Thank you so much, reviewers! :D I'm truly touched by the beautiful words you've given me :) In reply to my not-signed-in reviewer, your review made me laugh and then all I could see was Gabriel singing Wicked! XD "I hope you're happy! I hope you're happy now! I hope you're happy how you've hurt Heaven forever, I hope you think you're clever!" Which leads me to imagining Gabriel dressed up as Glinda! (crack!fic, anyone?) Anyway. *coughs*

On a more serious note, this story isn't over. There's still this, the most important chapter of all. :) (you didn't think I'd just end things like that, did you?)

Chapter 20 – Just Desserts

The first rather startling thing Gabriel noticed was that he was not, in fact, dead. But how was that even possible? Lucifer had just killed him, so why did he seem to be so… conscious?

The archangel was standing, somehow still on his feet, and he glanced down at himself as though perplexed by this fact. There was grey, mossy cobblestone under his feet, much like the little nook in Heaven. That was strange.

Where was he? Gabriel looked up, and blinked in mild surprise as he realized someone was standing right there a few feet in front of him.

"Well done, Gabriel," the man greeted him in delight, as their eyes met. Then, the stranger paused, rolled his eyes in exasperation, and muttered, "Finally."

"Uh, who are you?" Gabriel demanded, reflexively reaching for his archangel blade before he remembered that he didn't have it anymore because Lucifer had used it to kill him. Except, it seemed to be right back in his jacket. Huh.

The stranger held up his hands in peace, though, smiling vaguely.

"You don't remember me?"

Should he? Gabriel regarded the stranger for a long moment, trying to place the rather nondescript man standing before him. Had he seen him before? Wait… yeah, he knew the guy, it'd just been a long time since he'd cared enough to remember the names of his kind but they were permanently inscribed in his mind. Gabriel sighed and relaxed. "Oh. Right. The prophet."

"…Uh-huh. Well, one of 'em," the man agreed, shoving his hands in his pockets. "Chuck Shurley. You're Gabriel, of course."

Gabriel was looking around in bafflement, but he acknowledged the remark with a casual, flippant salute. "The one and only. Look, Chuck, I don't know what you're doing here, but maybe you can tell me where 'here' is?" Gabriel suggested, looking around again. It sure did look a lot like Heaven. "Shouldn't I be dead? I just got an archangel blade jammed through my heart."

Chuck nodded, looking around as well. "Ah, yeah… yeah, that'd do it," he agreed. "I mean, you definitely died. It was… whoo." He winced, shaking his head. "It was pretty nasty. No way of surviving that one, sorry."

"Okay, well, I don't feel very dead. Where are we? Heaven? How can I possibly be back home if I died?" Gabriel knew for a fact that angels didn't just automatically go to Heaven when they died, no one knew what happened to them.

The prophet only shrugged. "Cause you're not dead."

Eh? Staring at Chuck, Gabriel pointed out, "Yooooou just said I died. Let's get the story straight, prophet."

"Yeah, you did. But… now you're alive again. I mean, you wouldn't be the first angel to be brought back, Gabriel," Chuck pointed out. "Guess you still have a job to do. You know, like you're not done yet, or something."

Gabriel stiffened. "What? No, come on! I was done a long time ago," he complained. "What could I possibly still have to do? Lucifer killed me, I think we all know I ain't gonna beat that douche-nozzle, or Michael."

"No, no, Michael and Lucifer aren't your fight," Chuck agreed unconcernedly, waving him off. "Sam and Dean will take care of that, and they've got Castiel with them. That one's up to them. I think they'll do alright, though." There was a note of pride in his voice, but Gabriel just shook his head.

"Then what? I wanted it to be over!"

Chuck just looked at him, half puzzled, half surprised. "It's never over, Gabriel. Whether you leave the story or not. Kinda thought you woulda learned that by now."

Yeah, well, Eleanor had left the story, Gabriel thought as tears sprang to his eyes. That was really the only thing that mattered. He wasn't really supposed to live forever, with no peace from the heartache, was he?! Gabriel glared down at the ground, vision blurred by the tears. From his periphery, he saw the man lift a hand as though to set it on his shoulder, but then think better of it. Chuck sighed.

