You may think this is heaven -- it’s not that at all...

[playonforever]

On the midway, tucked between two tents - or rather, rearing up between them - there is a building that looks like a wooden palace. It's almost four stories tall and exploding with color. Across the front run depictions of heroes of the Wood, fae and humans, fighting monsters and mostly winning. Statues, perfect in likeness to the things they

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[whateverthemess]

Murphy reaches the top of the ramp and eyes the cars leading into the ride with distaste. This is not going to be fun. How not-fun, she doesn't know, but... If the start of the evening is any indication, she's going to be wishing for enough booze to put her out before the night is over.

She turns to the attendant - and freezes.

White eyes. Safe as houses.

"Motherfuck," Murphy snarls, and jumps into the nearest ride car.

[painhumbles]

Gabriel looks taken aback for a moment... And then he realizes these are his reflections. Of course, they're smartasses.

Well. He might be here for awhile- might as well make the most of it. He shoves his hands in his pockets and starts walking down the hall with an aimless sort of gait. "Okay, boys. I get it. This is everything I could've been. Problem is? I like me. So all of this? Not really that scary. Especially not you." He points at one random reflection- this one depicting him in the vessel of a man who looks like a seasoned warrior and dressed in archaic armor. "...I mean, really? The Gladiator thing is so 2003, pal. Get with the times." In response, the reflection beats its fist again the mirror, soundlessly

[playonforever]

Out of a nearby mirror steps one of his reflections - this one dressed in a gypsy skirt and loose top, the pupils of its eyes dilated so far you almost can't see the white irises around them.

White Eyes croons a little laugh. "Drank the nectar of the Storm, did it?"

[painhumbles]

Gabriel doesn't jump at the sigh of White Eyes, although not for a lack of wanting to- he just can't bring himself to be afraid of him, for some reason. Maybe it has something to do with that pendant in his hands and that little extra power boost.

The apprehension he felt seconds before melts away and he just smirks and strolls forward. "Sucks, don't it? I mean, here you had a friggin' archangel, practically gift-wrapped and down on his knees before you... Metaphorically speaking, 'cause I don't grovel well, but whatever." He turns on his heels and clasps his hands behind his back, fingers closing around the pendant. "And now you're just a gender-challenged freak of nature who is getting none of this."

He doesn't care that White Eyes might actually kill him for that- and could. He feels powerful in a way he hasn't in awhile and even if it's not on his own, nothing can touch him right now.

[playonforever]

"A little sip, and it thinks itself invulnerable."

White Eyes passes a hand over one of the mirrors, showing the image of a shell-shocked, ill-looking Murphy, pregnant and talking to Harry who stands in the doorway to the room holding a dark-haired girl. "Are its friends likewise untouchable?"

Murphy shudders, pales, and collapses as White Eyes hums Rock-a-bye Baby.

[painhumbles]

Gabriel stares at the mirror in shellshocked horror. All that intense bravado and sometimes forgets he does, in fact, have more to lose than just his pride. He flattens his palms against the mirror, gritting his teeth in silent anguish before whirling on White Eyes again, pressing his back to the mirror as if somehow this will protect everyone in it.

"Coward," he spits. "You wanna play a game of My Handler Can Beat Up Your Handler? Fine." He holds up the necklace. "All I have to do is say the word. I don't think you want that."

[playonforever]

White Eyes goes very still.

The mirrors around them go blank, except for the one behind Gabriel. In it, Murphy stirs, hanging on to Harry's shirt and still looking a half-step shy of unconsciousness.

"It would bow to the Princess so willingly?" There's an angry, almost fearful hiss in the white-eyed woman's voice. "Swear fealty to a new master with so little thought?"

[painhumbles]

"No," Gabriel says, almost smirking, despite the fact that his heart's pounding in his chest. "But I chose my side and if it means I don't have to watch you sick sons of bitches hurt my family, then I'll do it." He lets the necklace swing back and forth between them. "Believe me, there's a hell of a lot more thought in this than you give me credit for."

He's so close to panicking- it's Lucifer all over again and he's been avoiding the point of that confrontation since the day he got here. He doesn't want to do this (and yet he does...), but if it keeps White Eyes and Kitsune away from the people he gives a damn about, if it means he has an edge he didn't have before.

Then it means that he took the next step. He would've died before he ever had to actually deal with the consequences of his actions. There's no war here, he doesn't have to stand against anyone he doesn't want to- just these lowlifes.

"Go ahead," he says, snapping up the pendant so that it's not swinging. "Make my day."

[playonforever]

White Eyes hisses. It's not a human sound in the least. The body he's wearing is quickly giving way to his true form, skeletal and shadow-clad and eyeless.

"They would destroy this place and everything in it."

He glances at the mirror and then back to Gabriel, his meaning clear. "Would it risk that?"

[painhumbles]

"I don't do shit unless they get out," Gabriel growls right back, not even caring that he's seeing White Eyes for what he really is for the first time. "After that? I don't care what happens. So either I call the lady in here and she gets 'em out and then blows this whole place like the Fourth of July? Or you let 'em out and we forget this conversation ever happened." He raises his eyebrows. "Your move, bucko."

[playonforever]

The White Eyed Man relaxes, spreading his hands. "Not mine, but theirs."

Behind Gabriel, in the mirror, Harry is shifting off the bag to scoop his crying daughter back into his arms. Murphy watches him, groggy and pained, and shifts around to try and get up.

"It is its world. It must leave it."

[painhumbles]

Gabriel turns quickly and his eyes go wide again as he stares at the scene unfolding on the mirror. He gives it a hard kick and nothing happens- he tries again, and still nothing. For a moment, he's helpless- the perennial watcher once again. The same as he was in Heaven before he fell.

Not this time.

He gives White Eyes a dark look out of the corner of his eye. He understands the rules of this sort of game, but he also knows that he who holds the strings can change the rules as he sees fit with the right incentive.

Using all the force he can muster, he lunges at White Eyes and tries to shouldercheck him into the nearest mirror.

Kali was right. Archangels do understand violence better than most things.

[boundtostay]

Thunder rumbles in the narrow hallway just as Gabriel lunges. That's the only warning before the Cat appears with a second, louder crack, green eyes wide and all her fur puffed out so she appears twice her size.

The space between Gabriel and White Eyes stretches abruptly from a couple feet to several yards. Go on, Gabriel. Try attacking again. You're not getting any closer.

[playonforever]

White Eyes starts to step forward, but the space between him and Gabriel isn't one he controls. He snarls at the cat, taking a step toward it instead. "What does the beast want? What business does it have here? Begone, pest."

[painhumbles]

Stupid bad lifechoice cockblocking cat. ... Didn't he insult that cat once?

Those are the first two thoughts on Gabriel's mind before he- like an idiot- also tries to step further. He glowers at the cat, because she's clearly to blame here.

"The adults are having a conversation. D'you mind?" Yeah... A conversation. With fists. And possible gruesome death.

That's how archangels have conversations, goddammit.

[boundtostay]

The Cat arches her back, hissing instinctively as White Eyes steps toward her - and then the space between her and the fae stretches as well. Another stretch as Gabriel moves again, placing White Eyes still further from both of them. This can go on for miles, boys.

She tries to settle her fur, sitting slowly like she hasn't a care in the world - though her tail is still twitching violently. She ignores Gabriel and fixes her attention on White Eyes, drawling like she's bored by the whole thing, "It has no business here at all - except that of my lady. Let him alone, and I can go back to ignoring your existence. We'll both be happier that way."