Humans and Gargoyles
"There is a notion I would like to see buried: the ordinary person. Ridiculous. There is no ordinary person." -Alan Moore

Hannah Shepherd sat cross-legged in one of the wooden pews of St. Michaels Church. A small, cardboard box of bullets sat next to her, and she held a single bullet in one hand, a knife in the other. All of her concentration was on the bullet while she carefully etched the sign of the Gargoyle Order in the side of the bullet shell.

It was not hard work, per say. It was a simple symbol, just a triple-beamed cross. The only issue was that bullets were small and smooth; if she wasn't careful, she slipped and nicked a finger. That was why she'd come here where it was quiet to do the tedious but essential work.

A few simple lines etched into the bullet meant a gun could descend a demon. It was not an ideal weapon for gargoyles working in dark and in secret, but for a moral Keeper it was best to fight from a distance when one could.

Hannah straightened the glasses on her nose and dropped a finished bullet. Then onto the next projectile- one could never have too many...

"You should not be out here"

Hannah flinched and, sure enough, cut the edge of her left middle finger.

"Good evening to you, too," she quipped.

She looked up and Gideon was filling the doorway that would lead to the abbey.

"Anyone could enter," he griped smoothly.

"It's late- no one's coming. It's quiet here."

Gideon ignored her pointed comment and strode closer across the front dais. Hannah watched with mild curiosity- she couldn't remember seeing him out here before in the church.

"You imagine Father Thomas would like you in his sanctuary with weapons?" Gideon's voice did not seem amused.

"This isn't really an average church"

"The fact remains: you shouldn't be out here. Come inside," his tone took on its authoritative quality.

Tough she was not directly one of Gideon's warriors to command, she was never really able to ignore that voice from him. She knew that he knew it, so she put up no pretense tonight; she set her belongings in the box and got up to go back to the abbey.

She shifted her thing to her right and swiped her cut on her jeans to examine it clean. It didn't seem deep, but it stung and she pressed her tongue against it in lieu of abundant options. Tutting, Gideon yanked her hand away from her face and examined the cut.

"It's nothing"

"I know-ah," she hissed between her teeth when he pressed his thumb hard against it without announcement. "Gimme that."

She slipped her hand from his and ignored his annoyed look. She did let him lead the way through the door and into the abbey foyer.

"Guess I'm going to finish this in my room. Am I allowed to be there?"

"You know the answer to that," he shot back. "But you should be training."

"Yeah, yeah"

"You've not been to the training rooms recently"

Hannah grumbled. With all of his soldiers to keep track of training and posts for, she never really understood how he also knew these things all the time, too.

"I've been a little preoccupied. I picked up some extra shifts at the hospital, so I know what's happening in the ER. I'm tired- you're welcome," she added sarcastically.

"....you're prickly today."

"I'm tired," she repeated.

She knew he may not fully understand that. The gargoyles, they did not need sleep. Not really, at least; not like humans. They rested, but it was more a form of meditation than sleep...

"And?"

"And. I'm. Tired."

"You are a petulant child some days," Gideon informed her.

He headed her off so she'd take a left. Hannah thoughtlessly followed along, unsure if it was worth bickering about.

"I don't want to go train in the basement," Hannah came to a stop when she realized they were headed toward the South building so they could get to the far basements.

Like a sheepdog, he'd moved her in the opposite direction of where she wanted to go while they briefly chatted.

"You need to make sure you're practicing, especially right now."

They city had seen a recent rash of physical attacks. Many had died- a few had pulled through despite the attempts made to physically rip them apart. The police had originally thought it was some sort of animal attack, but once people were found in their homes they realized they were more purposeful than that. Given that some organs were missing, they were going with the theory of some kind of ritualistic killings- not so far off.

Demons.

Hannah had been in the ER when some living victims had been brought in. It had been ...rough going. But those the gargoyles had reached in time were still alive and, as much as Hannah had so far picked-up, weren't talking about anything supernatural.

"You think I don't know that?" Hannah blinked up at the tall gargoyle. "You know I'm the one who's actually seen and spoke to the eviscerated humans you've saved, right? I know what's going on."

Gideon's eyes softened, but only for a moment and his face was steely once more.

"All the more reason to train- it's why I came to find you," he told her flatly.

No remorse.

Hannah's shoulders slumped and Gideon clearly took that as a sign of his own personal triumph. He took her box of work and ushered her ahead. She refused to look at him, sure he was feeling cocky as hell; she worked on braiding her hair back instead.

The abbey, always a little drafty, grew cooler the further down they went.

The second basement was largely sparse and open, save for support pillars dotting the area. Then mats were spread about for sparring for Keepers and gargoyles alike.

Hannah spotted Liam and was surprised he'd come down. He was not one for guns or any other weapons in the place. He claimed to fully realize the necessity for them, but in his own hands they made him uncomfortable ...yet here he was. Another sign that things were in a bout of serious shit - even pencil pushers were being bullied down here.

