Following the revelation of Spencer as an archangel, Jophiel, this is a set of stories through season 6 of Criminal Minds. It's a sort of 'between' story that bridges the last one and the next.
This is a short chapter, not an episode yet. It's just the group of them talking, asking about him, his past, who Jophiel is because not a lot of people know about the seven archangels. Everyone always knows the four. So this is a small, short, explanation sort of chapter that picks up directly after the last story, as the team is on their way back home on the jet.
Please keep in mind, a lot of what they talk about here with religion is what the team has researched online, or in books. This is NOT meant to be an accurate description of anything religious, nor is it intended to offend. Not only do I not know in depth religious information, this is also part of the SPN world and as they've proved in their show, they don't always follow the exact mythology of anything. I hope I don't offend anyone with this and if I do, you have my apologies
The ride back on the jet was just as awkward as Spencer had thought it would be. He'd known that everyone would be feeling out of sorts and uncomfortable. All of this was new for them and it was a lot to take in. Plus, he knew it didn't sit well with any of them that they had to follow the lie Spencer had created by wiping the minds of the police officers and pretend that they hadn't been there at that house when everything went down. They had to pretend not to know what s going on as the cops talked about finding the Unsub dead, with his eyes burned out. That wasn't exactly a common way to find someone and it brought up questions. But the serial case was done and so the BAU team had been thanked and sent on their way.
They'd been in the air for about twenty minutes now and Spencer was contemplating what to do with his friends. Well, really, he was contemplating much more than that, but dealing with the team seemed the easiest. Much easier than thinking about the return of his grace, or how it'd been taken from him to begin with. Much easier than thinking about the longing to go home, or the knowledge that he might not be welcome by all there. Much, much easier than thinking about what he could feel in the world around him—the presence of a brother that should still be locked away. That was something to think on later; much later, when he was alone.
For now, he turned to look at his friends where they all sat together, and he thought for just a moment more before he pushed up from his seat. All eyes turned towards him as he made his way towards them.
The team hadn't been the least bit shy about sitting together like this once they got on the jet. Emily, JJ, Derek and Rossi were sitting at the four chairs that surrounded the small table and Aaron was at his usual perch on the wooden thing against the opposite wall. Spencer walked right up to them and sat down on the end of the couch closest to them. They were all quiet as they looked at him and Spencer tried not to let that hurt. Right now they didn't trust him. Much as he hated that, he had to accept it and try his best to fix it. "I know you guys have questions." He said, looking from one face to the next. "And I know you're still upset. I want to fix this with you, really, I do. I'll answer anything that I can."
He wasn't sure what questions they'd have for him. Back at the hotel, he'd given them the rundown of the supernatural world. That hadn't been fun. All the questions, the shock, the upset. However, they'd taken that part surprisingly well in the end. Then again, maybe not so surprising. Most of them had to have seen some strange things over the years at the BAU. Bodies that didn't always make sense. Spencer had memories in this human life of things that he hadn't been able to make sense of; things that, now he understood much better. Plus, it had to be kind of hard to deny the existence of anything supernatural when you'd just witnessed one of your teammates turning back into an angel.
Emily was the one to speak up first. "You said your name was Jophiel?"
"Yes." Spencer nodded. He brushed a bit of hair behind his ear and smiled just a little. "You can still call me Spencer, though. I've had a lot of names over the years and that one feels just as much a part of me as Jophiel does."
"What I've heard of Jophiel…most believe she was female."
Spencer couldn't help but smile a little at Emily's words. What an interesting part of things to focus on first. He shrugged one shoulder at her; this part was easy. "Technically, angels are genderless. But I've taken a female vessel in the past."
"A vessel?" Aaron asked him.
Now, this was a part that might not go over so well, and he hadn't really thought about that when he'd mentioned taking a female vessel. But it was too late to go back on that and maybe it was better anyways to get this out in the open now so that they could adjust to it. Especially here, in a place none of them could run away. Spencer was grateful this flight was a long one. It should give them time to get everything out in the open. "I explained to you guys before how that light you saw was my grace. That's what makes up an angel. Up in Heaven, it's our True Form. We don't have physical bodies the way that humans do. And humans aren't made to look upon an angel's true form."
"Yeah, we all saw what happens then." Derek said flatly.
