Chapter Text
It was nearing the last hour of Gabe’s shift when a black Bentley pulled up under the canopy. The sun had long since set and Gabe had already assigned every reservation a room for the night, ready to get this night over with. “Oh, well this is nice!” A man with an affinity for light-colored clothing and fluffy hair said as he walked through the sliding doors into the lobby.
Another man with an affinity for dark-colored clothes and ginger hair followed in after him, “Sure, if you call a hotel that’s a few decades old ‘nice’- don’t answer that.” He interrupted himself as he saw the other open his mouth to speak.
Gabe amped up his ‘Customer Service Voice’ and smiled, “Hi, welcome in! Do you two have a reservation?”
“I’m afraid not. We’ll be needing a room for two, please.” The one in light clothes said, coming up to the Front Desk and resting his adjoined hands on the counter while the other man wandered over to the coffee machines.
Gabe gave what could be considered a sympathetic grimace and shook his head, “I’m sorry, we’re actually completely booked up for the night.” As he had said for about the seventh time that night already, and it surely wouldn’t be his last.
“Oh,” the man said in an off-put tone. Not at all the disappointed or frustrated tone Gabe normally heard. “I do believe you’ll find you have one room left.”
“No, sir. I doubt it. I’ve been booked for hours now and I had just checked my page not that long ago,” Gabe answered.
“Check again,” The man in black deadpanned from the coffee machines. Something about the man made chills run up Gabe’s spine.
The man at the counter somehow also had that effect but for a completely different reason. Regardless, Gabe checked his system again, and sure enough, “Oh, I’m sorry! We actually do have a room left. It’ll be our standard King bedroom.”
The ginger man had come up to the counter just then with a steaming cup of black coffee, “Just one bed then?”
“One king-sized bed, yes.”
His head rolled to the side dramatically and glared at his partner. The other tisked at him and bristled, “Well how was I meant to know? And what would our head offices think if we shared a room.”
Ah, so that was it. Two coworkers who weren’t comfortable sharing a room.
“It’ll be fine, Angel. Just get the room.”
Oh, or maybe not.
The blonde sighed shortly, “Fine. We’ll take the room, please. Under the name A. Z. Fell.”
“Perfect. What’s a good phone number we can use?”
“You can use my bookshop’s number. +44 20 7440 3248.”
“Excellent, and what kind of vehicle are you driving?”
The ginger spoke up, “We’re in my car. Issa Bentley. A black one from 1933. Plate is NIAT RUC. Name’s Anthony Crowley, by the way. If you need to put that in your notes, or whatever.”
“Is that ‘curtain’ backward? Are you a patron of the arts, by chance?” Gabe asked.
“Ngk, well… you ah, you could say I’ve put a certain investment into Shakespeare,” Crowley answered as Fell chuckled softly.
They gave the final details of their reservation, paid, and were given their key cards. “Here you are! Room 119. That’ll be down this hallway to your right. The WiFi password and breakfast hours are inside your card envelope.” Gabe handed the keys over to Fell.
“Wonderful! Thank you ever so much! And what was your name again, dear?”
“Gabriel.”
“Oh,” Fell said sourly, “that’s unfortunate. No matter. Well, I hope you have a nice rest of your night.”
“You as well,” Gabe returned, slightly offended on his name’s behalf.
Crowley announced, “Right, well, imma go park the car. Angel, you can go look at the room or something. I’ll catch up.”
“Okay, dear. See you in a tick.”
“Hmmk,” Crowley responded eloquently and left to go presumably park their car. Fell in the meanwhile thanked Gabe again and went back to find their room. It wasn’t too much longer before Crowley came back in, made another coffee as well as some tea, then headed in the direction of their room.
Gabe thought the interaction was strange, sure, but he’d been in customer service long enough that it was far from the strangest. He’d just begun to finish closing up his shift when another man walked through the sliding doors. The man wore light-colored clothing, much like Fell had, but this one was far more modern, and Gabe could’ve sworn his eyes had a purple hue. “Hi,” the man greeted, distinctly American, “I find myself in need of one of your meeting rooms.”
“Alrighty, sir. And when would you be needing it?” Gabe asked, pulling up the tab to reserve meeting spaces.
“Now, obviously.” the man answered and gave a humorless smile.
Gabe paused and glanced at the time. 10:14 pm. “You want to host a meeting at ten at night?” The man nodded affirmatively. “Okay, then. Umm, how many people are you expecting and what time would this take place?”
