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]

Don't encourage the boy, Ghastly wanted to say. It wouldn't be a bad idea for Fletcher to learn some manners, and if not dealing with an Archangel, then when?

Ghastly was only mildly concerned that he had just asked himself such a ridiculous question without a hint of irony.

As far as angels went, Gabriel was really about as far from what the Bible had implied as it was possible to get. Skulduggery had mentioned wings and a halo; that was the sort of ceremony that, strangely enough, might have helped Ghastly. As it was - even though he had no reason to doubt the validity - it was difficult to see Archangel when he looked at an ill and exhausted-looking man wearing shorts. A man who didn't look much older than Fletcher himself.

Still, as Skulduggery pointed out, what other explanation was there for his rescue? Or the Murder Skull, which had, until that morning, been carefully locked away in the Sanctuary? Ghastly had no problem imagining that a being from the metaphysical plane was able to make itself look like anything. He was just lost as to why this particular form of... well, a hobo, as Fletcher had so carelessly put it.

"Only you, Skul," Ghastly managed, shaking his head once again. "Only you would get dragged into the Faceless Ones' dimension, and come back with an Archangel."

When Valkyrie finally spoke, her voice was so small that Ghastly had to do a double-take. This wasn't the upfront and confident girl he'd known for the last year. "You said," she directed at no one in particular, "that I would see things most people never dream of. You... you never said anything about this."

"There's a very good reason for that," Skulduggery answered. "By the time I could tell you, I was slightly indisposed."

Valkyrie had leaped headlong into magic without a second thought, and this was what gave her pause? Well. Better late than never. If anything, Ghastly was glad for this. While they obviously couldn't go revealing this tiny fact to everyone in the magical community, it helped Ghastly to know that he had a leg to stand on when he said that sorcerers were not the end-all, perfect solution to the state of the world. There was something above even magic.

Actually, speaking of revealing... Ghastly looked between Skulduggery and Gabriel, eyes narrowed slightly. "Why are you telling us? How are we able to help?"

[impudentsongbird]

"He has got a habit of making strange things happen," Gabriel agreed, smiling fondly at Skulduggery. "Or so I've heard. I'm looking forward to seeing this trait in action." The last he said teasingly, because, really, there wasn't exactly much the Archangel found strange. New, exciting, yes, but very rarely strange. (Valkyrie just happened to be one of them.)

The Archangel debated mentioning that Skulduggery had been just as, if not more, disbelieving as his friends now. Certainly he hadn't known this was even an option--not with the way he'd reacted to Gabriel first telling him. Gabriel may have brought it up, except that Ghastly's question was of more importance, and at the prospect of some relief, Gabriel was willing to let Skul's attempt at nonchalance slide.

"I'm not entirely sure exactly what Skul has in mind," he said, "but frankly, I'm--not in very good condition right now." The smile faded for a moment, though he summoned it a moment later to reassure everyone. "My life's not in any danger, but when I was bringing Skul through realities a Faceless One tried to hitch a ride and I wasn't able to defend myself." This time, the smile turned grim. "The ocean between universes took care of that little problem, but I'm not going to be good for much until I heal. And my injuries need tending to."

Skulduggery had seen how bad they were. Gabriel hadn't. He could feel them, and that was enough.

[skeletonenigma]

If Skulduggery had known how close Gabe was to commenting on his charade, he might have been a bit quicker to remind Gabe of his own injuries and how much the Archangel was downplaying them. Instead, Gabe's subtle reminder of just how bad those injuries were pushed everything else to the back of Skulduggery's mind, including the twinge of good-natured grumbling that would have resulted from Gabe's reference to a Faceless One as a 'little problem.'

His voice was as level as always, betraying none of the worry, continuing Gabe's downplay to assist in reassuring the others. "We might," he began slowly, "have come back into this reality right next to my skull. That skull may or may not have been right in Guild's office. And the possibility that Guild saw us before we escaped, I'll admit, is fairly high."

"Guild saw you?" said Ghastly, reacting much more strongly to that immediate threat than he did to the Archangel sitting right in front of him. "He knows you're back?"

"We can't discount the possibility," Skulduggery nodded. "Now, normally, I wouldn't mind going to have a nice personal chat with him, but I think we can all agree that under the circumstances, it's best we don't run into him for however long this takes."

Nobody argued. Skulduggery took that as a general agreement, and an invitation to continue.

"We need someone who has a little experience with powerful, otherworldly beings," he explained. "And then we need somewhere to lay low for a while. One of those is immediately obvious, of course."

