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

[impudentsongbird]

"You're not going to convince me to stop trying," Gabriel countered easily. This was a well-worn path indeed. Even if what it took was meeting God Himself, at the end of Skulduggery's un-life, Gabriel was going to be the one to make that meeting happen.

The Archangel had seen many, many people in his life. He'd seen people who'd done awful things and savoured it. He'd seen people who'd done awful things and regretted it. And he'd seen the few, those courageous few, who'd done awful things and gone about, every day of their lives afterward, to redeem themselves for it. Skul deserved Heaven. There were few things of which Gabriel was more certain.

"You're more stubborn than I am," Gabriel retorted teasingly, and then turned to Ghastly. His tone was filled with fond exasperation. "There was once at the Institute when we spent a good ten minutes arguing over which of us got to throw ourselves to nearly certain death. At least I know where I'd end up if I died--Home--but Skulduggery still insisted that he should be the one taking the risk."

True, angels left nothing behind when they died. Nothing visible. But Gabe had been human at the time, which meant he would inevitably have gone back to his Master's embrace.

"If the two of you are quite done congratulating each other on being reckless idiots," Kenspeckle said abruptly, and lifted his hands away from Gabriel's wing, nodding at Valkyrie to stop pouring. "We are done here. Clara--oh, blast, where is that girl? Got distracted again, I suppose."

A twitch ran through Gabriel's wings, the beginnings of a movement suddenly halted, and his head lifted.

"Is that a--usual thing?" he asked, not completely casual, and stretched his wing carefully. The other hurt a lot more than it had just after Kenspeckle had finished; the Archangel could probably fly, if he had to, but he didn't particularly want to by any means. Kenspeckle paused and turned to Gabriel to study him for a moment, his face tired but carefully blank.

"I think you'd better all leave," he said flatly. In him, Gabriel read the spike of sudden apprehension and the knowledge that Clarabelle, attracted by shiny things, was unlikely to have been distracted from the thought of grooming an Archangel.

[skeletonenigma]

As if to prove Skulduggery's point for him, Gabriel responded just as stubbornly to both of the earlier comments, even launching into a story about the second one. Ghastly was giving the detective a look through the feathers after Gabe had finished.

"In my defense," Skulduggery tacked on to the story, "we were both human, and death in that reality doesn't follow any of the usual rules." He'd also been struggling with the recent knowledge of what Gabriel actually was, but Skulduggery liked to think that didn't have anything to do with the argument. No, that had been discussed in great detail later on. "Gabe cheated in the end. Have you ever seen how fast a lion can run?"

"No," said Ghastly after a moment. "I can't say I have."

If Skulduggery didn't know any better, he would think Kenspeckle was offering to protect them from a possible Sanctuary search. But he did know better, and in gratitude for the Professor's help, he didn't even joke about it this time. "I think that's a very good idea." He paused, trying to remember the many intersecting corridors of the lab - it had been a while since he'd last had the map in his head. "We'll have to take a back way out."

"Or," Fletcher spoke up, "you could, I dunno, take advantage of having the last Teleporter?"

Skulduggery would have blinked if he'd had eyelids. Well, wasn't that convenient. "Or we could do that," he nodded.

"Are you sure the Faceless Ones didn't mess with your memory a bit?" Valkyrie teased.

"They messed with a lot more than that. Luckily, I'm very resilient. Fletcher, can you teleport us all at one time?"

"Sure. Where to?"

If Guild was coming here, agents would be stationed at Ghastly's shop and Skulduggery's house as well. The only place that might still be unprotected was... "China's library. Anywhere inside should do. Gabe, the wings are a tad obvious. Can you handle the disguise for now?"

[impudentsongbird]

"I don't cheat," Gabriel said with dignity as he slid off the table, lifting and angling his wings so he didn't hit anyone over the head by accident. "I merely seek alternate avenues. It's hardly my fault I can wear other forms and you can't, Skul."

His body still ached something fierce, a fact of which he was reminded when he tried to move normally and hissed. Of course; his wings were tended. The general strain in his body hadn't been. Gingerly the Archangel picked up the empty bottle, nodding a response to Skul; even as he turned there was the tiniest flicker around him, more because of the sudden dearth of light than anything else, as he assumed his human form again. (Already wearing another shirt. This one was blue.)

