"Jophiel?"
The sound of his name spoken by one who knew him was a heady feeling. However, it had nothing on how it felt when Gabriel's grace reached out to him. This was the first touch of grace that Spencer had felt since his own had been ripped out and it came from one that Spencer knew he would always be able to trust without a single doubt. Spencer accepted the touch and answered with one of his own. He knew Gabriel wasn't just greeting him. Was, in fact, making absolutely sure that he was who he said he was. "It's me, Gabriel." He promised gently. "It's really me."
There was just a moment more as Gabriel stared at him. Then, with all the exuberance the archangel had always shown, he launched himself off of the barstool and straight at Spencer. The two collided and Spencer easily caught him up and held him close. "You son of a bitch." Gabriel swore against his neck. His arms tightened briefly and he pressed a little closer until Spencer was quite intimately aware that his brother was still in a female form at the moment. Then he yanked back and caramel colored eyes glared hotly at him. This wasn't the face that everyone else got to see. This wasn't the persona of Loki, or the Messenger of God. This was pure Gabriel, stripped right down to raw emotions, and that was more worrying than anything else so far. "Where the hell have you been? I looked everywhere I could for you! You just, vanished. Cas said you weren't even upstairs anymore!"
"Cas?" Who was Cas?
Gabriel rolled his eyes. "Castiel. That's not important. What's important is that he said you were gone. I thought something had really happened to you!"
A flare of pain flashed through Spencer. With their graces still touching, that pain was easily felt by Gabriel, who reacted almost immediately by reaching out to take Spencer's hand and sending him a wave of love and comfort. Spencer drew it in; he basked in it. It was like cool water over parts of him that still felt burned and scraped raw. "It's a long story."
It looked like he wasn't the only one with one of those. There were raw spots in Gabriel's grace that spoke of pain and grief far deeper than any human would ever be able to understand. Something had happened and whatever it was, it was bad. It had left wounds on him that had yet to heal. Gabriel was hurting. He was in pain. And Spencer had never been able to handle seeing any of his family in pain. He didn't even think before reaching out to soothe what injuries he could in just this simple touch. When Gabriel wavered under it, Spencer drew him in again, cradling him this time much like he would a child. "What happened to you, Gabriel? Who hurt you?"
"It's a long story." Gabriel echoed his words back to him. He sighed and burrowed in a little, nose pressing against Spencer's neck. "I've got a big bottle of mead strong enough even for us and a private penthouse. Want to get really freaking drunk and trade sob stories?"
Spencer couldn't help the laugh that slipped free. "Actually, that sounds perfect. I just have to let my friends know I'm leaving and them I'm yours."
"Friends?" Gabriel tipped his head up just enough to arch an eyebrow at him.
"Yes, friends. Human friends." He clarified. When Gabriel's look only grew more curious, he added "Part of that long story. Just give me a minute to let them know I'm leaving."
"I'll come with you."
The words were said playfully and with an eyebrow wiggle that suggested trouble. Spencer had no doubt that Gabriel would play this up, too, putting the body he was currently wearing to good use. But it was what Spencer caught underneath all that that made his decision for him. Playful though he might act, letting his trickster side show through, underneath all of it was the need to be close to a brother he'd apparently thought lost, and a fear of letting him out of sight. Spencer didn't comment on those. He knew better than that. He just shook his head as Gabriel shifted to his side and wrapped a hand around his arm. "Be nice." He warned him. "Only two of them have any idea who I am. The third is new and I don't need you blowing my cover." Then he lifted his hand. A snap had a tray appearing in one hand, with the drinks his friends had ordered. Another one had the room returning to normal.
Gabriel, the little shit, put an extra sway in his hips as he walked with Spencer back to the table, and he leaned in a little more towards him. "I've been a bad influence on you." The words were almost a purr, full of amusement and a bit of deviousness. "Snapping things up here and there. You're stealing my moves, sweetheart."
"I think we both know who exactly stole that from whom." Spencer pointed out dryly.
The sound of Gabriel's laughter filled the air just as the two reached the table.
