"Birds of Pray"

Chapter 3

Gabriel, Blow Your Horn!

After fetching some Benadryl and a box of Kleenex for Greg, Katherine set about making another salad and setting a third place at the table, for it appeared that Gabriel was staying for dinner.

She came back into the kitchen, where she found the angel standing at the counter finishing off another glass of wine. She picked up the wine bottle, shook it, and glared at him.

"Gabriel, I asked you not to drink all the wine… now we're not going to have any for dinner!"

"Ah, relax," he said. "You get too worked up about stuff." He kissed two fingers and waved his hand over the empty wine bottle. Immediately, Katherine felt its weight increase.

"What – " she began.

He took the bottle from her and filled her empty glass. "A little trick I picked up from The Boss's Son," he explained, setting the bottle on the counter. She gaped at him, speechless.

"Oh, am I… " He paused, searching for the term she had used the previous night. "Freaking you out again?"

"Yeah, just a little!" she said with a nervous laugh.

"Sorry." He clinked his glass against hers and drank.

Greg walked in from the other room, wiping his nose on a Kleenex.

"Feeling better?" Katherine asked him.

"Yeah, a lot!" He noticed their full wineglasses. "Hey, you two – save some for me!"

Katherine burst out laughing.

Naturally, Gabriel simply assumed that the seat at the head of the dining room table was for him and sat down accordingly. Without saying a word, Katherine swapped the salads around so that the angel now had the one that he had been poking at earlier.

As they were about to begin eating, Gabriel stood, kissed two fingers, and waved his hand briefly over the table, murmuring in another language.

"What was that?" Greg asked as Gabriel sat down.

"A blessing," he replied.

"Thank you, Gabriel," Katherine said, raising her eyebrows at Greg.

"Yeah, thanks," he added. He picked up his wineglass and drank. "So, Gabriel… how do you and Katie know each other?"

"Now that's a very long story." Lawng stahwry.

Greg smiled. "What part of New York are you from?"

Gabriel looked at Greg as though he were crazy. "I'm not from New York." New Yawk.

"Really? You sure sound like it."

"Huh," Gabriel said.

"How's the Altman case going?" Katherine asked in an obvious bid to change the subject. "Greg is a defense attorney," she explained to Gabriel.

"It's going horribly," Greg replied, winding spaghetti around his fork.

"He's guilty, you know… Gregory," Gabriel suddenly announced.

"What?"

"He's guilty," the angel repeated. "He raped that little girl. Not only that, but he's raped and murdered four other little girls that no one knows about. He would've killed little Rebecca too if she hadn't managed to crawl out through that broken basement window."

"I don't – " Greg began.

"What I don't understand is how you can defend someone like that," Gabriel went on, leaning forward and studying Greg closely. "Is there something lacking in your character that makes you think raping and murdering little girls is OK?"
"Gabriel, stop it!" Katherine said, appalled.

"That's all right," Greg said, waving her objection away. "It's a fair question… I guess… but I don't know where he's getting his information about my client!"

"I have my sources," Gabriel said.

"Yeah… all right, let's assume for the sake of argument that you're right about Altman. Thing is, in this country everyone has the right to be represented in court by an attorney, no matter what they're accused of doing. And it's my job to defend my client to the best of my ability, even if he did do all those things you say he did – which I don't believe, by the way."

Gabriel began to speak, but Katherine overrode him. "And it's a good thing we have laws like that, isn't it? Not everyone who's indicted is actually guilty of a crime."

"That's very true," Greg agreed, taking a sip of wine. "But enough about my job. Gabriel… what do you do?"

"I'm a seraph," he replied, and Katherine groaned.

"You are?" Greg leaned forward in his seat, interested. "And what's that?"

"He's a messenger," Katherine said quickly.

"Yeah, sometimes," Gabriel agreed. "Recently, not so much."

"Oh, you're one of those guys on those bikes," Greg said.

"No."

"All right…" There was an awkward silence. "So, who do you work for?" Greg tried again. "Is it a big name, or a private – "

"I work for God."

