let me be the one you call / if you jump I'll break your fall

[impudentsongbird]

Book Four: Dark Days
1 | into the breach
2 | finding skulduggery
3 | retreat to the tunnels
4 | into the cacophony
5 | sanctuary in the cathedral
6 | reuniting old friends
7 | kenspeckle's new patient
8 | holy water and disinfectant
9 | objecting to china sorrows
10 | the roadtrip
11 | baffling guild
12 | shenanigans at the safehouse
13 | reassuring fletcher
14 | valkyrie's intervention
15 | solomon's revelation
16 | visiting the edgleys
17 | recalled to the sanctuary
18 | guild's confusion
19 | gabe is busted
20 | the psychic tattoist
21 | envisioning the cacophony
22 | angel's first migraine
23 | the morning after
24 | china and solomon
25 | detectives' council of war
26 | china's foolishness
27 | the collector dethroned
28 | finding crux
29 | skulduggery's vileness revealed
30 | sorrows in aftermath
31 | finding equilibrium
32 | the devil's number
33 | at the carnival
34 | meeting authorities
35 | solomon's confession
36 | the stray soul
37 | sanguine unsettled
38 | solomon's choice
39 | a cowboy underground
40 | in scarab's basement
41 | striking midnight
42 | craven contested
43 | emergency services
44 | on your feet
45 | and don't stop moving
46 | easy recognition
47 | a deuce of an evening
48 | engines roaring
49 | compromising judgements
50 | solomon's conflict
51 | axis turning
52 | thinking circular
53 | blasting the past
54 | reviling vile

Book Five: Mortal Coil
55 | sanctuary unsanctified
56 | shudder unravelling
57 | catching an angel
58 | layering dimensions
59 | dead men meeting
60 | when it rains
61 | power plays
62 | sing on gold
63 | the valley of death
64 | grand aspersions
65 | no evil feared
66 | new days rising
67 | angelic neuroses
68 | step-brothers working
69 | the many sorrows of china
70 | peacefully wreathed
71 | tarnished gold
72 | the secret in darkness
73 | magical intent
74 | scars worth keeping
75 | benefits of a beau
76 | grand magery
77 | lighting the darkness
78 | old dogs and new tricks
79 | flouting traditions
80 | drawing lines
81 | brothers and sisters in arms
82 | channelling angels
83 | return of the carnies
84 | the death bringers
85 | meriting agelessness
86 | knick knack, paddy
87 | give a dog a bone
88 | americans propheteering
89 | the right side of honour
90 | tailored shocks
91 | hosting angels
92 | elders anonymous
93 | rediscovered strays
94 | changings and changelings
95 | a state of reflection
96 | adding hope
97 | the devil's truth
98 | dead mens' hospitality
99 | lives half lived
100 | next to godliness
101 | devilish plans
102 | beached angels
103 | lights of revelation
104 | heroes worshipped
105 | new devilries
106 | angels under the yoke
107 | brains frozen
108 | father, mother, daughter
109 | parental guidance recommended
110 | driven round the bend
111 | ongoing training
112 | privileged information
113 | reasonable men
114 | passing the buck
115 | gifting magicks
116 | strengths and weaknesses
117 | immaturity's perks
118 | priests and prophets
119 | scaling evil
120 | blowing covers
121 | marring an afternoon
122 | lie detection
123 | five-dimensional pain
124 | reliving nightmares
125 | taking stock
126 | sampling spices
127 | sleeping prophets lying
128 | rueful returns
129 | dead men reunion
130 | medically-approved hugs

The life of an angel was a contradiction in changes and stability. On one hand, they understood very well the way the cosmos was shaped by events within it. On the other, they stood at one step apart from it—or at least had, for a very long time, up until their Master's recent wager with Lucifer. Changes in the recent past had, even for angels, been fast and turbulent, but there were none that concerned Raphael more than Gabriel's abrupt reserve.

In the aftermath of the wager Gabriel had been almost the only one to know where their Lord was at any given time, a fact which had put the Archangel very firmly under Lucifer's radar. Raphael had joked that Gabriel ought to arm himself with more jokes or worse clothes to drive the fallen angel away; Michael had offered the peace of the Garden Coast. (Rafe thought his idea was better.)

Either way, even though their Master was fair hidden, every angel knew that they had only to ask Gabriel and the Archangel would pass on a message.

Then Gabriel had simply blipped off the radar himself. Poof! Gone! No one had noticed at first, because, well, they weren't exactly in constant connection. It was just when Raphael had taken a whim to seek out his younger brother that he'd noticed it, and let it be, because there was absolutely a reason for it. Gabe did not just off and vanish, except that once with his self-exile, and that didn’t count.

But when Gabriel had come back, he had been strangely agitated and yet close-mouthed. The younger Archangel had vanished off to wherever their Master was hidden for a long chat Raphael was dying to have listened into, and yet couldn't (but only partly because it would have been rude). Now he was here, floating among the stars and examining a black hole with unnerving intensity.

For a time Raphael watched without letting on that he was there, but eventually Gabriel spoke. “I’d rather you came to join me instead of lurking, brother.”

Absolutely refusing to feel chagrined, Raphael let himself manifest with an arm around Gabriel’s shoulders and ruffled the younger angel’s hair. Gabriel threw a fond, longsuffering glance up at him, but there was something in his eyes, something distracted and sharp, which indicated that Gabriel still wasn’t truly present. Raphael only wished he knew where the other Archangel was.

“Just wondering what you’re doin’ all the way out here,” he said teasingly. “There’s a party going on down there on Earth, Gabe.” There was always a party going on down on Earth. “You oughta be down there bobbin’ for apples and switching up party-hats!”

“I can’t,” Gabriel said quietly, with a sort of seriousness Raphael had, for all Gabriel’s literalness, rarely heard from him. So Raphael fell into the same seriousness, lost his playful accent, and spoke directly.

“Why not, brother? You’ve been reserved of late. I conf—I’m worried for you.”

