"No kiddin'," Gabriel grumbled. "And it's two men, one Fallen angel and some crippled redneck. I had to go and be all heroic and get killed by Lucifer. With my own blade!" His tone aggrieved, Gabriel threw up his hands and finally released Aziraphale, but then spun on his heel to face the other angel and walk backwards at once.

"Better odds than what?" he asked quite calmly, lifting his eyebrow in a way that said Aziraphale's attempted backtrack had been ridiculously obvious and who did he think Gabriel was, anyway?