“Just me and one other. They didn’t want to meet at our usual spot, so I suggested a formal meeting space. We agreed to meet here at 10:30.”
“Perfect. So that’s gonna be £40 per hour. What’s your name?”
“Gabriel.” The man, Gabriel, answered.
“Oh, nice. That’s my name as well.” Gabe commented.
“Ah, wonderful! Another follower. Blessings be upon you.” Gabriel said, and Gabe felt that now familiar yet uncomfortable prickling of his skin.
Gabe couldn’t help but blink at him a few times, “right. Okay, well. You’ll be in Room 3. You’re given a 10-minute grace period to access the meeting room, then your time will officially start at 10:30. In the meantime, you’re welcome to some coffee or tea.”
Gabriel grimaced, “no, thank you. I don’t sully my holy temple with gross matter.” About that time, Fell came around the corner of the hallway with Crowley in step behind him, looking down at his shoes and ranting about something indiscernible. Fell made eye contact with Gabe and smiled, then saw who Gabe was talking to and went wide-eyed. Crowley yelped as Fell jerked the duo back around the corner.
This night was slowly creeping up on Gabe’s ‘Weirdest Encounters’ list.
At 10:28, a shadow of a figure walked through the front doors carrying a clipboard of papers, completely undeterred by the swarm of flies around them. They leveled him with a look that couldn’t necessarily kill, but definitely maim, “have you seen a guy with an annoying smile recently? Dressed entirely too brightly?”
Gabe perked up from behind the desk, glad the flies decided to stay outside, “I believe I have. Is the name Gabriel, by chance?”
As if summoned, Gabriel approached the Front Desk with the aforementioned annoying smile, “Ah! There they are! Beelzebub, do you have the reports?”
They held up the clipboard with a little shake, “the photographs too.”
“That is perfect! Alright- Oh, and meet a new follower of mine,” Gabriel gestured toward Gabe, “his name’s Gabriel! Isn’t that great!”
Gabe gave a small wave, “Hi. Love the makeup, by the way. It suits you.” They didn’t thank him, but the murderous glare did soften slightly.
“Right,” they cleared their throat and turned away, “let’s get this done. I haven’t got all day.”
Gabriel tsked, “Well technically-”
“Well technically you need to shut up and show me where we’re having this ‘meeting’ at.” They snapped, though Gabriel seemed to have expected this and wasn’t affected. The duo made their way toward Room 3 just as Gabe’s earlier duo came back around the corner.
Fell and Crowley hesitantly came up to the desk. Eventually, it was Fell who spoke up, “Hello again, dear. I um, I understand if you can’t answer this for… patient confidentiality or what have you-”
“He’s not a doctor for Go- for Somebody’s sake, Angel. Just ask him the bloody question.”
“Right, yes, I was getting to that. Anyway, could you possibly tell us why Gabriel and Beelzebub are currently in your establishment?” Fell asked, to which Crowley sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose.
Gabe considered how to answer the question. Sure, there were the normal protocols and regulations in place to protect a guest’s privacy, but then again, nothing about this last hour has been normal, and Gabe would be lying if he said he wasn’t curious himself. “They said they were having a meeting,” he answered vaguely.
Crowley spoke first this time, “Did they say how long this ‘meeting’ would last? Did they say anything about what the meeting was over? Did they mention our names at all? Did they ask about us?”
“No, sir. As far as I’m aware, they’re having a meeting about some kind of report.” Gabe looked between the two. “They haven’t said anything about either of you. Should I tell them you’re here?”
“No!” They both shouted, before promptly shushing each other and grabbing at each other’s sleeves. Fell cleared his throat, “best not, dear boy. That wouldn’t bode over so well for either party.”
“Right, okay, well…” Gabe had no idea how to continue the conversation. His lips formed different words restlessly in an attempt to fill the silence.
Thankfully, Crowley broke it, “Angel, with me,” and all but dragged Fell back towards their room.
The little clock at the bottom corner of the computer just ticked over to 10:47 when Gabriel and his guest walked out of the meeting room. “Well, it was lovely to be able to see you again, Beelzebub.”
“Eugh, don’t say that. You’ll give me hives,” the other said and wrinkled their nose in disgust. Gabriel just smiled at them all the while. “So, same time next month? Our usual place?”
