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Chapter Text

“Can it be? Gabriel?”

Gabriel stared in shock at a brother he hadn’t seen in millennia. Michael, who had come down in a fireball and overpowered Lucifer handily. That should have terrified him. Actually, it kind of did. If he was honest with himself, he was scared shitless. He didn’t have enough grace for this. He was certain that facing down Michael was going to be it. But he had to try, right? Prove that he wasn’t the same kid that ran all those millennia ago? Wasn’t that why he’d teamed up with the Winchesters?

He glanced over to the brothers, making up his mind. “Go. I can buy some time.”

“Gabriel, don’t!” Sam was giving Gabriel a pleading expression. It was cute, but the archangel knew he needed to do this.

“All I did on Earth was run. I’m not running anymore.” Shaking his head slightly, he speared Sam with a determined look as Dean looked on quietly. He gave the older Winchester a similar look to what he’d given Sam, hoping that Dean would take the hint. He had to do this. Stepping forward, he advanced toward his eldest brother. “Go!”

Part of him didn’t want to believe it. He didn’t want to believe that angels had fallen this far on this planet. Sure, they had fallen pretty hard on his planet too, but Gabe? He liked to think that maybe his world’s angels were better than this. That everything that happened to the angels of his world had ended up with them realizing just how much humanity needed them, and they needed humanity. Sure, humans were flawed, broken, corrupted, but he couldn’t blame them. Not when the Great Tempter had deceived them and done the corrupting. After that, he couldn’t stand to be around his family. Michael had cast Lucifer into the Cage and Gabriel had run.

Gabriel felt his angel blade slip into his hand as he stared down Michael. His brother. His murderous, psychotic brother.  Not this time. Gabriel was done with running. He’d run when his family had fought, he’d run when the Apocalypse had come, he’d run when he supposedly died. All that had culminated in his years of torture by a demon and his grace stolen. Even now, after being rescued, he could still feel the drain of his grace, the beatings he’d received, the fear coursing through his system as Asmodeus lorded over him his imprisonment. However, that fear was nothing in comparison to his desire to right the wrong he’d committed those many years ago.

Advancing, he held tight to his blade, ready to strike. However, he felt something as Michael moved to strike. A pulling, yanking sensation. Eyes widening, he managed to deflect most of Michael’s blow away, the archangel blade Michael held biting deep into his arm. It ripped out suddenly, and Gabriel was hurtled back. Briefly he caught sight of Lucifer, who was scrambling to his feet with a surprising look of determination on his face. A flash, and he found himself skidding across the floor of the Bunker, hissing in pain.

“Lucifer!” Ignoring the pain in his arm, Gabriel scrambled to his feet, charging toward the portal. What in Dad’s name was Luci thinking? Michael was at full power! Lucifer had just been tossed around like a rag doll. Lucifer was incapable of taking on their eldest brother alone.

Another flash, and both Winchester brothers were through the gate, causing Gabriel to stumble. With a gasp, Rowena dropped her arm, and the portal collapsed into nothing. He stared first at the witch then at the brothers. Had they just…?

A clang echoed in the room then, Gabriel’s blade slipping from his fingers. Up until then, he’d ignored the wound Michael had given him. However it came back in a burning rush.  Hissing, he clutched at his forearm, blood staining his sleeve. “Damn it,” he muttered, grimacing. He wasn’t healing, not right away. His grace was still too weak from being drained for what seemed like a millennium by Asmodeus. Maybe this was his penance for running. Maybe he was fated to always watch his family fight.

A presence to his side made Gabriel look to the side. Castiel stood there, examining him carefully. “You’re hurt.”

“Well, aren’t you the brightest bulb in the box.” He removed his hand briefly to look and winced. That looked deep. He was surprised that his vessel managed to hold his blade for any length of time.

“Why aren’t you healing?”

“Oh, I dunno, archangel blade stabbing me plus the lack of grace.” Gabriel grimaced again. “That kind of does a number on a person, y’know.”

Castiel frowned while looking around. All of the survivors from the other Earth were milling around as Mary and her boys started directing them on where to go. Rowena held back, looking exhausted. Gabriel didn’t want to know exactly how much of her own mojo she’d spent holding the gate open. “Come.”

Castiel led Gabriel through the Bunker, stopping only long enough to grab a first aid kit from one of the brothers’ rooms. When the two got to Gabe’s own room, Castiel sat the older angel down and started opening the kit. “That needs to be cleansed and dressed.”

“I’m going to take that as a no on you healing, right?”

Castiel rose an eyebrow at Gabriel. “You know I can’t heal you with my grace. You’re an archangel.”

“Yeah.” Gabriel sounded bitter. “Probably the only living one left in this world.”

Castiel’s other eyebrow rose to join the first. “What happened?”

“Michael.” Gabriel made a face. “He just showed up, blowing the last survivors up before he and Luci decided to do Celebrity Death Match part two. That didn’t end well for Dad’s little Morningstar.”

Castiel paused in his perusal of the medical supplies. “Lucifer’s dead then?”

“Not the last I saw.” Gabriel pulled his jacket off, taking care not to jostle his arm too much. “He got knocked around, sure, but Michael hadn’t gone all Lizzie Borden on him yet.” He shook his head. “No, I tried to take on big brother on my lonesome.”

Castiel’s eyes widened. “You’re not at your full grace yet. You shouldn’t have done that.”

Gabriel shrugged, awkwardly pulling his arm out of his sleeve and taking his shirt off one handed. He bunched it up and scowled at the blood. At last he could see the gash in his arm. It was still oozing blood and the archangel pressed his shirt to the wound. “Yeah well, I didn’t get a chance to do much. Luci decided to chuck me through the portal right as soon as I got this. Dean-o and Samster probably know more about big bro’s fate than I do.”

Castiel’s brows furrowed. “Lucifer saved you?” The seraph pulled the shirt back to examine the wound, much to Gabriel’s discomfort. “One moment.” Leaving briefly, he returned with a bowl of water and a couple of towels. “This needs to be cleaned.”

“Cassie.” The seraph looked up, his gaze serious as he met Gabriel’s eyes. “Look, I don’t know what was running through our brother’s head when he did what he did. Maybe he had a plan. Maybe he just wanted to play glory hound. Or, maybe he wanted to prove himself the better Lucifer. I dunno. Altruistic or dick-sizing contest, I’ve never seen him look that determined since Dad cast him out of Heaven.”

Castiel sighed, wetting the towel and cleaning the blood from Gabriel’s arm. “I do not pretend to know Lucifer’s thoughts. While he might have used me as a vessel once, it did not give me insight into his mind. Perhaps he believed finally that he should do the right thing.”

“Yeah, well, I don’t think anyone knows what Luci’s thinking is. I certainly don’t.” Gabriel winced as Castiel brushed against the cut in his arm. “Though, I think it has more to do with a certain nephilim and proving he’s better than Dad. Maybe. He can be a selfish son of a bitch, after all.”

Castiel hummed in agreement, finishing up with his cleaning before he considered the wound before him. “This might need stitches.”

“No.” Gabriel shivered, remembering the way his mouth was sewn shut and wanting nothing to do with needles anywhere near his person. “No offence Cassie, but me and needles? I’d rather try my hand at giving birth to an eight-legged horse.”

“Technically that was Loki.”

“Hey now, I was Loki for millennia.” Gabriel gave his younger brother a look. “I will have you know that if I did give birth to one, it would have been much better than the cowardly Mister Ed.”

“You still need stitches for this, especially if your grace is unable to heal it on its own.” Castiel gave Gabriel his own look.

“Then butterfly it up. You’re not putting any needles in me.” Maybe Gabriel was being a bit unreasonable about it, but he had every right to be. He wasn’t budging from his stance at all.

Castiel gave his brother a searching look. “You are not with Asmodeus anymore.”

Gabriel rolled his eyes. “Yeah yeah, I know. I made sure he was extra crispy, remember? Doesn’t change the fact.”

Castiel continued to give him a look for a bit longer before returning his attention to the wound. “I will get Sam or Mary to take care of this then.”

“Not Mama Winchester. No offence to her, she’s a swell gal, but I don’t know her that well.” Gabriel winced as Castiel took a piece of gauze and placed it atop the cut.

Castiel sighed. “You are being rather picky brother.”

“I’m the injured party here. I can be picky if I wanna.” Holding up his arm, Gabriel waited for Castiel to tape it up before he let it drop to his lap. “Um, thanks for this. Probably being impossible right now, but I appreciate it.”

Castiel’s lips turned up in a slight smile before he shook his head. “You’re welcome Gabriel. I will be back.” With that, the younger angel gave him a nod and walked out.

Gabriel fell back onto his bed with a groan, rubbing his face with his good hand. Now that he was alone, he had a moment to reflect on the near-suicidal actions of today. While he could understand the Winchesters and their tendency for self-destruction (he had tried to break them of that habit years ago, never did stick), he never figured he’d be joining them in that department. However, what happened with Michael and Lucifer made him realize that maybe he had more similarities with the little angel that could.

Then he considered his own words to his elder brother before they left to escape. He’d never even sugarcoated it. He’d laid out point blank his views on his brother and his actions, telling him that Jack never would want anything to do with his father when he found out what he was really like. That Lucifer was the cancer that Dad had to cut out before it spread. Whether that influenced Lucifer’s actions later, he didn’t know, but considering the look he’d had on his face, Gabriel was sure that he’d struck many a nerve with his words that night.

In any case, he hadn’t seen Lucifer step through the portal after the Winchesters, hadn’t seen or heard a word about what happened after the fact. Lucifer was stuck in the other world with Michael, and Gabriel wasn’t sure if he should feel sorry for that world or for his big brother. He’d stayed away because he didn’t want to be in the fight, but he realized that he had to fight. Gabriel wasn’t sure if Lucifer even had that awareness or if he was doing everything to get closer to his son.

A knock on the door caused the archangel to sit up and look to see who was at the door. Sam stood there, looking like the awkward puppy that Gabriel figured he was before the hunter stepped in. “Cas said that you needed stitches?”

“I don’t need stitches. You can get that idea right out of your head, Samsquatch.” Gabriel gestured over to the area where the medical supplies were laid out. “Just butterfly me up and I’ll be right as rain.”

Sam frowned, moving over to remove the bandage. The hiss that accompanied it made Gabriel wince. “Um, Gabriel, not to sound like a nag, but this goes through some muscle. You’re going to need stitches here.”

“Yeah, well, you know, I think I’ve had my fill of being Frankenstein’s monster. Don’t need anything sewn up.”

Sam gave Gabriel one of his best bitchfaces. “Look, if it doesn’t get stitches, it won’t heal right. I know you don’t like the idea of more needles-“

“But if I don’t, I won’t be able to use my hand properly.” Gabriel hated the look that Sam gave him. It was the puppy eyes, and Gabriel ended up sighing. “Fine, stitch it up. I am not looking at this at all.”

Sam nodded, grabbing another clean towel to spread out over the top of Gabriel’s dresser. Laying Gabriel’s arm down, he quickly went to wash his hands before returning to uncover the cut. Sam frowned before fishing out the sutures kit, clamp, and scissors.

“Almost have a whole surgical kit in there, don’t you?” Gabriel cocked an eyebrow at the supplies.