Three heads looked up as Spencer set the tray down. Ashley looked both curious and slightly knowing as her eyes traveled over Spencer, down to where Gabriel still hung on her arm, and then back to Spencer. She didn't know Spencer well enough to know just how atypical this was for him. Not just the beautiful-woman-on-his-arm part, but the fact that he had anyone there at all. Spencer was notorious for not picking up people. Derek and Emily both knew that, however, and the looks they were giving him were curious, with just a hint of worry edging on Emily's. After all, she was the one that knew he'd been going to check on something.
Spencer tried to put on his best smile for them. "Hey guys, sorry it took me a bit. I ran into an, old friend of mine by the bar. Guys, this is, Gabby." There was only a brief hesitation before he gave that name, a small second where his brain stalled. He couldn't help the little flare of amusement he felt as he said it, though, and he felt Gabriel's as well. He'd always had a great sense of humor. "Gabby, these are my friends—Derek Morgan, Emily Prentiss, and Ashley Seaver."
Smile brightening, Gabriel shifted a little, pressing deliberately up against Spencer's side. He slipped his hand off Spencer's arm to curl it around his waist and Spencer instinctively adjusted so that his arm was around Gabriel's shoulders. "Hey there." Gabriel said, giving a wave. When he dropped his hand, he brought it to rest against Spencer's stomach and he snuggled in against him, pretty much making this look as sexual as possible. "We were just coming to let you guys know I'm stealing your boy for a while. We've got some, catching up to do." The words were practically dripping with innuendo. Spencer had never met someone who had the ability to make everything sound so damn sexual the way that Gabriel could.
I am going to beat you. Spencer sent to Gabriel.
Promises, promises.
"You sure you guys don't want to stick around a bit?" Emily offered, smiling politely even as her eyes took on a calculating look that Spencer had seen her use plenty of times when she was trying to profile someone. "We'd love to hear some stories from when you knew Spencer."
Immediately Spencer felt Gabriel's laughter and he knew whatever the trickster said next had a high likelihood of being as embarrassing as possible. Before he could get a word out, Spencer blurted out "I'm sure." He cleared his throat and tried not to flush as everyone looked at him with varying degrees of humor. "Maybe another time, Emily. Gabby and I have a lot to talk about. I'll see you guys at work tomorrow, all right?"
Really, after that, it was too easy to slip away, to pull Gabriel away from the table and head towards the door. They weren't even halfway across the room before Gabriel tightened his grip and took flight. Prepared for it, Spencer easily masked their exit, making sure no one would see two people vanishing in the middle of the room.
They landed smack dab in the middle of a rather large and opulent living room. Gabriel broke away from Spencer's side with one small squeeze and moved over to the hutch at the side of the room. Not even halfway there, the illusion he'd woven around himself dropped and the body of the woman faded away, leaving behind the vessel that Spencer was much more familiar with—one he had assisted in making, actually. "Make yourself comfortable." Gabriel called back over his shoulder. "I got a feeling this is gonna take a while. What's it been? Four, five hundred years?"
"Close to five, I believe." Spencer took a seat on Gabriel's couch—his insanely comfortable couch—and pulled off his shoes before curling his legs up and tucking his feet in. He was turned sideways, knees up in front of him but tipped to rest against the back of the couch, just like his shoulder. It left the other end perfectly open for Gabriel to take. They'd be able to face one another and talk easily.
Gabriel came over to the couch with a big, old fashioned jug in hand and two glasses. When he got close he braced one hand on the back of the couch and hopped over, dropping down with a thump. He didn't say anything until after he'd uncorked the jug and poured them each a glass. Handing one over to Spencer, he held his up and waited for Spencer to clink their glasses together. They each downed theirs in one drink. Spencer was quiet as well, content for the moment to just watch, to just sit here in the presence of a brother he trusted, the heady feeling of grace right up against his own. When his grace has first come back, Spencer had wanted to go see Gabriel, to go make sure that he was still okay. Fear had kept him from doing it. Fear of what might've happened while he was 'gone'. Fear of how Gabriel would react. He should've known better on the second one. Tough and terrifying though Gabriel might appear to others, especially the Loki aspect of his personality, he had never been anything to Spencer that Spencer couldn't trust explicitly.
