Another two short chapters at once, so make sure you check the previous chapter before reading this one!

NAOMI'S PROPOSAL

"Archangel Gabriel? Do you have a few minutes?"

Naomi, one of Michael's brightest Seraphim, had swooped out of the sky to match flights with Gabriel. Gabriel had not seen her outside the regular meetings with all the Seraphim of the Host since her trial alongside Cariel, but like Cariel, her clipped wings had made a full recovery and she had returned to the skies. Now she was gliding just below and behind the Archangel, deferring to his superior position.

Gabriel didn't care much for Naomi, especially not after how she had treated Cariel when he had been trying to defend her, but his minor irritation was no reason to ignore her request. He gave her a nod and gestured to the ground. "Shall we land?"

The two angels touched down in a field full of flowers. Gabriel's wings stirred the blossoms as he folded them closer but he didn't tuck them entirely away. As the smallest Archangel, he was in the habit of keeping his wings slightly spread so he looked more impressive and couldn't ever be mistaken for a Seraph. "How can I help you, Naomi?"

Naomi fluttered her own wings, tucking them primly behind her. In her hands, she was holding a thick report. "I was just headed from your tower, actually. Cariel had suggested I make an appointment with you, but he claimed to not know your schedule." The twist to Naomi's expression plainly spoke of how little she thought of angels who couldn't keep tabs on their bosses.

"Oh?" Already that was a warning flag for Gabriel. While it was true that he didn't have a set schedule most of the time, Gabriel did keep Cariel up-to-date (as much as he could) with where he was and when. If Cariel set an appointment for him with another angel, Gabriel made a point of meeting it unless summoned by a higher power. Cariel claiming to not know his schedule could only mean that Cariel didn't think Gabriel would want to meet with the angel in question. "Well, I do keep rather erratic hours, between Heaven and Earth." Gabriel fluffed an excuse for his second, so Cariel didn't come across as incompetent. "You can't really blame him for being unsure."

"That is actually one of my points." Naomi snapped out the report to Gabriel, her head held high, arms straight. "I'd like you to take a look at this proposal. In it, I've drafted some possibilities for a reorganization of responsibilities in Heaven."

"Isn't this something you should be taking to Michael?" Gabriel asked, though he accepted the report from Naomi, flipping through it and skimming a few pages. "He is in charge of Heaven, after all, and your choirmaster."

"Ordinarily, yes," Naomi agreed. "However, I think you'll agree that my propositions would affect you far more than him, so I thought it best to get you onboard before presenting it to Michael."

Gabriel glanced over the top of the report at the younger angel before focusing more intently on what he was reading. "This is… explaining how to replace me?"

"Not as an Archangel!" Naomi was quick to reassure Gabriel, one slender hand pressing against his forearm. "Or as a choirmaster! However, it has been noticed that those are not your only tasks."

"You want to replace me as Messenger." Gabriel looked coolly at Naomi again, then pointedly at her hand on his arm. After a moment, she withdrew it. "You think I'm incompetent?"

"I didn't say that!" Naomi shook her head in firm denial.

"This report says otherwise. 'Increased volume of messages,' 'visible fatigue,' and 'confidentiality concerns'" Gabriel frowned as he met the Seraph's eyes. "There have been confidentiality concerns?"

"There could be," Naomi stressed. "You are one very powerful angel, dealing with very important information. You're an absolute storehouse of Heaven's secrets. What is preventing you from using that information for your own good? Or telling it to people who shouldn't know?"

"My own moral compass?" Gabriel stretched his wings wider, snapping the report shut. "Naomi, I am insulted that you think so little of me. Father Himself appointed me to this task, and for billions of years, I have performed my duties flawlessly."

"Have you?" Naomi folded her arms and cocked her head to the side, daring to challenge an Archangel. "Have you really, Gabriel? The last time you were sent to give a whole-Host message, you were absolutely exhausted by the time you reached me, and I know for a fact you addressed Michael's choir first and circled clockwise to end at your own. If you were worn out before you even finished one choir, how can you possibly be expected to serve the entire Host?"