"Guild knows everywhere we're likely to be," Ghastly spoke up. He seemed to be speaking for everyone else in the church, two of whom hadn't stopped staring at Gabriel since Skulduggery introduced him. "He could have teams of Sanctuary agents combing Dublin, if he wanted. What is so immediately obvious?"

"Hm?" Skulduggery glanced at Ghastly, paused, and then shook his head. "No, I meant we know someone who has experience with powerful, otherworldly beings." He looked around at each of their blank faces, and gave a long, almost theatrically disappointed sigh. "Who do we know with a morgue capable of dissecting a god?"

Valkyrie was the first one to answer, although she still hadn't looked away from Gabriel. "Skulduggery, Kenspeckle doesn't like you."

"No," the detective agreed. "He seems to think I'm dangerously violent. Possibly even unhinged, now. But he does like you, Valkyrie."

She finally tore her eyes away from the Archangel and faced Skulduggery with a skeptical look. "He's not going to change his mind just because I tell him to."

"Why not? He enjoys challenges."

"Not when they involve you."

"You'll just have to change his mind, then."

"Skulduggery," Valkyrie insisted, her tone already growing exasperated, "even if he agrees to see you, and even if I can get him to listen, how are you going to convince him that Archangels exist, let alone that one-?"

She clamped her mouth shut then, as if she was just realizing what she'd said, and just realizing what that meant. Skulduggery knew the feeling all too well.

[impudentsongbird]

The staring was natural. Expected, in a way. Unnerving, too. But Gabriel hid that, because the room was filled with unnerved people, and his own awkwardness at being stared at was trivial in comparison. Instead he only smiled back at Valkyrie and Tanith, and then let his gaze shift from person to person as they spoke.

Then they mentioned the feat of 'dissecting a dark god' and Gabriel's eyebrows shot skyward. He was grateful, in that moment, for the fact he was injured, for the pain. Grateful because even the slight twitch of surprise and shock was restrained to nothing by the pain itself. Skulduggery had mentioned that the Faceless Ones had once left something physical behind, but Gabriel hadn't stopped to truly consider what that meant.

This man, Kenspeckle, had dissected the remnants of a Fallen Angel. It indicated either a strength of magic or science that was impressive, to say the least. And almost viscerally horrific, in a way Gabriel couldn't quite pinpoint, except that it spoke of how badly his brothers had been twisted.

"I'm sorry," he interrupted gently, as much to attract Valkyrie's attention and prevent that abrupt loss of colour in her face from turning into a faint as to find out information. And to distract himself as well. "Who's Kenspeckle? Skul's never mentioned him. He is--" Gabriel gave Skulduggery a fond, but mildly exasperated, look. "--not very good at giving details as to your world."

[skeletonenigma]

Valkyrie had never really given any thought to religion, not even after meeting Skulduggery. A talking skeleton, fine. She could handle that. She'd even taken the existence of the Faceless Ones in stride, which turned out to be a very good thing. Magic was... well, magic, but it also made sense. At its most basic fundamental level, it was easy enough to understand. It wasn't like anyone could just flick a wand and make toads come raining down from the sky.

At least, Valkyrie hoped so. Was it possible for an Adept to be able to make that happen?

But religion, and angels, and God... the only reason Valkyrie was taking any of it seriously was because Ghastly seemed to. Suddenly, the world of magic was a much bigger and scarier place, and it wasn't just magic anymore, it was... well. Whatever you wanted to call it. Holy, maybe.

Valkyrie felt a sudden urge to sit down, and so she did. She was not going to faint again. Not in front of an Archangel.

"Yeah," she answered numbly, noting how Gabriel was using the same shortened name for Skulduggery that Ghastly occasionally did. Skul. For some reason, it caused a pang of jealousy. "He's like that. He wouldn't give me straight answers for months."

Gabriel looked so... normal. Sick, and exhausted, and moving gingerly, and his voice before he drank the holy water had been the voice of someone without a proper drink for days, but still. Normal. He even seemed more... genuine than normal people, somehow. More real. His face never seemed to stop having some sort of expression on it.

And yet, Valkyrie still couldn't shake the feeling that she had seen him somewhere before. She just couldn't remember exactly where. It was a feeling that had plagued her since first laying eyes on him, but she was trying to pay it particular attention now. She hadn't even known about Archangels before this, so how was that possible?

"Kenspeckle's..." Valkyrie hesitated, wondering how much the crotchety old professor would want her to say. He was certainly paranoid enough to want any description of himself given to a supernatural creature as censored as possible. "He's a science-magic expert, the best there is. And he doesn't work for the Sanctuary."