"Would you mind refilling this for me before we go?" he asked Valkyrie, handing her the bottle over the table. If they were truly on a time limit, a time limit in which the Cleavers--whatever they were--were already inside the facility, then they didn't have the seconds to waste for him to limp around the table to the barrel. Then he accepted Ghastly's arm, watching with interest as they all linked up. Maybe he could get a sense of how Fletcher's magic worked.

"Out!" Kenspeckle commanded, waiting just long enough for Valkyrie to scoop up some water before lidding the barrel. Gabriel looked at him.

"Professor, thank you. I hope you don't get in trouble over this, but if you ever need the aid, pray to me. I'll hear."

"Haven't prayed a day in my life since I was fourteen," Kenspeckle snapped, and then his voice softened almost as much as it would have for Valkyrie. "But I'll keep it in mind. As long as it doesn't involve you straining your wings all over again! Idiot angels," he snorted, and pointed toward Fletcher. "Now out."

[skeletonenigma]

Fletcher didn't need to be told twice. The instant everyone was linked, Valkyrie with a full bottle of holy water, Skulduggery blinked and Kenspeckle's lab had changed into the run-down, dirty hallway of the first floor in China's tenement building.

He'd forgotten that sensation, very different from the gentle rearrangement of Gabriel's instant flight through space. This was more like getting jet lag in the space of a second as reality moved under them; even the veterans were still stumbling slightly as they reappeared. Skulduggery, who was back in his comfortable skeleton form, kept his balance perfectly and felt no need to recover. In fact, he turned immediately towards Gabe, partly to make sure the Archangel was alright, and partly because of the angel's earlier insistence that he could do no wrong.

"Cheating," Skulduggery argued, "is an alternate venue. I didn't have a hope of catching up in time, and you knew that. The library is upstairs-" he hesitated, looking around, and couldn't help a small bit of pride creeping into his tone, "-whenever you all are ready."

[impudentsongbird]

It really wasn't gentle. Actually, it felt ... clumsy. Less like a glide, more like a sudden yank. Gabe didn't stumble--but only because he instinctively used his wings to steady himself, and Ghastly, and wound up wincing at the run of pain through him.

"I'm glad," he said, looking around at the hallway. "I think I'd have had to object, if this was what the library proper looked like. It's no way to treat the written word." Then he tilted his head and added tranquilly, "And that may be so, but on that occasion it wasn't cheating because I was merely using every natural advantage and we hadn't established any rules against it."

[skeletonenigma]

"You'd only just told me you were an Archangel," Skulduggery countered. "If I'd known we needed to establish rules at all, let alone one as specific as 'no turning into a lion,' things would have been very different."

Valkyrie had been so sick with worry all year that this playful banter almost annoyed her. Sure, they'd both been trapped and in trouble and probably going through horrific things - and even this was apparently an argument over who would sacrifice themselves for the other - but it was hard to remember all of that when she pictured a lion beating Skulduggery in a foot race.

And then, of course, she was feeling a little bit jealous. Ghastly and Skulduggery she had no problem with because they'd known each other since before Skulduggery died. But Gabriel and Skulduggery could only have met a year ago at the most, and they were already acting like long-time best friends. They called each other by nicknames, for God's sake. She supposed it had something to do with the whole war-buddy thing, but still.

She glanced forlornly down at the ring on her finger. With Gabriel's real appearance hidden again, it was back to normal, but she couldn't shake the image of its twisted and dark heart. It was one thing to be told Necromancy was death magic; it was very much another thing to see it for yourself. Valkyrie didn't know what it was, but ever since Skulduggery had seen it, she felt like there was a slight rift between them. A disconnect that hadn't been there before, like he was disappointed in her. And Gabriel knew now, too, and he didn't want it anywhere near him, but... how much were they exchanging in silence? If Gabriel was telepathic, couldn't they be having entire conversations in secret?

Valkyrie shook all the useless thoughts away with an impatient shake of her head, and focused on what they came here to do. "How did China sound when you called her?" she asked Skulduggery.

"Hm? Oh, over the moon. Absolutely delighted. She should be expecting us."

[impudentsongbird]

"Needing rules and having them are two different things," Gabriel pointed out, allowing Ghastly to guide him down the hallway. "Needing them is a separate argument, and we certain didn't have them. So it wasn't cheating." He grinned over at Skul. "I don't think you can win this one, my friend."

