There was a conflict inside Gabriel as he stared at the door to the Winchester's. He gulped, suddenly feeling nervous, his hands clammy and cold. He was going on a hunch that the Winchester's were indeed here. That was all. That was what he'd been told by the voice. He'd been notified the second he'd been revived by the unknown voice that the apocalypse had indeed been stopped by the Winchester brothers, and he'd been directed to where he had to find them. It was easy really, the reality laid out for all to see, and Gabriel thanked the voice, feeling that it was somewhat familiar and yet also distant. Father, perhaps?
Gabriel had died yes, he'd been stabbed by his own brother, but somehow for reasons he wasn't told, he'd been revived, brought back to life just in time to see his brothers and sisters fall like confetti onto the earth. He almost wished he hadn't been brought back. He remembered collapsing against the tree as he watched, his legs weak and somewhat not quite as strong as he'd anticipated. Certainly different than when he'd been an angel.
He hoped that Sam and Dean were in, there was a pretty pristine Chevy Impala on the path, if that wasn't a give-away Gabriel didn't know what was. Besides if they weren't home then he'd be stuck out in the frosty air for a while longer, and he felt cold and his stomach ached for food, something he was accustomed to at least wanting, his fellow fallen angel siblings wouldn't be and they wouldn't understand that they needed to eat.
He swallowed the lump in his throat, he'd save them, he'd find them all and he'd save them, it was the least he could do for his younger siblings, he was an archangel, he had to be able to do something for them. His hand reached out to knock but his hand trembled, as a trickster he'd been able to hide away, he'd been safe and sound and...and he could do everything and anything he wanted but not now. Now he was vulnerable, a target, easy to kill and he felt somewhat scared of that enormous prospect, I mean what was more terrifying then being human for something that once wasn't? He was to be in Sam and Dean's hands now, and he wasn't quite sure if he'd made the right decision, but they had good hearts, no matter what their methods were. He didn't feel exactly comfortable being in their hands, after all he had made their lives hell for a while, when he'd been up to his trickster gimmicks. He chuckled a little at the thought, retracted his hand before running it down his face, was he really going to do this?
His resolve was running weak at the moment, and he couldn't help but shove his hand into his pocket to pull out the candy that had always always been there, and when his hand came back out empty he felt like crying, he needed candy to keep his calm, that's what he needed right now.
Candy...and maybe some sex. Wait...some sex, some sex just would not be enough for him right now, he needed it all. "Priorities Gabriel..." He mumbled to himself, he paused though when he heard noises, the sound of talking was coming closer from behind the door. He would never admit to his utter panic and he truly did panic; he scrambled from the door, unsure what to do, should he look like he just arrived or should he just hide and wait for the perfect moment?
He ended up inside a bush, desperately trying to not rustle the leaves, he peeked out as he watched the door open slowly, his eyes widening a little at the sight of his former little bro, the Winchester's very own angel, Castiel. Something in his chest clenched awfully hard at the sudden sight of Cas, 'was it his heart?', he seemed to be wearing something akin to what he liked to call 'the Winchester special' which consisted of tartan shirts and wait...was that one of Dean's jackets?
He didn't really have any time to deliberate the idea as suddenly a chuckling Dean made an appearance, his face older than it had looked the last time he'd cast eyes on the older Winchester, and yet beneath that pained exterior there was something, something so bright that it shone past the cracking hard surface, even in Gabriel's human form, he could feel the ghostly light, the power that this soul emitted.
The sight seemed to make Gabriel smile himself, he felt content, he felt happy for Dean and for Cas because they were happy.
So then where was...?
"Alright, alright! I'll call you when we get there, I expect that information by the time we get there though Sammy," there was a pause in Dean's speech as he laughed at the presumed scoff and presumed bitch face number 4 that Sam offered in reply. Dean was grinning when he turned to walk towards the even more so sleek Impala, Castiel behind him, "See you soon Sam." Gabriel watched the exchange from his bush, it was strange for him to watch the conversation, if it could be called that, because Castiel had turned out to be one of the most human of all the angels, the most brave and definitely one of Gods best creations. At times he seemed possibly even more human then the two boys near him.
