Lennie heard someone calling his name. Everything was quiet and he was quite comfortable in his chair, having kicked it back into a reclining position. He stirred a bit, annoyed at whoever was disturbing his peaceful repose.

"Leonard."

There it was again. Only, who the hell was calling him 'Leonard'? He hadn't been called that since he'd been late with his alimony check a few years back. Must be some telemarketer calling. Leave a message, he thought, or better yet --don't.

"Wake up, Leonard." The voice called, still soft but more insistent.

Lennie cracked his eyes and saw that the room was filled with the shadows of dusk. He stretched lazily and rubbed the remnants of sleep from his eyes. How long had he been out? He knew it must've been a while because his stomach was growling, demanding immediate attention.

He pushed the chair into sitting position and sat for a minute looking at the television. The reception had gone out and snow filled the screen. Great. The cable must've gone out again. That meant no t.v. for the rest of the evening. As he stumbled to his feet he wondered where he'd put the one book he owned.

"Good evening, Leonard."

Lennie stopped abruptly and swung around. "Who's there?" He called, peering into the dark corners of the living room. "I warn you now, I'm packing. So do us both a favor and c'mon out."

The voice laughed softly. "I'll come out, but not because of your tempting promise of bodily harm. Oh, by the way you aren't, how did you say it, packing? At least not anymore."

Lennie's hand instinctively went to his right side and he felt for his piece. It was gone. He didn't remember taking it off, but obviously he had. He looked under the coats on the couch and around the recliner.

"It's not here, Leonard."

"Will you knock it off?!" Lennie shouted. "The name's Lennie."

"Okay, if that's what you prefer." The voice said amiably. "I like that better anyway. I'm sorry if I've offended you, but it said 'Leonard Briscoe' on my assignment sheet and they are sticklers for rules."

Lennie stopped looking for his gun and looked in the direction the voice was coming from. "Who are 'they'?" He demanded. "Look, where the hell are you?"

"I'm right here." The voice told him calmly. "Over here, on the television."

Lennie's eyes shot to the t.v. and he saw a funny little white haired man with a bulbous nose and soft chin smiling at him. He closed his eyes and took a couple of deep breaths. After a minute he opened them slowly and still saw the same thing.

"You aren't imagining this, Lennie. I'm real."

Lennie walked back and stood in front of the television. Mystified, he asked, "Who are you? What are you?"

"I'm Clarence Oddbody and my official title is AS2."

"AS2?"

"Angel, second class."

Lennie thought he felt the floor move and he sat down on the couch. "Come again?"

"It's okay, Lennie. I've come in answer to your prayer."

Lennie rubbed his head. "Now, I know this is a dream."

"No, really." Clarence assured him. "I'm your guardian angel."

"My guardian angel, huh? Sent to answer my prayer?"

Clarence beamed. "Yes."

"You said 'angel second class'. What does that mean?" Lennie queried.

Clarence deflated a little as he answered sheepishly, "Well, that means I haven't gotten my wings yet."

"An angel without wings?" Lennie chortled. "That figures."

"I've got to earn them." Clarence explained. "That's why I'm here to help you."

"And yourself in the process." He couldn't believe he was sitting here talking to his t.v.

"You're not talking to the t.v., Lennie. You're talking to me."

A shiver went down Lennie's spine and he picked up the remote control. "Not anymore I ain't." He clicked off the television and sank back into the couch. He shook his head to make sure he was fully awake once and for all and exhaled heavily. Man. That was one weird trip.

Lennie stood up and headed to the kitchen for something to eat. He switched on the light and opened the fridge to survey the contents. He bent down to pick up a container of deli meat and when he stood up, Clarence was standing on the other side of the door.

"What in hell?" Lennie gasped and jumped back, dropping the meat.

"Oh no, Lennie." Clarence shook his head. "You mean what in heaven."

Lennie backed up towards the drawer where he kept his cutlery. "Look, I don't know who you are, but you've got about two seconds to get outta here." He warned as he pulled the drawer open and took out a knife.

Clarence sat down at the kitchen table and folded his arms. "I'm not here to hurt you, Lennie. I'm here because you called for me. I'm here to help."

"This was vaguely amusing when I was still half asleep, but now it's downright disturbing. No go on and beat it."

"Can't." Clarence was resolute. "Not until I've done what I was sent to do."

"Which is?"

"Lennie you've been given a special gift. A chance to see what things would be like had you retired a long time ago."

Lennie dropped his hand, a puzzled look washing over his face. "How did you know about---" his voice wavered a bit, "about that?"

Clarence was silent, smiling benevolently as the reality of what was happening sank in for his charge. Lennie put the knife back into the drawer and closed it. Tentatively he approached the table and sat down across from Clarence.

"If you are what you say you are, what're you doing wasting time with me?" He asked ruefully. "I think I got a pretty good idea about what things would be like if I'd retired a long time ago. Just the way they are."

"Are you so sure of that, Lennie?"

"Look, Gabriel ---".

"It's Clarence. Clarence Oddbody."

"Whatever." Lennie told him shortly. "I don't know how much you guys get to see from up there, but things down here ain't so good."

Clarence nodded. "Yes, it makes us very sad." He admitted. "But what makes us even sadder is when a good man like you loses his will to try and make it better."

"Clarence, it doesn't matter. It's like trying to bail out a sinking boat with a teaspoon." Lennie argued. "Nothing I do makes a difference. It doesn't mean a damn thing to anybody."

"Oh, Lennie." Clarence sighed. "You really have no idea how many people's lives you've touched, do you?"

Lennie rolled his eyes. "Yeah. You mean like that creep who's gonna walk because he didn't understand his rights when I spoke them in English?"

Clarence waved his hand. "Oh that it'll take care of itself. But enough of sitting here, we've got to go."

"Go? Where?"

"Well normally I'd just let you walk around for a while and get a real good dose of what things would be like if your prayer was answered. However we don't have time for aimless wandering because we're on a tight schedule. So I'm just going to show you three instances where you not being a cop made a difference."

Clarence stood up and rousted Lennie out of his chair. "C'mon now, get your coat. It's cold out there."

"This isn't going to make a bit of difference." Lennie predicted sourly and Clarence laughed.

"We'll see." He patted Lennie's shoulder warmly. "We'll see."