Learning
Nothing much happened over the first couple of days, other than Hermione eyeing him as though she expected him to explode, which she probably did because she tensed every time he walked past her. Gabriel found it rather funny and spent as much time as he could perched just out of her sightline to scare her.
Something had evidently gone terribly wrong in Hermione's past because the third time she spotted Gabriel, this time wearing a dark cloak he'd found on her hat stand, hovering just out of view, she'd shrieked and thrown him against the wall.
"OW!" Gabriel complained loudly.
Hermione stared at him for a solid second before blinking, her eyes focusing.
"Don't do that!" She scolded and he hit the floor with a thump. She appeared in front of him with a crack and crouched down to look at him. "You really shouldn't sneak up on me," She added, looking him over for injuries.
"Somehow I'm never expecting you to be all...Xena-ish." Gabriel bounced to his feet and grinned at her. "What's in the file?"
"The details of your murder at my hand." Hermione said blandly, leading the way back to her desk.
"You won't kill me." Gabriel told her confidently.
Hermione simply snorted and straightened her jumper.
"Not today." She countered. "We have work to do and you can make yourself useful and read that." She pointed at the large folder on her desk which was slowly undoing its own binding due to its enormous size.
Gabriel looked at the folder and then back at her.
She raised an eyebrow and Gabriel smirked devilishly, wiggling his eyebrows.
"Oh, for crying out loud," Hermione sighed, giving in. "I don't know why I indulge you, really I don't."
Gabriel leaned against her armchair.
"It's my good looks. So are you going to tell me..."
Hermione walked up to him, slapped her palm against his forehead and pushed.
Shift 3694...Multiple radicals...Researcher Oswald...Granger...
He staggered backwards, blinking rapidly as the new information slotted into his head.
"You're telepathic." He blurted, before shaking his head rapidly as though he'd gotten water in his ears. Yuck...he hated information downloads.
"Not really." Hermione opened the file and began flicking through the paper, by-passing hand written reports and forms. She looked completely calm as though she hadn't just dumped a whole load of data into his head. "But I am magical. And technically speaking, you're a wavelength. Passing information to a wavelength isn't all that much different from memory extraction."
"Urgh...how many times did they stop this guy dying from pneumonia?" Gabriel asked, searching through the information in his head. "And how long have they been fucking with this time line?"
"Language." She reprimanded gently. "And far too often for my liking, but it's a complicated case. The main issue with this universe is that is contains so many people who can do my job for me. Telepaths...time travellers." She clarified when he just looked at her blankly. "I cannot stand time travellers!" Hermione added rather bitterly.
"There's not one free radical here..." Gabriel stared at her. "There's at least fifty."
Hermione grimaced.
"And they all have to go right. Now the basic ones have been set in place over the last century. The pneumonia incidents were...the base work for something indefinitely larger." She waved her hand carelessly. "But the one we're concerned with today is Lewis."
Shift 3694.62-Granger/Gabriel
"I need you to promise me you'll behave." Hermione murmured quietly from her chair.
Gabriel grinned at her.
"Shan't" He teased.
The stall had been created by Gabriel, much to Hermione's relief. Apparently her awe inspiring powers drew the line at conjuring stuff out of thin air. The table was scattered with leaflets and forms, as well as several clipboards, all of which went unnoticed by the steady stream of American college students who passed them by.
Hermione merely rolled her eyes and went back to staring at a particular office directly across the hall from them. It had only two occupants the Professor and the free radical they were they to see.
"This isn't fair!"
Gabriel's head snapped around at the wail and both he and Hermione made their way towards the door, which stood slightly ajar.
"I need those credits to graduate!" A woman cried, sounding on the verge of tears.
A second voice spoke, oily and annoying in a way which made Gabriel's nose wrinkle.
"There, sugar. I'm sure we can find some way of fixing this. A faculty member willing to speak up on your behalf."
"Uh..."
"And of course a girl in your position..."
"Don't touch me!"
There was a yelp and then Gabriel and Hermione burst into the room.
The professor, a weak chinned and smarmy looking man in his mid-forties looked up shocked, but didn't quite manage to step away from his student fast enough to hide where his hands had been reaching for.
"Miss..." Hermione started, eyes narrowed, held her hand out. "Can you come with me, please? I need someone to show me around."
The student, looking pale, upset and also furious, stumbled towards Hermione without saying anything. Hermione brushed against Gabriel as she escorted her out and Gabriel smiled like a shark as he caught the thought she'd sent him.
Leave him alive.
The door closed with a snap behind the women.
Gabriel emerged into the corridor five minutes later feeling extremely satisfied, to find it deserted except for the student and Hermione, who were drinking coffee from the Thermos stashed under the stall.
"Now are you sure you're all right?" Hermione was asking.
The girl shrugged, showing the sort of pragmatism which was developed rather than born with.
"Wasn't the first time...Won't be the last."
Hermione's lips thinned but she seemed willing to ignore this for the moment. Gabriel wasn't and used his grace to tighten the ropes slightly.
"Now, I hope you don't mind, but we thought we heard you say you need college credits..."
"Oh yeah." The girl's expression soured. "It's freakin' bullcrap...but you know. What can you do?"
Wordlessly, Gabriel and Hermione pointed to the banner behind them.
Student Placements! Credits Guaranteed!
Gabriel resisted the urge to let off fireworks.
The girl's mouth formed a silent "O" before she turned back to them with a grin.
"You got anythin' in Political Science?"
Hermione didn't even pretend to look.
"Nothing." She assured her blandly and the girl crumpled. "Look, most of these placements are highly contested... usually there's a lot of people searching for places. However," She smiled at the girl who was starting to look like someone had killed her puppy. "I do have this."
Gabriel, almost vibrating with excitement, handed over the only genuine form on the table. She took it and they watched as the girl frowned, reading it over.
"Astrophysics?" One brown eyebrow raised insolently as she glared at them over the top of the form. "I don't know anything about that! I'm dumb...seriously, I spend more time on Tumblr than I do in class!"
"It's essentially data handling," Hermione placated. "Plugging in numbers and reminding the chief researcher to eat." The student looked doubtful. "What's more...you will definitely get in. Spend a few months in New Mexico with Dr Foster and you'll have the credits you need. I promise."
"I dunno," She chewed on the end of her dark hair. "I could just...Take another class, or something."
"Can you afford to?" Hermione asked, serious.
"Not really." Dark eyes glared at them. "How come I'm guaranteed to get it? Is this some ruse where you're gonna sell me off as a slave the minute I sign? Since when do they do these things on paper anyway? What are you two, dinosaurs?"
Gabriel burst out laughing.
"Oh, I like her." He crowed and Hermione spared a moment to glare at him. He stuck his tongue out at her.
"No one else has applied," Hermione explained, "The deadline is tomorrow and I can assure you that no one else is going to."
"How come?"
Hermione grimaced and opened her mouth to say something that would no doubt be suitable tactful.
"The scientist is freakin' nuts." Gabriel butted in. "She thinks she can find bridges in the sky or something...Doesn't matter. She's desperate for help and you really need those credits. So take a leap of faith and sign."
Five minutes later they had a sheaf of forms signed with a curly signature tucked into an envelope and a very satisfied looking Hermione. Well...satisfied if you could read her aura. Outwardly she just looked mildly pleased.
"Dr Foster will be in touch soon." She promised, shuffling papers.
"Oh...here!" Gabriel snapped his fingers behind his back before handing over a small paper bag. "I think you dropped this." Next to him he could feel Hermione going rigid, but the girl was just frowning at him.
"Uh huh." She took it from him, tucking it into her purse without question. She paused, chewing on her lip. "Listen...thanks for this." She waved the envelope. "And...uh...thanks for the rescue. I coulda handled it but..."
Hermione smiled.
"Sometimes these things go better with someone else on your side. It's quite all right." She made a shooing motion with her hand. "You need to hand in those paper, Miss Lewis."
"Right." The voluptuous brunette grinned at them. "I don't wanna know what happened to Professor Ward, do I?"
All three of them turned to look at the doorway to the office, from which the professor in question was yet to appear. Gabriel smirked.
"Nope." He agreed.
The girl seemed to consider this before nodding.
"Cool. See ya!" She turned, already digging into her pocket for her Ipod.