"He might be able to help speed up the healing process," Skulduggery added. "Have you up and about tomorrow, rather than in a few days."

"I'm sorry," said Fletcher loudly from his seat behind Gabriel. "Are we actually all agreed on this? Are we all acting like these guys aren't completely off their rockers? 'Cause I don't know about any of you, but I'm still not convinced that you're anything but a hobo." He directed this last part at Gabriel, jabbing an accusing finger in his direction.

Valkyrie didn't normally feel the need to explain Fletcher to strangers, but... well, an angel didn't exactly count as a stranger, did it? "Just ignore him. That's what we all do."

Ghastly cleared his throat before Fletcher could deliver an angry retort. "But if Professor Grouse can't help, we're going to need a place to stay for a few days. You know as well as I do, Skulduggery, that the old safe houses aren't quite so safe anymore, especially if we're trying to hide from the Sanctuary."

Safe houses? Valkyrie wondered, curious in spite of herself. Were they going to have to leave Ireland?

"No," Skulduggery agreed with Ghastly, "but they'll work for a short while." The detective looked at Gabriel. "How long do you think you'll need?"

[impudentsongbird]

"He sounds fascinating," Gabe said with a grin. "The marriage of science and magic? I don't think anyone's come up with ways to do that in my world yet. They tend to be exclusive. I'm looking forward to meeting him."

No matter Skulduggery's warnings, Gabriel couldn't help but feel sorry for Fletcher. Here was a young man who was still trying to adjust to the world of magic, and now he'd been flung into something even more amazing. It was obvious he had trouble adjusting to sudden changes, and although Gabriel laid no blame on them it was obvious Fletcher's friends didn't have the patience to handle his tendencies for long.

So when Valkyrie apologised on Fletcher's behalf, Gabriel only smiled at her reassuringly. "I don't mind. True belief isn't easy." Then he turned to Fletcher and said, "By the strictest definition, I really am a hobo." He grinned. "In fact, all my brothers and sisters are, when you get down to it." And it was true; all angels were itinerant workers, who had a home and rarely returned to it. They had no money and often travelled just to visit favourite sites, but in the end they did the work no one else could or would. What else could they be called? It was a distinction they held with pride. "It's just that we're hobos and a bit more. Now you know that there is more, that's all."

The Archangel would have liked to spend a bit more time with the young man, reassuring him, maybe answering a few questions, but there was a sense of urgency. It was with a bit of regret that Gabriel turned to Skulduggery, biting his lip. "I don't know. I've never been injured before--not like this. Nor have any of my siblings, that I'm aware."

[skeletonenigma]

Skulduggery had forgotten how insistent Fletcher could be. In fact, he'd forgotten just how silly the boy's hair looked, as well. Still, there was something oddly satisfying about watching Gabe answer his questions so patiently - as if that, more than anything, would finally convince Fletcher to not only believe that Gabe was an Archangel, but to be much more quiet about his process of acceptance. So far, it seemed to be working.

But just like Gabe had turned his attention to more important matters, Skulduggery did as well; the detective cocked his head at the reply. "Really? That... I'll be honest, that makes things a mite bit more complicated."

Even Gabe had never encountered anything quite like a Faceless One before, much less one that had latched onto him as they left the Faceless Ones' reality. After a bit of thought, Skulduggery decided to revise his estimated time of recovery. To what, he wasn't sure, but they should probably give it at least a few weeks, just to be safe.

"I assume there isn't anywhere in England Guild wouldn't be able to reach?" Skulduggery asked Tanith, who had been standing quietly in the back for far too long. She jumped at the sound of her name, but recovered quickly with a sheepish grin.

"Probably not. The British Sanctuary certainly wouldn't try to stop Guild, and..." She let out a long, slow breath. "They would... ask too many questions."

Skulduggery nodded. That would be the case no matter where they went, unfortunately. "Are we still in contact with China?"

"She hasn't been much help," said Ghastly, "but technically, yes."

Skulduggery had been half expecting his friend to object, so the straight answer surprised him. Ghastly had never been too fond of going to China for help, no matter how desperate the circumstances; not that Skulduggery could blame him. But while Ghastly was a noble idealist, Skulduggery was much more of a pragmatist, and he used every resource at his disposal, regardless of how trustworthy they were. At any rate, it seemed as if her unexpected help at Aranmore Farm had mellowed Ghastly's opinion of her somewhat.

If anyone knew where to hide from the Sanctuary for long periods of time, it would be China Sorrows. Skulduggery sighed. "She doesn't know about me yet, does she?"