"Last time?" Gabriel remembered that last time. Last time had been immediately after Michael had banished Sammael, an event still kept secret from the younger angels. Last time, Gabriel had cowered in the presence of God's wrath and watched his beloved brothers turn on each other before being asked to play his role as Messenger. "Last time, my weariness came from exterior sources, and not from delivering the message. Despite my fatigue—from an extended session in the presence of God our Father, mind you—I still managed to deliver the required message to all hundred and twenty Seraphim, scattered throughout the universe, in a timely manner. So don't tell me that I'm slacking because I looked tired!"

"Regardless, having only one angelic Messenger isn't a very wise decision. What if something happens to you? What if your 'erratic hours' means you aren't found when you're needed? What if you forgot a message, or deliberately chose not to deliver it?" Naomi gestured to the proposal in Gabriel's hands. "If you continue to read, you see that I suggest at least an entire garrison to work together as the Messengers of Heaven, serving to check and balance each other. Perhaps even an entire cluster of garrisons, with each being tasked to separate areas of delivery. If the workload is spread, there is a smaller chance for failure."

"You said Michael hasn't seen this yet?" Gabriel shook the proposal at Naomi.

"Not yet, but he constantly encourages us to devise ways to make Heaven more efficient and-"

"Let me spare you the embarrassment of his rejection," Gabriel interrupted. "No. I won't go along with this ridiculous scheme. I am the Messenger of Heaven, and I am good at it. Until Father Himself repeals my appointment, I will continue to be Heaven's Messenger." Gabriel snapped his wings out, not even bothering to conceal his glare at the younger angel. "Go back to your own duties, and stop trying to take mine." He leapt back into the air, willing Naomi to go her own way if she knew what was good for her.

Cariel glanced up from a folder as Gabriel stormed into his office. "Someone's in a temper… is that Naomi's report?"

"You saw this?" Gabriel flung the report onto his desk. "And you let her get away with it?"

"She tried to get me to present it to you for her." Cariel filed the folder back in a cabinet and crossed to Gabriel's desk, picking up the report between thumb and forefinger like it was something disgusting. "Shall I burn it for you?"

"I want to." Gabriel flung out his hand at the report, incinerating it instantly with a concentrated bolt of his grace. "At least you had the sense to say no."

"I told her that if she wanted to try to take a task appointed by God away from an Archangel, she at least needed to have the nerve to propose it face-to-face." Cariel dropped the corner he had been left holding onto the small pile of ash and miracled it away with a wave of his hand. "And then I told her that you would be unavailable for a face-to-face conversation for the foreseeable future, so sorry."

"And then she ran into me coming back here," Gabriel shook his head. "If she hadn't been your partner, Cariel, I might have left her with more than just a glare."

"Oh, don't spare her on my account next time." Cariel turned back to his file drawers, pulling a new one open. "After she threw me under the cart over the Mesopotamia incident, I'd be more than happy to see you roast her wings. Not that I'd ever stoop so low as to use my boss as a tool for petty revenge…"

Gabriel laughed, clapping Cariel's shoulder. "You're a good angel, Cariel. You always know exactly what I need."

"Just doing my job." Cariel smiled back at Gabriel. "Why don't you go to Earth and let out your frustrations? I believe Barachiel's getting ready to trigger a volcano. Your help is always appreciated at such events."

"Like I said, exactly what I need!" Gabriel loved volcanic events; they were rare chances for him to truly indulge in his element. Michael, Sammael, and Raphael could easily wrap themselves in earth, water, and air respectively, but for Gabriel to revel in fire, he had to make sure everything was carefully controlled so as not to harm humans any more than was permitted. Every volcanic eruption had to be planned thousands of years in advance, so as not to be influenced by what the humans chose to do, and they were never long enough for Gabriel's liking. Short jaunts into the hearts of an active volcano were just enough to satisfy the itch he had for more, and all he could permit himself. If Barachiel was preparing for an eruption, Gabriel would absolutely be there. He could burn away his lingering frustration and maybe even manage to bury the doubts Naomi had awoken within him. Was he really such a horrible Messenger? Did Naomi have a leg to stand on? Would Michael side with her?

"Oh, and Gabriel?" Cariel turned away from his filing to look at the Archangel seriously. "If Father was unhappy with your service as His Messenger, He would tell you directly, not try to get Naomi to steal your job. As long as He wants you as His Messenger, Michael will side with Him and Naomi will gain no traction."

Gabriel smiled, stretching out a wing to brush against Cariel's grace. "Always exactly what I need."