Gabriel. Such a simple, old fashioned name. It means more to me than anyone can imagine.
Gabriel, man of God; literally "Master, of God", i.e., a Master, who is "of God"; or "my master is God") is generally considered to serve as a messenger from God as one of the higher ranked angels. In Biblical tradition, he is sometimes regarded as the angel of death or one of God's messengers.
I suppose it's ironic then that the three men I knew named after the angel were about as far from angelic as possible.
Well, I guess that's mean of me. Daddy, known to most as 'Gabe' Sullivan, loves me. After my mom left, I was his world. He stood by me, even when I got him fired. And no matter how much his corny jokes can embarrass me, the fact is he was the first person I told about my insecurities. How I was fed up with proving myself to everyone, and being a 'means to an end' so to speak. He told me that I was welcome in Gotham anytime, and he highly recommended moving immediately so he'd be able to comfort me.
Gabriel Duncan is the next 'angel'. We went to school together, and we were both the 'smart kids'. He helped me out with the computers at the Torch, and I helped him with his English assignments because he always forgot to proofread. I was so happy when he called, because honestly? I'd always considered him a kindred spirit. I can't remember how many afternoons were spent cursing the school budget system, or laughing about the latest gossip.
Then he told me to get out of Smallville before it was destroyed. It. Hurt. Like. Hell. My 'kindred spirit' was trying to blow up our hometown! Clark and I broke into his house, and found two very disturbing things. Articles of Metahumans, all over the wall, and his father's body. We set up a trap, but it backfired and Gabriel took me with him.
I tried to talk him out of using the missiles on Smallvile, but he just told me that the articles belonged to his dad. And that after the second meteor shower changed him, he begged Gabriel to kill him.
That doesn't make his decision to kill everyone in Smallville alright. It just makes it more understandable.
Which makes his blood on my hands hurt more than anything else in the world. I killed him, and no one ever remembers him as anything but the kid who shot Clark. They don't remember that he got into MIT, or that he was allergic to bee stings, or that he had a nice laugh. Just that he shot Clark.
Grant Gabriel was the last 'angel'. Despite the way he favored Lois's badly spelt and never published articles to my own, and the way he treated me in general, he was probably the one I feel most sorry for. He was just a pawn in Lex's game, and he died when he rebelled too far.
Three angels, who shaped my life far more than I'd like to admit. Gabriel Sullivan gave me the morals I've learned to live by, after many years of rationalizing them away. Gabriel Duncan gave me the knowledge of the real world that I probably wouldn't have learned for another decade otherwise. Grant Gabriel put the final nail in my naivety's coffin, proving once and for all that life isn't fair.