They watched her go, both smiling slightly as the girl chattered to herself about something neither of them understood.
"Do I want to know what happened to that bastard?" Hermione asked quietly.
"Are you squeamish?" Gabriel challenged, grinning. Hermione shrugged.
"Fair enough." Her nose wrinkled in disgust. "I can't stand people like that."
"You and me both, Mimi."
"Don't call me that." She complained, shoving her Thermos into her pocket.
"Anyway, the taser should help..."
Hermione went as stiff as a board, pivoting on one heel to stare at him.
"You gave her a taser?" She shrieked, but didn't wait for him to reply. "Well, I always wondered where she got the damn thing from." She added in a mutter. "Universe works in mysterious ways."
"Is that your motto?" Gabriel asked cheekily.
"It should be." She complained. "That taser..." Hermione murmured as Gabriel snapped away their stall with his grace. "Just how dangerous is it?"
"It won't kill anyone..." Gabriel paused as he flew them back to London. "Well...probably."
Hermione actually laughed.
"Does today feel like a Tuesday?" Hermione asked him casually, three days later.
Gabriel shrugged, busy sucking on a lollipop.
"I think it does." She decided and got to her feet, summoning the forest green cloak which hung on the hat stand. Gabriel couldn't work out why she owned so many of the damn things.
"We usually operate around the dawn of the twenty first century. Don't ask me why. To borrow a phrase "that's when everything changes"." Hermione shrugged. "However, sometime the turning point happens earlier."
"Early enough that your warehouse will freak people out?" He asked, squinting at her cloak.
"Something like that." She murmured. "You coming?"
Shift: 83497-Granger/Gabriel
Gabriel looked around the woodland clearing and sniffed.
"No smog." He frowned at her. "How early is this?"
Hermione shrugged.
"The Dark Ages. Or...what we would call the Dark Ages. Hopefully if I get this right it'll be known as the Age of Enlightenment."
"And if it goes wrong, sweet-cheeks? What then?"
Hermione growled.
"I'm trying not to think about it." She snapped.
The doorway, which on this side was a rough slab of wood set into a cave entrance, was several feet behind them, partially hidden by the ivy. The rest of the woodland was green and wet in a way which was unique to Britain and alive, calling out to Gabriel grace.
There was no pollution here and the human influence was minimal. It reminded him of the Garden in a way. All though without Joshua's rather irritating presence. That guy could make a snake feel bad for stepping on a flower.
(In Gabriel's defence, he hadn't meant to destroy that flower bed, it was just where he happened to crash land.)
The undergrowth rustled, shook and eventually deposited a young man into the clearing. His hair was jet black, and had a twig sticking out of it and his eyes were a bright, unnerving blue. He had high, sharp cheekbones which made him look like an elf, large round ears which completely belayed that theory and a blue scarf tied around his neck.
It wasn't that that had Gabriel staring though.
Hermione's magic was bright and strong and intertwined with everything that made her human. This guy however...
It was like looking at the sun. You could barely see the human shell holding the raw power together, let alone the aura which was almost entirely eclipsed by it.
If Hermione's home world had magic then this guy was magic.
"Lord Emrys!" Hermione said brightly and bowed, her curls sweeping forward and bouncing lightly.
Emrys flushed whilst Gabriel just stared at her in bemusement. Sure, bow to the sun-man but not to the Archangel.
"Please...don't." He fluttered, waving his hands nervously.
Hermione straightened with a smile, one that Gabriel was surprised to see was actually genuine.
"Gabriel," She said cheerily. "I'd like you to meet Lord Emrys. Emrys, this is my associate, Gabriel."
Emrys stared blatantly at Gabriel, before he stepped closer to hand over the wicker basket he was holding.
"You know he's got wings..." The mage whispered to Hermione in an awkward voice. "Don't you?"
"Erm..." Hermione winced. "Yes, I do. I did wonder whether or not you'd be able to see them."
Emrys shrugged. Apparently he could see a lot of things he wasn't supposed to.
"What are you?" He asked Gabriel bluntly.
"He's an angel." Hermione said quickly cutting across Gabriel before he could be his usual witty self, swinging the basket nervously as she did so. It was full of herbs, Gabriel noticed.
The man frowned, scratched his head and then said,
"What's an angel?"
Well...That hadn't happened in a seriously long time. Gabriel pouted.
The sun-man followed this up with.
"Wait! The Christians! They have angel things, don't they?"
Hermione gave him a stiff smile.
"Yes, they do. And Gabriel's not a thing."
Gabriel would have added his own indignation to this protest, but he was too busy listening to the silence. No Chorus. No angels. He shivered. The silence was gonna drive him nuts.
Hermione patted Gabriel neatly between his wing joints, which made him bristle slightly and turned back to Emrys.
"How've you been?" She asked eagerly. "Any trouble recently?"
Emrys shrugged.
"The usual. Had a Gorgon a few weeks back, but the knights took care of that." Hermione raised an eyebrow and a slightly bashful grin appeared on the man's face. "Well, that's what they think anyway."
"Nothing else?" She inquired innocently. Gabriel turned his head to stare at her judgementally. Subtle, she was. Real subtle.
"Er..." Emrys rubbed the back of his neck as those large ears stained red. "There was this Sorceress..."
"Oh?"
"Enchanted sleep potion." Emrys flushed. "It was meant for Uther, but the prat drank it instead. She thought that no one could ever truly love the king...don't blame her for that one actually." He shook himself even as Hermione hummed an agreement. "Anyway, dollophead decided that that was the night to borrow his father's goblet for a speech and drank the lot." Hermione frowned sympathetically as the man rambled. "Only..."
"Let me guess," Gabriel broke in with a smirk. "True love's kiss, right?"
By now the man's entire face was red and he was staring resolutely at the forest floor.
"We tried Gwen and..."
Hermione smiled at him.
"It wasn't her, was it?" She asked gently.
The man kicked at some leaves sullenly and didn't answer.
"Oh, dear." Hermione sighed, but her soul kept smiling. "Come here."
The gangly youth bent at the waist and allowed himself to be folded into Hermione's arms, looking utterly pathetic.
"Has anyone told him?" She asked.
Emrys shook his head miserably. Well, Gabriel assumed miserably. He couldn't tell because his head was buried in Hermione's neck.
"Does anyone know?" She added and got another "no". "Ah, well." She grabbed Emrys by the shoulders and shoved him back slightly so she could see his face. "What are you going to do about it?" She asked brightly.
Emrys stared at her, seeming to hang from her hands.
"Me?" He squeaked. "Nothing! Why would I do anything?" Hermione gave him an expectant look and the living sun scowled. "No! I'm on thin ice as it is. I almost got caught by the druids again. And that bloody dragon is causing me problems. Besides," He sighed and Gabriel came to the horrifying conclusion that the guy with enough power to blow a hole in the world was just a teenager. Or, you know, a toddler to Gabriel. "He doesn't..."
Hermione smiled sadly and pulled him back into her arms for a quick hug.
"You need to get going." She told him and the boy shrugged. "The hunting party will be coming this way any moment."
"Probably. I got you the herbs you wanted, the feverfew took a bit of finding but..."
"Thank you." Hermione stepped backwards and then bowed at the waist. "A pleasure as always, Lord Emrys."
"Uh...yeah." Emrys grimaced vaguely at Gabriel. "Nice to meet you, by the way."
"Ditto." Gabriel managed.
In the distance there was the faint thunder of hooves and the clank of steel. Emrys flushed.
"Bother." He muttered. "I gotta..." The rest of his sentence was lost as he sprinted off into the woods, crashing through the dog's mercury and ground elder with none of the grace his lithe form suggested.
"C'mon." Hermione said, her smile now rather faint. "It wouldn't do to be caught here." She led him back through the doorway with a wave, basket bobbing along in the air behind her.
"So," Gabriel drew out the word as long as he could, whilst she chopped herbs in a neat and practised way. "Lord Emrys?"
To his surprise and unending joy, Hermione flushed slightly.
"The title is a bit unnecessary, I'll admit. He won't grow into it for a long time." She gave him an amused glance. "But...In my universe we had a similar counterpart to him. He was responsible for the foundation of our very society, so much of our knowledge came from his genius..." She flushed again when Gabriel raised an eyebrow. "I treat him with respect because in my world he was definitely owed it, even if here he is a bit of an idiot."