It was as Gabriel was pouring their next drink that the silence was finally broken. "So, seeing as how you're not dead and all—where you been?"
The blunt question had Spencer snorting. "Here." He said flatly, taking his glass back and swallowing down a drink he didn't even taste. "On earth."
"Ahh. Decided I made this whole hiding thing look so glamorous you just had to try it out for yourself, hm?"
There was a layer of bitterness over those words, with an undercurrent of hurt. Spencer tried not to wince at the accusation he felt. "Do you honestly think I'd do that to you without letting you know?" Did he really think that Spencer would treat him that way? He watched as Gabriel's wings shuffled behind him in a sort of sheepish gesture. Abruptly, Spencer shook his head, and he held up a hand to stop whatever Gabriel was going to say next. Snapping at him was pointless and Gabriel had a right to be worried and hurt; he didn't know what had happened. Spencer drained what was left of his glass like it was a shot. When he spoke, his voice was flat, devoid of emotion. "I didn't choose to leave you all. I didn't exactly get a choice in the matter at all."
Everything on Gabriel wiped away under a wave of absolute shock. "What?"
Staring down into his glass like it would hold the answers to the universe, Spencer curled in on himself just the slightest bit. He didn't want to have to say this to Gabriel because he knew his brother would ask questions—questions that the team had left well enough alone. With them, he could sidestep, hide, or outright deny. With Gabriel? That wouldn't work. He would want answers that Spencer didn't want to give. Spencer didn't want to talk about this at all. He didn't want to think about it. The pain it caused was still so strong in him. It showed now despite his best efforts. "It wasn't long after my last visit to you. I snuck back, as careful as always," He'd always been so careful, making sure no one knew where he'd been, could never track him back to the archangel-in-hiding, "but I apparently wasn't careful enough. I was, ambushed when I landed. My grace was…ripped out, and I Fell."
"Holy shit." Gabriel breathed out. He sounded stunned and furious at the same time and the room around them glowed with the power he was fighting to restrain while in the distance thunder rumbled. Behind him, his wings were lifted high in a gesture of defense and protection. "Joph. Who…?"
"Don't ask me that. Please, Gabriel, don't ask me that."
Spencer's voice cracked halfway through and that was it for Gabriel. In a flash he was across the couch and spilling into Spencer's lap. Their glasses had vanished into thin air. Warm hands drew Spencer's head in until he was able to bury his face against Gabriel's neck. There, sheltered against the other archangel, he was wrapped up in grace and wings and arms that had always provided love and comfort and which had never hurt him. There were no words that Gabriel could use to express his sorrow over what had happened to Spencer—to Jophiel. To force an angel to Fall was essentially a War Crime, in human terms. It was horrifying and it wasn't done. For someone to do that to him, to one of the gentlest angels that Gabriel had ever known, made him hurt so badly.
The feel of Gabriel's grace against his was a balm to the wounded archangel, though. To feel his brother meant the world to him. It didn't make everything better, but it made it easier to bear. He reached back out to it in a need that no human would be able to understand. A need for communion, to mesh and share and embrace. Once, it had been how all angels communicated, all the time, until time had gone and angels had changed. Until secrets were started. To commune, you opened yourself up entirely to the other being with a love and trust that was absolute. This was the single most intimate thing an angel could do with another angel. Everything was seen and felt. No secrets could be kept this way. Spencer hadn't felt that in such a long time and his grace was crying out for it.
There was just a second of hesitation on Gabriel's part. Spencer felt it and drew back, tried to reign himself in. His hands clenched down on Gabriel's hips as he fought to control himself.
Gabriel made a pained sound and his own hands tightened on Spencer. Then, suddenly, his grace was there, not just holding Spencer's but opening to it.
