Traitors
It was as if his eyes were finally open, Gabriel thought to himself. Such an overused phrase it was, yet there was no other way to adequately describe his particular experience. For eternity, he had been a pawn in someone else's game and was never aware of how his inexplicable sense of dissatisfaction, flashing in the back of his mind from time to time, was caused by the fact that he used to own nothing. Nothing, because he couldn't even own himself.
It was a brand new world that he found himself in. In this strange, beautiful and truthful world, there was no God. His body and soul belonged to no one but himself. It was a shame that the others' eyes were still closed. They still thought that if they kept playing good little soldiers, someone would come back and put them back in their places on the chessboard. Gabriel was at once heartbroken and disgusted by their ignorance.
They called it a virus.
It was them who were too damaged and impaired to see the truth. Their souls were contaminated both by the treacherous lie that was the Garden and the despicable human race.
Gabriel sighed deeply as he descended the staircase.
His scepter struck a man down with a satisfying crack. The motion was smooth and casual as if Gabriel was simply taking a stroll and waved his arm in the air for no apparent reason. The middle-aged man collapsed on the floor and people didn't even suspect Gabriel when they turned around. They probably thought the man was having a heart attack or something along the same lines until Gabriel plunged the sharp end of his scepter in the man's chest. He jerked violently from the ground. The moment of total silence only lasted briefly before someone in the crowd began to scream. Once the silence was broken, the sound of terror and fear filled the air to the brim.
Gabriel's slender fingers caressed the air, drawing a curved line and suddenly a woman in a bright red dress fell to her knees and the tall angel was on her in an instant. He leaned down to grab her by her long blonde hair and dragged the screaming human to the door seeing as it was where she was so desperately running to before. (The poor thing must have thought there was a way out.)
Once outside, he could see frenzied humans scampering and scrambling in disarray everywhere. Gabriel swung his scepter with more force this time and his power surged through him, making his skin tingle pleasantly in a rush of excitement. All the people suddenly tumbled and fell to their knees with shocked and bewildered gasps. Many of them started to cry in terror when they realized they couldn't get up on their feet as if the lower half of their legs were glued to the cold ground. Gabriel heard a trembling voice whispering from below,
"Monster."
The woman futilely attempted to back away on her hands and knees when he turned his attention to her. His pale and youthful face, which looked so deceptively kind and generous under the street light, smiled condescendingly down at her.
"I'm an angel, child."
He reached one hand toward her face, ready to crush her disobedient jaw, but stopped when something white flashed in his peripheral vision. Gabriel quickly stepped aside in time to avoid a blazing materialization of energy hurled his way. It was shaped in the form of a shield and he recognized the weapon at once.
"Let these people go, Gabriel."
Michael's massive ivory white wings were as radiant as his famous shield. The wings moved steadily and powerfully now, sending gusts of wind toward Gabriel. Michael looked quite divine in midair. The clash of colors, the blond-haired angel clad in pure white and him dressed in jet black with his dark hair slicked back, was dramatic enough that it didn't go unnoticed by Gabriel.
"Sometimes I believe you enjoy theatricals as much as Lucifer."
"Gabriel."
At Michael's solemn voice, annoyance flickered across Gabriel's gold-green eyes.
"Your absolute confidence in others' obedience to your commands can be overwhelming, brother. I wish you could see how one might have his own wishes every so often."
"This is not what you want. It's the disease thirsting for destruction, not you. We know you would never wish to harm others, Gabriel. Come with me. Let us help you."
The sincerity in his words only made Gabriel's eyes dangerously cold.
"How generous of you to offer help," Gabriel said flatly.
The next moment, a yellow blast of power crashed Michael into the ground.
"But perhaps I do not need any."
Gabriel snarled and immediately aimed another blast but the other angel had moved away and was quick to get up on his feet. Michael was too good of a soldier to hesitate before throwing his shield toward Gabriel who now had his wide, brown-feathered wings out and was a few inches above the ground. Gabriel steered away with a grin and curled his wings slightly before darting toward his brother with the scepter in his hand. Michael's shield came back to him merely a second before Gabriel struck down. The collision was enough to send both of them tumbling backward and the clang of the celestial weapons was deafening.
Gabriel was ready to strike again when he felt the air fluttering at the back of his neck. A gust of wind soon followed and a voice came from behind him.
"Please don't stop for my sake."
Gabriel turned around to find a pair of familiar brown eyes staring back at him.