“Considering how often I’ve done this? Yeah.” Sam refocused his attention on the cut, leaving Gabriel to shift nervously. “Dude, cut that out. You’re going to make me mess up.”

Gabriel grimaced at the look Sam sent him. “Sorry, nerves. They’re not the best around pokey things.” Taking a breath, he forced himself still. “There, better?”

“Much.” Sam took out some alcohol wipes and swiped over the area, causing the archangel to let out a hiss of pain. “Sorry, had to disinfect.”

“Psh, like I’m going to get an infection.” His grace wasn’t that low, after all.

Sam started opening the sutures kit, pulling out the thread and needle and causing Gabriel to tense and look at the wall. “So, um, the whole thing with Lucifer. What happened back there?”

“Hell if I know, kiddo. There I was, all ready to take on Michael, and Luci just chucked me aside.” Gabriel winced and yelped as a twinge of pain thrummed through the cut. “Ouch!”

 “I haven’t even touched you yet.” Gabriel winced and looked over. True to Sam’s words, the needle wasn’t anywhere near his arm yet, though with the way Sam was holding it with the clamp, he imagined that Sam was ready. Gabriel looked quickly away. “Besides, I saw that part. Did something happen before that?”

A piercing pain shot through the cut and Gabriel was very well aware that Sam had inserted the needle. He hissed, reminding himself that this wasn’t one of Asmodeus’s lackeys. “Well,” he ground out, “I may or may not have laid into him for thinking that he’s the eternal victim in the soap opera called Heaven. Not that he liked it, but I was kinda sick of him being a drama llama over Dad kicking him out.”

Sam continued working, causing Gabriel to suck in a breath. “And I take it he didn’t take it well.”

“Nope.” He winced, recalling the look on Lucifer’s face after Gabriel’s tirade. “He, umm, yeowch, he didn’t take the truth bomb that well. Watch where you’re poking that thing!”

“Sorry! I’m having to stitch up the muscle first before I get to the skin.” Gabriel grimaced again, certain that his face was definitely going to get stuck that way. Sam sighed. “Look, I’m not saying that Lucifer didn’t deserve that, because considering his history, he certainly did, but you sure that doing that was wise?”

That caused Gabriel to pause. Wise or not, it had happened, and considering his brother’s tendencies to go off the deep end… “Lucifer’s running around in this fantasy that everything he touches is pure gold, that he’s right, and that everyone else in Heaven is out to get him.” He winced again, feeling the needle moving and hating every minute of it. “If he’s going to fill my nephew’s head with all of his crazy, I might as well straighten out his delusions.”

“Except you’ve never really interacted with Jack at all.”

Ouch, low blow. Gabriel shook his head, glancing once to see Sam’s face and clearly keeping his eyes off the needle in the giant’s hand. “I’m going to be blunt with you. My track record with my family is, well… It’s not great. I abandoned Heaven, I didn’t try and stop the Apocalypse, hell, I probably blasphemed more times than me or Dad can count.”

Sam looked up and met Gabriel’s eyes with a frown. “Wouldn’t you know how many times you’ve done that?”

“Not important Samsquatch.” Gabriel shook his head. “The point is, family and me? We don’t exactly get along. Haven’t since humanity was created. Castiel is probably the closest to a normal family relationship that I’ve got, and even that’s tainted by what I did to him years ago. It’s probably best if I don’t get involved.”

Sam returned to his task quietly, finishing up with hopefully what was the last of the inside stitches before he moved onto the skin. After a few minutes of silence, Gabriel sighed. “You think I’m wrong.”

“He needs someone to teach him how to control his abilities. You’re currently the only sane archangel still alive.” Sam finished up with the last stitch and proceeded to start wrapping the wound. “That, and well, with all of the crap that you’ve done, you still managed to make the right choice in the end. Whether you like it or not, you’re still a decent role model.”

Gabriel pulled a face, scowling. “Oh great, you’re going to make me look like a choir boy in comparison to Luci, aren’t you?”

Sam smirked as he finished taping the gauze off. “Well, comparatively speaking, you are one, and it’s not like he’s gonna see you as a dad.”

“Oh good. I’m glad I didn’t break one of the commandments then.” Gabriel rolled his eyes. He flexed his arm, wincing at how weak it felt. Great, this was going to ruin his weekend.

Sam cleaned up the area and started packing away the medical supplies. Gabe stood, figuring that the least he could do was give someone his room. It wasn’t like he needed it after all. Sam must have noticed the motion and glanced over. “Oh, Gabriel?”

“Yeah?”

Sam hesitated a moment before chewing his lower lip. “If you, you know, need to talk about anything, you know you can talk to me or Dean. Cas too. If, um, you want.”

Gabriel paused, recognizing the offer for what it was. It was a not-so-subtle hint that he should talk about his torture at Asmodeus’s hand. Gabriel wasn’t sure if he wanted to travel down that rabbit hole or not yet. He’d gotten his revenge on the people responsible, but it just didn’t help. Loki, his friend for millennia, Odin, Loki’s children, Baldur, they were all gone. The rest of the Norse gods wouldn’t understand, and Kali, well… That didn’t even include his family, who were the last people he’d turn to for a Doctor Phil session.

Taking a deep breath, he gave Sam one of his patented smirks. “Sam, I’m fine. I’m sure that if I need to talk after having a nightmare, I’ll consider it. But seriously, I’m good.”

Sam frowned. “You don’t sleep.”

“Which is why I figure that this room can go to someone else. I mean, if I’m not using it for anything, I might as well just let someone else use it.” That was probably the best thing about being an angel right now in Gabriel’s mind. He didn’t have to revisit his torture.

Sam looked at Gabriel carefully. “We have plenty of room right now actually. Maybe not food, but we can get that easily. You don’t need to give up your room.”

Gabriel sighed. “You’re going to insist on living up to this whole infamous Winchester stubbornness, aren’t you?”

“Well, you would know.” The twitch in Sam’s lips suggested he was fighting off a smirk of his own while trying to look serious.

“And considering that you still never learned the lessons, that never changed.” Gabriel shook his head in bemusement. “Fine, I’ll stick around the joint. But, just warning you, I might have to leave here shortly again.”

Sam blinked in surprise. “Any particular reason why?”

“Not revenge if that’s what you’re thinking. I got that out of my system already.” Gabriel shook his head. “This time, it’s more taking care of business. Cassie brought up some stuff I have to check into.” And hopefully he wouldn’t get stuck checking it out. After all, it’d been thousands of years since he last saw Heaven.

Gabriel sighed as the speech went on. He had to hand it to the other world’s Singer. Guy was a hell of an orator, even if he didn’t use flowery prose. It was all more gruff and simple. And of course after it all, libations were consumed, people relaxed, and the whole of the bunker was filled with the chatter of people who were debating about jumping straight into planning or relaxing and getting their minds off of warzones for a few hours.

Gabriel’s mind of course wandered thousands of miles away, instead turning toward the topic of Heaven and its problems. Well, one giant Dad-sized problem. Gabriel of course had heard from Castiel about Heaven potentially going dark, and for the first time in centuries, Gabriel flipped the switch to his own internal angel radio. The silence that met his mind was startling, and Gabriel shivered. There were so few, he thought. Why had no one told him about this earlier?

Because you ran, his mind whispered, you ran and no one could find you, and then you got yourself abducted by a demon prince.

Some great and powerful archangel he was. He shook his head. He needed to stop thinking like that. Currently he was the only archangel that they had that might stand a chance against Michael.

Sighing, he turned to look for Castiel, thinking he might as well let the seraphim know. Thankfully he could spot Cas through the crowd. Apparently his brother had moved over to the Winchesters and was conversing with Dean. Which, that actually made what he planned easier. Manoeuvring through the crowd, Gabriel finally reached the group Only to hear Dean mention something about Lucifer. Oh, great, his favorite topic.

“Why the hell did he yank Gabriel back anyway?”

“I believe the situation is a bit… complicated.”

“Yeah, well, it needs to uncomplicate.”

Gabriel rolled his eyes at the hunter’s statement Lucifer couldn’t do uncomplicated if it bit him in his grace. “You know, he’s probably either working on betraying everyone, again, or he’s decided to play martyr. Which, I don’t see him pulling a Joan of Arc here.”

Dean’s eyes flicked over to Gabriel. “That doesn’t make sense. He was facing Michael. He’d likely gank the Devil before Lucifer even got a chance to say anything.”

“Unless he decided to make a deal with him.” Castiel looked from Gabriel to Dean, frowning. “What do you want, Gabriel?”

“Oh, ouch, make me feel wanted. I was just coming over to ask you if there was a gate to Heaven I could use.”

Dean snorted. “You can’t just fly up there?”

Gabriel rolled his eyes again. Why did he always seem to do that around these guys anyway? Oh, right, because they tended to make things difficult. “One, my grace is running low still, and me flying off takes a lot out of me. Two, since Metadick closed Heaven off, I can’t exactly fly up there even with my grace up to snuff.”

“There is an active gate I can take you to.” Castiel interrupted. “But Gabriel, they want an archangel there to help power Heaven. They will likely be loathe to let you leave it for any reason.”

“Wait, what?” Deal looked between the two angels in confusion. “Did I miss something?”

“Heaven’s failing Dean,” Gabriel stated without preamble, causing the hunter to sputter. “Right now, I have my angel radio running, and nothing’s coming through. Nada. There’s too few of us. It might be years from now, it might be days. However, one thing’s for certain, and that’s when Heaven fails, it’s going to get nasty for people on Earth.”

“You’re serious?” Dean looked from Castiel back to Gabriel, seeing the same look on their faces. “Damn, you are serious.”

“And that’s why I need to go back.” Gabriel made a face. “If nothing else, if Michael manages to break through to this world, I need to make sure that he can’t take Heaven. Any angels left in this universe wouldn’t be able to stand against Michael’s Host.”

“We don’t know what Michael would do with this universe’s Heaven, but we do know it won’t be good,” Castiel added. “The only good thing our Heaven has for it right now is that it’s closed off to angels just flying in and out. Which means that as long as Michael doesn’t know where the portals are, Heaven should be safe from him. For now.”

“And if I know my big bro, he’ll know how to create his own portal.” Geez, he hated that thought, but it was true. Michael was the first son, he’d know how to create portals to Heaven if he needed to. Gabriel rubbed his forehead. “See, that is the biggest reason I have to go. I’ll try and come back as soon as I can, but-“

“Yeah, I get it. It won’t be for a while.” Dean groaned. “Just when we thought we could get a break, something else just gets thrown at us. Freaking awesome.”

Gabriel gave the hunter a smirk. “Hey, think of it this way Dean-o, I won’t be in your hair. You get to enjoy a nice, former trickster free time while I’m gone. Plus, while I’m gone, I can try and figure out some way to fix this.”

“Fine, go. But if I catch one hint that you’ve somehow managed to pull something while you’re gone-“

“Don’t have enough mojo for that sort of thing.” Gabriel waved to the hunter before turning to nod to Castiel. Together, the two angels left to go back to a place Gabriel once called home.

Chapter Text

Gabriel’s first thought when he saw Castiel’s ride was that Cas owned a pimpmobile. The second thought was just how many girls he could have put into the back seat. Not that he figured that the younger angel would like to hear that. He’d be surprised if Dean hadn’t mentioned something to that effect before.