"No, no," Gideon threw an arm out in front of Hannah when she tried to make a beeline for her Australian friends. "Too easy."

He clearly might as well have read her mind.

"Rebekah"

A tall, light haired woman appeared before them momentarily.

"Gideon"

The female gargoyle was not dressed in her standard armor but instead dark cotton pants and a fitted top. She'd probably been down here some time, working and helping train.

"Hannah's going to change, prep, and train with you. Be kind- she's tired," he finished slowly.

She glared at him and wanted to punch him for that shit-eating grin, but he'd probably take that as an invitation to be her sparring partner. Gideon did not go easy; she didn't want to have to deal with that tonight. She bit her tongue and, with a swish of her dark braid, she trailed toward the shower room to change.

Soon enough, she was stretching on a mat in dark leggings and a grey long-sleeve top. Everyone else was as they'd been; Gideon was now slowly prowling through the groups like a hunting jungle cat looking for weakness.

...

...

"Up," she shouted gruffly almost as soon as Hannah's back hit the matt, courtesy of Rebekah.

Hannah grunted softly but did just that and rolled over and up onto her bare feet.

"You're slow today"

"I wasn't joking about the whole exhausted thing," she painted because, unlike her gargoyle sparring partner, it didn't take ages to get winded.

"Or you haven't been devoting the proper time here," Gideon countered.

"She's not doing so bad," Rebekah smiled.

Even this pseudo-compliment wasn't all that cheering, especially when Gideon only scoffed.

"Begin again"

Rebekah leapt at her and they began the dance of sparring over again while the Commander stalked on. Perhaps the gargoyle woman was right- she didn't do horrible, especially since it had been a while since she'd had a proper workout down here.

She did not "win" by any definition of the world, but she held her own. Hannah landed her own hits and offered good defense- sometimes that was the best to expect with a gargoyle to spar against. They were fast and strong-more so than humans could hope to be.

"Ooph!"

The air puffed out Hannah's lungs and she stumbled forward onto her knees after a firm blow to her chest. She coughed to get her breath back; before she could stand again, a hand fisted in her braid and pulled back so her throat pulled taut.

Gideon stood above her.

"Dead"

Panting, Hannah did have the energy to muster a glare at him. She grabbed at his hands to pry his fingers ...but to no avail.

"Perhaps you do need that rest"

Hannah had a smart retort along the very original liens of "told you so" when Gideon used his grip to hoist her onto her feet.

"Ah- that's attached"

He surveyed her with critical eyes, doing the math on her with whatever ancient arithmetic made most sense to him.

"I finished your work for you," he nodded over his shoulder and let go of her hair.

Following the gesture showed Hannah her box seated on the third stone stair. She understood herself dismissed.

"Thanks"

He nodded.

"And thanks, Rebekah. I'm definitely going to be sore tomorrow"

And with that she plodded on up to the third floor and put her things away in her room. A long soak seemed in order, so she did just that in the small tub in her quarters' washroom. Her muscles thanked her for it, but she really was going to feel all of this for a while...

In her room, she flopped on the end of her double bed. Overall, the Keeper's rooms were carbon copies of one another: light stone walls, one ceiling light, a small dresser, and a small desk and chair. Hannah had a personalized her room with photos taped over her desk and a grey and yellow bedspread she'd purchased to cover the plain white one standard to the rooms.

It wasn't as cozy as her personal apartment in the city, but it was a good second home.

It was safe.

So she forgot the hectic goings-ons in the rest of the city and wormed into the thick, warm bed.

After a couple days off, Hannah was back to work with a couple doubles spotted here and there at the hospital. Today, it was a fairly slow shift so far, not that she was going to complain about that.

Slow was alright, slow meant safe.

Content enough with how the day had been proceeding, Hannah sat at the nurses station updating and signing off on patient charts at the desk.

"Hemhem"

Hannah clicked out of a medication list and looked up with a polite smile when someone approaching the desk stopped and cleared their throat. The professional demeanor slipped when she took in who was in front of her.

"Hannah"

Gideon stood there in front of her; she even blinked a few times to be sure.

"Uh ...hi"

She had seen Gideon in clothes besides his armor, but usually it was in casual athletic attire. Once, a couple years ago, he had come here to the hospital with the urge to check on a man he and Levi had barely recognized, but even that had been planned ...and quite some time ago.

"Bad timing?" he frowned.

"...no..." Hannah smiled and stood to look and see over the counter so she was able to look him up and down. He wore dark-wash jeans and a suit jacket over a thinly plaid shirt and a slim tie. He looked ...good.

"Wow ..." she couldn't quite help herself.

"...what?" he glanced down at himself and then around as if to ensure he did not stick out.

"Nothing, you look ...it's nothing," Hannah shook it off. "So what's going on? What's wrong?"

"Wrong?" his voice lilted some.

His eyes still scanned the halls. He seemed on edge, which only confirmed that something must be off.