In point of fact, they hadn't bantered nearly so easily on this subject early on. Actually, the first time Skul had accused Gabe of cheating, the Archangel had reacted somewhat poorly. Unjustified accusations of cheating--it was something Lucifer had always done. It had taken a little while before Gabriel had been able to relax into the good-natured teasing Skul used.

And that wasn't even taking into account the ... incident prior to that. That little foot-race hadn't been the first time they'd faced certain death together. The first time it had been in an arena, and they'd been up against each other. After that time ... after that time it didn't matter how much Skul insisted that Gabe was worthier of living longer just because he was an Archangel. Gabe couldn't had stood by and seen Skul die again, whether at his hand or anything else's.

[skeletonenigma]

"Valkyrie," said the detective as they reached the first staircase. "When has the possibility of us losing ever stopped me?"

"I don't think it has," Valkyrie replied with a grin.

"Exactly." Skulduggery took the stairs first, followed by Valkyrie and Fletcher; Ghastly gingerly helped the Archangel maneuver up them, and Tanith brought up the rear in case Gabriel tripped. "The rules don't need to have been explicitly stated for them to be there. The fact is, you used an advantage you knew I wouldn't have and wouldn't know about, and that, my friend, is cheating."

"I always wondered what would happen if he ever met someone as stubborn as him," Ghastly murmured to Tanith over his shoulder.

"It's like watching an old married couple in a reality show," Tanith agreed.

[impudentsongbird]

Gabriel glanced over his shoulder just enough to throw an amused look across to Ghastly and then down to Tanith as well. At least they were amused by it, and really, it was reason enough to keep going. Well, that and because Gabriel was not a cheat, thank you very much.

"That," he said, "depends on the rules. In a bargain, wager or competition, the rules must indeed be spoken and explicitly stated to be binding. Or else they're not rules. And even then, if they're not properly stated, there's ways around them." He repressed the urge to say 'my Master taught me that', just in case it made them uncomfortable again, and only smiled. "So it can't have been cheating, because we didn't have any of those during our 'foot-race'."

[skeletonenigma]

"Explicitly stating the rules depends on the rules?" Skulduggery turned back when he reached the top of the stairs. "A little redundant, don't you think? You assumed Landel was telling the truth about that bridge, which honestly was bad enough. As I said before, never trust evil megalomaniacs. But then you tripped me."

It wasn't particularly the tripping Skulduggery was having an issue with, though it was what he brought up most often. It was that an Archangel perceived him as worth saving at all; that Gabriel was willing to put his own life on the line for him, regardless of what he thought might happen afterwards. But Skulduggery had only mentioned that to Gabe once since the initial argument in the Coliseum, and he saw no reason to address it now amidst the good-natured teasing. Gabe already knew how he felt, and the angel had torn a hole through universes anyway. There wasn't much you could say to that.

[impudentsongbird]

If this had been any other time, anywhere else, Gabriel might have asked exactly what part of it Skul objected to the most--the tripping, or the saving. But Gabriel already knew the answer to that, very well, and that was the reason they kept arguing this point under many different guises.

"The bridge broke," the Archangel pointed out, raising one shoulder in a shrug. "And it was either that or both of us. Besides, you were the one intent on throwing yourself to a dire-wolf so I could live. I don't think you can tell me off for believing him when you were going to do the same thing. There's a word for that. What is it again, Ghastly? I've forgotten."

He grinned at the tailor, and if it was a bit forced, it was hard to tell. There was another good thing about this argument. Gabriel had never realised how difficult stairs could be to navigate when you'd just strained your whole body.

[skeletonenigma]

Ghastly froze. "So have I. If it's all the same to you," he said carefully, looking anywhere but at Skulduggery, "I'm not getting involved in this particular argument."

Everyone knew what the word was, but even Fletcher had the good sense not to say it out loud. Ghastly had watched his friend live a lifetime of avoiding becoming an outright hypocrite - he would never accuse Skulduggery of being one, no matter how much he might agree with Gabriel about what it sounded like. Besides, Ghastly didn't know enough about what had happened to judge anything for himself. He was no hypocrite either.

"But it all turned out okay, didn't it?" Tanith asked with a frown. "You obviously both survived."