"Huh. And the happy ending?"
Hermione's large knife didn't pause in her chopping, but she took her eyes away from the board to stare at Gabriel.
"It's not what you think." She told him dryly. "True love...its not the be all and end all of the universe. It may look like that, more often than not, but it isn't. Believe me on that."
Gabriel waved a hand over himself.
"Archangel, remember? I know that." Hell, most soulmates never even met each other let alone saved the world together. "So what's the deal?"
"Emrys..." Hermione pursed her lips. "He's powerful. Unbelievably powerful. And that power, the very essence of magic which runs through him, is destined to bring Britain to order, to unite the kingdoms and bring forth the Age of Enlightenment. And to do that, he needs to make sure the Prince manages to get onto the throne and survives the hundred and one assassination attempts by the furious and mad magic practitioners living in his kingdom."
"This would be "Dollophead"?" Gabriel asked mirthfully. "His soul mate."
Hermione scowled.
"Pure coincidence." She snapped.
"Uh huh." Something clicked in Gabriel's head and his eyes widened. "Wait a mojito...Is he...?"
Hermione looked up, smirked and didn't say anything. Gabriel decided that anyone with that much of an evil gleam in their eye should be a Trickster.
"Wow." He breathed. "You really know how to show a guy the sights."
"Oh, yeah," Hermione breathed sarcastically. "You can tell by the way they're cueing around the corner to meet me."
"You were married." Gabriel said, deceptively lightly. "Someone must have liked you."
Several delicate jars smashed as Hermione's magic snapped out, her emotions spiking furiously. Gabriel blinked and then grimaced. Hermione had vanished and the kitchen knife was buried in his skull.
"Oh, come on." He complained, pulling the blade free with a scowl. It let out a loud squelching sound and he healed it as it left. He wasn't sure if she actually had good aim, or if she'd gotten lucky, or her magic had propelled the blade to where it would hurt but not kill. "She's lucky I don't feel like smiting anyone right now." He left the knife, and the bits of brain matter clinging to it, on her desk to prove a point before retreating to the rafters. There was a beam there which was just the right size to slot between his wings, if he decided to lie down on his back. Also, from there, he could see everything in the warehouse.
Hermione was in her bed, curled up in a lump under the covers, the very faint sound of her tears echoing across the space.
For a brief second Gabriel felt repentant, before he pushed the feeling aside.
"Touchy, touchy." He murmured to himself.
...Rose and Hugo...Rose and Hugo...RoseandHugo...RoseandHugo...
Gabriel grimaced and used his grace to push the human slighter deeper into sleep. Her dreams were leaking into his head again.
It wasn't like he tried to read her mind. He just didn't put a lot of effort into avoiding it. Once he had made contact with a mind, it was easy to just slip back into tune with it. He was curious by nature and it was so much easier to reach out and see what was making her sad than actually asking her. Not that he ever got much. Most of her thoughts and actual memories were shielded from him. And anyway...It wasn't like he was the only guy in there.
The first time he'd come across the connection the back lash had given him a headache. Although that may been more to do with the book she'd lobbed at him.
"Don't touch that!" She yelped. "You'll make him nervous."
"Him!" Gabriel yelled back, annoyed. "Why is he living in your head?"
She didn't bother to answer just slapped his hand to her forehead and Gabriel caught the memory she pretty much threw at him.
"Legillimens." She whispered, starting the connection. The man, with his aching, empty mind, seized the bridge and grasped it tight, maintaining it even when she lowered her wand. Hermione smiled at him sadly. "Better?" She asked softly. She was younger here, by at least five years.
The man nodded sadly.
"It's not the same," He told her honestly, "But...better than the silence."
As far as Gabriel could figure, this guy was like an angel...at least in the sense that he heard the host in his head.
"He used to hear the echo of billions of his people, happy and sad, light and dark. They're all gone now." Hermione had shrugged, looking strangely sympathetic. "The least I can do is stop him going mad. He's been through enough as it is."
Gabriel stared at the sleeping human without blinking. Things had been quiet since she'd thrown the knife at him, although he could now admit that he might have deserved it.
He didn't know who Rose and Hugo were. Minds didn't work like that and dreams even less. They could be her siblings, friend, lovers...Humans formed strange connections. It wasn't his job to understand them.
The door to Gabriel's universe was kept wedged open with a slip of paper. This was partly so Gabriel could come and go as he pleased, and partly so the faint strains of angel radio could drift on through.
He'd gotten so used to the discordant cacophony of Michael's soldiers waging war, that when it all went silent, it stuck out in his mind like a proverbial "Some thing is wrong" sign.
And then everything went to Hell.
Literally.
Seraphs were screaming, Raphael, usually the most level headed of the Archangel's, was bellowing his fury and there was the twittering echo of the cherubs trying, and failing, to console everyone.
Lucifer and Michael were nowhere to be heard.
His big brothers, who had been continuous drones in the back of his head for months, weren't there.
No more Michael, barking out orders to his troops.
No more Lucifer, calling out in a tempting whisper to anyone foolish enough to listen.
"I gotta go!" He called.
Hermione looked up from her paperwork at him, looked down at one of the post-it notes on her desk, scowled and waved him on.
That was never good.
He paused next to his door, toying with the paper jammed in the frame.
If they'd both gone silent, they must be dead. The final battle.
It was probably a wasteland out there, the whole Earth destroyed, fire and brimstone and...
Sunlight.
He peered around the door and frowned.
"Ain't that something?" He murmured, stepping out into the bright London sunshine. He pulled the door to behind him, but didn't dare close it fully. He might need to make a quick escape.
The buildings were intact, the humans kept walking and talking.
Something was definitely wrong here.
Gabriel didn't have any friends left, aside from Hermione and she wouldn't tell him anything he could easily find out for himself, so he went to the next best thing.
The Winchesters.
If there was a supernatural event within this century, you could bet your sweet ass the Winchesters would be at the centre of it.
Or...one of them at least.
Dean Winchester was kneeling, bloody and bruised in a graveyard in Kansas. The four Horsemen's rings were on the ground in front of him.
They'd opened the cage, Gabriel realised, hovering invisible nearby, and there was no Sam...which meant no Lucifer.
There was a corpse lying in the nearby grass...the ratty old hunter who'd tried to stake him once and his soul was still hovering within reach. Gabriel fixed his broken neck with a flick of his fingers before ramming the soul back down the man's throat.
Bobby Singer sat up and, in that brief second between life and death spotted Gabriel.
"Huh?" He managed.
Gabriel wiggled his eyebrows and the hunter blinked, immediately losing sight of him.
Bobby was covered in gore. It looked like someone had been exploded here...must have been Lucifer, Gabriel realised. He'd always loved that old playing card. No one knew why. Getting flesh out of your feathers was a pain. It was just a...quirk, Raph used to call it.
The Archangel leaned back against the Impala to see what would happened next.
He didn't expect a miracle.
There are miracles, such as performed by angels, minor deities and that guy who made chocolate in Belgium that tasted like your second orgasm of the night.
Then there are miracles, the big kind, the once-in-a-life-time, never-see-it-twice kind.
This was one of those.
Gabriel's baby brother stepped from nothing onto the grass next to Dean, shook his head as if to clear it, before folding his wings and crouching down to talk to the human.
Gabriel wasn't an idiot. He knew exactly who those bits of flesh and bone had belonged to, and Cas had almost been human the last time he'd seen him, running on the bare fumes of grace as he fell, slowly but surely, from Heaven. There was no way he would have survived Lucifer's wrath.
Now, however, he was resplendent as a soldier of heaven should be, massive coal coloured wings tucked tight to his back and a grace, bright and pure with energy, coiling inside of his vessel.
Gabriel laughed, mostly out of relief but also slightly out of jealousy.
"Daddy's boy." He called to the unaware angel.
It took him a while to work out what had happened.
Sam had given in to Lucifer as Gabriel knew he would and then somehow, defying all the laws of the universe, he'd not only taken control back, but he managed to open the cage and drag both Lucifer and Michael in with him.
Hermione sat patiently through this explanation, although Gabriel had the smallest suspicion that none of this was news to her, occasionally drinking from her mug.
"What will you do now?" She asked once he was done.