Greg raised his eyebrows at Katherine. "Oh. Riiiight…"

Katherine remembered what Gabriel had said the night before about people thinking he was crazy: That was their problem, not mine. She tried to think of a way to change the subject.

"You know, Greg," she said, "I was watching Law and Order the other night, and Jack McCoy said something that I didn't understand."

"Oh? What?"

"Gregory," Gabriel said suddenly. "Do you think your justice system is truly just?"

"Of course," Greg replied automatically.

"But how can it be, when it allows people like you to exploit legal loopholes that allow the guilty to walk free on technicalities?" Gabriel leaned back in his chair and looked very interested in Greg's answer.

"If I can prevent even one innocent person from going to jail, I've done my job," Greg said.

Gabriel frowned. "But not everyone you defend is innocent, are they?"

"As far as I know, they are."

"But they're not. Altman isn't."

Greg shrugged. "So you say."

Gabriel raised his eyebrows. "I know. Trust me, Gregory."

Greg laughed. "Trust you? I don't even know you!"

"But I know you, Gregory."

"Oh yeah? How do you know me?"

"OK, that's it," Katherine said, standing. "Enough, you two!"

"What would you do," Gabriel continued, ignoring her, "if you knew for certain that Altman raped that little girl, raped and murdered those other little girls. Would you still defend him?"

"Yes, because that's my job!" Greg said hotly. "It's my job whether I like it or not!"

Gabriel's eyes narrowed. "Huh," he said, and stood. "Let me help you with those dishes, Katherine."
She glared at him and began gathering up plates.

"Just leave him alone, all right?" Katherine said angrily, taking another rinsed plate from Gabriel and putting it in the dishwasher. "He's not a bad guy. In fact, he's one of the better ones."

"He's not worthy of you," Gabriel said calmly, handing her another plate.

"Well, that's not your decision to make," she retorted.

"Unfortunately."

"And why do you say that?"

He shrugged. "You could do better. Much better."

"You don't say." She watched as he rinsed another plate. He couldn't possibly… No, it was too silly to contemplate. And too scary. She forced herself to say it, and to say it as lightly as possible.

"So… Gabriel… did you have someone else in mind for me?" she asked, raising her eyebrows at him.

He stared at her in puzzlement, completely oblivious to what she was implying. "No."

She sighed with relief. "Good!"

"But you deserve better than Gregory," he added.

"Thanks for the vote of confidence, Gabe," Greg said, walking in from the living room.

"Why… don't mention it, Gregory," Gabriel said, handing another plate to Katherine.

Greg held up a videotape. A strip of chewed and twisted brown plastic was hanging out of the front. "Sorry, Katie-Kate. Looks like your VCR finally went to that Great Electronic Junkyard in the sky."

"Oh well," she sighed.

He grinned at her, like a little boy with a secret. "I brought you a present, though."

"You did?" she asked, smiling.

"It's in the car. Hang on a second, and I'll get it."

"Aaaah, it's a DVD player," Gabriel said as soon as Greg had left.

"Gabriel!" She shook her head in exasperation. "Why did you ruin it?"

He shrugged. "I don't know."

"Yes you do!"

"All right. I can't stand the thought of that… that… that sleazy little monkey worming his way into your heart with his insincere smile and his expensive gifts!"

"'Sleazy little monkey', huh? I'll remember that!"

"Yeah, you do that! Because that's exactly what he is!" he retorted, stabbing a finger in the air for emphasis. "You mark my words!" He handed her another dish and she glared at him, holding it like she wanted to smash it over his head.

"Fight nice, kids," Greg said mildly as he walked into the kitchen. He was carrying a large gift-wrapped box.

"Oh, that's an awfully big box… Gregory," Gabriel said innocently. Katherine gave him a killing look, which he ignored. "Gosh… I wonder what it is."

Katherine unwrapped her present and exclaimed over it, rewarding Greg with many kisses. "This is great! Now I won't have to use my computer to watch DVDs!" Greg happily went off into the living room to install it.

