A/N: I don't own any of the dialogue pulled from Hammer of the Gods, that's property of Eric Kripke and the SPN writers. ^_^ Not that I've forgiven them for that episode!

Thank you so much, reviewers! :D

Chapter 19 – The Final Stand

Gabriel was having a seriously hard time sorting through all his emotions, each as intense as the next. He was going out of his mind, if he hadn't lost it long ago, of course. One thing was clear: no matter how right he'd been not to back Lucifer, he'd been right not to back Michael, either. The pure fury he felt, that Michael would have permitted what had happened to Castiel… maybe even ordered it… no, he refused to believe that Michael would have actually condoned something so evil.

Then again, refusing to believe that Michael would actually go too far was the whole reason everything had fallen apart to begin with.

Standing outside in the freezing atmosphere of the antarctic circle, Gabriel spread his arms and glowered up at the indigo, midnight sky. "Are you happy now, Michael?!" he bellowed. "Are you satisfied yet?! I told you, I told you, you hold on too tight, you're gonna lose everything!"

The archangel's arms dropped, as his face tightened in pain at the memory of Castiel's shame-filled eyes, trying to convince Gabriel it was nothing, that he was alright. If this was what they'd come to…

"Congratulations, Michael," Gabriel growled. "You have lost everything, every angel has! We've lost our home, we've lost our family… we've lost everything we were! And you, you've completely lost control, trying to get more! When's it enough for you, Michael?! Huh?! How far you gonna go before it's ENOUGH?!"

Gabriel sighed and rubbed his face. He really wanted to get drunk again, but there was no point in trying. His grace seemed to have rebelled entirely; every time Gabriel came within a foot of liquor, the damn thing exploded, until he gave up the attempt and set his mind to what the hell he was supposed to do now.

Try as he might, he couldn't forget Castiel's words. You know what she would have done. You know what she would have stood for.

Yeah, he did know. He'd known all along… and perhaps that was partly why he held the humans to blame. She would have fought for them, and she'd been killed as a casualty of war that had started because of them in the first place. She'd sacrificed herself to stop Lucifer from winning and destroying humanity.

Eleanor, Gabriel knew as well as Castiel, would have stood against both Michael and Lucifer, had even encouraged him to stand up to them.

He had not. Now she was gone.

In the end, no matter how powerful the archangels were, no matter how many other angels were a hundred times stronger than Eleanor… she had been a better angel than all of them.

"I don't see it, El," Gabriel admitted brokenly, gazing over the world, watching. Countries were torn apart by the wars of those who wanted more power, and the casualties were those who had none at all. A single mother clung to the baby she couldn't afford to feed, alone on the cold, unforgiving streets as she tried to avoid the judgmental glares while shame-facedly slipping food into the pockets of her shabby coat.

Even human children were cruel; he watched a young girl leave school in tears, mercilessly bullied until she began to slide a razor across her wrists just to dull the pain in her heart.

Gabriel shook his head. "I mean…" he went on, "this is what I'm supposed to try and save? This is what I'm supposed to fight for?" He closed his eyes and sighed. "I don't see it. I don't see what you saw. They're broken things, corrupted little… little… ugh!" He turned away with an expression of disgust. For crying out loud, he could almost smell the squalor, the putrid ugliness of the darkest corners of the world. How was it remotely worth saving?! Sure, there were good things... like candy, and porn, but to hell with that, 'cause he could just as easily have that on another world, if he left this one to its fate.

What would Ellie say? It had been so long since he'd even allowed himself to think of her, shutting out every memory; it was liberating in a way, now that the walls had come down. Gabriel took a deep breath and tried to clear his mind. What would Ellie tell him right now?

He could almost hear her voice, warm and gentle in the back of his mind. Look again, Gabriel, that's what she would say. Look closer.

And so he did.

The village was being torn apart by bullets and grenades, but a father stood over his family, shielding them with his own body in an act of protection and love… a young soldier threw himself into the line of fire to push an innocent bystander to cover in an act of sacrifice and courage. His paradise, when he entered Heaven soon, would be a field where there were no bullets, only wildflowers and the woman he'd left behind.

The homeless mother looked up at the police officer who had caught her shoplifting, and her eyes filled with tears, but he only led her across the street to the diner. He bought her as much food as she could eat, and some to take with her, then took her to the store to buy her formula and diapers for the baby, and blankets for both of them. The mother cried because she couldn't repay him; he asked only that she call him if she ever needed anything, before leading her to the shelter - compassion and generosity.

