He could have never imaged the amount of damage he would have caused when he slipped out of the Aerie in the middle of the night, and didn't return the next day, leaving his lieutenant whom he had promised with all his grace to never put him back in the same situation he had placed him in once before to stumble out of the empty office as though he'd just been struck across the face. He would not see him shake his head, waving away those thoughts, unknowing of how true they had been, and convince himself that he would be back by morning, that he had merely had a mission to complete and had left to do so early in the day.

But he wasn't back the next morning, nor the one after, or the one after that.

And the Healer was the one who watched from the shadows, unseen in his silent standing as sentry for his old ward, when he finally broke completely. It had been him who the others had come to after the scream that echoed so loudly that it touched those walking passed the quieted Aerie, and it was him who had left his Infirmary in the hands of his Virtues, the only one following being his Captain, running down the stairs and across the Axis to the Aerie next door. It had been him, breathing heavy from such a sprint, to witness the damage such a loving angel could cause when pushed to the limit, as he watched him tear apart his brothers abandoned office with a rage he had not thought him capable of. It was the Healer who rushed forward when the young messenger finally seemed to come to the end of his burning rage, falling to his knees in the middle of the destroyed office, as sobs started tearing from his person as though someone was snatching the breath from his very person with a force unseen.

It would be Michael and Nisroc who would arrive next, having seen the rush as the Healer cut through those milling about the Axis to get to the Aerie in such a frantic hurry. Swords drawn and ready to fend off any who would dare to step foot into their Aerie without contest, to come to a stop outside the door, coming to a stand still behind the kneeling form of Oren, as they watched the Healer tentatively encircle his arms around the sobbing messenger.

Soon after, having been alerted of the scream from the Aerie, the Morningstar and his young charge would come up behind the two warriors. The blonde would whisper his inquiry to the raven, who would nod firmly, once, in answer. The little fledgling would squirm to be set down, and set her down he would, lest she push herself from his arms instead, and they'd all watch her from the doorway as she stepped carefully over broken pieces of glass and splintered pieces of wood into the ruined office. It was them who watched their young friend manage to get herself between the Healer and her friend, and hug him as tightly as she could, it would be them to see the damage caused by the Messenger.

But not he, himself.

He was too far away by that point.

They would stay there long into the night until the messenger finally sobbed himself into unconsciousness.

It would be a week before they caught sight of him again, through the soft call of their Father in an order to aid His humans friends in this 'hunt' they found themselves, and the fledgling tagging along didn't blame her friend when he took one look at the missing piece and left without word.

Honestly, she was of the opinion, in her soft raging way, that nobody should have been as surprised as they were that he did this. Again. Once an abandon-er, always an abandon-er.

The Messenger tried to smile at them in greeting, a tentative half smile, and quickly averted his gaze at the harsh stares he received from the attempt.

Akeelah, never one to keep her opinion to herself, took hold of her masters hand and leaned forward with it in her grasp as she trusted him to keep her from falling over "You know what's worse then abandoning those who you swore to never leave alone over anything?" she looked straight at the Messenger "Doing it twice." And from there, she let the shade fall over him unashamedly.

…

The fledgling pointed at the picture the hunter had shown them, from the safety of her masters side, leaning heavily on the older archangels shoulder from where he had positioned himself to sit in front of her.

"Gabe! He's like you! He abandoned his family too!"

Sam turned to look at the Messenger silently, as the fledgling continued pointing at the picture of the CEO who had vanished through the night that week ago when they took note of the beast in the area wreaking havoc, staring at the Messenger has he bowed his head in shame.

…

They found the CEO the following Friday, after the search done by the Powers and the Grigori, and were able to pin him at a small cottage in the Rockies, safe and sound despite the trail of blood that had led them to him. They had watched him for some time, ensuring that none else knew of his location, before returning with their news.

Nisroc turned to look at his little friend when the fledgling grabbed onto the leg of his human jeans and leaned forward, staring quizzically at the Messenger, her little head tilted to the side, "He ran 'cause he was gonna be hurt, Nis?"

He set a hand on her head, "Indeed."

And she gave a soft nod under his hand, gaze never straying from the Messenger, "So what was your excuse then?" and he turned, breaking the stare he had with her, and bit his lip in silence.

…

"How long do you think it took for him to disappear like that?"

Dean Winchester looked to his brother in question, as they all bent over a map of the city they were currently in, and the younger of the two of them shrugged, "It's hard to say really."

Beside him, with her head laying on her crossed arms, Akeelah shook her head in the negative "No it's not." She turned her head to the side to look at the Messenger "Gabe, how long did it take you to run away?"

…

The room fell silent when the little girl held her hand up and he stopped midsentence, she turned to look up at him dully, and the Messenger blinked in surprise at the first glance that was something other than a glare of heat "Sorry. I have a strict policy about not talking to cowards."

"Akeelah, I made a mistake!"

She turned completely, her grip on the Morningstar's pants dropping completely, and the Messenger blinked in surprise at the most attention he'd gotten from her in the three weeks they'd been together.

"No, you didn't make a mistake. Making a mistake is taking Zaves fox pup he has hidden in his room. No. What you did was break his heart."