[impudentsongbird]

This close to Ghastly, it was hard to miss the aversion coming off him, and Gabriel realised belatedly that, really, it hadn't been a fair question at all. The amusement morphed into apology. "No, you're right. I'm sorry. I got a little--carried away."

Arguments. He wouldn't have thought they'd be so fun, for the right and good-natured reasons, and he'd learned that from Skulduggery. Obviously, he still needed to know where to stop.

Fortunately, or unfortunately, Tanith's question was more than enough of a distraction, and Gabriel stumbled on the next step up. Now it was the Archangel who was very carefully not looking up at Skul, and trying very hard not to remember that day, that whole day at the Institute unable to think about anything but the life dimming from Skulduggery's eyes right in front of him.

Not even the memory of seeing Skul alive again was enough to dull that memory. That was another thing Gabe had wanted to talk to his Master about ... the murder of his friend, by his own hands.

"Well, we're both alive now, anyway," he murmured a little thickly.

[skeletonenigma]

Tanith's question had an equally sobering effect on Skulduggery. He'd been killed once before, they all knew that. As far as painful deaths went, that one pretty much killed the scale. Compared to Serpine's red right hand and the agonizing death it delivered, Skulduggery's death at Gabe's hand in the Coliseum was almost peaceful.

He still wasn't sure what he'd been expecting. To be properly dead? To be brainwashed and sent back as a visitor? All he remembered was the longest time of darkness he'd ever experienced, during which he was only somewhat aware of himself, and then the cold starkness of the morgue. Gabriel might have blamed himself for what happened, but Skulduggery had asked for it, almost begged for it; and he would never forget the look of joy on the Archangel's face when Skulduggery turned up the next day, fine and none the worse for wear.

That was before he knew about the Archangel part, of course. Things might have gone a little differently if he knew he was asking an Archangel to kill.

"You're alive," Skulduggery corrected Gabriel, remaining just as elusive about the truth while they were around the others. "I'm technically dead." He really should come up with a term for that. 'Unlife' sounded too much like a zombie. "The most I can hope for is a quiet existence, and I don't even get that."

[impudentsongbird]

"Alive in the sense of having will and consciousness," Gabriel clarified. Which was more than he could have said for himself for the whole day after the Coliseum. Gabriel had felt more awful feelings in the past year than in his whole life before then. Knowing that he'd been responsible for his friend's death, even with the justification of Castiel and Rita being tortured unless they fought! Even with Skul's request that Gabe do so!

The one and only thing that had kept Gabe going for that day, and some of the ones after it, was that it was better him than Skul. That Skul's soul might not have been able to suffer the guilt of one more sin. That Gabe might well have saved Skul by making that choice.

It had been enough, for those moments.

They reached another floor and Gabriel looked up to find that this one was clean, well-lit, and the very picture of a nice apartment block. Good timing; these were things he'd really rather not dwell on. "I suppose we're here."

[neutralcollector]

"People in comas might disagree with you," Skulduggery tossed back over his shoulder as they approached the library door. "Don't worry. I'm perfectly fine with being dead. I've had a long time to adapt."

"Library or apartment?" Ghastly asked once they'd all come to a stop.

"In the middle of the day?" Valkyrie shook her head. "Definitely the library."

Skulduggery raised his knuckle, still bleached from that other reality's overbearing sun, and knocked.

~~

China had toyed briefly with the idea, upon hanging up after Skulduggery's phone call, of answering the door herself when they dropped by. She'd been known to do so for others before, though there was almost always a good reason. This time, the only reason she could think of was sentiment. There wasn't anything wrong with sentiment, per se - China wouldn't have her library if there was - but when it came to the Sanctuary's esteemed ex-Detective, sentiment was hardly a good enough reason to stand on its own.

So, although she knew immediately who was knocking, she didn't look up from her work. Her assistant answered the door instead, as was usual, as was normal. As if the impossible hadn't just been performed, and - and this was what really bothered China - she had no idea how. None of her usual contacts seemed able to supply her with any information. She was already at a disadvantage, and things never went smoothly under that scenario.

Her assistant led them quickly through the stacks to her desk, and China glanced up expecting to see... what, she didn't quite know, and she never would. She'd opened her mouth to speak, but had to close it again, a rare expression of surprise crossing her delicate features.