The words had Spencer wanting to flinch. He held back, though, and met Derek's gaze with a confidence that he'd never shown before to his friends. "Exactly. Very few humans can withstand looking at an angel directly, let alone an archangel, or of hearing our True Voices. So if we want to come down to earth and speak with humans, we have to take a vessel. Regular angels, as you'd think of them, can have any host, though some are better suited to them than others. But archangels have True Vessels, humans who are suited to containing a grace as strong as ours. However, unlike demons who can possess anyone, angels have to have permission. The host has to say Yes."
That idea seemed to stun them even more. "People actually give permission to be possessed?" JJ asked incredulously.
Spencer nodded. "Yes. A long time ago, most would've considered it an honor. The woman I mentioned was happy to have me not just once, but twice." Unlike some of his brethren, he'd taken great care with his vessel and made sure to leave behind no damage.
"So, you're, what, possessing the real Spencer Reid?" Dave asked.
"No, no!" Spencer hurried to assure them. "I was forced to fall. That means all but a small shred of my grace was cut away from me and locked away," He fought not to shudder, not to let his voice waver there at the memories and the pain. "And what was left hurtled down to earth. The body I'm in, it was the body I was born in. When an angel Falls the way that I did, we're born as humans with just that sliver of grace working as our soul, the difference unnoticeable to anyone who doesn't know how to look right. My grace was drawn to the bloodlines that were made to carry me anyways, to the family of humans that carry my True Vessel, and I ended up being born to Diana and William. This body is mine. A vessel now, yes, and one that I can leave, but there's no soul in here waiting to take over. Without me in it, it wouldn't be alive, not really. It'd be like a coma patient, one of those ones that have already passed on. Just an empty shell."
That didn't exactly have the reassuring effect that he'd wanted. In more than one mind he could see how he'd creeped them out just now. To try and distract from it, he turned his eyes back to Emily and smiled a little at her. "I'm surprised you actually recognize my name. Not many people nowadays would, I believe. I've never been an extremely well known archangel like some of my brothers." Most people when they thought of archangels thought of the most famous ones—Michael, Raphael, Gabriel. Lucifer.
"I took religious studies in college." Emily explained.
As if proving Spencer's thoughts from just a moment ago, JJ said "I thought there were only four archangels. Michael, Gabriel, Raphael and Lucifer."
Thinking of his brothers, some of his closest brothers, made Spencer's grace ache a little. His wings curled in once more in a sort of protective hold. He didn't let it show in his voice, though. "That's what most people think."
He looked at Emily and she seemed to realize what he wanted because she sat up a little straighter and her hands started to move as she took over the explanation, not only answering JJ's question but also giving Spencer a bit of an idea on what she knew about him and his history. "Some people believe there are seven archangels. Michael, Gabriel, Raphael, Uriel, Chamuel, Jophiel, and Zadkiel. Jophiel…" She looked over at Spencer, hesitating only for a second. When he nodded, her voice firmed again and she continued. "Jophiel means 'Beauty of God'. If I remember right, Jophiel was known as the 'Angel of Wisdom and Illumination' or sometimes the 'Angel of Beauty'."
Those were titles that Spencer hadn't heard in a very, very long time. The first one had always been one he'd enjoyed, and one that Gabriel had liked to tease him suited him rather well. His love of knowledge had always been a part of him, both as an archangel and in the human lives he'd lived. The 'Angel of Beauty' business, though, that made him flush. His brothers had always loved to tease him about that.
"I've heard the stories." Dave said, not surprisingly. Honestly, out of them all, Spencer had always thought of Dave as one of the most religious ones of the group. Or, at least, the one with the most religious knowledge. His eyes turned towards Spencer and watched him speculatively. "One of the stories say that Jophiel is the one who drove Adam and Eve from the Garden. They say he guarded the Tree of Knowledge. It says that when Eve bit into the apple, she began to see both good and evil, and because of that it became Jophiel's duty to help mankind see the beauty and good in God once more."
That was an interesting twist on things. Not the true story, of course. So few of the stories humans had were of what actually happened.