For a very long time Gabriel said nothing and stared into the slow-turning swirl of the black hole. Raphael waited patiently, his arm still companionably across the other Archangel’s shoulders. Eventually Gabriel spoke. “Did you know, Raphael,” he said, “that the universe you see around you here isn’t the only one our Master has created?”

Raphael was so startled that he couldn’t answer. That wasn’t what he was imagining. He hadn’t been sure what he’d been imagining, but that wasn’t it. “I’m not sure what you mean, Gabriel,” he said after a moment. “Our Lord told me the story of Creation not all that long ago, and he never mentioned anything of the kind.”

Gabriel nodded. “He told me that story as well. And then He asked if I really wanted to know details.” He hesitated. “I … admit, I declined. It’s something He said—about faith. I decided I didn’t need to know details. But it’s true, nevertheless. Just beyond this …” The Archangel reached out his hand and touched that gossamer and unbreakable fabric that supported reality. “There are other universes, even with different versions of us.”

“Different versions of us?” Raphael repeated, appalled and uncertain and entirely confused. How could that be possible? What could their Master want with more than one of any of them? What was going on? Where had Gabriel gone in that time he’d vanished? Then something occurred to him and he smiled with relief. “This is a joke, right?”

Gabriel looked up at him and smiled back with such a gentle understanding that for a moment Raphael felt very small indeed. “No, Rafe. I’m not joking. It was a shock to me too. That isn’t the point, though.”

“Isn’t it?” Raphael asked, feeling as dazed as an angel possibly could, especially when he wasn’t even inhabiting an actual physical body.

“No.” Gabriel returned to watching the black hole intently. “I met some people from other realities. One of them is in a kind of Hell, and he very much does not deserve it. I promised him that, if I could, I would save him from it.”

Which did not in the least explain why Gabe was staring at a black hole, let alone a million other questions Raphael would have liked to ask and for which he couldn’t find the words. Finally he found one. “How?”

“First,” Gabriel said with a sort of tranquillity Raphael had heard in his brother’s voice a million times but never after delivering so turbulent a piece of news, “I’m going to jimmy open a crack in the door through this hole.”

Raphael stared at Gabe, and then at the black hole, and then back at Gabe. He opened his mouth to ask whether their Master knew he was planning this and then closed it, because that was a stupid question. He opened it again to query if Gabriel had asked whether he could go around lifting the sheets and then realised that was also a stupid question, because whether he had or not, their Master probably would have told him to do what he felt was best.

It was equally clear that Gabriel very much planned to go through with this, no matter what Raphael said, and really, did Raphael have the right to object? Surely if this carried a risk, their Master would have already forbidden Gabriel from making the attempt?

“I’ll come with,” Raphael said at last, and this time when Gabriel glanced back the younger Archangel’s expression was startled. A moment later that expression shifted into grateful apology.

“I’m sorry, Rafe, but I’m not entirely certain I’ll make it through, and we can hardly leave Michael here alone.” He grinned. “Did you see what he was wearing last festival day on the Garden Coast? He hasn’t moved out of the eighteenth century yet. How would he possibly handle the rest of the world?”

Raphael laughed out loud, warm but startled, and the sound of it rang through space. Gabriel chuckled quietly beside him, and for a few minutes there was just companionable humour that faded into an equally comfortable silence.

Still, Raphael had a lot of questions. How did Gabriel plan to find his friend, let alone the universe he was in? How was he going to get back? What would he do if he met another version of himself? Or, worse, Lucifer? Finally the Archangel just asked, “Have you figured out how to crack open the door?”

“I think so,” Gabriel said, considering the black hole. “Once I figured out what to look for. I wouldn’t have gotten even that far if it weren’t for some things our Master said.”

Which meant that, in some fashion, this expedition was sanctioned by their Master, Raphael translated, and something tense in him relaxed. “Something do to with this drain here, I’ll bet,” he said, falling into his casual accent once more. “Gonna rip out the kitchen sink, li’l brother?”

“Just to see what’s hiding underneath,” Gabriel said with a grin.

“I’ll try’n keep it open for ya,” Raphael promised, and Gabriel sent him a smile which lit up the very space around them with its brilliance.

“Thank you, Rafe,” he said, and straightened. Raphael took his arm away as Gabriel lifted his hands, not exactly stepping back so much as giving Gabriel space. The youngest Archangel didn’t often reveal his power, but it was always a sight to see, a song to hear, when he did.

As it was now. Gabriel’s voice started deep, lifted high, split and wove and became more melodies than one would think a single being could possibly sing at once. The sound of it made Raphael’s heart soar, made him want to fly and laugh. It was so deep, so light, so resonating that it was physical; it touched the slow turn of the black hole and made it, for just the briefest of moments, still. In that moment Gabriel sent a carefully-aimed bolt of energy into the heart of it.

It was the kind of sight Raphael hadn’t seen in thousands of years, a play of physics and metaphysics which he hadn’t thought possible, let alone imagined. There was an eruption in the centre of the black hole, where gravity was condensed; the cascade of energy plumed upward and was dragged back down as quick, a tear in the fabric of the reality not allowed the time to widen or become a danger.

Raphael didn’t even know Gabe had moved until the younger Archangel was gone, he was so busy staring in awe. With a start the Archangel stretched out his senses and just barely managed to catch a glimpse of his brother shooting toward the hole at speeds few angels could have achieved through such a gravity well. Raphael certainly couldn’t have.

How, he suddenly wondered, was he meant to keep that open if he didn’t even have the speed of thought to track Gabriel’s movements through it?

Desperately the Archangel cast about for something to jam in the door, as it were. There was some dark matter nearby and with a thought he fashioned it into a spear and pitched it toward the centre of the black hole. It struck just as Gabriel flitted through the crack nearly wholly collapsed in on itself; the star’s gravity caught it, pulled it in, and plugged the opening like a metaphysical sink.

Slowly Raphael made every part of himself relax. For good or ill, Gabe was gone on this quest of his, and now Raphael should probably go and round up some of their younger siblings to guard the area. Just in case.