Nevertheless, when they pulled into a seemingly abandoned park, Gabriel was practically antsy with nerves. Sure, Heaven needed an archangel, and Gabriel, though he’d been gone for so long, was willing to help as much as he could. That didn’t mean that the maybe dozen angels still around would appreciate his help. Some might, but not all. He was the one that had abandoned his family for so long.

Castiel didn’t seem to be bothered by Gabriel’s constant shifting. Either that or he was used to it and really good at putting up a front. In any case, from what his brother had told him, there was one person currently in charge they needed to talk to. Considering the way that Castiel seemed to mention said individual, Gabriel wouldn’t be surprised if Castiel wanted to smite her.

Naomi.

He’d heard of her, yeah. Not much good, in any case. She was the one that tended to correct angels that got out of line. Gabriel had avoided her like the plague, and had been immensely glad that he’d hidden from Heaven for so long. He wasn’t sure about her methods, but he didn’t think they’d be any good. Plus, he was practically the walking talking proof that angels could exercise free will. He’d been doing it for ages, after all.

Whatever she’d done to cause the seraph to react the way he was, Gabriel had no clue. While yes, Castiel had fallen before, Gabriel had assumed that his brother was the one that followed orders without question. If that wasn’t the case, then Naomi must have done something to him.

Regardless, Gabriel waved Castiel off as he got out of the car. Cassie didn’t need to deal with whatever this is again. Besides, Gabriel had his big boy pants on. He could talk to an angel that tended to be overzealous in reigning the others in.

“There… is a chance that the gate’s closed and they won’t open it,” Castiel offered, leaning out to look at the archangel.

“Yeah, well if they need me so much, they might wanna open the gate. Can’t exactly fly up there on my own.” Gabriel shoved his hands into his pockets as he glanced around.

“Well well well, if it isn’t my least favorite brothers.” Gabriel and Castiel looked around, quickly spotting the darker-skinned man walking toward them. “The rebel and the runaway. Come to finish the job Castiel?”

Gabriel quirked an eyebrow, glancing toward Castiel and jerking his head in the other’s direction. “Who’s the town drunk?”

Castiel sighed as he climbed out of his car. “Indra, are you drunk?”

“Took a page out of your book Castiel. Went to find a liquor store to drink.” The other angel swayed, frowning as he looked toward Gabriel. “I thought you had died.”

“Can’t keep a good angel down, you know.” Gabriel frowned. “So, why the trip into boozetown, anyway?”

“We are a dying species, Gabriel. I believe he is entitled to a bit of pessimism and depression over it.” Castiel looked toward Indra with an expectant look. “We need you to open the gate to Heaven.”

Indra shook his head. “The gate’s always been here, you know, but Naomi closed it.”

“Well, she can unclose it.” Gabriel rolled his eyes. “Can’t exactly start trying to help if someone’s got the velvet rope up keeping everyone out.”

“That’s where you’re wrong.” All three angels turned at the new voice, Gabriel noting Castiel tensing immediately. Another angel, this one with platinum hair, walking forward from further into the park. “Hello Gabriel. I almost didn’t think that Castiel would find you, let alone convince you to help.”

“Hi Naomi. Almost didn’t recognize you without the strings Michael pulled.” Gabriel snarked.

“And I’m not exactly sure if you’re actually going to help.” Naomi paused, looking toward Indra. “You may go back to your duties now.”

Indra grumbled and walked back to his position. Gabriel shot a glance toward Castiel before responding. “I’m a bleeding heart of generosity. Cassie’s soulful baby blues convinced me otherwise.”

“Still just as snarky as ever, I see.” Naomi turned to look at Castiel. “You may go now. I need to bring Gabriel up to speed on the situation.”

Castiel didn’t seem to need much prompting, turning stiffly and climbing back into his car. Gabriel cocked an eyebrow at Naomi. “So what’d you do to get Pinocchio all bent out of shape?”

“My job, which probably would have been unnecessary had certain individuals still been in Heaven.” Naomi turned and started striding back the way she came. “This way.”

Gabriel could easily hear the jab in her statement, but followed nonetheless. His eyebrows rose as he spotted a sandbox with a sigil drawn into the sand. “So Metatron really did a number on Heaven, didn’t he?”

“Metatron, Castiel, Bartholomew, Malachi, Lucifer. All of them have caused the situation we’re in now.” Naomi paused and turned to face the archangel before she stepped into the box. “My question is, what are your intentions?”

“Hey, if you don’t want my help, I can always go back the way I came.” Gabriel narrowed his eyes. “But I’d be dooming this world if I did that. Besides, someone’s gotta make sure that Heaven doesn’t come crashing down.”

Naomi gave him a doubtful look. “If I were capable of doing it, I’d reprogram you to prevent that from happening. As it is, nothing that I have would affect you.” Her mouth drew into a fine line. “Regardless, I don’t have many options, and the last person that claimed to help vanished. I’m just making sure that I’m not making a mistake here.”

“Dad really screwed the pooch here, didn’t he?” Gabriel shook his head. He wasn’t sure if he was surprised or not. As far as he knew, God had left and wasn’t coming back.

Sighing, Naomi shook her head. “You really have no faith left in our Father, do you?”

“At this point, I have faith that what will go wrong, can go wrong.” Stepping up to the sandbox, Gabriel looked back at Naomi expectantly. “So, we going up or…?”

Naomi stepped forward, and the sudden rush of light left Gabriel frowning as he stepped into Heaven. It felt like home, his grace seeming to expand outward, and he could feel his wings stretching to their fullest extent for the first time in ages. Naomi had already stepped forward, and Gabriel made a face as he hurried to keep up. Glancing around, Gabriel couldn’t help but realize just how empty it all felt. There were no whispers of wings moving about, no angel radio broadcasting thousands of voices at once. Despite feeling like home, it felt just as much a tomb. The place reminded him of an office building, crisp clean lines and white everything, but not a living angel in the place at all. It gave him the creeps.

“Wow, place sure is quiet.” He glanced toward Naomi, who was waiting for him at the end of the hall. “If there’s barely a dozen angels left, where are they?”

“Busy, trying to keep Heaven going as long as we can. Most of us haven’t had a chance to really take a break from it.” Naomi studied him. “The last person that tried to run Heaven promised to make angels, but he lied. I expect you won’t make the same promise?”

Gabriel snorted and placed a hand on his chest. “What, me making angels? Sorry, I’m not Dad. He’s got the mojo for it, I don’t. Hell, I don’t even have enough mojo to heal myself right now.”

Naomi narrowed her eyes, stepping forward as Gabriel held up his wounded arm. “I see. It’s still recharging, correct?”

“Slowly.” Gabriel made another face as he considered his grace for a moment. “Asmodeus did a number on me when he kept stealing it.”

“And he is dead.” Naomi shook her head. “I don’t think he realized what he was up against, not truly.”

“First you insult me, now you’re buttering me up. What gives?”

“I’m trying to ascertain if you’ll actually stick around or if you’ll run.” Naomi shot him a look. “So far, all you’ve done is state you will, but shown nothing proving it.”

Low blow. Gabriel glared. “I’m here, ain’t I? Besides, we’ve got a bigger problem than just Heaven falling. Haven’t you already heard from Castiel about the other Michael that wants to make our world his home?”

“I’ve heard.” Naomi crossed her arms. “That’s why Castiel is off with the Winchesters and you are here.”

“So you’re trapping me here?”

“If you’re so intent on leaving, then leave.” Naomi pointed back the way they came. “Heaven will fall, the souls collected here will descend upon the Earth, and the world will be doomed.” She shook her head. “I don’t even know why you came back if that’s all you were going to do.”

Gabriel bristled. “Because that’s all I’ve ever done! I’ve run from everything else, and because of it, I got screwed over. This time I’m trying to fix my mistakes!”

Naomi nodded, seemingly appeased. “Good.”

“Good?” Gabriel frowned, trying to figure out what her game was. “The hell do you mean, good?”

A small smile graced her lips. “You’re determined. You want to fix all of this. You want to help finally. That’s what’s good.”

Gabriel sighed, rubbing his forehead. “And that’s why you decided to pick a fight. Great. This is starting out well.”

“I wanted to determine if you were sincere. Lucifer was selfish and tried to find his son while he was here. You genuinely want to help. There’s a large difference there.” Naomi cocked her eyebrow. “Unless you were lying.”

“Hey, my days of playing the trickster are over.” Gabriel raised his hands. “Done, Finito. Lumping me in with Luci is insulting since I never turned against Heaven.”

He then ran through her last words in his head. They’d turned to Lucifer. Lucifer used Heaven to get to his son. The son that Gabriel had corrected when Lucifer had tried to talk to Jack. Gabriel sighed. He could swear that he could feel a headache coming on even though his grace was surely preventing it. They’d accepted Lucifer on the lie that he could create new angels, if what Naomi said was correct. Ugh, now he understood why the Winchesters drank so much. If they dealt with just the idea of something this bad every day…

His thoughts then turned toward the problem that Michael presented. It’d take an archangel’s grace to open a new portal. Lucifer was currently in the other world. Eyes widening, he suddenly wanted to punch Sam and Dean. If he was right, and generally Gabriel was a good judge on his brothers, being abandoned like that, even if Lucifer rescued Gabriel from Michael, meant that Lucifer had to have a heck of a grudge against the Winchesters. And grudges like that, well, knowing his brother, meant that he was likely to turn on this world.

“I swear to Dad that I’m going to send the Winchesters back into TV Land.” Naomi cocked her head, an eyebrow raised as she listened. “Okay, so, right now we have Michael who’s trying to come to this world. He needs archangel grace to open a gate. Guess which of the remaining archangels was left behind?”

Naomi blinked, then dawning comprehension crossed her face. “Lucifer is there, isn’t he?”

Gabriel nodded. “And if I know Lucifer, he’s going to be pissed that the knucklebrains trapped him there.”

Since no one could do anything directly about the issue with Michael and possibly Lucifer, Gabriel had been shown to a room and settled behind a desk to assess what exactly was going on. Not that he actually liked the idea. In fact, he actually hated it. Whoever had the brilliant idea to convert all of the information about Heaven and running it into endless piles of books, papers, scrolls, and the like needed to be shot. If this was why Dad had skipped out on Heaven, suddenly Gabriel understood exactly why Michael wanted to bring about the Apocalypse. Heck, he’d be tempted too if it wasn’t for the fact that he was trying to prevent it.

He shoved away a book, groaning as he realized that he’d been staring at Enochian too long. He was starting to see sigils permanently etched in his vision, and considering that he could see in multiple wavelengths at once, that was a bit troublesome. Blinking, he contemplated evacuating his vessel for a bit to actually stretch his true form out before a knock on the door drew his attention.

Not that Gabriel had been snooping in on angel radio, but the news that he’d come back had very quickly reached the ears of the remainder of the Host. Every single one of them had their own wild theories about where he’d been, what he’d been doing, and who he was with. So far, the only one that seemed to know was Naomi, and that was likely due to poking around in Castiel’s brain for so long. Which, considering that he had to keep up on everything that had happened in Heaven, he’d decided to take a peek at the information regarding the rebellious angel. The simple fact that everyone in Heaven that wasn’t a dead human hated Castiel’s guts caused Gabriel to roll his eyes. If only they knew all of the hijinks that he’d been up to, they’d have a much higher opinion of the last remaining seraph.