"None of us have told her." Ghastly smiled wryly. "Of course, that doesn't mean she doesn't already know."

Good point. Skulduggery had never asked China where or how she got half of her information, and he was still of the opinion that the less he knew in that regard, the better. The detective filed her as an option away for now, and focused on the immediate problem of getting to Kenspeckle's lab while attracting the least amount of attention possible.

"Valkyrie, call ahead," he ordered. "Tell Kenspeckle to expect us. It's probably for the best if you don't mention myself or Gabe right away." Skulduggery's lack of a cell phone was really starting to bother him, but that wasn't an immediate priority. What was an immediate priority was the location of his car, but with a great deal of reluctance, Skulduggery managed to push that thought to the back of his mind.

"Can you walk?" he asked Gabriel. "Do you need help?"

[impudentsongbird]

Gabriel gave a slight and rueful nod, and then tried to smile, one that was equal parts rueful, grim and sad. "The only ones among my siblings who have been injured in this kind of fashion have died soon after, because it's always been others of my siblings who have caused the injury."

And when angels were fighting angels directly, with intent to harm, that intent preceded death. Anything else, anything to contain or withhold, used a different kind of magic, different kinds of spells, had different effects. Gabriel didn't explain further, but the deep sorrow in his eyes and the lines on his face said enough, for those of the crew who knew the basic story.

The Archangel would have asked who China was, but there wasn't a pressing need to distract anyone from feeling faint, so Gabriel felt he could wait. Instead he braced himself, carefully pushing himself up from his seat on the pew's arm, and took a limping, experimental step. The movement sent fissions of complaint all through him, and even though Gabriel didn't need to breathe, it still made him stop short, trying to keep the pain from showing too badly on his face.

"I think I'm going to need the help," he admitted without compunction, his voice strained. Even with a cloak, he'd never quite realised how much he used his wings in little, instinctive ways until all of a sudden he couldn't move them without knowing it very clearly.

[skeletonenigma]

Skulduggery and Ghastly were instantly on either side of Gabriel, offering their support. Neither of them had said a word; it was like they operated on an instinctual level none of the others could even get near without having fought in some kind of war. The way Ghastly just accepted all of this without much of a fight was downright creepy, too. Not to mention that once you did accept all this, watching Skulduggery and Gabriel talk like they were old friends was... well. Unnerving, at the very least.

Tanith tried to imagine the man with wings and a halo. It was harder than it looked. How big were an Archangel's wings, anyway? What would they look like? Big and white and feathery, like an over-sized swan's, or...?

Okay. Tanith had given herself more than enough time to get over her shock and eventual apprehension. Ghastly clearly didn't have a problem with this - or if he did, he was hiding it really well - and even Valkyrie was at least talking. It wasn't much different, Tanith imagined, than discovering that magic was real for the first time. She'd never had to go through that, of course, but if Valkyrie could do it twice, then so could she.

Skulduggery was going to need to focus on his disguise, even with the short walk to the van, so Tanith stepped over. "Let me," she told him, and received a grateful nod in return. The detective grabbed the skull still sitting on the pew; a sight that sent an irrational shiver down Tanith's spine. He spun it in his hand so that it was facing him, and strode on ahead to the large doors at the front, Valkyrie following quickly behind. Fletcher brought up the rear, a dazed expression still on his face.

Tanith obviously didn't know anything about angels getting injured, but the basic principle was the same, wasn't it? Try and take their mind off of the pain? "So..." She hesitated, and then said the first thing that came to mind. "Archangels, huh?"

This was, without a doubt, the most awkward conversation Tanith was ever going to have.

"How did you meet Skulduggery?" Ghastly asked after giving Tanith a Look. She returned it with more sheepish chagrin, and decided to let him do most of the talking.

[impudentsongbird]

Gabriel gave them both grateful smiles and tucked the bottle of holy water under his arm so he could lean on Ghastly--a moment later the sorcerer took the bottle from him, and Gabriel didn't object. It would be hard enough moving with help, let alone trying to juggle too many things.

A moment later, he accepted Tanith's help as well with another smile and moved off toward the cathedral's entrance. It was a shuffling pace, a limp, and he leaned heavily on both sorcerers as he moved; he bit his lip but wasn't quite able to keep the pain from creasing his face. So Tanith's distraction was very much appreciated.

It was also somewhat amusing, and Gabriel chuckled, but lightly and not in any demeaning way. More like in rueful agreement. "Yep, Archangels."

