This is my first attempt at a Supernatural fic, as well as my first time posting fanfiction. For those who don't know what happened in episode 22 of season 13, I'd suggest you avoid this fic until you catch up. It came about when I saw the latest episode of Supernatural and got really annoyed with how they killed off Gabriel... again. Needless to say, I decided to write my own version of what happened, and will incorporate elements from the season finale when I watch it, but after that, it's completely AU.

Chapter 1

"Can it be? Gabriel?"

Gabriel stared in shock at a brother he hadn't seen in millennia. Michael, who had come down in a fireball and overpowered Lucifer handily. That should have terrified him. Actually, it kind of did. If he was honest with himself, he was scared shitless. He didn't have enough grace for this. He was certain that facing down Michael was going to be it. But he had to try, right? Prove that he wasn't the same kid that ran all those millennia ago? Wasn't that why he'd teamed up with the Winchesters?

He glanced over to the brothers, making up his mind. "Go. I can buy some time."

"Gabriel, don't!" Sam was giving Gabriel a pleading expression. It was cute, but the archangel knew he needed to do this.

"All I did on Earth was run. I'm not running anymore." Shaking his head slightly, he speared Sam with a determined look as Dean looked on quietly. He gave the older Winchester a similar look to what he'd given Sam, hoping that Dean would take the hint. He had to do this. Stepping forward, he advanced toward his eldest brother. "Go!"

Part of him didn't want to believe it. He didn't want to believe that angels had fallen this far on this planet. Sure, they had fallen pretty hard on his planet too, but Gabe? He liked to think that maybe his world's angels were better than this. That everything that happened to the angels of his world had ended up with them realizing just how much humanity needed them, and they needed humanity. Sure, humans were flawed, broken, corrupted, but he couldn't blame them. Not when the Great Tempter had deceived them and done the corrupting. After that, he couldn't stand to be around his family. Michael had cast Lucifer into the Cage and Gabriel had run.

Gabriel felt his angel blade slip into his hand as he stared down Michael. His brother. His murderous, psychotic brother. Not this time. Gabriel was done with running. He'd run when his family had fought, he'd run when the Apocalypse had come, he'd run when he supposedly died. All that had culminated in his years of torture by a demon and his grace stolen. Even now, after being rescued, he could still feel the drain of his grace, the beatings he'd received, the fear coursing through his system as Asmodeus lorded over him his imprisonment. However, that fear was nothing in comparison to his desire to right the wrong he'd committed those many years ago.

Advancing, he held tight to his blade, ready to strike. However, he felt something as Michael moved to strike. A pulling, yanking sensation. Eyes widening, he managed to deflect most of Michael's blow away, the archangel blade Michael held biting deep into his arm. It ripped out suddenly, and Gabriel was hurtled back. Briefly he caught sight of Lucifer, who was scrambling to his feet with a surprising look of determination on his face. A flash, and he found himself skidding across the floor of the Bunker, hissing in pain.

"Lucifer!" Ignoring the pain in his arm, Gabriel scrambled to his feet, charging toward the portal. What in Dad's name was Luci thinking? Michael was at full power! Lucifer had just been tossed around like a rag doll. Lucifer was incapable of taking on their eldest brother alone.

Another flash, and both Winchester brothers were through the gate, causing Gabriel to stumble. With a gasp, Rowena dropped her arm, and the portal collapsed into nothing. He stared first at the witch then at the brothers. Had they just…?

A clang echoed in the room then, Gabriel's blade slipping from his fingers. Up until then, he'd ignored the wound Michael had given him. However it came back in a burning rush. Hissing, he clutched at his forearm, blood staining his sleeve. "Damn it," he muttered, grimacing. He wasn't healing, not right away. His grace was still too weak from being drained for what seemed like a millennium by Asmodeus. Maybe this was his penance for running. Maybe he was fated to always watch his family fight.

A presence to his side made Gabriel look to the side. Castiel stood there, examining him carefully. "You're hurt."

"Well, aren't you the brightest bulb in the box." He removed his hand briefly to look and winced. That looked deep. He was surprised that his vessel managed to hold his blade for any length of time.

"Why aren't you healing?"

"Oh, I dunno, archangel blade stabbing me plus the lack of grace." Gabriel grimaced again. "That kind of does a number on a person, y'know."

Castiel frowned while looking around. All of the survivors from the other Earth were milling around as Mary and her boys started directing them on where to go. Rowena held back, looking exhausted. Gabriel didn't want to know exactly how much of her own mojo she'd spent holding the gate open. "Come."

