Hey everyone, back with an update! I was so excited to see the response this story has gotten already, I'm so glad you guys seem to be enjoying it :) Special thanks to my guest reviewers! I'm really looking forward to seeing what everyone thinks as the story continues, and I promise there's a massive amount of h/c fluff at the end. In the meantime, here's the beginning of Gabriel's intervention. Enjoy!
Note: Dialogue and scenes taken from 11x10 in this chapter.
Chapter Two
Gabriel had been reluctant to leave before he was sure Castiel was still alive or not, but he hadn't really had another choice. He had to lock Lucifer down while he was still vulnerable and weakened from the fight, and before he could wreak any more havoc than he already had. Besides, he couldn't exactly let the Winchesters and his baby bro see that he was going soft—or whatever. He just hoped he still had a baby bro to defend himself to after all was said and done.
Lucifer had started chuckling to himself, annoying Gabriel more than he wanted to admit as he hauled him down the long corridor that would lead to the cage—now fully repaired and unreachable again. He tried to ignore the other angel but finally, took the bait.
"Alright, chuckles, I'm glad you find it funny you're going to be locked up for all eternity, but it's really starting to wear like a pair of wet leather pants."
"Oh, little brother, you call yourself the Trickster but you never could stand it when the joke's on you." Lucifer smiled.
Gabriel shoved him harder so that he stumbled. "Joke's on me, huh? I'm not the one going back to the cage."
"No, true, but you don't know the half of what went on back when you were dead and poor Castiel, who you seem to care about quite a bit, was all alone, hunted by heaven and just wanting to belong somewhere. Just wanting to be loved."
"He's still alive, that's what matters." Gabriel replied shortly, ignoring Lucifer's satisfied smirk.
"Maybe for now, but how long do you really think that will last? In fact, he might have expired by now, it's not like the Winchesters are going to do anything about it."
"What are you talking about? I know they're kind of self-centered dicks at times, but they're the only friends he has," Gabriel said.
"You don't get it, do you? I was in Castiel's head, I saw everything while I was in there, the pain, the longing to belong, not only back in heaven, but among the humans—with Sam and Dean. And boy, getting to be part of that exclusive club is hard, let me tell you. No, there's a reason Castiel said yes to me, and it wasn't to be a hero. It was because he thought he was a suitable sacrifice. I tell you what, baby bro, that kid is nine kinds of messed up. And this is coming from someone who spent a considerable amount of intimate time in the walking shrink's nightmare that is Sam Winchester."
Gabriel was silent, continuing on but he had a hard knot in his gut, fearing that there was a good dose of truth in Lucifer's words as much as he hated to admit it. "Well, Castiel doesn't give up that easy. Now, you've got some explaining to do, Luci, so let's get you back into the cage so you can spend a good long time thinking about what you've done."
"You're not even curious?" Lucifer asked with a laugh. "Really? Soft-hearted Gabriel who always loved looking after the fledglings and playing games with them instead of doing his duties as an archangel; the one they all loved, the one little Cassie especially looked up to, you don't even want to know what he's gone through? What Sam and Dean did to him? Because, man, the psychological damage alone would be enough to put anyone into a position where they would, oh I don't know, let the devil ride around inside them for a while on a suicide mission to save the world even when they knew the consequences would most definitely be death. And there was plenty of physical damage as well, whether indirectly or intentional—does it really matter in the long run?"
Gabriel slammed him against the wall and was angry when he saw the pleased gleam in Lucifer's eyes, knowing he had gotten a rise out of Gabriel, exactly as planned. "If you're lying, I want you to understand that I can make your eternal stay in the cage a hell of a lot more uncomfortable."
"Oh, I'm not lying, Gabriel," Lucifer said with a solemn pout. "Cross my heart and hope to live forever in torment. You wanna see baby brother's psych eval?"
