Stolen Lives Chapter 2
Characters: Female OFC Echo, Gabriel, Samandriel, Castiel (mentioned), two angry men, and some extras.
Word count: 3.5K
Warnings: Language, kidnapping, angst, snark, stabbing, mentions of blood, burns, and collapsing.
Summary: Gabriel encounters a girl who needs his help. On their adventure together, they discover something quite intriguing.
A/N: Okay I promise my writing gets better and I promise the plot thickens soon. Next chapter gets interesting...I think. I can't remember where I cut it. Hehe.
We are opening a tag list if you want to read future parts. Send us feedback! Also, we know, we know, Gabriel isn’t acting quite like Gabriel… yet. Just wait.
Much love,
Rainie (main writer)
Abby (editor)
.o0O0o.
“Samandriel, are you ok?" Gabriel asked, concern relevant in his tone, as his brother shifted uneasily in his chair. "Um... yeah. I'm ok,” responded the little angel. Even so, his voice betrayed him. "You sure?" Gabriel knew Samandriel was lying, but calling the fledgling out on it would probably just cause him to shut down. Even so, he kept a close eye on Samandriel’s face, watching for any other signs of discomfort. "Yeah. Just a little nervous, I guess... I mean, you're an archangel." Samandriel looked at the ground and scratched his ear, turning his face away from Gabriel as if humiliated by his own words. What right did he have to be speaking to an angel so powerful? "Yeah. You've said that multiple times. Look, Samandriel, I just want you to understand,” Gabriel said with a shrug, “Yeah, so I got six wings instead of two. So what?" "You're more powerful than even the strongest seraph. I'm not even fully grown, I’m nothing but a Wingling. You could think me out of existence as easily as flying,” he muttered, still not making eye contact. "And why would I do that?" Gabriel inquired. "I don't know," Samandriel said quietly, dropping his head and staring down at his hands in his lap. Gabriel sighed in annoyance, glaring indignantly towards Samandriel. Why couldn’t he just listen to Gabriel instead of cowering in fear from him? "Ok. Alright. I need you to do something for me," Gabriel snarled, probably way harsher than needed, but he wanted to make sure Samandriel understood, and so far, he just wasn’t getting it. "Can you do that?" "Uh…” the Wingling’s voice quaked at Gabriel’s sudden ferocity. He didn’t know what he’d done wrong, but he’d certainly done something. “Yes, Sir..." Samandriel stuttered at the harsh tone, bowing his head and staring down as if waiting for a blow. Immediately, Gabriel froze. He was causing more fear, making Samandriel think of him as a master instead of a friend. "I’m sorry, Little Wings. I shouldn't have snapped. I’m not mad at you, I just want you to understand.” His voice turned soft, returning his mind to the reality of the situation. Samandriel was scared. Was making him more so the way to go about this? No.
Gabriel waited patiently until Samandriel looked up again, finally meeting Gabriel’s eyes. “What did you want me to do, Sir?” he asked, clutching the sides of the chair so hard his knuckles were white.
“I know I haven’t exactly made this the easiest task in the world, but I want you to trust me," Gabriel explained, watching Samandriel’s expression turn from submissive to just downright confused. Samandriel blinked. Not quite what he'd been expecting. "I… I do." "No, you don't. I need you to stop fearing me. That's the only way we're gonna get out of this joint,” Gabriel explained. “Also, you don’t have to call me ‘Sir’. I’d actually prefer if you didn’t.”