A teacher at the young girl's school left a hand-written note in the girl's locker, asking her to stop hurting herself, telling her that she was much too beautiful, too worthy, to deserve such scars, that there was always someone who would listen and give her support… someone who cared. Just knowing that someone had even bothered to realize something was wrong would help the young girl stand up to the bullies and re-claim her life. One day, she would leave the same message with another struggling heart - support, strength, empathy, love.

You see their dark side so clearly, that was what Eleanor would say, her voice alive in Gabriel's mind as his eyes filled with tears. But you missed everything else.

And what about the Winchesters themselves? What was it Castiel had said? "Those humans, the ones you hold in such contempt, are the ones who saved me, after Zachariah. Dean and Sam never gave up on me. They have their issues, but they're good men."

Humans, two infuriatingly rebellious and uncooperative humans, taking care of an angel, doing what Gabriel should have been doing. And that… that was the key.

That was what Eleanor saw. People. People doing the work intended for angels, doing the jobs that angels had long since forsaken. After all this time, no matter how much darkness there was, there were still people doing their very damndest to take care of each other - caring for each other as angels had forgotten to do. Gabriel's moist eyes looked up, wishing uselessly that Eleanor could be there with him, as he finally understood exactly why they were worth saving, flaws and all.

So when Kali coolly delivered her message some time later, telling him about the meeting of the pagan gods – and more importantly, the plan to take on the archangels by kidnapping the vessels – Gabriel already knew what he had to do.

The first step was to make a very important movie.

There was no way in hell he was going to let the pagan gods – jerks, every last one of them, but they were his family now – take on the archangels. It was too dangerous and it would only lead to more useless bloodshed. Besides… it wasn't their fight. It never should have been left to them.

But Gabriel would make a stand. And hey, he'd probably be killed doing it. He already knew that as surely as he knew anything, which left everything hinging on two boys, an old drunk, and a fallen angel.

Yeah, seriously, what could go wrong with this plan?

"Sam, Dean," Gabriel said to the camera, enjoying his role in the porno production to the fullest. Nothing wrong with one last romp. "You're probably wondering what the hell is going on. Well, if you're watching this, I'm dead." Hey, with any luck, he'd never have to give them this DVD. First, he'd try like hell to convince them what a terrible idea this was, but Gabriel didn't believe for one second they would back out.

And he was no longer convinced that he wanted them to.

But they were gonna need help, and he might not be there to give it to them when the time came. Quickly, Gabriel told them everything he knew about Lucifer's cage and the Horsemen's rings which would open it. There wasn't a chance in hell they could actually kill Lucifer, but… maybe this would do the trick instead. Remove Lucifer from the ring, and then Michael would have no one to fight, and the world wouldn't be ripped to shreds in the crossfire. There was still a chance that neither of his brothers had to die. And screw the whole destiny crap. Dad was gone anyway.

"Can't say I'm betting on you boys," Gabriel admitted to the camera, pulling a wry face, before shrugging. "But, uh, hey! I've been wrong before." So, so wrong. "Oh, and… Sam? Dean?"

Gabriel faced the camera fully. The joking façade fell away, and he added in a lower voice, "Thank you. For taking care of my little brother. And, uh… it might not mean much, but… tell Castiel… I'm glad Dad shazammed him back to life. And…" Gabriel chewed his lip; it'd been a long time since he'd had such a sincere moment.

Taking a breath, he finished, "…tell him, I'm proud of him." There was a pause, then Gabriel popped a smirk and added, "Now that the moment's over, if you crazy kids will excuse me, I've got my hands a little full right now."

What? He had every right to indulge, especially if he was about to make a stand as radical as this.

When the time finally came, Gabriel found himself surprisingly calm (even after being called out as an archangel, and oh yeah the assassination attempt from Kali, which Gabriel considered to be a highly ungrateful move).

Of course Dean had adamantly refused to see reason and run, but what had Gabriel really expected? Of course any vessel of Michael's was going to be a stubborn idiot. But in the end, Gabriel couldn't really blame Dean for refusing to give this up. Not anymore. (I've… I've really missed you, Gabriel.) Because Dean was a big brother, too, and why had Gabriel ever thought he was just going to calmly accept the notion of killing Sam? Why had he ever thought Dean could do what Gabriel himself couldn't: kill his own brother?

Yeah, that clearly wasn't going to happen, and Gabriel got it now. Which meant there was only one thing left to do.

"Ellie…" Gabriel whispered. There were no tears in his eyes, only acceptance. Sam and Dean were the only ones who could stop things now, and he had to make sure they escaped from here tonight. "I'm so sorry, El. I… I lost my way. I know none of this… none of what I've done with the whole Trickster thing… is what you woulda wanted. But, you were always better than me. Always."