Before he could reply, Lucifer raised his bound hands and pressed two fingers to Gabriel's forehead. Gabriel staggered back, instantly assaulted by painful images flashing before his eyes. Turmoil in Heaven, Castiel trying to keep it together, working with Crowley, killing angels against his will, getting thrown around by Rafael, and then Leviathans, dying, coming back alone without his memories. Transferring Lucifer's hold on Sam to himself, weeks spent in a mental hospital, then roaming Purgatory. And that wasn't even the worst. There were months of torture at the hands of Naomi, who Gabriel had always hated. Cas being molded into the perfect angel again, being ostracized by the Winchesters who didn't trust him anymore, wouldn't help him even when he asked; then his grace being cut out, thrown out of heaven, wandering human and alone, cold, hungry, being tortured by a reaper, stabbed. Then Dean kicking him out of the bunker, more hopeless roaming. More torture, stealing an angel's grace. The images blurred, going faster and faster. Grace burning out, dying, he was dying again, Sam was ordering him to help with Dean, getting the Mark off of him. Fists, blood, trying to stop Dean, but then he was on the ground his blade raised over him, he was going to die again…Rowena's spell, urge to kill, a plea for help, more torture, pain, worthless, weak, he couldn't leave the bunker, too weak, an angel telling him that he wasn't a hero, he was expendable, expendable, expendable.
Gabriel finally resurfaced from the visions—memories, memories that belonged to Castiel—and just watched Lucifer grinning at him and laughing.
"Pretty bad, huh? Downright certifiable. Don't say I didn't warn you."
Gabriel didn't say anything, his anger raging through him in a way he hadn't felt in a long time. Angry at what had happened to Cas, one of his favorite brothers, a kid he had always felt had taken after his own heart; a bit of a rebel but with his heart in the right place. A better angel than Gabriel had ever been. Angry that he had trusted the Winchesters to take care of him when he was gone, to be his family. They had seemed tight back then, but apparently a lot had happened since the apocalypse. But most of all, he was angry that he hadn't been there to protect Cas. To make sure he didn't feel the way he obviously felt now, and no wonder he felt that way. No one had given him reason to think otherwise. He grabbed Lucifer and silently forced him down the hall unable to forget what he had seen. When they finally got to the cage he opened the door that would be sealed afterward, for good. Lucifer sighed.
"Well, I guess this is it," Lucifer said. "You gonna think about what I told you?"
"It's none of your business," Gabriel told him.
"Just trying to help," Lucifer said with a fake pout and a shrug.
"Whatevs, bro," Gabriel replied as nonchalantly as possible and snapped his fingers, putting Lucifer into a straitjacket. The devil rolled his eyes.
"Really? This isn't a little, you know, nutcase, padded walls, to you?"
"Brother, you passed through crazy town a long time ago, you should be grateful I'm not giving you a Lecter muzzle," Gabriel told him. "Now get your ass in there before I kick it. By the way, hope you like the pocket dimension I left you. Laters." Gabriel smiled and shoved Lucifer into the cage, sealing it behind him with powerful sigils that would never be broken again. Then he sent the cage back to the deepest part of the pit.
He should have been happy for the victory they had just had as he went back topside, but all he could think about was Castiel and how he was going to make sure the Winchesters knew exactly how unhappy he was with them about how they had treated his little brother.
Looked like they were going to need a little Trickster treatment again.
Sam and Dean blinked several times as they landed, looking around, confused as to what exactly had happened. They seemed to be in some sort of blank room without any color or distinction. They turned to each other with questioning gazes, then spun around as Gabriel spoke up behind them.
"Well, thank you for joining me, gentlemen. I suppose you're wondering why you're here."
"Where exactly is here?" Sam asked cautiously, obviously not excited about the prospect of being at the mercy of anything the former Trickster had up his sleeve.
"Just a little holding space, nothing too exciting," Gabriel replied.
Dean glared at the archangel. "What the hell is this? I am so not in the mood for your little games at the moment."
Gabriel pinched his fingers together in a motion to shut up. "Oh, you think this is a game? Well, you're in for a surprise then, Deano, because this is anything but a game."
"So what about Cas? You're just gonna leave him back there?"
"Don't worry, I got a psychic connection going on with baby bro, I'll know if he makes a change for the worse," Gabriel tapped the side of his had, but his eyes were all steely, fiery with anger. "And don't pretend you suddenly care about him so much."