"Yeah - wrong"

"Nothing's wrong," Gideon's mouth tilted downward. "Why's something wrong?"

"Well ...you're here," she waved an arm around, "so I thought ...something was going on."

"...I can't come se you here?"

Hannah wasn't sure if he sounded more confused or more offended as he shoved both hands partially into his front pockets.

"It's not that ...only that you don't," she reminded him. "Not without planning to, at least."

"Ah," he nodded. "Yes, I suppose that's so ...but," he cleared his throat, "you'd said you were busy and tired from work. I thought I should come see how you are."

"That's nice of you"

"Well," he shrugged in a way that seemed to say 'duh.'

Right. Being of light.

"I could ..." Hannah looked to her watch, "do lunch?"

He nodded and waited while she closed up on the computer and cleared her things to stash in the staff room. When Hannah returned, one of their coworkers was chatting with Gideon, which was incredibly hard to wrap her head around- world's merging and all that.

"...how long have you known Hannah?" Leslie was saying.

"Oh, we go back- grew up together," Gideon responded.

"How cute- hi, Han!" the redhead smiled when she came around her desk. "I just met your friend- I thought he was looking for a patient," the older woman admitted.

"Nope, just me. I'm officially on lunch."

"Catch you in a bit, then"

Hannah nodded and took Gideon's arm lightly to lead the way toward the elevator bank.

"Now she's going to ask me about you," Hannah mused.

"Do you not like her?" he glanced back.

"No, I do, but I've never had anyone at work ask me about ...the other half of my life"

"So you're displeased that I've come," Gideon concluded.

"No, it's good to see you; I mean it. I forgot you owned people clothes," she grinned over at him while waiting for the left to come to them.

He tutted and reflexively clasped his hands behind his back.

"Liam called it cleaning up well," he quoted and followed her into the elevator once it ping-ed open. "As if I don't bathe."

Hannah only chortled at his indignation.

"He wasn't wrong," she agreed, however.

His impassive face brightened briefly, as if suddenly quite pleased with himself. The look passed, and he did not comment further on her remark.

Gideon did not eat with her in the first floor cafeteria, but Hannah didn't wonder at this. Despite his form, he was not entirely human. The gargoyles did not often have to eat much, when they had spent themselves in physical exertion- then, they replenished energy gorging on food. For now, he sat politely while she dug into a sub sandwich and some mixed fruit.

"Are you sure you're alright?" Hannah asked.

"I already told you," Gideon repeated as if he spoke to a child. "I came to see how you are. It's been brought to my attention I may have been demanding and crass as of late," he tightly admitted.

"By who?" Hannah beamed.

"An irrelevant detail," he ignored the request.

"Well ...someone put you in your place"

Hannah couldn't help that something of a smile remained on her lips, and she wondered who'd spoken to Gideon about his sour mood in such a way that he'd taken any sort of heed.

"Not you," he said snidely from across the small table.

"Sure, sure ...back to the point. I'm doing well. I had a couple days off this week, so I was able to catch up on rest ...enough that life feels a little normal."

"Good; you look better," he assessed.

"Sleep and not getting my ass kicked by Rebekah tends to help with that"

"Then perhaps you'll fight harder next time"

Now, Hannah scowled.

"Crass and demanding"

"Impudent and whiney," he countered without a flinch.

Hannah wasn't sure how, one way or the other, they often ended up back at odds even at convivial times. He had come here with kind intentions, if his words were true, yet here they were miffed with one another yet again. It wasn't like they actually, completely disliked each other.

"If you just came to babysit, I guess you can go," she shifted, agitated, in her plastic cafe chair.

"Babysit," he scoffed. "I haven't made it clear I've come as means of amends?"

He was difficult.

"It's not like you've said sorry"

They stared levelly at each other a while; Hannah didn't back down from his steely green gaze. She had decided over ten years ago that she wasn't afraid of Gideon. Off-put on many occasions, sure- no shame- but not actively afraid.

"It is implied," he put finally. "...I know your weeks have not been easy."

Hannah gave it a few moments but accepted that this was probably the best she'd be getting from him on the topic. Just and compassionate though he may ultimately - naturally- be, he was also proud.

"No, they haven't ... ...more so than usual"

This business with the demons being up to something unknown and deadly had her and everyone on high alert. She knew she wasn't the only one doing extra- more shifts, excess work, or longer hours here and there. Humans burnt out faster than gargoyles, though- loyal as a Keeper was, they couldn't keep up too hefty a pace forever. Never mind hundreds of years of experience- gargoyles sometimes lapsed in taking into account everything their immortality meant...

"And so I'm here"

His presence was his apology ...not a bad on, actually, all things considered.

"You'll be alright," Gideon promised her confidently.

Hannah smiled.

"Always have been, right?" she continued to grin a little and glanced away.

"Yes"

And, more quickly than she liked to admit, she wasn't annoyed with him anymore. Never mind his crunch nature- she could ignore it.

Sometimes.