Ghastly's question made him pause for a moment, however. How much to explain? How much would be necessary? How much would Skul want him to reveal? In the end Gabriel decided that he couldn't exactly lie, because he'd do lousy anyway. "It was in a universe with a mental institution called Landel's," he said. "The man in charge, Martin Landel, had discovered a means to kidnap beings from all across the universes. He would bind their powers, give them a human body if they weren't already human, and during the day pretend to them that they were delusional. But at night ..." He sighed, concentrating for a moment on manoeuvring through the door. "At night he would unleash patients and monsters onto the grounds, pitting them against each other to see if the patients could survive and escape."

He smiled slightly, not looking at either of them as he made his slow way down the steps. "I met Skul in the Arts and Crafts room. We made rosaries together." The Archangel laughed softly. "I think he was rather suspicious of me at first."

[skeletonenigma]

Ghastly watched Skulduggery ahead of them trying to hide both of his heads from the relatively few passersby as he and Valkyrie talked next to the van. Their voices were just too indistinct to make out much, but they looked alright. Perhaps Valkyrie had chosen not to tell Skulduggery about the Necromancy until later, though it was possible Skul had already figured it out for himself. That wasn't anything like a normal ring, after all.

"Arts and Crafts?" he asked, certain for a moment that he'd heard wrong. When you pictured a hellish place the way Gabriel had just been describing it, and especially when you added in that an Archangel was telling the story, you didn't really imagine an Arts and Crafts room. And you definitely didn't imagine Skul there, in any way, shape, or form. "You didn't have to force him to make rosaries with you?"

"But you escaped, right?" Tanith cut in. The thought of an institution kidnapping people had clearly helped her move past the earlier embarrassment. "I mean, you're here. Do we need to rescue everyone else?"

A cross-dimensional rescue operation. That would be a first.

Then Ghastly's brain caught up with his ears, and the tailor frowned, almost stumbling down the church steps in spite of himself. "Hang on. Skul was human?"

That, Ghastly knew, was a small detail Skulduggery would never have shared. Maybe it was a good thing that Gabriel was here. Ghastly harbored no delusions that Skulduggery would need any help readjusting to normal life, but it would help everyone involved if they had at least some idea of what the detective went through.

[impudentsongbird]

"It's good of you to worry," Gabriel said to Tanith with a reassuring smile, "but yes, we all got out, and back to our own universes." Gabriel had stayed behind to make sure, to double-check on Castiel, make sure everyone got out. He wished, strongly, that he had something to follow to Castiel too--but he didn't; Castiel had lost his rosary sometime before the end. Skul was the only person he could safely visit, the only person he could find between universes.

He looked to Ghastly, then, nodding. "As I said, Landel pretended to us that it was a legitimate institute--so the whole day was divided into shifts, just like a real hospital. It was during the Arts and Crafts shift we met." The Archangel looked into Ghastly's eyes and smiled, then, quiet and understanding. "We were both still new. Clumsy, unbalanced, still adjusting to being human. I had to teach him how to swallow, the first morning after my arrival."

[skeletonenigma]

"You had to..." Ghastly couldn't help it; he laughed outright. It made sense that Skulduggery would view things like eating and sleeping and breathing as mildly distracting luxuries by now, but the mental image he conjured up of an Archangel attempting to teach him how to swallow was one he would treasure for years to come. Even Tanith managed a genuine smile. Laughing was probably the worst reaction to learning about Skulduggery's fate on the other side of that yellow portal; suddenly becoming human again wouldn't have been a walk in the park. But even that realization was somehow amusing.

Skulduggery and Valkyrie both glanced back at them, Valkyrie looking unsure about whether to be worried or not. Skulduggery's head tilted to the side. "Is this something I should be aware of?"

"No," Ghastly assured him, still unable to stop smiling. For the first time, he noticed the rosary wrapped around Skulduggery's skeletal hand, adding credence to the whole priest image, and his smile broadened. "You're better at making rosaries than I would have given you credit for."

Skulduggery was silent for a minute, and then his skull turned back towards Gabriel. "What have you been telling them?"

[impudentsongbird]

"It was a fight to the death," Gabriel said solemnly, and then laughed as well. He was still grinning as they moved near enough to the van to speak to Skul and Valkyrie without having to shout too much.

"Only the truth, my friend," he said tranquilly. "Though that's actually one of mine, Ghastly. This one's one of Skul's." He patted Tanith's arm in thanks and lifted his hand to pull out the rosary under his shirt. This one was purely knotted, string to cross, and it had been the best of those Skulduggery had made; the knots were all tight and equally spaced, the binding in the centre securely woven, the cross delightfully tilted.

