Sam's mouth dropped open in shock. "Gabriel?" The archangel stumbled towards him clutching his bloodied blade, covered in bruises and scrapes. "Surprised to see me, Sam? You know, that's a little bit insulting." Maybe it was, but they'd all honestly expected Lucifer to kill his little brother. "Does this mean… Did you kill him?" Gabriel chuckled grimly. "Do you think I'd be this calm if I'd just killed my closest brother? Nah, I just let Luci in on a little secret. I swear, that guy makes Dean-o here look like freakin' Oprah."

The Winchesters shared a look of confusion. "Michael doesn't really want to kill Luci. He wants to have angry-sex with him, then some make-up sex, and finally some good ole bond-mate-sex. You two might not want to be around for that, though." The Hunters' faces scrunched up in disgust. "Mikey's had the hots for Luci since forever. He wasn't always such an asshole, you know. Lucifer was a pretty great brother before Dad made you guys and he got all jealous." Dean looked sceptical, but Sam seemed to be contemplating the implications.

He was the one who asked, "How did he take the news? Is there still going to be an Armageddon?" The archangel shrugged, and winced when the move tugged his bruises. "That depends on whether or not Luci offers to accept the bond with Michael. It could go either way, but I'm optimistic. Michael always was his favourite brother." Dean grimaced. "Isn't that like, incest or something?"

Gabriel just shrugged again, and cursed under his breath at having forgotten about how painful doing that was. "We're only brothers in the same way priests and soldiers call each other 'brothers'. Besides, the mate-bond exists for a reason. We're social creatures, just like humans. We weren't built to live out eternity on our own." Sam scowled at Gabriel's bruises, as though he was noticing them for the first time. "Gabe, why aren't those healing?"

Gabriel sighed, tucking his bloodied blade back inside his jacket. "When an archangel beats the shit out of you, it packs more punch than most. You tend to stay hurt. I'll be fine in a couple of weeks, he didn't break anything." The younger Winchester nodded. "Come back to the hotel with us, and we'll get you patched up." Something uncertain and calculating flitted through the archangel's eyes, before he grinned and nodded. "Sounds good, Moose."