Disclaimer: I don't own Supernatural, even the smallest atom. No profit will be made from this fanfic, and no animals were harmed in the making of it.
Warnings/Summary: Second chapter... Alternate universe, semi-original character/Castiel. Far less raunchy than the first. No angelcest, strong language, and violence. I wasn't held enough as a child, so reviews make my day.
The brothers were asleep when the two angels slipped quietly back into the main room. Sam had sprawled out on the sectional, and Dean was drooling on the dinner table. Gabriel frowned at Dean vaguely, then calmly scooped him up, moving him to the other side of the sectional. If either brother had been awake, the sight of the diminutive angel picking up a man close to a foot taller than she was would have been hilarious. The table freed, Castiel and Gabriel sat quietly at the table, watching each other, faces expressionless. "You cannot send us home, can you?" Castiel was the first to break the silence, asking a question he already knew the answer too.
"No... Not any more. I might have been able to once, but I've been... diminishing. Lucifer is still as strong as when he was created, but I doubt he could find it in his heart to send you home. Michael may be able to, but he is shut in the..." She trailed off, concentration creasing her forehead. Castiel opened his mouth to speak, but Gabriel shook her head, cutting him off. "The Cage... it is still open. It hasn't been locked. Maybe... the keys... Have to get the keys... again. Should not be that hard." her mutters trailed off and she vaguely bit at her own lip. Castiel was vaguely distracted by the sight of her teeth pulling at her full lower lip. "You are insatiable." Gabriel said, smiling slightly. Castiel smiled slightly, his blue eyes warm.
"It was significantly better than I thought it would be, even with watching for two thousand years."
"Watching what for two thousand years?" Dean's voice was sleepy as he sat up, looking vaguely around the room.
"Sex." they both answered, meeting his gaze with deadpan looks.
"What?" Confusion pasted itself across Dean's face and he frowned at the angels.
"Sex. What, you think we sit up there, doing nothing? Singing Father's eternal praises? We can read books, but at the speed we can read, those do not last. No tv, so we watched humans. You all are our own personal soap opera. What, did you think, being angels, we were ignorant of sexual acts? We know more tricks than you could learn in your life time." Dean looked rather interested at this statement, eying Gabriel with a look in his eyes. "No." she said, killing his possible plans in the bud.
"No what?" Sam sad as he stretched out, bones popping.
"Just no. If you two are done with your sleep, I believe I may have a plan that benefits all of us. I believe that Michael may be able to send you home. The only issue that could be found with this plan is that Michael is currently shut into Lucifer's cage. However, as I have learned, you already know the way to open my brother's cage. I told you. That, thankfully, happened in both universes. You gathered the rings, just as you did here. Sam said yes, in Detroit, just as he did in your world. It failed. I have covered some of this before with you. Dean, you made a deal with Michael to try and save Sam and Castiel. Michael accepts, and fails. Lucifer always did have a sense of humor, so he thought it was hilarious to throw Michael into the Cage. After that, Lucifer gave the rings back to the Horseman. He still was not exactly sure how you got Death's though. How did you?"
"Long story. Turns out Death likes pizza."
Gabriel's brow wrinkled at Dean's comment, head titling, her confusion obvious, but she shook it off. "As I was saying, the Horseman have their rings again, we simply need to reacquire them."
"We need the rings." Sam said calmly, nodding slightly in agreement.
"We need the rings. You have acquired them before, so it should not be that difficult, so long as we manage to avoid my brother, his lackeys, Croatoans, demons, and the general monsters. Oh, and of course, the Horsemen."
"Oh, is that all?" Dean asked.
"That was sarcasm, correct? Sarcasm?" she turned her head to Castiel, who shrugged vaguely. She returned his shrug, and both angels returned their gazes to Dean and Sam. "I have not interacted large amounts with the more modern culture, so my people skills are slightly... rusty. The Enochian mages and angelologists of this century are not exactly..." she looked away, a vaguely bored expression on her face. "I believe the phrase is up to snuff? So I have not been amongst humans like I have in past centuries." She gave a slightly depreciating smile, and returned her attention to the brothers.
