Sam looked around the unfamiliar room. It was a spacious loft. The curtains were drawn closed and it was sparsely furnished. He looked over to Cas and Crowley. Cas didn't acknowledge Sam. He was shaking, an icy fury dancing in his eyes. Crowley shrugged at Sam. Sam sighed; none of them knew what had happened.

A young, gaunt woman walked the room. She was wearing a sweatshirt far too big for her and was brushing her teeth. Her eyes widened when she saw the trio. She pulled the toothbrush out her mouth, toothpaste foam oozing out her lips. The woman tugged the sweatshirt down. "SERIOUSLY!? WHAT THE HE-" She then seemed struck with realization, and backed away. "GABRIEL!" She called.

Sam raised his eyebrows. "Did you say "Gabriel"?"

"The one you know and love!" The infamous archangel said, popping into the room. He was sucking on a sucker. "Well, if it isn't my favorite people… And Crowley…"

The woman glared at Gabriel. "You brought them here? You couldn't have warned me first? You know; "Hey, Sybil! I'm bringing three of Hell's Most Wanted home, you might want to put on some pants"!?"

Gabriel rolled his eyes and took the sucker out his mouth. "Look, I didn't intend to. I didn't think they were gonna screw up so bad. I had to intervene. Deal with it!"

"But…! UGH!" She threw her hands up and stormed back down the hall.

Sam looked incredulously at Gabriel. "You're alive?"

Gabriel held his hands out. "Surprise!"

Sam tilted his head. "…How?"

Gabriel shrugged. "Dad."

The word seemed to snap Cas out of his trance. "Father!? God is back?"

Gabriel made the "so-so" gesture. "Kinda. He's not making any big appearances. After Heaven opened and you went back to help Sam, God called everyone else back. He pretty much told the other angels he wanted them to stay up in Heaven a while. They'd, quote, "done enough on Earth.""

He clapped Cas on the back. "Thanks to you, though, they were more willing to listen…" Gabriel said, sounding proud. Cas smiled, almost bashfully.

"But anyway, He brought me back to keep an eye on the new prophet…"

Sam pointed down the hall. "That girl?"

Gabriel nodded. "Agnes Shepard. But she prefers to be called "Sybil". She won't shut up if you don't."

Cas raised an eyebrow. "Wait. If that's why you're back, why didn't God bring you back when Kevin was activated?"

Gabriel rolled his eyes. "He already had two archangels looking out for them. Or at least their vessels." He said, nodding towards Sam. Sam felt pang of guilt at the mention of Kevin.

Crowley finally spoke up (to the amazement of his companions). "So, let me get this straight: there are no other angels at the moment?"

"Yup." Gabriel replied. "Just me, Cas, and Lucifer down here. Though I think Michael's somewhere. I haven't exactly seen him…"

Castiel shook his head. "Why did you have to intervene? We could have stopped…"

Gabriel glared at Castiel. "No. You couldn't. Last I checked, Lucifer was going to ventilate you," he said, pointing to the angel.

He then pointed to Crowley. "Make the ex-King of Hell here meat paste…" (Crowley pouted at the remark.)

He finally pointed to Sam. "And do who knows what to Sam." He shook his head. "Did you idiots even have a plan?"

Cas looked contemplative. "Not really. Perhaps Sam could have taken Lucifer's archangel blade and…"

"Really? You think Sam would murder the brother he's trying to save? Especially if you're dead? Hell, YOU couldn't even take the blade from Lucifer! What makes you think Sam could?"

"I… Try not to underestimate The Winchesters. You should not, either…"

Gabriel groaned. "It's not about underestimating…!"

Sybil returned to the room, interrupting the argument. "Hey, do you guys need anything?"

Crowley raised a hand. "Got any Craig?"

Sybil frowned. "We have crappy gas station beer. Live with it."

Crowley rolled his eyes. "Well. She's going to be a treat, I can tell. Worse than the last one…"

~0~

The group sat around a coffee table in the middle of the floor. They drank and ate. Sybil looked up. "So, lemme get this straight…" She said, her mouth full of takeout. She swallowed and pointed at Sam with her fork. "Lucifer's in your brother right now?"

Sam nodded.

"Dude, that is rough. You can't catch a break, can you? I mean, the suicidal depression, then the broken trust, then your boyfriend here being in a coma all that time…" She said, pointing to Crowley.

Crowley nearly spat out his beer. Sam got a puzzled look. "Um… He's not my boyfriend. He's not exactly my type." He said. Crowley was offended by the remark.

Sybil continued, "And Cas, I was pulling for you and Dean, after he said "screw you" to Gadreel and let you move in…"

"No such thing happened." Cas stated.

"Sybil?" Gabriel said, "You got things confused again…"

Sybil swore. "Sorry. My head's screwy. Sometimes, I see other universes instead of this one…"

"She wasn't even supposed to be the prophet." Gabriel explained. "But somebody saw the list of prophets," he raised an eyebrow at Crowley. Crowley raised his bottle in a mock toast. "So God had to improvise." Gabriel concluded.

"But I've gotten better, though!" Sybil protested.

"Yeah, you've kept it to this century lately. I swear, if you called for me in the middle of the night, sobbing about Cas, Dean, and Elvis records one more time…"

Sybil elbowed him.

"And it helps that you're quitting the d-"

She elbowed him harder.

Sam cleared his throat. "So she's why Lucifer came to Detroit…"

Gabriel nodded.

"I must say, our differences aside, I have to give God credit for finally choosing the right archangel…" Crowley said.

"Yup. My centuries as a coward are finally paying off…"

As the two continued their conversation (Sybil occasionally interjecting), Sam turned to Castiel. "Cas, can we talk?"

Castiel nodded. The two left the room, heading for the lone bedroom.