Title: Tongues of Men and Angels
Rating: TA for implied?romance.
Summary: Glimpses of grace: the story of one brother and two sisters. Through the grace of God, all things are made new.A series of drabbles. Ish. Gabriel/OC. Ish.
Disclaimer: *obligatory insert*

Chapter XXXIV: Metatron
The Lord came and stood there, calling as at the other times, "Samuel! Samuel!"
1 Samuel 3: 10

"One more day, I think," Bethany said when Gabriel approached her. The map rustled in her lap, spread out like a blanket. "I think if I drive a couple extra hours tonight and wake up early, we can be there by dawn; watch the sun rise—Gabriel?" She had looked up, seen the expression on his face: subtle, under the smooth lines, but it was there nonetheless. He was strained, and holding himself back, and there was something of joy and amazement and regret in his eyes.

"I am being Called," he said wonderingly. "…Home."

"Oh," she said softly, and looked down at her hands on the map. She folded it. "I'm very happy for you."

He gazed at her measuringly and she was struck again by the lightning-blue of his eyes, like sun lancing off dark glaciers, like volcanoes at midnight. "You are," he said after a moment, and somehow he still sounded awestruck. Her heart quivered, that he would find so much pleasure and astonishment in his Father, in Heaven. It hurt, but she was glad for it nonetheless. "And you are not surprised."

She laughed then, and hoped it covered the ache in her heart. "Of course not—how could I be?" She dropped her voice to a confiding, teasing whisper. "Gabriel, I prayed for you every night."

Some strange light filled his eyes; she watched as every plane and angle of his face –usually so intense, even at rest—suddenly softened into something infinitely gentle. Even the sad lines of his mouth grew tender and sweet. She didn't know what it meant, or what he was thinking; she only knew the sight of it made her own eyes sting.

"Bethany," he said, and his voice was strangely reverent. "You will be all alone…yet you pray for my return home anyway?"

She sniffled ingloriously, in spite of herself, then managed a tremulous smile. "Don't be a dope," she said. "Anyway, I'm not really alone, am I?" But the yawning hole in her heart said otherwise. "I'm curious though," she added tentatively, afraid to cling to him but yearning, still. "What this means, I mean. For us—for me. It's selfish, I know, but—will you leave right away? Will I ever see you again?"

There was a pause, and he seemed to be measuring his words. "We will see the canyon together at dawn first," he told her at last, firmly. "And then—I would hope you might wait for me there."

She blinked, and something like hope blossomed where her stomach had felt empty and tight a moment before. It was so unexpected she didn't recognize it at first. "But—" But you have been away from heaven so long, she wanted to say, and Aren't you eager to leave right now? and Why would you come back to this place that you hate?

"Bethany," he interrupted, his voice as strong and low and unstoppable as distant thunder. "I will come for you."

Word Count: 497
Completed: June 1st, 2011

XXXV: Psalmist. Gabriel tells a story.
XXXVI: St. Peter at the Gates. Reuniting with a brother.
XXXVII: Prodigal. God speaks.
XXXVIII: Joseph, Reuben. Another reunion.
XXXIX: The Stone is Rolled Away. Gabriel comes home.
Epilogue: Seventh Day. A couple enjoys each others' company in a Garden.

****Metatron is said to be the name of the angel who acts as the "voice of God," because His voice is too grand for humans to hear or comprehend.