Glancing up from the status of the vaults, he spotted the lone angel who was carrying even more scrolls for Gabriel to go over. Duma seemed to be intent on her task and placed them onto the desk the archangel was seated at. Gabriel groaned, rubbing his face and shaking his head. “Yep, this is exactly why Mikey went crazy. He had to deal with all of this.”

“You requested all of the information we could get on the state of Heaven right now.” Duma gestured to the scrolls. “This is the information on the various souls we currently have.”

“Okay, yeah, I have a better plan.” Gabriel looked over the mess of scrolls, books, and papers on the desk, frowning for a moment before he snapped his fingers. All of them disappeared, and Gabriel was left with a tablet.

Duma’s eyes went wide, and Gabriel sighed. “I just made the information portable. One, it’s a lot easier to go through, and two, it’s a lot more efficient. Though,” he groaned, realizing he might have stretched his grace a bit too much, “maybe I overdid it a bit.”

Duma stepped forward to examine the tablet. “This is similar to what humans possess? It doesn’t look like it holds everything.”

“Digital information. Basically I just touch it, put in a search term or something, and it spits out related files.” Gabriel shook his head, bemused. “Gotta hand it to humans, they’ve come up with some nifty ideas over the millennia.”

Duma’s eyes trailed back up to Gabriel and frowned. “Your vessel, it’s bleeding.”

Gabriel looked down at himself. No blood there, though the moment he touched a finger to his face, he felt something sticky beneath his nose and drew his hand away to reveal blood. “Yeah, strained something.”

“It’s too bad Raphael isn’t with us anymore. He would have healed that.” Duma looked back over the tablet.

Gabriel winced at the mention of his older brother and wiped the blood from his nose. He hadn’t been around for Raphael’s death, as he’d been taken by Asmodeus at that point. He would have loved more than anything for his family to be whole, but it just wasn’t in the cards. “Yeah, I bet he would have.” Picking up the tablet, he looked back at Duma, lips pursed. “So, I’m guessing Naomi doesn’t wanna deal with me?”

“She said you’re… a bit of a troublemaker.”

“Well, she’s right about that.” He leaned back, amusement coloring his features as he cocked an eyebrow. “What do you think so far?”

“You’re attempting to lead us. Whether or not you’re successful is another matter.” Duma crossed her arms. “I don’t exactly see how this can be fixed.”

Gabriel shrugged, glancing back down at the tablet. “Eh, could sire a couple dozen nephilim, bring them back up with me.” At Duma’s scandalized expression, Gabriel barked out a laugh. “Kidding. One nephilim is enough for everyone.”

Her eyes continued to bore into him, Gabriel sighed. “Look, I’m tired and sore. I’ve been looking through these files for what? The past three days now? All I’ve managed to figure out is that we’re totally screwed if the other Michael comes through.”

Duma rose an eyebrow. “You don’t think we have a chance.”

“All I’m saying is that right now, I’ve probably read up on as much as I can.” Gabriel stood from behind the desk, stretching and hating how his vessel seemed to ache. He honestly had forgotten just why other angels didn’t stick around in their own vessels for long. Something about bonding too much with them, getting on their wavelength. “Right now, if I read anything else, I’m gonna go cukoo for Cocoa Puffs.”

Gabriel ignored the confused look he got from Duma as she followed behind him. Gabriel wasn’t going to exactly say where he was going either. He was still trying to reacquaint himself with the layout of Heaven, since someone apparently had gotten rid of the Axis Mundi and replaced it with a line of doors. Which had Gabriel rolling his eyes. The Axis Mundi served as a great way to travel between the various heavens of human souls, and he wasn’t exactly fond of walking down hallways. Too tedius, especially since the other angels couldn’t fly.

Duma was following silently, and Gabriel sighed. She really was going to follow him everywhere. It wasn’t like he could snap her somewhere else so he could get some peace. Heck, his last use of his powers was probably the best he could do at the moment. Which really stank. Absentmindedly, he summoned up a sucker to stick in his mouth to mull over the problem before he noticed Duma staring. “What?”

“Is that… human candy?”

“Cherry flavored.” Gabriel twirled it inside his mouth for a moment before he pulled it out. “What, gonna tell me I’m not supposed to have sweets?”

Duma eyed him carefully. “You don’t require food.”

“I don’t require sex either but I still find it fun.” Oh look, Duma’s expression seemed to vacillate between studying him, confusion, and scandalized. Gabriel stomped down on the urge to tease the other angel and instead tilted his head to the side. “I’ve been around humans for a long time. While the rest of you might consider them cockroaches, I like ‘em. Flaws and all. Certainly more interesting than some things I can think of.”

“And what about humans is so enjoyable?” Oh, there was another look. Calculating. She apparently was trying to figure out how he operated.

“The possibilities, man. They’re creative, they’re caring, they fight even if everything around them’s gone to shit.” Gabriel recalled Sam and Dean’s unending stubbornness for a moment and snorted. “And then there’s the whole fact that no matter how many times you try and knock them down, they get right back up. That’s why Michael and Lucifer couldn’t get the Winchesters to agree to be vessels. They’re stubborn sons o’ bitches.”

Duma seemed to be considering his words. “They’re… chaotic. I can’t see why they’re that way.”

He smirked at that. “When you live for as much as maybe a century and some change, wouldn’t you wanna live life as much as you can?”

“What they call living life is destructive.”

Ugh, why was it that the most expressive angel he knew seemed to be the one that made potatoes look exciting? Gabriel had nothing on Castiel, but if this was an example of how the rest of the remaining angels were like, he’d be tempted to tell them all to get a life. Get out more. Stretch their wings a bit. Maybe take up the bongos or something.

He must have said it aloud, because now he had Duma snorting. “I would rather not follow in the footsteps of one that has fallen.”

“Ya know, with an attitude like that, it almost says that you guys would have kicked me out.” Gabriel rolled his eyes. “For all of Pinocchio’s faults, he did try and help Heaven. He just made some boneheaded decisions.”

“Your decisions didn’t lead to anywhere near the harm Castiel caused.”

“Got me there, but I’ve broken a commandment or three.” Gabriel leaned against a wall between two doors they had passed. “Committed quite a few sins too. If you’re basing your opinion on what Castiel’s done, then you clearly haven’t seen what I’ve been up to since I left Heaven.”

“I’ve heard enough.” Duma narrowed her eyes. “If it were up to me, you wouldn’t be here.”

Gabriel rolled his eyes. “Yeah, I didn’t think I was getting the warm and fuzzies from you. Doesn’t matter though. I am here, which is what everyone needs. Including one renegade angel.” Gabriel rose an eyebrow. “Unless you’re telling me that you don’t really need me and Heaven’s just fine.”

Gabriel definitely knew the truth of the matter, as did Duma, it seemed. She straightened herself and glared. Oh, another expression. Maybe there was hope for this angel yet. “Heaven still needs an archangel. You’re just the only one we have right now.”

Sleeping was annoying. That was the first thing that popped into Gabriel’s mind as he woke from a doze he hadn’t meant to take. He’d been looking over his tablet, trying to figure out where exactly all the contents of the armory and weapons vault had disappeared to when he’d fallen asleep. Now he’d jerked awake, images of Asmodeus plaguing his dreams and the torments the demon inflicted upon him dancing through his mind.

The only good thing about sleeping, however, was that with his proximity to Heaven (read that as sitting close to the big chair itself) he could feel his grace much improved. It still wasn’t one hundred percent yet, but it was certainly better than it had been. He’d grinned at the feeling though and proceeded to remove the bandage over his arm and heal the damage himself. Ugh, he missed doing something that simple.

With the return of his grace, he found himself tuning in more and more to what the other angels were doing. Duma of course was busy with her flunkies, Naomi was dealing with what seemed to be a strain on the powers of Heaven, and the others were elsewhere performing their assigned tasks. Which was why Gabriel had decided to see for himself what he could do for the failing of Heaven’s power. If nothing else, it would distract him from his restless sleep. Not that it would likely change what happened if he found himself sleeping again.

He knew the feeling Heaven generated, could sense it with his very being any time he closed his eyes and concentrated. Before, it was a strong light, powerful, all-emcompassing, and infinitely beautiful and majestic. Now, it wasn’t so much, weak and faint, like it was sunlight trying to break through a cloudy day. His own grace wasn’t quite up to the task of propping it up and giving it juice, though he could feel that it wouldn’t be long before he possibly could.

Today, however, was a different task. He’d traveled down the halls he found himself unfamiliar with, trying to see if he could find the Garden. Joshua was gone, killed during the events that led to Jack’s birth, and Gabriel had long figured out that there was no tender for the most sacred part of Heaven. He vaguely wondered if there was a way he could get another one of the angels to care for it, but brushed it from his mind for the moment. There were other things the angels needed to do, even if it hurt him to know that Heaven’s most sacred spot was likely suffering from the lack of attention.

Finally he could sense it, and as he entered it, he winced. The garden seemed less, and blight could be seen along some of the flora. It wasn’t major, but spots of brown could be seen amongst the foliage. It almost was a reflection of his own grace, and if he didn’t know better, he would have assumed that was the case.

Sighing, he took a seat on a boulder, rubbing his face and wondering if maybe he should start here. Sure, it didn’t seem like much, but this was the center of Heaven, and getting it back to its former glory was likely to help with the power problems. He just wasn’t sure his grace could handle it.

Ugh, this was giving him a headache to contemplate, and Gabriel rubbed his temples, well aware that while technically he never got headaches, considering the monumental task ahead of him would very much give him one if he were mortal. Michael would likely know how best to deal with this problem better than he did. However, Michael was in the Cage, and Gabriel wasn’t willing to think about how his brother had fared down there. Raphael might also have had an idea considering he assisted Michael, but Godstiel had ensured that the other archangel was no longer around. Lucifer was completely out of the question, and was likely dead. Gabriel really was the only one who could help.

He heard someone moving through the brush, and blinked. He wasn’t even aware that someone was in the Garden with him, and Gabriel rose to his feet. Following the noise, he found himself facing Indra again, looking over the vegetation with a morose expression on his face. Gabriel watched for a moment before clearing his throat. The other angel blinked and looked up, frowning, while Gabriel simply leaned against one of the ancient trees. “Yo.”

“Gabriel, what are you doing here?”

“Taking a breather.” Shoving his hands into his pockets, he cocked an eyebrow at Indra. “What’cha doing yourself? Decided no benders for a while?”

“Heaven is closed, which means all angels have been recalled.” Indra simply shrugged. “Naomi only kept me on guard until Castiel could find you.”

“And lemme guess, soon as that happened, she didn’t need Cassie anymore and locked him out.” Gabriel groaned. “Wonderful.”

“He is the rebel.”

“And I’m the runaway. Don’t see anyone kicking me out.” Gabriel smirked, but dropped it as Indra looked around again with a frown. “Okay, what’s got your panties in a twist?”

“I do not wear panties,” Indra stated defensively.

Gabriel laughed. “It’s a human saying. Means what’s bothering you. You seem like you’re just watching the Garden just fade away.”

“Isn’t it?” Indra locked eyes with Gabriel, causing the archangel to grimace. “You can see just how bad Heaven is here.”