"I understand that, but you're-." "An archangel. You already said that. But you've met archangels before. Every angel has an archangel as a foster. You're not one of mine, and you're too young for you to have been Lucifer's, so that leaves Michael and Raphael, and neither of them are exactly… well… un-intimidating. Why are you so hesitant to trust me if you’ve got one of the hardheads as a foster?" Gabriel remembered every angel he’d ever fostered, every pair of wings he’d taught to fly, every set of grace he’d taught its host to control. The bond between foster and Fledgling was practically impossible to break, so there was no way Samandriel wouldn’t remember. In fact, Samandriel should, by all accounts of logic, still be under his foster’s care. "I've never met an archangel before." Gabriel stopped, confusion lancing through him. That was just plain wrong, no new angel went without a foster. "Uh... that can't be right. Who took you in when you were New? Who helped you get your wings? Who taught you to fly? It was either Michael or Raphael, right?" "No. I didn't have an archangel foster. I was abandoned when I was New because a battle broke out and a Wingling found me. He was my foster, not an archangel," Samandriel explained. He once again ducked his eyes away from Gabriel’s as if expecting reprimand for his past. Now Gabriel was really confused. Winglings weren't allowed to be fosters. Hell, fully grown angels weren't allowed to be fosters. Only archangels were, so why the Hell had Samandriel had a Wingling foster? "Who raised you if you didn't have a proper foster?" Samandriel's face darkened, his eyes growing colder. "With all due respect, Gabriel," Samandriel began, throwing as much contempt into his tone as he dared. "I did have a foster. He was my best friend, he saved my life, and he held me close when I was scared. He gave me my wings, he taught me to fly. You have no right to tell me he's not my foster." Gabriel dropped his gaze, feeling guilty at the insensitivity he had shown. It was common knowledge among angels that never should anyone insult their foster. Ever. Even an outcast such as Gabriel knew he should respect that. "You're right, I'm sorry. I can’t say that. Whoever it was must have done a good job with you, I can tell that right now. If you don’t mind me asking, who was your foster if it wasn’t one of us?" Samandriel hesitated, but when he answered, Gabriel's eyes grew wide in shock. "My foster's name was Castiel." .o0O0o. Echo sprinted back into the room, nearly out of breath but looking alive nonetheless, much to the surprise of the two angels. "This place is a freakin' maze, but I think I found us a way out." "You think?" Gabriel said skeptically. "Fine. You wanna be that way? I did find us a way out. And lemme tell you, Tawny, I thought long and hard about just takin' off outta here and lettin' you two figure this place out for yourself. Go find the nearest road and take off. But here I am by some miracle of the Lord." With each sentence, she stepped closer to Gabriel’s face as if she were preparing to slap him. Quite frankly, it wouldn’t have surprised him if she did. "You know, I really don't like you," Gabriel said sarcastically. "Same to you," she snapped right back, her hands on her hips, staring straight into him like only a true southern girl could. It was terrifying. Gabriel sighed in annoyance, but he stood to go anyway. Once again, Samandriel stayed put, making no movement to follow. His face burned with humiliation, but the young angel just couldn’t bring himself to move. He wasn’t worthy of the protection of an archangel, he was just a grunt. A grunt who managed to get himself captured and drained of grace before he was even fully grown. "Oh come on, are we back to square one now? Look, you're coming with. I know you’re scared, I know you probably don’t feel good, but here’s the thing. Those asshole Men of Letters guys that we took care of might not be the only ones in this operation. So, unless you want to stay here and be their lab rat, I suggest you come with us, Samandriel," Gabriel said, letting a small amount of his true voice come through to add more power to his words. "Easy there, hot shot," Echo warned, twirling something in her hand. "Why should I listen to you, huh?" he snapped, standing and turning on the girl. He didn’t know if she could see his wings or not, but he didn’t care. He flared them out, their posture perfectly matching his temper. Echo, however, didn’t seem to care one bit.
"'Cause I nicked one of these bad boys and I'm absolutely fine with givin' you a shot in the face," she replied nonchalantly, brandishing her right hand. Across her fingers sat one of the Enochian-etched brass knuckles. “Put your wings away, Tawny, or ya might lose one.” Oh. So she could see them.
Suddenly, Samandriel’s heart dropped. Echo was a nephilim, more than capable of taking one of Gabriel’s wings. “No!” he cried, launching himself from his chair and throwing himself towards Echo, shoving her backwards and away from Gabriel. He may be young, but he knew that the loss of a wing could very easily kill an angel unless the loss was through falling. Echo could and would kill Gabriel, and he couldn’t let that happen. “Get away from him, nephilim,” he snarled, trying to ignore the fact that he was shaking. Shaking, and suddenly very dizzy. Before he even knew what was happening, he was falling. "Hey!" Gabriel yelped, catching Samandriel before he hit the ground. In an instant, Echo was by his side, all contempt for Gabriel put on hold for the time being. "What's wrong with 'im?" Echo looked over the young angel for any wounds, but upon finding none, she looked to Gabriel for assistance.
“Don’t…” Samandriel groaned, looking towards Echo, a pleading tone in his voice. “Please, don’t hurt him.”
