27. Gabriel

Gabe wasn't really sure what had just happened, but he was back in his kitchen, Az was doing the enviable one eyebrow thing, and his siblings and Grams were all staring at him.

He heard a croak, and he looked over to realize that Mr. Frog had also somehow gotten out of his aquarium and was sitting on the counter. Everyone seemed a bit startled by Mr. Frog's appearance—Michael even gave out a bit of a shriek, which Gabe found somewhat satisfactory, since he was still annoyed at his brother—and he saw Grams start towards the frog, who then began ribbitting and croaking up a storm. Gabe didn't think he'd ever heard so much out of Mr. Frog before.

Grams looked taken aback, Michael and Seraphina looked confused, but Az just gave a huge, deep laugh, cutting off what sounded like a bit of a froggy tirade.

"Oh, Beel, I had forgotten about you, but don't worry," Az assured the frog. He turned to Gabe then, asking, "Do you consider Beel… or, err, Mr. Frog, a part of your family?"

Gabe gasped in outrage. "Of course he's part of my family!" Gabe insisted. "You're stuck with him, too, Az! I love Mr. Frog!"

Az just chuckled again, kissing Gabe on his head, which made Gabe realize he was still seated on Az's lap. He got up, walked over to Mr. Frog, who hopped into his hand, and headed toward the living room.

"If we're going to have a family meeting, we might as well sit in the comfy chairs," Gabe grumped. "Although I still wish you would all leave us alone for a few moments to figure out what the hell just happened."

"Or so you can have celebration sex," Seraphina sassed, walking in behind him. Everyone followed her, and Gabe shot her a dirty look before placing Mr. Frog back in his aquarium on his favorite heated rock.

Az sat down in the oversized chair and beckoned Gabe to sit next to him. They both barely fit, but Gabe didn't mind being sprawled across Az a bit. He was feeling the need to be close to his demon after all they had just been through.

Michael, Grams, and Seraphina all sat on the couch. Mr. Frog gave another ribbitting tirade, but Az just laughed again.

"We are fine, Beel. As for you—I do believe you are officially stuck with us, so don't worry about being sent back anytime soon. We very clearly stated that we wanted to be topside with Gabe's family, and since you are a part of his family, according to him…" Az trailed off, shrugging his shoulders.

Ahh, so Mr. Frog had been worried about them, and apparently he'd been worried about himself as well.

"We are absolutely not giving you up, so don't worry, Mr. Frog," Gabe added in.

Michael and Seraphina looked utterly confused, but Grams stared at Az, asking, "You were given the choice, then, to remain here with Gabe? Thank goodness. After he dies, he should be able to choose Limbo, and you'll be able to see him there, but we've plenty of time to figure all that out…"

Michael interrupted Grams then. "Wait, Az is staying? And who the heck is Beel?"

Gabe rolled his eyes. "You are an asshole," he groused.

Seraphina snorted, looking at Michael. "You know it's bad when the middle child and peacemaker calls you out, dickhead."

"Now, children," Grams started, and Gabe had flashbacks of his childhood. He was so not dealing with a lecture on siblings sticking together.

"No, Grams. Let me have my say. I just sat in front of GOD and the DEVIL, for fuck's sake, and Michael deserves to be told off for his part in all the shit that went down," Gabe fumed.

Michael flinched a bit, but Seraphina looked gleeful. "OMG, spill the tea! Both god and the devil? Were they, like, eight feet tall? Was god all blinding and grandfatherly? Was the devil crazy scary looking? I need details! I mean, heaven would be my obvious landing spot, but I don't know, if most demons look like Az, I could totally start being bad," she mused.

"Ser," Grams said warningly, but Gabe ignored her.

"God is androgynous, not grandfatherly, and they both look pretty normal otherwise. No horns or wings or anything in sight," Gabe answered. "That is also totally not the point. The point," stressed Gabe, "is that Michael specifically did something I asked him not to do. The point is that my brother went behind my back and basically betrayed me. That is the point."

"I didn't—" started Michael, but Gabe interrupted him.

"You did, Michael. You totally did," Gabe refuted. Az gave him a comforting squeeze.

Michael got red, and Gabe could tell he was getting pissed. Big brother did not like being wrong, but Gabe was not backing down on this one.

"You were consorting with a lust demon. You were not acting like yourself," Michael defended.

"Yeah? Because you know what Gabe-in-love acts like? Because I'm sure you came down here and used some juju to see if I was being affected, and you knew I was beyond Az's powers. Nevermind that I'm sure you also talked to Grams, who told you not to worry," Gabe retorted.

Michael turned even more red at this, confirming that he had indeed spoken to Grams, who had indeed told him not to worry.

"But no," Gabe continued, "big brother always knows best, so despite a centuries old immortal telling him that everything was fine, my brother, the person who is supposed to be most loyal to ME, called out the ONE PERSON who he KNEW could take away Az. I SPECIFICALLY asked you to just GIVE ME TIME. TWO FUCKING DAYS! I ASKED FOR TWO FUCKING DAYS!" Gabe was halfway out of his chair and yelling by the time he was done, and Az carefully pulled him back down, gently patting him like you would a dog who had their hackles up.

Damn right Gabe had his hackles up.

"Do you understand that you almost took away the most important person in the world, in any world and the afterlife, for that matter, from me? " Gabe demanded.

"Gabe," Michael said, rubbing his temples, "the point is he isn't just a person. He isn't human."

"No, he's a demon. For fuck's sake, Michael, we had demons babysit us growing up! You learned how to play catch with a fucking demon, and it was a demon who taught Ser how to make those awesome peanut butter cookies, and it was a demon who you took to senior prom when your girlfriend broke up with you two weeks before it!"

