Gabriel x Reader: Fallen

Chapter 11: Angels are Assholes

The following days passed with awkwardness. Few words were exchanged except when I asked Gabriel how the pain was and all that bedside manner crap. It was weird, in the weeks that I've known him he never acted awkward towards me. I would ask him what's going on through that head of his, but, whenever I try and ask something personal he shoos me away like a misbehaving house cat. It took a week before he started acting like himself again, joking around and making slightly crude comments to me. It was nice to see him his old self again, but something seemed amiss. He would advert his gaze whenever I tended to his wounds, his crude comments would stop automatically whenever I had to clean him with a wet rag. It was weird and definitely not him.
On the morning of that Saturday, I was making breakfast for the both of us when a persistent knocking at the front door alarmed me. The roads haven't even been plowed yet, how is someone here? Turning the stove off I walked to the front door and looked out the small hole in the middle of the door to see who it was. Two men in grey suits stood at the door, serious looks plastered on their faces. I looked to the driveway to see no car but my own there. Panic bubbled up inside of me. There's no car, there's not footprints in the snow. How did these two men get here? I was pulled from my thoughts when the knocking happened again. I stepped back from the door, anxiety gnawing at me. Quietly I moved to the closet near the stairs and grabbed a baseball bat out of there and slowly approached the door once more. Putting my hand on the doorknob I slowly opened it, the bat behind me so they wouldn't see.
"Um..hello? How can I help you two?" The men in question looked at me, no expression.
"We're looking for a man by the name of Gabriel, we have information that you're keeping him here." The taller one said. I gave them a look. These men are obviously not the ones that Gabriel called a few days prior.
"I'm sorry, you must have the wrong address. I live alone here." I replied, tightening my grip on the bat in reflex. The shorter one gave a step forward.
"There is no use in lying. We are aware that you're keeping this man here. He's a danger to you and we require that you hand him over to us." I blinked at them and started to close the door.
"I'm not lying, there's no ma-" before I could finish, the shorter one shoved the door open wide, causing me to stumble back and onto the floor, the bat rolling away towards the couch. The two men stepped inside and slammed the door shut behind them. As I scrambled to get up the shorter one pressed his foot down onto my chest, keeping me on the floor. Gasping in surprise at the sudden pressure and lack of oxygen, I was forced to stare straight up at them.
"Where is he? We know he's here." The taller one spoke, leering down at me.
"I told you, there's no man here!" I struggled to get up, but the shorter one pressed his foot down harder in my chest.
"We aren't here to play games, [y/n]",The shorter one growled out, "where is Gabriel?" I shook my head, refusing to speak. The shorter one looked at the taller one and they gave a nod to each other. The taller one went upstairs, in search of him. I stared up at the man as he pulled me off the floor and pushed me onto the couch. He pulled out a length of rope from inside his shit jacket and bound my hands together before I could protest. He went off down the hall in search as well. My eyes welled up with tears.
"What do you want with him anyways?" I asked, he paused his walk as he turned to look at me.
"He's a danger to the garrison and to you. You should be thanking us for retrieving him."
"You keep saying he's a danger, but what did he do?"
"You wouldn't understand, even if I did tell you. You'll be dead anyways." With that he left to root through the first bedroom. My eyes widened at that. They're going to kill me, holy fuck they're going to kill both of us. I stood up and immediately looked for something to cut my hands free. Walking slowly to the kitchen I went to reach for a knife when hands grabbed my shoulders and slammed me into the wall. Groaning in pain I stumbled and fell to the ground, squirming as I tried to stand up again. The taller man was back. He grabbed me again and slammed me head onto the kitchen table and held me there. He leaned in to my ear and whispered.
"There's no use in trying to escape. Once we find Gabriel, you'll be nothing more than a corpse. Understand?" I nodded frantically, the tears running freely down my cheeks and onto the wooden table. The sound of a struggle was heard from down the hall as the shorter man wrangled Gabriel into the kitchen. Gabriel looked confused and angry as he was shoved into the small area. Once his eyes locked on me they widened in fear. The shorter one spoke up.
"I found him in the bedroom, couldn't even make it to the closet to hide." He gave a sharp tug at Gabriel's shoulder and laughed at his reaction of pain.
"They'll he pleased to know their precious angel is alive..for now." The taller one said.
"What are we doing with her?" The shorter one asked. I heard the sound of a blade being unsheathed and the widened eyes of Gabriel told me all I needed. They have a knife. My own eyes widened at that realization. More tears streamed down my face as I looked at Gabriel.
"You don't have to do this." I said, "I won't tell anyone about this, I swear!" The two men laughed.
"You won't tell anyone, that's for sure." I felt the blade press against my neck and I tensed up. Reactions hitting me quicker than I could do anything as I took my shoulder and jabbed the man harshly in the chest. Feeling the weight off of me, I stood up and grabbed the knife with my bound hands. Glancing at it I realized I've never seen a blade made like this; it was long and 3 pronged at the base and slimed down to the tip in a sharp point. Shaking my head I held up a defensive state as the taller man advanced towards me. I held my ground and sliced his arm. He hissed and held his bleeding forearm in pain, fire in his eyes as he continued to walk towards me. Ducking out of the way I gave another slice to his arm as he passed by. I heard a commotion from behind me and then I saw the shorter man thrown against the wall, his own blade coming out of his sleeve as he stood up. My attention was brought back to the man in front of me as he lunged for me. I stepped to the side and slashed at his ribs, slicing deeper than intended as I felt the scrape of bone. He clutched at his side and leaned against the table, panting in pain. Looking back at Gabriel, I saw that the shorter man had him pinned to the wall, his blade raised in the air, ready to strike at Gabriel's chest. Before I could register what happened I was over there, my blade entering the mans chest as a light crackled from the point of entry and before I knew it, the man slumped to the floor. I dropped the blade in shock at what I did, the sound of fluttering not noticeable to me at the time. I stepped back from the body that lay at my feet. Gabriel looked up at me, his eyes still widened. He hobbled over to me and touched my shoulder. I jolted at that.
  "Are..are you okay?" He asked tentatively. I didn't move. "Sugar? Come on talk to me" he continued.
"I" I paused. "I just killed a man." Sure in my profession I see people die, but I've never been the cause of their death. Gabriel sat me down at the kitchen table and unbounded my hands.
"I know, and I'm sorry that you had to, but he would've killed me and then you." He said, minutely I nodded in agreement.
"Yeah.." I spoke softly, still staring at the corpse on my kitchen floor. The blood already seeping out.
"Hey." My concentration was pulled away as Gabriel cupped my cheek and lifted my face to him. "You did the right thing." He gave a weak smile. I couldn't find it in me to say or reciprocate anything back, but I felt the tears trail down my face again. Gabriel pulled my face onto his shoulder as I cried there, weakly grabbing onto his shirt sleeve and closing my eyes.

