Gabriel found himself in a living nightmare. It was now around two weeks since Chuck's mystery disappearance, and he was no closer to getting anything done. In fact, he didn't have a clue what he had done in those two weeks; all he remembered was wandering aimlessly in a permanent state of confusion for what felt like forever, then nothing. It was probably due to this bewildered condition that the dazed archangel made no move to locate his prophet. All his sorrow overwhelmed him to the point of complete inaction. And he hated it.
The thing is, Gabriel wasn't used to being left hanging like that. Back in the early days, before he departed from Heaven due to his argumentative brothers, he had been fairly relaxed therefore he'd had no reason to do anything bold – he only looked after his younger brothers and basically brought a few of them up himself. Then, when he did leave Heaven and create his own 'private witness protection', it had been his own choice and his own cause of action. His decision wasn't based on anyone else's opinion or direct association with him. It was the same with his choice to become a 'Trickster' and serve up just desserts to the people he believed to be the scum of the world his Father had so lovingly created. Running into the Winchesters had been a spot of incredibly bad luck for him, however Gabriel had chosen to screw with them on purpose, Gabriel had dictated their meetings. It was after the whole TV land deal that his position had gone downhill. Those ridiculous brothers had grown wise to his tricks (which, to be fair, was his own undoing) and backed him into a corner, causing him to out himself as an archangel. After that, it seemed the Trickster had no choice but to get involved with the Apocalypse and even… help the Winchesters. Ugh. That was a mistake. Of course, that had led to Gabriel's own brother essentially killing him, but even then, the younger archangel had been in control of the situation. This was different; it seemed Chuck now held both their fates in his hands, and now he had gone, Gabe was lost.
Once Gabriel eventually returned to his senses, his initial thought was to search for his prophet, however it soon became evident that that wasn't an option. After all, the angel had nothing to go on, therefore he felt vulnerable and not motivated to even start looking. Secondly, Gabriel considered where he should go next himself: the world wasn't crumbling around him, so Sam and Dean had rightfully averted the Apocalypse, which meant that old Luci was back in the cage some way or another. Since that was the case, Gabriel assumed Michael was ruling Heaven once again and the Winchesters were back to being annoying- hunting evil, even. Because of this, the archangel made the decision to return to Heaven. He figured things might be calming down a little if Michael was in charge, and although the other angels didn't know he was still alive, now would be the perfect opportunity to finally make a proper comeback. Yes, the more Gabriel thought about his plan, the more appropriate it seemed.
Thus, donating one last thought to Chuck and his ambiguous well-being, the archangel spread his celestially superior wings and fluttered to his long-distant home.
The moment Gabriel entered Heaven, it felt wrong. He had arrived in what should have been a pristine white corridor, however the floor was scuffed and the walls appeared to be slightly off-colour. The angel's hollow footsteps echoed emptily as he strolled down the corridor.
"Hello? Anybody here?" Gabe called out blatantly in an attempt to locate his siblings, but to no immediate avail. Narrowing his eyes, the lone angel instantly became suspicious – it was extremely rare that Heaven wasn't busy or chock full of celestial beings bustling about every nook and cranny of the place, which only increased Gabriel's inner feeling of wrongness.
"Hell-" He was almost all the way through calling out again when an out of place stain right at the end of the corridor caught his attention. It was a giant red smear, pasted ominously across the wall. It was rather obvious what the mark consisted of. The crimson splotch contrasted horribly with the white background on which it had been situated, and its presence naturally tainted the atmosphere with a sinister weight. The second Gabriel had spotted the blood, he raised his guard by seventy-five per cent, slowing his pace and angling his body to the side as his archangelic blade slid silently out from the concealment of his sleeve. As the angel crept further along the corridor, approaching the corner, more perturbing scarlet splashes entered his view – it appeared as if someone had grabbed a bucket of red paint and carelessly thrown it over the wall and floor.
Rather abruptly, Gabriel was aware that he could sense an angelic presence just around the corner from where he stood. Expecting an ambush, he figured it would be best for him to attack them first to gain the upper hand in the anticipated fight, therefore he rapidly sprang out from the cover of the wall and clutched his knife tighter, preparing to stab someone with it, or at least threaten. The angel was more than a little surprised to discover that no one even attacked him or even faced him – not at eye level, anyway. It took a few moments of head-swivelling on Gabriel's part until he noticed the collapsed figure of an evidently injured angel slumped partially against the wall. It didn't look as if the angel had much time left, so Gabriel dashed over to him and crouched by his side.
"Hey, you're Hadriel, right?" The archangel asked softly, placing a hand gently on the angel's forehead as he used his power to check on his condition – it wasn't good.
"Yes… Gabriel?" Hadriel whispered, gazing up at Gabe in awe. "We all thought you were-"
"That doesn't matter. I'm here now." Gabriel dismissed the angel's questioning in order to get to the point. "Look, you have to tell me what's going on, bro. I thought Michael was back in charge? What's happening here?"
Hadriel's eyed widened. "You don't know?" He was so shocked by Gabriel's heavenly nescience that he began to cough, flecks of blood appearing on his cracked lips, though he still continued to inform the archangel. "Sorry… Michael ended up trapped in the cage with Lucifer… It was the only way… Then Raphael took over but the seraph Castiel is also attempting to rule us – it's civil war. I-" Hadriel began to cough and wheeze again, a line of crimson dribbling down from the corner of his mouth now.
"Here, let me heal you." Gabriel offered, placing a gentle hand on Hadriel's chest, however the injured angel pushed it away.
"No… You'll need… your power. Don't waste it on me. It's not… looking good, Gabriel. Raphael…" At that, Hadriel was completely spent. His gaze remained settled on Gabriel even though it was no longer seeing him, and his hand dropped to the ground, lifeless.
"Hadriel? Hadriel… Damnit!" Gabriel unexpectedly lashed out and punched the wall with all his force at the sight of an innocent angel's death. It wasn't fair that someone as selfless as Hadriel should sacrifice his life in a pointless civil war and to conserve an archangel's power. The Apocalypse is over! Gabriel thought to himself. Raphael should be celebrating, not causing a ridiculous war…
As Gabriel respectfully closed Hadriel's empty eyes in order to put him to rest, he grew rapidly anxious; if Castiel was also involved in such a conflict, then things must be bad. Heaven was in a terrible shape, and Gabriel wasn't sure that he should be there to watch.
A/N:
Happy Easter to everyone! I hope you're having a great day :) Btw, Hadriel is a random angel name that came up when I googled 'angelic names', apparently he's the guardian angel of the gates of the east wind or something, in case you were wondering. Hope you liked this chapter anyway!