We arrive back in Gabriel's Heaven in a shower of sparks and an air of discomfort. I'm embarrassed – mortified, really – so when Gabriel clears his throat and changes the topic I'm relieved and grateful.

"Now that you're indisputably deceased, we need to move forward with the next phase," he explains as he settles down beneath a looming oak tree. I pick a place and fold myself down onto the soft grass and resign myself to take what Gabriel has to say seriously. I mean, what do I have to lose at this point?

"As an Angel – your Angel – it's my duty to guide you through the process of gaining your Redemption. And since we know God has a sense of humor, He has chosen a very special task for you to complete."

I'm not going to lie – I'm worried. I did a lot of not-so-nice things in my life. I never spent much time reflecting on them because, honestly, they didn't really affect me. So with a gulp and a nod, I motion Gabriel to continue.

"Dickie, your Divine mission is to make amends to Stephanie Plum."

You ever see those old Bugs Bunny cartoons? Remember when Sylvester or Wile E. Coyote would get conked on the head and the little birds would fly around their noggin? I'm not positive, but I'm fairly certain that something along those lines was happening to me right now.

It took me a minute to get my feet back under me and find my voice, but Gabriel cut me off before I could even finish my first sentence of protest.

"Listen, Dickie, this isn't up for discussion. You can't just pick one rotten thing out of a long line and choose to make up for that; you don't get to just replace Mary Jo Oldfather's balloon animal from 3rd grade because you popped it, or reimburse the investors you ripped off on behalf of the mob and get into Heaven. You do what the Father tells you or He rescinds the offer, end of discussion."

The gravity of what Gabriel is telling me begins to settle and for the first time, I allow the situation to sink in. I'm dead and in my afterlife, I'm being charged with a Holy Mission to make some sort of reparations for an injustice I laid on a fellow human being. That, I can stomach. What I'm finding a little hard to reconcile is the fact that I've got to do my crazy ex-wife a good turn or I'm going to Hell for all eternity.

Now that I'm in this 'better place', reflection comes a bit easier for me than it did when I was alive. I get it, I get it…I was a louse of a husband, but there's worse things, right? I mean, in the long list of things I've done that are damnable, I'm having a hard time understanding why this was the thing that stood out. There's about a million things I'd rather make up to a million people than to help Stephanie Plum with anything…but then, maybe that's the point. Maybe God the Father decided I needed a lesson in humility, too.

If that's the case, He couldn't have picked a better tool than my ex-wife, I think as I scrub my palm over my face. With a groan, I roll my eyes just as Gabriel barks out a laugh.

"That's the spirit! That eyeroll is the very essence of Stephanie, and we're going to work on getting to know her so we can get down to business!" he crows in something like jubilation. Hopefully he'll forgive me for not joining in the merriment.

I huff and grumble, "I already know Stephanie. That's how I know I don't like her, Angel."

Gabriel looks at me with something akin to pity and says, "No, Dickie, you don't. I don't think you ever cared to really know Stephanie in the first place, and that was a huge part of your problem. But I digress; let's move forward and we'll tackle this one step at a time, eh?"

He hops up and pulls me to my feet, then claps his hands together and begins speaking again.

"First, we're going to do some reconnaissance; you are sorely lacking in understanding and empathy where the weaker sex is concerned,Orr, and we're going to remedy that today!" Gabriel seems excited, eager even, to begin this. My reaction is more along the lines of 'running sprints in freshman P.E.', but it is what it is so I plod over to him and wave him on.

"Okay, first thing's first – you need a dose of reality. We're going to hop backward a bit to kind of help refresh your memory on the dynamic you two had. I'll be the first to admit, it's a little Dickins-esqe, but it's proven effective in the past so we're going with it. Ready?"

I have no idea what he's faffing on about so I just nod and close my eyes, resigned to my fate.

I hear, rather than see,the crackling sparkle as he flashes us to our next destination. I open my eyes and gasp, loud and involuntary, at the scene.

It's a college dorm apartment, indistinct in its drab institutional feel and brightened only by a few personal items: a colorful bedspread, a few throw pillows and a pair of small shelves holding framed photographs and small tchotchkes. It's completely standard and nondescript, in fact, with the exception of the small Linda Carter Wonder Woman Barbie-type doll propped up on a little metal hanger. I raise my trembling hand to my mouth and wipe it, shaking my head and blinking my eyes rapidly to clear them as I try to find my voice.

"This…this looks a lot like…"

"Stephanie's old college dorm room? That's because it is," Gabriel sing-songs from behind me. "Surprise! We're going to visit here for a bit, in the hopes that you can begin to see where you veered off course."

I turned around to argue the point, but the words dried up on my tongue because just as I was about to let loose a stream of abuse, the door opened and Stephanie breezed in, followed closely by…well, by me.