Castiel led Gabriel through the Bunker, stopping only long enough to grab a first aid kit from one of the brothers' rooms. When the two got to Gabe's own room, Castiel sat the older angel down and started opening the kit. "That needs to be cleansed and dressed."

"I'm going to take that as a no on you healing, right?"

Castiel rose an eyebrow at Gabriel. "You know I can't heal you with my grace. You're an archangel."

"Yeah." Gabriel sounded bitter. "Probably the only living one left in this world."

Castiel's other eyebrow rose to join the first. "What happened?"

"Michael." Gabriel made a face. "He just showed up, blowing the last survivors up before he and Luci decided to do Celebrity Death Match part two. That didn't end well for Dad's little Morningstar."

Castiel paused in his perusal of the medical supplies. "Lucifer's dead then?"

"Not the last I saw." Gabriel pulled his jacket off, taking care not to jostle his arm too much. "He got knocked around, sure, but Michael hadn't gone all Lizzie Borden on him yet." He shook his head. "No, I tried to take on big brother on my lonesome."

Castiel's eyes widened. "You're not at your full grace yet. You shouldn't have done that."

Gabriel shrugged, awkwardly pulling his arm out of his sleeve and taking his shirt off one handed. He bunched it up and scowled at the blood. At last he could see the gash in his arm. It was still oozing blood and the archangel pressed his shirt to the wound. "Yeah well, I didn't get a chance to do much. Luci decided to chuck me through the portal right as soon as I got this. Dean-o and Samster probably know more about big bro's fate than I do."

Castiel's brows furrowed. "Lucifer saved you?" The seraph pulled the shirt back to examine the wound, much to Gabriel's discomfort. "One moment." Leaving briefly, he returned with a bowl of water and a couple of towels. "This needs to be cleaned."

"Cassie." The seraph looked up, his gaze serious as he met Gabriel's eyes. "Look, I don't know what was running through our brother's head when he did what he did. Maybe he had a plan. Maybe he just wanted to play glory hound. Or, maybe he wanted to prove himself the better Lucifer. I dunno. Altruistic or dick-sizing contest, I've never seen him look that determined since Dad cast him out of Heaven."

Castiel sighed, wetting the towel and cleaning the blood from Gabriel's arm. "I do not pretend to know Lucifer's thoughts. While he might have used me as a vessel once, it did not give me insight into his mind. Perhaps he believed finally that he should do the right thing."

"Yeah, well, I don't think anyone knows what Luci's thinking is. I certainly don't." Gabriel winced as Castiel brushed against the cut in his arm. "Though, I think it has more to do with a certain nephilim and proving he's better than Dad. Maybe. He can be a selfish son of a bitch, after all."

Castiel hummed in agreement, finishing up with his cleaning before he considered the wound before him. "This might need stitches."

"No." Gabriel shivered, remembering the way his mouth was sewn shut and wanting nothing to do with needles anywhere near his person. "No offence Cassie, but me and needles? I'd rather try my hand at giving birth to an eight-legged horse."

"Technically that was Loki."

"Hey now, I was Loki for millennia." Gabriel gave his younger brother a look. "I will have you know that if I did give birth to one, it would have been much better than the cowardly Mister Ed."

"You still need stitches for this, especially if your grace is unable to heal it on its own." Castiel gave Gabriel his own look.

"Then butterfly it up. You're not putting any needles in me." Maybe Gabriel was being a bit unreasonable about it, but he had every right to be. He wasn't budging from his stance at all.

Castiel gave his brother a searching look. "You are not with Asmodeus anymore."

Gabriel rolled his eyes. "Yeah yeah, I know. I made sure he was extra crispy, remember? Doesn't change the fact."

Castiel continued to give him a look for a bit longer before returning his attention to the wound. "I will get Sam or Mary to take care of this then."

"Not Mama Winchester. No offence to her, she's a swell gal, but I don't know her that well." Gabriel winced as Castiel took a piece of gauze and placed it atop the cut.

Castiel sighed. "You are being rather picky brother."

"I'm the injured party here. I can be picky if I wanna." Holding up his arm, Gabriel waited for Castiel to tape it up before he let it drop to his lap. "Um, thanks for this. Probably being impossible right now, but I appreciate it."

Castiel's lips turned up in a slight smile before he shook his head. "You're welcome Gabriel. I will be back." With that, the younger angel gave him a nod and walked out.

