[i]((Part 2 of 2, collaboration with Igraine and The New Yorker))[/i]

"L'élan est vraiment furieux." Gabe mumbled, and his arms recoiled to his chest as he was touched. When he awoke, a little more furiously than he should have, Gabe could not remember what he was dreaming, yet the emotions he held in it followed him into the waking world. He sat up and rubbed his eyes, yawned a little, stretched his arms, then looked over to Jerusha. She looked as if she'd been thinking of sad things, things that sunk one down into the pit of blackness that resides in all of our minds. Gabe was content to let that moment pass. 

"Well, let's get going then." he said, a groggy morning voice flowing from his lips rather than the light baritone that was usually there. 

"Oh, you're going to [i]love[/i] this Gabe," she said, lighting from the vehicle swiftly, leather clutch under one arm as she waved him closer still, daring the long-legged angel to keep up with her long, swift strides over the ancient avenues of Paris, to the shores of the Seine. 

"Most everyone believes there are only two islands on this river - but that's not entirely true. For beings like you and I? There are [i]three.[/i]" 

Gabe smiled like he hadn't in several days. The image of [i]On the Shore of the Seine[/i] was plastered in front of Gabe's eyes. It was amazing to him the amount of misunderstanding that may occur in a world such as this. Gabe felt like this moment perfectly encapsulated the plight of man: they will always search for the truth, but when it is most important, the truth is invisible to them. With that, Gabe was giddy with excitement. This place that held such an important place to him visually would be forever changed in his eyes, despite his only reference to the shore being an impressionist portrait-- he hadn't made the trip himself before now. 

She entwined her free arm in his, as easily as they had at dinner, and pulled him straight off the walkway drop of the Seine - 

- To another causeway that had not been there, did not exist until the very moment their feet hit the ancient cobblestone roadways, lit as magnificently as the rest of this shining city. "Welcome to the Île de la Voile, Gabe," was all that Jerusha said as she walked with him toward a cathedral-like keep, the centerpiece of the island glowing like a jewel from the innumerable stained glass windows that lined its exterior, great roses and frescoes amidst the venerable grey stones and flying buttresses. 

Almost she wished they might have stayed a little longer, stopped to really explore the magnificence that was the Paris office of the Bain & Hoyle Investigation and Recovery Company. But the night was very nearly spent as it was, and the angel had an appointment to keep in London. Besides, as a Bain & Hoyle employee, Gabe could very well return whenever he wished of course - well, when he was not on assignment, she supposed.

Jerusha opened her purse as the pair ascended the grand stone stairway to the entrance, pulling a card from her billfold and swiping it over the key entry. An enormous [i]*clang*[/i] opened the door from within, iron ringing against iron as the great oaken double doors, easily scaling some twenty feet in height each, swung open easily.

"I get one of those?" Gabe asked jokingly, a boyish smile crossing his very lightly freckled face. 

"No, but if you ask nicely I might tell you where to get one of [i]those,[/i]" she said, pointing high above their heads.

The murals on the vast vaulted ceilings overhead seemed to move on their own overhead, chargers and knights, satyrs and damsels and dragons and devils and nymphs cavorted in green fields and swamps, mountains and ice fields in dizzying profusion. 

"Just teasing Gabe - of [i]course[/i] you get one of these," Jerusha said, tucking the card back in her purse. "Likely far, far more," she added with a mischievous wink. "I'm not a Bain & Hoyle employee. I simply have... Connections."

Several stone hallways sloped to the right and left, turning at just the tantalizing corner that beckoned the eye onward to see what might yet be just beyond, but Jerusha simply walked past them all, arm in arm to a rather unassuming hallway on the far side of the grand vaulted room.

The slope spiraled downward untold yards, until it opened once more into a simple, unadorned stone-lined room.

Unadorned, that is, but for the half dozen spectacularly tall, ominously cloaked figures clad entirely in grey, faces unseen beneath their cowls. Beside each was a swirling, cold void, a null space that somehow still felt as if it might have mass and substance. 

"A shade gate," Jerusha said simply, as if those words explained everything entirely. 

"A sort of portal." Gabe mused to himself. He brought his chiseled hand up to his soft chin and eyed the thing attentively. His eyebrows cocked awkwardly and his mouth opened slightly. "This is familiar," he placed his hands on his hips now and walked toward the portal slightly, "This is how I got here."

The vampire nodded with a smile, approaching the figure closest to the portal Gabe approached, whispering the word "London Office" before turning to the angel. "Shall we?"

Gabe stepped through the threshold and felt what he felt the day of his descent-- a memory which he has repressed and has unsuccesfully tried to retrieve with the brilliant assistance of Dr. Wilde-- pure oceanic oneness. Every portion of him was segregated from the other and spread into infinity. It was like a dream in that it felt like it would never end, and was unpredictibly complicated. Eventually he reformed on the other side of gate, whole and unscared-- a very different experience from that of his descent. The room he appeared in was similar to the last, grand and yet unassuming. He stepped a few feet from the portal to face a newly formed Jerusha. He motioned for her to lead the way, and followed behind as they made their way up the stone steps to the exit. 

"Is there anything I should know about the heirarchy here? Who do I report to? Who are my peers?" The angel asked.

"The hierarchy here is very much like what you may very well be used to, Gabe. You shouldn't worry so," Jerusha said reassuringly even as her shoulders shook, as if she might somehow loosen the frigid, uncomfortable remnants of the shade gate in her thoughts. Always, the feeling of moving through endless cobwebs, fingerlings of cold and void through her hair and over her skin. She hated traveling that way, though even she couldn't argue the usefulness. Suddenly needing to feel a bit "warmer," the vampire beckoned to the angel, setting up the well-worn stone stairs at a brisk pace.