"It was the first time he's ever made them," he said to Tanith, "but it turned out very well, didn't it?" There was a clear difference in skill between Gabe's and Skulduggery's rosaries, but the way Gabe was beaming, you wouldn't have thought he could tell the difference. On the contrary--he'd kept Skulduggery's, and given all his own away. The way he held the cross made it obvious the rosary was a thing he treasured.

[skeletonenigma]

Somehow, 'the truth' didn't really fill Skulduggery with a whole lot of confidence.

Tanith's smile as she examined Gabe's rosary, particularly when she looked up at Skulduggery, was worrying. "Yes, it did," she answered, her tone making it clear she was joining in with Ghastly's teasing. "Very professional-looking."

Skulduggery found himself wishing, as he glanced over at Valkyrie's own budding grin, that they were still back in the church and still in numb shock over Gabe. At least that had been easier to handle, and about twenty times more fun to watch.

He hadn't expected Gabe to keep it, though. When the Archangel first asked for it, back in that Arts and Crafts room, Skulduggery had simply assumed that he was trying to be polite. He'd seen Gabe with it a few times since, of course, and been equally surprised each time, but Skulduggery had been sure that after they all escaped, Gabriel wouldn't have a need for it anymore. The sight of it still around Gabe's neck, even now, rendered Skulduggery speechless for a few moments.

"Awwww," came Valkyrie's taunt. "You guys exchanged the rosaries you made?"

Whatever happened to Gabriel being an Archangel, and the numb shock that caused? How had everyone gotten over it so much more quickly than Skulduggery had, back at Landel's? In fact, what had happened to Gabriel being badly injured? Did even Gabe forget about that?

"Valkyrie," Skulduggery retorted, "call Kenspeckle." He pulled open the van door. "Everyone else, get in the van. Ghastly, I'll drive, if you don't mind. I've missed driving."

Without waiting for a response, Skulduggery walked around to the driver's side, leaving Ghastly and Tanith to help Gabe into the back.

[impudentsongbird]

This was, of course, 'payback' for Skulduggery being so obvious about teasing his friends earlier. 'Payback' wasn't exactly an angelic trait, but good-natured tit-for-tat was far from something Gabriel was unfamiliar with. He dropped the cross to his chest, chuckling softly to himself.

Gabe hadn't quite forgotten his injuries, of course. But poking fun at Skulduggery had helped the Archangel set it aside for the moment. Getting into the van ... proved to be more difficult than Gabriel could have wished. He had to lean heavily on Tanith and Ghastly to do it, and rely on them to lift him up.

"That sounds ominous," he murmured, and caught Ghastly's eye with a rueful smile as the man helped him settle into a seat. "If I didn't know any better I'd think he volunteered to drive to get us back."

[skeletonenigma]

Ghastly shook his head. "He wouldn't do that. Skulduggery's a lot of things, but petty isn't one of them."

He paused, caught Tanith's eye, and glanced around at the driver's seat. Skulduggery was already buckling himself in. It was, of course, impossible to tell what the skeleton was really feeling, but Ghastly thought he could detect a good-natured pettiness in his movements.

"But," he amended his earlier judgment, "it would probably be a good idea to buckle yourself in, anyway." He hesitated before pulling on Gabriel's seat belt for him, partly because the Archangel shouldn't move any more than was strictly necessary, and partly because Ghastly wasn't too sure if Gabriel would know what a seat belt was.

The irony of Ghastly needing to help an Archangel at all wasn't lost on him, and it was unnerving. Yes, he decided, slipping into the front passenger's seat. Any of the Sanctuaries finding out about this would not be a good idea.

When everyone was buckled in - Tanith next to Gabriel, Valkyrie and Fletcher in the back - and the van still wasn't moving, Ghastly turned to Skulduggery. "We're all ready."

"I know."

Ghastly observed him levelly, his knuckle on the door handle tightening of its own accord. "Then what are you waiting for?"

"Remind me. Which one is the accelerator pedal again?"

Ghastly froze. "Skulduggery. Maybe I should drive."

"Not a chance, Bespoke. You drive at the average pace of molasses."

"Skul - "

"Molasses. On a hot summer day."

Ghastly hesitated. "You're joking, aren't you?"

"And you should have seen your face." The broad smile was immediately evident in Skulduggery's voice as he put the van smoothly into gear. "Priceless."

[impudentsongbird]

Gabriel did, of course, know what seatbelts were, seeing as he could drive. (He had, in fact, been one of the first angels to learn to drive. There were a great many similarities to driving and flying, and Gabriel was a very accomplished flyer. Bumper-cars was one of the few things he'd actually been able to beat his Master at. Then again, Gabe had always suspected the Creator just liked being able to run into things without consequence.)

