Gabriel, Interrupted 6/?
Gabriel had the day off from the post office on Thursday since he had to work on Saturday. He took advantage of his day off by sleeping late. He was surprised at how quickly he not only had become adjusted to sleeping like a human, but actually enjoying it. Sleeping late today also had another benefit. Aaron had worked the night shift last night, so if he slept late enough he could avoid seeing that dick altogether. While he might miss any hot breakfast that was offered, he discovered that the pantry was also stocked with cereal including Lucky Charms, which would be almost as satisfying to his sweet tooth as pancakes.
By the time he rolled out of bed, grabbed a shower and headed downstairs to eat his Lucky Charms, Aaron was long gone, but Gabriel had forgotten that it was “music therapy” day. Staff member Jenny Howard had invited a friend of hers from college to come over every week to play guitar and help the residents play and sing music. Quite frankly, Gabriel thought the guy looked like a reject from The Wiggles and he did whatever he could to avoid it. It helped greatly that he was paying his own way now and he had an excuse to avoid any official services that the home offered. Since the session usually took place in the dining room, he took his bowl of Lucky Charms and hightailed it in to the living room, just as the first song began.
“Self-esteem is for everybody. Self-esteem is for everyone. You can dream and be anybody, but self-esteem is how you get it done!” The annoying rubbish was so loud, he wouldn’t even be able to enjoy free reign of the television while Dave and his OCD sense of control were away singing songs that could have easily been written by Stuart Smalley himself. He would have to settle for finding some decent reading material. He looked around the living room, and saw that there was a book shelf that seemed to be fairly well stocked. The question was whether it had anything worth reading. He doubted that Tillie would keep any books that would hold his interest.
On the bottom shelves there seemed to be some classic literature books, like The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, Frankenstein and The Three Musketeers. There were also some paperback mystery novels, and of course, a copy of the Bible. He chuckled to himself. He wondered what Tillie would think if he ever got into a discussion with her about how some of those stories really happened. He’d loved to share what really happened with Daniel in that lion’s den. He looked out the window. Tillie was on the porch talking to a neighbor about some local government issue. He hadn’t paid much attention to it. He went back to the bookshelf. Up near the top, there seemed to be some magazines. He thought he would try his luck there. Just as he began to reach up to pull them down, several of them fell down on top of him and landed on the floor. As he bent down to pick them up, the one on top caught his attention like an Angel Killing Sword to his gut.
“Oh, Hells No!” he groaned, picking up the copy of the TV Guide.
*gi*gi*gi*gi*gi*gi*gi*gi*
After knocking over the magazines and ensuring that one in particular landed on the top, Castiel joined his older brother outside on the front lawn, unseen by human eyes.
“I did what Michael instructed, brother,” Castiel sighed. “But I’m not sure how it will help this man.”
“You don’t have to understand, Castiel. Just trust that our Father knows what he is doing and his plan will come together in time.”
Castiel remained silent for a few moments. “Are we done here brother, or do we have further work to do?”
“You are done for now, Castiel. But you will need to return at a later time, a time when your skills as soldier and warrior will be needed. I must remain. For in a short while, I will be required to follow up on the task you just performed.”
Castiel found that his curiosity was getting the best of him. He did not understand why it was that this man who had prayed to him had called him brother, nor why he had spoken of losing his Grace, let alone why a magazine would be of any use to him. Castiel had known of none of his brothers falling since the Morning Star had fallen and taken a third of the Host with him over a millennia ago. “Gab-…” he began to question his older brother, but was cut off.
“Castiel, I know you have many questions about this mission. But even Michael and I have been given limited knowledge by Father. The safety of many depends on it.”
Castiel had one other thing to share with his older brother before departing. “Are you aware, then, that one of the staff members is being influenced by a demon?”
“Yes,” the elder angel sighed. “Father is also aware of that and has worked that into his plan. You must have faith, Castiel.”