“Yeah, I can.” Gabriel frowned, crossing his arms and looking around himself. “I’m trying to figure out a good way to…” He stopped, turning back to Indra while the cogs turned in his brain. “Hey Indra, Naomi hasn’t assigned you a task, has she?”

“No, she hasn’t.” Indra looked at Gabriel carefully. “Why?”

“Cause with Joshua gone, no one’s caring for it. At least, not that I’ve seen.” Gabriel studied the younger angel carefully. “You think you’re up to the task?”

Indra blinked, his gaze traveling around the Garden for a moment before returning to Gabriel. “You’re serious?”

“Completely.” Gabriel gestured with one of his hands toward their surroundings. “Dad didn’t exactly leave this for it to just languish. He left it for us to take care of. I have a suspicion that no one’s thought to take up the slack yet.”

Indra returned his gaze to the Garden, a thoughtful look on his face. “I could. It was said that God spoke to Joshua. Maybe he understood more about how to care for it. I don’t know if I could-“

“Yeah, you can stop that thought.” Gabriel shook his head. “Moping isn’t going to suddenly make everything better, and doing nothing isn’t helping the situation here. Not saying Dad’s gonna suddenly show up to do heart-to-hearts again, but this is a start. Taking care of it was one of our duties before the shit hit the fan.”

Indra seemed to consider Gabriel’s words for a moment before nodding. “I certainly can try. Perhaps it could help.”

Gabriel grinned. “Yeah, it certainly could.”

Gabriel turned, about to walk out before Indra called his name again. Turning, he looked back and Indra gave him a hesitant smile. “Maybe it’s best that you came back.”

“Yeah, well, we’ll see how everything turns out.” With a wave, Gabriel left, thinking that at least one task was done. Now he just needed to see if there was something else he knew that needed tending.

Gabriel was back to staring at that damned tablet again. He was trying to see if there were any other important jobs that needed to be seen to, but he was developing that headache that he thought he was immune to. Stupid low grace. While he was finally able to heal after Michael’s attack, that didn’t mean anything when it still left him with other ailments.

Such as nightmares. Gabriel thought that having enough grace to heal meant that he had enough grace that he didn’t need to sleep. Fat chance there. He’d ended up passing out for a few hours, feeling less refreshed and more wrung out and jittery from the remnants of a nightmare he had during that time. Gabriel hated the fact that he was even weak enough to suffer from it.

Sighing, he rubbed his face and shook his head, determined to power through. If the other angels could put up with this mess, then so could he. Focusing back at the tablet, he didn’t even glance up as he heard a knock, figuring it was likely Duma or Naomi come to check on everything. “Come on in.”

“Well, this is a sight I thought I’d never see.” Gabriel’s eyes snapped up from the tablet, shocked. He knew that voice, and sure enough, Lucifer was leaning against the doorframe with his hands in his pockets. “My baby brother, stuck behind a desk and working. Mikey must be proud.”

Gabriel stood slowly, feeling for his grace and realizing that he wasn’t nearly powerful enough to deal with the elder archangel. “Well, you know, can’t keep doing tricks all the time.”

“Yeah, how is that working out, anyway?” Lucifer canted his head to the side, studying Gabriel. “You look like a mile of bad road.”

“What are you even doing here Lucifer?” Gabriel was trying to wrap his brain around this one. How had Lucifer escaped the other Earth?

“Hey, I came to help. I’m a wellspring of compassion now. I’m trying to turn a new leaf.”

Gabriel shot him a distrusting look. “Why are you really here?” Because if Lucifer was here, then that possibly meant that a rift was open, and Michael could possibly come through. There was also the mixed feelings he had regarding his older brother, considering what Lucifer had done to him in the past and his most recent act.

Lucifer strolled up and gave Gabriel a half-smirk. “Just like I said. I’m here to help. You said that Jack would never accept me and that he’d see the real me. Well, here’s me putting my money where my mouth is.”

“And you think that helping out is going to erase the fact that you’re evil?”

“Not evil.” Lucifer pointed in objection. “I’m not evil. Misunderstood, yes, but not evil, and if this proves it, then I’ll do it.”

Gabriel clenched his teeth. He had to tell the Winchesters about this development, but so far, he hadn’t heard anything about Lucifer doing anything wrong yet. Key word being yet. “And exactly what are you wanting to help with, and what do you want in return?”

“I figured helping with the Heaven problem was going to be one thing, and stopping Michael is a bonus.” Lucifer spread his hands and nodded in agreement. “Besides, I saved your life back in the other world. Might as well go all the way on the redemption train, right?”

“And get you closer to Jack.” Gabriel crossed his arms. “Ugh, you’re going to hold the fact that you saved my bacon back there over my head, aren’t you? Shoulda known.”

Lucifer shook his head. “That’s where you’re wrong Gabby. I’m not holding it over your head, I’m just reminding you of what I’ve already done. I mean, I did help open the portal-“

Gabriel snorted. “You didn’t ‘help’, we had to hogtie you and take your grace to open the portal.”

“Helped open the portal,” Lucifer repeated pointedly, “and got all of the riffraff back to this world by distracting Mikey. If I were really out for bad, then why would I do all that?”

“Why indeed,” Gabriel replied dryly. “So lemme get this straight. You want to help, and helping includes beating the twisted version of our brother and restoring Heaven. I’m getting that right?”

“Bingo.” Lucifer grinned, “I knew you were my favorite brother for a reason.”

Gabriel rolled his eyes. He didn’t trust Lucifer, and he wasn’t sure about what his brother was up to or how he came back, but he couldn’t deny he needed the help. He just didn’t think that the help Lucifer was offering was going to be a good thing.

Chapter Text

With the portal closed and the survivors settling in, Dean was confident that they didn’t have anything to worry about. Well, anything big they needed to worry about. Michael was certainly not going to be able to open the portal, and they could focus on what they did best. Charlie and Rowena had gone off to bond out of state, Bobby and Mary were off enjoying some alone time that Dean really didn’t want to think about, Gabriel was off in Heaven trying to help restore it, and Jack, Castiel, Sam, and Dean were working together, the brothers and angel teaching the nephilim how to be a hunter while helping him learn his powers.

Not that it was easy, but the hunt they went on was a lot easier than it could have been. Heck, it could have ended badly, but Dean was going to count his wins where he could. Jack was certainly improving and currently he was settling down with Cas to have a talk with his surrogate father about angel stuff. That of course left Sam and Dean to themselves cleaning the guns and putting things away before they hit the books with more research. Or well, Sam hit the books. Dean was making himself a sandwich.

He’d finished putting it together and raised it to his lips when Sam made a reappearance at the doorway. “So get this. We know Heaven’s powered from angels according to Cas, right?”

Dean sighed, eyeing his sandwich longingly and pulled it away long enough to reply. “Yeah? He said something about not enough angels or something. Dunno how that’s possible unless all the wars’ve been killing them off.”

“Which was why he asked Gabriel to help out,” Sam went on as Dean took a large bite.

“So?” Dean wasn’t exactly sure where Sam was going with this.

“So, it stands to reason that the same applies in the other world too, right?” Sam speared Dean with a look as Dean swallowed. “If there’s not enough angels there after they take back their world…”

“And? I don’t see the problem here.” Dean groaned, putting down the sandwich he had just started to enjoy and making a face.

“Dean.” Oh look, Sammy was pulling one of his famous bitchfaces. “They’re at war with the angels there. If they’re killing them off, eventually they’re going to have the same problem we have too.”

Dean stared. “You mean that if they go back and start ganking their angels, they’re eventually going to have less to deal with.”

“No.” Sam frowned. “We don’t know how many angels are actually on Earth in that war, but if they’re all on Michael’s side, if they’re all fanatics about Michael’s plan, then they’re going to have to kill all of them to stop them.”

“Well, that’s just fan-damn-tastic ,” Dean grumbled. “So they solve one problem and end up with another?”

“Exactly. And as far as we know, their Lucifer’s dead and I think their Gabriel is too, judging by Michael’s reaction when he saw ours.” Sam settled down and crossed his arms. “And we know that Chuck’s God, but that’s in this world. With us never being born there, we don’t know who he could be or even where.”

“Ya know, this is making my head hurt.” Dean rubbed his face. “So if we gank Michael and they end up committing angel-cide, there’s nothing to stop their world from collapsing, and ours isn’t in great shape either with our angel problem.”

Sam nodded. “That’s about it.”

“This can’t just have a simple solution, can it?” Dean groused. Just once he’d like for them to have something easy. That wasn’t asking too much, right? “What if they rigged up like something that can power it? Hell, why can’t we do that here?”

“I don’t know.” Sam sighed. “In any case, we’ve got to be careful with how we do this. We can’t just go wiping out every angel there because it’ll cause a bigger problem for them.”

“So basically we try and save their world from the apocalypse, and it’s still the end of the world. Freaking awesome.” Dean took another bite of his sandwich, deciding that this was not going to deter him from his meal. “So wut’re we gon’ do?”

Sam made a face as Dean spoke, but shook his head. “Right now, I don’t know. Maybe we need to figure out how to fix Heaven here to get a good idea for how to fix it there if it gets to that point. We’ve got plenty of time.”

Dean nodded, swallowing. The urgency they were operating under with regards to getting back to Apocalypse World was much less than it had been when their mom and Jack were trapped there. Since they didn’t exactly have a definitive timeframe other than ‘have a plan before the survivors decided they needed to go back’, they hadn’t given it much thought. Or, well, Dean hadn’t given it much thought. He figured that the other world’s survivors would come up with a plan and they’d go and help take care of it. Hell, he figured that letting Gabriel get his mojo back up to snuff would help to beat Michael. Now…

“Well, it’s not like they have a way of getting here,” Dean stated, taking another bite out of his sandwich and swallowing. “So we just keep in the loop with Gabriel and make sure that he’s got a plan that works.”

Sam grimaced. “Yeah, that’s about all we can do right now.”

“We just help the people here figure out their plan then.” Dean nodded to himself, thinking that was likely the best course of action.

“We are not doing that Lucifer.”

“Why not? It’s still grace, right? It’d take care of the strain on Heaven and we’d have a lot less to worry about.”

Gabriel stared at his brother, not believing what he was hearing. It was one thing to joke with Duma over the idea, but completely another to do what Lucifer was suggesting. Heck, he doubted that any angels would be willing to go through with that plan. “Because one, we’d be condemning a lot of humans to death in the process, and two, absolutely not!”

Lucifer groaned, rolling his eyes. “They’re humans, it’s not like anyone’s going to miss a few.”

“Yeah, sure, not like they don’t have families, right?” Gabriel rolled his eyes. “Besides, does ‘turning a new leaf’ ring any bells? ‘Cause just between you and me, but deciding to sire nephilim to harvest their grace is a very bad idea.”

“Well with that attitude it certainly sounds like it!” Lucifer flopped down into Gabriel’s desk chair. “I thought you wanted to, you know, save Heaven?”

“Uh, Luci, unless you missed it, right now with both of us up here, the power hasn’t flickered once.” Gabriel shook his head. “And while yeah, that’s not a great long-term thing, it’s still giving us time we didn’t have before.”

“Ugh, fine.” Lucifer threw his hands up in defeat. “Don’t take the simple solution. No skin off my nose.”

