Jacob felt a mix of annoyance and resignation as he taped up the last of his clippings: the shot of the robot head on the moon. It had been the tipping point in his career; where his outlandish theories stopped being 'fascinating' and 'intriguing' and became 'crackpot' and 'insane'. He tore off the sticky note and stuck it on the clipping, pointing to the clearly robot head in red pen.

He stared to clear the debris of paper clippings and thumbtacks from the switchboard that still needed hooking up, when he thought he heard a noise behind him. He glanced around, but the third stair squeaked; he'd know if Joseph had come down the steps. "Hey, are you going to help me hook this shit up or not?" he yelled upstairs.

"Yeah, yeah," came the reply, and then Joseph descended the stairs, the third one sending up such a racket that Joseph stopped and said, "Really?"

"Just get your ass down here."

The two old "colleagues" connected the broadcast equipment, the switchboard, and assorted other electronics that Jacob needed to start his radio show.

"Are you really sure about this? I mean, it's a big drop from academic genius to radio call-in freak." Joseph didn't mean it harshly; he was just stating the facts.

Jacob shrugged. "Not like I have a huge choice, here. The Uni revoked my tenure and I can't even get a job teaching at the community college. No one in academia will touch me."

"I believe you, Jacob Glaser."

The third voice in the room had both men jumping and whirling around. "What the fuck?" hissed Joseph. "Where did you come from?"

Castiel looked between the two men, keeping his distance. "My name is Castiel. I'm an angel of the Lord. And I believe that is a robot head on the moon."

Jacob glared and punched Joseph in the arm. "You asshole. Did you put this guy up to it?"

"Hell, no," Joseph murmured, his eyes wide. "Did you say angel?"

"I did," Castiel confirmed. "I wanted to assure you that your theories are not in vain."

Jacob stepped closer, scrutinizing Castiel. "The make-up or mask is amazing. How much money did you blow on this prank, Joseph? A couple thou?"

"I didn't do anything," Joseph insisted sharply. "I can't believe - are you really an angel? You exist? God exists?"

Eyes narrowed as his anger flared, Castiel caused the monitor behind them to burst into sparks, lighting the room enough to highlight his wings. He was not impressed with both men's blasphemous explicatives at their unveiling.

"You should not take the Lord's name in vain," he chided the, and Joseph looked apologetic.

"You're absolutely right. That was uncalled for. I'm sorry."

"Dude, are you low on brain juice? My equipment just fried!" Jacob wailed, though he kept an eye on Castiel. "Can you fix it?"

"I regret that I cannot fix mechanical things; only organic." He was sidetracked again. "I only came to tell you that your theory is correct, Jacob. Have faith. It was a robot head."

the end