"Wait, back up, among humans? What, you go for walks or something?"
"I took enjoyment in learning how humans used Enochian magic. Humans can be incredibly creative, and my kind, while having the ability to be creative, have a higher tendency to 'settle into a rut', as you say. So I walked the Earth, learning. Sometimes I had to be rather creative to avoid them realizing what I was. Sometimes I was not careful enough, and they did find out, and sometimes that was a good thing. Often it was not. But I learned. I am easily the most gifted magus among the Host. Why do you think that I have been able to keep this place protected from my brother and his little minions? Plus several other useful things. The book shelf will always have books that will interest you, the refrigerator will always have food you want. The armoires will always have the clean clothes you are want, so on and so forth. Water and energy come from dew collectors and solar panels on the building's roof. I believe in green solutions." There was a slight twitch at the corners of her mouth, almost as if this was funny. "But I digress. We need the rings. You have taken the from the Horsemen before, so it should be trivial to do so again. We simply need to find them, which is not difficult. However... I suppose first we should acquire you two the necessary human... things. Clothes and such... I assume you will want weapons as well. Come." Gabriel stood fluidly, face expectant.
"Can't we take like... showers or something first? And won't the dressers have clothes..." Same was obviously still partially asleep, looking around the apartment quizzically.
"You have to give them a selection to have available first, and there is a bathroom through um... that door." Gabriel pointed vaguely. "I tend not to use human weapons, so those we will have to appropriate from a store as well. I will find locations while you two get ready. That door," she pointed to another of the multiple doors "will lead you to bedrooms." They stood, and she drew her attention away from them, down to the table in front of her. "Map, map, need a map..." Snapping, she looked expectantly at the table. Nothing happened. A slight flash of confusion flickered across her face, and she looked around the room, meeting the slightly worried gazes of the men. Gabriel snapped again, and this time a map popped into existence. "Did not snap loud enough..." the joke fell flat in the uncomfortable silence. The brothers looked at each other, then wandered off through the door. "Do not look at me like that, Castiel. I do not want your pity." Gabriel did not raise her eyes from the map to meet what she knew would be the worried gaze of Castiel.
"How long?"
"It's been happening for a while. Little things. Nothing big yet. I keep waiting for the day when I cannot fly any more. I feel it. Stalking me on quiet feet." Gabriel sighed, the simple noise filled with infinite amounts of pain, sadness, and exhaustion. "You know, I was not lying, in the warehouse. I am ready to lay down my blade and trumpet. Maybe I will get to, soon... maybe this will work." She shook her head slightly, refocusing on the task at hand. "We need a clothing store... here." she pointed easily to a spot on the map. "And a weapon... gun... store... here." Another point, another location. "We will need to worry about Croatoans and demons, of course, but I have had to worry about those for years. We will be fine. I am going to go change." She was still avoiding his eyes ans she turned away, shoulders hunched slightly.
"Gabriel..." She didn't turn to look at him when he called her name, she just stepped through the door into her room, leaving it slightly open. "Gabriel!" Castiel stepped through after her. She had already shucked her clothes off, and Castiel had to distract himself from the fact that she was standing in front of a chest of drawers, naked. "I... um... You have been weakening? May I ask why? Have you been too long away from Heaven?"
