(Untitled)

[gabriel_tam]

The room is fairly nice, all things considered. There are several chairs, a porta-cot set up discreetly against one wall for visitors that for one reason or another are reluctant to leave, and it's clear that whoever designed this particular private room in the first place intended to make it seem as warm and welcoming as possible

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[a_fell]

Aziraphael's eyes dart around the room, his voice lowering. "You could be even better, you know. I could certainly try to help -- not with the wounds that--" He breaks off, unsure, a guilty flush rising to his cheeks. "Not with the tissue damage in your lungs, but certainly I could help you with the other, more superficial injuries."

[gabriel_tam]

"I-- what?"

Gabriel stares at him in some confusion.

"But-- Raguel--"

[a_fell]

"--is not here, if that's what's got you so worried," Aziraphael interrupts. "Unless there's some other reason you'd like to lie here with broken ribs and muscle tears?"

[gabriel_tam]

"But he--"

He takes a second, shaking his head in an attempt to clear it, and then tries,

"I can't even pretend that I understand any of this, what's behind-- why he's -- but I'd met him before. I do remember what his function is, as he put it."

He can't quite articulate what he's really trying to say, he knows.

"I wouldn't have thought that you'd want to -- to reverse those actions-- except I don't understand why Rosse--"

[a_fell]

"--" Aziraphael doesn't say, his spine stiffening. He blinks rapidly through Gabriel's halting speech, and then, his eyes almost comically wide, he cuts the senator off.

"Shénshèng de gāowán-- You don't think." He swallows, sitting forward again, his hand firm on Gabriel's, comforting. "Raguel's function is no longer what it was. He is Fallen, long since."

[gabriel_tam]

"...shénme?"

It's suddenly harder for him to breathe, it seems. Distantly, Gabriel recalls Yuna's impassioned declaration.

Not all vengeance is holy.

"I-- I'm sorry, I don't understand--"

[a_fell]

Gabriel's distress is due to his physical condition just as much as his emotional upset. The hand that is clutching his begins to glow the faintest blue -- not enough to heal, but enough to calm and comfort. Aziraphael takes a deep breath and attempts to explain again. "Raguel was one of the angelic host, was the Vengeance, yes. But-- but he Fell. He is no longer under the command of Heaven."

He swallows thickly, that sick, sticky guilty feeling welling up inside him again. "He and Crowley are coworkers of a sort, now."

[gabriel_tam]

"He said he was his friend..."

Gabriel swallows hard, shutting his eyes. As the angel's soothing power spreads through him, it's accompanied by a swell of overwhelming relief.

"I thought-- I thought I'd -- that I'd done, that it'd happened again, that-- that I deserved--"

[a_fell]

"No," the angel replies, his voice much louder than he intends. "No. Please believe me when I say that no one knows how-- how strong you've become than I, and I can see your genuine repentance, your genuine desire to do right by your children, your wife, the world around you. No, Gabriel." The blue glow intensified for a moment. "Do not trouble yourself on that score."

[gabriel_tam]

"If not you, who else should I believe?"

It sounds lighter; he feels lighter. Gabriel opens his eyes again and smiles crookedly at the angel.

"Xièxie nĭ, Prior."

[a_fell]

"Anytime." Aziraphael sighs, feeling tired. "Once I begin the healing, you will almost certainly lose consciousness, and sleep for a time. It's tiring for both parties, I've found. Is there anything else you care to ask me before I begin?"

[gabriel_tam]

Perhaps there should be, but he can't think of it, and so Gabriel shakes his head.

"Nothing to ask-- only to say," he replies. "If ever, whenever, you happen to pass this way-- you're always welcome in my home. It's... very good to see you again."

[a_fell]

His face softening into a smile, Aziraphael lets go of Gabriel's hand only to rest a gentle palm on the man's forehead. "And if you are ever in my neck of the woods and in the mood to contemplate life's great mysteries, like how on earth so many sheep can possibly be contained on such a small planet," he laughs, "please feel free to drop in. our doors are always open."

With that, his eyes slide shut and his free hand rises to hover over Gabriel's ribcage, an intense blue light emanating from both hands from fingertip to wrist.

[gabriel_tam]

He thinks he feels a strange sort of warmth spreading through him, but Gabriel's not sure if that's only in his mind or not.

What he's aware of, clearly, is that for the first time in some time there's no pain, and as Gabriel Tam slips into peaceful unconsciousness, there's a weary smile on his face.

[a_fell]

It takes a lot out of one, the knitting of bones. One has to be mindful of doctors' examinations, and the public eye.

Aziraphael does not mend Gabriel's ribs fully, nor does he entirely heal the torn muscle in his chest, and he does not bother to touch the superficial facial wounds. But the pain will be less, the recovery time swifter.

It is what he can give at the moment, and he'll come back every day that Gabriel is in hospital, to give a little more.

Once he is satisfied, the blue light fades, and Aziraphael clasps unsteady hands to say a quiet prayer over the senator. He stands, then, takes a long, deep breath, and lets himself out.