Gabriel's eyes fluttered open. His head ached and body burned from the inside out. His skin felt as though it were melting off, as if he in a fire pit or oven. The ringing in his ears deafened him and he had to take a moment to clear his head. He looked to the sky, or lack thereof, and squinted hard, trying to make out the constellations that Lucifer had taught him all those centuries ago. He finally gave up when he realized that what he was looking at was neither stars nor the sky at all, but darkness. The kind that suffocates you and invades your head, you deepest secrets. The kind that makes your greatest fears come to life.

When the earsplitting mosquito tone finally receded he was bombarded with the sounds of screaming souls. They all chanted the same cry for help. His heart leapt into his throat and his pulse quickened. He swiveled his head left and right searching for the crying persons but all he saw was the red hot flames of a burning fire. He lifted his arms and saw not a burn on him. His body looked exactly the same from when he last remembered.
Suddenly his memory came back to him in a flash. He remembered helping the Winchesters fight off the apocalypse. "That's where I am… In the middle of the apocalypse." Gabriel said clenching his jaw and rolling his eyes in pure anger. The two bull-headed Winchesters must have not taken my advice and accepted their fate. Accepted being the true vessels. The angrier he got, the less pain he felt. He felt years of hatred and suffering from the hands of his siblings rise up and over take him. Soon, he had manifested so much fury that he was able to stand.

Lucifer. Michael. Heaven? A sudden realization hit Gabriel like a ton of bricks. He reached hesitantly behind him and ran his hands up his back. The familiar spot in the middle where his wings always were felt normal, like he had never been an angel. Gabriel's head swam and he fell to the ground in a heap. If I'm not an angel, then what am I? What am I to do with my existence?Gabriel thought, his body going numb.

"Oh save the waterworks. Nobody has time for that here. We have all got business to attend to," A voice called, strong with an English accent.
"I… I don't understand. Where is 'here'? I have no business anywhere except Heaven." Gabriel moaned. He closed his eyes and willed it to be a bad dream. That he'd wake up eventually.
"Oh you're in Hell. And you ought to see the King, he has a job for you," Crowley replied stepping into Gabriel's ring of fire.
"Lucifer has business for me? Why would HE care what I do?" Gabriel's fury returned to him.
"Oh you don't know yet?" Crowley toyed, "You're a demon, Gabriel."