"Gabriel, you'd better not make any more trouble tonight," she said as soon as Greg left. "I mean it."

"Whaaaat?" he asked innocently. "Who's making trouble?"

"No more grilling him about his job… or anything else! Be nice!" She suddenly remembered that she was talking to the Angel of Death, and amended her statement. "Or at least be civil. Can you do that? Can you be civil for a few more hours?"

"Does that mean I can't tell him how he's going to die?" Gabriel wondered.

Katherine closed her eyes. "Yes, Gabriel. No messing with his head. Period." Gabriel looked disappointed. "Please… just…" She threw her hands up in exasperation. "Just behave yourself, all right?"

"Of course, Katherine," ha agreed tranquilly, and followed her into the living room.

"Here, Gabriel – look at this," she told him, motioning for him to sit on the sofa. She picked up her PowerBook, opened it and pulled up the webpage that insisted that Gabriel was the only female angel. "Here," she said, and passed him the computer.

"What is it?" he asked, frowning at the screen.

"That's a computer, Sport," Greg said helpfully from his position on the floor. He crawled behind the entertainment center just in time to miss the nasty look that Gabriel directed his way.

"I thought you'd be interested in that website," Katherine said, grinning wickedly.

"Huh," he said, and directed his attention to the screen. "The only known female angel," he read aloud, "is…. what?" He looked up at Katherine. "Who writes this stuff?"

She shrugged, giggling. "Beats me."

"Look at this!" he said in an outraged tone, pointing at the screen. "Look what they wrote!"

"I know, Gabriel," she said, still helpless with laughter. "I showed it to you, remember?"

"What's so funny?" Greg asked from his position behind the television set. "Gah! Why don't they write these instructions so a normal person can understand them?"

"You wouldn't get the joke," Katherine told him, addressing his first question.

Gabriel was still staring at the screen and muttering under his breath. "I should find them and – "

"We're all set," Greg announced, crawling out from behind the entertainment center and standing, stretching. "Go ahead, turn on the TV and let's see if it works."

"I should probably go," Gabriel said, standing and handing the computer to Katherine. She shut it and put it back on the coffee table.

"You had a lot of wine," she reminded him. "Are you OK to fly?"

"Of course!" he assured her. "Don't you worry about me!"

Greg was looking at them like they were both crazy.

"What?" Gabriel demanded.

"I thought the saying is, 'twenty-four hours from bottle to throttle'," Greg said.

Gabriel looked at Katherine. "What's he talking about?"

"Uh, you're not supposed to fly an airplane after you've been drinking," she explained, mentally kicking herself for her little slip.

"What kind of plane do you fly, Gabe?" Greg asked.

"I don't fly a plane."

Greg frowned. "But I thought – "

"Hey, look, Gabriel – Greg brought over some DVDs," Katherine said brightly. "Want to see a movie? Look," she continued with a laugh, holding up a DVD. "It's City of Angels. Bet you'll love that."

"I've seen it," Gabriel deadpanned. "A couple times."

"Oh, sorry. How about Lord of the Rings?" she asked.

"That's a good one," Greg added.

"Ahhh, that guy who plays Strider reminds me of someone I don't like," Gabriel said. "You met him once, Katherine… that time we were at Old Woman Butte."

Katherine thought about this. "Ohhh," she said with a shudder. "Yeah. I don't like him either. Forget that one." She put it back in the bag.

Greg dug around in the bag and pulled out a movie. "It's a Wonderful Life," he said. "How 'bout that?"

Gabriel shrugged. "Sure, whatever," he agreed, sitting on the sofa.

Katherine loaded the DVD while Greg flopped down next to Gabriel and picked up the PowerBook.

"I thought you wanted to watch this," Katherine said, frowning as Greg opened the computer.

"I've seen it a million times, Katie-Kate. You and Gabriel watch – I have to check in with my office anyway."

"So, what did you think, Gabriel?" Katherine asked in a teasing tone. He gave her a look that made her laugh.

"Every time a bell rings, an angel gets his wings," Greg said, not looking up from the computer.