But the Archangel said nothing about this, and only thanked Ghastly sincerely for the care.

He glanced from Ghastly to Skulduggery with a tiny smile, marvelling at the obvious years of experience between them. It was in their banter. The sort of bond that Gabriel and his siblings always loved to see.

As the van pulled away the Archangel was laughing, and it took him a moment or two to stop. Then he turned to Tanith, still grinning. "How did you meet Skul?" he asked. "He said you're a relatively recent friend. Or the rest of you? I'd like to say he's told me all about you, but--" His lips twitched. "--I'm not a very good liar."

[skeletonenigma]

Archangels weren't anything like Tanith imagined - if she'd ever imagined meeting one at all, which she hadn't. Gabriel had none of the holier-than-thou attitude that a lot of priests did, none of the judgmental looks, none of the pretensions. He had an honest face, he laughed easily, and he laughed for a while after Tanith's relief that Skulduggery was joking had faded. She couldn't help but be at ease around him now, even if his true identity still tugged at the back of her mind.

What did the existence of Archangels mean for the world of sorcerers? Where did the Faceless Ones come from? What did it all mean? Tanith was mildly frustrated to realize that she was having a minor existential crisis, and so she tried to distract herself by answering Gabriel's question.

"I met him a few years ago," she explained. "We worked together to stop a war before it started."

"I am quite good at that," agreed Skulduggery. "I rid the world of three threats in all, if I remember correctly."

Tanith smiled wryly at him in the rear view mirror. "You also got me stabbed through the stomach, Valkyrie tortured, and Ghastly turned into a statue."

"Well, yes," Skulduggery nodded after a slight beat. "But it all turned out fine in the end."

"Honestly," Tanith told Gabriel, "I don't think I would have stuck around if it wasn't for Val." She shot her friend a warm smile in the backseat. "But I sort of unofficially work as a detective now."

[impudentsongbird]

"Only three?" Gabriel teased Skulduggery lightly, and then sobered a little. "It sounds like it was a difficult battle." Then he smiled. "But it's pretty obvious the world is in good hands."

It should have sounded trite, or at least insincere, but it didn't. Skulduggery wasn't good at giving details, but he'd given enough that Gabriel felt he could judge. Especially the details about himself. The sort of restraint Skulduggery displayed every single day was nothing less than heroic.

Carefully the Archangel turned in his seat so he could at least sort-of look behind him at Valkyrie and Fletcher. "What about the two of you?" he asked, his eyes bright with curiosity as he looked between them, focussing on them equally. "Tell me about yourselves."

[skeletonenigma]

Valkyrie couldn't help being startled when Gabriel spoke directly to her and Fletcher. She'd been listening, but her head was still reeling from... well, everything. Skulduggery was wearing a rosary made by an Archangel. They were driving an Archangel to Kenspeckle Grouse, who had sounded pleased enough to hear Valkyrie's voice over the phone, but instantly grew sour when she said she was coming over with someone who was hurt. An Archangel had just not only basically called them all Protectors of the World, but actually praised the way they were doing it. And then he had turned right around to the two youngest people in the van and asked for their life stories.

He couldn't be an Archangel. He couldn't be. He was just too nice.

"I'm..." Quickly self-censoring your life was no mean feat, Valkyrie soon realized. She instinctively had her hands in her pockets, hiding the ring. "I'm an official detective. Skulduggery's partner. Well, back before Guild kicked us out, anyway." She was normally proud to introduce herself that way, but now, it almost felt awkward. "I met him when I was twelve."

Actually, compared to how she reacted when she was twelve, this was positively healthy. She'd had to sit down, sure, but she hadn't fainted yet.

"I was the most important person in the world last year," Fletcher announced with his usual modesty. The whole Archangel thing, Valkyrie noticed enviously, didn't even seem to faze him. "Still am, technically. I'm the world's last Teleporter."

[impudentsongbird]

"You must be a very good detective, to be one so young," Gabriel told Valkyrie. Of course she was. He knew she was. The fact that she was alive right now said that. "It can't be easy, especially given your bloodline, but you have a good mentor--or so I'm told." The Archangel grinned at the back of Skul's head.

Then he turned to Fletcher, a little more sharply than he meant in his consternation, his surprise and worry clear on his face. The last Teleporter--the definition was self-explanatory, really, but the idea of being the last of anything filled Gabriel with dread. He'd seen loneliness, and that was with his siblings still in existence. Merlin was the last Ancient, and even though he didn't seem to mind most of the time, there were occasions when Gabriel thought he grieved to be the only one.