With that, the younger angel departed, leaving his older brother waiting and watching until it was his time to intervene.
*gi*gi*gi*gi*gi*gi*gi*gi*
‘How in the hell did those chuckleheads end up on the cover of TV Guide?’ Gabriel thought to himself. Just how long had he been gone? Had he been gone long enough for them to be able to score a reality show like those Ghostfacers guys? Who in the world would watch that? Then he looked more closely at the captions. “First annual Fan Favorite winner is Supernatural” He was gone long enough for them to become “fan favorites”? Really?…” Supernatural’s Jared Padalecki and Jensen Ackles”. Padalecki and Ackles? Those weren’t the type of aliases those mooks usually chose. Hell, they weren’t even good stage names. How they hell did they even develop a fan base with names like that?
Dear Dad! He didn’t come back to life. He wasn’t in Purgatory. His brother had not only killed him. Luci had sent him to his own personal Hell. Unless….Oh, Dad, Oh Dad, Oh Dad…please let this be one of those fake magazines you get at county fairs and amusement parks. Please, Dad let me not be able to open the pages and…shit! There is a real article in here! Dad damn it! He barely skimmed the article, but clearly it wasn’t some reality show. Look here. “Exclusive scoop on the battle for Sam’s soul!” That kid got into more trouble than any human he ever met. Without him around to save their asses, he had to wonder how deep they were in it now. But more importantly, he was in deep, too. Those chuckleheads were a work of fiction on television. Which means Dad only knows where he really was. Now to find out why in the hell Tillie had never told him this.
*gi*gi*gi*gi*gi*gi*gi*gi*
Tillie was standing on the front porch talking to the neighbor of the group home, Bob Larson, about some upcoming local referendum involving garbage pick-up. Bob was completely incensed that the city council wanted to charge an extra $2 per month per residence for pickup services. Tillie didn’t really care as long she didn’t have to haul the garbage off to the dump herself. She had too many other things to deal with on a daily basis. Speaking of which, Gabriel came tearing out of the house at full speed waving a magazine in her face.
“Why in the hell didn’t you tell me about this?” he screamed.
“Calm down, please,” Tillie demanded. “And tell you about what?”
“This!” Gabriel shoved the TV Guide in her face and Tillie’s eyes widened in shock.
“Oh shit on a shingle!” she muttered.
“I knew it!” Gabriel exclaimed. “You’ve known all along, haven’t you?”
“I’m sorry Bob,” Tillie apologized, as Gabriel grabbed her by her upper left forearm and dragged her back into the group home. “Um, obviously, something has come up that I have to deal with.”
“We are going to discuss this in your office,” he hissed in her ear as they passed the group in the dining room, who were now singing “You Are My Sunshine”. “And you are going to explain exactly what the hell you’ve been hiding from me and why!”
Tillie gulped. She had hoped he would go to a psychiatrist. Maybe take some medication. See a counselor. And then confront his delusions. But this, discovering the show because of that damn TV Guide cover, she didn’t expect that. She thought she had removed it from the house. Heck, she thought him catching the show on the television was a stronger possibility, but she had arranged the TV scheduled so he wouldn’t have the remote when it was on and she had trusted Dave’s OCD to help ensure that Gabriel wouldn’t catch a glimpse of it. It was always a remote possibility that she would have to have this conversation, but she wasn’t ready. Not today.
Gabriel shoved her into her office and slammed the door closed, locking it behind him. “So,” he began, his breathing ragged, nostrils flared. “The life I knew, the world I came from, doesn’t exist, except on television. This means I had to come from some other reality. Some other dimension. And you had to know about this all along!”
Tillie buried her head in her hands. He wasn’t even facing his delusions. He was just making up a way to make it all plausible. He came from another reality. Really? How was she going to challenge that? “Gabriel, stop it. Just please stop it. You need to calm down so we can discuss this reasonably.”
“Discuss this reasonably?” Gabriel yelled. “How would you feel if you found out your life was based on some Hollywood flunky’s idea of fiction?”
