In Vega
Khan loped along the dark streets, mentally cursing for allowing himself to be roped into going back to the hotel with the Archangel who had been his alternate personas father. "Bad move, such a bad move" he muttered, kicking a can out of his way. He had originally planned on taking off after his new sister, hoping that the two of them together could hold the line until the items they had planted before dropping into the firefight were ready to begin. But Archangel Gabriel had insisted on his returning to the Bellagio with him, making some mention of Khan's needing a shower and a meal before he rested for the night. The young dragon had reluctantly agreed, unable to come up with a good reason why he would not want to spend time with his own father.
Back at the Bellagio
The walk from the bunker had been short and silent. Gabriel stared his son, taking in the short hair, the braided beard and the hooded eyes, wondering what the boy's sister had held over his head to get him to agree to cut his hair. The angel had to admit he had become rather found of the boy's long locks – if only because they provided him a way to hold the restless creature to his side when necessary. Once inside, and away from prying eyes, he grabbed his boy into a fierce embrace, wrinkling his nose at the unwashed scent wafting from his muscled form. "Where have you been this last few weeks? What have you been doing?" He held the man out at arm's length. "More importantly – when was the last time you had a bath?"
Khan laughed, a throaty sound that filled Gabriel's heart with joy. "It's been a while" he admitted. "Care if I use yours?"
"No. As a matter of fact, I insist on it." The Messenger smiled, reluctantly letting go of his child and giving him a slight push in the direction of the bath. "But when you are done, we need to have a talk."
Khan groaned in faux annoyance. "Am I EVER going to be old enough to not get read the riot act for staying out past curfew?" He ducked as the archangel aimed a gentle slap at the back of his head, running into the bathroom to soak in a deep tub of steaming water while his father scrounged something for him to eat.
Inside the bathroom, the young dragon sank to his knees, wishing he had gone with his first instinct and made a run for the door. "How the HELL am I going to keep up this charade?" he muttered to himself, peeling out of his admittedly smelly clothes and starting the shower. "Dang it – KNEW we should have watched more of what was in that memory archive." He stepped into the steaming water, letting its heat relax his sore muscles as he contemplated his next move.
An hour later the young soldier sauntered back into the archangel's bedroom, rubbing a towel over his now loose and tangled hair. He was barefoot and shirtless, wearing a pair of jogging pants that had obviously seen better days. Gabriel was seated on the bed, absently flipping through one of the numerous reports Michael insisted they need to receive from Alex's men, listing out what to the angel were items of trivia – like how much food production was still possible and how many refugees had arrived in Vega. Somehow the number of one never seemed to be enough to cover the other.
Khan stood in the doorway for a moment, searching through the gym bag he found in the bathroom (which had evidently belonged to Gabriel's brother Rafael) and found clothing more appropriate for the late night run he was about to make. "Hey, did you actually find me a midnight snack?" He looked across the bed at the plate of bread and cheese beside the angel, reaching to snag a piece as he settled onto the floor beside the bed.
"Best I could do" Gabriel said, leaning back into a pile of pillows. "Food is a scarce commodity here in Vega – and most of Michael's soldiers are not overly enthused about sharing it with me."
Khan tossed a piece of cheese up onto the bed, watching as his father nimbly caught it and popped into his mouth. "Sounds like a really welcoming crowd."
Gabriel sighed. "Can you blame them? For most of them, I was the enemy. Just because Michael claims me as brother now doesn't erase their memories of my past deeds." He crossed his arms over his chest and stared down at his child. "Where have you been all this time? Uriel has been all but screaming for his companion to return. I know you were looking for your sister but…" He hesitated, not wanting to guilt trip the young man, preferring to show annoyance rather than the fear that had kept him awake most nights. His child was an adult but…"Damn it, Andre, I was worried about you."
Khan tried not to wince at the pain in the angel's voice. This was going to be as bad as he had feared it would be. Whatever Lucifer had said about Uriel and Michael, the worst the devil could say about Gabriel was that he loved his child too much, had been too over protective of him. Now that child was gone, replaced by a man who had known multiple father figures in his years of life but none as obviously adoring as his previous incarnation's father. He tossed the plate aside and climbed up into the archangel's bed, sitting beside him with arms crossed, unconsciously mimicking Gabriel's pose. "Sorry dad – but what could I do? I couldn't leave her out there thinking I didn't love her, not after…" He swallowed the sudden lump that had risen in his throat, the lies he was about to tell chocking him.
Gabriel relented, seeing his child was in pain but not ready to share the cause of it with his parent. "No more of this. You need to rest and so do I. Come on then, stretch out and I'll share my bed with you." He pulled out a few of the overly abundant nest of pillows, making room for his son to stretch out.
"Don't want to sleep" Khan groused, not lifting his head. Gabriel laughed softly at the over-tired tone to his child's voice, a tone he recognized from when this strapping young warrior had been a child who had not taken his nap.
"Yes, you do" the angel said softly, stroking his son's hair gently. "Close your eyes, little dragon, and I'll sit right here with you until you sleep."
Khan sighed, too tired to take this game much further and happy to have an excuse not to continue to talk. He wiggled down the mound of pillows, stretching his lean body out with a pillow against his stomach.
Gabriel smiled fondly slowly continued to stroke the young man's tangled hair, and softly started to sing in his deep bass voice, the old lullaby that had always lulled his child into dreams.
Back in the Library
"Gabriel always loved the boy to distraction." Rafael's Aussie accented voice rumbled as he stared off into the distance. "I swear, that boy could have turned into the Antichrist and his father would have found a way to defend him."
Stone sighed, wishing his experiences with his father had been half as loving as it seemed Khan's alternate persona's had been. "So Gabriel essentially tucked him into bed. Then what? Did someone try to attack them in the hotel room?"
Rafael sighed. "No. I was on my way to the medical building to check on casualties from the attack and thought I would instead check on my brother. That was when the young dragon decided to take flight."
