This is the only chapter written in anywhere near a normal style and it is from Paul's POV. It just seemed wrong to not use the text and prayers I have for the rest of the story in Gabriel's POV. So, have some Paul.

I am ready to do this now.

Are you sure?

Yep, better be now before I go have a mental breakdown.

I don't know if you're joking or not there.

Not really and yet I am at the same time. I need to do this now, before I go hide in some safe house I have holed away and just be a wreck for a while.

Now?

You got a better time?

Not really. It's a slow day. I was expecting you to make it a spectacle.

Yeah, I was going to and then I changed my mind. This shouldn't be done in front of the kids. Or their parents for that matter.

I haven't exactly been thinking straight lately.

Okay. Do I need to do anything?

Just be there?

Okay.

Paul pocketed his phone and took a deep breath, trying to stop the sudden racing of his heart. This was it. Robert would finally be held accountable for his actions and Gabriel will no longer have to feel he was on schedule.

The sound of wings beating the air filled the church and a moment later, there was the angel in all his glory. If glory was to wear a dark green polo shirt and jeans, it was definitely Gabriel. He would have smiled at the angel, if he wasn't so nervous and unsure of what was about to happen.

"How does this work, exactly?" he asked.

Gabriel shrugged. "It's been a while for me, but usually it is quick and to the point. Not so painful that way. I haven't got any heavenly weapons on me, so I will just do with my Grace." He flopped down on the pew beside him and put his feet up on the one in front of them.

Frowning, Paul smacked the knee closest to him. "Feet down. You'll make a mess."

Grinning widely, Gabriel dropped his feet back to the ground. "Yes, sir! So, where are the other two?"

"Senior Pastor Henry is in the gardens, Robert is in the kitchen last time I heard."

"Ooh, you got a reception hall? Is it out back or the building next door?"

"It's the building next door."

The grin on Gabriel's face widened a little further. "Well, let's go then!"

A hand reached out to him and he leaned back. "Umm, I think I'll walk there. I'm not sure I am ready to have you fly me anywhere."

Gabriel nodded and dropped his hand, amusement showing in his eyes. Paul wondered how long that will last, especially since Gabriel seemed pretty sure he was going to shortly fall apart. He got to his feet and led the way to the door that led to the building next door, instead of having to use the front church doors.

For some reason, he felt being seen right now would be a bad idea. This suddenly felt so wrong.

"Paul? You okay?" Gabriel asked from behind him.

He turned around and blinked. "Is this the right thing to do?"

Gabriel shrugged. "Well, he would be going to Hell anyway. And it would save the kids now."

He nodded. He asked for help to begin with to help the children. There wasn't going to be help coming from anywhere else. He just wished it wouldn't end in death. That seemed a bit too far.

"You can skip things from here on out if you want, Paul. You don't have to stay and watch."

He shook his head at that. "No, I feel responsible. Not only for bringing you here in the first place, but also for the children. I need to do this. I just wish I didn't have to see him die."

Gabriel gave him a small, sad smile, before laying a hand on his shoulder. "Pastor Paul, humans die. You were made to die. Considering he isn't going to be coming back with what I will do, this is it for him. The End. His true one. Maybe if he had left the kids alone, he would have had another path opened for him, but that's moot now. This is how he dies. Probably how he was always supposed to die. It isn't your fault."

"Would you still have found your way here, then?"

Gabriel grinned and nodded. "Didn't tell you, because I thought it might upset you, but you said that Heather was the girl who was taken last time, into the bathroom? Yeah, she prayed to me. She will probably feel responsible too. Either way, there's probably going to be a lot of guilt flying around because of this."

Sighing, Paul closed his eyes. He hadn't told Gabriel, but at one point he had taken the kids aside and told them that Gabriel was an angel to help children out with their problems if they prayed to him. It was his goal to get at least one of them to get Gabriel here. He didn't know that it would take so long, or that it would be the one that was the most recent.

Well, at least it had worked.

"Was it that prayer which got you here faster?"

Gabriel winced and shook his head. "No, but it should have. I'm not doing too well since my little heart to heart the other day. I need to just be for a while, somewhere else. Think I might take off and hole up on some uninhabited planet and just feel for a bit."

Maybe some time off to just be himself away from everything would work for him. He nodded his understanding of that.

"What?" came a third voice from off to one side and Paul jumped. Gabriel did too, he noted. Paul turned to the voice and saw a very confused Henry standing off to the side, having come in from the gardens.

Gabriel grinned widely. "Aww, Senior Pastor Henry! How are you?"

The older man blinked at the angel and frowned. "Do I know you?"