Book Four: Dark Days
into the breach | finding skulduggery | retreat to the tunnels | into the cacophony | sanctuary in the cathedral | reuniting old friends | kenspeckle's new patient | holy water and disinfectant | objecting to china sorrows | the roadtrip | baffling guild | shenanigans at the safehouse | reassuring fletcher | valkyrie's intervention | solomon's revelation | visiting the edgleys | recalled to the sanctuary | guild's confusion | gabe is busted | the psychic tattoist | envisioning the cacophony | angel's first migraine | the morning after | china and solomon | detectives' council of war | china's foolishness | the collector dethroned | finding crux | skulduggery's vileness revealed | sorrows in aftermath | finding equilibrium | the devil's number | at the carnival | meeting authorities | solomon's confession | the stray soul | sanguine unsettled | solomon's choice | a cowboy underground | in scarab's basement | striking midnight | craven contested | emergency services | on your feet | and don't stop moving | easy recognition | a deuce of an evening | engines roaring | compromising judgements | solomon's conflict | axis turning | thinking circular | blasting the past | reviling vile

Book Five: Mortal Coil
sanctuary unsanctified | shudder unravelling | catching an angel | layering dimensions | dead men meeting | when it rains | power plays | sing on gold | the valley of death | grand aspersions | no evil feared | new days rising | angelic neuroses | step-brothers working | the many sorrows of china | peacefully wreathed | tarnished gold | the secret in darkness | magical intent | scars worth keeping | benefits of a beau | grand magery | lighting the darkness | old dogs and new tricks | flouting traditions | drawing lines | brothers and sisters in arms | channelling angels | return of the carnies | the death bringers | meriting agelessness | knick knack, paddy | give a dog a bone | americans propheteering | the right side of honour | tailored shocks | hosting angels | elders anonymous | rediscovered strays | changings and changelings | a state of reflection | adding hope | the devil's truth | dead mens' hospitality | lives half lived | next to godliness | devilish plans | beached angels | lights of revelation | heroes worshipped | new devilries | angels under the yoke | brains frozen | father, mother, daughter | parental guidance recommended | driven round the bend | ongoing training | privileged information | reasonable men | passing the buck | gifting magicks | strengths and weaknesses | immaturity's perks | priests and prophets | scaling evil | blowing covers | marring an afternoon | lie detection | five-dimensional pain | reliving nightmares | taking stock | sampling spices | sleeping prophets lying | rueful returns | dead men reunion | medically-approved hugs

Comments

[skeletonenigma]

"No." Skulduggery paused, staring off into space for a second, and then turned back towards Gabe with a carefully neutral expression and, just in case, carefully neutral thought process as well. "Finbar sounded very sure about angels playing a major role in the near future. With Raphael and Merlin from your universe definitely on their way here, I think it's safe to work off the assumption that the Lucifer from those visions is also the one from your universe. We need to talk, Gabe, for two reasons. First, we're going to need a way to stop him, and you have more experience in that area than I do."

Skulduggery hadn't even told the others about that part of their visit with Finbar yet. The idea of Lucifer existing anywhere had rattled them enough, and until Skulduggery could give them more than empty words of reassurance, he didn't really relish the idea of telling them Satan might come here - or, for all they knew, already was.

"And on a more selfish note," he continued after a beat, "I'm honestly curious about how you justify all this risk. I'm one person. A very impressive person, I will admit, but nonetheless. One person. No one person is worth the risk of an entire alternate universe being overrun."

[impudentsongbird]

Ah. Yes. That. Gabe bit his lip, absently fingering the hem of the sheets turned down over the blankets. Stopping Lucifer. Skul wanted to know how to stop Lucifer? After millions of years, Gabriel had no idea how to do that at all! He doubted even Michael did. Not without sacrificing that which made them different to him.

The Archangel had no idea how to answer that, and the second question was more distracting. More distracting and more important anyway, even as Gabe blinked in surprise at the fact that Skulduggery was willingly raising the topic.

"You're reducing it to a matter of statistics, Skul," he said patiently. "I don't know how Lucifer could possibly make it here, unless it's related to Rafe and Merlin's coming in some way. And I couldn't have known that when I first left."

Gabe fell quiet for a moment, his head tilted and gaze staring past Skulduggery's shoulder. Even if he had known it would result in all this, would he have gone to rescue Skul anyway? Could he had made that choice?

Already he knew the answer was 'yes'. "A risk," he repeated Skul's own word quietly. "Just a risk. Not a certainty. I can't control Lucifer's choices, Skul. If he comes here, if he doesn't--that's on him. But I couldn't have stepped aside and known you suffered and done nothing. I just couldn't. Even if I'd known beforehand what could happen." He smiled slightly, rueful and half wondering and a little apprehensive. "I've already been in this position once. And I knew even less then than I do now when I made the same choice."

When he'd helped Joby, believing he would be damned for it, just because he could no longer do nothing even in spite of his Lord's order.

[skeletonenigma]

Risks were all well and good; Skulduggery had taken enough of them in his lifetime. He'd even taken a couple that he freely admitted were perhaps a little reckless, even if everything worked out in the end. You had to take risks when you were a detective, or you'd never get anything done. And when you knew exactly how good you were, most risks became a debatable issue, anyway. Skulduggery wasn't above the occasional unlawful act, for example, if it would catch a murderer.

But there was a point when the risks heavily outweighed the potential benefits. When the benefits were too small to be of any real significance, and even that benefit came with a risk. Not to mention Skulduggery didn't deserve any better than what he'd been getting over in that other dimension. An eternity of it would have been fair and just punishment.

It was surprisingly difficult to tell all of this to the Archangel, though. And it wasn't just because of the fact that Gabe was an Archangel - it was difficult because... well. Because Skulduggery was touched by Gabriel's faith in him. Touched, and on some level, grateful.

So he didn't try; just met Gabe's gaze for a few moments, and then looked away. There were more important matters to attend to.

"You said Lucifer was bound to Earth," he said, "and he wouldn't be able to reach the doorway you used. But - and correct me if I'm wrong - Merlin isn't an angel. So what did he and Raphael use? And while we're on the subject, Merlin?"

[impudentsongbird]

It wasn't really a surprise that Skul would leave off that subject so soon. Gabriel opened his mouth to answer the next when the detective's words actually hit him properly. Merlin isn't an angel.

