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Birds of Pray	By : Kittenmommy Category: M through R > Prophecy, The Views: 2168 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 0
Disclaimer: I do not own The Prophecy movie series, nor any of the characters from it. I do not make any money from the writing of this story.

Chapter List
- 7
- 8
- 9
“Birds
of Pray”

Chapter
8

“Birds
and Monkeys”

Katherine
was awakened by Greg bending over her, kissing her.

“I
have to go, Katie-Kate,” he murmured. He smelled of soap
and shampoo and aftershave.

She
moaned and rubbed her eyes. “It’s still dark…
what time is it?”

“Six.
I have to get going.”

“Mmm,
right,” she agreed. “Want me to make coffee?”

“Nah,
but thanks. I have to go home and change… the new
partner can’t show up in a tee shirt and sweat pants, and I
don’t have any other clean clothes here.”

“All
right,” she agreed, sitting up. “I’ll walk
you out.”

The
bedroom was not so dark that she couldn’t see him grin.
“Better put something on first… unless you want to repay
Gabe for that show he gave us last night!”

She
laughed sleepily. “That’s not on my list of Things
To Do.”

Greg
shook his head. “He’s one weird guy, Katie.”

”I
know.” She fumbled around in the dark until she found her
robe. “Let’s go.”

*****

After
kissing Greg goodbye, Katherine went back upstairs to get ready for
the day. Not that she had much on the agenda now that she
wasn’t working, but she didn’t feel right about going
back to bed. And anyway, she was awake now.

She
crept silently down the hallway, pausing as she passed the spare
bedroom. She wondered if Gabriel was in there, writing on the
walls… or perhaps he was doing something else equally
unfathomable that she didn’t have enough imagination to
picture.

There
was no light coming from the crack under the door. Could
angels see in the dark? she wondered. It was impossible to
tell even if he was in there, let alone what he might be up to.
She certainly wasn’t going to knock and find out.

With
a sigh, she continued on to her own bedroom.

*****

Freshly
showered and dressed for the day, Katherine made herself a pot of
coffee and sat down at the kitchen table with her PowerBook to read
about birds and molting.

A
mere twenty minutes later, she was ready to bang her head repeatedly
against the keyboard.

Molting,
it turned out, makes many birds itchy, uncomfortable, moody, and
irritable. “Yeah, because Gabriel needs something to make
him more difficult to deal with,” she told the computer
sarcastically. “That’s just terrific.”
She looked up at the ceiling. “Thanks a lot!”
she called Heavenward, and got a sudden mental image of a luminous
Being looking down on her, laughing. “It’s not
funny,” she muttered.

She
was still reading about feathers and molting when Gabriel came
strolling into the kitchen. “Good morning, Katherine.
I smelled coffee.”

She
watched him get a mug from the cupboard and pour himself a cup.
“I didn’t know you were here,” she finally said.

“I
wasn’t,” he replied, sitting down across from her.
While she was puzzling this out, he pointed at her computer.
“Anything interesting?”

“No,”
she said, shutting it hastily. “Frustrating, mostly.”

“Huh.”

“Listen,
Gabriel – I’m really sorry about last night.”
She felt her cheeks flame at the memory, but he didn’t seem at
all embarrassed.

“Aaaah,
what’re you gonna do?” he asked rhetorically, shrugging.
“Stuff happens, right? No big deal.”

“Yeah…I
guess. Hey, you want some eggs?” she asked, recalling
something she’d read a moment ago.

He
shrugged. “Sure.”

She
got out the skillet and the eggs and made him a half dozen,
scrambled. “This’ll make you feel better,”
she murmured as she slid them out onto a plate. “I hope.”

“Aren’t
you having any?” he asked with a frown as she put the plate in
front of him.

“Not
this batch,” she said, handing him a fork. “This
one’s special, for you.”

His
eyebrows went up. “Why, thank you, Katherine.”
He took a bite of eggs and chewed… and frowned. “They’re
crunchy,” he said through a mouthful of eggs. “I
think maybe you got some shells in here.”

“Oh,
I know. This website – ” She opened her computer
and turned the screen towards him, “ – says that when
your bird molts, you should feed him scrambled eggs with the shells
in them. Look… it says it right there,” she
continued, pointing at the screen. “It has to do with
protein and minerals and growing feathers.”

He
was looking from Katherine to the screen and back again, disbelief
written all over his face. “But Katherine…”
he finally said, “I’m not a bird.”

She
shrugged. “You molt like one.”

“But
I’m not a bird,” he repeated.

She
held up her hands helplessly. “I wanted to help, but I
didn’t know what to do for you. And there are no websites
about molting angels… at least, none that I could find.”
She gave a short laugh. “Maybe I should make one!”

He
sat watching her for a moment, toying absently with the eggs on his
plate. “So I’m your bird?” he finally
asked. Something in his voice warned her to tread carefully.

“Um…
I’m not sure what you – ”

”Your
exact words were, 'this website says
that when your bird molts, you should feed him scrambled' –
”

She
groaned, putting her head in her hands. “Gabriel –
” she began.