Her bark of laughter was filled with pain. "Castiel, there is no Heaven anymore. No more angels. They are all gone. Even Heaven is gone, unreachable, only empty void where it once was. The only angels left are the ones that were on earth when everyone else Raptured. Apparently we were not worthy, were not good enough. That or we are the rear guard." She gave a pained laugh. "We are the rear guard. The sacrifice. The distraction. Sadly, I am the only one left, but I am a well-sized thorn in Lucifer's paw. I am fairly certain he still does not know that everyone else is gone. I can imagine his wrath when he does find out. Doubt I will still be alive to see it, but Lucifer was always amazing at throwing a temper tantrum. After all, that is all this is. One big temper tantrum. Someone let him out of timeout and he is going to destroy the world now. Shame... The humans and the earth are truly are an amazing construct, beautiful in an infinite number of ways. Not that the humans were doing well in taking care of the Earth, but there was still so much beauty... He will burn it all down if he gets his way. And I am not strong enough to stop him. Never really was. I hope that this plan works, because I believe it to be my last chance. Of course, if it does not work, I will more than likely be dead, we will all most likely be dead. So I guess there is no need to worry about it. Let Father's will be done." She pulled a shirt on quickly, grabbing a pair of blue jeans from another drawer, and quickly pulling them on. She turned quickly, and her eyes were cold. She met his gaze calmly, a slight anger flaring in her eyes at the pity in his. "Do not pity me. I do not want it." She grabbed two wrist sheathes from the dresser top. She slipped a regular angelic sword out of one, the silver medal gleaming even in the low light. A few quick twirls, and it was slipped back into the sheathe. The second sword she drew was also angelic, but rather than the typical flawless silver, this one's blade seemed oddly smokey. It was only Gabriel held it up to her eyes that the smoke seemed to condense into runes, flowing up and down the metal. "Judgment's blade. What I would give..." she sighed, weary, and sheathed the blade. She ran a quick hand over a brand along her inner forearm that Castiel had not noticed before, vaguely rubbing at it like it itched., and moved to strap on the sheathes. Before she could, he reached out to snag her arm, turning it over, looking down at the brand. Oddly enough, it was a banishing sigil. "Why?"
"You get your hand bloody, it works just like one written in blood. I have had to use it before... on my version of you. Burns like holy fire when I do it though." She gently removed her arm from his grasp, and fitted the sheathes on to her forearms, stretching slightly to arrange them properly. Not even bothering with a coat, she turned, heading back out the door into the main room, Castiel following.
Both brothers were sitting there, on opposite ends of the couch, hair still wet. "Ah, excellent. We can leave now."
"Where exactly are we going? And aren't you going to hide those or something" Sam asked, gesturing to the sheathes on her forearms.
"Clothes for you, and then a weapon store. We will have to be quick. There will be roaming groups of Croatoans and possibly demons where we are going. I doubt we will be attacked, but one can never be too careful. And no, why would I hide them? Visible force is better for deterring an attack. I would prefer not having to fight, and there is no one alive that is going to complain about me wearing weapons. Come, we must be going." She leaned over the back of the couch, resting her hands on their shoulders. Castiel's hand came to rest on her shoulder, and then they were gone in the sound of wing beats.
They appeared in the men's section of some random department store, the lights off, shrouding the space in a gloom. Gabriel instantly went on high alert, dropping into a low crouch, blades already in hand. "Be quick." she whispered. "There are Croatoans about. I can sense them." The brothers moved quickly through the stacks, grabbing clothes. They didn't move quickly enough.
The screams were the first warning, followed by the sound of running feet. Humans appeared from in between the racks of clothing, their almost erratic movements revealing what they are. "Damn, damn, damn, damn, damn..." Castiel could hear Gabriel whispering as she stepped forward, light on the balls of her feet, swaying slightly like a snake. "Castiel, keep the brothers safe." was the only order she gave, and then she charged into the stacks, yelling a battle cry. "Lap Iad!" Castiel shrank back from the ferocity in her voice. Never before had she seemed less like the Gabriel of his universe, the Gabriel that had been the Trickster. This Gabriel was all that God's Judgment could be, fiery, vicious, and all consuming. This Gabriel was dangerous in so many different ways than the Gabriel he was used to. He shook himself, pushing away the surprise, and turned to find Dean and Sam.