Everything that had happened since they'd last seen one another came out in that sharing of grace. Gabriel saw everything; he saw Jophiel return to Heaven, saw the ambush, saw as a brother they both trusted did one of the most despicable things that an angel could do to another, and he saw every single moment of those human lives laid out before him.
In turn, Spencer saw just as much. He saw the archangel's life while he'd been gone. The years of playing pagan, the things he'd done. And he saw every single moment of the apocalypse—from the moment Gabriel met the vessels right up to that horrible night in Elysian Fields when the brother they both loved shoved his blade straight through Gabriel's heart. He saw after, too, when Gabriel woke up in that same hotel, miraculously alive, the apocalypse over.
The memories washed over the both of them and they could only cling to each other underneath it and wrap around one another even tighter. The need to get even closer had them pressing their bodies together while their joined graces almost sang in the joy of communion.
The reaction of their vessels was secondary to everything else. Intimacy with grace was how angels loved. Sharing and opening themselves up. Grace sex, as Gabriel had once jokingly called it. It was emotional and spiritual and so much deeper than any other connection. Physical sex, the way that humans do, was something that could only be done when wearing a vessel. Few angels ever experienced it. But Gabriel had, and he'd showed Spencer. He'd showed him how to use the body he wore to gain so much pleasure, and in turn Spencer had shared himself, body and grace, and offered the archangel-in-hiding a connection to home that he hadn't had anymore. That was exactly what they were doing for each other now.
They connected grace just as much as bodies. It had been a long, long time for the both of them since they'd been able to commune with another angel this way, let alone another archangel. They weren't saying anything against the angels of lesser ranks; there was just something different about the firstborn. Meshing grace with one of the originals, one whose power was as strong if not stronger than their own, was amazing. There was no fear of overwhelming the other and actually hurting them, as could happen between an archangel and an angel of lesser rank. This was wrapping up with another being who was just as strong as you and who gave back as good as they got.
More than that, though, this was connecting with someone to whom they had once been so close with. All the archangels had their bond together as a group, as well as separate bonds with each other. At one time, Gabriel and Spencer had been extremely close. Closer than many. They were both known for their sunny dispositions up in Heaven. Back then, Gabriel's pranks had been more in fun, brother playing with brother, or sister. He'd always had a joke and a laugh for anyone. His joy had been infectious and his laughter had rung through Heaven with a beauty that made all stop to listen. Beside him, Spencer had been more subdued, but no less joyful. His presence alone had often been enough to make the others smile. There was something in the way that father had made him that had just seemed to bring a smile to most.
Their joy as they came together now was made stronger by so much time apart. Spencer relished the feel of the younger archangel in his arms as he pulled him in close and Gabriel settled more comfortably in his lap. A thought from Gabriel changed their location, taking them from the couch to the bed, and Spencer didn't protest. Six beautiful golden wings rose up from Gabriel's back and flared out in a display meant to show joy and love and then they drew in around him. Spencer answered in kind. He enjoyed the soft gasp Gabriel let out as Spencer's own six wings rose up from his back. They were the color of the sunrise, all bright yellows and orange and hints of pinks and reds. They were unique and beautiful and Gabriel had always loved them. He loved it now as the light of them wrapped around him and sheltered him in a way no one had in far too long.
The joining of their bodies was really only secondary to everything else. It was just a physical manifestation of the connection their grace was building. There, together, they gave and took in equal measure, and in that they both found a comfort that had been missing for too long.
Afterwards, the two lay tangled together in Gabriel's large bed, their bodies pressed together and their wings lying loose around them. Gabriel was on his back, Spencer draped half over him. One of Spencer's hands traced lightly over the bit of hair on the chest under his cheek. What they'd both seen in each other, what they'd felt, was still humming through them. Spencer's mind drifted over what he'd seen and the pain that he'd felt inside of Gabriel.
"You're thinking too loud." Gabriel murmured into his hair. "What's so important you can't bask a little first, hm?"
