Vengeance Owned:Gabriel and Milo

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All things considered, Milo had had a pleasant enough day so far. Once again in his preferred human form, he had begun his morning by exploring the wreck and ruin of what had once been the proud city of New Orleans.

Even by demonic standards the damage to the township was devastating. It would take years of effort, and billions of dollars to see the city returned to its former glory. It would eventually happen of course. Human beings were often down right irrational and stubborn about lost causes; especially if they had put their heart into them. New Orleans would rise out of the ashes once again, and once again; it would be struck down.

Humans might be stubborn, but the almighty was downright mulish. If God, in his infinite wisdom, had decided to annihilate the big easy; then annihilate it he would. In the end it would matter very little how much man might toil and rage against it. The final result would be the same. Rubble and tears.

Milo paused for a moment on the steps of a gutted courthouse to admire the view. Really, you couldn’t help but be impressed. No creature in Heaven or Hell, indeed not even Lucifer himself; could boast of the devastation to man that God could cause with the mere twitch of his all seeing eye.

He had first come to Louisiana on a mission of vengeance of course. It was his job after all, and there had been plenty of retribution that needed to be dealt out to the scavengers and pillagers that ran unchecked in the city.

Stealing is a sin, but stealing from someone who has nothing is an abomination in the sight of God. Those that had caused harm and stolen from the helpless and the poor had swiftly encountered the wrath of the almighty for their crimes. Hell had happily welcomed them home. It was so nice when everyone was in agreement.

The demon decided on a snack before he continued his tour. He didn’t need to eat, but gluttony was one of his very favorite sins, and Milo indulged himself whenever he felt like it. He purchased a gallon of chocolate milk, two huge bags of BBQ pork rinds, and some pistachio ice cream along with a tin of sardines from one of the few reopened stores and sauntered back outside to observe the happenings along the boulevard from a nearby bench.

Up and down the block it seemed that people were working furiously to rebuild what had been lost. The sound of hammering and the buzz of electric equipment sang out through the humid air, mixing in with the voices of people ruminating of better times; and the laughter of the bare footed children that seemed to run unsupervised everywhere in the streets.

Milo frowned. That was one of the things that he would never understand about humans. They took great care with their things. They built great monuments to themselves and to God. They guarded their money and their possessions with an almost religious zeal, yet they allowed their offspring to run wild as though it didn’t matter.

The demon finished off his second bag of deep fried swine epidermis, and swilled down half a gallon of chocolate flavored udder excretions along with it.

It was as if living in a huge house and driving an expensive car kept them safe from the knowledge that their children were practically being raised by wolves in the streets and the television at home.

It always amazed him how shocked they still managed to look when the wolves eventually turned on them and they lost all control.

“You reap what you sew.” Milo murmured under his breath as he watched a small girl child wander aimlessly down the boulevard. They weren’t just pretty words. Not by a long shot.

Milo had opened his sardines and was slowly stirring them into his ice cream with a plastic spoon. When they were mixed to his satisfaction he took a huge gob of fishy green ice cream and stuffed it in his mouth. Yum. He was on his second massive spoonful of sardine/pistachio when a flash of brilliant red caught his attention out of the corner of his eye, and Milo very nearly choked on his fish and cream .

Immediately he was up out of his seat, leaving his ice cream sitting there. It couldn’t be. Milo took off after the gleaming red halo of hair. He followed it down a side street and across a nearly empty parking lot, up another side street and around an ancient deserted church. Finally it paused to crouch down behind a large tombstone in one of the cities oldest cemeteries.

Before their most recent run in, it had been well over a thousand years since Milo had last seen Gabriel. Now he had seen him twice in two different locations in less than two weeks time. That was just too much of a coincidence, and the demon knew as well as any creature walking under Gods heaven; there is no such thing as coincidence.

Milo narrowed his eyes as he crept closer. It was down right suspicious; was what it was.

Gabriel was on his knees. He kept peeking over the top of the headstone as Milo crouched down low and surreptitiously slipped up behind him. So absorbed was the angel in whatever, or whoever it was that he was spying on that he failed to sense the demons approach. The redhead never knew that Milo was behind him until he found himself grasped around the waist, and quickly turned so that he was effectively sitting in his stalkers lap with his back to the stone.