“You
think I’m your pet?” he continued, his voice
suddenly rising in anger. “Because – believe me,
Katherine – I am not! Anyone’s! Pet!”
He pounded a fist on the table to emphasize each word and she jumped
in surprise, her head coming up so she could stare at him in
wide-eyed terror.

This
was the Gabriel she remembered from Chimney Rock – a volatile,
violent man with piercing blue eyes that burned with a cold, angry
fire.

When
she spoke it was clear that she was frightened, verging on panicked,
but trying to hide it. “Gabriel, I didn’t mean it
like that. I know you’re not a pet, for
Heaven’s sake! I was just… just… trying to
help you!”

Something
– the look in her eyes, perhaps, or the way her voice shook
with fear – reached him, and all of the fight seemed to go out
of him. “Aaaah, it’s all right, Katherine,”
he said, waving a hand. “I kind of… ah…
overreacted.”

She
exhaled explosively and put a hand over her face, struggling to
compose herself.

“See,
sometimes I get a little… touchy… you know, when I’m
molting.”

Katherine
held her tongue, for it didn’t seem like the appropriate time
to mention what else the website had said about birds in molt.
Instead, she took a deep breath and nodded. “It’s
all right. I understand.”

She
felt like someone who had just been reminded that a wild thing that
she’d thought had been tamed was still quite dangerous after
all; this time, it had shown its teeth. Next time, it might
bite.

“I
didn’t mean to scare you… I’m sorry,” he
continued apologetically. His outraged anger had evaporated as
suddenly as it had appeared, replaced by this strange, subdued
contriteness that seemed totally out of character for him. Dear
God, molting is the angelic version of PMS! Katherine thought
suddenly, and then had to struggle not to laugh.

“And
I guess… it couldn’t hurt to, you know, to eat these,”
he went on in that same unfamiliar tone, picking up his fork.
“Who knows, might be good for me.”

She
didn’t know quite what to say. “Well… I –
I hope they’re not too gross.”

He
speared some eggs on his fork and offered them to her across the
table. “See for yourself.”

“Oh,
Gabriel…” she hesitated, “I don’t know…”

“It
won’t kill you,” he assured her. “And even if
it does…” he shrugged. “I’m the Angel
of Death!”

This
made her laugh, releasing more of the tension between them.
“All right,” she agreed, and leaned forward in her seat
so he could feed her.

He
watched as she chewed thoughtfully and swallowed. “Well…
it’s not the worst thing I’ve ever eaten,”
she finally pronounced.

“But
not the greatest,” he finished for her. “Yeah.”

“Look,
you don’t have to eat that if – ”

“It’s
all right, Katherine… like I said, it might be good for me.”

Does
he really believe that, or is he just going to eat them as a
show of penitence? she wondered, and then sighed, shaking her
head. She would never understand him. “There’s
so much I don’t know about you,” she said aloud, sounding
almost wistful.

“What’s
to know?” he asked, chewing his eggs: crunch, crunch,
crunch. “I’m not that interesting.”

“Oh
yeah, right!” she said, laughing.

“I’m
not,” he insisted.

“Please!
You’re the Archangel Gabriel – ”

“Yeah,
I know.”

“ – and
there are probably thousands of religious leaders all over the
world who would give their right arms to have you sitting in their
kitchens, eating their eggs – ”

“I
don’t think I could eat that many eggs, Katherine.”

“ – and
there are probably a million questions that I should be asking
you – ”

“So
ask,” he said, still chewing.

She
stopped in mid-rant. “Really?”

“Sure.”
He shrugged. “Why not?”

“I
didn’t think… I don’t know, I guess I thought you
wouldn’t want to answer stupid questions from a monkey.”

“Aaaah,
silly little monkey… I’m your bird.” He
smiled. “Ask whatever you want.”

She
laughed. “Birds and monkeys… we should open a
zoo!”

“Yeah…
or a sideshow,” he suggested, making her laugh harder.
“So, Katherine… what do you want to know?”

She
blinked. “Anything?”

He
shrugged. “Sure. I’ve caused you so much trouble…
I figure I owe you something!”

This
was an unbelievable opportunity, possibly one that had never been
offered to another human being in the history of Time.

“Gee,
Gabriel… let me think.” She took a breath, trying
to gather her thoughts. “OK… how about… I
thought you and Simon were dead… I even saw Lucifer kill you!
So how are you both still alive?”

He
smiled. “When my kind come here, to this plane –
Earth – we become mortal. We can be killed, but we don’t
die. The energy that makes us what we are returns to our own
plane of existence.”

She
frowned. “Don’t take this the wrong way, but…
all that trouble over God giving humans souls… and yet what
you’re describing sounds an awful lot like a soul to me,
Gabriel.”

“Yeah,
but our energy can be destroyed. We can be wiped from
existence, forever. You saw it, Katherine… Thomas’s
vision… fields of angels, impaled on stakes, dead, dying –
”

“I
remember,” she interrupted with a shudder. “It was
horrible!”