“Well, it’s not actually your life. It’s really more about Sam and Dean. Gabriel is more of a minor character, considering he has only been in four episodes.” Tillie clamped both hands over her mouth immediately after she said the words and now she couldn’t take them back. What the hell was she thinking? She was actually validating his delusions by speaking to him as if he was the Gabriel.
“Minor. Character?” he growled getting right up in her face and backing her up against the wall. “I’m a freaking Archangel. The Left Hand of God. His Messenger, who bears His Strength and Judgment. And I’m a minor character?”
“If it’s any consolation, Gabriel’s a fan favorite,” she stammered. “Ever since they killed him off, the fans have been trying to getting the writer’s to bring him back on the show. Because Chuck knows, very few things on that show stay dead.”
“Wait…you’re a fan, aren’t you?” he accused, waving his finger in her face. “How else would you know that I’ve only been in four episodes? Or that fans are even trying to get me back? And just who the Hell is Chuck?!”
“It’s just an expression.” Tillie bit her lip and looked at her feet. He had her so rattled she couldn’t think straight. She was really screwing this up.
“No it’s not. ‘Go to hell?’ is an expression. ‘For Pete’s sake’ is an expression. ‘Because Chuck knows’ is not an expression that I have ever heard of and I’ve been around a long time, lady.”
Tillie steeled herself. She had to get control of herself and this conversation now. She met Gabriel’s gaze. She was going to ignore the whole Chuck portion of the conversation for now, and deal with the heart of the issue.
“Look, you clearly believe you are the Archangel Gabriel, from another dimension,” Tillie said carefully. “Apparently a dimension where everything from Supernatural has really happened. I didn’t tell you about it being a television show because I didn’t think it would be healthy for you and quite frankly, I didn’t want to have this very argument. Just because we disagree on your, um…origins, doesn’t mean I like you any less, or that I am any less willing to help you.”
“I. Am. Gabriel.” The angel challenged. “And all of those things have happened. I will also have you know, I have been involved in those chuckleheads lives way more than what any four episodes could possibly contain. The stories I could tell that probably didn’t make it over to this dimension would definitely knock your socks off.”
“Gabriel, I understand you want me too believe you,” Tillie sighed. “But you could tell me all of your stories and where would the proof be? How could I verify anything that you would say happened? We would still be at this impasse.”
Gabriel fell silent for a moment. If Dad had anything to do with him being here, please let him find a way to convince Tillie, if no one else, that he wasn’t some crazy person. That he was who he said he was. A thought occurred to him. It was a risk, but it was the only idea he had.
“Give me one shot, just one chance,” Gabriel pleaded. “That’s all I ask. Let’s just watch the show one random time. If I can point out one thing that I said or did that isn’t on the show, I’ll take a gamble that maybe somewhere in this reality there is proof that it happened. If there isn’t, I’ll keep my mouth shut and not talk about it again.”
“No,” Tillie held firm, shaking her head. “I want more. If you’re wrong, I want you to agree to go to the doctor and start seeing a counselor, too.”
Damn, he was risking a lot. He really hoped his Dad came through on this for him. “Deal,” Gabriel said offering his hand. Tillie took it, hoping she didn’t regret it. But she didn’t see how there could be proof that he was telling the truth.
“Why wait?” she asked. “There’s an episode on right now.”
Next
A/N 2: So I have to give credit to Ben Edlund for the self-esteem song, because it actually came from the Angel episode, “Smile Time”. It has been stuck in my head, ever since I read that Ben is not only going to write, but direct an episode of Supernatural this season. And the only other writing/directing he has ever done was Angel’s “Smile Time”. God, I loved that episode.
Also, it was very painful for me to end the chapter at this point. I so wanted to continue to where they actually watch the show together, but it would be so much longer. Hopefully that just means you’ll get an update sooner rather than later. Plus, with the next update you’ll get a bonus. And that all I am saying for now.