"I'm sorry to hear that," he said, sympathy all over his voice and expression. "It must be very lonely, to be the last of anything. It's times like that when having someone to lean on is most important."

[skeletonenigma]

It was probably one of the few times in his life that Fletcher was actually struck speechless, and Skulduggery didn't need to hide his smile. Gabe's worry had probably never even occurred to the Teleporter, and the idea that Fletcher should feel lonely over his new position was probably striking the poor boy harder than Gabe's Archangel status.

That, however, didn't worry Skulduggery as much as what Gabriel had said to Valkyrie.

He may have mentioned her name a few times while they were still trapped in Landel's reality, but Skulduggery was certain he'd never mentioned her lineage. The Ancients hadn't had any bearing on what happened there, and it hadn't been Skulduggery's secret to tell. The memory of Gabe being inside his mind jolted unpleasantly to the surface, and Skulduggery glanced at both Valkyrie and Gabe in the rear view mirror.

Gabriel wouldn't. He knew that. But he just needed to be sure. "How did you know about Valkyrie's bloodline, Gabe?"

He watched Valkyrie's head snap up. "You mean you didn't tell him?"

[impudentsongbird]

To be perfectly honest, the idea that Skul might think Gabe had rifled without permission didn't even occur to the Archangel, simply because it was something he wouldn't even consider. So when Gabriel turned back forward to meet Skulduggery's gaze in the mirror, the Archangel's expression was guileless.

"I can feel it in her, Skul," he said simply. "I confess it surprised me, badly, when she first came into the church; I was expecting the magic in your world to be entirely different to the kind I know, despite the fact our oldest magicians share the same name. In my world, they're the source of all the magic in humanity; every sorcerer, every imp and bard and user of magic, has Ancient blood running through their veins. It's been diluted since the days of old, but it's still there."

Now he looked back at Valkyrie, tilting his head as if listening to something no one else could hear. "I will always know it's there, because of what the Ancients were. They had another name, you see. Not a good one. As far as religious myth goes, they're not looked upon kindly--my demonic siblings' fault, that. The Ancients were also known as nephilim." He glanced up at the mirror again, at Ghastly, searching for recognition, but continued on for the benefit of the rest, turning to speak directly to Valkyrie. "The Ancients were fallen angels who repented and became mortal, so that when they died they could return Home to our Master. The Ancients' bloodline is mine." He paused. "Or it would be, if I had blood. In either case, I can hardly miss the particular sound of my younger siblings' magic. I just ... I wasn't expecting it to be here."

But he should have. If he'd had the moments to spare to think over all the possibilities, to let recent events sink in, it would have occurred to him to wonder. His younger siblings had been here--insane and Fallen though they were. Why wouldn't Skulduggery's Ancients be of angelic blood? They apparently had enough physicality to leave parts of themselves behind.

[skeletonenigma]

By the end of Gabe's explanation, Skulduggery was doing something he really didn't do very often - he was regretting having asked the question. A simple 'I can feel it' would have sufficed. Although, to be perfectly honest, Skulduggery would have asked for clarification anyway.

Just one look at the expression growing on Valkyrie's face confirmed that Skulduggery was going to regret this moment for the rest of his life.

"Valkyrie," he hazarded when the silence had stretched on a little too long, "you are not descended from angels."

"Valkyrie's descended from angels?" Fletcher asked faintly. If he was going to follow that up with some kind of cliched flirt, Skulduggery would have had to stop the van, but fortunately the Teleporter seemed genuinely stunned enough to keep quiet.

"What does that mean?" Valkyrie asked, excited. "Does that mean I can fly?" She gasped. "Are we related?"

"We come from different universes though, right?" Tanith tried, thankfully looking concerned herself. "The Ancients in your world aren't necessarily the same as ours."

"You are not descended from angels, Valkyrie," Skulduggery repeated more forcefully, making everyone else go quiet. "Gabe says a lot of things, and they're not all entirely accurate, and he doesn't have any experience with our world." While his description did sound very much like it, the fact remained that Skulduggery and Gabe had both confirmed while at Landel's that they came from very different universes. And what was more alarming was what, if Gabriel was somehow telling the truth, all of this would imply. And judging by the sidelong glance Ghastly was giving him, the tailor had thought of it too.

"Gabriel," Ghastly spoke up. "Fallen angels. As in..."

He didn't need to finish. Never mind the existence of God or other Archangels. Part of Skulduggery's reluctance to believe this could be possible was that if it was, he needed to get Valkyrie as far away from Necromancy as was humanly possible.