Gabriel.

Gabriel was wandering restlessly around the hallways of heaven. He should be happy, content being back with his brothers and sisters, but he simply wasn't. Millennia of being on his own had been tough, and he had longed to return to his family, but now he had, he found himself longing for solitude, heck, even the company of humans. Up here, every one was so asture... So stoïc. He'd tried pranking Hannah, but the only chuckle he got, was his own. 'They are all so busy with that frigging Apocalypse.' Gabriel thought bitterly. 'If only those Winchester-yahoos would just say yes to my brothers... Then it would all just be over.' But then he remembered how desperately Sam had tried to safe Dean, even months after he'd been shot at the Mystery Spot. How Sam had begged him, Gabriel, to please bring his big brother back. He remembered the tears in those eyes, the trembling lower lip, showing him Sam was on the verge of crashing like a ton of rocks. 'Just like how I begged Dad to bring back Lucifer. And he didn't. That was why I couldn't deny Sam. Not because I got bored with the 'game'. It was because I could do for him what Dad refused to do for me.' Next he remembered how they had cornered him in that warehouse, and Dean had stood there, ever so slightly in front of his little brother. Gabriel smiled. Dean always did that. In effect, he made sure that if anything was going to pounce, he would stand in between Sam and the threat. 'Just like a big brother should.' Gabriel thought. His mind wandered to his own brothers... His big brothers. Lucifer and Michael were always at each other's throats. They had been for eons. Even after Lucifer had been cast out, Michael couldn't bring himself to stop bashing their memories of him. But Gabriel had seen all that had happened between them, and knew Mikey's stubborn attitude had started as many fighting as Luci's recalcitrant one. He remembered how angry Mike could get at him, Gabriel, for not quite following protocol, and he also remembered those times Luci had stood before him, like Dean before Sam. Protective, and on his guard. Gabriel felt his heart break all over again. He was so fed up with all of it. The fighting, the 'plans' that apparently were made for everyone and could never change. Angrilly, Gabriel shook out his golden wings and he flew to his quarters.

The slam with which Gabriel, Archangel, Messenger of the Lord, closed his door, shook the skies and several angels looked confused. What was that? Gabriel paced his room, not knowing why he had feelings like these. In the vaults of his mind he could hear the voice of the oldest Winchester clear as a bell. "This isn't about some prizefight between your brothers. This is about you, being to afraid to stick up to your family!" Gabriel also remembered how disappointed Castiel had looked at him. Sure the overtone in those cerulean eyes had been anger, but disappointment had been there too. As if baby brother Castiel had expected more from him. That look, that had hurt. Gabriel sat down in his favorite red leather chair with a huff. He flicked on his tv-set with his grace and made a sucked appear in his mouth. Instead of a regular program, his tv showed life on earth, and Gabriel knew which channel he would be watching. He had done so since January 24th, 1979. Ever since he had picked up on what the Winchesters called 'Angel Radio', that the first true vessel had been born, Gabriel had watched that family. Even though he had left Heaven and went into hiding, he felt he should keep tabs on the world. He had seen the similarities between Dean and Michael and between Sam and Lucifer. Not just the ones he had pointed out to the hunters, that day at the warehouse, but also more subtle ones. There were differences too, of course. The biggest one being that the Winchesters always seemed to be able to get past their differences, to forgive whatever transgression the other had made. And now, now they were joined together in one goal: stop the Apocalypse, while still being theirselves. Not giving in to Gabriel's big brothers. And that didn't go down well up here. Michael was pulling all the stops on conniving and scheming to get Dean to say yes.

On the screen, Dean and Sam were sitting at a table, talking. 'Wait, what? Are they wearing... Scrubs?' Gabriel chuckled. What were those two muttonheads up to now? For a short time, Gabriel entertained himself with watching the brothers hunt a wraith in a mental hospital, but before long his soulsearching began again. The Winchesters were asleep, so Gabriel switched channels a bit, but not really watched any of it. He was reliving every moment he had spent with the boys, as the Trickster, and those few where they had known his true identity as an Archangel. Even though the Winchesters had been a thorn in his side quite a few times, he couldn't just let them be. The very first time they had crossed paths, he had told Dean that he liked him and Sam. And he stood to that. His thoughts kept going in circles like that, until he suddenly found Kali and Mercury together on one channel. That was odd... He turned up the volume to listen in on their conversation.

'HELLS BELLS!' Gabriel fumed in the safety of his mind. 'Those IDIOTS!' He had switched the tv off and was pacing his room like a caged tiger. 'They are all going to get killed, bloody... Every, silly, pagan, one of them. And the Winchesters too, in the proces.' Somehow that last bit irked him tremendously. Not just because that would throw a humongous wrench in the great big 'plan' his Dad had made, but because he thought they didn't deserve such messy endings. Had he become fond of those giants? Oh no...He had. They had gotten under his skin. It seemed that spending eons amongst humans, made you feel things, made you almost human. He would not like to see humanity whiped out, because his brothers couldn't kiss and make up. He just couldn't, after all those centuries living with the species, he simply couldn't. Biting his lower lip, Gabriel started to do some planning of his own.