“That
was our place, and those angels that you saw…” He
shook his head. “Your kind – the ensouled –
can’t be destroyed. Not here on this plane, and
not on ours. Not even in Hell… though the people who end
up there probably wish things were different. You are truly
immortal.” He smiled sadly. “It’s too
bad that so few of you realize it. You wouldn’t be so
afraid of death if you knew.”

“I’m
not afraid of death, Gabriel,” she said softly. “I’m
afraid of how I’ll die. I don’t want to suffer
through years of illness… cancer… chemo… there
are so many horrible ways to die.” She gave a humorless
laugh. “Guess that’s why the Angel of Death is also
the Angel of Mercy, huh? Sometimes ending life is the most
merciful thing to do.”

He
nodded. “Yeah.”

She
hesitated for a moment, and then spoke. “Gabriel…
will you promise me something?”

“If
I can.”

“Promise
me you won’t let me suffer. My mother… well, you
probably know how she died. Bone cancer. It’s not
something I’d wish on my worst enemy.”

“I
know,” he agreed.

“Tell
me – ” she began.

He
held up his hand. “I know what you’re gonna ask.
Why don’t I take people who are suffering, who have no hope.”

”Yeah,
that’s pretty much what I want to know.”

“Because
I can’t – not until The Boss says it’s their
time.”

“But
why does He allow it? Why does he let people suffer when you
could just – ”

“I
don’t know!” he suddenly exploded. “It’s
all part of His Plan, and I don’t get to know the
details. I just get to be a good little angel – ”
his voice became bitter, as though he were mockingly repeating
something he’d been told long ago. “ – and do
what I’m told. That’s who –
what – I am.”

She
was silent for a long moment in the face of this outburst.
Finally, she spoke. “That must be very frustrating,”
she said quietly, but her mind was racing, trying to grasp the
implications of what he was telling her.

“Yeah,
it is,” he agreed, sounding more like himself. “It’s
very frustrating.”

“Well,”
she said with a sigh, “I guess it’s kind of comforting to
know that we humans aren’t the only ones He’s left in the
dark. Comforting – and scary! I thought that you of
all people would have the answers, Gabriel. I thought you’d
be able to explain it all to me.”

He
shook his head. “No. I wish I could, but…”

“I
know. So… I guess we just have to trust that He knows
what He’s doing.” She smiled at him, gave a little
shrug. “We have to have faith.”

He
looked surprised. “You know… that’s such a
hard thing for some of us angels to get through our thick, stubborn
skulls… and you, Katherine – you got it right
away!”

“Not
bad for a silly little monkey, huh?” she asked, still smiling.

“No,
not bad at all,” he agreed softly.

They
were quiet for a moment. “Can I ask you something else?”

“You
can ask me as many things as you want, Katherine,” he assured
her, taking another bite of eggs.

“Where
did God come from?”

Gabriel
stopped chewing and stared at her. “I… I don’t
actually know,” he finally said, swallowing. “In
fact… no one does.”

Katherine
was incredulous. “And you never asked?”

He
shrugged. “Naaah, it just… never occurred to me.”
He became thoughtful. “Lucifer might’ve asked Him…
you know, he always questioned everything. Me, I don’t
ask questions.”

“But
you didn’t just docilely go along with everything either, did
you?” she asked knowingly.

“No,
and I still don’t. So far, though, The Boss hasn’t
complained.”

“Maybe
He’s just glad to have you back.”

“Aaah,
maybe,” he agreed. “So what else do you want to
know?”

Katherine
spent the next several hours peppering him with questions. At
one point, he dumped out the contents of a saltshaker onto the table
and used his finger to sketch a quick map of the Celestial Spheres
for her.

“And
this is the Seventh Heaven,” he told her, pointing at his
rudimentary map. “Understand, this isn’t drawn to
scale or anything.”

She
laughed. “Right.”

“This
is our place… me and the rest of my choir. The
seraphim.”

“You
sing?” she asked, her eyebrows going up.

“Sometimes…
yeah, but that’s not what I meant by choir. That’s
what you call a bunch of angels.”

“Really?
Not a flock or a gaggle?”

He
looked up at her and saw her teasing smile. “Not a
gaggle,” he agreed, matching her smile. He went on to
outline the hierarchy of the divine beings, from the seraphim down to
the mere angels.

“And
you’re a seraph,” she said, running her finger through
the salt and licking it absently.

“Yeah.”
He took a sip of coffee and leaned back in his chair. “Now
it’s your turn, Katherine.”

“What?”

“You
can answer a question for me now.”

She
laughed. “All right. But I can’t imagine
anything that I know would be interesting to you.”

“You
underestimate yourself, Katherine. There’s plenty that
you know that’s interesting to me. For example, how to
make eggs is interesting to me.”

“I
can show you,” she offered, half-rising.

“No,
sit,” he said, motioning for her to remain where she was.
“That’s not what I want to know right now.”

“All
right.”

He
put his elbows on the table and leaned forward. “That
question I asked you yesterday morning, Katherine. What’s
your answer… would you have done it?”

Katherine
felt the slow blush creep up her cheeks. She didn’t
really want to answer, but after he’d spent so much time
answering her questions, she felt it would be unfair to refuse.

“Yes,”
she whispered. “I’d have done it.”

*****
- 7
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