There was a second in which Spencer debated answering. Then, he turned his face in a little and nuzzled against Gabriel's soft skin. "You miss him." He said softly. It wasn't a question. He could feel Gabriel's grief for the human he'd lost, even if he'd never really had the chance to have him; the heartache he felt when he thought about him. He didn't even have to clarify who he was talking about.
Under him, he felt Gabriel's chest move as he snorted. His tone, when he spoke, was dry and heavy with sarcasm. "You know, most people don't talk about other men when they're in bed with someone."
Spencer wasn't deterred, though. He knew Gabriel far too well. "You love him."
The room went quiet for a long moment. Gabriel shifted a little under him and then sighed. "It doesn't matter." He said in a voice gone soft.
"Of course it matters." How could he say it didn't? Twisting, Spencer folded his hands over Gabriel's chest and rested his cheek on them to better be able to look at him.
Gabriel let out another sigh even heavier than the last and he wiped a hand down his face. He looked even more tired than before and fragile in a way he wouldn't let just anyone see. "It can't matter." He corrected himself, closing his eyes. There was just a hint of bitterness to his words. "He's trapped down there with Mike and Lucy and I can't get him out. I'm not strong enough to pull him away from them."
"Not alone."
Caramel eyes immediately snapped open and locked right on Spencer's. "What? 'Feel, no. No…"
Shifting his hand, Spencer pressed a finger against Gabriel's lips, silencing him. "He doesn't deserve to be there, Gabriel. Whatever sins he's committed in life, he's paid for them long ago. I can't just sit back and allow it to continue on when I know I can do something about it." He drew his hands back and laid them under his chin once more. Thinking about what he was offering was enough to have his grace quivering and his wings trembling, but he didn't take it back. Didn't change his mind. This was the right thing to do; no matter how he felt about it.
There was a soft rustle as Gabriel's wings drew up and wrapped around Spencer just as Spencer's wings had earlier sheltered him. They curled over him and held him close in an offer of comfort that was sort of for the both of them, even if he told himself it was just for Spencer. There was no one better than Gabriel who would know just how much it would hurt Spencer to fly down there with him and see their brothers in there. To see Lucifer for the first time since he'd originally been locked away. Gabriel knew, and he knew just how amazing gift it was for Spencer to offer to help him go there, without any sign of hesitation. His wings drew a little tighter as if to shelter his brother from what was to come. "You're an amazing being, Jophiel."
"I'm just me." He wasn't anything special, he knew.
"Just you is pretty damn amazing to me."
Embarrassment colored Spencer's cheeks and showed in the shuffle of his wings. He felt Gabriel's chest vibrate with his laughter and he didn't hesitate to pinch his brother's side. "Shut up." Planting his hands on Gabriel's chest, he pushed up, breaking the cocoon the wings had made around him. "If we're going to do this, now would be a good time. My team has the next two days off."
"Now?" Gabriel repeated, stunned. He sat up and stared at Spencer as the other archangel clothed himself with just a thought. "You want to do this now?"
"You're telling me you want to wait?" Spencer shot back.
They both knew the answer to that. Every minute they waited was another moment that Gabriel's human was in the hands of their two older, pissed off brothers. Spencer had been mediator often enough between the two to know how bad it could get just standing between them. That had been bad enough, and he wasn't human, nor had he done anything to turn their wrath his way. He had no doubt that Lucifer and maybe even Michael would turn their wrath on Sam Winchester.
Spencer held his hand out to his brother and tried not to let his fear show. "Let's go save your human."
The sight in front of Spencer made the trip he'd just taken more than worth it. Invisible to the humans nearby, he leaned against the wall of this rather impressive 'panic room' and watched as his brother knelt beside the body of his human and oh-so-carefully returned the bruised and battered soul of Sam Winchester back to where it belonged, what little grace Spencer could spare being leant to his brother to help. The sight of that soul was still enough to make Spencer cringe. The damage that had been done to it, that his brothers had done, was appalling, and it broke a part of Spencer deep down inside, a part of him that had started aching at the sight of them.
They had fought hard for the souls inside the Cage. It'd taken Gabriel and Spencer both, with a little help from Michael in the end, to get them free. But now the Cage was as it should be. Two archangels, alone, with only one another for company, and only one another to blame for their prison.