Gabriel grinned. "Sort of. I'm Gabriel. And I said I am going to hole away on some uninhabited planet somewhere for a while."

That seemed to just confuse Henry even further. Paul rubbed at his forehead, because this was not helping things. "This is Gabriel. I've been helping him with a problem, and he has come to mete out justice for the children."

"Justice?"

Gabriel laughed. "I am known as an angel of justice. And joy. And children. And this is to get justice for the children of your church who aren't going to get it any other way. It hurts, to have joy taken away from you. Especially for a kid. So, I am here on official capacity."

"So, you are the archangel Gabriel here to bring about justice. How?"

Paul sighed and looked to the floor. "I prayed to him to help the children. I didn't know what else to do. Apparently, it is a smiting offence."

Gabriel shrugged. "I could deal with it the way I would if I was playing trickster. But the end result would be a lot longer, a lot more drawn out and a lot more painful. Though, it would still get the same end result. Him burning in Hell for an eternity."

Henry held up a hand. "What is the offence?"

Gabriel blinked at the older man, before turning to him. "Okay, how about we take this to the kitchens now, then everything can just happen as it happens. I don't want to repeat myself too much."

Paul opened the door they were now all gathered around and they went through the small courtyard between the church proper and the reception hall. In silence, he walked both his Senior pastor and the archangel to the kitchens.

Robert was sitting at one of the benches, eating a sandwich. A half empty glass of orange cordial by his elbows on the counter. Swallowing, Paul stepped aside and let Gabriel through.

He was not expecting the steely glint in Gabriel's eyes, though it should have been something he saw coming.

"Hello Robert. I have a message for you from the children you abused and from Paul beside me. Go to Hell."

Robert dropped the half eaten sandwich onto a plate and glared, getting to his feet. "Oh? And who are you to say that to me?"

Gabriel grinned. "I am Gabriel. Messenger of God. You are everything I despise in humans, and so I am here to punish you for your sins by smiting you and sending your soul to Hell."

Robert let out a startled laugh, before pointing at him. "Paul is the paedophile, not me."

Gabriel tilted his head to the side, his brown eyes taking on a more golden tint and grinned. He had seen people do that before, but on Gabriel the look seemed very much not human. It looked more like a bird of prey looking at the rabbit it was about to eat.

"I didn't mention paedophilia, Robert. Got something to confess?"

It was then that it only hit him that Robert had been talking to Henry behind his back. The reason he hadn't been given the children full time and was always watched when he did. The reason Henry had been so worried because he was thinking he was the one abusing the children. Paul closed his eyes shortly, before looking up at Robert.

"How long have you been telling others I was the one doing your evil work?"

Robert looked like a deer caught in headlights. "Not me, it wasn't me!"

Gabriel stepped forwards and though he was inches shorter than both he and Robert, he looked so much bigger than all of them. "Oh, I think you protest too much. I can see the marks of the deeds on your soul, Pastor. I see the darkness already there, ready for Hell. I am here to deliver you there."

With that, Gabriel held out a hand and Robert seemed to freeze. A scream as if coming straight from the soul inside escaped Robert's open mouth. It was one of the worst sounds Paul had ever heard in his life.

He chanced a glance to Gabriel and saw the look in those golden eyes and frowned. The angel had said this would be quick and not painful for long. Over and done very quickly. As Robert's arms shook and legs loosening to make the man fall to his knees, Robert realised this had gone wrong.

"Gabriel?"

Those golden eyes blazed suddenly a bluish white so bright, he had to squint at the sight. "He hurt me, Paul."

And Paul remembered once Gabriel telling him that he had fried Asmodeus in revenge from what had happened to him. He could imagine this burning a demon from the inside out. Were humans different, or was Gabriel wanting to hurt his tormentor further.

He reached out and clasped a hand over one small shoulder. "No, Gabriel. He didn't hurt you."

Those bright blazing eyes turned to him slightly if the glow getting brighter meant anything. A blink left spots dancing in his eyes. "The children?"

He nodded. "Yes, the children. He hurt the children, not you. Remember? Let Robert go now. He will have eternity to pay for his sins."

Gabriel blinked and the sudden absence for only a second of that light left marks behind his eyes more than his own blinking ever could. Slowly, it faded back to normal golden brown. With a small nod, Gabriel took a step back and let his arm lower.

Robert fell to the floor and Paul didn't need to go check to know he was very much dead.

"If you want to know, the death will show up as an aneurism. Something in his brain blew when I let go. Sometimes it's a heart attack, or a stroke. It's different for every human. Not that I have done this much. And I need to sit down now. Like, right now."