“Yes, I’ll be there. Thank you,” Gabriel said softly, then cleared his throat and straightened his clothes, wiping off the nonexistent dust. “Right. This meeting is now adjourned. I’ll be seeing you.”
The other nodded, “See you then. There’s just something I have to do before I leave. Have to cause discord and unrest, you know. This place reeks of blessings.”
Gabriel gave Beelzebub a last, knowing look before turning away to leave, with the latter following shortly after. Gabe felt that weird tingle again, stronger this time and more insistent, like a limb losing blood circulation. He was left to process that entire interaction for all of 68 seconds before noticing a strange light coming from the parking lot. He nearly cursed at the sight of flames.
Crowley peaked around the corner, “are they gone yet?”
Gabe exclaimed, “There’s a car on fire outside!”
“What!” Crowley was at the nearest window before either of them could comprehend it. He practically plastered himself to the glass to peer out, then peeled himself away with a sigh of relief, “Whew, it’s not mine. Almost had a heart attack there, and that’s saying something.”
“What’s going on here?” Fell asked, having followed Crowley out a moment later.
Gabe shrugged, “There’s a car on fire, apparently. I don’t know what to do, I- I mean,” he gestured cluelessly, “guess we should see who’s it is.”
Crowley moved back slightly to give Gabe room to look outside and laughed, “I’d hate to be that guy.”
Gabe paled, “that’s my car.”
Crowley shifted uncomfortably, “…oh.”
Fell came up behind Gabe and rested a hand on his shoulder to turn him away from the window, “Don’t fret. I’m sure your car is just fine.” He made a weird motion with his free hand and Gabe felt that tingly feeling up his spine strengthen.
“What was that?” Gabe asked.
“What was what?” Fell returned.
“That thing you just did with your hand.”
“I don’t believe I know what you’re talking about.”
Gabe narrowed his eyes in confusion before looking at Crowley, who shrugged noncommittally, “didn’t see a thing.” He turned back to the window only to find his car perfectly fine and definitely not on fire. He shook his head and rubbed his eyes. He found the same sight when he looked again. His ears started to ring.
“No, you did something. I’ve been getting this weird feeling ever since you came in.” Gabe spun back around and looked at Fell properly for the first time. Fell’s brow was creased in worry and his lips pinched. His curly hair was the definition of orderly chaos. His stance was Protective.
“Are you feeling alright?” Fell asked. Gabe looked into those ocean-blue eyes. It felt like looking at those antique photographs his grandmother kept.
Those eyes were Old.
Gabe stepped back and inhaled shakily, cocking his head to the side and eyeing Crowley warily. He’d stepped up to Fell’s side. “Think we might have another one, Angel.”
Fell sighed, “Seems like it. That’s what happens when you get blessed by an archangel, I suppose. Gabriel never did have a touch of subtlety.” Fell took a step toward Gabe, “Come here, dear.”
Gabe shook his head vehemently, “why?”
“Don’t be afraid,” Fell Said.
For whatever reason, Gabe felt compelled to trust him, which was terrifying in its own right. Nonetheless, Gabe moved toward the Light, unafraid. Fell held one of Gabe’s hands in both of his.
“May you go home, and dream of whatever it is that you like best. Be well and go in peace.”
Fell released Gabe’s hand, and Gabe clutched it with his other at his chest. Once he had a few moments to collect himself, he looked up to see he was now alone in the lobby, left only with a slight ringing in his ears. Maybe he should get his hearing checked.
The front doors opened to reveal his shift relief, Rebekah. “Hey, man. When’d you get that dent in your car fixed?” They both went behind the Front Desk. She clocked in while he clocked out. Rebekah stopped to look at him when he didn’t respond. “Gabe? You good?”
“Yeah,” he rubbed his thumb over the healed scratch on his hand, “yeah, really good, actually.”
She didn’t seem to believe him, “Right. Umm, is there anything I should know before you leave?”
He thought for a second, “Nothing that I know of. Oh, wait! There’s something with room, uh, room 119. Can’t remember what, though… I don’t know, I’ll text you later if it’s important.”
“Alrighty then. Guess I’ll see you tomorrow?”
“We’ll see. Have a nice night!” Gabe called.
“You too!” She returned as Gabe walked out the front door.
It was nearing the first hour of Rebekah’s shift when a silver Toyota pulled out from under the canopy.