Gabe paled. Merlin wasn't an angel. "Oh no," he whispered with quiet horror. "Oh, no, Rafe, what have you done?" Because Skul was right, and the Archangel looked at him now, fingers gripping the edge of the sheets as if just shy of wringing it. "Merlin's a nephilim, but he's still bound by the metaphysical limitations of any human. He won't have survived coming through the doorway I made. They must have made one on Earth."

Which meant that Lucifer might find it. Maybe already had found it. Which meant all of this was entirely possible, not because Gabriel had left home to save Skulduggery--but because Raphael and Merlin had left home to save him.

[skeletonenigma]

Well, that was just dandy.

For the first time in recent memory, Skulduggery actually found himself wishing his reality had their own versions of all the Archangels. Lucifer was a problem Skulduggery had never been meant to tackle.

Then again, he thought with an audible sigh, when had that ever stopped him before?

The way Gabe reacted to the realisation, and so suddenly - not just wary, not just nervous, but outright and genuinely frightened - wasn't doing much to help. Lucifer was the only person from Gabe's home universe that he spoke about with any sort of biting sarcasm, or without even a hint of warmth. It went without saying to begin with, but Gabe's feelings confirmed it: Satan was bad news. And they needed to start somewhere if they were going to stop him.

"How would they make the doorway?" Skulduggery asked with perhaps a small note of urgency. "Do you have any idea where it would come out?"

[impudentsongbird]

"I--no," Gabriel admitted, biting his lip. "It's not a portal, Skul--it's not a bridge between one place and another. It's like jumping in the river instead of walking over it. There's no place to 'come out' except where you can manage it on your strength alone."

As for making a doorway, well--it would require something quite different to the mechanics Gabriel himself had used. Earth would need to be protected. Likely it would have taken wards, sigils ...

"I can't imagine they made a doorway without warding it," he murmured. "It would have taken a while, especially if they meant to bring me back. It's probably more stable than mine." More easily found. More easily penetrated. "Maybe," he said with an odd mix of hope and chagrin, "maybe he'll get lost."

Lucifer, after all, didn't know the way any better than Rafe had. Even less, most likely.

[skeletonenigma]

Skulduggery hesitated. "Are we really going to base our entire defense plan around the possibility that he might get lost?"

No, that didn't really cover it. "Lucifer? Satan, the Devil, the master of making other people lose their way, an infamous unhealthy hatred of everything related to Heaven, including you? Lost?"

Maybe Skulduggery didn't understand the 'river' between worlds as well as Gabe did, but if Gabe could make it - hell, if more than one Archangel could make it - Skulduggery didn't see Lucifer giving up. And if Finbar's visions were accurate, he didn't. Or wouldn't.

Maybe he should stop even thinking the word 'hell.'

One moment soon - maybe in a few hours or so - the seriousness of the situation was going to suddenly hit, and it was going to crowd out every thought that came before it. Exactly the same way it did when the significance of Gabe's identity hit Skulduggery back at Landel's. This was Satan they were talking about, after all. Maybe it was because of Gabriel, or maybe it was some sort of defense mechanism, but Skulduggery was actively blocking out the emotional realisation for now. It would only get in the way. The result was a kind of out-of-body experience where everything unfolding before him sounded much too fantastic to be real.

Valkyrie had said before that a living skeleton shouldn't be such a skeptic. Skulduggery was looking forward to seeing how she took this.

[impudentsongbird]

"No," Gabe agreed rather miserably, "I suppose we can't. Although I don't see how he's going to get across. Lucifer's good at making people lose their way, but only because he's already lost. And he's never really been able to master music. He tries too hard to take control and doesn't let it come naturally enough. He doesn't see the beauty in it."

There were dozens of reasons why Lucifer wouldn't be able to make it through. He didn't have that kind of skill. He didn't have the knowledge, the mindset, the flexibility.

But he had the imagination. The perseverance. And Finbar's vision, whether or not they could rely on a vision at all, said he made it through. That meant they couldn't take the risk he wouldn't.

Gabriel took a breath, let it out, and then swung his legs over the edge of the bed to stand gingerly. "I might be able to write some wards," he said, already trying to think this over. He was new to being creative, but surely there was something he could do. "Or a shield, of some kind. At the very least I can try to weave a warning system in the fabric of this reality, so we can tell when openings are made."

[skeletonenigma]

Lucifer's arrival might be stalled, in that case - give them some time to try and prepare while he searched for another way. But if Bible scripture was to be believed, it wouldn't stop him from coming over. Hopefully, Raphael and Merlin would get here first, and be able to help. Although if the trip took as much out of Raphael as it did Gabe, there might be a whole new set of problems on their hands.

... Was Skulduggery actually hoping for more Archangels to appear?

His face settled into a frown. This was going from inexplicably bad to impossibly worse.

At least Raphael wouldn't have been attacked by a Faceless One on the way here. He might be exhausted and need rest, but they shouldn't need to take him to Kenspeckle Grouse. Which was a very good thing, because Skulduggery suspected that if they tried to bring the Professor any more injured Archangels, the old man might really have a heart atta -

"No." Skulduggery stood up, face and tone impenetrably firm. "No. You're not doing anything that might put even a small amount of strain on you. I wasn't happy about what happened with Finbar, but you had to do it. I understand that. This... Gabriel, if you keep trying to take shortcuts, we are going to find out very quickly what happens to Archangels when they can't die. You might be fine with that; I'm not. We've been managing on our own for quite a long time, and we can do so again. Give us a little more credit."

Granted, they'd never tried to stop Lucifer from coming into their reality. But they had taken on three Faceless Ones - and won. It was possible. And Professor Grouse's punishment aside, Skulduggery was not going to let Gabe strain himself to the point where he just didn't come back again. Last night had been frightening enough.

[impudentsongbird]

Skulduggery's sudden forcefulness made Gabe blink and look up in surprise from where he was steadying himself against the bedknob. "I'm not trying to take shortcuts," he said, and his tone was genuinely puzzled. "You were right when you said this is my problem, Skul. This is my brother, and he might find his way here because of me. It's my duty to do something about it."