Gabriel fell back onto his bed with a groan, rubbing his face with his good hand. Now that he was alone, he had a moment to reflect on the near-suicidal actions of today. While he could understand the Winchesters and their tendency for self-destruction (he had tried to break them of that habit years ago, never did stick), he never figured he'd be joining them in that department. However, what happened with Michael and Lucifer made him realize that maybe he had more similarities with the little angel that could.

Then he considered his own words to his elder brother before they left to escape. He'd never even sugarcoated it. He'd laid out point blank his views on his brother and his actions, telling him that Jack never would want anything to do with his father when he found out what he was really like. That Lucifer was the cancer that Dad had to cut out before it spread. Whether that influenced Lucifer's actions later, he didn't know, but considering the look he'd had on his face, Gabriel was sure that he'd struck many a nerve with his words that night.

In any case, he hadn't seen Lucifer step through the portal after the Winchesters, hadn't seen or heard a word about what happened after the fact. Lucifer was stuck in the other world with Michael, and Gabriel wasn't sure if he should feel sorry for that world or for his big brother. He'd stayed away because he didn't want to be in the fight, but he realized that he had to fight. Gabriel wasn't sure if Lucifer even had that awareness or if he was doing everything to get closer to his son.

A knock on the door caused the archangel to sit up and look to see who was at the door. Sam stood there, looking like the awkward puppy that Gabriel figured he was before the hunter stepped in. "Cas said that you needed stitches?"

"I don't need stitches. You can get that idea right out of your head, Samsquatch." Gabriel gestured over to the area where the medical supplies were laid out. "Just butterfly me up and I'll be right as rain."

Sam frowned, moving over to remove the bandage. The hiss that accompanied it made Gabriel wince. "Um, Gabriel, not to sound like a nag, but this goes through some muscle. You're going to need stitches here."

"Yeah, well, you know, I think I've had my fill of being Frankenstein's monster. Don't need anything sewn up."

Sam gave Gabriel one of his best bitchfaces. "Look, if it doesn't get stitches, it won't heal right. I know you don't like the idea of more needles-"

"But if I don't, I won't be able to use my hand properly." Gabriel hated the look that Sam gave him. It was the puppy eyes, and Gabriel ended up sighing. "Fine, stitch it up. I am not looking at this at all."

Sam nodded, grabbing another clean towel to spread out over the top of Gabriel's dresser. Laying Gabriel's arm down, he quickly went to wash his hands before returning to uncover the cut. Sam frowned before fishing out the sutures kit, clamp, and scissors.

"Almost have a whole surgical kit in there, don't you?" Gabriel cocked an eyebrow at the supplies.

"Considering how often I've done this? Yeah." Sam refocused his attention on the cut, leaving Gabriel to shift nervously. "Dude, cut that out. You're going to make me mess up."

Gabriel grimaced at the look Sam sent him. "Sorry, nerves. They're not the best around pokey things." Taking a breath, he forced himself still. "There, better?"

"Much." Sam took out some alcohol wipes and swiped over the area, causing the archangel to let out a hiss of pain. "Sorry, had to disinfect."

"Psh, like I'm going to get an infection." His grace wasn't that low, after all.

Sam started opening the sutures kit, pulling out the thread and needle and causing Gabriel to tense and look at the wall. "So, um, the whole thing with Lucifer. What happened back there?"

"Hell if I know, kiddo. There I was, all ready to take on Michael, and Luci just chucked me aside." Gabriel winced and yelped as a twinge of pain thrummed through the cut. "Ouch!"

"I haven't even touched you yet." Gabriel winced and looked over. True to Sam's words, the needle wasn't anywhere near his arm yet, though with the way Sam was holding it with the clamp, he imagined that Sam was ready. Gabriel looked quickly away. "Besides, I saw that part. Did something happen before that?"

A piercing pain shot through the cut and Gabriel was very well aware that Sam had inserted the needle. He hissed, reminding himself that this wasn't one of Asmodeus's lackeys. "Well," he ground out, "I may or may not have laid into him for thinking that he's the eternal victim in the soap opera called Heaven. Not that he liked it, but I was kinda sick of him being a drama llama over Dad kicking him out."

Sam continued working, causing Gabriel to suck in a breath. "And I take it he didn't take it well."

"Nope." He winced, recalling the look on Lucifer's face after Gabriel's tirade. "He, umm, yeowch, he didn't take the truth bomb that well. Watch where you're poking that thing!"

