Heaven and Hell

Prologue: A Serpent's Kiss

There he was, nose in a book, as always. His white-blond hair was down around his eyes, only kept out of them by a pair of thin, wire-framed glasses. The dark-haired man approached him quietly, setting his shopping bags down on the food-court table. Gabriel still didn't notice him. He smiled and began rubbing the smaller man's back.

"Lucy..." the blond breathed.

"Don't call me that." the brunet said with a smirk, continuing to massage his friend's tight shoulders.

Gabriel groaned. His job had gotten increasingly stressful as of late, as the company was preparing for a very large and complicated event. He was running on very little rest. When the Boss noticed, he told him to either take a vacation or be forced onto a more permanent leave.

"Funny coincidence," the brunet went on, "meeting you in a mall, of all places."

"Not very, Lucy. You come to Earth to stalk angels all the time, don't you? Michael was just telling me about how you begged him all the way to the edge of Creation to ask for a repeal..."

Lucy abruptly stopped rubbing Gabriel's shoulders and sat down across from him, parting the heavy, gift laden bags and glaring at the angel, "Gabe, what am I supposed to do?" Lucy asked seriously, "The Man gave you pardon without a second thought! Why shouldn't I strive for equality?"

"Lucy, you tried to overthrow the company," Gabriel reminded him, "I was promoting it."

"My intentions were good," Lucy muttered, shoving a handful of chocolate into his mouth.

"Oh, Lucy! Please!" Gabriel pleaded, "don't go into that story. You made a mistake and you were punished for it. You live quite a comfortable life now, don't you?"

"Yes. Fire and brimstone. Damnation. Lovely."

"Oh, stop it."

Suddenly, the space was filled with a polyphonic version "Holy, Holy, Holy". Gabriel reached into his pocket for his ringing cell phone.

"Yes...? Raphael? Yes, I know...Yes...Tell him I'm here. Yes, I've already met with him. Yes...No, not yet, but I think he'll ask. I'll be back as soon as we're done...Thanks, Raphael, you're a doll...Yes...Goodbye."

"Ooh...Raphael." Lucy smirked, but his eyes were blazing, "What did he want, Gabe?"

"Why so jealous, Lucy?" Gabriel questioned, eyebrows raised, as he tucked his cell phone back into his pocket.

"I'm not jealous, I just hate that son of a bitch."

"He's never done anything to you."

"He's an angel."

"I'm an angel, Lucy."

Lucy leaned forward, his eyes even more fiery than before, "You're different, Gabe. You know that. You're so much different than any of the others."

Before Gabriel could respond, Lucifer kissed him.

A/N - Thanks to those who reviewed. BTW, "brunet" is the correct form when refering to a man, just as is "blond"...if you don't believe me, look it up! ;)