Skulduggery looked good. Far too good. In fact, they all did. They were almost on the same level as China herself, which she would have found unacceptable if she had any idea how they'd managed it. Two disadvantages right from the start.

Perhaps that was why, when China saw the unfamiliar face, she instinctively poured more magic into her ability than she normally did if she didn't want something from the person. Combined with her usual radiant smile, it would hopefully be enough to banish any preconceptions Skulduggery might have placed in the poor man's mind.

"Oh my," she recovered smoothly. "What have you all been up to? And who's this?"

"We," Skulduggery answered, "have been busy trying to avoid Guild. As I mentioned, we could use your help with that."

China raised an eyebrow. "Straight to business, Skulduggery? After you've been gone for a year?"

"I'm afraid it's rather urgent."

"It always is." China looked the man up and down, curious despite herself. He didn't look like a sorcerer - but then again, many sorcerers didn't look like sorcerers. He had something to do with Skulduggery's return, presumably, but China had never seen him before. He might come from the Faceless Ones' reality - Skulduggery did have a penchant for rescuing people - but he didn't look particularly traumatized or insane. A mystery indeed.

[impudentsongbird]

"If they're in a coma, can they be considered to have consciousness, or simply soul?" Gabriel wondered out loud, idly, as Skulduggery knocked. "Depending on what sort of coma it is?"

The Archangel leaned on Ghastly's arm as the--secretary?--allowed them entrance, and it was just as well he did. The magic in this library was very much in evidence, and Gabriel looked around with appreciation as they moved through the stacks. He wouldn't have been able to manage it if he hadn't had someone to lean on.

"I must confess I've always preferred to experience through living rather than through books," he murmured. It was something people might have considered strange, but only if they forgot that written communication was but a single facet of his nature. The spoken was, for him, of far greater importance, and there was rarely anyone to speak to in such a private enterprise as reading. "But this certainly is a library to behold."

When they rounded the last shelf to the desk, Gabriel only tore his gaze away from the shelves belatedly. The woman, she must be China Sorrows, was already smiling at him, and because it was his nature Gabriel met her gaze and automatically smiled back.

It took him a moment to realise anything was wrong. It was the magic in the room, the soft hum of words speaking to one another and their readers, the fact that he was so weary in body. These things seemed loud and the insidious pressure of China's magic took a second to register, seeping and whispering against him in a way that he might not have noticed if angels weren't so sensitive to it to begin with.

'Love me,' it said, cajoling and sickly-sweet, a thrum of harmony.

The Archangel's smile froze, collapsed and sank into an uncharacteristically flat expression. For the first time since he'd arrived in this reality, his face was impassive--even cold. Without his being conscious of it, he'd straightened, his bearing shifting easily from a casual hobo to something--more. Something with steel. Something unbendable by anything China could summon. "I would," he said with naked warning in his voice, just barely staving off a Command, "very much appreciate it if you would cease attempting to subvert my will."

Gabriel loved only one in such a way as China's magic demanded, because he wanted to, because he chose to, and China was not Him. Not even Lucifer had been able to trick him into doing otherwise--and Lucifer had tried.

[neutralcollector]

China blinked with confusion - and, for the second time in so many minutes, her smile dropped in favor of surprise.

There were very, very few people who were simply not affected like that, and to China's knowledge, none of them were alive today. That was startling enough. But China had never encountered anyone knowledgeable and brave enough to point it out, not even questioning what she had done; his whole demeanor changed in the blink of an eye, shifting swiftly and easily to something that put her in mind of the way Bliss used to hold himself. He must have heard of her, then, and that might have been easier for China to accept; but his smile just before he grew cold had been warm enough. No, China decided; he hadn't been told what to expect.

A sorcerer that experienced, that powerful, she would have heard something about by now. The mysteries just didn't stop, did they?

"I'm afraid I can't control it," China answered, though she did stop trying quite so hard. "I do apologize. I assumed Skulduggery would have warned you about me."

"Ah, yes. China can do that," Skulduggery belatedly warned the man. "Annoying, but harmless. Especially," he gave her a pointed look with his skull tilted slightly to the side, "when it doesn't have the effect she intended."

"So this was an attempt to embarrass me?" China couldn't help it; she laughed. "You'll have to try a lot harder than that." Was she rattled? Definitely. But embarrassed was a bit of an exaggeration.