He blinked.
"Huh?"
She smiled slightly.
"Your brother's aren't looking for you, Gabriel. Lucifer can't find you now."
He scowled.
"If anyone could it'd be him." He complained. "And who says I gotta do something different anyway? Maybe I like it here!"
Hermione gave him the sort of look usually reserved for recalcitrant children. It made him want to do something insane, like paint the walls with honey.
"Gabriel, no one in their right mind would want to be here. It's boring and tiring and endless. Even I don't want to be here!"
"Then why are you here?" Gabriel yelled, confused. "I don't get it! And seriously, when does your freakin' shift end...you've been her constantly for two years..." He gaped at her, thinking that over. "Mimi...Your shift does end? You gotta clock out at some point, right?"
Hermione grimaced.
"Everyone clocks out eventually." She murmured. "I've only got a few more months and..."
"You know," Gabriel said, deceptively lightly. "I can tell when you're lying. I've got no idea why you even try."
She froze, gaping at him.
"What?" She breathed, eyes wide.
He steeped his fingers, trying his best to look superior.
"Archangel of Judgement, remember?" Gabriel leaned forward over the scrubbed kitchen table to stare into her eyes. "Why're you lying to me, Mimi?"
Her emotions were as visible to him as his wings were to her, so he saw every single ounce of pain and grief and sheer mindless anger that she was carrying around with her before she drew in a deep breath and subdued it all, clenching her jaw tightly until the emotions faded away into nothing.
"Come with me." She bit out, getting to her feet. "There's something I've been meaning to do."
Today's door was towards the rear of the warehouse, plain wood with no obvious features, aside from the small timer, like the one you found in kitchens, sunk into the wood. Hermione rested her hand on it with a sigh, but didn't do anything else. Gabriel could detect a faint buzz coming from the timer, although it didn't tick or move.
"What's that do?" He demanded, when nothing became immediately obvious.
Hermione gave him a sharp look, but answered anyway.
"This...It holds the door in a particular spatial moment. Instead of the door progressing through linear time in universe," She glanced at the plaque. "36192, the door is held fixed where I trapped it. It stops schedule conflicts from occurring and I don't miss the turning point." She breathed out heavily. "Or that's what the intention is. Mostly I use it to hold doors until I can catch up on sleep or to hold the ones I don't want to deal with."
"How come you don't want to deal with this one?"
Hermione pursed her lips, her eyes looking suspiciously watery.
"Its..." She let out a shuddery breath before twisting the timer resolutely. It disengaged from the door with a squelch and the buzzing stopped. One of the endless streams of invisible magic jilted into action and the door seems to solidify slightly. "Complicated."
Gabriel looked from her to the door to another universe and then back again.
"Tell me about it, sister."
She unlocked the door, the universe connected to the warehouse properly and they stepped through into rainy London, where raindrops like bullets fell from the grey, forbidding sky.
"Appropriate." Hermione murmured, scowling. She waited for Gabriel to orientate himself.
There were no angels here, but this world wasn't completely mundane either. Something old and powerful tickled at the edges of his senses, something wild in a way the Host never was. He was jerked out of his thoughts when a slim hand wrapped around his, twining their fingers together.
"California, please." She announced, hair frizzing in the rain.
Gabriel looked at her doubtfully.
"Do I look like a taxi service?" He complained, stretching his wings out. His third left ached slightly. "Is California still in the same place?" He added only mostly joking. One of the files he'd sneaked a peak at contained a universe where the continents had never drifted apart from Pangea.
Hermione sighed heavily as though Gabriel's presence was the greatest burden that she'd ever had to bear.
"Yes." She hissed. "Now go. We're on a schedule."
"All right, all right..." He rolled his eyes and flapp...soared...He couldn't think of a word which didn't make him sound like a parrot. Whatever. They flew.
Hermione directed him to a small town, far from the ocean and mostly surrounded by forest. Something deep under the ground pulsed when they landed, a wash of quiet and slightly malevolent power breaking over them.
"What the..."
"Not important." Hermione ground out. Still holding his hand she began pulling him through the streets, towards the hustle and bustle of the local hospital. They stepped into the busy reception area and both of them wrinkled their noses. Gabriel frowned down at her as they bypassed the welcome desk and headed for the nearest sign post.
"Do your people have hospitals?"
Hermione sent him a confused look.
"Of course we do."
They dodged a pale, sweaty man being led by a rather nervous looking nurse before ducking around a cue of people waiting to be treated.
"Did they look like this?"
Hermione frowned as she looked over the sign post attached to the wall, but she paused long enough to send him a nervous look out of the corner of her eye.
"Some of them did. Can you see ICU anywhere?"
Gabriel pointed to the small sign saying "Intensive Care Unit" and they followed it down the hallway.
"What do you mean "Some of them"?"
Hermione paused and grimaced.
"My world," She murmured as they entered the stairwell, "You have to understand. It wasn't this magical universe where we had magic instead of science. Only some of us had magic. I thought I was an...abnormality growing up, I didn't realise what I was until I was eleven. My parents...they were normal. They went to hospitals like this. After I turned eleven...I never did."
Gabriel pulled her to a stop, searching her expression for what she wasn't telling him. Hermione twitched as though she wanted to pull away, but stayed and let him look. Her thoughts were sealed tight, only her emotions showing in her aura. Fear and worry.
"Talk." Gabriel demanded seriously.
She bared her teeth, grimacing.
"My people were hidden!" She complained, before glancing around and lowering her voice. "We had to be. If normal people had known we existed...I'd have been burnt at the stake!"
"Really?"
She waved that aside carelessly.
"It's possible." She acknowledged.
Gabriel stared at her in dread. She'd told him that he wouldn't want to know what she was, but Gabriel had never been very good at unsolved questions.
"What are you?" He growled and instead of crumbling, she stiffened, straightening her spine.
"You have to know," She snapped. "If you're really going to stay. My people practised magic, it was in our blood, in our heritage...I'm a witch, Gabriel." The Archangel froze, staring at her. She met his gaze unflinchingly, burning with a quiet fury. "And I always will be." Hermione twisted out of his hold, stepping backwards through the double doors which led to the Intensive Care Unit.
Gabriel fled.
He went back to the warehouse, flitting silently through the door and standing perfectly still in front of her desk.
A witch.
A fuckin' freakin' witch.
Very slowly, one of Gabriel's fists clenched.
Witches...witches were lower than demons. They were the whores of the Devil, giving away pieces of their soul in exchange for paltry power and parlour tricks. And the fact that she had tricked him, into thinking she was good, that she was his friend?
He would burn her out of existence for even daring to be in the same room as an Archangel. She was beneath him...
A slow, careful breath was released from Gabriel's lungs and his anger dropped to a low simmer.
That was Michael talking, not him. That was the huge pile of crap his big brothers had left sitting on his shoulders.
His angel blade dropped into his hand and he closed his fingers around the cool metal as the anger boiled up again.
Let's see how well she could Watch when she didn't have any eyes.
Hermione stepped back through the doorway, smelling strongly of salt, disinfectant and sorrow. She tapped the door with her stick, locking it in the same post shift ritual she always used. Nothing about her seemed wary or afraid and Gabriel just wanted to laugh at how arrogant she was. Did she really think that whatever power she had bartered to get would be enough to protect her from him?
He was an Archangel and his wrath would be recognised.
Meters of golden feathers snapped into existence above him as Gabriel's wings lifted high in what was, to any Seraph, akin to a death sentence. Hermione turned at the sound, stick lifting as she moved, only for Gabriel to knock the piece of wood out of her hand. It hit the floor with a clatter and rolled away across the concrete. The witch darted to the side, magic rising around her and Gabriel caught her roughly, fingers closing about her neck as he hoisted her up off the ground, slamming her against the doorway. Her feet kicked out at his knees, delivering a brief but sharp pain, which Gabriel ignored, grace itching with the urge to burn her soul out of her body.
"You're a witch!" He roared.
Hermione, despite the disturbing shade of purple her face was going didn't back down. Both hands shoved at his chest with enough power behind the movement that Gabriel was actually forced to drop her. She sucked in air as fast as she could before moving to summon the stick. Gabriel's grace snapped out and held her immobile, feet inches off the floor.
Hermione coughed, glowering at him.
