Chapter Text
Heaven was a mess and Raphael had tried to take control of everything. The only thing that saved the angels was that Gabriel appeared shocking the host of heaven so completely that it left the other archangel stunned to silence.
Castiel was surprised and without a word approached his brother fearlessly. "You let Sam sacrifice himself!" The dark haired vessel bore a look of anger while the Grace within was conflicted between hope and rage.
"Whoa Cassie hold it, before you say anything more I already remedied poor Sammy. He and Dean are shouting such brotherly profanities at each other."
Cas cocked his head to the side and stared at Gabe. "You rescued Sam?" Cas was suddenly grateful because now he could put an end to seeking out a way to do just that. "Why?"
Gabe shrugged. "Felt like I owed him for all that guilt." He turned back to Raphael and grinned. "I think it's time heaven starts behaving like it was meant to."
The other angels gathering around looked surprised. Michael's word had been law for a long time. "Yeah I know you all think we're supposed to just hang out and ignore Earth. Wrong." Gabe sighed heavily looking at his siblings pleadingly. "Spent some time with humanity and I'm going to reinstate the old rules."
Gasps all around. Castiel blinked and tried not to tilt his head in confusion.
"That's right. We're on Earth patrol again! Humans aren't supposed to be left to their own devices all the time. We abandoned them because we disobeyed God's orders to love them." There was a guilty pause, how many angels had been found holding contempt for the race? Hadn't God asked them to look after his weaker creation?
"And to help with that I'm going to-" Raphael cut him off.
"Who made you our leader? You've been gone for far too long Gabriel. I should be in charge of Heaven." The two brothers looked at each other intently.
"I left to escape the pain of watching Micheal and Lucifer fight. Yes it was selfish and cowardly, but I see my errors and now it's time to man up and run things how our Father wanted us to."
There were murmurs and nods. Startled angels came to watch as Gabriel and Raphael stood facing each other. "And by the way Dad's not dead, he just wants a break from all of us, our quibbling and disobedience has really hurt him."
That got Heaven's attention. God wasn't dead like Raphael claimed? Gabe smirked because he had known that little bit of info would sway the younger angels in his favor. Hope was like a drug. You could keep using it to your advantage as long as you gave just enough and had some semblance of progress to keep it up.
"Is he returning?" Came the pleading question of numerous voices.
"I can't say, I hope he will if we can start to act like angels and less like overindulged children."
And that was the real point he was making. They had all been acting like children rampant on the playground with no supervision. That ended today because Gabe could see all the losses heaven had suffered in the fighting.
Without a word he reached over to a bell and stilled it, the echoing ring suddenly silenced and Heaven knew the fighting was over. Time for calmer days. Gabe wasn't particularly fond of duking it out. He preferred tricks and payback, but bloodshed had never suited the messenger of God. He eyed the other bells, many had been silent for so long. In the back of the row, stuffed away to hide it was a bell that Gabriel knew had only been rung twice in all of history.
The bell was smaller than the war and prophecy bells and shone with a warm coppery glow. It had beautiful Enochian sigils carved into it and a simple cord to pull. Gabriel gripped this rope and looked at his brethren. Some, like Raphael, made a disgusted face, others who seemed to recall what the bell meant looked at him eagerly. "Gabriel!" Raphael growled. "Do not!"
That was all it took for the Trickster in him to come out grinning and he yanked the rope tightly. The peal it made was crisp and clear and reverberated through the Grace of every angel. It had been left alone by Michael and Raphael over the centuries, only an archangel could ring the bells that signaled the changing of a season for Heaven. But the seasons weren't like Earth's these were seasons of war or peace, of prophecy or reflection. The bell that was now echoing had been the bell of renewal and that meant the acquisition of fledglings.
It was time to replace their decimated numbers. Though a good majority of the angels who had died were too stubborn and foolish to be of much use. The only problem was that angels didn't procreate. Instead the angels who felt so inclined would take a willing human under wing and care for them as though a child. This along with the transference of Grace and patience would change said human into an angel over time. Angels all over the world felt the sudden pull towards parenthood. It was typical for angels in care taker or guardian roles to feel this, but it wasn't common for soldiers or archangels to feel the bell's chime resonating within their Grace, it was rare, soldiers were meant to protect Heaven and Archangels led the host.
"The hell?" Gabriel muttered as the song of renewal sparked within his Grace.
"Gabriel?" Castiel was looking at the archangel head cocked to the side and blue eyes wide in concern and surprise. "I am not supposed to commune with that bell." The angel said simply in a tone of perplexed frustration.
Gabriel wanted to say something witty but he was too shocked to even speak. After a hefty swallow and an eye roll to make headlines, he chuckled darkly. "Serves me right for letting those two get under my skin." He mumbled. "Cassie, dear brother, you and I are so royally screwed!"