[ Greg's view of how much he's accomplished since arriving here is somewhat skewed by looking at the larger picture. He's made progress with his work, clawed his way into gaining some respect from his fellow cops, helped straighten a few of them out into being better policemen, and he's definitely had a hand in paving the way for more Heaven transfers to work here. Chloe has taken up the task with just as much stubborn determination as he has, and they might be getting a third before too long in the way of Jim Kirk.
But he knows how many cases still goes unsolved. He's vaguely aware of how many bribes are taken, how much paperwork is 'lost,' and the sheer volume of crime that isn't even reported for various reasons. For every idiot that's too open with their illegal endeavours, there's probably a dozen more that have the sense to keep it underground.
Greg knows that Lucifer isn't stupid. He's just not used to anyone standing up to him, telling him no, and actually being able to enforce that. It's Greg's job to address it if he catches wind of such things, but as far as enforcing anything, that's something that only Brimstone is truly capable of doing in this case. The logical thing to do would be just to report it directly to Brimstone, which he can do. He hadn't. He knows that the effort to diffuse the situation rather than escalate it probably won't make any difference to Lucifer himself, though.
He doubts that he's made anyone happy in how he's handled this. It was unavoidable, no matter what he did, but it's still somewhat frustrating to know that he's putting himself through this grief mostly for the sake of his own conscience.
When Gabriel moves in close, Greg looks down at him, taking in a deep breath and slowly exhaling while he takes in those words and tries to think of the right thing to say in response. There's the starkly honest truth that he's disappointed that Gabriel would set aside the empathy that Greg knows he's capable of, and for what? To get on Lucifer's good side? Not that he would have expected, or wanted, Gabriel to start a disagreement with his brother over it, but his reply had been somewhat far removed from neutral. And now Brimstone knows it, too. He can't take back those words now.
'Don't publicly involve yourself any more than you already have,' he'd said. Practical. True. Brimstone will have taken note of his apparent willingness to enable Lucifer's behaviour. Will Greg really feel better about this personally, knowing that he's basically just told Gabriel to keep it to private channels? Not as much as he would like to.
But he loves Gabriel. He knows he's better than that. Gabriel may not share his standards of morality, Greg doesn't expect him to, but he's not heartless. Cold, cruel and detached don't suit him, Greg feels very strongly about that, but that's a mask that Greg knows he can wear.
Maybe he doesn't really need to say anything about it at all. Gabriel knows where he stands. ]
I know he's not human, and I don't expect him to necessarily act like one, but there are rules around here that we all have to follow. Or at least put on a reasonable appearance of doing so.
[ His arms have relaxed slightly under Gabriel's hands, but it'll be a while yet before he's anything like truly at ease. Still, he needs Gabriel here, and even that light touch might as well be physically propping him up right now. If he was alone, he would probably let himself quietly collapse until he had to pull himself back together and carry on. It means so much to him that he's not alone. ]
I could do with something stronger, I'd have to admit, but... [ He shifts his arms to catch Gabriel's hands in his, gently tugging them closer until they're resting against his chest. ] I just want you right now. More than anything.
[ It's a deeper, quieter need for intimacy than usual, but that was the driving force behind asking Gabriel to come here, rather than just asking him to stay away from a potentially difficult situation with Brimstone. ]
no subject
But he knows how many cases still goes unsolved. He's vaguely aware of how many bribes are taken, how much paperwork is 'lost,' and the sheer volume of crime that isn't even reported for various reasons. For every idiot that's too open with their illegal endeavours, there's probably a dozen more that have the sense to keep it underground.
Greg knows that Lucifer isn't stupid. He's just not used to anyone standing up to him, telling him no, and actually being able to enforce that. It's Greg's job to address it if he catches wind of such things, but as far as enforcing anything, that's something that only Brimstone is truly capable of doing in this case. The logical thing to do would be just to report it directly to Brimstone, which he can do. He hadn't. He knows that the effort to diffuse the situation rather than escalate it probably won't make any difference to Lucifer himself, though.
He doubts that he's made anyone happy in how he's handled this. It was unavoidable, no matter what he did, but it's still somewhat frustrating to know that he's putting himself through this grief mostly for the sake of his own conscience.
When Gabriel moves in close, Greg looks down at him, taking in a deep breath and slowly exhaling while he takes in those words and tries to think of the right thing to say in response. There's the starkly honest truth that he's disappointed that Gabriel would set aside the empathy that Greg knows he's capable of, and for what? To get on Lucifer's good side? Not that he would have expected, or wanted, Gabriel to start a disagreement with his brother over it, but his reply had been somewhat far removed from neutral. And now Brimstone knows it, too. He can't take back those words now.
'Don't publicly involve yourself any more than you already have,' he'd said. Practical. True. Brimstone will have taken note of his apparent willingness to enable Lucifer's behaviour. Will Greg really feel better about this personally, knowing that he's basically just told Gabriel to keep it to private channels? Not as much as he would like to.
But he loves Gabriel. He knows he's better than that. Gabriel may not share his standards of morality, Greg doesn't expect him to, but he's not heartless. Cold, cruel and detached don't suit him, Greg feels very strongly about that, but that's a mask that Greg knows he can wear.
Maybe he doesn't really need to say anything about it at all. Gabriel knows where he stands. ]
I know he's not human, and I don't expect him to necessarily act like one, but there are rules around here that we all have to follow. Or at least put on a reasonable appearance of doing so.
[ His arms have relaxed slightly under Gabriel's hands, but it'll be a while yet before he's anything like truly at ease. Still, he needs Gabriel here, and even that light touch might as well be physically propping him up right now. If he was alone, he would probably let himself quietly collapse until he had to pull himself back together and carry on. It means so much to him that he's not alone. ]
I could do with something stronger, I'd have to admit, but... [ He shifts his arms to catch Gabriel's hands in his, gently tugging them closer until they're resting against his chest. ] I just want you right now. More than anything.
[ It's a deeper, quieter need for intimacy than usual, but that was the driving force behind asking Gabriel to come here, rather than just asking him to stay away from a potentially difficult situation with Brimstone. ]