7. God Called In Sick Today

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I can't help my laughter as they cry,

my soul brings tears to angelic eyes.

And miles away, my mother cries.

Omnipotence, nurturing malevolence.

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The voice got louder and louder, and she couldn't take it anymore. She fainted, falling on the floor like deadweight.

"Christine!" Gabriel yelled, rushing to her side. He took her in his arms and laid her down on the bed.
He couldn't understand what was going on with her. He noticed she was acting weird, but he assumed she was just suffering from withdrawal… Could it be that bad, though? And those stains on her shirt… how did that happen? He shook his head, he couldn't make sense of anything. Why wouldn't she just talk to him? She always talked to him, about everything… He held her hand in his, and waited for her to wake up, so he could just ask her what was going on.

Christine was slowly regaining consciousness.

"No… I won't…" she mumbled, still half unconscious. "Gabriel…"

"I'm here, sweetie," he said, squeezing her hand.

"Lucifer… no…" she whispered. Gabriel froze. "NO!" she yelled, and sat up on the bed, suddenly wide awake. Gabriel stared at her, concerned, but mostly confused.

"Christine, what happened?" he asked, in the calmest voice he could manage. Christine stared back at him in shock, unable to speak. That dream she had, apparently it wasn't a dream. It must have been some kind of a vision, because it had just happened again, while she was awake.

He was talking to her. Was that even possible? This vision was similar to the other, only Lucifer wasn't there. She could only hear his voice in the darkness.

Gabriel searched her eyes for some kind of explanation, but he only saw fear. She couldn't hold his gaze any longer, she just felt too guilty.

"Chris, please, talk to me," he said.

"He said it's my… my… destiny. He said I have to… he said he's going to kill you…" Christine stuttered, breaking down in tears.

"Lucifer?" Gabriel asked, though he already knew the answer. Christine nodded, and he held her close while she cried.

"I should have told you…" she sobbed.

"Are you saying it's happened before?" he asked, pulling her away. She looked in his eyes for a second, then she looked down and nodded. Gabriel just wanted to yell at her, but he knew that wouldn't solve anything. Besides, probably she was just too scared to talk about it.

"Chris, you need to tell me everything," he said, holding her head in his hands. Christine nodded again, and he wiped the tears on her cheeks. She told him about the other vision, about the nurse, and about torturing Crowley. She told him how frightened she was. She told him she loved him.

"Well, ok…" he started, but then fell silent. He really didn't know how to continue. What was he supposed to say at this point? "Ok, hum, if he's… communicating with you, that means that he's not in the cage. And that's just nuts!" Gabriel nervously chuckled.

"Bobby said Sam is out, right? What if… what if he sneaked out, too?" Christine said, her voice still barely audible.

"Sam didn't sneak out. Someone busted him out."

"Well, who?"

"No idea," Gabriel sighed. He started pacing around the room, trying to calm himself down. Out of all the women in the world, his brother just had to mess with Christine, of course. How was he even out of the damn cage, anyway? Maybe he did sneak out, when whoever-it-was took Sam… but still, what did he want with Christine? Not another apocalypse… that would just be insane, right? RIGHT?

"Gabe, I…" Christine said, distracting him from his thoughts.

"Don't. This is not your fault, sweet cheeks," he cut her off, trying to reassure her. He just sounded frustrated and slightly annoyed, though.

"What now?" she asked, walking towards him. He brushed her hair behind her ear.

"I don't know about you, but I'd kill for some chocolate," he smirked.

"Gabriel, don't do that."

"Don't do what, sweetie?"

"Don't shut me out," she simply stated, staring deep into his caramel eyes. Gabriel made his usual "What are you talking about!" face, but Christine was too serious, and he realized he wasn't going to be able to talk his way out of this one.

"Spill it, Trickster." Christine commanded, her eyes still on his. She was determined to get him to talk. Every time a serious matter came up Gabriel just locked himself inside his head, and she was tired of it.

"Got nothing to spill, babydoll!" he laughed. "C'mon, let's go out! You look like you could use a couple of drinks," he added, and opened the door for her. She slammed it shut only by looking at it, then her determined stare went back to the angel.

