their duties, then they could get a head start over the Archangels and maybe could evade recapture…
But Barachiel was waiting in Heaven, and all of his other Seraphim, Dominions, Angels, and Cherubim. Gabriel could not in good conscience leave them. They still needed him. He still loved them. He wouldn’t run. Gabriel sighed with this revelation, dropping his head to rest his forehead against Cariel’s. “There is one more thing I need to do here, today, I think, and then I can return to Heaven.”
“What is it?”
Gabriel tapped Cariel’s nose and drew away, turning to face Jesus’ body. He looked down at the corpse one last time before snapping his fingers, removing it from existence. The shroud and bandages that had covered the man’s body fluttered down to rest on the rock below. “A miracle.”
When the women came, Gabriel was sitting on the rock that had sealed the tomb, now pushed aside. Cariel sat beside him. Both were dressed in white, veiled from the humans. Gabriel touched his finger to his lips and slipped off the stone, sneaking up behind the women. Cariel followed, completely poker-faced.
The women cried out when they realized Jesus’ body was gone, grabbing the shroud and sifting through the bandages as if his body had simply flattened or shrank. Gabriel caught Cariel’s eye and nodded. Both unveiled, stretching the shadows of their wings along the walls of the tomb.
“Why are you looking for a living man here, in a tomb for the dead?”
Mary, the mother of one of Jesus’ disciples, and Joanna, another woman who had traveled with them for a bit, both screamed at the sudden appearance of the angels. Mary Magdalene, one of Jesus’ favorite women, managed to retain her composure, dropping to her knees and bowing to the pair. The other women quickly followed her lead.
Gabriel touched Mary Magdalene’s shoulder, encouraging her to rise to her feet, and Cariel did the same for Joanna. When all the women were standing again, though they continued to avert their faces, Gabriel spoke again. “Jesus is not here. He has risen. Remember how he told you this would happen, back in Galilee? He would be handed over to sinners, crucified, and on the third day, come back from the dead.”
Mary Magdalene gasped, covering her mouth with both hands. Clearly she remembered.
“Go,” Gabriel said, gesturing toward the entrance to the tomb. “He is not here. Tell the others. The Lord has risen.”
Mary fled the tomb first, with the other women hot on her heels. Cariel turned to Gabriel with a raised eyebrow. “The Lord has risen?” he parroted.
Gabriel rolled his eyes. “Dad’s words, not mine.”
“But he hasn’t risen. You removed his body.”
“I just did what I was told,” Gabriel said with a shrug. “I trust that Dad will either give Jesus a new body or severely disappoint those women.”
“Which do you think will happen?”
Gabriel was silent for a minute, picking up the shroud and rubbing the linen between his fingers. “New body,” he finally answered. “He was slowly transforming over the course of his life into something not quite human. Something much more celestial.”
“An angel?” Cariel asked, watching Gabriel intently. “A God?”
Gabriel heard the capital G and smiled a little before turning to give Cariel another shrug. “I have no idea. I don’t presume to understand Dad’s thinking. Jesus was special, that’s all I know.”
Cariel held out his hands, and Gabriel took them. “What now?” the Seraph asked, squeezing Gabriel’s fingers lightly.
“Now? Now, I suppose we can go home.”
The angels stopped by the home of Cariel’s vessel first, leaving the man behind, before flying north to leave Gabriel’s back with his people. Free of their human forms, they leapt up into the sky, flying together through the planes.
Next...
Notes: Sammael = Lucifer
Chapter Rating: PG-13
Chapter word count: 1,043
Chapter Summary: There’s still one more miracle to do for Jesus, and Gabriel’s back in a vessel. So is Cariel.
CHAPTER 50:
Goodbye, Jesus
The soft flutter of angel wings filled the small tomb. Gabriel opened his eyes and smiled. “Hello, Cariel.”
“It’s been three days.” Cariel approached Gabriel hesitantly before placing his hand on the Archangel’s back. “When will you come home?”
Gabriel closed his eyes again at the touch, sucking in a breath. Contact, physical contact, felt so new and strange to him again. He was in his first vessel in thirty-three years, feeling pinched and constrained, but he could also smell the decay in the air and feel the cool dark across his skin. The inside of this tomb felt like the grief that tugged at his heart, but Cariel’s warm hand against his back was the promise of Heaven, and being reunited with his human friend.
“Soon,” Gabriel promised Cariel. “I have one more task to do here, for which I needed a vessel, and then I may return to Heaven.”
“May?” Cariel asked, always catching the littlest things.
Gabriel rose to his feet and turned to face his Seraph. Cariel was also envesseled. For once, he was actually shorter than Gabriel. “I’ve had thirty years without Raphael. I can’t deny that Earth has been relaxing.”