Out of them all, Spencer hadn't really expected Aaron to have much to say here, at least not about his history. Aaron was more the type to take in information and speak once he had all the facts. But he was speaking up now and something in his voice told Spencer that the man had done a bit of private research since Spencer's revelation. "It's said that Jophiel is the angel of beauty, who brings positive energy and thoughts to people and helps them turn away from negative things. Believers say that Jophiel can help a person chase away their mental fog, heal their low self-esteem, even recover soul fragments that may have been scattered by shock, fright, or other things. He's supposedly the angel to turn to if you're having trouble dealing with someone, or you find yourself stuck making the same mistakes over and over. He aids those who suffer from low self-esteem or those who are victims of other people's ignorant behavior. He teaches you not to take things so personally and to rise above all the negativity."
"Wow." Spencer said, staring up at his unit chief. He couldn't help the soft chuckle that slipped out or the uncomfortable way he shifted his wings behind him. "They really try and attribute me with a lot, don't they?"
"Is it true?" JJ asked.
That was a bit of a tricky question. "Not in the way you think it is. I mean, we all have our parts, but we're not all assigned that in depth of roles. It's more complicated than that. I didn't just run around earth helping people see the beauty in everything. I don't…" He paused and blew out a breath. "It's so hard to explain. For the sake of making it somewhat understandable, let's say that the titles there are somewhat appropriate, but all those smaller duties that I'm apparently assigned? It's not like that. Your bibles and stories and such get more wrong than they do right."
"You know, if I had to pick, I would've pegged you more as Zadkiel." Emily said slowly, like she was a bit hesitant to voice this. Still, she'd always been a brave one, and she generally spoke her mind. He liked that she still did so now. "Wasn't he the one known as the 'Angel of Mercy and Benevolence'? Or, the 'Angel of Understanding and Compassion.'?"
"Yes, he was." Spencer said. And that was all he said on that. It was all he was going to say on it, too. Without shame, he very obviously turned the subject. "Does any of that really matter? Whether I was the angel of beauty, or compassion, or love, or any of those things, does it matter? I'm me. The person you know is pretty much the angel that I've always been. I still love to learn; I always have. I've always wanted to help people. I've always been awkward. My brothers often teased me for being the first awkward angel ever created, especially when I'm in a vessel. I've always talked too much without realizing that others might not care to hear what I want to say." He gave them all a smile there and was heartened by the smiles he got in return. "Really, guys, I'm the same person where it counts. I'm still me. Does the rest of it really matter?"
They didn't answer right away and for that he was a bit grateful. It meant they were thinking about it and not just reacting. Respectfully, he kept out of their heads and away from their thoughts. That was something he'd have to make sure he stayed in the habit of. He didn't want to invade their privacy and just read their thoughts all the time. It was going to take some practice, though. Picking up on human thoughts was a lot easier than people probably thought. Was, in fact, difficult to not do.
"It does and it doesn't." Aaron finally said, drawing Spencer's eyes to him. "It obviously changes some things, Reid. I know you can understand why. But if you're serious about wanting to stay here with us…"
"I am." Spencer said quickly.
Aaron gave a small nod. "Then we can come to terms with the rest of it. You'll have to be patient with us, though. This is an amazing thing to take in."
"I understand." And he did. Spencer knew this was a whole lot for them to take in and he was prepared to be as understanding as possible. "At the same time, I hope you guys can extend the same patience. I've lived more than one human life since I Fell, and in not a one of those lives did I know. Until my grace came back, I had no idea I was an angel. You guys aren't the only ones that are going to be adjusting. I've been without my grace for a long time by human standards. It's going to take some time to remember that I have these abilities again, and to get myself in the mindset of when it is and isn't okay to use them."
It warmed him just how quickly they all agreed to that. He almost started to relax in his seat when Derek suddenly sat up a little and looked over to him. "Wait a second…abilities?"
Oh, right. That was something they'd probably want to know about. This part of things really wasn't bad to share. Spencer drew his legs up on the couch and folded them underneath him. Maybe the next little bit should be spent giving them a crash course in Angel 101. "Sorry." He apologized, smiling shyly at them. "I guess this is another thing I might need some patience on. I keep forgetting that you guys don't really know things about angels."
As he sat there on the jet and explained about angels, talking them through things like how he no longer needed food or sleep, or about his ability to fly, to smite, to heal, he watched their faces as the aw and curiosity washed away any anger or worry or resentment. They were still hesitant, sure, and this would probably only make them more so, but as he watched their reactions, as he felt their moods, he thought to himself that maybe things wouldn't end up so bad. Maybe, even if he couldn't return to one family, the family that he'd made here would still be there for him.