Dean sputtered as Sam angrily stepped forward. "Don't care? Cas is our friend, of course we care what happens to him!"
"Really?" Gabriel asked skeptically, crossing his arms over his chest. "Well, I think differently—in fact, spoiler alert, that's kind of what this whole thing is about." He ignored their questioning glares and continued. "Now, I don't give two craps about whether you two purposefully ignore and neglect him or you just do it because you're so wrapped up in saving each other and saving the world—that's something you can work out in your own head. Something still needs to give, and I'm going to give it to you by force if I have to. Be your conscious, or whatever."
"What are you talking about?" Dean demanded.
Gabriel sighed and rolled his eyes. "Boy, you two are just as dense as the day we met, at least you still have your looks—mostly. Okay, let me spell it out for you. It may not have come to your attention but Cas is messed up bad and he may not survive this one if he doesn't have reason to. So it's my job to get you two to give him that and as soon as he wakes up, you two dipsticks are going to apologize for all the wrongs you did him. And not just because I will petrify your asses Medusa style in the nude as public statuary if you don't, but because you genuinely feel bad for all the wrongs you've done to your guardian and self-professed 'best friend' over the years."
"What wrongs?" Sam asked as Dean still had his eyes bugged out about the 'public statuary' threat. "I mean, sure we've all had our rough patches, but we always make it through."
"And that there proves my point exactly," Gabriel announced. "Since you two are so ignorant of your sins I have to take it upon myself—again—to show you where you went wrong and teach you a lesson."
Dean swallowed nervously. They both knew the kind of lessons the Trickster was inclined to teach. "Okay, so you give us a little It's a Wonderful Life clip show and we apologize?"
"Something like that." Gabriel cocked his head. "To put it mildly."
"And no getting hit in the nuts?" Dean demanded.
"Only if you keep brushing this off like you just did," Gabriel raised an eyebrow.
Dean glared, but Sam stepped forward. "Look, Gabriel, we want to help Cas in whatever way we can, okay? But is this really necessary?"
The fire returned to Gabriel's eyes. "Oh, sure. Little Sammy Winchester—the empathetic one, always willing to make things better but rarely going that extra step. Well, kiddo, it wasn't just big bro who erred here. You'll see well enough that you're just as much to blame for Castiel's predicament as he is. Now, enough chatting, Cas doesn't have long and I've got to pound this into your heads, which with your rocks-for-brains condition is a job that takes a master mason, let me tell you. Lucky for Cassie, I am one. So. Sam and Dean Winchester, this is your life."
He snapped his fingers again and they were standing in a forest, in the dark. The brothers looked around, frowning.
"Where are we?" Dean asked.
"Thought I would start off with this first, actually one of the more recent events on our tour of shame, so you know what Cas was thinking when he said the big yes," Gabriel told them. "By the way, boys, standard rules apply. Can't touch, can't change things, you are only here to observe. Just think of this as a personal 3D theater playing highlights straight from Castiel's brain." He nodded his head off to one side. "Eyes forward, here we go."
Sam and Dean turned where he had gestured and watched as Cas appeared with what they figured was another angel, a short, somewhat nerdy looking female who seemed kind of flighty for a warrior of heaven.
"This is when Castiel went to check that Amara was dead after the angel smiting," Gabriel explained to them. "His little friend there is Ambriel from birth-death statistics. A paper-pusher. Typically not who they send for this kind of thing, but, ya know, times are tight."
"I never wanted this, you know," Cas was saying as they made their way through the woods. "To be…hated by my own kind."
"Oh, no, I don't hate you, Castiel," Ambriel said quickly.
"Thank you," Cas replied tiredly, sounding like he didn't actually believe her.
"I mean," she continued, "we have a lot in common. Our names rhyme—that's a big one. I look good in a trench coat too; and—we're both expendable." She shrugged.
"Excuse me?" Cas frowned.
"Oh, well, that's why we're here, right? I'm a number cruncher and you, like I've said; I've heard the stories. You help, but Sam and Dean Winchester are the real heroes. So if the Darkness is still alive and she's pissed, and she…kills us, no big loss." She shrugged again. "So sure, maybe we're not super important, but we do the job."