"So?" She snapped. "What is it about that that makes you so fucking vengeful?"
"You sold your soul to my brother!" He bellowed, wings crackling with grace. "Your soul." My soul!He turned away from her, his grace ruthlessly beating back the tendrils of magic which tried to escape.
Hermione let out a raw, unconstrained shriek of fury which, had he been human, would have burst both eardrums.
"Believe me," She sobbed. "If my world had a Lucifer I would have sold my soul a thousand times over and felt no regret to get what I want back. But there isn't so I can't." Gabriel could hear her crying, wet tears spattering against the concrete. "So just look at me, Gabriel!" He paused. "Look at me!"
Steeling himself, Gabriel turned. Hermione hung there, aura prickling with constrained magic, sorrow and the utter fury that she was doing nothing to hide.
"I'm looking." Gabriel growled.
Hermione hiccuped out a bitter laugh.
"No," She spat, "You're not. Not really. Look at me, Gabriel! I didn't sell my soul for magic, magic is my soul."
Gabriel looked. Honest to the host looked.
When he'd first met her he seen a whole soul and assumed it was untainted by his brother. Now he could look properly he realised...that wasn't entirely true. Her soul was chipped and cracked in places from deep psychological wounds, some still fresh and some very old, that had left their mark. The kindness and compassion, rage and sorrow which usually made up her base emotions, were out of balance and her magic...
Hermione dropped to the floor in a heap as his grace snapped back towards him as though stung. There were bruises forming around her neck and Gabriel felt sick. Of course she was human, of course she was fragile and breakable...
"Hermione..." He begged but she got to her feet and staggered away from him, her stick flying straight into her hand. He didn't even flinch when she turned it on him. He was an Archangel...and she was his friend. His only friend. He should have known better. Whatever she did, he deserved it.
The stick didn't waver, but Hermione's voice did.
"The next time you do that..." she breathed, voice still thick with tears. "I'd rather you killed me."
She left quietly, leaving a frozen Archangel behind her.
Gabriel knew when she was lying...and she hadn't.
It took a while for things to settle back to whatever passed for normal around here. Gabriel had never felt guilt before. Not really. Guilt wasn't something he was equipped to feel. Regret, sure he'd felt that. Regret he'd never got between his brothers, regret he hadn't protected the Seraphs, regret he hadn't been able to stop Sam. But guilt...
It seemed to gnaw away at his insides like some sort of flesh eating disease that he couldn't quite heal.
So Gabriel went back to basics. Angels were supposed to watch over the humans? That he could do.
He healed the bruises when she slept, as well as the persistent ache in her hands that Gabriel didn't think she was really old enough to have. And then he was stuck...Ideally, he'd heal her soul. That many cracks wasn't good...look at the Winchesters. Unfortunately souls really weren't his speciality. Strangely enough, that title belonged to Lucifer. His brother had been so fixated on the idea of destroying the humans that he'd spent years working out how the damn things worked. It was something to do with...Well, he hadn't been listening. Lucy had been kinda fanatical about the whole thing and Gabriel had had Seraphs to raise.
(And yes, Gabriel was willing to admit hard headedness was a family trait. Once they got an idea into their heads it took a metaphorical monkey wrench to the skull to set them straight again. Gabriel was just lucky he'd come to his sense before he'd killed her.)
But logically, he knew you fought sadness with happiness, sorrow with joy. So he just had to make her happy again and everything would be fixed. It took him two days to work this out and when he finally stirred Hermione had gone back to her paper work. And someone had glued his shoes to the floor.
Gabriel frowned as he padded around the warehouse in his socks. Concrete was cold, he decided. Humans didn't like being cold. It was why they did the whole fire and shelter shitck. Gabriel snapped his fingers and thick, gold carpet spread out across the floor, like high speed moss. Hermione gave a great sigh from behind him and took off her own shoes.
It turned out, after several days of Gabriel trying and failing to work out what his human needed, that all he'd had to do was bring her a cup of tea. Hermione had looked up and smiled gratefully, accepting the mug before going back to her work. Humans were weird.
Thirty seconds later she reached up and passed the memory of their last Shift to him and Gabriel realised they were good.
Shift 36192-Granger
The boy sobbed into her shoulder, large, silent tears soaking her jumper. Hermione rocked him with the ease born of...well Gabriel couldn't tell if that was instinct or practise, and stroked his hair, whispering to him.
"It's all right little one. It's okay." She murmured, knowing full well that it was the tone that was important not the words. Besides, it wasn't all right. It wouldn't be all right for a long time.
His heart was broken, his mother having been taken from him far too early and far too slowly. Gabriel couldn't decide if losing her and knowing it was coming was better or worse than losing her without warning. His father was...unable of dealing with his heart broken son, too busy grieving the loss of his soul mate as well as being expected to take care of important matters, like hospital fees and funeral arrangements. No one had questioned the well meaning woman who'd muttered something about being a godmother and had taken the boy aside.
"She's gone." The boy sobbed, followed closely by, "I'm sorry, mama. I'm so so sorry!"
Hermione lifted him easily, resting him on her hip as the boy continued to cry. She smiled at a harassed looking nurse she passed and headed for the small community garden just outside the main entrance. The boy didn't even notice they were moving. Hermione settled onto a bench nestled between two trees and set the boy in her lap. It took time for his tears to dry and Hermione pulled a juice box out of her pocket and, after sticking the straw in, passed it to him.
"Here you go," She murmured and the boy, face tear streaked and red, sniffled, taking the box. His hair was long-ish, hanging slightly unevenly around his head, and Gabriel couldn't help but wonder if anyone had remember to take him to get his haircut recently.
"It's my fault."
Hermione jerked suddenly, going very pale. She shifted slightly so she could look into the boy's eyes.
"No!" She said fiercely. "No. Never, ever is this your fault, Iskra. Do you understand me?"
"But..." His lip trembled as the empty box fell forgotten to the floor. "They told me not to tire her out, but I just wanted to show her my pictures and then she fell asleep and...she wouldn't wake up!"
"Ack, darling." Hermione whispered. She brushed the tears from his cheek. "No. This wasn't because of you. Your mum...she was leaving anyway. You didn't do this. Do you understand?"
Iskra shook.
"But..."
"But nothing. You know, I bet she was so happy to see you. Wasn't she happy?"
He nodded, still crying.
"And she was so proud of you. You were her favourite person."
"It was stupid!" The boy cried. "Stupid pictures and if I hadn't..."
"What did you draw, sweetheart?" Hermione asked abruptly and the boy paused.
"Mama and dad. And the house...an' the trees."
"And what did she say?" Hermione pressed.
"She said..." he hiccuped. "They were good. She liked them."
"See. It wasn't stupid." She gathered him close again, smoothing her hands over his hair. "Not a single moment of it was stupid."
"Who're..."
Hermione sighed heavily.
"I'm Hermione. I'm your fairy godmother, sweetheart. I'm taking care of you for a bit."
"Where's dad?"
"He's...looking after things. He'll be here in a bit. Is that okay?"
The boy nodded solemnly.
"I want my mom." He whispered.
"I know, sweetheart. I know."
"She's gone."
"Not really." Hermione hummed for a moment, a fragment of a lullaby. "Not as long as you remember. The people we lose are never really gone as long as we remember them."
They stayed like that for a long moment, Hermione humming quietly to the child as he lost himself in grief. In the woods just beyond the garden, something shifted and Hermione looked up and met glowing eyes unflinchingly. The thing with red eyes seemed to nod to itself before stepping quietly away.
"Listen to me, little one." Hermione breathed, taking her gaze away from the woods and shifting him so she could meet his eyes again. "You are special, so unbelievably special."
"Why did she leave?" He asked again, in a sleepy murmur.
"She didn't want to." Hermione assured him. "Believe me on that, she never ever wanted to leave you. You meant everything to her."
"One day," She told him as he clung to her, half asleep, "You will meet someone. He'll be big and scary but he'd going to need someone like you to show him how bright the world really is. You're going to need to be strong and stubborn and oh, so brave little one. But I promise you, in the end, it'll be worth it. He will make you so happy."
In the distance the boy's father was calling out for him and Hermione set the child on the ground.
"It'll be okay, Iskra. I promise."
Gabriel pulled himself out of the memory.