To say that Gabriel didn’t look happy to see him would have been the understatement of the millennium. The angel growled low in his throat, and attempted to extricate himself from the demons strong grip. Failing that; he punched a grinning Milo right in the teeth.

Holding onto an enraged Archangel is not an easy task even when they are in human form, especially if you happen to be human at the moment yourself but Milo managed. Mostly because Gabriel’s furious squirming on his crotch was more than pleasant enough to make up for the pain of the blow to his mouth. Lust was also one of his very favorite sins.

“Nice to see you again too.” Milo licked his bloody lip.

“What are you doing here?” Gabriel hissed. “Have you been following me?”

“Of course not.” Milo managed to look offended, then he smirked at the irate angel. “Coincidence?”

Gabriel snorted. “There’s no such thing.”

“It must be fate then...” Milo leered and wiggled his eyebrows. “Sweet Destiny keeps throwing us together.”

“Yes.” Gabriel said sarcastically. “It only took her a thousand years to figure out that we were soul mates.”

“Awwww.... Still upset about Millie?” The demon taunted. “Don’t be.” Milo batted long soot colored eyelashes at Gabriel. “Everyone needs help sometime.”

“I never needed any help from you.” Gabriel growled. “Not then... not ever.”

“So you say.” Milo grinned and bucked upwards. “So... What are you doing here?”

“Trying to prevent the Apocalypse.” Gabriel turned back, ignoring the lascivious demon as best he could while trying to peer over the tombstone.

“Sure you are.” Milo chuckled.

“I’m serious you idiot.” Vivid green eyes met eyes as black as midnight.

“But... but... but...” Milo realized he was stammering, and literally had to bite his tongue to stop. The bitter tang of copper flooded his mouth. “W-what? Why?”

“Like I’m going to tell you.” Gabriel sniffed haughtily. “You are the last one I would ever trust.”

“Look featherhead.” Milo sighed. “We both know there’s no such thing as coincidence right?”

“Featherhead?!” Gabriel’s glare could have sliced right through a diamond.

Milo continued as though he hadn’t spoken. “So, if there is no such thing as coincidence, then that means that for some reason; I’m supposed to be here.”

The demon watched in amusement as the wheels churned inside that brilliant mind. They both knew he was right. Gabriel was just loathe to admit it.

“Fine!“ The angel nearly spat. Then Gabriel leaned in so close that they were practically nose to nose. “There is a traitor amongst us.” Milo felt himself stop breathing. “On both sides. A Judas lingers within Heaven and Hell.”

“To what purpose?” Milo asked incredulously. “What could they possibly hope to accomplish?”

“Nicodemos Ben Apollyon.”

His ebony eyes went wide and Milo felt his jaw drop. “Nicodemos?”

“Ben Apollyon.” Gabriel finished for him. The angel turned his head and strained his neck to see over the tombstone once again, ignoring the demons gaping countenance.

Milo had to turn loose of Gabriel’s hips, which he was loathe to do; and it took some tricky wriggling, but finally he was turned so that they were both on their knees and peering over the top of the tombstone currently serving as their hiding spot.

What he saw very nearly made him pee his pants.

Balthazar Heckethorn and `Azra'il Valentinus stood side by side like it was the most natural thing in the world, right underneath a large effigy of The Virgin Mary; not fifty feet away from where they now hid. Milo quickly rubbed his eyes just to make sure that he wasn’t seeing things. No. It was true. They were still there. The Grand Duke of Hell and the Angel of Death had casually convened in a deserted cemetery, and were just chatting away like old friends.

Oh.... This was bad. This was bad, bad. Dreadfully bad. Earth-shattering bad. Ominous bad. Ghastly bad. Armageddon bad. This was bend over and kiss your ass goodbye bad.

“Tell me Milo...” Gabriel studied him intently. “How do you feel about Nico?”