Gabriel wasn’t sure which was worse, the idea of working on the Heaven problem alone, or working on it with Lucifer. “Look, it’s not an easy solution, and it’s hardly going to do any good. We need to figure something out, without endangering humans as a result.”

“Spoilsport.” Lucifer grumped and crossed his arms, pouting. “Well, why don’t you have any ideas?”

“I do, actually.” Gabriel gestured to the tablet he’d been working on before Lucifer’s latest ‘brainstorming session’. “Figuring out which areas of Heaven have been neglected and trying to see if repairing them helps.”

“So what, we’re playing fixer-upper now Gabby?” Lucifer snorted. “It’s not going to wo-ork.”

“Your faith is underwhelming.” Gabriel rolled his eyes. “I don’t see you doing anything.”

Lucifer waved his hand. “That’s because I’m an idea man.”

Gabriel snorted. “Yeah, sure, an idea man.”  He then decided to ask the one question that had been bugging him since Lucifer’s sudden appearance. “How exactly did you get away from dick Michael, anyway?”

“Well…” Lucifer frowned in thought, “I might have lied and told him that I wanted to tear the brothers limb from limb and knew how to get back to this world. Just an embellishment here or there.” He smirked. “You have to admit, he obviously bought it.”

“Except he could be on his way here.” Gabriel glared. “How do you know he didn’t follow you through whatever you used to get back here?”

“He just wanted those survivors everyone’s been going crazy over.” Lucifer shrugged like it wasn’t a big deal. “Well, that and probably try and kill the Winchesters, which, I told him they’re like cockroaches you can’t get rid of and then try to take over this world.”

Gabriel stared. He couldn’t – no wait, that was a lie, he could believe that Lucifer would do something like that. “And you just left an open portal for him to jump through?”

“What?” Lucifer snorted. “It’s not like it’s any big deal if the humans get killed. They breed like rabbits, pretty sure that Dad’s creation won’t go extinct.”

“Damn it.” Gabriel spun around, ready to stride out and let the Winchesters know that Michael was likely already here or was coming.

Lucifer however caught his shoulder. “Whoa, you can’t just go off and try and confront Michael! He’s got too much mojo for that.”

“What, and let him destroy this world? Not happening, bro.” Gabriel shrugged off Lucifer’s hand and stormed out of his room.

A beat of wings later, and Gabriel pulled up short. Lucifer was standing before him, gaze unwavering as he stared Gabriel down. “You’re not going down there. This is probably the safest place for you, hell, for anyone right now.”

Before Gabriel could really do anything, Lucifer snapped and Gabriel found himself back in his office, his door closed. Gabriel rushed toward the door to open it and found it locked. Growling, he tried to use his own grace to open it, only to find that his grace was apparently still too weak to counter Lucifer’s. Frustrated and angry, he pounded on the door. “Damn it Lucifer!”

The fact that Sam was staring at one of the refugees from the other world lying dead made him wonder what was going on. Jack was distraught, which made sense as he had tried to save these people only for one of them to die not that far from the bunker. Bobby and Mary were standing off to the side, letting the brothers examine the body to try and figure out if this was an actual case they needed to take care of.

As it was, Dean was off talking to one of Maggie’s friends, trying to figure out what had happened and if she had any idea as to what happened to her. Sam however was left looking over the body, grimacing as he realized that the girl’s head had been beaten in. Sam wasn’t even sure it was a creature that did it, but he wasn’t about to do anything without more information. “And you just found her outside like this? Nothing you could find around that could tell you what happened?”

“What, you think I don’t know how to check this stuff out?” Bobby snorted. “Of course we looked around. I just didn’t find anything but her.”

Mary herself looked pensive. “It’s not like we don’t know the dangers around here, but the rest of the refugees might not.” She glanced at Bobby. “She might have been jumped by a normal human.”

Bobby grimaced. “Well, it’s not like we didn’t know what we were getting ourselves into when we came over.” He crouched low, taking a look alongside Sam. “There’s just not enough here to even say this is even a hunt.”

“Yeah.” Sam was hoping Dean was getting something more from the friend. Sitting back on his heels, he glanced toward Bobby. “You don’t know much about who she might have been seeing, and we’re just trying to piece everything together.” He made a face. “It’d be easier if this was an actual monster.”

“Got that right.” Bobby stood, groaning. “Well, I’m gonna ask around. See if someone else saw anything.”

Sam nodded, and Mary stepped toward her son to lay a hand on his shoulder. “Don’t blame yourself.”

Sam snorted. “No, Jack’s doing a good job of that himself.”

Mary nodded, looking troubled. “You don’t think he’d do anything rash, would he?”

“I don’t know.” Sam had faith in the kid, but he wasn’t sure if Jack wouldn’t take his frustrations out on someone innocent. He certainly hoped not. “In any case, me, Dean, and Cas will probably go talk to whoever Maggie was with last night.”

Heavy footsteps announced the appearance of Dean, and Sam stood, looking toward his brother. “Well, Jack’s gone.”

Sam blinked. “He’s gone?”

“Yeah.” Dean grimaced. “He was in the room when me and Cas were talking to the girl, and she told us Maggie had gone off to meet with a boy last night. He vanished as soon as we said we’d look into it.”

Sam ran a hand through his hair in frustration. “Well, do we know where he would have gone?”

“Yep, we’re going there now.” Dean didn’t even pause as he turned around to head out the door. Cas followed, but not before casting a glance back at Maggie’s body.

Sam looked toward his mother, who nodded. “We’ll hold down the fort. You go after Jack before he does something he regrets.”

Sam nodded and headed out to help Dean track down Jack.

Gabriel had spent the last day banging on his door, growing more frustrated. Lucifer had definitely made sure he couldn’t follow, and Gabriel was almost about at his wit’s end. He knew that Lucifer was bad news, but he’d hoped that maybe his brother would maybe give trying to fix things a chance. Now, he was well aware that was likely a lost cause.

Huffing, he gave the door one last bang before he stomped over to his desk to take a seat. He’d tried sending a message to the other angels, but somehow that had been blocked, and Gabriel was severely annoyed. He was the messenger, for Dad’s sake! Just because his grace wasn’t up to snuff didn’t mean that he couldn’t still do that!

He was about to try again when he heard a buzzing over angel radio. Blinking, he focused on it long enough to blanch. Great, yet another problem he had to deal with. He hurried back to the door and attempted to shove all of his grace into forcing it open. However, before he got the chance, the door swung open of its own accord to show Naomi on the other side.

“What is going on? This door was sealed for the past day.”

Gabriel didn’t even hesitate, hurrying down the hallway toward the gate. “Michael’s here. Not ours, the other one. Lucifer let him into this world.”

“Wait, Lucifer let him into this world?” Naomi stared and hurried after the archangel. “But how? I thought he didn’t know the spell? And how do you know?”

“Because he came by and offered to help me with Heaven.” Gabriel should have known better. He really should have. Just kicked Luci out of Heaven as soon as he showed his face. “Now he’s run off.”

“Gabriel, you can’t leave to confront either of them. You’re currently the only archangel we have that can restore Heaven.” Naomi’s stare tried to bore into him, but Gabriel shook it off.

“And I’m currently the only one that can stop either of those yutzes from doing anything.” Gabriel reached the portal and glanced back. “Keep the portal sealed. He might try to come up here.”

Naomi nodded, and Gabriel stepped through. A rushing sensation was all he felt before he found himself back in the playground. He immediately stretched out his wings, hoping that they were strong enough for a flight. It wasn’t like he was using it every five seconds, so he should have been good.

One flap found him immediately in the bunker and into a scene he thought he’d never see. Castiel, looking in horror at Michael, who looked like he had been put through a blender, but no one else was in sight. How exactly Michael ended up that way, Gabriel couldn’t tell, but he had other things to worry about as Castiel jerked around, his blade already out and ready to thrust. Michael didn’t even appear to be moving.

“Whoa Cassie, it’s just me!” Gabriel held his hands up in surrender, looking around. Where were Sam and Dean?

“Gabriel.” The mere utterance of his name sounded so dejected coming from the younger angel that Gabriel had to blink. “I thought you were back in Heaven.”

“Yeah, that’s closed off right now.” Gabriel pressed his lips together as he walked toward Michael. “What happened, and why does Michael look like crap?”

“Michael made it to this world.” If it was possible, Castiel looked even more defeated. “He threatened Sam and Dean, and tried to kill them. Jack and Lucifer intervened, only…” Castiel winced.

“So where’s Tweedle Dee and Tweedle Dum if Luci and Jack intervened?”

“Jack caused the injuries to Michael, and then had his grace ripped from him by Lucifer.” Oh. Oh. If nothing else, Gabriel could see where this was going, and it wasn’t a pretty picture. “Lucifer then took Jack and Sam away, and Dean said yes.”

“Wait.” Gabriel looked back toward Michael and jerked a thumb toward him. “Dean said yes to Michael? This Michael? The genocidal asshole Michael?”

“Yes.” Castiel slumped finally, and Gabriel could see the devastation etched in Castiel’s face. “Dean offered to become Michael’s vessel to defeat Lucifer.”

Oh, this was so not good. Did Dean even realize what he did? Could Dean even force Michael out once he was wearing Dean? “Well, first thing’s first then. I’m gonna go after them.”

Castiel stared upward, his eyes wide as he registered what Gabriel said. “Gabriel, you can’t face Michael or Lucifer. Even I can tell your grace isn’t up to it.”

“I don’t see anyone else capable of it.” Gabriel folded his arms, not budging an inch. “You’re staying here, because if you don’t think my grace is enough to deal with either of them, you’re not even a gnat that would annoy them.”

“If you’re going, then I am too.”

Castiel looked stubborn, but Gabriel shook his head. “Not this time, bro.” With that, he flapped his wings, leaving the bunker behind and already seeking out the one individual he could track. Jack.

The minute he touched down outside of the church, Gabriel knew something was wrong. It felt too still, too quiet, and the archangel picked his way forward, his hand already wrapped around the hilt of his blade. He could barely sense his nephew within, but nothing else, not even an inkling of anything going on. Pushing open the door, he walked forward, eyes already searching out everything he could.

It wasn’t hard to pick out the signs of a fight, or the body. The closer he drew to it, however, the more a chill swept through him. Lucifer, his older brother, was dead. Wings had been burned into the floor, and Lucifer was staring upward unblinking. He glanced around, trying to see if he could spot Dean anywhere, but only succeeded on picking out the two other inhabitants of the room.

“Sam? Jack?” He strode over quickly. Sam was collapsed onto a pew that hadn’t been upended, while Jack was curled against the wall, looking devastated. At their names, they both looked up, though both wore identical expressions of misery. “What in Dad’s name happened?”

“Lucifer.” If there was ever a word Sam spoke with such venom, Gabriel hadn’t run across it. “He took us both, tried to get us to kill each other, and then Dean intervened.” Sam clenched his jaw. “He killed Lucifer, but…”

“Michael happened.” Gabriel couldn’t see how things could get much worse. “Either of you hurt?”

Sam gestured toward Jack. “Jack needs attention. I’m fine.”

“Right.” Gabriel would believe that in a cold day in Hell, but he didn’t say anything else. Instead, he stepped toward the nephilim, hand already extended to heal him. “Come on Jackster. Let’s get you patched up.”