It really was quite that simple as far as he was concerned, and he suspected it would have been the same for Skul if their situations were reversed. This was Gabe's duty, and it was a duty he wanted.

He really didn't mean to imply they couldn't handle things. They could. But now that Gabe knew he didn't have to wait for orders, there were certain things he didn't want to stand aside for. "I know you can handle yourselves, Skul," he said gently, "but there's no reason to do so alone, against Lucifer."

[skeletonenigma]

It wasn't exactly hard to remain calm. It shouldn't have been, after so much practice. If something as simple as a friend being stubborn could truly anger Skulduggery, he would never have been able to stop Lord Vile in the first place, let alone drag himself out of that deep pit.

But damn it, was he getting frustrated.

"No reason?" he asked, overly calm to compensate, injecting that calm into his thoughts like it was second nature. "You've forgotten last night already? Even minor things are hurting you, Gabe. Stopping Lucifer isn't worth it if we lose you in the process."

He stopped, mildly surprised at his own words. And yet, he knew that he believed them, even as he wondered what had happened to his usual cold, objective demeanor. Skulduggery had rethought a lot since learning who Gabe really was, but this... this wasn't solely because of how important Archangels were. Something about being stuck on equal ground for months in the Institute, fighting for their lives and each other's sanity every night, had made it so Skulduggery couldn't willingly try anything that put Gabe in direct danger - the same way he suspected he could no longer stand by and let Valkyrie walk down a path that was definitely going to kill her.

"We're borrowing you," he clarified after a moment. "I'd like to return you in the same state you were in when you left. Stop being an Archangel for a few months and just focus on healing."

[impudentsongbird]

The image of a gaping Archangel probably isn't something many people even imagined as a possibility, but it was actually a more common occurrence than most people would think. Like right now. Gabe opened his mouth to say something, he didn't know what, and closed it again.

Abruptly he sat back down on the bed, blinking and trying to sort through the rush of emotions. There was shock, the predominant. There was also pride and love and gratitude and some other, overlapping things which seemed to fit in all three categories.

"Oh," he said in wonder. After the wager was over, Gabriel had worried and worried about what his Lord might have done if Lucifer had won. He'd been shocked at the implication that his Master might destroy them all just to rid Himself of Lucifer. Gabe had been wrong, of course, but for a moment there had been some doubt.

This was somehow different. Before then, Gabe had never doubted his Lord. But somehow, possibly because he'd never been in a position like this before, it had never occurred to him that humans might consider him worthy of the same--for reasons other than his being an Archangel. After all, it was his duty. He doubted many people even stopped to consider it. All of a sudden the Archangel realised he was smiling, and he suspected it was a rather silly smile. "Skul," he said, and his tone was full of joy and laughter and wonder and some other things along similar lines far too mixed to parse. "Are you worried about me?"

He'd never had someone worried about him before. No, that wasn't quite right; he'd had Michael worried about him, and Raphael in retrospect, and although Gabe wasn't entirely certain if his Master worried or not given His omniscience the Archangel knew He would had done some sort of equivalent. But Skul wasn't family, wasn't even an angel. He was a man, a mortal, who had never believed in angels until a few months ago.

And Gabe found, his smile fading somewhat, that he didn't want Skul worrying about him, not because Gabe resented the attention but because ... he just didn't want Skul to have to. "I'm sorry," he said sincerely. "I didn't mean to make you."

[skeletonenigma]

Was he worried?

It wasn't by any means a new feeling, or even an uncommon feeling, but it still threw Skulduggery off - probably because of the way Gabe reacted. Like he was expecting Skulduggery to try and deny it. Or like he wasn't used to having anyone outside Heaven worry about him. It put Skulduggery on guard more than if Gabe had barely noticed the accidental confession, and he quickly tried to backpedal.

"I wouldn't say 'worried,'" he managed eventually. "Worried is such a strong word. I'm more concerned. I'm concerned that you are going to go and do something reckless that puts you out of commission, and I'm going to have to deal with the fallout. I imagine God wouldn't be too happy, for starters."

All of which was true, of course. That was the basis of any good cover, necessary or not. It had to be based on truth, or it wouldn't work nearly as well. Ideally, Skulduggery would have liked to avoid outright lying wherever possible, but it comprised most of the small print in the detective job description. When all else failed, he injected humour into the necessary lies. It kept life interesting.

"In that case," Skulduggery said with a stern smile, "stop making me. No magic from now on. Nothing that would raise a mortal's eyebrow. Keep your head down, as it were."

[impudentsongbird]

"Probably not," Gabe admitted, "but He wouldn't blame you for it. Or anyone, really, except maybe Lucifer." If anything, Skul's fumbling just made the Archangel's grin widen. Gabe might not fully understand this need to hide the feelings both parties knew they had, but he knew what the fumble meant.

Skul was worried. He was worried because he cared, and not only because he didn't want to be smote. He was worried about Gabe for Gabe, not as an Archangel but as a friend. That knowledge put a fierce bubble of warmth in Gabriel's chest.

"What kind of mortal?" Gabe asked with impish innocence. "The magical kind or the non-magical kind? Some of the things I can do aren't strictly magic, so if I can't do magic but I can't do things which wouldn't raise some mortals' eyebrows then that still does leave a list of potential actions ..."

[skeletonenigma]

He was joking, right?

But... wait a minute. He actually was. Skulduggery looked long and hard at the Archangel, but there was no mistaking that... twinkle in his eyes.

Excellent. Then he'd accepted the need for much more discretion, and now they were just haggling over what constituted that discretion. Actually, they weren't even doing that - the very fact that Gabe was jokingly arguing meant he knew exactly what Skulduggery meant, and he was just feigning ignorance to poke some fun at the detective.

"If explaining to a nonmagical mortal how you did whatever it is you did would cause them to run screaming in the other direction, don't do whatever it is you did." Skulduggery was grinning back now. He couldn't help it; the illusory face was sensitive enough, and Gabe's own smile was contagious on top of that. "And I mean 'run screaming in the opposite direction' in the loosest way possible," he added quickly, just in case Gabriel didn't catch the sarcasm. Or pretended not to.