China rose to her feet, noting with some annoyance that it wasn't with her usual grace. "Now then, I'd like to know exactly who I'm supposed to be helping." She almost managed to keep the curiosity out of her voice. Almost. "And Ghastly," she shot him a special smile, "Your disguise is ready by now, if you'd like me to activate it."

Skulduggery turned sharply to Ghastly. "Disguise?"

"I thought it might come in useful." Ghastly returned Skulduggery's gaze with a level look. "There were too many times this past year I couldn't keep an eye on things. In a minute, China. This is a little more important."

[impudentsongbird]

If she couldn't control it, then the thrum against him wouldn't have receded. But it did, and Gabriel's eyes narrowed. Not only a thief, but a liar. Still, now that it had receded, Gabriel could tell it wasn't wholly a falsehood--she really couldn't turn it off entirely. But she could control it, and did, and deliberately used it against others, that was something the Archangel couldn't countenance.

And yet, worse than that, was that Skulduggery had brought him here. Especially saying that. Sharply Gabriel turned toward the detective, hissing under his breath at the pangs, and repeated with an indignation bordering on anger, "Harmless? She steals others' right to choose what they think of her! How, pray tell, is that harmless, Skulduggery?"

His voice was sharper than he meant it to be, because of his surprise, but mostly his expression was just ... hurt. Skul knew what free will meant to him, knew what Gabe had gone through just to learn it was a gift he was allowed to have--and it was a gift. And here the detective, his friend, was making light of it. Taking it for granted.

Taking it for granted because Skul had never known anything else, didn't know how precious that gift was.

Gabriel looked away from Skul and took a deep breath in an attempt to calm himself. These storms of emotion--he still wasn't used to them. But he took that breath, managed not to mentally beg forgiveness from his Master, and when he exhaled he let the anger run through him. The hurt was less easy to expunge.

"I'm sorry," he said, and his voice was tight, "but if you don't mind, I would rather go elsewhere for aid, if there is an alternative."

If there wasn't ... if there wasn't he wasn't entirely sure what he was going to do.

[neutralcollector]

Tanith was uncomfortable enough in China's library, and in China's presence. She could understand when Gabriel first asked her to stop - a little surprised, but completely sympathetic. Maybe sort of silently hoping that karma would eventually come back to bite China, and definitely glad that they weren't telling her about who Gabriel really was. It gave Tanith a kind of petty satisfaction.

Gabriel's next words, however, made her jump backward in fright, hand instantly on the hilt of her sword, consciously forcing herself not to draw it. Fletcher, who'd been quiet enough whenever they talked about Gabriel being an Archangel that Tanith was starting to wonder if he even realized what that meant, gripped Valkyrie's hand - getting ready to teleport, perhaps, just in case. Even Ghastly, who was still supporting Gabriel, had tensed up.

That was exactly what they needed, Tanith thought. An angry Archangel. An Archangel angry at Skulduggery, in particular. This was the first time he'd used the detective's full name, and the first time he'd so much as raised his voice.

If only China knew exactly who she'd just made angry. Tanith wouldn't have felt bad about the manipulative librarian getting punished. But if Skulduggery was in trouble because of China...

Skulduggery, for his part, just looked at Gabriel silently for a minute. When he spoke, his voice was perfectly calm. "The effect lessens each time, especially when you know what to expect. Some people lose money in the process, true, but look at it this way - she's giving people the practice to be able to choose for themselves, no matter how strong someone else's will is."

"If I didn't know any better," said China, "I'd think you were defending me."

"Oh, believe me," Skulduggery replied without looking away from Gabriel. "That's the last thing on my mind."

It was the only indication Skulduggery gave that he had been thinking along the same lines as anyone else in the library. He just knew Gabriel better than any of them, and for the first time, Tanith was grateful for that. She didn't think Gabriel would try to smite anything, but she also hadn't thought angels existed. This was turning out to be a very strange day.

[impudentsongbird]

Gabriel looked back to Skulduggery, and although the anger was gone from his face, the hurt remained. For a moment he said nothing, letting the detective's words sink in and flow through him. It was, in a way, true. After all, that was why Gabriel's Master didn't interfere--to give humanity the chance to counter adversity and thrive.