“Where were you?” Gabriel paused as Jack looked up and speared him with a look. “You could have stopped him.”

“Locked in my office while Lucifer was being an ass.” Gabriel didn’t even want to mention that if he’d gone against either Michael or Lucifer, he’d probably be dead. “I don’t know which him you’re referring to, but there’s no way I could have stopped either.”

“But you’re an archangel! You’re just as powerful!” Jack clenched his hands to his sides, looking to be fighting the urge to start yelling, though his voice still rose in fury.

“Kiddo, I’m glad you think I’m that awesome, but I gotta tell you. Your dad and uncle are the oldest of us archangels, meaning no matter what, they’d have more oomph than I could even on my best day.” Gabriel sighed, running a hand through his hair and glancing toward Sam. “You wanna fill the anklebiter in on the hierarchy of angels or…?”

“Gabe’s right.” Sam seemed to have shaken himself out of his stupor long enough to stand and make his way toward the two. “It’s a miracle he even survived Lucifer the first time he went against him. If anything, him going against Lucifer and Michael? He’d be dead.”

Jack deflated again, looking between the two. “You both were right. Lucifer really was a monster.” He then blinked and looked at Gabriel again. “You tried to tell me he tried to kill you, didn’t you?”

Gabriel had moved to extend his hand again, healing the stab wound (which if he were honest with himself, was probably a lot less serious than he thought), but sighed again as he considered Jack’s words. “Yeah, I tried to warn ya. I think everyone did. Sorry you had to find out the hard way.”

“No, I… I think I needed to find out that way.” Finally healed, Jack stood. He looked around again, seemingly lost. “What do we do now?”

Sam squared his jaw, determined. “First we need to regroup, try and keep an eye out for what Michael’s up to. Then…” Sam’s lips thinned as he thought. “Then we need to find a way to save Dean and stop Michael.”

Gabriel didn’t speak, his mind already working on the problem. Which, he couldn’t even think of how to stop any of this. Michael had his Sword, and there was no way he could take on Michael at full power.  He absently heard Jack agree with Sam, but there was something he was trying to figure out. If he couldn’t stop Michael…

“We need to get our brothers out of the Cage.”

“What?” Sam whipped his head around, staring. “I thought our Michael was insane! How’s that going to stop the other?”

Gabriel looked between the two, his expression grim. “I don’t know, but right now, we’ve got a renegade archangel on our hands. We need all the help we can get.”

Chapter Text

“This is such a bad idea.”

“I heard you the first time you said it.”

“Well, I’m saying it again. This is a really bad idea.”

Gabriel rolled his eyes, pulling up short as he gave Sam a look. They were sneaking around Hell, with Dad knew how many demons in the joint, and they were going to go talk to Michael. Bad idea didn’t even begin to cover it. But they were out of options, at least any good ones that didn’t involve suicide by dickbag Michael, and the only one that knew Michael better than anyone, well, was Michael himself. Gabriel just hoped that his brother wasn’t insane from his time in the cage.

“Well, if you’re done pissing and moaning, maybe you’d let me tell you again. I know how to take Michael out of that hidey-hole he’s stuck in without endangering us.” The last member of their little group strolled past both the archangel and the hunter. Rowena tossed her hair over her shoulder and gave them both a look. “It’s not like Lucifer’s in the cage anymore, and the more we dawdle, the more chances the demons will know we’re here.”

“Hate to break this to you, Red, but I’m pretty sure they already know we’re here.” Gabriel gestured around. “Not even the hint of a demon around, and I’m doing my best to mask our presences. They probably sniffed and smelled angel before they vamoosed.”

“Well then, all the better to get a move on before they grow a pair and come to seek us out then.” Rowena hefted the bag over her shoulder a bit more securely. “I’d rather be in and out myself quickly. Since Fergus isn’t the King of Hell anymore, I imagine his enemies wouldn’t hesitate to do in his mother or a Winchester.”

Sam pulled an amazing bitch face at that, which Gabriel smirked at. “How much further to where we need to go then?”

“It shouldn’t be too far.” Gabriel nodded off toward a split in the tunnel they were traveling in. “I can still sense a bit of residual spellwork down that way, and that seems to be the best bet as to where you guys trapped Luci for your talk.”

Sam and Gabriel had decided after their talk that they needed to get Michael on their side, even if Sam was a bit reluctant to do so. Gabriel could only surmise that in addition to the abuse that Lucifer had heaped on him during his time in the Cage, Michael had given his fair share too. When they broached the subject with Castiel however, the other angel had insisted on coming. Gabriel had to tell Castiel that someone needed to be at the bunker keeping an eye on things since they didn’t know if or when the alternate Michael would make a reappearance.

The only hiccup to the plan was that they needed someone that could open the cage so they could talk to Michael. That was where Sam had admitted that Rowena had helped them open it during the crisis with Amara. Finding out that his aunt had been up and about and that God hadn’t even considered retrieving Gabriel from his imprisonment and claimed that he was instead dead hurt. However, Gabriel wasn’t about to let his feelings affect their actions. No matter that Dad didn’t feel the need to save the youngest archangel from Asmodeus, Gabriel would still do what he needed to do to stop Michael and maybe get Dean back.

Taking a left at the fork, Gabriel was again reminded of his time in the Prince of Hell’s dungeons. It was something he refused to think on too hard, much like he surmised Sam must have been trying to ignore what happened the last time he was near the Cage. Or any time he was inside it. Lucifer was, however, gone, and Gabriel doubted that Michael would willingly do anything to harm Sam, not without having to deal with a powerful witch that could send him right back to the Cage.

Which, Gabriel was actually glad that he was on Rowena’s good side. Quickie aside, she was much more personable to the trickster archangel than probably any of the others. Lucifer, of course, had used her and murdered her, and he doubted that with as big of a stick shoved up his ass, Raphael wouldn’t have gotten brownie points either. Michael was a whole other level of Dad’s pet soldier, so he doubted that she’d care too much about sending him back. What he did figure was that if push came to shove, Rowena wouldn’t open the Cage just to shove him into it. More than likely, anyway.

They rounded another corner, Gabriel keeping his senses sharp as he scanned the tunnels. Still no demon activity, and that had his danger senses pinging. What he wouldn’t give for something to show themselves, he mused. However, he didn’t want anything to go wrong here, so he just had to be extra careful and make sure that this whole trip didn’t end with a running fight to escape Hell. All of the big bad major demons were gone, according to his calculations, so he didn’t think they could regroup. He could be wrong, though.

Coming to another cavern, he spotted the cage that Crowley had previously set up, his eyebrows shooting up and a low whistle coming from his lips. “Nice setup Red. This was strong enough to contain Luci during your chat?”

“Aye, and it should be strong enough to contain Michael.” Rowena stepped forward, examining the sigils along the base of the cage. “A few modifications wouldn’t be out of order, though, so if you happen to have any extra precautions you could add, feel free.”

“Gotcha.” He watched as Sam and Rowena got together to start working on the ingredients necessary for the spell before he examined the sigils carefully. Gabriel didn’t want to be near this thing when they summoned Michael into it, that was for certain. He could already tell it was more than adequate to hold his own weakened grace.

“So, um, any way we’re going to convince Michael that he needs to help?” Gabriel looked over to Sam, who was studying Gabriel carefully. “Without him going homicidal, I mean.”

Gabriel shook his head. “No idea. I’m hoping that his time in the Cage hasn’t driven him crazy. Which, just letting you guys know, if he does break out of this, you get out. I’ll deal with him.”

“That’s so comforting.” Sam shook his head. “So you’re just going to hope that you’re strong enough to face him if things go wrong?”

“That’s where I’m gonna take a page out of Dad’s handbook there Sammy.” Gabriel gave the hunter a smirk. “I’m gonna have a little bit of faith.”

Sam looked troubled at that, but Gabriel proceeded to ignore him, instead looking over the sigils around the cage. Some of them looked like they needed a bit of fixing up, and after taking some paint from Rowena, proceeded to do just that. All the while, Rowena looked over the spell she was going to perform and directed Sam on the preparations.

Honestly, Gabriel took the time to consider what he was going to say to Michael. He had to assume that his brother wasn’t going to be in the best of places mentally. Not since all that time spent with Lucifer in the Cage. Considering that Michael also wasn’t inside his own true vessel, that couldn’t have done him any favors either. Anything he’d have to say to his older brother would have to be considered alongside the trauma Michael had undoubtedly experienced in the Cage, and Gabriel might not have been the best person to undertake it. However, considering that he doubted there was anyone more qualified than him still living and he was likely the only one qualified.

Unless he had Sam try and talk to Michael, which could end badly for everyone involved.

Sighing, he shook his head and touched up the last of the sigils and finished drawing one last layer of protection on Enochian, settling back on his haunches a moment before he stood to get out of the circle of what would undoubtedly be a ring of holy fire. He had no desire whatsoever to be on the inside of it, and he’d had enough experience with holy fire to last eternity. He gave a short nod to the other two inhabitants of the room, settling back and watching carefully. If any demon knew what was best for them, they might want to stay away from the undoubtedly intimidating show of two archangels.

Rowena began the incantation, and Gabriel swore he could feel the hairs on the back of his neck raise as the sigils activated. With the whoosh of the holy oil igniting, he took a slight step backward, thankful that he wasn’t inside it at all. Sam stood nearby with an angel blade in hand, though Gabriel could have told him that it’d be useless. Then again, maybe it was more of a placebo effect.

“Foh reh say-lah!”

With the last syllable uttered, Gabriel’s focus was back on the cage within the ring of fire. Nothing seemed to have changed, though Gabriel could see a huddled form in the corner. Every sense he had screamed divine, and Gabriel took an involuntary step forward. Just as he did, the head of the figure snapped up and pierced him with a look.

“Hello, Gabriel.”

Dean was completely unaware of where he was or what he was doing, only that he was on a beach, drinking a beer while watching Cas try and fail to persuade a crab to come to his hand. Sam was busy chasing a dog around with a Frisbee, tossing it and letting the dog chase it before he bounded off much like the dog, overeager enthusiasm getting the better of him. Dean himself was reclined in a chair, relaxing and soaking up the sun as he watched the antics of his best friend and brother. Had anyone told him that this was what retiring from hunting was going to be like, he would have told them they were a liar and promptly moved on to the next hunt, but he could hardly care at the moment, enjoying the peace the scene he found himself in surround him.

Except, he couldn’t quite be completely at peace. There was something niggling at the back of his mind, like a song he’d heard hundreds of times before but couldn’t remember the name of. He couldn’t pinpoint exactly what it was, only that something was… He couldn’t quite say wrong, or that it was bugging him, but it was like he forgot something. Maybe he left Baby parked too close to the shore, and was worried the salt from the ocean would do a number on her paint job.

A large furry form bounded over and landed in his lap, disrupting him from his musings with a number of sloppy licks. Grumbling, he shoved at the dog, looking over his sunglasses toward his brother, who was folded over in unabashed laughter. “Sam, get this mutt off me!”

“That is not a mutt. It is one hundred percent golden retriever.” Dean looked over to see Cas sitting in the sand, having forgotten about the crab and smirking.

“Yeah Dean,” Sam snickered. “I think Bud likes you.”