We were a decade younger, but it was us. I remember this room, I remember the leather riding jacket that belonged to me, now wrapped snuggly around Stephanie Plum. A quick glance at her left hand tells me that yep, we're engaged in whatever place in time we're sitting at now. Holy shit. I'm completely transfixed and gobsmacked by the scene, and I can only lean against the wall as I watch it play out before me.

"Come on, Steph, we're getting married in 2 months! What's the big deal if we move in together a little early? We're adults, it's not like our mothers can ground us!" Dickie is wheedling, trying to tempt Stephanie into giving in while copping a feel of her ass. She swats his hands away and whirls on him, glaring.

"Yeesh, Dickie, keep it in your pants for like, two minutes! I've told you before, I don't want to live with you before we're married – I'm not a virgin, my parents aren't exactly 'giving me away'…that's one piece of tradition I want to uphold. Otherwise, there's nothing special left for our marriage." The last part is spoken quietly, beseechingly. She is trying to appeal to his sense of chivalry, not having realized yet that it doesn't exist. Dickie sighs; he knows he's not going to gain any ground with her now, at least not by the normal routes. Instead, his eyes settle on her Wonder Woman doll and inspiration strikes.

He shoots for nonchalance. "I guess I should've realized you wouldn't want to live with me. You've still got dolls up in your dorm room, for crying out loud. Doesn't exactly scream 'mature woman', does it?"

I cringe inwardly, hating that Gabriel is seeing a very private moment where I maybe wasn't my best self.

Stephanie looks a bit crestfallen. "Dickie! That's not fair! I've always loved Wonder Woman, you know that! Ever since I was a little girl-"

Dickie rolls his eyes and waves his hand in front of Stephanie's face, effectively cutting her off. "Maybe it's time you let go of little girl things, Steph. Maybe if you embraced being a woman and put away these little toys, you'd be more ready to move forward with our life together! I mean, come on…what grown woman keeps dolls on display in her room?! You're never going to fly, you're never going to be Wonder Woman, but you can be my partner in life; aren't I good enough for you?"

Stephanie's eyes, widened in shock at his tirade, drop to her shoes. Shame mixes with uncertainty and paints her face, and when she finally speaks again her voice is subdued.

"Okay. I'll move in."

Shit. I'd all but forgotten this little scene; in truth, I didn't much care that Stephanie still had a doll from her childhood. I just really, really wanted her to move in at the time; the allure of a steady stream of sex was the only motivator I had and I guess maybe I was a little too harsh in convincing her.

WHAM!

"Ow! What the – Gabriel, what the fuck!?" He hit me! The sonovabitch hit me, right in the back of the head!

He rolled his eyes before shooting me a glare. "Calm down, Mary, it was just a slap that you totally deserved. What went wrong here, Dickie?"

I glance back at Steph, frozen in some space in time before turning my attention back to Gabriel. I feel icky, queasy in my gut and almost instinctively I start to squirm. Guilt. I feel…guilt. It's an emotion so foreign to me, so unacknowledged, that it takes a minute to settle in.

When I don't answer, Gabriel sighs and closes his eyes. "Dickie," he says without opening his eyes, "I know that this is a new concept to you, but I can't do this for you. This is on you. This is your journey, your quest for self-knowledge. If you can't even decipher this one very simple memory, then we may as well call it quits now because there are a lot of other recently deceased out there who would love the chance to make things square again. Now, one last time – can you see where you began to veer off course?"

He sounds…dejected, like he's on the brink of defeat; That galvanizes me into action; defeat for Gabriel meant that I'd failed, and that meant my Second Chance has expired…that isn't an option, not if I wanted to achieve my own Heaven. Gritting my teeth, I take a deep breath and begin.

"I shouldn't have been so…abrupt with her."

Gabriel doesn't open his eyes, doesn't move except to deepen his frown slightly. Feeling panicky, I continue.

"I was…it was unnecessary for me to be so high handed."

Gabriel opens one eye the tiiiiiiniest slit and laser-focuses in on me. I can sense the pleading in the gesture, and it undoes me.

Throwing my hands in the air, I yell, "I was a jerk! A self-centered, sex driven ass and I treated my fiancé like she was just a tool to service my needs! I didn't care about her feelings, I just figured she'd get over it in time and see that I'd been right all along!"

With a whoop, Gabriel reaches out and pulls me into a bear-hug, clapping my back.

"Now we're getting somewhere, Dickster! You've got to take ownership of your wrongdoings before you can see how you played a big part in how Stephanie's life is going today; then, and only then, can you begin to fix it. Now, we've got a lot of work ahead of us, so say goodbye to that 22 year old stomach and your old hairline and let's get cracking!"

Everyone's a comedian.

And with a wave and a shower of sparks, we're gone.

This time, we're in a hall.