Gabriel almost wished he'd created Castiel himself, or rather...he thought about it momentarily and then shook his head gently, maybe not. Although if he had created him, he would have definitely given Cas a sex drive, that would have been essential to his creation.
Gabriel glanced back at the now moving away Impala, urgency peeking in his body as he dived out of the bush towards the enormous figure that was moving rather swiftly back inside.
There was a momentary struggle as Gabriel clamped his arms around one of Sam's legs, holding on tight, much like a child would on their first day of school.
However he was plucked unceremoniously off the tall currently glaring yet still delicious man above him, the former angel stared at his older brothers vessel, his green eyes transfixed by the interchanging colour of Sam's own, he found it mesmerizing and he somewhat wished he could look into those deep currently light green doors to Sam's once dark soul.
"Gabriel?!" The exclamation was loud and woke him from his deepest thoughts and he realized (after a few seconds delay) that Sam had him by the collar of his jacket, and he was actually suspended in the air the realization clicked into place, he would have never seen Sam's eyes from that close before.
"Hey...kiddo." He replied somewhat cautiously, waving a little, the action caused Sam's eyes to narrow considerably, and it took all but one second before Gabriel's back was against the grassy wall and a suspicious human was glaring back at him, those large hands of Sam's holding the considerably smaller man there with little force. "Careful there Sammy, I might think you're into me," he joked trying to ease the tension a little, he'd never felt this scrutinized before. It was terrifying.
Water was thrown into his face all of a sudden, he spluttered and shook his head, "Holy water? Seriously Sam?" Gabriel snorted staring back at Sam, he knew that Sam knew he had died, but still, the vessel from before would not have withstood a resurrection without some sort of holy intervention, plus Gabriel was far too skilled to get caught and possessed by a demon, that was no fun.
"What are you?" There was a growl in Sam's voice, years of pain and anguish shoved into that resonating husky sound, there was a hint of the pure hunter in the tone 'if you don't tell me I'll torture you until you tell me or I find out' kind of hunter. One of Sam's hands grabbed at Gabriel's small wrist, he pushed the sleeve upwards and there was a flash of silver before Gabriel squeaked at his body's reaction to the now cut skin, he watched the blood trickle down his arm a little before slowly turning back to look at Sam. "I'm no demon Sam. I'm not a shapeshifter or any other type of monster you hunt. It's me. I can back! See! Although...I'm human now. All of us are." He looked intently at Sam, sensing the words tumbling back and forth in his head as he watched the younger Winchester try to make sense of what he was saying.
"But you died Gabriel. Lucifer killed you." Sam stated, his gaze positively boring holes into Gabriel's green eyes, he returned the stare to a lesser degree, hoping he'd somehow convinced the young man.
"Castiel came back. He came back a few times. Why is it so difficult to imagine someone bringing me back?" All joviality in Gabriel's voice had disappeared, replaced by the sound of someone a whole lot more sinister, it wasn't the first time Sam had heard the serious tone of former archangel. Gabriel was needed down on Earth, and if he wanted to be really honest with himself he needed Earth too, he'd spent centuries down on the beautiful planet, watching humans grow and adjust and hurt and yet he'd watched all their happy faces when something miraculous happened, he had seen their qualities good and bad, and he liked the idea of people needing him. Perhaps his Father needed him too.
The Gabriel that Sam seemed most familiar with returned seconds later as he shrugged gently, "Besides, the world needs its Trickster back right?" the hands that held him slowly seemed to let go, before they dropped to Sam's sides swinging lightly.
"You said you're now human?" Sam repeated, his voice sounding tired now, his eyes quickly reflecting an emotion that Gabriel did not know, or perhaps he'd just never felt it.
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He'd fallen into the abyss of Lucifer's eyes, he'd accepted the death before the blow came. Something inside him wanted to fight against the grip his brother had held him in, but nostalgia of his long and terribly slow past and the time he'd spent in heaven had set in. He remembered the time before he decided to remain on earth, the time he'd spent with Michael and Lucifer, their somewhat playful attitudes back then before all the talk of good and evil, of kneeling in front of the fascinating new creation. They were painful memories.