“Well, I don’t like him,” Dean groused, shoving against the seeming immovable lump of fur. “He’s getting in the way of my rays.”

Sam took pity on his brother, whistling for the dog and coming over to plop down in his own beach chair and grabbing a beer while Bud, his newfound friend, trotted over to lay across his legs. Dean snickered.

“I think he’d much prefer to be around you anyway.”

“Jerk.”

“Bitch.”

“So,” Cas started, coming over and taking a seat himself in the last beach chair, “what’s on the itinerary after this? I assume we’re not going to be lounging around all day.”

“Well, at least until later when I go into town and grab us something to grill.” Dean brought the beer up to his mouth to take a sip. “Which reminds me, I was thinking of calling Lisa and Jess later. They’re off having fun with Meg, and I know I didn’t invite her to the shindig later tonight.”

Cas rolled his eyes. “She made it perfectly clear that her being here merely was coincidental. I do not believe it coincided in any way with any plans you might have had.”

“Well, I just thought it was weird that she was here to begin with.” Dean shrugged, though that niggling thought was back. “I mean, you did tell her that we were going to be here, right?”

“I only informed her that we were going on vacation, nothing more.” Cas closed his eyes, leaning back. Dean couldn’t be sure if the angel was going back to being contemplative or not, though he was certain Cas had something on his mind. Probably whatever was going on with Heaven.

His mind suddenly came to a screeching halt. Wait, what was going on with Heaven? It was important, right? Something to do with archangels?

His thoughts were brought to a halt when someone plopped down on the sand next to him and tried reaching for a beer. Frowning, Dean reached down to grab the teen’s hand and looked over his shades to see Ben. “Yeah no, I don’t think so buddy. You’re mom would murder me and I don’t think Sammy or Cas feel like avenging me or making any deals to bring me back to life again.”

Ben pouted and crossed his arms. “Not fair, Dad. You were drinking at my age.”

“I was doing a lotta things at your age, but that don’t mean I’m gonna let you get drunk.” Dean looked over at Sam in exasperation. “Sammy, help me out here.”

Sam rose his hands in defense. “I’m not getting into another father-son argument. Had enough of those with Dad.”

“It does seem different when you’re not the actual father,” Cas agreed, causing Dean to scowl at his friend. Traitor. “”I find myself often unwilling to step in between parental figures and their offspring, considering the discussions I have experienced with Jack on occasion.”

“I see how it is.” Dean scrambled to his feet, shaking his head. Stretching, he looked everyone over, a small smile crossing his face. “I’m gonna head into town now. Figure it might take me a while. Anyone want anything?”

With a chorus of no’s, Dean shook his head and started up toward their beach house, his previous thoughts already forgotten.

Gabriel watched as Michael stood in the cage. It had been millennia since he’d seen his older brother, and the archangel was reminded of a time when they didn’t have arguments, when everything was fine up in Heaven. However, the look on Michael’s face wasn’t anger or happiness. It was instead indifference, and Gabriel shifted uneasily. “Hey Michael. It’s been a while, hasn’t it?”

“It has.” Michael walked forward to lean against the bars of the cage, his arms draped over the bars. “It’s been much too long.” Michael looked Gabriel over carefully, blue eyes examining every inch of him before he looked back into Gabriel’s. “Your grace. It’s diminished.”

“More like stolen.” Gabriel risked a glance toward Sam and Rowena, who were staying back and watching. “You have Asmode-ass to thank for that one.”

“I see.” Michael looked down to his hands, examining them carefully. “And I assume Raphael is still working in Heaven?”

Gabriel winced. Oh boy, if there was one topic he didn’t want to get into, it was their deceased siblings. That, combined with the whole host of Heaven being reduced to a measly dozen at best, and he was looking at the fact that Michael was likely to be pissed. “Um, Raphael’s kinda been atomized. Trying to restart the apocalypse and all. You and me, we’re what’s left of the archangels.”

Michael frowned. “You’re certain?”

“I’ve been up top. Yeah, unless Luci decides to make a reappearance, which I doubt since…” Gabriel shook his head, shrugging. “It’s been a long nine years, Mikey.”

Michael examined his hands again and sighed. “What do you want, Gabriel?”

“I was seeing if you were being a good boy for one, by, you know, not torturing your vessel,” Gabriel stated, ticking off his fingers one by one. “Two, seeing how sane you were since clearly being down here with an angry Lucifer can’t have done you any favors, and three, wondering if you wanted to help.”

“Help?”

“Yep.” Gabriel thrust his hands into his pockets and rocked slightly on the balls of his feet. “We’ve got two major problems. One, Heaven’s failing, and considering you’re the only archangel I trust at full strength, you’re probably the best person to help out there.”

Michael blinked in surprise. “Heaven’s failing?”

This was the part that Gabriel hesitated at. He had to tell Michael, but at the same time, part of him didn’t want to admit that the angels were dying off. However, if he didn’t tell Michael, who would? “Yeah. Looks like we’re an endangered species. Our siblings just kept fighting with each other, and now there’s barely any of us left.”

Michael looked for a moment like he had to digest what he was hearing before he considered Gabriel with a frown. “And you stood back and did nothing.”

“Uh, no? What part of ‘I was kidnapped by a Prince of Hell’ didn’t you hear? ‘Cause lemme tell you, it wasn’t fun.”

“Regardless, I don’t recall you doing anything to help during the apocalypse.” Michael scowled, which just set off Gabriel’s annoyance.

“Oh, sorry, I didn’t realize that trying to stop Lucifer, getting stabbed, and almost dying wasn’t helping out.” Gabriel’s eyes narrowed as he examined Michael. “Look, Michael, I’m not here to argue with you about who did what and how much we screwed things up. There’s another reason I’m here.”

That caused Michael to frown, and he leaned forward a bit to examine his brother closely. “There’s a problem you’re not powerful enough to deal with.”

“Yep. One giant, winged problem that’s made off with your Sword.” Gabriel crossed his arms. “Long story short, a portal got opened up to a world where you won the fight with Luci and started making paradise on Earth, only that Michael went the genocide route and started waging war on humanity. He’s here, now, in this world wearing Dean Winchester like a favorite pair of sneakers.”

Michael shifted, cocking his head to the side. “And you want me to help defeat him?”

Gabriel nodded. “You’re the only one that’s got enough oomph to do the job. He already killed Lucifer, tried to kill me, and would have killed Sam and Dean if it wasn’t for the fact that your nephew did a number on him before Dean agreed to Michael wearing him to stop Lucifer.”

“Nephew?” A look of confusion crossed Michael’s face. “Who sired a nephilim?”

“Three guesses, first two don’t count.” Gabriel started pacing now, watching Michael carefully. “I don’t know what Luci was thinking, since he’s got this hard-on against humans, but he’s the one that broke that rule. Not that it matters, since he took his son’s grace and left the kiddo mortal.”

Michael then sat back, looking pensive as he regarded the trio before him. Gabriel didn’t move, and he was certain that Sam and Rowena were waiting themselves for Michael’s decision. After a moment, Michael looked at Rowena directly. “You’re the one that can let me out, correct?”

“Aye, and I can easily lock you back in if need be.” Rowena gave him a look. “Though if you’re thinking of trying to pull the same stunt that Lucifer did, let me just say that I have a few tricks of my own that can make sure you’re back in there even if I’m dead.” She leaned forward then, a smirk growing. “I don’t think you’d want to see how the inside of that cage is like after however many thousands of years, do you?”

Michael’s gaze then drifted toward Sam, who seemed to lift his chin to stare directly into Michael’s eyes. Sam stood straighter under Michael’s scrutiny before he replied. “Considering what you’ve done, I don’t like the idea of letting you out of the cage, and it’s another you causing the problems.”

Michael looked toward Gabriel before he resumed watching Sam. “I was merely doing my Father’s work. He was the one that stated that there would be a final battle between Lucifer and I.”

Gabriel coughed into his hand while Sam’s gaze hardened. “Except you sped that up. You made sure my mom and dad met and fell in love and that Dean and I were born. You weren’t looking to protect humans, you were just tired of watching over them.”

Gabriel groaned, wishing that Sam hadn’t decided to drag that up. Michael didn’t seem too pleased with it either, but he resumed leaning against the bars of the cage, somehow looking superior even locked away as he was. “My Father disappeared. What was I to do? Hold Heaven until He got back?”

“Well, unless you missed the memo, he did come back. He saved this world. I’m pretty sure that means that he’s not interested in destroying it.” Sam crossed his arms. “If we let you out, there’s going to be conditions to it.”

Michael’s expression darkened, and Gabriel rubbed his temples. “Oh, this is going to go over swell.”

“One,” Sam stated, ignoring Gabriel’s remark, “You’re getting out of Adam. I don’t know who you find, and I don’t care, but you’re not staying in my brother, and I know there’s other bloodlines that work just fine for you considering that the other Michael was in someone not a Winchester.”

Michael’s fists clenched briefly before he relaxed them. Sam continued on. “Two, you’re here to help us against that other Michael, and we’re going to do it in a way that won’t kill Dean. After that, you can go back to Heaven for all I care, but you leave the apocalypse behind. It’s over.”

Rowena whistled, eyebrows going up as she observed Sam. “Getting a little ballsy there, eh Samuel?”

“Three, you’re only out because Gabriel said you’re the only one that can go against yourself.” Sam leveled his best bitch face at Michael. “Which means you try anything, you’re back in the cage. No second chances. No one will come back for you.”

Michael looked ready to smite Sam, and Gabriel sighed. He’d hoped that this would go better, but then again, Sam had been abused by Michael in the past, so it made sense that he’d hold a grudge. Unlike Gabriel, Sam didn’t have a chance to kill his primary abuser, and instead had to deal with the secondary one. He looked at Michael, lips pressed into a line as he regarded the eldest archangel. “Well, we have a deal or no?”

Michael’s jaw clenched as he looked from one face to another. He met Gabriel’s eyes last, and something seemed to pass through his eyes at the brief look. Glancing back at Sam, he nodded. “Fine. I accept.”

It was dark, and silent. That was the first thing Lucifer registered as he opened his eyes. Blackness was everywhere, and he stood slowly, wondering exactly where he was and why he was even alive. Unless…

Looking around offered him nothing to go by, and he groaned. Ugh, did Michael have to be that much of an asshole? Actually, did Dean? He knew he wasn’t winning brownie points with the older Winchester by taking Sam along with Jack for the ride, but seriously? He said he’d help. He just needed to clean up a couple of loose ends. Speaking of which…

Looking around some more basically confirmed his suspicions. He was definitely in the Empty. Joy. After all he did for the Winchesters. Giving them grace, making sure Michael didn’t follow them through that portal, heck, helping against dear old auntie and trying to run Heaven, he’d done his fair share. How did they repay him? Oh yeah. Dean stabbed him with an archangel blade.

Sighing, he crossed his arms and pouted. Well, this was no fun. Maybe he could figure out a way out and then just abandon the mudball. It wasn’t like anyone wanted him there. Besides, he was powerful. All he had to do was figure out what exactly Cassie did to get out of there himself and he was home free.

Lucifer took one more look around the joint before he picked a direction and started walking. Maybe he could somehow make the place more comfortable as he figured everything out. It wasn’t like there was anyone that would complain.

Behind him, something moved in the dark.