"As I said before, Lord Archibald Bain and Reginald Hoyle own this company, and all its affiliates - though this, the London Office, is the first and oldest of course. There will be officers beneath them at various ranks, and then the agents like yourself. Those would be your peers - I doubt you will be disappointed in the infinite variety."

"Sounds like fun."

The couple ascended the stone stairway and made their way through the long corridor that met them at the top. Iron knights lined the sides of the hallway, and the clapping of the duo's steps resonated soundly within the metal creatures belly. Soon they were at a grand foyer, the walls adorned with magnificent stone moldings that stretched far past them laterally, with a large archway that led down to more and more hallways. Gabe stood at the door in silence and peered up to the vast walls, then back down to his guide for this uncertain period of his life. Of a life that, strangely, meant almost nothing until recently. Gabe's hands rested on his waist as he anticipated a sorrowful goodbye, on both ends. 

Jerusha's eyes swept over the great room she knew so well with its wood herringbone-styled floors and the enormous fireplaces on either side; the lush area carpets and sumptuous leather furniture - all of it dwarfed in brilliance by the beings within. She took a step back, one hand on Gabe's elbow, working the inside of her lip a little nervously - not that anyone who didn't know her well would have ever noticed. The vampire had not expected anyone here this night, and had she breath she might have let it out in relief that there was not one particular face to be found in this small gathering.

And it was that relief that kept her from greeting the one familiar face she did see. Nestor Grimsley... She would have liked to have caught up with him, but... No. No, that might be gambling with time she likely would not have, if she were yet to leave unnoticed. 

The vampire gazed up at the angel, smiling sweetly, genuinely as she searched that boyish, freckled face, lifting the hand she'd laid on his elbow to his face, tenderly cradling his cheek. "You've got the paperwork I made for you in your bags, yes?" she asked, surprising even herself with the sudden concern she felt - and then instantly dismissed for the silliness she knew very well it was. 

"And you have my number. Use it Gabe. Any time you like, day or night. Lord Bain or Mr. Hoyle should be down, and even if they are not? I imagine Cornelius will be along soon enough. An Anima - a rubber duck Anima. Try not to stare, it was a rather unfortunate mistake and he's still a touch sensitive about the whole matter. Treat him with dignity though, and you'll be well cared for. You'll see."

"And... Do you see that man over there, the one with the flaxen hair, so smartly dressed? His name is Nestor Grimsley - a demon spawn. Wonderful man, full of wit - but his demoness? Well... I'll leave you to decide your own mind on the matter. But do introduce yourself, and give him my very best regards if you would - "

Jerusha's gaze could not help but fall to the tiny pale vampire, such a lovely, delicate and young creature wrapped entirely about an incubus. And though their embrace screamed lust, she could not miss the sweet aching longing there too, a depth of feeling that... 

Jerusha blinked away the pink-tinged tears that threatened to well up at the corners of her eyes. Too much... This was all too much, these people, this place, on top of having to say her farewells to Gabe, here, now. She knew she couldn't linger any longer. Swiftly, the vampire reached up to wrap both her arms around the angel's neck, pulling him close. "You will be missed, my dear friend," she whispered in his ear. 

Gabe smiled dully at Jerusha as she cradled his neck with her hands. He held her waist and lowered his head to hers. Unapologetically he kissed her on the forehead before they separated. "Thanks for everything." said the Angel, and his heart swelled as he could see the uncomfortable familiarity Jerusha had with this place, and the people who lived here. 

Gabe realized in that instant that she was still very much human, and very much a creation of his lord, as she bore the scars and knots just like anyone else. And Gabe too, with his miriad of new emotions and feelings, was just as human as she. In that he felt comfort, a sense of solidarity, and in that also he found dread, and hate. For he was to be human from now until eternity, even after his master called him back. He would always have dreams, even in his eternal waking. He would dream of his time in the true paradise. That thought almost made Gabe shutter, but he held it in, this was not a time for mortal concerns, or existential boggling. This was, however, the place from where Gabe drew his quietness. This was his expression of a sorrowful goodbye. Gabe did find light in the presence of new friends, people who he could remember for all of eternity, those worth remembering. Gabe exhaled politely and was able to keep back tears. He felt the pain of the bond they shared, the love and pain in it. 

"Though I must go, endure not yet a breach, but an expansion," quoted Gabe, at last, not knowing what else to say or do. He dropped his head in embarrassment and laughed at himself momentarily. 

"You're going to be [i]magnificent,[/i] Gabe. I have every last faith, entirely in [i]you,[/i]" she said as she stepped away, turning perhaps a little too swiftly back the way they had come, before any treacherous tears could fall. Still, she could not help but stop for a moment to quip over her shoulder, "And you won't be forgetting what I said, now will you?" Jerusha winked at the angel, lifting finger and thumb to her ear and lips, mouthing the words [i]'Call me,'[/i] before she disappeared back into the Keep's shadows.

“Je n'oserais pas” Gabe whispered to himself. The angel turned toward the entrance behind him, then the man Jerusha called Nestor Grimsley. With his hands on his hips Gabe surveyed the area, weighing his options, and he wondered if he might call Jerusha back for a quicky. The compulsive, rambunctious spirit that Dr. Wilde found several months ago was not entirely gone. Gabe was able to glance one last time at the auburn beauty as she disappeared in the shadows of the far-off archway. An exhale escaped from his lips, and he smiled boyishly at the ground, hoping he could wrangle these desperate emotions.