China used her power badly, but that was her choice. And her doing so gave others the opportunity to overcome her.

"A faint comfort, Skul," he said quietly. "A very faint comfort, but you're right. Ms Sorrow's use of her power is her own choice, and what effect that might have on others is a learning experience." Even if Gabriel couldn't accept it, didn't want anything to do with it, would feel spurred to act if she attempted to actively use it against anyone he counted friend.

The Archangel didn't shift his gaze from Skul as he said, "I don't particularly want to be here, Skul. But if you tell me that Ms Sorrows is our best chance, if her aid will keep you safe, then I will remain. I trust you."

And Skul didn't trust China. Gabriel just had to keep that in mind. Skul knew these people, knew how to handle them, and Gabriel trusted him.

[neutralcollector]

Now this was interesting. The man didn't look much older than twenty, which even in sorcerers' extended lifetimes wouldn't put him above three hundred at the most. On the surface, him trusting Skulduggery wasn't any different from Valkyrie's blind faith in the man - however ill-placed that faith was. But what interested China was how everyone else reacted to that trust. Valkyrie, in particular, was looking like she couldn't quite believe what she'd just heard.

It was the same general reaction China would have expected if Skulduggery had said he trusted her. It made her think that the man was more important than she was, and that wasn't a pleasant thought to have. Particularly since he didn't like her right off the bat. Not just mistrusted, which was normal, but actively disliked.

"Am I going to have to guess at who this is?" China gently teased them. "Is he, perhaps, a fellow refugee from the reality of the Faceless Ones?"

"That's exactly who he is," Skulduggery answered without missing a beat. "His name is Gabe."

"Why not take him to the Sanctuary? If he's hurt, they would be of far more help than I'd be."

Skulduggery shook his head. "Maybe you've forgotten, but Guild really doesn't like me at the moment. And opening a portal between realities, as I understand it, was expressly forbidden. He might be a little upset about that."

The detective was lying. He was lying well, and burying them in a maze of half-truths, but he was lying nonetheless. China knew for a fact that no portal had been opened in the vicinity recently - not in Aranmore Farm, and not anywhere else. And China's proposed identity for 'Gabe' didn't explain why the others seemed to be in such awe of him. Tanith had practically jumped out of her skin when he raised his voice.

That meant she might recognize who he was. The name 'Gabe' wasn't ringing any bells, so most likely it was a cover. China had dealt with enough of those.

She also noticed that no one tried to correct her about Gabe being hurt. The man looked exhausted and slightly sick, even more pale in contrast with how beautiful everyone else looked, but hardly injured. China filed away that little fact to help in her search later. A woman of her influence shouldn't take too long discovering who one person was.

"You could always just leave the country," China pointed out with a small smile. "But if you're coming to me, I assume you can't do that. I do know of a few places. Mostly safe-houses left over from the war. The question is," and here her smile grew dazzling, "what would I get in return?"

No one could ever accuse her of not being up-front with her deals. True, most of her business associates would have done anything for her, no questions asked. But it was still a sound business practice China prized herself on.

[impudentsongbird]

It seemed they were to use Ms Sorrows, then. Gabriel remained silent, allowing Skul to field the questions which required some misleading. He wasn't entirely sure he could handle being misleading right now.

There was something else to address. Now he had calmed down a little more, he could register that he'd made the others uneasy. Now they weren't--they were awed--but that wasn't particularly an emotion he was comfortable with either. He preferred it when they could banter with him.

Instead the Archangel turned to Ghastly to give the man an apologetic smile and squeeze his arm gently. "I'm sorry," he murmured, just loud enough to be heard by the others around them too. "I didn't mean to startle you. I was just--I was surprised."

He ignored Ms Sorrow's teasing tone as she asked how she would benefit. She reminded him so much of one of Lucifer's people, the ones who actually knew it and didn't care. Or knew it, and thought it was proper. It didn't really matter. Dislike wasn't a particularly angelic trait, and given that Ms Sorrow's power was unintentional in its most basic form Gabriel really ought to have been feeling some pity for her--but he couldn't. It had touched too many raw nerves. Maybe later, he could find the graciousness for it.