Michael flinched with each reminder of how they were raised, of how normal demons really were. "Those were lesser demons, though," he started, but Gabe didn't let him finish.

"Don't say another word to defend what you did. I love Az. I love him more than life itself, and you called out the one person who could hurt him. That isn't assessing the situation. That isn't checking to make sure everything is ok. That is thinking you know best and deciding you want Az gone and doing something to make it happen.

"You took away my ability to choose. You manipulated the situation, all because you think you always know best. If there is anyone who took advantage of me and hurt me, it wasn't Az. It was you, Michael."

Gabe stopped, taking a deep breath, trying to calm down. Michael went to say something, but Seraphina gave him a sharp nudge, and he shut his mouth without uttering a word.

"Do you understand what you could have done? Do you?" asked Gabe. "Let me tell you. You almost killed me, Michael. You almost lost me forever because of your choices. How would you have lived with that?"

Michael sputtered, almost standing up before Serpahina gave him a not-so-gentle nudge back into his seat.

"You're being dramatic, Gabe. Grandfather would never have killed—" Michael started, but Gabe cut him off by laughing.

He was sure he sounded slightly hysterical and probably a little insane by the looks on everyone's faces. He was done, though. He just couldn't believe the idiocy and audacity of his brother, and it was suddenly too much. He felt like a pressure valve that had to be opened to let off steam, because otherwise he would start throwing shit or say something he'd really regret, because somehow Michael still thought that he knew best and was defending his actions.

Gabe was still steaming in anger, but he felt like he could talk without screaming or crying, so he let the laughter die off. At least now they all looked a little wary of him. Good. They should be.

"No," Gabe whispered. "No, Grandfather would not have killed me. Do you know what I offered them, Michael? When I thought Az was going to be kept there? Do you know what I would have given up?"

Michael merely shook his head in confusion, but Grams looked shocked and a little scared.

"I offered them my life, Michael. I offered to stay there forever, without even a chance to say goodbye to you all. Az wouldn't have let me do it, but I don't think he would have had a choice. The choice was mine, Michael. Not Grandfather's, not Az's, and not yours. It was MINE. And I would have chosen Az.

"Your foolishness, your insistence on thinking you know what is best, almost lost me to you forever," Gabe pronounced.

Michael looked pale now, shaking his head again. "Gabe," he whispered.

Gabe looked at Grams then, asking her, "What happens when someone's soul is destroyed?"

She looked taken aback. "That isn't possible," she said firmly.

"Fine," Gabe retorted. "What happens when someone is separated from their soul?"

Grams looked pale for a moment, and her voice was shaky when she replied, "I would say it can't be done, but I have lived long and seen much. Pain, agony beyond imagination, yearning and loss, and eventually, even though the body may live, there is nothing there if the soul is gone. It becomes like a machine. Always, though, there is the knowledge of what it felt like to once have a soul. It is a horror that should never be wrought upon any being. Death or to cease existence is kinder."

Gabe looked at Michael then, staring right into his eyes. "Both god and the devil stated that Az is my soul, and I am his." Gabe heard Grams gasp, but he went on, ignoring her. "You would have destroyed a part of me, Michael. You would have made me an abomination."

He stared at Michael, and Michael was the first to look away.

"You are my brother and I love you. I understand that you're used to looking out for us, but sometimes you have to let us make our own decisions. I love Az. He is my soulmate." Gabe laughed a little at the thought. "I have been gifted with a soulmate for all eternity. How lucky could I possibly be? It is a miracle."

Az squeezed him tight as he let the wonder of it flood through him again, but he grew serious again thinking about what could have happened.

"Michael, I could have lost that because of your actions. You have offered excuses but not an apology. I love you, but you fucked up."

Michael looked up at Gabe, and he looked like he finally understood the gravity of what he had done.

Michael sighed, stood up, and walked toward the door. He stopped when he got there.

"I am sorry," he whispered. "I tried… well, it doesn't matter what I tried. I did think I knew best, and for that I am sorry. I love you too, Gabe, and I didn't mean to hurt you."

Gabe nodded his head, accepting Michael's apology. He was still angry, however. Michael had always looked out for them, but Gabe didn't remember him ever circumventing their decisions like he'd done this time.

"I just… I need you to be my big brother, but that doesn't mean I don't get input. That doesn't mean you fix everything all the time," Gabe said quietly

Michael nodded. "I understand. And I am sorry. I should have trusted you," he murmured, then he turned and left.

Everyone sat for a moment in heavy silence, but of course Ser couldn't let that last.

"Well," she said airily as she got up, "you don't do things by half measures, do you, big brother? You don't date for years, then you go off and get yourself an eternal soulmate or some such thing." She laughed a little as she walked over to them both.

She leaned down and kissed Gabe on the forehead, whispering, "He does love us, even if he goes about it in the wrong way sometimes. He tries too hard to be a parent and a brother. It can't be easy being oldest."

She then reached over, and much to Az's noticeable astonishment, gave him a kiss on the forehead as well. "Welcome to the family, sexy demon." She raised her eyebrows suggestively then. "Do you think your lust powers could work on the floor below? Like, if I happened to bring home a guy, and…"

Gabe barked out a laugh, and Ser smiled. That had probably been her intention all along.

Ser looked back at Grams then. "Alright, come on, time to leave the lovebirds to it. There will be plenty of time to grill them later. It sounds like they had quite a day."

He could tell Grams was itching to ask more questions, and apparently so could Ser, because she marched over, grabbed Grams's hand, and pulled her off the couch. She practically dragged her out of the room, but they heard Grams yelling, "We must chat more later! But you go ahead and get fucked good! You boys deserve it!"

Gabe just chuckled again, leaning back into Az, who squeezed him tightly.

Alone at last.