"What's going to happen to him?" he asked, curious.
Hermione sighed, looking sad.
"If it goes right?" She murmured, "Everything."
Gabriel gave in.
"Mimi," He murmured. "Why don't you go home?"
She stilled before staring at him, brown eyes unusually dull.
"The door's broken." She murmured at last. "The connection's gone. I can't get back." She shrugged. "So I might as well do my job whilst I'm here."
"Liar." Gabriel rebuked softly.
Hermione gave him a faint smile and didn't say anything else.
Gabriel glared at the blue door. It was embossed with a bronze wolf, head tilted back, howling; but otherwise was completely plain.
This was the door to where he lived.
Gabriel didn't share well and the idea that there was someone else lurking around his human's head seriously pissed him off.
Bang
Oh, and there was someone knocking on the door.
"Get that would you?" Hermione called across the warehouse.
Summoning his angel blade, he unlocked the door and swung it open.
The young man in the suit on the other side looked surprised to see him, but got over it incredibly quickly and didn't even give the blade a second glance.
"Sir," He greeted formally, before stooping to pick up the shopping bags piled around his feet. He stepped past the astonished Archangel and into the warehouse, calling "Get the rest would you?" over his shoulder.
Utterly confused, Gabriel snapped his fingers (because he didn't carry things, thank you very much) and closed the door as the man carried his load to the space Hermione used as a kitchen.
"Who is this?" Gabriel demanded, as Hermione wandered over.
"Ianto Jones." The witch chirped, looking unusually happy. "Prompt as always." She grinned at Gabriel. "You can set your calendar by him."
The Archangel flicked a glance at the calendar pinned to a cabinet and realised she probably did.
"Is this your guest then, ma'am?" The man asked politely, looking Gabriel over with a steely eyed glare.
"He was." Hermione frowned slightly, although Gabriel could see the mischief lingering in her eyes. "He won't leave and has decided he works here." She dropped her voice to a whisper. "Don't believe anything he says. Completely delusional that one."
Ianto pursed his lips and nodded, whilst Gabriel stared at her stunned.
"Of course, ma'am."
"How's work going?"
Ianto shrugged.
"Had a bit of a scare last week. Almost missed a ghost shift. Not that I know much about it."
Hermione seemed to pause for a moment before smiling brightly.
"Well, I'm sure it'll work itself out. How much do I owe you?" She asked, digging in her pocket.
"The usual."
She nodded and handed over her money. Gabriel wondered idly how mad she'd be if he manifested his wings in front of this guy.
"So what's the sitch?" Gabriel asked and Hermione grimaced at the question. Although that might have been because he'd been quoting cartoons again. "Because that guy's destiny ain't to bring you your groceries every two months."
"It's complicated." Hermione murmured, locking the door with her wand. It was a wand apparently, not a stick. She'd eventually snapped and corrected him. "His universe has a Time goddess. And the problem with Time goddesses is that they tend to be..." She waved her hand as she searched for the word. "Omnipotent."
Gabriel arched an eyebrow.
"Like how?" He demanded.
"She, the Bad Wolf, she can tell when I'm going to tweak things and she," Hermione gritted her teeth. "She locks the door!" She yelled, outraged.
Gabriel started to laugh, peaked at her aura and thought better of it.
"So she won't let you in?"
"No! And I'm only trying to help!" Hermione added indignantly. "And you know what the really annoying thing is? She only existed for about ten minutes. She created herself, worked out all the places that needed tweaking, all the changes which had to happen to keep the time line on the optimum track and then ensured she existed in all the necessary moments before un-creating herself." She gave an aggressive sigh. "It's infuriating."
"So why do we have the door? Why not close it?"
Hermione frowned.
"The thing about Time goddesses...the other thing about Time goddesses, is that they're not really interested in details. Yes everything turns out all right in the end but a lot of pieces," She paused and Gabriel watched as shame rolled over her for some reason he didn't understand. "A lot of people," she corrected, "Get hurt along the way. She's a bit...raw if you ask me. I do my best to...fix what I can. Sometimes," She murmured. "I wonder if I'm not one of her pieces and she just manipulates me the way she wants."
She stared at the wall blankly.
"And Ianto?" Gabriel interrupted. If he let her keep staring she'd forget what they were talking about. That happened a lot. "Free Radical?"
Hermione winced.
"Well, no. He's not actually. His boyfriend is. Or his boyfriend will be. He's the...free radical to a free radical. His memory will steer Jack's decisions and shape his incredibly long life. Jack's one of the Wolf's radicals. I try to stay away from him."
"And him?" Gabriel growled, his wings flexing behind him.
Hermione gave him a bemused look.
"He's lonely." She said simply. "Do you want to see?" She added and he nodded.
Shift 44453- Granger
The mug she handed to the tall stranger was dark purple and embossed with "MoM" on one side. He took it reflexively, curling long fingers around its warmth. They were sitting on the familiar curb outside the doorway, alone in the London night.
"It's not good for you to be alone." She told him gently.
The stranger snorted.
"I could be alone in a room full of people." He complained. "I'm more alone than you can ever imagine."
"If you say so." Hermione pursed her lips and blew on her tea.
"My home planet was destroyed." Dark eyes glared at her, something dangerous hiding behind the blue irises. "I destroyed it!"
Hermione merely nodded as though she had already known this.
"The last great Time War." She murmured, ignoring his shocked expression. "I know how that feels." She told him matter of factly. "I lost my family, my world, my universe. Everything I have left is around me here."
"But you're human?"
She chuckled.
"Not quite." The man openly stared at her, before scanning her.
"Well that's…" His face twisted, large ears rising slightly. "Weird." He complained.
"Your people were touch telepaths, weren't they?" Hermione asked carefully.
"How do you know that?" The man demanded suspiciously.
"It's in the file." She said breezily. "Mine weren't but we could replicate when necessary."
"No, you couldn't. You're not advanced enough."
"Rude." She murmured and he grinned bitterly. "Think about it at least. I think it's the least I could do."
...
"You could come with me," He offered nervously, hands shoved deep in his leather jacket's pockets. "If you like?"
Hermione smiled at him quietly.
"Now you know I can't do that." She murmured. "I have universes to look after." She was standing in the doorway of the warehouse, looking younger in a way Gabriel couldn't quite quantify.
He nodded.
"Ah, yes. The Witch in her warehouse, managing the cosmos."
"Better than a madman in a box messing it up. Travel safe." She wished. "Don't travel alone and come for dinner some time." Her smile turned slightly sad. "I could do with the company."
"Does he come visit?" Gabriel demanded, cross.
Hermione gave him a sad, slightly watery smile.
"Occasionally. He doesn't really do domestic."
"Hmm." Gabriel reached for her quill with a frown. "Is this one of my feathers?" He demanded, twirling the golden feather between his fingers and splattering both of them with droplets of ink.
Surprisingly, she pursed her lips, eyes brimming with laughter.
"Yes, it is."
"You're using one of my feathers as a writing implement!" He hissed, pretending to be offended.
"Well it was lying around!" Hermione smiled at him. "Waste not, want not and all that!"
Carefully, Gabriel set down the homemade quill on her desk, all the while eyeing her strangely.
"I demand compensation!" He declared, seizing her hand.
"Oh, really?" Hermione let him pull her towards the sofa. "And in what form is this compensation to take place? You've eaten all the ice cream."
Gabriel pouted at her and snapped a bowl of popcorn into existence. Hermione frowned at him looking confused.
"Movie night!" He cried, happily.
The witch raised one eyebrow.
"Gabe we don't have a TV." She said patiently.
Gabriel rolled his eyes. Humans. No imagination.
"I'm an Archangel, baby." He snapped his fingers. "Get the lights would you?"
"I've got work..."
"No, you don't." The insane woman was three weeks ahead of schedule. Seriously, did she think he was an idiot?
"But..."
"Lights, Mimi."
Hermione huffed out a quiet laugh before she summoned her wand.
"Very well. Knox."
Shift 36192.2- Granger/Gabriel
"He's an idiot, quite frankly." Hermione tapped her fingers on the rim of her coffee cup as they watched the teenager chase his sisters around the local park. Gabriel just laughed. "You think I'm kidding. Unfortunately, things are going to get a little tragic for him in about..." She pursed her lips. "A week."