[neutralcollector]

Ghastly took a moment to answer him - everything had become just a little too surreal in the last few minutes for his taste. Gabriel calling China out on her magic, he'd expected. Gabriel rounding angrily on Skulduggery, he hadn't. And as the one who would have been almost directly in the Archangel's line of fire, Ghastly was more than a little worried, even after the immediate apology.

Gabriel certainly didn't match any of the Archangel stereotypes Ghastly knew of. Or maybe he did, and that was what made the tailor so uneasy. To be perfectly honest, he was really only sticking around this long because he, like Gabriel, trusted Skulduggery's judgment.

And speaking of that, Skul had always had a talent for inspiring loyalty on the battlefield, but... winning the trust of an Archangel? That was... that was frightening, really.

"China tends to have that effect," Ghastly told him quietly. "You're probably the first person not to be affected by it. You can't tell, but she'll be doing everything in her power to find out who you are as soon as we leave."

"Could she find out?" Valkyrie asked, just as quietly.

"Yeah," said Fletcher sarcastically. "Because there's definitely a photograph in the Bible. With a little caption that says 'by the way, these guys definitely exist.'"

Ghastly chuckled. "I doubt even China has that kind of influence," he assured Valkyrie. "I think we're fine." He was not, however, quite as confident as he sounded. They still didn't know what had made China renounce her worship of the Faceless Ones; it wasn't a fact she publicized. For all they knew, she'd found something others wouldn't believe.

Skulduggery and China, oblivious to this quiet conversation, were still debating whether China was even allowed to demand some form of payment. Skulduggery held that she owed him far too many favors over the years, and he had saved the world last year. China countered that she paid back every single one of those favors, and saving the world had no bearing on whether or not she was feeling generous right now.

"Tell you what," Skulduggery relented. "The next time I come across a forgotten artifact that I really should hand over to the Sanctuary, it's yours."

China smiled. "Tempting. But there's no guarantee you'll find something like that in the near future."

"I found the Sceptre, didn't I? And the Book of Names, and the Grotesquery. I even found my skull a few hours ago, which I seem to recall someone telling me would be impossible."

"I already have the Sceptre," China pointed out. "You destroyed the Book of Names, and the Grotesquery." She cocked her head, the smile on her face abruptly turning into a genuine grin. "But perhaps your skull is why you looked different. Congratulations."

Skulduggery bowed his new head. "Thank you."

"Nevertheless, you have a point. You do seem to get lucky." China gave the detective a look, as if appraising his own worth, and then nodded. "Very well. I could give you a list, if you'd like. Or I could tell you the last place Guild would ever look."

"Please do."

"Outside of Dublin. Out west, actually, by about 300 miles. Baron Vengeous used it as a safe house. It's where you arrested him."

Skulduggery paused. "Didn't I blow it up?"

"Did you?"

"I'm sure I did. I was there. I nearly blew myself apart. That's not the type of thing you forget."

China's smile turned playful. "I may have repurposed it."

Skulduggery almost seemed to sag. "Of course you did. Why would it be the last place Guild would look?"

"Because I'll make sure it is," China responded evenly. "You should know better than anyone, Skulduggery, how simple that is for me."

Ghastly had to admit, if there was one thing China was good at, it was subtly derailing investigations. It was only recently that she'd started giving Skulduggery accurate information, after all. "Wasn't that after the Sanctuary was established?" he asked.

"Yes. I was just made a detective." Skulduggery turned back to Valkyrie and Gabriel. "Baron Vengeous was one of my first arrests. It... didn't go as well as I'd hoped."

[impudentsongbird]

He'd blown it. It was, Gabriel felt with keen awareness, somehow ironic that even after having revealed his true form to them, Ghastly was averse to him because he'd raised his voice. Or maybe it wasn't. Either way, the Archangel knew he'd blown it. Ghastly was afraid.

The tailor had no reason to be afraid, but he thought he did, and that was awful enough. But, Gabe suddenly realised, that this was a man Skul trusted implicitly, and for that reason Gabe wanted Ghastly to trust him too.

"Sorry," he said quietly again, and let his hand drop from Ghastly's arm, shifting away in an attempt to make the tailor more comfortable. Instead the Archangel returned his attention to Skulduggery and Ms Sorrows, and just barely managed to check himself before asking who the baron was.

"What happened?" he asked instead, his brow crinkled. "Is there reason to worry?" Sorcerers lived a long, long time, after all.