"Sorry! I'm having to stitch up the muscle first before I get to the skin." Gabriel grimaced again, certain that his face was definitely going to get stuck that way. Sam sighed. "Look, I'm not saying that Lucifer didn't deserve that, because considering his history, he certainly did, but you sure that doing that was wise?"

That caused Gabriel to pause. Wise or not, it had happened, and considering his brother's tendencies to go off the deep end… "Lucifer's running around in this fantasy that everything he touches is pure gold, that he's right, and that everyone else in Heaven is out to get him." He winced again, feeling the needle moving and hating every minute of it. "If he's going to fill my nephew's head with all of his crazy, I might as well straighten out his delusions."

"Except you've never really interacted with Jack at all."

Ouch, low blow. Gabriel shook his head, glancing once to see Sam's face and clearly keeping his eyes off the needle in the giant's hand. "I'm going to be blunt with you. My track record with my family is, well… It's not great. I abandoned Heaven, I didn't try and stop the Apocalypse, hell, I probably blasphemed more times than me or Dad can count."

Sam looked up and met Gabriel's eyes with a frown. "Wouldn't you know how many times you've done that?"

"Not important Samsquatch." Gabriel shook his head. "The point is, family and me? We don't exactly get along. Haven't since humanity was created. Castiel is probably the closest to a normal family relationship that I've got, and even that's tainted by what I did to him years ago. It's probably best if I don't get involved."

Sam returned to his task quietly, finishing up with hopefully what was the last of the inside stitches before he moved onto the skin. After a few minutes of silence, Gabriel sighed. "You think I'm wrong."

"He needs someone to teach him how to control his abilities. You're currently the only sane archangel still alive." Sam finished up with the last stitch and proceeded to start wrapping the wound. "That, and well, with all of the crap that you've done, you still managed to make the right choice in the end. Whether you like it or not, you're still a decent role model."

Gabriel pulled a face, scowling. "Oh great, you're going to make me look like a choir boy in comparison to Luci, aren't you?"

Sam smirked as he finished taping the gauze off. "Well, comparatively speaking, you are one, and it's not like he's gonna see you as a dad."

"Oh good. I'm glad I didn't break one of the commandments then." Gabriel rolled his eyes. He flexed his arm, wincing at how weak it felt. Great, this was going to ruin his weekend.

Sam cleaned up the area and started packing away the medical supplies. Gabe stood, figuring that the least he could do was give someone his room. It wasn't like he needed it after all. Sam must have noticed the motion and glanced over. "Oh, Gabriel?"

"Yeah?"

Sam hesitated a moment before chewing his lower lip. "If you, you know, need to talk about anything, you know you can talk to me or Dean. Cas too. If, um, you want."

Gabriel paused, recognizing the offer for what it was. It was a not-so-subtle hint that he should talk about his torture at Asmodeus's hand. Gabriel wasn't sure if he wanted to travel down that rabbit hole or not yet. He'd gotten his revenge on the people responsible, but it just didn't help. Loki, his friend for millennia, Odin, Loki's children, Baldur, they were all gone. The rest of the Norse gods wouldn't understand, and Kali, well… That didn't even include his family, who were the last people he'd turn to for a Doctor Phil session.

Taking a deep breath, he gave Sam one of his patented smirks. "Sam, I'm fine. I'm sure that if I need to talk after having a nightmare, I'll consider it. But seriously, I'm good."

Sam frowned. "You don't sleep."

"Which is why I figure that this room can go to someone else. I mean, if I'm not using it for anything, I might as well just let someone else use it." That was probably the best thing about being an angel right now in Gabriel's mind. He didn't have to revisit his torture.

Sam looked at Gabriel carefully. "We have plenty of room right now actually. Maybe not food, but we can get that easily. You don't need to give up your room."

Gabriel sighed. "You're going to insist on living up to this whole infamous Winchester stubbornness, aren't you?"

"Well, you would know." The twitch in Sam's lips suggested he was fighting off a smirk of his own while trying to look serious.

"And considering that you still never learned the lessons, that never changed." Gabriel shook his head in bemusement. "Fine, I'll stick around the joint. But, just warning you, I might have to leave here shortly again."

Sam blinked in surprise. "Any particular reason why?"

"Not revenge if that's what you're thinking. I got that out of my system already." Gabriel shook his head. "This time, it's more taking care of business. Cassie brought up some stuff I have to check into." And hopefully he wouldn't get stuck checking it out. After all, it'd been thousands of years since he last saw Heaven.