[impudentsongbird]

"What if they worship instead? I don't think that comes under any definition of 'runs screaming in the opposite direction'," Gabriel pointed out, but now he was openly grinning too. Seeing Skul be able to smile like that--wonderful. Worth it.

Although that was something that ought to be addressed, and the Archangel's brow furrowed thoughtfully. "Would you like me to leave your disguise up, then? Collapsing it would be simple, but raising it again less so. I could write up some sigils on your bones, I suppose, but ..." He gave Skul an amused look. "Somehow I think that would fall under your definition of 'run screaming'."

It was something they should talk about, though. The disguise was far too useful, for more than one reason, to simply dismiss it. Maybe they could leave it up, as long as Skul didn't mind.

Which made Gabe think of something else. His grin didn't turn wicked, because Gabe wasn't capable of such an expression, but it did turn impish. "Of course, if we're being technical that does mean I should drop my human form as well ..."

[skeletonenigma]

"No, it doesn't," Skulduggery disagreed. "Dropping your human form would very much cause people to run screaming in the opposite direction. Don't do it. People are fragile." That would have to be one of the few exceptions, unfortunately, no matter how much energy keeping up the illusion of normalcy took. At least the disguise didn't seem to be causing Gabe constant pain.

Worship wasn't a subject Skulduggery was going to touch - especially since Gabriel knew exactly what he meant - but Skulduggery's own disguise was a very good point. It had been undeniably useful, despite how new and uncomfortable it tended to get, and the illusion would no doubt be useful again. Asking Gabe to pull it back up every time Skulduggery needed it was hypocritical, and just asking for trouble.

"Let's stay away from sigils from now on," Skulduggery decided with a brief shake of his head. "I'll just have to suffer through looking incredibly handsome and drawing stares everywhere I go. I've done it before. I can't imagine it'll be any harder this time."

[impudentsongbird]

"It will be such a trial for you," Gabe said solemnly, and then laughed as he rose again. Automatically he reached up for the brim of his hat, only to blink when he realised he wasn't wearing it. "I've lost my hat," he said with a trace of chagrin and something that wasn't a pout, because Gabe didn't pout, but would have been a pout on anyone else. "I wonder if Ghastly would be willing to make me one."

Since he couldn't make one for himself anymore, apparently. Actually, he really ought to thank Ghastly for ... a lot of things. Gabe seemed to have been leaning on the tailor an awful lot.

He nodded firmly and took a cautious step toward the door, making sure he was steady enough on his feet to walk alone before risking another. "We should probably talk to the others."

~~~

Solomon Wreath had had an ... interesting night, to put it lightly. Saint Gabriel was the beginning, middle and end of it, but the messenger Tenebrae had sent once Solomon got home hadn't helped much either. The High Priest had demanded Solomon's presence back at the Temple immediately, not only to deal with the theft of the Soul Catcher.

Solomon had had to do a great deal of pandering to beg off, but eventually the cleric had finally--finally--had the quiet, if not the peace, he desired.

For a long time he had merely sat, turning his cane in his hand and studying it intently, letting the thoughts spin around his mind. At some point, he had fallen asleep and dreamed of the lifestream, and of angels, and of a never-ending shriek of agony which woke him in a cold sweat.

He'd paced. Had tea. Eaten. Stared at his cane some more.

And eventually he had decided he needed to know more. His thoughts, while in some semblance of order, were now clearly divided between the faith to which he had held all these long years and the recent facts he had just witnessed. The war, and there was a war, was between those two exclusive schools of thought, and Solomon couldn't reconcile them on his own. Not yet. Not with the information he currently had.

There was only one person to go to for facts, which was why Solomon was just now arriving outside China Sorrow's door, the sun barely visible over the horizon. He'd taken a taxi again, but got out a few streets away so he could approach the building from an alley, as if he'd shadowalked there.

Without pausing to allow himself to think, his mask of absolute calm firmly established, Solomon knocked on China's door.

[skeletonenigma]

Skulduggery had to laugh. Gabriel clearly hadn't known Ghastly all that long. "I'm sure he will," Skulduggery assured the Archangel with a knowing smile. "I'm sure Ghastly would be honored. I don't think he's ever made a cowboy hat before. He probably hasn't catered to Archangels much, either."

As he was speaking, Skulduggery kept a careful eye on Gabe, watching while he took his first slow step towards the door. He didn't try to interfere. Clumsy as his illusory skin might make him look, Skulduggery still only weighed about 13 kilos, and he still had the gracefulness of an incredibly stealthy jungle cat. If Gabe looked like he was about to pitch forward onto his face, Skulduggery could be there to steady him in less than a second.

"I've told them the gist of it," he informed Gabe as he pulled open the door, accidentally flooded the room with light, and quickly closed the door again. "Nothing about Lucifer, however. How are you feeling?"

~~

There were very, very few people who had the audacity to call on China so early in the morning. Visit her library, yes. Ask for her help while browsing, constantly. But knock on her apartment door?

Fortunately for whoever was waiting on the other side, China was in a fairly generous mood today. Having her suspicions about Gabe confirmed last night, far from scaring her off of following up on the impromptu investigation, had lent a new and welcome zeal to her efforts. So little presented China with any kind of a challenge anymore; trying to learn more about the angel and his relation to Skulduggery was proving almost impossible. China was up all night looking through her extensive collection for anything that might be helpful, and it was a wonderful new feeling to experience.

Unfortunately for whoever was knocking, China had been up all night looking through her extensive collection for anything that might be helpful. She was exhausted and, therefore, slightly testy.

With a delicate sigh, China tapped the symbol that turned the door transparent from her side, and the testiness vanished when she saw who it was, to be replaced with surprise. Skulduggery, she would have expected. That sense of entitlement detectives carried around with them hadn't seemed to diminish with a year in another dimension. But Solomon Wreath... China had to admit, she was thrown. And, more annoyingly, she had no idea what the Necromancer would need to see her at such an inopportune hour for.

"Come in," she called, tapping another symbol to unlock the door. No doubt it had something to with Skulduggery. China couldn't imagine the skeleton detective would be too happy with learning about Valkyrie's activities while he was indisposed, and the first thing he would have done was find Solomon. China just couldn't understand what would make Solomon subsequently come to her.

[impudentsongbird]

The sudden light made Gabe hiss and wince, one hand lifting to shade his face, and he blinked a little, dazzled. "Okay," he said, sounding a bit baffled. "I just--wasn't expecting physical light to do that. But I'll be okay."

He came to the door, standing behind Skul so that when he opened the door again the light would be less brilliant and easier to adjust to. "Did you call Valkyrie?"