Gabriel, who'd actually read some of the file this time, glared at her.
"A little tragic? Mimi, his house is going to burn down! With his family inside!"
She rolled her eyes.
"Okay, a lot tragic."
Gabriel frowned at her.
"Sometimes I think being on your own has really messed you up."
Hermione glared at him pointedly.
"I'm sorry, which one of us decided to become a god of mischief?"
The Archangel pouted.
"I'm just saying, you could be a little bit more sympathetic." He whined.
Hermione's glare warped into a glower.
"Okay. Say I was a lot more sympathetic. I can't change anything. Not yet. Well I could. I could send Iskra in, save the whole family. He'd die in the process, of course. Nothing I can do about that." Her eyes were cold and unforgiving, reminding him horribly of Michael. "Or I could let things unfold as they should. They all die and he and his sister leave. And then she dies, horrible, I know. And then a lot of other people die," Gabriel clenched his jaw. "And then...after a lot of death, he starts to get things right. He admits what he's been ignoring for years, my Iskra is happy and safe and loved. But here's the important thing. The hundreds, and it is hundreds Gabe, of people that they save, the family and pack that they build...none of that is possible without the tragedy."
"I hate you sometimes." Gabriel murmured, sipping at his (mostly sugar) drink.
Hermione sighed, watching the teenager.
"I know."
Shift 91125- Granger/Gabriel
"One pina colada and a half pint of cider." Hermione ordered. The barman took a long look at the pair of them before nodding and handing over the drinks. They paid before turning to survey the pub. It was bustling, busy with the sort of tired men and women who came out to drink heavily on a Wednesday, the radio only just loud enough to cover the long lilt of Irish accents. Gabriel stirred his drink with its decorative umbrella before using it to point to a patron. The young journalist was sitting alone at a table, staring down at today's paper through the bottom of his beer glass. His suit was cheap and fit badly and his hair stuck up at odd angles from where he'd been running his fingers through it.
"So, him?"
"Yep." Hermione chewed on her lip. "Are you sure you can..."
Not for the first time Gabriel rolled his eyes.
"YES! I can do this."
Hermione held up her hand in surrender, the other holding tight to her drink.
"All right. Fine. You know what you've got to do?"
"Yep." He bounced on his toes, expending a small amount of grace to stop his drink spilling.
"Off you go then." Hermione leaned against the bar and Gabriel bounded away, almost throwing himself into the chair opposite the depressed writer.
"Hi!" He grinned.
"G'way." The Irishman mumbled into his drink.
Gabriel ignored that, carefully yanking the papers out from under the man's elbow, which slipped and caused the man's head to knock against the table.
"OW!" He complained, lifting his head to glare blearily at Gabriel, who was busy scanning the paper.
"What the news ever do to you?"
The drunk man scowled.
"I write obituaries!" He spat, eyes unfocused.
"So? Gotta start somewhere." Gabriel sipped at his drink as the man sigh sorrowfully.
"I was going to be a novelist. One of the greats with my readers hooked on my stories. Instead..."
"Have you ever thought about horror writing?" Gabriel interrupted.
The man glared at him.
"No one wants to read that."
"Wants to? Nah, not really. People do it anyway." Gabriel grinned showing all of his teeth. The man shivered. "Have you ever considered caterpillars as a theme?"
Shift 36192.3- Granger/Gabriel
They stood in the darkness watching the house burn. Hermione had insisted on coming, making sure that only those who were meant to survive did. Hermione looked...cold mostly. She stared resolutely into the flames without flinching. He wondered if her lesser hearing could pick up on the screaming.
Gabriel wrapped one wing around her shoulder and she sighed heavily. He listened to the sound of fire engines approaching, far, far too late and wondered when he'd started to care.
Shift 33795- Granger
"Have you ever considered doing something other than medicine?" Hermione asked blandly, letting the intern stitch up her arm. The other woman gave her a smile, her red hair neat despite the dark bruises under her eyes.
"Maybe. I don't know. My dad was in the forces, kinda always wanted to follow him."
Hermione grimaced as she tied off another stitch.
"The problem with the armed forces, is you spend rather more time arming than you do helping. And that's why you became a doctor wasn't it? To help people?"
The intern shrugged.
"I suppose so."
"You know who I think could use someone like you?" Hermione added, apparently as an after thought.
"Who?"
"The FBI. I reckon you'd see all sorts of things there. Never a boring moment."
The intern laughed.
"Yeah? And what would I do in the FBI?"
Hermione reached for her wand.
"Look for the truth." She tapped the neat row of stitches, which unravelled into a pile of black thread. The intern stumbled backwards and Hermione healed the wound, leaving it without a scar. "There's more to the world than what you know, Dana. Think about that."
The intern stared at her, terrified and Hermione vanished.
Shift 87526- Gabriel
Gabriel sent the drug dealer to sleep before the man even realised he was there. The air stank, putrid and tinged with smoke and chemicals. People lay strew across the floor, lost inside their own heads. Some giggled brokenly, others cried silent tears. Many simply lay there, staring at nothing.
"Humans." Gabriel sighed, stepping through the mess, occasionally stopping to look at people. He found the guy he was looking for, curled under a thin blanket in the corner. He was filthy, curly hair greasy and matted in places, bright eyes dull with drugs. He frowned at Gabriel, his gaze barely focused.
"You're not the usual lady." He complained.
Gabriel crouched down and rested a hand on the man's shoulder. He was severely underweight, dehydrated and, ultimately, dying. There was a badly healed gash on his leg which had become severely infected and his heart rate was sluggish.
"Yeah, well she's busy."
The man sighed.
"You a guardian angel too?" He asked, looking sceptical.
Gabriel paused and made a point to bring that one up with Hermione later.
"Sure buddy." He murmured hoisting the man into his arms. "I'm an angel."
By they time they landed in front of the large manor, he'd healed the physical injuries but not the addiction. Hermione had told him not to bother.
"End of the line." He said cheerfully, propping the man against the large door. "Listen..." He snapped his fingers a few times to get the man to focus on him. "Listen! I've got a message. Hermione says this is the last time. Next time you're on your own."
The man, high as he was, scowled.
"Typical." He muttered bitterly.
Gabriel rolled his eyes and left.
Shift 36192.4- Granger/Gabriel
"We spend too much time in this Universe." Gabriel complained.
Hermione shot him an annoyed glance.
"This one has to go right." She snapped. "Now, shush. He's coming."
The boy was about eleven now, scrawny with doe eyes that seemed too big for his face and slightly hunched shoulders, ending in hands that never stopped moving. He caught sight of them about halfway down the street, a brilliant smile spreading across his face.
"Aunt 'Mione!" He yelled as he raced towards them. Several passers-by looked over in amusement as Hermione obligingly held out her arms. The boy ran straight into them.
"Hello, little one!" She smiled, ruffling his short hair. Gabriel grinned, amused despite his irritation. "How are you?"
"I'm good." The boy stepped backwards and frowned at Gabriel. "Who's that?"
"That's Gabriel. He's my friend."
"Hey kiddo."
The boy eyed the angel suspiciously before launching into a long and rambling explanation about what he'd been up to recently which somehow warped into an in-depth rant about puffer fish. Hermione laughed, eyes sparkling as she easily kept up with the conversation and for a moment, Gabriel wondered if this is what her children would be like. Bright and hyper and full of life and mischief.
"What exactly is the turning point here?" Gabriel asked, swinging his legs off the beam.
Far below him, Hermione stilled, hand reaching for a folder.
"Beg pardon?" She murmured, only just loud enough for him to hear.
"Wolf boy. What's the turning point?"
Hermione went back to scratching out equations and Gabriel scowled.
"Don't ignore me." He warned, dropping silently from the beam to land silently at her side. Hermione flinched slightly.
"Turning point, Mimi. What is it?"
"The fire." She breathed and Gabriel froze.
"Wait, not the fire we went to like...ages ago?"
Hermione's jaw clenched but she didn't say anything whilst Gabriel just gaped at her.
"Seriously?" He yelled. "Why're we still meddling around in it?" He paused. "It's the kid isn't it? That's what's different!"
"Gabriel..." Hermione pleaded.