I don't mean a hallway, like the one at Steph's parent's house in Chambersburg with closets holding peacoats and umbrellas for market trips on rainy days; no, this is a banquet hall. It's decorated along the lines of what you'd expect; pretty linen tablecloths and matching chair covers, lights strung and lit. There are people in gowns and tuxedos mingling and a decent band playing some instrumental holiday crap. All in all, it's nice.

I look to Gabriel, unsure of where I'm at or what I'm supposed to do. He catches my glance and gestures toward the crowd. "Move, mingle through. They can't hear you or see you. This is your journey, Dickie, you've got to be the one to make the discoveries."

We set off, and to be honest I'm not sure what it is I'm trying to 'discover'. The setting is vaguely familiar but it isn't until I see 'Merry Christmas 2003' etched onto a piece of frosted glass that it hits me – my company Christmas party, the first (an only) Christmas Stephanie and I were married.

After that little discovery it's all I can do to stay upright – this whole ordeal has been a bit much to swallow, but now the Angel of Screw-Ups Past is taking me to the scene of some apparent crime I committed years ago! The whole thing just makes me so mad I can't –

Pain. Blinding, white hot pain, just for an instant behind my eyes, and then it's gone. Shaking my head, I turn to Gabriel with my hands supine and my mouth hanging open.

"What was that?!" I shriek; I thought the mook said there was no pain here?!

Gabriel, the smug magoo, is just glaring at me with his arms folded over his chest. His brow is all furrowed and he looks royally pissed…at me! Me, who he just zinged and whose brain he just fried!

"That was a reminder, Richard," he stresses my name, still looking peeved. "You are not the injured party here, and if you're going to walk around with that attitude I'd like to just call this a day and get back to my meadow."

"All right! Jeez, a guy can't have a moment's private reflection…" I'm grumbling and pissy as I stomp off, looking for whatever the Hell is supposed to enlighten me at this pretty little pit stop. It only takes me a minute before I zero in on…well, on myself.

Dickie is standing far too close to a female paralegal from his office, flirting covertly and enjoying it immensely. He's not unhappy in his marriage, per say, but he hasn't lost his taste for variety.

Just as Dickie is lifting the paralegal's hair away from her ear to whisper something provocative to her, the crowd parts and Stephanie approaches with their drinks, looking every bit the angry wife. Stephanie has murder in her eye and Dickie, for once, makes an effort to stymie her.

Deftly, he pinches the paralegal's earlobe and laughs far too loudly. "There! You may want to get that backing fixed, it'd be a shame to lose such a pretty diamond!" He scolds her gently before giving her a nudge to get her moving, away from his incensed wife.

"Earring, Dickie?! Are you serious?! You were flirting with her!" Stephanie hissed the last bit, pain evident in her voice.

Dickie is tired of defending his flirting. All he's done the past two months is deny and try to explain away his behavior, but tonight he's had enough of that. Stephanie's little fit just cost him a sure thing; it was time to remind her exactly how much weight he carries in this marriage.

Haughty and cocky, he speaks to her in a strained and harsh voice. "So I was flirting with the pretty assistant, so sue me! Maybe if you'd buy something that didn't come from the 'mom' section at Macy's I'd spend more time hitting on you and less time talking to the women who put forth an effort to look nice!"

Dickie grabs his drink from his stunned wife's hand, downs it in one gulp and slams the empty glass on a nearby table. He throws her a contemptuous glare before stalking away, completely missing the look of utter betrayal and heartbreak in his wife's eye.

I draw in a shaky breath as the players in this scene freeze; that was harsh. That was beyond harsh, actually, and I'm more than a little ashamed of my behavior. I don't know if it's my life experiences since Stephanie, or my afterlife experiences since my death, but watching the way I treated her was painful.

Slowly, I turn to face Gabriel, barely daring to meet his eyes. He is solemn, and he stares at me with a sad expression. He inclines his head, just barely; an invitation to dissect.

I take a few more shaky breaths before I can speak. "I was a jerk…again. I dismissed St- my wife, and purposely made her feel inadequate so she wouldn't interrupt me for the rest of the night." I'm whispering at the end, surprised at the level of remorse I feel. This happened years ago, and Steph obviously got over it – why does it feel so raw?

"It's raw because you're feeling it with a new heart, Dickie." Gabriel's voice breaks my reverie. "Each revelation you make is a salve, and it heals you. It repairs what was broken in your life, and it makes you a man worthy of Redemption. Now, can you guess what this night did to Stephanie?"

I can't muster the strength to raise my voice above a whisper at this point. "No."

With a grave nod, Gabriel steps forward to take my hand.

"One more memory, I think. That should help things immensely."

As he raises his hand, before the sparks fall, I chance one last glance at Stephanie's face. Her haunted expression follows me to my next destination.

A/n: many thanks to my beta, Elaine, without whom my tense confusion would render this story illegible. I'm off to spend the next few days fishing, it'd be bitchin' to come back to lots of thought and comments, please and thank you