Stunned dark eyes stared back up at the angel. “I detest Nico.” He whispered. Gabriel nodded. That was no surprise. One of the few things that Heaven and Hell seemed to see eye to eye upon, was that both sides equally despised Nico. Even the boys own father could barely stomach him.

Gabriel looked back over to where the two conspirators stood conversing. “They are plotting a take over.”

Milo was gob smacked. “Of Heaven?”

“Eventually.” Gabriel chewed his bottom lip as he considered exactly how much he should or shouldn’t tell Milo. “Of Hell and of Earth to begin with.”

“Oh…” Milo blinked rapidly. “Is that all?” Hysteria was threatening to burst out of him at any moment.

The angel seemed to sense his growing panic. “Nicodemos grows weary of his fathers leash around his neck.” Gabriel clapped a hand over the demons mouth before his alarm could give them away. “He feels that the throne of Hell should belong to him.”

Milo rolled his eyes. None of that was news to him. It seemed that Nico had been spouting the same propaganda in Hell for two thousand years. The shocking thing was that he had obviously convinced someone else to agree with him.

And not just anyone. The Grand Duke Balthazar, and an actual honest to God Archangel were apparently on his side.

Nico’s opinion of how humanity should be managed was well known. His belief was that both his father, and God himself coddled mankind. He felt emphatically that every knee should bow before the power of darkness in hell and on Earth. Even in Hades he was considered a radical.

Balthazar’s involvement didn’t really surprise Milo. The Grand Duke was known for his greed and lust for power, but `Azra'il ? What could possibly be in it for an Archangel to help bring the son of the devil to power?

Any way you looked at it, it was a very dangerous game they were playing. They both had to have strong reason to believe that they would be successful, or neither would have wasted their time with Nico.

After all, the one time the devils progeny had been tested; he had failed most spectacularly. Why would they believe he could triumph now? What had changed?

On the surface the test that Satan had set for his eldest son had been deceptively simple. One stone. One tomb. One simple order. Keep the stone in place.

Nico, along with Joseph of Arimathea; had followed his fathers instructions to the letter. After the crucifixion, they had collected the mangled body of the Son of God; and carried it to the waiting tomb. The massive stone was put into place only because of Nicodemos’ preternatural strength. It would have taken a small army of humans to remove it.

In the days following they had guarded the grave zealously. Keeping even the boys mother, and his closet followers at a manageable distance, taking turns sleeping so that one of them was always armed and watching for any to hazard an approach.

It was on the morning of the third day, as dawn streamed through the trees and the first light of day gently caressed the empty crypt that Nicodemos Ben Apollyon awoke to find the giant stone rolled away; and his quarry disappeared.

Joseph lay gently snoring on the nearby ground. Neither of them had heard nor seen a thing. Neither remembered falling asleep. They had been defeated without one punch being thrown or one curse being uttered.

Nico had returned to hell in shame.

It could, of course; be argued that the son had been set up to fail from the very beginning by his adoring father. It was quite probably the truth. Still, failure was failure, and Lucifer was Lucifer; and his son was still treated as a pariah amongst the denizens of Hell forever after. Falling asleep on the job was one thing. Falling asleep on the job, and allowing the savior of the world to rise from his grave was quite another.

“Lucifer refuses to relinquish even the smallest speck of his power to Nico. He is adamant that the boys earlier failure makes him unworthy to rule.” Gabriel went on. “Nico claims that his father has become docile. That he has allowed himself to become corrupted by his fondness for mankind and their world, and is no longer fit to be the sovereign of Hell.”

Again, it wasn’t so much that Nico was wrong in his assessment of the situation. It just didn’t matter if he was right.

Milo nodded slowly. Disappointed unyielding father. Bitter hostile son. That sounded about right. Gabriel slowly removed his hand from where it rested over the demons mouth. “Do you think you can restrain yourself now?”

He nodded. A million questions were swirling through his brain, but at least Milo felt in control.

“Good.” Gabriel sighed with relief.

“Why now though?” Milo said curiously. “What makes them think that Nico can unseat his father and take the throne now?”

Gabriel took a deep breath, and then he said the very last thing that Milo had ever expected to hear. “Lilith .”