A/N: This is sort of a follow up to "Gabriel's Spare Vessel" it can be read alone but you might want to read that one first.
"Gabriel, you wished to see me?" Castiel said as he appeared next to Gabriel at the gravesite.
Gabriel sighed. "Yes. It's time you learned a little bit about old school Archangel responsibilities. It seems that things really got out of hand in the last century. I guess the Apocalypse was the only thing on everyone's mind."
"Why are we meeting in a cemetery in Luxembourg, Gabriel?" Castiel asked confused.
"Because this is where we start your lesson kiddo." Gabriel answered.
Castiel tilted his head and read the marker. "Sgt Warren "Skip" Muck, born January 31, 1922 died January 10, 1945. Was he a soldier of some importance?"
"Not to War. He was just another kid tossed out there as cannon fodder, but he had the potential to be very important. He was a true vessel, my true vessel." Gabriel explained.
"But you already occupy your true vessel." Castiel was very confused.
"Remember when Sam and Dean were in Jericho and I told you that they were pranking me about a clone? It wasn't a clone. The guy's name is Bill Kohler, he's also my true vessel." Gabriel said. "It's time you learn about one of the perks of being an Archangel. You always have a spare true vessel somewhere. Lets take a little time trip Cassie."
"Where are we?" Castiel asked looking around at the frozen landscape. The ground was carpeted in snow and the trees bent under the combined weight of snow and ice. Men were huddled around wrapped in Blankets to ward off the bitter cold.
"Bastogne, just outside of the town of Foy, Belgium. Every war has one battle that is known as the bloodiest battle of the war, World War II Is no exception. This is it, The Battle of the Bulge January 10, 1945."
"Gabriel is that?" Castiel asked looking at a young man in a foxhole talking quietly to another man. The two were obviously freezing but they still joked and teased each other about the predicament they were in.
"Yes that's Skip Muck. The other guy is Alex Penkala." Gabriel said. Muck was laughing quietly at Penkala who had made a joke about pissing icicles. "They will both be dead in a few moments."
As Gabriel and Castiel watched, another Gabriel appeared next to the foxhole. This Gabriel's face showed a sadness that Castiel had never seen on his brother's face. They watched as the other Gabriel sat down in the foxhole next to Muck and placed a hand on his shoulder.
"You were with him when he died." Castiel said. "You came to comfort him even though you were masquerading as the Trickster."
"Yeah. The Germans are going to start shelling this position in a minute." Gabriel said quietly.
Almost before he finished the salvo of mortar rounds started and men ran for the dubious cover of foxholes. In the foxhole Gabriel unfurled his wings and wrapped them around Skip Muck. Skip and Alex were calling out to another man in the open urging him to join them in the foxhole when there was an explosion of dirt, blood and metal.
"A one in a million shot. A direct hit on the foxhole." Gabriel said. "The Germans manged to score more than one direct hit on this day. Unfortunately this mortar was not a dud like several of the others, it was live."
The other Gabriel had stood up and unfurled his wings from the stunned soldier. Reaching out, that Gabriel pressed two fingers against Skip Muck's forehead. Sgt Muck disappeared and Gabriel looked around the woods before vanishing himself.
"Okay kiddo let's go." Gabriel said snapping his fingers.
Castiel looked around, he was in heaven but a part of heaven he had never seen before. "Where are we, Gabriel. This is heaven but I am not familiar with this heaven."
"There was no reason for you to be before now. Only Dad and the Archangels know of this place. It was created for our vessels." Gabriel said. "When the soul of an Archangel's true vessel leaves it's body it comes here. Some of them have hosted angels but most of them lived their lives never knowing about us. But we still have a responsibility to them."
Gabriel took off walking and Castiel followed. It soon became apparent that no one was paying any attention to the two angels. Gabriel stopped and stepped through the woods pointing at the bank of a river.
"Skip Muck?" Castiel questioned as he watched a young man and woman sitting on a blanket near a flowing body of water, they smiled at each other and the small child between them.
"Yes, it's his heaven. He survived the war and came home to marry his sweetheart, Faye. This is what he would think of when he faced battle; he thought of home, the family that he would have." Gabriel said. "It's why I was there in that foxhole. We reap our own true vessels Castiel, and then we deliver them to their own personal paradise."
Gabriel turned away from the Muck family. The grassy riverbank had turned into sand. A man was kneeling before a door marked with Hieroglyphs. He was carefully removing dirt from the symbols with a delicate brush. Even kneeling and sporting a very short neat haircut, it was impossible to mistake the figure of Sam Winchester.
"No, not Sam. Simply another vessel. His name was Thomas Campbell. He was a college student from Georgia. He had dreams of becoming a famous archeologist. He died during the Spanish Flu Outbreak just after World War One." Gabriel said. If you wander around here you will find 'Dean' Hunting tigers in Africa. All of the Archangels had many true vessels and they are all here somewhere. You just cannot interact with them."
"Would I be correct in assuming that there is a purpose behind you showing me this?" Castiel asked.
"Right you are Bucko!" Gabriel said. "One of Michael's duties was to mark true vessels when they were born. This way we could always find them if we needed to use them as a vessel, keep an eye on them and when their lives were over, to bring them here."
Gabriel stopped and seemed to look off into the distance for a second. "Oops! Time to go. We don't want to be late." Gabriel raised his hand and snapped his fingers.
Castiel looked at the woman who was pushing at the doctors command before falling back against the gurney that she was laying on. "She seems familiar." Castiel said to Gabriel.
"She should. Her name is Janice Reed. She's Jimmy Novak's sister."
Gabriel stepped up next to the doctor as he lifted a small squirming body up into the air and rubbed the newborn's back. Gabriel reached out a fingertip and traced something on the infant's chest. There was a bright glow and Castiel felt something tug on his grace.
"Gabriel? What was that?" Castiel asked rubbing the area over jimmy's heart soothing the slight discomfort.
"Meet your new true vessel. That pull you felt was me linking his soul to your grace. Remember what it feels like, you will feel it again every time a new true vessel is born." Gabriel said. "Now it's your responsibility to keep track of him. If something were to happen and Jimmy for some reason can no longer contain you, this child will be there for you."
Gabriel smiled as the infant opened intense blue eyes before they blinked closed again. "And when the time comes and his life is ending, it's your job to usher him to the heaven set aside for our vessels, just like I did with Skip."
"Do Joshua and Balthazar have spare vessels also?" Castiel asked.
"As a matter of fact Joshua's vessel will be born in about six hours and Balthazar's will be born tomorrow. Now I have to get going. Later Bro." Gabriel lifteed his hand and snapped his fingers.
Gabriel stood beside the grave of one Sgt Warren "Skip" Muck in the Luxembourg American Cemetery. The sound of feathers announced Joshua's arrival.
"Brother, you wished to see me?" Joshua asked.
"Yes. It's time you learned a little bit about old school Archangel responsibilities, Joshua."