   A few hours later and the body was disposed of in the backyard, buried in the snow until I could think of something else to do. Gabriel argued with me not to contact the police, as they wouldn't understand what transpired. The floors had been scrubbed clean but the tiled floors had a light stain of pink to them now.  Gabriel and I sat on the couch together. A cup of tea rested in my hands as he leaned against the back of the couch, his vision focused on the wall in front of him. I took a sip of my tea before I started to talk.
"Why were those guys after you?" I asked him, his head turned towards me and he gave a half shrug.
"I'm not sure." I gave him a look, not fully trusting his answer.
"You must know. They were obviously looking for you and they knew you by name. No one breaks into a home and threatens to kill someone without a reason." He sighed and ran his hand through his hair, shaking his head some.
"I-I can't tell you."
"And why not?"
"I don't want you to get dragged into this." A laugh escaped my lips before I stop myself.
"I think it's to late for that." He narrowed his eyes at me. "They threatened to kill me even after they got you."
"I just can't tell you, you wouldn't understand it."
"Try me."

A few hours passed, the sun slowly starting to descend over the trees the rays beaming into the house. Gabriel explained to everything to me; how he's a angel who fell from heaven, losing his wings in the process, the two guys looking for him were also angels who were sent to kill Gabriel for treason. At first I didn't believe him but with more stories of his I eventually did. It's a lot to process, taking in a supposed fallen angel who was wanted by all of Heaven.
"So they'll come back? Those angels?" He gave me a grim look and nodded, sighing.
"Unfortunately, yes. I'm sorry for dragging you into this." I reached over and patted his arm.
"I didn't know, hell, I was just helping you out."
"But they'll kill you, they don't care about humans. They'll kill anyone who gets in their way."
"Then I guess it's a good thing we have that blade of theirs." He gave a short laugh, the dryness in it explaining that it wouldn't be enough.
"They all have those, sure it works for the most part but when you're outnumbered..it becomes tricky." I gave a nod and set my empty teacup on the coffee table.
"Hopefully I won't get outnumbered then." I smiled softly and stood up. "Are you hungry? I know I didn't get to finish breakfast." He nodded and smiled softly at me.
"I could go for some lunch." Giving a curt nod I left to the kitchen to make lunch for the both of us. As I gathered the ingredients for preparation my mind wandered to everything that unfolded. I knew I couldn't protect the both of us, but I'll be damned if I don't try and save him. Gabriel means a lot to heaven, his life is valuable and if it means that I'll die and he'll survive then that's a risk I'm willing to take. I paused at the fridge, my hand resting on the handle. Am I really going to risk my life for this man? This angel? Giving a soft sigh and pulling the door open, I nodded in affirmation to my thought. I'll do whatever it takes to make sure he stays alive.