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moosestories2025-07-07 05:49 pm
nyc_merlin) wrote in moosestories2025-07-07 05:49 pm
Entry tags:
Angel AU: The World
21. The World - a character finds that they've found their place; a character gets some peace and now wonders what's coming next
—
There are still signs of the police when Phil climbs the front steps of St. Amandus. He can see tireprints in the grass where they parked their cars. There’s a bit of crime scene tape hanging from the fence. It offends Phil a little. Searching the church didn’t make it a crime scene.
Mobius is already inside the sanctuary. He sits on the steps up to the altar with his head bowed forward. His hair is getting long again so his bangs hide his expression. Phil’s known him a long time though and he knows that posture means Mobius is tired.
“They didn’t ruin the place,” Mobius says as he runs his hands through his hair and looks at Phil walking down the aisle towards him. “But they left quite a mess.”
The sanctuary doesn’t look like it was ransacked. He can tell the Bibles and hymnals were shifted around a little but nothing’s thrown on the floor. It’ll still be tedious to clean up.
Phil sits next to Mobius and lets out a big sigh. “How long have you been here?”
“Maybe an hour.” Mobius shrugs. “I talked about pigeons a lot. They got fed up with that fast so I think they let me go faster.”
Maybe. Or maybe Mobius wasn’t the target of this. After his encounter with Garrett on the train he’s confident the demon is pulling strings behind the scenes. He hopes Garrett will focus on him and not take down everyone like he threatened.
“Do you think they took anything?” Phil asks.
“Besides the computers? Which is going to make accounting a bitch and I swear if they change how I’ve got my desktop setup, I’ll sue.” Mobius makes a dramatic gesture with his hand. “Might sue them anyway for this bullshit when it’s all said and done.”
Phil smiles a little. Nice to see Mobius’ spirit isn’t broken. If he can complain about his computer, he’s not frustrated or demoralized by what happened today. Phil can admit he feels a little bit of a weight across his shoulders. He knows the church has changed forever and that a lot of angels no longer have a safe haven.
A knock at the door to the sanctuary startles them both. They look at each other before Phil clears his throat.
“We’re closed!”
But the door opens anyway.
“Father Coulson?”
Phil gets to his feet and offers a hand to help Mobius up. He recognizes that voice. “Jemma, is that you?”
The door opens more and Jemma walks in. She’s one of their parishioners. Her and her husband Leo and their two kids. But she’s followed by Casey and Bee. More and more of their congregation. The little vestibule in front of the sanctuary is soon filled with people even though it’s close to nine at night.
“We saw the cops here,” Bee explains. “And I know what kind of problems they can bring. And the mess they can leave behind.”
“Yes, so Bee called me,” Jemma cuts in. “And we went down the phone tree. We’re here to help you both clean up.”
The weight lifts from Phil’s shoulder. Oh. Their people have come to help. Among the crowd Phil can see May and Mack. There’s Obi from the Asian grocery store that’s two blocks away from St. Amandus. More faces and names, all of them smiling. All of them here for the two of them and their church.
Mobius slaps him on the back. “Well. That’s one of the kindest things I’ve heard today. You want to take half to the community center and I’ll take half to the offices?”
Phil nods. “Yeah, let’s divide and conquer.”
They divided themselves up and off they went. Phil is not too surprised by the mess but it still hurts his heart to see the kitchen with draws open, pots and pans thrown around, and even the pantry had been empty. A few things had even been opened and clearly gone through like the flour.
Mack puts a hand on his shoulder. “We’ve got you, Father.”
And the group has a whole moves in. They don’t even wait for Phil to give them any direction. They start picking things up, putting them back and often nudging Phil out of the way. They barely let them help.
At one point he found himself standing in a corner doing nothing, just watching the kitchen come back together.
He reaches under his collar and touches the leather cord, nudging the golden chain for the cross he wears out of the way. He rubs the quill between his fingers. It’s good that Clint got away with Kate. He hopes wherever they are, they’re safe. Hopefully they can find their way to the underground on their own and Clint can keep them both one step ahead of the hunters that he knows Garrett will send after them.
“Father.” Jemma interrupts his quiet contemplation with a gentle smile. “We’re almost done but I’m sure you and Father Mobius haven’t eaten because the cops here are… well, would you mind terribly if Obi cooked something?”
