A Trickster's Daughter

Chapter 4: He Knew?!

Gabriel looks at Joshua dumbfounded, giving him the best 'seriously?' face he could muster.

Joshua just stands there looking a little smug. The twerp.

"Care to elaborate on that little Brother?"

Joshua chuckles, "Not really no." His small grin gets a little larger. Gabriel crosses his arms in a huff.

"Well then how do I know that when I make the Enochian imprints that I won't have the Heavenly Host on my ass?" Gabriel asks suspiciously.

"If that was my intention then you would've been caught ten times over by now," Joshua responds glibly. Gabriel frowns impressively knowing he was right. If Joshua really wanted to out him, and his condition, he'd have done it by now. Not keep quiet and give him a direction to follow when looking for the book he needed, or offer an easier escape route. There was something going on and Gabriel wanted to know what.

"Well excuse me for being a little bit paranoid—"

"You are excused," Joshua interrupts amicably. Gabriel pauses as he looks at Joshua, trying to figure out if Joshua was being literal when he excused him, or he made an attempt at a human joke. Joshua looks at Gabriel with a self-satisfied smirk. The cretin made a human joke. Huh. Sadly Gabriel was in no mood to give praise to Joshua for his understanding and successful application of human jokes.

"As I was saying," Gabriel gives a pointed stare as he continues, "sorry for being a little paranoid when my life, and secondly the fate of the universe, is on the line. So if you can tell me how the entirety of the Garden can suppress a serious spike of archangel mojo it would be greatly appreciated."

"The same way the Garden was protected from when Michael and Lucifer used to fight and their grace would crash against it in hostile waves," Joshua pauses thinking on his next words. "It was how we kept fledglings safe here in the Garden. None in the Garden would realize that Michael and Lucifer were fighting again if it weren't for their voices carrying." Joshua waits as he stares as Gabriel expectantly.

Gabriel knew all this. Hell he was one of the ones to help put up all the protection sigils. All this kept outside grace out, but it doesn't explain how—wait a minute.

"You reversed the protection sigils," Gabriel stated, as he looks at Joshua surprised. It was so simple. Add a sigil here; replace another here, and bam! A way to keep massive amounts of grace contained and undetected.

Joshua nodded in confirmation. "Granted, what I added and changed will only last for one power spike as I am not another archangel."

Gabriel nods in understanding, but also wonders. When could Joshua have had time to do this? He couldn't have possibly known Gabriel was pregnant until he showed up today. To make all the changes and make sure that nothing interferes detrimentally with the original protection sigils...he'd have to have known about his conditionfor at least a few weeks before his arrival today.

"Joshua," Gabriel says looking Joshua in the eye, "exactly how long did you know I was pregnant? To do all this you would have had to know about the nephilim longer than I have. And I'm the one carrying it!" To Joshua's credit he didn't flinch or back down from the growing anger of the normally laid back archangel. Though that didn't mean he didn't silently acknowledge the mood change from contemplative to something slightly less than murderous. Regarding the seething archangel Joshua chooses his next words carefully.

"Our Father spoke to me about your arrival and asked me to aid you," Joshua pauses looking at Gabriel to gauge his response, finding an impatient eyebrow raise he continues. "He said you'd be arriving when you discovered the nephilim child within you. He guided me in temporarily reversing the effects of the sigils on the Garden."