She looked back towards him. Of course. She’d been the one blaming Gabriel for scaring Samandriel, when in truth, she’d just done the exact same thing. How would she have felt if she heard someone threaten her father? “It’s alright, sweetheart, I wasn’t gonna hurt ‘im. I was just tryin’ to get him to back off, that’s all.” With that, she turned her attention back to Gabriel. “How come he fell?” "Holy oil. He's been injected with holy oil. I got injected too, but I'm way older and quite a bit more powerful. He's really young, not even matured fully yet." Gabriel’s voice was soft as he put his arm under Samandriel’s back and hauled him up so that he was laying against Gabriel’s chest instead of on the ground. "What does that mean? Does that mean he's gon' die?" Echo asked, gently pushing a small strand of hair out of Samandriel’s face. "Don't think so. If he was a fledgling, yes, he'd die in hours, but he's a step up from that, a Wingling, so he should be alright," the archangel explained. He kept his voice low, watching Samandriel’s face. He really didn’t look good. His face was flushed and a thin sheen of sweat coated his forehead. He trembled slightly against Gabriel’s chest as a result of the sudden exertion on his already weak body he’d experienced when he’d leapt at Echo. "I'm assuming he can't run on his own, though, right?" Echo confirmed, feeling Samandriel’s forehead. Yeah, he was burning up. "Yeah, pretty much." Suddenly, a clanging sound rang out through the building. The sound of doors being banged open. Without hesitation, everyone in the room tensed. So there were more of them. "We ain't got time to wait around. Pick 'im up and let's move." Echo got to her feet, a look of determination in her eye. Oh boy, Gabriel could already tell the Men of Letters were screwed. "Ok, got it. You know how to fight?" Gabriel asked.
"Please. I can drag a calf down after leapin' head first off a horse onto 'im and tie 'im to the ground. They won't be a problem," she stated nonchalantly. Gabriel raised his eyebrows at her. “You can stop with the whole ‘high and mighty’ act,” he said, showing his own ‘high and mighty’ act.
“Damn,” she looked at him, bewildered, “you could make a preacher cuss.”
Now that just didn't make sense. He furrowed his eyebrows for a moment and opened his mouth to say something. He changed his mind and closed his mouth before giving her a slight nod and hoisting little Samandriel off the ground, bridal style.
Samandriel groaned a little, but he held onto Gabriel all the same. "It's okay. Calm down, we won’t let them hurt you again," Gabriel said softly. There was a rare note of sympathy in his voice.
“Come on, Tawny! We're runnin' outta time!" Echo yelled from down the hallway.
Gabriel started running behind Echo, being careful not to bang Samandriel on anything as they passed. They rounded one corner, then the next, and the next. Around the fourth bend, they ran into trouble. A man, another rogue Man of Letters, Gabriel assumed, ran smack into Echo and she stumbled backwards. However, the man barely had time to comprehend what had happened before Echo uppercut him in the chin. She heard something crack beneath her brass knuckles before the man crumpled to the ground. "Well that wasn't that bad, was it?" She remarked in Gabriel’s direction.
Gabriel shook his head, looking slightly impressed. Samandriel, however, looked terrified. “Hey, Little Wings,” Gabriel started, knowing they couldn’t hang around for long. “It’s ok, she’s helping us. I won’t let her hurt you.”
“Aaw, you two are sweet. Now, there are gonna be more idjits comin’ this way, so can we hurry it up?” Echo snapped. She didn't notice the other rogue Man of Letters coming up behind her.
"ECHO LOOK OUT!" Gabriel yelled, but he was unable to move in time, not with Samandriel still in his arms. Echo whirled around, but she had no time to do anything. The man drew a wicked, curved knife from his sleeve and thrust it into her heart. "NO!" Gabriel yelled. Samandriel hid his face in Gabriel's shoulder. Gabriel hugged his brother close to him, ready to shield him if needed, but then he realized how Echo reacted. She looked down at the hilt of the blade sticking out of her chest. Where there should have been blood, there was a pale green light. Where there should have been pain, there was a faint pressure. She glanced towards Gabriel and Samandriel, both of which had a complete look of shock on their faces. As she realized what must have happened, a dangerous smile spread slowly across her face. "Well, that worked just perfect, didn’t it?" She said dangerously. The man stumbled back, staring at her in disbelief. "Yeah. Looks like your boys made me just a little too much of an angel." She grabbed the blade and pulled it out before rearing back and chucking it at the man, hitting him in the thigh. "You're lucky I don't just shiv you right here, buddy," she snarled. Then, she walked off as if nothing had happened.
.o0O0o.
Echo showed Gabriel and Samandriel the way out of the building, and they could see that their prison was what appeared to be just a little blue house in the countryside. Warding must have made it look that way, because Echo was right. That place was a maze. “Echo, are you alright?” Gabriel asked, sounding rather grave.
She looked to Gabriel who stood behind her. “I think so. How did I not die? And how come they didn’t get noticed runnin’ in and outt’a that house draggin’ bodies with ‘em?” she rambled, obviously shaken by the events.