He smiles softly. “I think that would be lovely, Jemma. Thank you.”
And again he’s reminded that whatever comes next, they are not facing it alone.
—
There are still signs of the police when Phil climbs the front steps of St. Amandus. He can see tireprints in the grass where they parked their cars. There’s a bit of crime scene tape hanging from the fence. It offends Phil a little. Searching the church didn’t make it a crime scene.
Mobius is already inside the sanctuary. He sits on the steps up to the altar with his head bowed forward. His hair is getting long again so his bangs hide his expression. Phil’s known him a long time though and he knows that posture means Mobius is tired.
“They didn’t ruin the place,” Mobius says as he runs his hands through his hair and looks at Phil walking down the aisle towards him. “But they left quite a mess.”
The sanctuary doesn’t look like it was ransacked. He can tell the Bibles and hymnals were shifted around a little but nothing’s thrown on the floor. It’ll still be tedious to clean up.
Phil sits next to Mobius and lets out a big sigh. “How long have you been here?”
“Maybe an hour.” Mobius shrugs. “I talked about pigeons a lot. They got fed up with that fast so I think they let me go faster.”
Maybe. Or maybe Mobius wasn’t the target of this. After his encounter with Garrett on the train he’s confident the demon is pulling strings behind the scenes. He hopes Garrett will focus on him and not take down everyone like he threatened.
“Do you think they took anything?” Phil asks.
“Besides the computers? Which is going to make accounting a bitch and I swear if they change how I’ve got my desktop setup, I’ll sue.” Mobius makes a dramatic gesture with his hand. “Might sue them anyway for this bullshit when it’s all said and done.”
Phil smiles a little. Nice to see Mobius’ spirit isn’t broken. If he can complain about his computer, he’s not frustrated or demoralized by what happened today. Phil can admit he feels a little bit of a weight across his shoulders. He knows the church has changed forever and that a lot of angels no longer have a safe haven.
A knock at the door to the sanctuary startles them both. They look at each other before Phil clears his throat.
“We’re closed!”
But the door opens anyway.
“Father Coulson?”
Phil gets to his feet and offers a hand to help Mobius up. He recognizes that voice. “Jemma, is that you?”
The door opens more and Jemma walks in. She’s one of their parishioners. Her and her husband Leo and their two kids. But she’s followed by Casey and Bee. More and more of their congregation. The little vestibule in front of the sanctuary is soon filled with people even though it’s close to nine at night.
“We saw the cops here,” Bee explains. “And I know what kind of problems they can bring. And the mess they can leave behind.”
“Yes, so Bee called me,” Jemma cuts in. “And we went down the phone tree. We’re here to help you both clean up.”
The weight lifts from Phil’s shoulder. Oh. Their people have come to help. Among the crowd Phil can see May and Mack. There’s Obi from the Asian grocery store that’s two blocks away from St. Amandus. More faces and names, all of them smiling. All of them here for the two of them and their church.
Mobius slaps him on the back. “Well. That’s one of the kindest things I’ve heard today. You want to take half to the community center and I’ll take half to the offices?”
Phil nods. “Yeah, let’s divide and conquer.”
They divided themselves up and off they went. Phil is not too surprised by the mess but it still hurts his heart to see the kitchen with draws open, pots and pans thrown around, and even the pantry had been empty. A few things had even been opened and clearly gone through like the flour.
Mack puts a hand on his shoulder. “We’ve got you, Father.”
And the group has a whole moves in. They don’t even wait for Phil to give them any direction. They start picking things up, putting them back and often nudging Phil out of the way. They barely let them help.
At one point he found himself standing in a corner doing nothing, just watching the kitchen come back together.
He reaches under his collar and touches the leather cord, nudging the golden chain for the cross he wears out of the way. He rubs the quill between his fingers. It’s good that Clint got away with Kate. He hopes wherever they are, they’re safe. Hopefully they can find their way to the underground on their own and Clint can keep them both one step ahead of the hunters that he knows Garrett will send after them.
“Father.” Jemma interrupts his quiet contemplation with a gentle smile. “We’re almost done but I’m sure you and Father Mobius haven’t eaten because the cops here are… well, would you mind terribly if Obi cooked something?”
He smiles softly. “I think that would be lovely, Jemma. Thank you.”
And again he’s reminded that whatever comes next, they are not facing it alone.