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Gabriel couldn't remember another time when Heaven had been in this sort of chaos before. It was, literally- biblical chaos. Every single corner of the Garden was a mess, animals on Earth were sensibly more nervous than they'd ever been, and his older brothers' wings were beating so fast Gabriel had started to shiver for the cold breeze. He frowned, moving just in time to avoid a cherub that had almost ran over him, and he gazed around him in search of his brother, Lucifer.
He found him under the Tree, eating an apple and smiling to a swallow that had decided to rest on his knees. In his eyes laid a seed of slight annoyance, but, except from that, his expression was free of any sign of the anxiety that had pervaded the other angels. Gabriel approached him, quickly, and talked to him without sitting by his side. «Luci?».
Lucifer didn't rise his eyes from the bird. «Hi, little brother».
«What's all this about?», Gabriel said, slightly tilting his head towards the chaos behind his shoulders. The bird jumped on Lucifer's extended hand, and Gabriel smiled.
Lucifer finally rose his eyes, gingerly moving his fingers, and the swallow flew away around Gabriel's head, making him giggle. Lucifer smiled for a moment, but then nuisance filled his eyes again. «Dad decided to repopulate Heaven. He made other angels», he said, and shrugged.
Gabriel frowned. «I didn't see any new fledglings around».
«In fact, that's what made our brothers nervous. They're already full-grown. And they're not normal angels».
«You mean they're a new type of angels?».
Lucifer sighed, as if admitting that were an extremely heavy burden. «Yes, sadly. They watch over humans». He winced. «As if we didn't have better stuff to do than taking care of apes...».
«Enough, Lucifer», a voice resounded behind the tree, and Michal's figure made his way through the bushes. «How many times did I tell you not do disrespect Father and his creatures in front of Gabriel?».
The mentioned Archangel, though, didn't hear his brother's reply, as he quickly ran away with a smile on his face, occasionally flying for as few meters his tiny and yet to develop wings allowed him to. He ran to the centre of the Garden, where every other angel, seraph and cherub seemed to converge to, and he found a little structure made out in wood, in which other angels were trying to peek.
«There», somebody said. «They say it's the place where Guardian Angels went to be assigned to their humans».
«Didn't God tell them personally?», another angel asked.
«You know he only talks to Archangels. It can't be».
For a moment Gabriel thought that maybe, just maybe, his Father would have been angry if he tried to interfere with his work. Then, shrugging, he gave up to curiosity, and he approached the structure, trying to get to it without getting noticed and finally managing to enter the unknow place from a window.
The room was submerged in pitch darkness and Gabriel slightly rose his wings, extending them as much as he could to make their glow enlighten the area. The Archangel took a cautios step towards the center of the room, not wanting to be seen by the angels that were peeking through the other windows, but it looked as if the light he had put in the room had scared them and the angels had left in fear to be caught. Gabriel moved forward again, gazing at the stone font full of holy water troning at the center of the structure; enochian sigils were carved into the rock and words were engraved in every empty space of the base, but Gabriel was still too young to be able to read them.
He gingerly touched the cold stone, and as he did that, immediatly, a light breeze started to blow in the room, making his feathers wince. Gabriel took a deep breath, the tips of his wings lightly shuddering, and he curved over the water to look through it.
Its surface almost immediatly started to tremble, and Gabriel's reflection started to fade in another image. The creature he saw in the water was strange, like a fledgling, but without wings, and wearing clothes way different from the ones he and his brothers were used to put on. Gabriel stared at him, eyes wide in wonder, watching as the image of the child trembled in the water, and he was so stunned by the unknow being he didn't even hear the slow steps coming from behind him.
«His name is Sam Winchester», a voice said, calmly.
Gabriel immediatly turned around, instantly blushing and starting to unconsciously flap his wings in nervousness, shyly glancing at the guardian angel that stood before him. «I'm- I'm sorry. I was just curious. Don't tell my Father. Please».
The Angel smiled, kindly, and it kneeled before him, putting a hand on his shoulder. «I won't», it promised.
Gabriel flinched for a second, unsure. Then he spoke again. «Who's Sam?», he whispered, babbling out Sam's name like it was a word from a foreign language.
«He's your human», it simply stated.
«But-». The flegling tilted his head. «I'm not a Guardian Angel. I'm an Archangel. I'm not meant to have humans to watch over».
«Do you want to watch over him?», the angel said, turning more serious.
Gabriel stuttered. «O-of course-».
«Then you can», it promised, and it smiled to him again. «Taking care of someone is the best aim an angel could longe towards. Do never doubt of whom's protective over little ones».
The image of Lucifer taking care of him suddenly filled his mind, and Gabriel instantly knew what the angel was talking about. Neither Michael nor Raphael had ever given any, even slight, form of attention, but Lucifer, who first within his brothers had contested their Father's new creatures, had always been the most caring of his older sibilings. He thought about the times he had healed him when he'd fell from the Tree; he thought about the ones when he'd protected him from Michal's anger. And, immediatly, he knew what protecting little ones was about, and he smiled to the unknown angel. «My brother cares a lot for me».
«I'm sure he does», the angel said, and he helped him when Gabriel stood on his toes to glance at the water again.
There he was: Sam Winchester's image was reflected in the water again, this time in the arms of another human, older but still not grown up, his tiny hands touching the cheeks of his brother. A little single tuft of hair had now grown on the baby's head, and Gabriel giggled, leaning closer to the water.
«Can I see him?», he asked the guardian angel, but it gave him a sad look. «I'm sorry. He won't be born until a few millennia».
«Oh». Gabriel winced, the corners of his lips turning downwards, and he laid his chin on the border of the font.
«Don't worry», the angel continued. «I'm sure that, wherever he is, he can't wait to meet you».
«I bet you do, Sammy», he whispered, and he leaned over the water again.