Gabriel sighed as the speech went on. He had to hand it to the other world's Singer. Guy was a hell of an orator, even if he didn't use flowery prose. It was all more gruff and simple. And of course after it all, libations were consumed, people relaxed, and the whole of the bunker was filled with the chatter of people who were debating about jumping straight into planning or relaxing and getting their minds off of warzones for a few hours.

Gabriel's mind of course wandered thousands of miles away, instead turning toward the topic of Heaven and its problems. Well, one giant Dad-sized problem. Gabriel of course had heard from Castiel about Heaven potentially going dark, and for the first time in centuries, Gabriel flipped the switch to his own internal angel radio. The silence that met his mind was startling, and Gabriel shivered. There were so few, he thought. Why had no one told him about this earlier?

Because you ran, his mind whispered, you ran and no one could find you, and then you got yourself abducted by a demon prince.

Some great and powerful archangel he was. He shook his head. He needed to stop thinking like that. Currently he was the only archangel that they had that might stand a chance against Michael.

Sighing, he turned to look for Castiel, thinking he might as well let the seraphim know. Thankfully he could spot Cas through the crowd. Apparently his brother had moved over to the Winchesters and was conversing with Dean. Which, that actually made what he planned easier. Manoeuvring through the crowd, Gabriel finally reached the group Only to hear Dean mention something about Lucifer. Oh, great, his favorite topic.

"Why the hell did he yank Gabriel back anyway?"

"I believe the situation is a bit… complicated."

"Yeah, well, it needs to uncomplicate."

Gabriel rolled his eyes at the hunter's statement Lucifer couldn't do uncomplicated if it bit him in his grace. "You know, he's probably either working on betraying everyone, again, or he's decided to play martyr. Which, I don't see him pulling a Joan of Arc here."

Dean's eyes flicked over to Gabriel. "That doesn't make sense. He was facing Michael. He'd likely gank the Devil before Lucifer even got a chance to say anything."

"Unless he decided to make a deal with him." Castiel looked from Gabriel to Dean, frowning. "What do you want, Gabriel?"

"Oh, ouch, make me feel wanted. I was just coming over to ask you if there was a gate to Heaven I could use."

Dean snorted. "You can't just fly up there?"

Gabriel rolled his eyes again. Why did he always seem to do that around these guys anyway? Oh, right, because they tended to make things difficult. "One, my grace is running low still, and me flying off takes a lot out of me. Two, since Metadick closed Heaven off, I can't exactly fly up there even with my grace up to snuff."

"There is an active gate I can take you to." Castiel interrupted. "But Gabriel, they want an archangel there to help power Heaven. They will likely be loathe to let you leave it for any reason."

"Wait, what?" Deal looked between the two angels in confusion. "Did I miss something?"

"Heaven's failing Dean," Gabriel stated without preamble, causing the hunter to sputter. "Right now, I have my angel radio running, and nothing's coming through. Nada. There's too few of us. It might be years from now, it might be days. However, one thing's for certain, and that's when Heaven fails, it's going to get nasty for people on Earth."

"You're serious?" Dean looked from Castiel back to Gabriel, seeing the same look on their faces. "Damn, you are serious."

"And that's why I need to go back." Gabriel made a face. "If nothing else, if Michael manages to break through to this world, I need to make sure that he can't take Heaven. Any angels left in this universe wouldn't be able to stand against Michael's Host."

"We don't know what Michael would do with this universe's Heaven, but we do know it won't be good," Castiel added. "The only good thing our Heaven has for it right now is that it's closed off to angels just flying in and out. Which means that as long as Michael doesn't know where the portals are, Heaven should be safe from him. For now."

"And if I know my big bro, he'll know how to create his own portal." Geez, he hated that thought, but it was true. Michael was the first son, he'd know how to create portals to Heaven if he needed to. Gabriel rubbed his forehead. "See, that is the biggest reason I have to go. I'll try and come back as soon as I can, but-"

"Yeah, I get it. It won't be for a while." Dean groaned. "Just when we thought we could get a break, something else just gets thrown at us. Freaking awesome."

Gabriel gave the hunter a smirk. "Hey, think of it this way Dean-o, I won't be in your hair. You get to enjoy a nice, former trickster free time while I'm gone. Plus, while I'm gone, I can try and figure out some way to fix this."

"Fine, go. But if I catch one hint that you've somehow managed to pull something while you're gone-""Don't have enough mojo for that sort of thing." Gabriel waved to the hunter before turning to nod to Castiel. Together, the two angels left to go back to a place Gabriel once called home.

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