"That's not how it works," Gabriel said.

"Yeah?" Greg asked, shutting the PowerBook and setting it on the coffee table. "So how's it work, Gabe?"

"Wow, I'm really tired," Katherine said, yawning loudly. "Let's go to bed, Greg."

"You know I won't say no!" Greg said with a grin.

"Gregory… you don't know how lucky you are," Gabriel said seriously. "Being with a woman… ahhh..." He closed his eyes and inhaled deeply, savoring a memory. "It's like dying."

"And how would you know?" Katherine asked pointedly.

"I've been with a few women in my day," Gabriel announced smugly. "Whenever I had the cash."

Katherine was shocked. "You… what?"

"Whoa – TMI, Sport!" Greg said, standing.

Gabriel frowned. "TMI?" he repeated, puzzled.

"Too Much Information," Katherine told him. "And yeah, it is TMI. Thank you for sharing, Gabriel."

"Any time," he said with a shrug.

"Are you going to stay here, or…?" She gestured expansively. "If you want to sleep, I'll make up the spare room."

"Nah… thanks, Katherine… but I don't sleep."

"You were sleeping last night," she reminded him, and frowned. "Weren't you?"

"Yeah… well… it's a bad habit I picked up." He shrugged. "I'm trying to quit."

"Good luck with that," Greg said, yawning.

"All right," Katherine said. "Good night, Gabriel." She took Greg's hand and they walked towards the stairs together.

"Good night," he replied absently, picking up her computer.

Katherine was jolted awake by a sound from downstairs. Beside her, Greg rolled over and groaned.

"What the hell is that?" he asked muzzily.

"Oh God," she moaned, pulling the covers over her head. "He's playing the trumpet."

"It's four thirty in the morning!"

"So go tell him to stop!"

"He's your weirdo friend," Greg said, giving her a poke in the ribs. "You go."

She giggled. "No, you!"

"You!"

"Oh for Heaven's sake!" She sat up in bed and shouted, "Gabriel, knock it off!"

The racket from downstairs continued.

"Gabriel, blow your horn!" Greg said, laughing.

"Oh my God!" Katherine said, turning white. Without another word, she jumped out of bed, snatched up her bathrobe and ran out of the room.

She came pounding down the stairs like a madwoman, tying her robe shut as she ran.

The archangel was perched on the coffee table, her PowerBook resting near his feet. He held his trumpet to his lips, preparing to let loose another blast.

"Gabriel!" Katherine shouted. She had one hand on her chest and was breathing hard.

He lowered the trumpet and looked up at her, puzzled. "Good morning, Katherine. You're up early."

She gaped at him, incredulous. "You're down here blowing the horn for the Last Judgment, and – "

He blinked. "What?"

"It's time for the Last Judgment!"

He frowned. "No it's not."

"Then why are you blowing your horn?" she demanded.

He shrugged. "Why not?"

"Because you're supposed to play it on Judgment Day! You know, 'Gabriel blow your horn'." She threw her hands up in exasperation. "Why am I explaining this to you?"

"I don't know." He pointed at her computer. "It stopped working."

She shook her head, trying to follow this shift in the conversation. "It… huh?"

"It stopped working," he repeated.

"You probably need to recharge the battery, Sport," a new voice said. Katherine turned to see Greg coming down the steps, dressed in sweatpants and a tee shirt.

"Battery?" Gabriel asked, puzzled.

Greg put an arm around Katherine and smiled down at Gabriel. "Laptops won't run on battery power forever, you know."

Gabriel's eyes narrowed, and he made a noise that sounded like hhhnnnuhh. He put his trumpet down next to the computer, stood and jumped off the table.

"Good morning, Gregory," he said, moving very close to the other man. He gave his head a shake, tossing his sleek black hair.

"Ah-chooo!"

Katherine sighed. "I'll get the Benadryl," she said.

Gabriel moved away, looking quite pleased with himself. Katherine passed him on her way upstairs. "Oh, you're terrible," she whispered, trying not to smile.

"Yeah, I know."

She laughed.