"Thank you for meeting with them, I feel it is very important." Tom's words came through the halls of the bunker as he led Gabriel down through to the basement as planned. He knew this might spell trouble, but he cared far too much about Lizzie to worry about that now.
"Anything I can do to help with Lizzie I will. I care as much for her as you do and you know that Tomas." Gabriel seemed as if he did not suspect at all. The thin nearly black haired man walked easily up to the dungeon door, which of course did not give away its nature by its appearance.
"Jeff and Oz are inside, but as you can tell Lizzie has been taken away for now." And with those words, Tom's deception seemed complete as Gabriel walked into the room. In an instant, Tom was shut outside as the door shut loudly completely the last warding so that Gabriel could not escape.
"Well, isn't that a fine trick. I suppose Tomas and I will have words when I leave here, and he can explain why he chose to trap me in here with two humans that have no concept of my true power." Gabriel apparently sensed the closing and as the lights came on he glared and Jeff and Oz as they stood against the wall by the door.
"If you leave, you mean. Before that, we have some things to discuss." Jeff spoke first, feeling his blood temperature already rising as he stood looking at the archangel before him. The body he inhabited was impressive to say the least, more than 6 feet tall and his skin flawless. The lithe figure deceptively hid the strength that they all knew he had beneath his skin.
"I will, but let's play along for now, tell me why you have taken such a bold move and trapped me." He was cocky as he spoke, without any fear of what might befall him at the hands of either of the two emotionally charged men in front of him.
"Because you know something about Lizzie and you need to tell us." Oz spoke now, evenly, his emotions held in check by his years of experience dealing with any manner of creature and their cocky attitudes.
"Of course I know something about Lizzie, she calls me Uncle Gabriel for a reason. I saw most of her upbringing."
"That's not what we mean, and you know it. Tell us about the manuscript." Jeff wanted his answers, and he wanted them now.
"What manuscript?" Gabriel grinned.
"This one." Oz slammed a copy of the full manuscript onto the table in the center of the room after he approached next to the tall figure.
"I don't know anything about that." Gabriel did not even look at the paper as he spoke belying his words.
"Bullshit, you signed it, now start by telling us when you authored it. Did you decide to doom Lizzie like this? Or did you just make sure it came to be after you wrote it down?' Jeff was getting quite upset as he spoke. He was tired of the lies and he wanted to save the woman he loved.
"Why do you two meddling assholes care? Lizzie is just another unnatural being to your kind, so let fate take its course and let me out of here." He was on the verge of cracking and both men smelled it.
"Do you really care that little about her? You want to see her in pain, getting raped? You're a hell of an uncle." Jeff pushed the button unabashedly, always preferring to take the fastest course to get what he wanted. Kerry usually balanced him, but Kerry wasn't here right now and Oz was just as upset as Jeff.
"Don't talk to me like that boy. You have no idea what I do and do not care about. And, frankly no idea why I signed that." There it was the crack in the armor they needed.
"So you did sign it. Well, then tell us who wrote it and we'll talk to them."
"Let this be, you have no idea what you are dealing with." Gabriel gave Jeff an even look and Jeff felt a quiver inside himself of fear.
"Do you even love her? Or were you the one who killed her parents? Was it some divine mandate that they die and she be left to this shit fate? You wrote up this stupid manuscript to assure she was tortured? Assure that Lizzie, as innocent as she is be punished?" Jeff pushed every button and he saw the rage flash in Gabriel's eyes.
In another instant, the archangel sprang to life and had Jeff by the throat with Oz frozen in place unable to do anything. The warding was enough to keep him in, but unlike a regular angel, he still had his full strength and abilities. Jeff coughed as his face turned red, and Gabriel glared at him. Then, he broke and released both men before slamming his hands on the table in frustration.
"Of course I love her. And, I'm not the idiot that started this. In case you forgot, you were a major part of the last few gates opening. You have no idea what love is. You have watched her and lusted after her for what two years, if that? I have loved her since the minute she was conceived. I didn't kill her parents. I'm her father, and I didn't write that stupid manuscript. I signed it as a contract to save her." He stopped there and Oz and Jeff looked at each other dumbfounded.
Gabriel pulled the chair out from the table and took a heavy seat. Jeff and Oz followed sitting down roughly and waiting.
"Why didn't you tell her you were her father?" Oz sounded exasperated as he asked.
"Because I didn't want her to ask questions. I knew that she would hate me if she knew the truth. Instead, I got to play the fun Uncle Gabriel and she loved me. I got to see her happy so many times because she didn't know. That's all I wanted and now...now I have to do my duty." Gabriel's eyes filled with tears as he sat there and Jeff felt connected to him by his love for Lizzie.
"Wait, you got a demon pregnant? I mean how does that even happen?" Oz was the one asking questions as Jeff sat stunned and silent.
"I was on Earth taking care of my charges as Tomas always took care of his. I met her, Maleena, and she was not a typical demon. She was tortured and taken. I fell in love with her, and she was beautiful. You have seen my daughter so you know, her beauty called to me. After a short time together we conceived a child. We tried to hide it from everyone. Tried so hard, but to no avail. When Heaven found out, I was forced to choose."