They were standing back to back in an aisle, watching, waiting, ready. However, they did not need to be. Only one Croatoan came anywhere close to them, and it was dropped by a thrown sword from Gabriel, who had practically appeared out of no where. She grabbed the blade, and was gone again. The next time she appeared, it was farther down the aisle, and several of the Croatoans had followed her into the empty space. There was a brief lull in the combat, and then chaos broke out again. Dean, Sam, and Castiel stared, almost open-mouthed, at the incredibly one-sided conflict. With every movement from Gabriel, an enemy dropped, blade already withdrawing from a fatal wound. The last was dropped with another thrown blade, and then it was silent. Gabriel stood, eerily motionless after her dance of death, one blade hanging loosely from her hand, dripping blood slowly onto the floor. She leaned down, gracefully as a cat, and slid the other blade out of the body, flicking it lightly, sending blood spattering across the area, then turned back, walking toward the men. She stopped a few paces away, and slowly looked up from the floor, dragging her mind back from wherever it had been. Her eyes were dark, the pupils huge, their darkness leading into eternity. There was nothing in that look that was human. It was all Archangel, and Castiel knew she what she was looking at. She was looking at him, a disobedient angel, the marks still showing on him. Castiel gasped from the waves of energy flowing off her. He had no idea how he ended up there, but he found himself on his knees, looking up at her. He could feel Sam and Dean backing slowly away, the charge in the air enough to make them uncomfortable. She stopped within a few inches of him, looking down, head titled in that perfect angel way. Castiel felt fear curl through him. He had been in this position before, on his knees before Archangels, power curling around him like great wings. He trembled once, waiting for the blow to fall, and his eyes closed. The next sensation was not one he had expected. Gentle fingers trailed along his cheek, and soft lips pressing into his forehead. Castiel gasped slightly. Though soft, those lips almost burned with Grace, and he could feel the charge pass through him, a burn that was both pleasure and pain. "You need never kneel before me, Castiel, and you have no reason to fear me. I have no reason to exact Judgment upon you." She reached down, and with a strength belied by her small vessel, easily pulled him back to his feet. "Come, we still have to get weapons for Sam and Dean." She looked past Castiel, her eyes slightly more human, to the brothers, and gave a slight smile. Then the store was empty.
The gun store was uneventful. Sam and Dean happily emptying the place of ammunition. There was one short moment when Gabriel tensed by the windows, looking across the street at what looked to be empty air. There was the high pitched ringing of an angel's true voice, setting the windows to rattle, and then nothing. She turned to the blank stares she was getting from the three men, and gave a slight shrug. "What? Are you finished? Good. We should be going then."
"I don't-" Dean's protest about flying was cut off.
"-wanna fly anymore." he finished in the apartment, bent over, gasping for breath.
"You really should not keep your mouth open when we fly. It could be bad for your health. Bugs and such..." Sam snickered slightly at Gabriel's comment, which got him a punch in the arm from Dean. "If you two are quite done, I'd like to lay down plans. I believe War will be easiest." Gabriel was again standing by the table, looking down at the map. "I need myrrh."
"What?" Dean asked, but Gabriel was gone. "What the Hell, do you all fucking do that?" Dean asked, looking at Castiel.
"Dean... language." Gabriel said from behind him, several things now in her hands. She walked past him back to the table as he stared at her open-mouthed.
"Where the Hell..."
"You just cannot stop yourself from asking questions can you?" Gabriel cut him off, a slight frown flickering across her features as her hands still moved. Ingredients went quickly into a silver bowl, and she muttered quietly to herself, arcane syllables rolling easily off her tongue. A blade flashed out, and blood dripped into the bowl. "Zamran." Light flared brightly in the room, and when it faded, the map had a singed area. "War. He is there. Rest for tonight. Tomorrow we kill War."
A/N: This one didn't really flow for me, so apologies if it feels kinda jerky. I decided to go the middle route length wise. overall. Hopefully the next chapter will flow a bit better. And smut. Possibly.