"Okay, no need to get snippy, Chris… Wanna talk? Then let's talk!" he smiled nervously.

"I wanna know what you're thinking. See, you can read my mind, but I can't read yours," she snorted.

"I'm not a big fan of thinking," he smiled.

"I know that," she smirked. "Just talk to me, Gabe," she added, serious again.

"Fine," he snorted. "I don't like this, ok? Not one bit."

"That I could tell."

"Well, I got nothing else, sugar."

"Bloody hell, Gabe! I swear, it's like talking to a brick wall! What the hell is your problem?" she yelled. It just frustrated her too much, why wouldn't he talk? What was he so afraid of?

"I thought it was over!" he yelled back. Christine knitted her brows, frowning. Of course. How come she didn't understand it sooner? "I only wanted it to be over," he added, his voice back to normal.

He looked away from her, and fell on a chair. Saying that out loud made it sound so childish, he thought. But she didn't think he was childish, though she was sure that anyone else would. She understood, as usual, and that was exactly why she couldn't take the fact that he wouldn't talk to her. She always understood, he could tell her anything he wanted, then why didn't he? She kneeled down in front of the chair, and looked up at him.

"Gabe, we can call it quits. We can go on the other side of the world and never come back. We can do whatever we want, my love," she sweetly said. Gabriel smiled at her, and she sat on his lap, arms around his neck.

"That's tempting… but no, we can't. I've been running for ages, Christine. Literally. I can't… I can't turn my back on them now," he stated. Christine sighed. Of course he wanted to stay, he was just so exquisitely twisted. She couldn't help but wonder, though, if jealousy was to blame for his sudden loyalty to his family and to the war. He read that in her mind, and shot her a dirty look.

"I could go for that couple of drinks now," she smiled.

"Tell me 'bout it!" he laughed.

"Let's go then," she said. Gabriel kissed her, then they got up and went out. They walked in silence to the nearest pub, and got inside. The place was a total dive, but that was to be expected, since they were in Sioux Falls, South Dakota.

"On second thought, we could go to Vegas," Gabriel said, looking around. Christine chuckled, and sat down at the bar. He sat next to her, and ordered for both.

"Dirty Martini for the lady, and whiskey for me," he said. The bartender nodded, and started pouring whiskey in a glass.

"Whiskey? Whatever happened to fruit cocktails and strawberry vodka?" Christine asked the angel, laughing. He snorted, and didn't answer. He just felt like seriously drinking that night.

"Dirty Martini, and whiskey," the bartender said, placing the glasses in front of them.

Christine took the olive out of her glass, and gave it to Gabriel. She hated olives.

"Cheers," she said, and then she downed her drink. Gabriel sipped his whiskey, and decided he didn't like it. It was too sour. When he looked over at Christine, she was already ordering another round.

"It's always fascinating how you act around alcohol," he smirked.

"It still escapes me how I can even get drunk, though," she thoughtfully said, and downed the other drink.

"I'm not an expert on vampire anatomy…"

"Well, who cares. You're not drinking that?" she asked, noticing he put the glass down.

"Nope," he answered. She took the glass and drank that too.

"You should try Martini. It's sweeter. Not the one I'm drinking though, mine is mixed with Gin, and Gin is sour…" she said, visibly a little drunk already. Gabriel nodded, and ordered a straight Martini. When the bartender gave it to him, he sipped from the glass suspiciously, only to discover it was in fact sweeter. He liked it. They got another round after that, and then another one, and another one. Christine was definitely drunk at that point, and the angel wasn't too sober either.

"Maaaybe, we should go…" he laughed.

"Nonsense! Let's do Tequila shots," Christine smiled.

"No, no. Chris, seriously, baby, you're drunk…"

"So are you," she laughed.

"So not the point…"

"Okay, fine…" she sighed. "Let's go back to the hotel and have drunk sex!" she smiled widely.

"I like your style, lady," he chuckled, and snapped his fingers, careless of the other people in the bar who might have seen them disappear into thin air.


Song in the beginning is God Called In Sick Today by AFI.

thanks everyone (: