"--" Aziraphael doesn't say, his spine stiffening. He blinks rapidly through Gabriel's halting speech, and then, his eyes almost comically wide, he cuts the senator off.

"Shénshèng de gāowán-- You don't think." He swallows, sitting forward again, his hand firm on Gabriel's, comforting. "Raguel's function is no longer what it was. He is Fallen, long since."