"No! You know, you're such a hypocrite." Gabriel spat, angry now. "Just like my brothers. Usually its all for the greater good," She winced at that. "You think you can just mess around with the universe like it's some freakin' puppet for you to play with!"
"You think I like this?" Hermione snapped, finally turning to him. Her eyes were blazing. "You think this is what I wanted to do with my life? Yes, Gabriel. I get selfish, I get indulgent. So what? Believe me on this," She roared, getting to her feet. "I deserve to!"
"Why do you work here?" Gabriel demanded wildly.
Hermione blinked, startled by the rapid subject change.
"Come again?" She asked, frowning.
"Why. Do. You. Work. Here?" He sounded out carefully.
Hermione started laughing which made Gabriel squint at her.
"You remember," She wheezed. "When I told you there were budget cuts and that's why I was working here alone?"
"Yeah?"
"Not entirely a lie." Hermione leaned back against her desk. "The Ministry was making cuts left, right and centre. Some things couldn't be cut, Auror Squad for example and no one wanted to be responsible for taking money away from "Magical Games and Sports". We'd have had a riot on our hands. I was quite senior in the Ministry at the time and the Minister came up with a bright idea of shutting down the more...unnecessary parts of the Department of Mysteries." She chuckled. "Back then there were almost fifteen people working in this building alone. Unfortunately not even he knew how the Warehouse actually worked, so he assigned me as a spy. The Department of Mysteries had been trying to get my attention for years, so they didn't even question my presence. They were just thrilled to have the great Hermione Granger as an Unspeakable." She sighed bitterly. "I spent my time working here trying to work out how to safely disable the warehouse and get the damn thing shut down without ripping a hole in the universe."
"Why you?" Gabriel perched on a cabinet and stared at her. "You're just a human."
That made her smile.
"Back home I was something of...a hero, I suppose. Not through choice, mind you. I just had a reputation for being rather brilliant." Gabriel frowned. He could have told her that. Had he told her that?
"So of course when..." She swallowed. "I just happened to be the one on duty and I was trapped on the wrong side. I figured I might as well work whilst I was here."
"Why that one?" Gabriel asked seriously enough to catch her attention. Hermione was lost in thought, staring at the floor with a worrying amount of seriousness consideration.
"What?" She murmured, distracted. Her voice echoed around them, bouncing off the walls.
Suddenly Gabriel yearned to make some noise, something, anything which would fill up the empty spaces around them. The door to his universe was closed at the moment and the silence was being to unsettle him.
"That universe. Why does it have to go right for that one?"
Hermione flinched and rubbed at her eyes as the very faint scent of salt met Gabriel nose.
"He..." She swallowed, voice thick and the Archangel stared at her horrified. "He reminds me of Hugo." Hermione swiped at the tears slipping down her cheeks and pressed her lips into a fine, grief stricken line. "My son."
"I lost them." She breathed.
Gabriel waited as patiently as he could, wings wrapped closely around her shoulders.
"Do you know what the last thing I said to them was?" She pressed her hand to his forehead without waiting for his answer.
She was rushing, in a hurry to get out the door on time. Two children were sitting at the table, spooning cereal into their mouths.
"Where on earth is your father?" She snapped, shoving another roll of parchment into her bag. The eldest child, a girl with red hair but her mother's deep brown eyes and curls, looked up and grinned.
"Still in the shower."
The two met each other's eyes and Hermione crossed over to the kitchen sink, slipping on her shoes as she went. The house appeared to be in some form of organised chaos, a clearly advanced organisational system warring against ridiculous clutter. Hermione slammed on the hot tap on full, counting under her breath.
"Three….Two….One…."
Upstairs a man shrieked as he was doused in presumably cold water.
The children laughed.
"That'll teach him to turn off the alarm." She teased, only mostly joking. She dropped a kiss on each of her children's heads and headed for the front door. "Behave for your grandmother," she warned, pulling on her coat, turning to her son, a dark haired boy who was laughing into his breakfast. "Hugo, do not listen to your Uncle George, he's lying, Rose, sweetheart don't forget you've got a Judo class this afternoon. I'll pick you up from your grandmother's at six," She opened the front door, pausing to yell over her shoulder. "And do tell your father to hurry up. He's going to be late!"
Gabriel stared at her and she looked back, eyes dull and red, hand falling back to her side.
"Hindsight's a funny thing, isn't it?" She murmured.
"How old were they?"
"Rose had just turned ten. Hugo was still seven. They were brilliant." She said in a rush, tears falling unheeded from her eyes. "Bright and wonderful and everything I could ever want in children." Gabriel had always wondered what utter sorrow sounded like. It sounded like a distraught woman doing her best to remain detached. "I..." She took in a deep breath and held it for five long seconds before breathing out slowly. "It was my husbands turn to drop them off at Molly's. Poor woman ran childcare for the entire family. Molly was my mother-in-law," She explained, managing somehow to sound as though this had happened to another person. "And she had five children and between them they had twelve grandchildren. We all had to work, so Molly watched them all. She seemed to love having the house full." Hermione sighed, eyes fixed on a dent in a nearby cabinet.
"Why don't you try and fix the door?" Gabriel asked. "Go home?"
"It can't be fixed." She murmured and he scowled.
"Mimi, I'm an Archangel. I'll fly you there if I can't fix it!"
"It can't be fixed," Hermione hissed, her tight reign on her emotions slipping slightly. "Because there is nothing wrong with the door. The door works fine!" She trembled next to him, fists clenched. Her shields were tightly closed, telling him nothing.
"Then..." Gabriel realised something and felt his spirits sink. "You're using the past tense." He breathed.
Hermione's body stiffened, lips white and trembling with the sheer force she was employing not to give in. Not to admit it. A low, quiet moan slipped out and Hermione's control shattered.
"I went to work that morning. I had a lone shift, everyone else was in the Department. I remember..." She choked for a second, teeth clenched before she forced herself to continue. "I remember the muggle newspapers saying that there was war coming. Some despot got his hands on something dangerous. I wasn't really paying attention. You spend your life thinking..." She shivered. "No one could actually be that stupid. No one could actually do that. You think there are limits to human idiocy. Anyway, I did a double shift, because no one came to relieve me and I didn't notice. To engrossed in trying to find a way to shut the damn place down, you know how I get." She bit her lip hard and Gabriel stared at her as she drew in a shaky breath. He healed the cut before it could even bleed. "Finally remembered to go home and...It was a wasteland. The door was still standing but London..." She shivered. "It was like hell. The air was burnt and everything was covered in ash. I was so confused. I didn't understand what had happened. I apparated home, I'd hoped that the wards around my house had been enough to save..." Her fists were clenched tight against her thighs as her soul warped under her grief. "The wards are designed to keep out people or magic not heat or gas ...There must have been strategic detonations. Power stations or something. I don't know." She swiped at her tears. "It wasn't...There was nothing left. I checked everywhere I could think of, the whole bloody country. No one. Nothing. Just the bodies." She took another deep breath, held it for a second and then let it go very slowly. "Course by that point I realised I was getting sick. Very sick, very fast. I made it back here and stumbled into the first Universe I could think of that was advanced enough to treat me." Hermione grimaced at him, face a mess. "Radiation poisoning, amongst other things. The detonations...they weren't clean. They mixed all kinds of filth in with them and it got into the air. Anyone who survived the blast would have been choked to death in the end."
Gabriel stared at her in shock.
"Why did you come back here?"
Hermione shrugged and slumped against him.
"It was all I had left." She whispered. "I wasn't...I wasn't in a very healthy state of mind. I lost.." She paused and shuddered. "Everything basically, so I just threw myself into my work. Into..." She cast a hand around herself, looking disgusted. "Into this."
He took a deep breath into his lungs which he didn't really need, before reaching forward and pulling her into his lap, wrapping his wings tightly around her. Hermione sobbed, resting her head against his shoulder.
"How long..." He sighed into her hair. "How long have you been here, Mimi?"
He could feel her tears soaking into his shoulder, smell the salt on the air.
Hermione's voice was a hoarse whisper, wrecked by grief and anger.
"Fifteen years."
Gabriel closed his eyes as he tightened his hold on his shaking, sobbing human.
Hey,
Let's play guess the fandom.
I hope you liked this. Thank you for your ongoing support and please let me know what you think in the reviews.
Once again,
Hood