He could feel the shaking as it started and Paul wondered if this had been too much for Gabriel so soon after all that had happened. "Did you use too much of your Grace?"

The angel shook his head and his body leaned against his. "No. Flexed muscles not used in a good long while. I over exerted myself. Wow, I am dizzy."

Winding his free arm around Gabriel's back, he slowly began walking him over to the nearest seat and pushed him gently onto it. "Put your head between your knees. It might help."

Gabriel moaned. "Why does this shit keep on happening to me?"

Paul knew that the death of his work partner would probably hit sooner or later, but right now he let out a snort of laughter that was pretty much genuine. "We humans have a saying. Use it or lose it."

Gabriel snorted back at that one, letting his head lift back up slowly from where he had been keeping it n his knees. "How do you know you didn't get that from me? I've been here among you humans for a long, long time."

Shaking his head, Paul went over to the half eaten sandwich and threw it in the bin. The smell of food was beginning to make him feel sick. He noticed that his own hands were shaking now. "I think it might be a good idea to get someone here to see to Robert."

He got out his phone and stared at it. Okay, he may have entered shock once Gabriel had quieted down. He peeked over to the angel, who was now at the table, his head down and leaning against his arms like a pillow.

"I'll do it. He was my responsibility," Henry announced, before fumbling for his own phone and leaving the room while dialling for an ambulance. Paul hoped he didn't tell the police that Gabriel had killed Robert.

The body was beginning to make him upset and it disturbed him more than he thought now that everything was said and done. "Umm, are you okay?"

"I'm sorry..." came the quiet response from the angel.

For one moment, he thought Gabriel meant sorry for smiting Robert, but that made no sense. "Sorry for what?"

Gabriel raised his head and tuned to look at him. His eyes showed regret. "I told you it would be quick and the pain would not be screaming agony. I lost myself for a second there and just...well, it didn't exactly go the way it was supposed to and that pretty much sucks for all of us."

Joining Gabriel at the table, Paul sighed and couldn't stop his gaze from wandering to the body on the floor. "Yeah, it does suck. I mean, he may have done horrific things, but until I found out about it he was a good friend and my work partner. I didn't even register the behavioural changes in the children to trauma and I'm supposed to be a counsellor. I feel useless."

Gabriel; shook his head, closed his eyes and lowered himself back to the table with a groan. "You're not useless. You probably did notice, but they weren't talking. You can't force someone to talk. Well, you can, but that would make you a horrible person, sooo..."

Paul tried to laugh at that lame excuse for a joke, but couldn't seem to manage it. His eyes kept going back to Robert lying dead on the floor. "Are you sure it will show as an aneurism?"

Gabriel lifted one of his hands up gave him a thumbs up instead of answering with his mouth. Well, that was helpful. "Okay, if you're sure..."

Gabriel sighed. "I am tired, I am dizzy, I feel stupid for such a damned botched job and I have a headache that is fast changing into a migraine right now. Yes I am sure and I want quiet. Damn it, there go my plans of getting away on my own for a while. Until this passes there's no way I am flying anywhere..."

Paul did tho one thing he could think of in that moment. He laid a hand on his shoulder, gave it a gentle squeeze when he wasn't shoved off and steadied himself. "You could stay at my apartment with me until you can go."

Gabriel's head flew upwards so he could see his eyes, before clamping a hand over his mouth and making a dash for the sink.

That's how the ambulance found them. Him staring at the dead body of his co worker while Gabriel vomited up whatever he had eaten earlier that day. He didn't tell the people coming to collect Robert that the reason the angel was sick was because of a migraine and not the dead body on the floor. That seemed a little too much.

A blanket was thrown over his shoulders. He took a last glance at Robert as the ambulance team declared him well and truly dead, before the body bag he was placed in was zipped up.

By that time, Gabriel was once again at the table, blanket over his own shoulders and looking like he needed a few hours of uninterrupted quiet.

He watched in awkward silence as Robert was taken out in the body bag, never to be seen from him again. He felt sick and wanted nothing more than to be home. "I think I am going to go home now. Do you need help getting there? It's only a short walk from here."

Gabriel let out a moan, before standing on his feet. The angel closed his eyes and let out a few breaths. "I think I am probably going to need sunglasses. It is way too bright even in here for me right now. And I never want to do this again."

Nodding, Paul walked over to the door back to the church proper and waited. By the time Gabriel joined him, a pair of sunglasses were over his oversensitive eyes.

With that, he began the walk to his small apartment with an archangel in tow. Robert was now dead. Henry he had not talked to since he had left to call the ambulance. In a matter of moments, his world had once again shifted violently on its axis.