Valkyrie's question sent a dull throb through Gabe's temples, and he found himself glad to see the realisation in the teen's soul. He smiled at her, sadly and wordlessly and confirming. Guild was a man in a state of deadlock, the sort of deadlock where its key was obvious simply because that key's light was highlighted by the the darkness within the soul.
Guild's family were his key.
They had been threatened.
If there was anything that would unlock him to grace and honesty, it would be this day. And for Guild, that would mean confession, because although once an assassin he was still a man who adhered to law--regardless of where that law had come. Guild's repentance would come in jail-time, not in public service, as Skul's had. In time, maybe his soul would see its way clear. If Gabe's reading of him was accurate, the Archangel intended to try and help that result along.
For now, Gabriel smiled with soft pleasure at Valkyrie and Fletcher's reunion, seeing things in it that they, perhaps, still didn't. Love. Such a wonderful thing.
That thought made him turn his attention to Guild's wife and daughter, and he laid a gentle hand on the former's shoulder, the latter's head. "He's just down this corridor," he said to them softly, looking them both in the eye, and for all that he looked like a student in his mid-twenties there was an aura of ancientness around him that cast the two ladies as youths in need of comfort. Mrs Guild, at least, reacted to it, her eyes widening in surprised wonder, her hand lifting and then hovering as if halfway to gripping his wrist. "Please do remember: this is not the end."
Miss Guild wriggled impatiently, staring down the hall, and the moment he lifted his hand she shot past Skulduggery and Valkyrie and Fletcher. Mrs Guild didn't. She was looking Gabe in the eye, worried and with some dawning comprehension, a knowledge that her husband had been a soldier and there were some things from which a soldier could not run. Not forever. She paled.
Gabe put his hand on her shoulders and leaned forward to kiss her forehead; her eyes closed and she exhaled shakily, tears in her eyes. Then she opened them and lifted her chin and managed a faint, grateful smile, and without a word turned to stride down the corridor after her daughter, toward her husband.
Only then did Gabe finally turn toward Fletcher himself, holding his hands out to the Teleporter for a hug. "Have I told you lately," he asked with a small smile radiant with pride, "how very proud of you I am?"
no subject
Guild's family were his key.
They had been threatened.
If there was anything that would unlock him to grace and honesty, it would be this day. And for Guild, that would mean confession, because although once an assassin he was still a man who adhered to law--regardless of where that law had come. Guild's repentance would come in jail-time, not in public service, as Skul's had. In time, maybe his soul would see its way clear. If Gabe's reading of him was accurate, the Archangel intended to try and help that result along.
For now, Gabriel smiled with soft pleasure at Valkyrie and Fletcher's reunion, seeing things in it that they, perhaps, still didn't. Love. Such a wonderful thing.
That thought made him turn his attention to Guild's wife and daughter, and he laid a gentle hand on the former's shoulder, the latter's head. "He's just down this corridor," he said to them softly, looking them both in the eye, and for all that he looked like a student in his mid-twenties there was an aura of ancientness around him that cast the two ladies as youths in need of comfort. Mrs Guild, at least, reacted to it, her eyes widening in surprised wonder, her hand lifting and then hovering as if halfway to gripping his wrist. "Please do remember: this is not the end."
Miss Guild wriggled impatiently, staring down the hall, and the moment he lifted his hand she shot past Skulduggery and Valkyrie and Fletcher. Mrs Guild didn't. She was looking Gabe in the eye, worried and with some dawning comprehension, a knowledge that her husband had been a soldier and there were some things from which a soldier could not run. Not forever. She paled.
Gabe put his hand on her shoulders and leaned forward to kiss her forehead; her eyes closed and she exhaled shakily, tears in her eyes. Then she opened them and lifted her chin and managed a faint, grateful smile, and without a word turned to stride down the corridor after her daughter, toward her husband.
Only then did Gabe finally turn toward Fletcher himself, holding his hands out to the Teleporter for a hug. "Have I told you lately," he asked with a small smile radiant with pride, "how very proud of you I am?"