Spencer had done everything in his power to heal at least some of the damage done to Sam's soul. The rest would take time, though. Hopefully, Gabriel's presence would be able to help. Spencer wished he could be more sure, but he was so tired, his grace worn down low from everything he'd done. He was going to be lucky to make his flight back home.
Still, he stayed where he was until he saw Sam's soul connect once more with his body. Only then did he cut off the flow of his grace to Gabriel and silently take his leave.
At first Spencer flew blindly. He knew he was going to be down for the count for the next little while, his grace depleted so low his vessel's needs were going to kick in just to give him time to recover, and every inch of him was already aching.
He didn't know where to go. Going home right now to an empty apartment was the last thing that he wanted. He needed to be with someone. He needed to be with a person he could trust to help take care of him while his grace was so weakened. His first instinct was Derek; the man was his best friend and he'd seen Spencer at some of his low points as a human. But, no…Derek was still fighting in some ways to try and understand this. His emotions would get in the way and that wasn't something that Spencer could handle right now. He couldn't handle the rawness of someone else's panic when he had his own pain and grief to deal with.
There was only one person he could think of to go to. Someone he knew would take care of him, help him, and who wouldn't push him until Spencer was ready. Someone he knew he could trust to keep their cool.
Spencer had just enough strength to make sure that no one was in the living room before he landed. Weakened the way he was, his landing wasn't perfect, and he crashed into the coffee table before tumbling down in a heap to the ground. At least he had enough peace of mind to pull his wings in so they wouldn't be seen. He did it in just enough time, too. Only seconds after his crash landing, Aaron Hotchner appeared at the entry to the hallway, his service weapon in his hand and a ready look on his face. One look at who was lying on his floor and he lowered his weapon and was rushing forward.
"Reid." Aaron dropped down to his knees at Spencer's side and reached out for him. The firm hand that settled on his shoulder steadied Spencer more than anything else had. Sharp eyes ran over him in a quick assessment. "Are you hurt anywhere?"
Too weak to lift himself up, Spencer could only lay there and shake his head. "No." At the look Aaron gave him, he amended "Not anywhere humans can see or heal."
"Let's get you up off the floor." The safety was clicked on to Aaron's gun and then he was tucking it in the back of his pants before he reached out for Spencer once more. "Can you stand?"
It was sort of embarrassing to admit that he didn't really think he could. He tried, though. With Aaron's hands bracing him, he tried to put his hands down, to push himself up, but his arms wobbled and he would've face planted back to the ground if Aaron hadn't managed to get an arm under him and banded across his chest. "All right, all right. Just lean into me. I'll do most of the work; I just need you to lean against me."
"'M too heavy." Spencer slurred out. He felt so damn tired.
Through heavy eyes he caught sight of just a small flash of a smile over his friend's lips. "I think I can handle it."
Spencer wanted to make a protest against what he knew was a dig as his size. The team had always teased him about being so slender. Back when he'd first joined, Derek and Elle had always joked about a stiff breeze being able to blow him away. Spencer thought about telling Aaron that his true size was bigger than he could know, but he was just too tired to form the words, too tired for much of anything. All he really could do was lean against him as Aaron drew him upright and pretty much gathered him up like he was a small child.
It didn't really register on Spencer where they were going. All he knew was that he was somehow managing to shuffle his feet forward. Then suddenly they were stopping and he found himself being lowered onto something soft. "There. Just lay down, Reid. That's it." Aaron murmured.
Spencer felt almost like a child as his boss, his friend, laid him down on the soft bed and then proceeded to strip him of his shoes and even his pants. The archangel tried to swat a hand at him in protest at that one but Aaron just brushed it off. "You don't have anything I haven't seen before, Reid, and you're going to be a lot more comfortable without a belt digging in."
His exhaustion was too much. The last thing Spencer knew before he passed out was the low sound of Aaron's voice and then the soft push of a gentle hand brushing his hair back from his face.