There were no jokes, no masks, only his most authentic self, the vulnerability of honest feelings that he'd always felt safe enough to share with Eleanor.

He took a deep breath, looking up at the sky above, studded with stars. Eleanor had once given him the chance to hear those very stars, to hear them sing in all their glory. Gabriel suddenly wished he could have heard their song, just one more time.

"Man, I really screwed the pooch, Ellie. I shoulda listened to you a long time ago. I know it's too late to… you know, atone for anything, but hey… what the hell, right?"

Right.

Well, nothing else for it. Lucifer was inside, wreaking havoc, and Gabriel had a train to catch. The train was death and the destination was unknown, but it always left on time.

Gabriel flew back in to hear Sam asking Dean anxiously if he was okay, both of them crouched behind an overturned sofa. "Not really," the archangel replied cheekily, drawing their surprised attention back to him. He gave them a wink and a reckless grin. "Better late than never, huh?" Pulling out the all-important movie that he'd made, Gabriel pushed it into Dean's chest. "Guard this with your life."

The two boys were obviously confused but he didn't stop to answer questions. Now that Gabriel was on his path, there was no stopping him, no slowing him down. The archangel stood, his sword – his real sword, not the fake he'd allowed Kali to take – dropping into his hand. Striding forward, Gabriel raised a hand and used his full grace to fling Lucifer away from Kali before he could kill her, right through the doors of the ballroom.

"Luci, I'm home!" he quipped, though there was no joke on his face as he went to help Kali to her feet. She would walk out of there, alive; he wasn't losing anyone else. "Not this time," Gabriel quietly told Lucifer, voice full of meaning.

Not again, never again.

"Guys, get her outta here!"

No more bystanders getting hurt, no more losing the ones he cared about, not this time. It was true, he didn't love Kali; there was only one true love of his life, only one in all creation with whom Gabriel's very soul had bonded. Kali wasn't his love, but she had been his girl, even if only for a while… and this time, Lucifer wasn't going to take that from him.

Neither Sam nor Dean protested, hurrying to take the goddess and escort her hurriedly from the room. Even Kali herself willingly went along; maybe she'd realized that Gabriel knew what he was talking about when he said she couldn't beat Lucifer. Gabriel breathed a sigh of relief as the three made it out of the room, covering their retreat with blade at the ready.

The ornate chandeliers hanging from the ceiling flickered slightly, casting their light on the dark, splintered wood and ripped seat cushions. Lucifer stormed back through the demolished doors into the ballroom, looking thoroughly displeased at the surprise attack.

"Over a girl, Gabriel, really?" the fallen archangel tsk-ed, not looking or sounding remotely surprised to see his supposedly dead brother there; he'd always been the most likely to guess the truth when it came to Gabriel's tricks, though. He'd probably known the whole time that the youngest archangel was still alive. "I mean, I knew you were slumming, but I hope you didn't... catch anything."

"Lucifer, you're my brother," Gabriel calmly retorted, eyes narrowing as he elected to ignore the insult to his pagan friends. "And I love you. But you are a great big bag of dicks."

Wasn't that putting it mildly? Man, it felt good to say it out loud, though! It was worth it to see Lucifer's face, who had never been spoken to in such an appallingly honest way.

"Wait, what did you just say to me?"

"Look at yourself!" Gabriel snapped, as all of his patience flooded away. This talking-to was long overdue for Lucifer, and he wasn't going to hold back as the two archangels circled each other slowly, several feet apart. "Boo-hoo! Daddy was mean to me, so I'm gonna smash up all His toys."

"Watch your tone," warned Lucifer, but that did absolutely nothing but remind Gabriel of Michael, which irritated him all the more. They really had been two arrogant peas in a pod, in the end.

Because, in the end, this entire thing had been nothing but one big temper tantrum that had exploded out of control, and Gabriel told him so in as frank of terms as he possibly could. He could see Lucifer's blackened aura throbbing with cool rage, but Gabriel truly, truly didn't give a damn.

"Gabriel, if you're doing this for Michael-"

"Screw him," Gabriel interrupted with stony sincerity, waving a careless hand. "If he were standing here, I'd shiv his ass, too." And that, again, was perfectly true. For what he'd done to Castiel… for what he'd done to Heaven…

…for picking the fight that had cost Eleanor's life.

"You disloyal-"

"Oh, I'm loyal!" Gabriel snapped, trying not to laugh at the sheer absurdity of Lucifer, of all angels, talking about disloyalty. "To them!"