~~~

At China's assent Solomon entered the apartment, feeling rather as if he would have liked a few extra moments to compose himself further. Then again, he'd been feeling like that since last night, and he would never do any better. At least he could be assured that his control was at least as good as China's--where angels weren't concerned, and weren't trying to read his mind, at least. He even managed to keep his grip on his cane from being too tight (although part of that was, admittedly, because a piece of him didn't want to be holding it at all).

"Good morning, China," he said courteously, looking her in the face as he stepped properly into the room. He had met China before, knew of her more than well enough to register the feel of her magic and then quite firmly harness it. "I apologise for the early hour," he continued, and let his cane rest on the floor, "but I found myself in urgent need of some information and you were, of course, in the forefront of my thoughts."

For a brief second he paused, wondered if he should bother with inanities, and found he didn't particularly have the serenity to do so. Straight into business, then. Perhaps it would be suspicious. Perhaps, depending on what China knew, it would be understandable. "I assume you're aware that Skulduggery Pleasant has returned." As if there was any doubt. "I don't suppose you have any information on the friend he apparently brought with him."

It wasn't quite a question.

[skeletonenigma]

"It's one of the joys of migraines." Skulduggery shook his head. "Or so I'm told, and vaguely remember." He opened the door again, slowly this time, and left the room first to block out as much of the light as possible before Gabe followed him. "I did call her, yes, but she must have already fallen asleep. I'm sure she'd love to hear all about our adventures last night in person. I wonder if Fletcher is awake yet."

How many bedrooms were there in this hallway, let alone the whole safe house? Trying to find Ghastly, Tanith, or Fletcher when they had probably wandered off to find something pointless and mundane like a kitchen or a bathroom would likely take close to forever. Hopefully they'd stayed close, and they could all meet up in the same living room as last night by sheer coincidence.

Tanith was just emerging from a bedroom three or four doors down, bleary-eyed and yawning. That boded well. She smiled when she saw Skulduggery and held up a hand in silent, sleepy greeting.

~~

China gave Solomon an even smile. She considered that generous, given that he'd actually pointed out the early hour of the morning, polite though he'd been. "Congratulations." She rose gracefully to her feet and moved over to one of her end tables. "You've just managed to flatter me, and then insult me less than two seconds later. There isn't a single foot you're standing on that could be called the right one."

He'd gone straight to business. Usually, China would have allowed him that courtesy with nothing more than an arched eyebrow, but not this morning. "And how are things going down in the Necromancer Temple these days?"

Perhaps it was because of her decreased tolerance for company she didn't particularly enjoy when she was testy, but China was going to steer this conversation the way her conversations normally went when she was completely in control of her thoughts, as well as her companion. Her insatiable curiosity could wait. "Tea?" she asked as she tapped the heating symbol on the edge of the end table. "Or perhaps coffee?"

[impudentsongbird]

Ah. Fletcher. Up until then it hadn't quite occurred to Gabriel that this meant they would be relying utterly upon the teen. It wasn't that they weren't begin with, because flying wasn't something Gabe could do easily anymore anyway; but now it had been impressed on him just a little more that he would have to restrain himself from taking action, it settled in.

They would be relying on Fletcher. An awful lot. With a frown, unaware that Tanith was just down the way, Gabriel reached out to grip Skul's sleeve and pull the detective gently but firmly back into the room, closing the door with his other hand.

"Actually," he said, "that reminds me of something I've been meaning to talk to you about. You and the others, not all at once. I was going to go to Ghastly first, but I may as well discuss it with you now." The question was how? Gabe didn't want to betray Fletcher's confidence, such as it was, but the teen also hadn't reacted to the idea of giving the others a boot up the ass.