Cas looked down at his feet, not saying anything.
"You know. I think there's nobility in that," Ambriel told him, then started to walk away, before realizing Cas wasn't following her. "You coming?"
"Yeah, I'll…catch up," Cas said quietly.
Dean shrugged. "So what, he's going to listen to some off-hand comment from a nerd angel? Cas is smarter than that."
Gabriel gave him a withering look. "Of course he's smarter, douchewad, but it doesn't help when someone voices what is already in your head. There was also this." He spun his finger in a fast-forwarding motion and the scenery blurred around them until it was light again, and Cas was facing Amara, his angel blade held in his hand.
"You think I'm afraid to die?" he asked her as she advanced on him.
"I know you are," she said, still coming forward. "You reek of fear and self loathing."
Castiel moved, stabbing the knife down toward her, before she caught his wrist. "Ooh, scary," she said sarcastically, before throwing him backwards against a tree. Cas landed hard, winded, looking back at Amara.
"She's right, you know. You are expendable," the Darkness said advancing on him again. "And weak. And why God took a special interest in you, I'll never understand. My brother always did have horrible taste in men." She crouched down at eye level as Cas tried to get up to fight again, glaring at the Darkness.
"Just do it," he ground out.
Amara reached out and stroked his cheek, shaking her head. "Blue eyes, you aren't even worth the effort. And, no offence, but you look a bit used up. Plus, I have a job for you." She pressed a hand to his chest and light engulfed him, making Cas scream in pain as he vanished.
Gabriel stopped the image there before turning back to the Winchesters.
"See that? Just a few little words, not even terribly important ones, and they all culminated into one big mistake where poor Cas thought he was only around as a scapegoat; someone to take the fall, to do the thing he knew you two wouldn't let the other try. To say yes to the devil himself—practically as good as committing suicide but in a much slower and more painful way."
"But why would he think that?" Sam demanded. "I mean, why would he listen to Amara and that angel. He should know he's not expendable."
"Should he?" Gabriel raised an eyebrow. "Because, I don't really get a real positive reinforcement vibe coming from you two. Trust me, boys, there is a reason Cas believed them when they voiced it. Voiced probably one of the few things the kid is actually afraid of, and he was so screwed up, that he actually believed it. Plus, after his freak out with the spell Rowena cast on him, the real reason he sat around binge-watching his life away was because he could hardly make it out the door without having a mental breakdown. The kid was suffering from PTSD and you didn't even notice, just called him out to help you again when he was in no fit state to do so, scared to death that he would go crazy and hurt someone again like he has so many times in the past because of mistakes you all made together."
Sam swallowed hard furrowing his brow. "He never…I mean, I saw he was pretty upset about it, but I just didn't think..."
"Because he's an angel and they have no human emotions?" Gabriel asked flatly. "You two dunce buckets were the ones who taught him human emotions in the first place. I bet you don't know half of what he suffered, do you? Well, trust me, I'll make sure you know what I'm talking about as we go along. Highlight stuff, commentate, that sort of thing. Gabriel's Guide to Making Your Friends Feel Wanted for Dummies. And boy, are your lives textbook as to what not to do."
Sam and Dean looked at each other without really knowing what to think. While neither of them exactly approved of Gabriel's methods, maybe they had missed a lot of things with Cas. Maybe they had been treating him badly without even realizing it.
"There's no getting off this ride either way, boys, so you can either come quietly or kicking and screaming, I don't really care either way," Gabriel told them.
"All right, fine," Dean said. "I guess we don't have any other choice but to hear you out." He didn't want to admit he was actually horrified to think of what Gabriel might pull up for them to look at. He was already feeling bad enough about how he had treated Cas just earlier that day; he was definitely not looking forward to seeing his greatest hits.
"Great! Won't have to waste the duct tape then." Gabriel clapped his hands together. "Now, I think we need to take a little trip to the era post-apocalypse. From what I gather, this is where the problems really started." Gabriel snapped his fingers and before Sam and Dean could say anything they had been transported to another time. Again.
Next is where we really start to get into the meaty stuff. Updates will be every Friday!