"Who?" Lucifer demanded, looking around in disdain. "These so called gods?!"

"To people, Lucifer. People."

Lucifer regarded him, and Gabriel forced himself to stay calm. It was chilling, though, to look into the face of his brother and see only a ghost of the friend Gabriel had once had, long ago.

"So you're willing to die," Lucifer murmured thoughtfully, only confirming that he would have no problem doing what Gabriel couldn't. "For a pile of cockroaches. Why?"

"Because Dad was right," Gabriel shot back, even knowing that Lucifer's rage would only be further fueled by the honest answer. The archangels continued to circle, neither gaining ground, neither moving in, neither within range. "They are better than us."

"They are broken," seethed Lucifer, "flawed... abortions!"

"Damn right, they're flawed." Hell, Gabriel had spent the last thousand years noticing all the flaws, he'd seen the dark side of humanity. But Eleanor had seen more. Castiel had seen more. "But a lot of them try. To do better. To forgive. And you should see the Spearmint Rhino!" What? He liked strip clubs. But back on target. "I've been riding the pine a long time," Gabriel admitted. "But I'm in the game now, and I'm not on your side, or Michael's. I'm on theirs."

Eleanor couldn't fight for the humans any more, but Gabriel could and would.

Of course Lucifer couldn't even begin to understand this, but Gabriel wasn't expecting him to. He'd stopped believing in miracles a long time ago; Lucifer wasn't going to see it, he was never going to see past his own bitterness and hatred. Nothing Gabriel said was going to change that.

Lucifer shook his head, eyes dark. He crouched slightly - an infinitesimally small movement, but Gabriel had tussled with his brother before and recognized the signal that he was about to attack. But he was about to attack a decoy, an apparition, one of Gabriel's best tricks; the real Gabriel stood behind his brother, steeling himself as his hand gripped his archangel sword tightly. His heart thudded in his chest, stomach tight with agony at the thought of actually plunging that blade through his own brother's heart.

"Brother…" Lucifer seethed in warning, not knowing his danger. "Don't make me do this."

"No one makes us do anything." And that right there was the cold, dark, truth: they were free to make their own choices (despite Michael and Raphael's attempts to claim that angels didn't have free will), and in the end, didn't that just make it all the worse? They were all in their respective positions by choice, and Gabriel felt a flicker of shame.

"I know you think you're doing the right thing, Gabriel," Lucifer growled. "But I know where your heart truly lies."

He had to move now, while Lucifer was still distracted with talking, or Gabriel wouldn't be able to follow through with this. Silently whispering an apology, the archangel stepped stealthily closer until he was directly behind his brother. His hand rose, prepared to deliver the killing blow, ready to stab Lucifer through the back and end this once and for all.

The next few seconds were a blur. A choking gasp filled the air and Gabriel's eyes went wide… but Lucifer was unscathed. Everything went cold. The room began to darken, as Lucifer leaned in close and whispered,

"Here."

Gabriel – the real Gabriel – doubled over slightly and clung to Lucifer in shock with white knuckles. He felt paralyzed, but he didn't need to look down to know that Lucifer had grabbed his arm and redirected the intended attack… plunging the blade right through Gabriel's own heart. Behind them, the fake Gabriel that Lucifer had been talking to shimmered out of view; it hadn't fooled Lucifer in the slightest.

Shit… that- that hadn't gone according to plan.

"Amateur hocus pocus," Lucifer muttered, his grip tightening on Gabriel's blade. There was the barest trace of regret in his icy eyes, but not enough to have stopped his hand. "Don't forget, you learned all your tricks from me… little brother."

The blade running him through ruthlessly twisted, and Gabriel choked again, staring up at the brother he'd loved with dimming eyes. He was dying, and dying fast... the train was preparing to leave the station with him on board, but Gabriel was already too far gone to be afraid. Funny… it didn't even hurt, not really… he was too numb to really feel anything anymore. There was light everywhere, most of it probably coming from him as his grace rapidly expanded outwards in death. His wings were burning, he could smell the sizzling, charred feathers as his whole essence began turning to ash.

Gabriel's mind drifted to Eleanor. He could almost feel her pressing tightly against him, her strength giving him strength, her warmth giving him peace, her soul bound to his. So much for helping the humans... but Sam and Dean had escaped, so maybe... maybe he'd at least bought them a chance.

Finally… finally, it was over, and maybe now he could have some peace.

The last thing Gabriel was fleetingly aware of as he gave in to the darkness and death, was the choir of stars singing their jubilant, incomprehensibly beautiful song...

...one last time.