Finally Gabriel decided that either way, addressing his concerns wouldn't be amiss, even if he kept certain details to himself. The Archangel fixed a firm gaze on Skulduggery. "You know he feels undervalued, right? Fletcher?"

~~~

Apparently Solomon wasn't the only one who'd had a sleepless night, although he rather doubted China's reasons for such were the same as his. She would have received him differently. She was, however, tired enough not to notice his own weariness, a fact Solomon was both pleased and annoyed about.

Especially given the very obvious attempt to take control by making small-talk after all. Solomon sighed in a resigned yet longsuffering sort of way, but answered, "Coffee, if you please."

Somehow Solomon had the impression he was going to need it. Since China was being so accommodating, Solomon decided he could at least find his own seat; he did so with nary a rustle of fabric, sitting up straight and controlled, comfortable even in this place that wasn't his. (Right now, it was far more comfortable than what was his. His palm prickled where it rested on his cane-handle; absently he rubbed it against the top, as if the chill could erase the discomfort.)

"You'll have to forgive me for accidental slights," he said mildly, "I've had a trying night. The Temple is, of course, as well as it ever is." Rife with pandering, power, and politics. What else was new, other than the theft? That, Solomon had no intention of telling China about. Yet.

"From the looks of things your night hasn't been particularly restful either," he said obliquely and with a raised eyebrow, and this time the faint insult was intentional. Accurate, but intentional, a little leading play to contrast his prior apology. If she wanted games before getting down to business, he was willing to oblige. What he had to say, he was sure she would want to know. China Sorrows' curiosity was always stronger than her pride.

[skeletonenigma]

... Or perhaps meeting up in the living room would have to wait.

"Undervalued?" Skulduggery blinked, genuinely surprised. Gabriel was going to try and lecture him over what kind of treatment the teen received over the year while Skulduggery was busy getting tortured? He had half a mind to point that out, but that would be useless; Gabe already knew. "He's the last Teleporter in the world," Skulduggery countered. "I seem to recall him crowing over that fact last year. Now he feels undervalued?"

Neither Skulduggery nor Gabriel had any way of knowing that when Gabe dragged him back into the bedroom, Tanith had been left standing in the hallway, blinking at their door with tired confusion. When her face finally broke and she started laughing again, Ghastly and Fletcher and eventually Valkyrie, when the first two couldn't get Tanith to stop and Fletcher Teleported to the teenager's bedroom for help, could do nothing but stand helplessly by and wait for the joke to be explained.

~~

The Necromnacer Temple was one of the few places where China would have to take Solomon's word for it. It was impenetrable even to her, and she had so few contacts willing to breach the Necromancer order that the Temple was usually shrouded in mystery. She didn't even know whether to doubt Solomon's claim or not. She did, of course. Principle and all. "I'm pleased to hear that," she tossed back over her shoulder as the water almost instantly began to boil.

A familiar sliver of bruised pride ran through China's mind when it appeared Solomon had noticed her exhaustion. It seemed she was losing her touch. But she quietly let the deliberate slight slide. As Solomon accurately predicted, China's curiosity was much stronger than any petty vanity she might feel. She did, however, hold off from answering until two mugs of coffee were in her hands, and she offered one to her guest before retaking her seat with her own.

She noted his use of the word 'either.' Interesting. Solomon hadn't been able to sleep? Skulduggery Pleasant was an intimidating man when he wanted to be, but China doubted even the great skeleton detective could rattle a Necromancer that much. Solomon either suspected Gabe's identity, or... perhaps Gabe had revealed it. If ever Skulduggery needed to be intimidating, that would be the way to do it.

But China wasn't in the habit of revealing facts she wasn't yet sure of to people she barely knew. She had a reputation to uphold. "I'm afraid I know very little," she pretended to confess, leaking just the right amount of frustration into her tone and her face. "An entire night of research hasn't been very enlightening. I suspect he comes from the same dimension our friend Skulduggery was trapped in, but beyond that, I have only suppositions."

Of course, it wouldn't hurt to throw Solomon a bone, and pinpoint how much he knew in the process. China easily let a frown slip into place. "But when they came by yesterday, something rather odd happened. The man - Gabe, they called him - grew angry at me. And with the way the others reacted..." She shook her head. "You'd think he'd trained in an explosive Adept discipline. Fletcher Renn looked about ready to Teleport them all out of here."

She understood why now, of course. The question was whether Solomon would.

[impudentsongbird]

"No," Gabriel said quietly. "Always. Being the last Teleporter is only a means to prove to others that he's worth something to them." He paused. "To you. To the others. I realise you haven't been here for a year, Skulduggery, but the others follow your lead. If you dismiss his aid as a Teleporter as nothing more than your due, so too will they."

The Archangel smiled gently at Skul. "He's a good kid. And he respects you a lot, you know. He's worried that now you're back, none of you will need him anymore. And yes, that's going to come out in inappropriate ways sometimes. But Fletcher doesn't have to help you. Us. He'll help because he wants to. It'd be good to keep that in mind while we're using him as a taxi, don't you think?"

~~~

Solomon accepted the mug with a nod that was more grateful than he might otherwise have revealed if he hadn't been so tired. His eyes were still faintly bloodshot from those ... rather unique tears. Fortunately, such a symptom could be mistaken for simple lack of sleep. The Necromancer sipped at the coffee, his eyes on China. He was familiar with her tactics, even if for no other reason than the fact that he himself was a manipulator. China Sorrows did not 'confess'. A ploy, then. She did knows something more than what she pretended--more than 'supposition'.

His heart pounded. Did she know enough? Did she know it all? Did he dare tell her if she didn't?

How could she not? The Temple had Sensitives of its own, and sometime in the night Solomon had remembered that fact. The Necromancers had dismissed the possibility of what everyone else had been saying. Obviously that had been foolish.

Calmly Solomon set down his mug and lifted an eyebrow. "Ms Sorrows, I'm either disappointed or impressed. I haven't quite decided which. Are you telling me you haven't yet made a connection between Skulduggery Pleasant's sudden return, his companion, and the visions every Sensitive in Ireland have been having?"

He tsked, shaking his head as if in disappointment.

[skeletonenigma]

Oh no. This... Skulduggery looked towards the door, and then sidelong back at Gabe. "This isn't one of those surrogate father things, is it?" he asked, and there was something more than bemused worry in his face. "I've been a father before. I wasn't very good at it."

But he was listening, and not just because it usually paid to listen to everything an Archangel said. Skulduggery knew all too well what worrying about being useless felt like. He hadn't experienced the sensation since before he died, but he had experienced it. And while he didn't know Fletcher too well, it was thanks to the Teleporter they'd saved the world last year. And, barring meeting Gabriel at Landel's, it would have been thanks to the Teleporter that Valkyrie came to rescue him.

Skulduggery took in a long breath and nodded. "I haven't meant to... dismiss him. How do I fix that? Just a little bit of appreciation, a pat on the head?"

~~

China glanced up from her coffee, impressed despite the obvious play. Insulted? Possibly. But only that he seemed to think there was even the slightest possibility she hadn't made the connection, since he seemed to have heard of the visions himself - and hadn't dismissed them, as China assumed any Necromancer would.

Her smile, this time, didn't need to be faked. The fact that Solomon knew made this all so much easier. "I'm either disappointed or impressed in you, I have to say. Of course I've made the connection." Slightly insulted though China may be, Solomon had earned himself a little more information. "The more pertinent question, for me, is why an angel would rescue Skulduggery from hell. Guild has his own theory, as laughable as it is ridiculous. I'm beginning to wonder if there isn't some sort of deal taking place here, and I'd like to know what that is."

But she couldn't just let the insult go. China paused, and her smile grew. "But I believe I see now why you had trouble sleeping yourself. The existence of angels must tear down your entire religion. How is that settling for you?"