“You’ve been bored out of your mind!” Cariel’s hand brushed along Gabriel’s arm, and Gabriel touched his hands to Cariel’s chest, eager for more contact. “Every time I came down to Earth, you complained about having nothing to do.”
“I’d been tied to Jesus. He didn’t exactly go to exciting locations,” Gabriel argued. “I’m not restrained anymore. I can go anywhere I’d like, do anything I want.”
“So you want to stay on Earth?” Somehow, Cariel had managed to push even closer to Gabriel.
“I want to stay in a vessel.” Gabriel eased one hand free from between them, skimming his fingers along the side of Cariel’s face. Cariel closed his eyes, his fingers curling around Gabriel’s bicep. “It’s been so long since I could touch.”
“I shouldn’t stay with you.” Cariel turned his face into Gabriel’s hand, opening his dark eyes slowly and looking up at the Archangel. “The choir needs at least one of us.”
Damn the choir. Let’s run while we’re already on Earth… Gabriel wondered if that tulpa had acquired a name yet, or if he had a friend Cariel could slip into. If they could leave while Raphael and Michael assumed them to be on Earth fulfilling their duties, then they could get a head start over the Archangels and maybe could evade recapture…
But Barachiel was waiting in Heaven, and all of his other Seraphim, Dominions, Angels, and Cherubim. Gabriel could not in good conscience leave them. They still needed him. He still loved them. He wouldn’t run. Gabriel sighed with this revelation, dropping his head to rest his forehead against Cariel’s. “There is one more thing I need to do here, today, I think, and then I can return to Heaven.”
“What is it?”
Gabriel tapped Cariel’s nose and drew away, turning to face Jesus’ body. He looked down at the corpse one last time before snapping his fingers, removing it from existence. The shroud and bandages that had covered the man’s body fluttered down to rest on the rock below. “A miracle.”
When the women came, Gabriel was sitting on the rock that had sealed the tomb, now pushed aside. Cariel sat beside him. Both were dressed in white, veiled from the humans. Gabriel touched his finger to his lips and slipped off the stone, sneaking up behind the women. Cariel followed, completely poker-faced.
The women cried out when they realized Jesus’ body was gone, grabbing the shroud and sifting through the bandages as if his body had simply flattened or shrank. Gabriel caught Cariel’s eye and nodded. Both unveiled, stretching the shadows of their wings along the walls of the tomb.
“Why are you looking for a living man here, in a tomb for the dead?”
Mary, the mother of one of Jesus’ disciples, and Joanna, another woman who had traveled with them for a bit, both screamed at the sudden appearance of the angels. Mary Magdalene, one of Jesus’ favorite women, managed to retain her composure, dropping to her knees and bowing to the pair. The other women quickly followed her lead.
Gabriel touched Mary Magdalene’s shoulder, encouraging her to rise to her feet, and Cariel did the same for Joanna. When all the women were standing again, though they continued to avert their faces, Gabriel spoke again. “Jesus is not here. He has risen. Remember how he told you this would happen, back in Galilee? He would be handed over to sinners, crucified, and on the third day, come back from the dead.”
Mary Magdalene gasped, covering her mouth with both hands. Clearly she remembered.
“Go,” Gabriel said, gesturing toward the entrance to the tomb. “He is not here. Tell the others. The Lord has risen.”
Mary fled the tomb first, with the other women hot on her heels. Cariel turned to Gabriel with a raised eyebrow. “The Lord has risen?” he parroted.
Gabriel rolled his eyes. “Dad’s words, not mine.”
“But he hasn’t risen. You removed his body.”
“I just did what I was told,” Gabriel said with a shrug. “I trust that Dad will either give Jesus a new body or severely disappoint those women.”
“Which do you think will happen?”
Gabriel was silent for a minute, picking up the shroud and rubbing the linen between his fingers. “New body,” he finally answered. “He was slowly transforming over the course of his life into something not quite human. Something much more celestial.”
“An angel?” Cariel asked, watching Gabriel intently. “A God?”
Gabriel heard the capital G and smiled a little before turning to give Cariel another shrug. “I have no idea. I don’t presume to understand Dad’s thinking. Jesus was special, that’s all I know.”
Cariel held out his hands, and Gabriel took them. “What now?” the Seraph asked, squeezing Gabriel’s fingers lightly.
“Now? Now, I suppose we can go home.”
The angels stopped by the home of Cariel’s vessel first, leaving the man behind, before flying north to leave Gabriel’s back with his people. Free of their human forms, they leapt up into the sky, flying together through the planes.
Next...