“You have some of our grace now. It gives you strength and just about everything else too. The house is warded. If you don't have grace, you can't see it,” Samandriel said, squirming a little in Gabriel’s arms. Carefully, the older angel set him down, making sure that he could still grab on if he felt like he was going to fall.
“Castiel taught you quite a bit, didn't he?” Gabriel asked with a small smile. Samandriel, though, seemed to grow even more agitated.
“Yes, he did. I would have died if Castiel hadn't found me-”
Gabriel cut him off. Now he knew why Samandriel was nervous. “There's no need for you to defend him. He is a great angel.” Samandriel simply bowed his head in embarrassment. Of course Gabriel knew that Castiel was wonderful.
“I don't know about y'all, but I'm wantin’ to get outta here,” Echo interjected. “There ain't no reason to stand around here waitin’ for them to come out and get us.”
“Alright.” Gabriel turned to Samandriel. “You should return to heaven. Go find Michael. Tell him where you’ve been. He should help you if you tell him your story. Just leave out this part, and pretty much just me in general.”
“How do I do that?” Samandriel looked between his rescuers, registering the confusion on both of their faces. Quickly, he added, “I haven't been to Earth before. Castiel was teaching me how to travel between realms when we got separated, and…and I don't remember anything after that.”
“I'll bet my left eye that the freaks who took us made sure that you and this Castiel got separated.” She turned to the older of the two angels. “Now hold up a sec, Tawny, how in the Hell did you end up here?”
“I saw those men take you and thought it looked strange. Looked as if you had a gun to your back from where I was. I followed because I couldn’t just leave you, not when it seemed like I was the only one who could see you.” Gabriel dropped his gaze. “There were people walking by without noticing, like it happened every time they walked past. I borrowed a car and tailed the van they put you in. They ambushed me before I knew what had happened. They must have injected me with holy oil then because the next thing I remember is waking up in that room with you.”
Echo was quiet for a moment. She didn't know that it was possible for someone who seemed to be a really big deal to think that she mattered. Especially when all the people in town just kept walking. “I didn't know a stranger could care like that,” Echo muttered.
“What was that?” Samandriel asked.
“Oh nothin’,” she replied. “How long have you been here anyway?”
“I lost count of the days. Could've been a week, could've been a month,” the young angel sighed. At these words, Echo could feel the sympathy pouring out of Gabriel. Not in the way that someone can feel tension in a room, but as if she was feeling it herself.
"Y'alright, Tawny?" Echo asked gently. "What?" Gabriel replied sharply, looking up at her. "Yeah. 'M fine." "Liar. You don't look it. You look like someone just kicked a puppy." "Or, you know, tortured my little brother. What's the difference, right?" Gabriel said sarcastically.
Echo sighed, immediately feeling bad for saying anything at all. He’d been through it, too. No need to antagonize him. "Gabriel?" Samandriel said meekly, tugging on Gabriel's sleeve. "Yeah, bud?" Gabriel replied, losing all sarcasm the instant he acknowledged the little angel. Samandriel leaned onto Gabriel, who immediately moved to catch him, thinking he was collapsing. However, before they could get any farther along, he wrapped his arms around Gabriel and hugged him, burying his face in his shoulder and positioning his arms around Gabriel’s neck. His wings came up to wrap around Gabriel’s as best they could with how small they were. Gabriel didn't immediately respond. He wasn't used to anyone having or showing him any gratitude, so the hug was completely unexpected. However, once he figured it out, his heart melted. Poor thing was way too young for all that Men of Letters shit. Gabriel embraced him back, pulling his giant wings from Samandriel’s and wrapping them around both of them. Echo smiled at the two angels, watching as Samandriel’s form relaxed.
Gabriel pulled away from Samandriel, placing one hand on each of the little angel's shoulders. "Now. You listen to me, little brother. I can't take you back to Heaven, but that's where you need to be. You think you could pray to Castiel and see if he'll take you back?" "Yes. Yes, I can do that. I understand that you can't go back. You and Echo get out of here. They won't like a nephilim here. I'll see you again, ok?" Samandriel said with a small smile. "Yeah. Definitely." Gabriel smiled back. Then, raising his voice and mocking a stern tone, he demanded, "Now go." Samandriel smiled wide this time, stepping back from his brother. Gabriel walked over to Echo and prepared to take flight and land somewhere they could both recover, but he waited until he could see the shine of his favorite fledgling's grace before he took off. Sorry, Cassie, he thought to himself.
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