They'd all played tricks on one an other, even Michael; they were creatures born to obey yes, but for some reason Gabriel had a pinch of mischief within the folds of his grace, perhaps it was something that Father had placed there purposely when he thought upon it he decided that yes most likely Father had intended for this mischievous streak.
Lucifer had held him like this once before, except back then his grace had been the brightest of them all, even brighter than Michael's, and Gabriel had always been fascinated by the light it emitted. But also those brilliantly beautiful wings that were attached to his older brothers back, whenever the younger less experienced Gabriel saw Lucifer he would touch the tips gently, before clinging to them dramatically whenever his brother would leave him. Lucifer would thus dutifully pat Gabriel's head, saying something along the lines of "Father has called for me dear brother..." and then he'd leave, his own fingers trailing over Gabriel's large golden wings as he flew away.
Then everything crumbled.
God asked them to bow down, to obey the new species he'd let loose on Earth, the species that had something called 'free will' and Gabriel had to stand back and watch his beloved brother disobey. The Morning Star had loved their Father more than any other angel, and it was heartbreaking for the younger archangel to watch that faith, that all consuming adoration that Lucifer had within him begin to crack. That's when Michael began to change also. He fought Lucifer, and made him fall, Gabriel had never seen the furious spark in Michael's grace before or the dark light that tainted Lucifer's pearly wings. He never wanted to see either again. Something that haunted him though was the look that Lucifer had given him, in the height of battle with Michael, he had glanced over at Gabriel who'd hid in the shadows, his grace aching with loss as Lucifer began to slow and Michael speed up, he loved his brothers. But Michael had to win. And no matter how much Gabriel loved Lucifer, Michael was the brother who had to win, as it was said by their Father Michael would not defeat Lucifer just yet, that would be done at a later time.
The archangels and other warriors of God watched Michael's outer shell thicken, his humor and playfulness fading with a flap of wings.
There were to be no more tricks played in heaven when Michael was around.
Gabriel had been the first victim to his scolding, and he'd vowed to never again get caught whilst playing around with one of the younger angels, he'd tried his best to act like the brother Luci had to him.
However when he'd been given the chance to send messages down to Earth, to the humans who dominated the land, he rejoiced at the distraction and jumped to the occasion. Earth had turned out to be fun, and Gabriel had decided to remain there, and Father had let him because he was doing some good whilst having fun. It was perfect. So perfect.
He'd heard about the plan for two future brothers, The Winchester's, their future had been so intricately woven into the very fabric of time that not even Gabriel could play around with the time lines. After a while of watching the line of Winchester and Campbell procreate and lead up to the very moment the first fated brother would be born, Dean, Gabriel grew weary of the pain the family went through, and when Sam was born he felt pain envelope his grace, this human had a huge role to play in the vast universe, a brilliant yet tragic role, what an unlucky boy.
Trickster aside, Gabriel had watched what went on around Mary and John from afar, keeping an eye on the goings on, just to make sure that this somewhat unfortunate couple would play their roles, so that their sons could play theirs. That's all it was really, that's all it ever was, that's what the world was created for, so that it could end.
Gabriel hadn't played his role very well in the end, not when he stood there in Lucifer's grasp, his once beloved brother staring at him with such pain and anguish that filled his own grace with distress.
He'd gone back, saved the Winchester's and gone back to confront Luci, what did he have to lose other than his life? Honestly if there was anything worth dying for then it was the Winchester's.
That's how he ended up here, lost in the darkness of Lucifer's vessels' eyes, he wanted to beg, he wanted to leave here with his grace and vessel intact, but he knew, he knew only too well that he'd die. Gabriel didn't want to die. He wasn't ready to give in like the angels. But apparently his time had come.
Lucifer please.
And then his grace burned up and the magnificent archangel disappeared into the abyss of his father's arms.
"Welcome home."