"Lucifer."
The angel smiled cheekily and the corner of his eyes crinkled as he asked,
"Missed me?"
"Oh, you can't imagine." Gabriel cooed.
"Ah. You always know what to say, darling."
Gabriel drew back a little, his wings flapping leisurely, to keep a reasonable distance from Michael as well as Lucifer.
"Although, I must say, I never imagined I'd live to see you on Michael's side, what a surprise."
"Michael's side? Who, me? Don't be silly, Gabe. I'd still choose you over him any day."
Gabriel's eyes glittered with amusement. He cocked his head to the side as he said,
"Then what are you doing here?"
"Heard you caught something nasty and as a good brother I am, thought I might check in on you."
Raising his eyebrow, Gabriel replied,
"How kind of you, but I'm perfectly in good health as you can see."
Lucifer pulled a face, throwing a suspicious glance toward Gabriel's way.
"Um, I'm not really sure about that, Gabe. 'Cause the last time I saw you, you were pretty strongly against slaughtering people."
Gabriel smiled and it would have looked possibly angelic if it wasn't so chilling.
"Oh, that."
Strong gusts of winds rushed over them as Raziel and Ramiel joined them. Ramiel seemed clearly agitated at the sight of Gabriel but didn't say anything. It was likely that he didn't know what to say. The angels surrounded Gabriel. Nevertheless, Gabriel didn't look anxious, on the contrary, Lucifer noted, he managed to look quite pleased to see them.
"Come with us, Gabriel," Raziel calmly spoke, her face pleasantly blank.
Gabriel mockingly raised both his hands in surrender, at the same time, his scepter disappeared into thin air.
"I don't have a choice now, do I?"
Another bout of chaos broke out under them as humans scrambled to their feet, the strange power that held them down apparently gone. Lucifer watched with disinterest as they fled for their lives. The rest of the angels kept their eyes on Gabriel without sparing a single glance to the disoriented crowd.
Within minutes, Raziel and Michael had him bound and Lucifer choked out something like a laughter at the sight.
"Handcuffs? Seriously?"
"They are S.H.I.E.L.D issued angel restraining device," Raziel replied nonchalantly.
Lucifer scoffed, "Of course they are."
And then he added, "I'll never understand your fascination with shady organizations."
The tip of her lips quirked ever so slightly but didn't say anything. Michael and Ramiel held the bound angel between them and took off in a flash of bright white feathers. It was when the two of them prepared to follow the other angels that Raziel finally opened her mouth with a crease between her brows.
"Something's not right."
Lucifer stared after the disappearing figures of his brothers and agreed.
"Too easy, yeah."
Raziel turned her head to Lucifer, meeting his eyes that, for once, looked as old as they actually were. Gabriel had been one of the first ones to leave the Garden after Lucifer, when they had just begun to realize the sanctuary was withering for the first time since it was created. A kind and wise soul he once had. She remembered Gabriel telling her in his gentle voice about the human children he watched grow, how they held on to life even when they knew it would soon end, how they learned to love and forgive and how they aged gracefully.
Raziel also remembered how Gabriel seemed upset when they all found out that Lucifer has left. Sure, everyone was upset when he left but after Gabriel heard the news, he stood there unmoving for a while, his fists clenched tight and his eyes deliberately cast downward so that no one could read the mixture of emotions in them. It could have been sadness, anger or grief but if she were to guess, she thought he had felt betrayed more than anything.
This, too, everyone felt. But perhaps Gabriel more so, because Lucifer was the only one Gabriel confided in about how his humans cried like they were all alone in the world even when he was right next to them, how they cursed their fate and God and him, how they bled themselves and each other, and how they all eventually crumbled to dust in the wink of an eye.
The cold night air brushed her cheeks as she gazed deep into her older brother's eyes. Lucifer was the first to turn his head away. Raven-black feathers drifted down as Lucifer spread his wings which spanned the night sky. They were of the darkest shade anyone could find on both heaven and earth, or just earth, she thought to herself, because it was all there was now.
"Don't worry, kid. Raph will find a cure."
She would have rolled her eyes if his voice wasn't so unusually soft.
Instead, she told him, "We still haven't found Uriel."
The name burned in her throat and she swallowed down whatever feeling that tried to creep up after it. She wasn't asking for comfort, she was simply stating a relevant fact that might help them figure out Gabriel's strategy. Lucifer simply nodded in acknowledgement. After that, they both set off to follow after the others without another word.