"Look, forget about the Apocalypse for now. I'm glad you decided humanity's worth the effort, but Heaven's gonna need some work before it's ready to help the Earth. The angels need a leader," he said, echoing Castiel's words from before. "You're an archangel, you were made to lead. I think we've all seen what happens when one of the other three take charge. Besides, weren't you the one who was on the whole "play your role" crusade? Gabriel, listen," Chuck added seriously. "I know you think you were all abandoned, but… I think God cares enough to want His angels in better hands, and that means you. You were… chosen."

"But why!?" shouted Gabriel, emotion welling up. "I don't want to lead them, I never did! I'm not a leader!"

Chuck shrugged again, the ghost of a smile crossing his face. "Yeah, well, I guess the chosen never think they are," he simply replied. "Makes 'em much better suited for it, really."

Gabriel's fists clenched, and he glared up at the sky. "How many times have we been over this? What is so hard to understand?" he complained. "I'm not Michael, I don't wanna be in charge… Let someone else do it."

"Yeah, I… don't think it works that way," the prophet replied with a grimace. "Someone else could try it, but… trust me, it doesn't turn out well for him."

"And you know so much about this, how, exactly? For that matter, what are you even doing here?" Gabriel shot back suspiciously, crossing his arms. Chuck only rolled his eyes again, gesturing to himself as though that was an explanation.

"Hello, prophet? Trust me, this isn't the weirdest thing I've had to do. Look, there's no rush, Sam and Dean still have an Apocalypse to take care of, and you've earned a bit of paradise. You'll know when it's time to make your move."

"Uh-huh, and if I just say no?"

Infuriatingly, Chuck only gave him a contented smile. "You won't."

"Wh- So I don't even get a choice?!" the archangel protested. This wasn't fair! "What, you're gonna make me, or else?!"

"Me?" Chuck asked in surprise, before laughing. "Look, man, no one makes you do anything. Of course you get a choice, everyone gets a choice – I mean, except for me, not that you care-"

"Nope, not really."

The prophet shot him a glare, before finishing, "I just happen to think you'll make the right choice now. I know you better than you think I do."

Now the prophet was just starting to get on his nerves, and Gabriel nodded with a sarcastic roll of his eyes. "K, fine, whatever you say. For someone who knows oh so much, you haven't even told me where the hell we are."

"Oh. Well…" Chuck looked around them again, smiling thoughtfully. "You did pretty good back there, so I think it's your paradise. Well... in a manner of speaking."

"In a manner of speaking?"

Chuck's eyes turned back to Gabriel, and the prophet shrugged. "I mean… your paradise was never really a place, was it?"

Gabriel instantly froze. His heart began to pound, mouth suddenly dry, and he felt weak. He managed to step forward, grabbing Chuck's jacket as the archangel's eyes widened. Did he even dare to hope? "Are you… are you saying…?"

"Gabriel?"

The voice behind him brought tears to Gabriel's wide eyes as he inhaled sharply. He was suddenly filled with terror, not wanting to turn around, because if this wasn't real then he would be utterly destroyed. But Chuck was smiling, looking over Gabriel's shoulder, and the archangel felt her there.

Swallowing hard, Gabriel released the prophet, gathered his courage, and slowly revolved on the spot.

Oh… oh God…

Eleanor stood there, a brilliantly warm smile on her face as she gazed at Gabriel with loving radiance. He would have known that beautiful soul anywhere, even after thousands of years and another lifetime, and he knew in the span of a single heartbeat that this was entirely real. He couldn't think, couldn't breathe, as his numb feet took a shaky step forward on their own.

She only smiled all the wider, and then Gabriel was running towards her, tears streaming down his face as he went. Wings blossomed from both of their backs, shredding Gabriel's shirt and jacket. As he closed the distance, he had time to vaguely see that Eleanor's wings were now pure gold against her white robes, before they were locked in a full embrace at long, long last.

"Ellie… Ellie… Ellie…"

There were no words, nothing in his mind but her name, over and over. Their wings covered each other, joining once again as they had once done in another lifetime. It was the purest sense of completion that the archangel could have ever imagined, the other half of his soul uniting with him at long, long last.

"Gabriel… oh my, FINALLY!"

"Ellie!"

Gabriel's grip was so desperate, so tight, that he might well have crushed her had she been human. Wrapping her with both arms and wings, Gabriel couldn't have let go if he'd wanted to. His hands trailed over her arms, her back, her face, her feathers, every part of her that his heart had been aching to hold again, just to see one more time.

How could this even be real?!

They didn't try to speak, either out loud or between their connected souls. There were no words to be said, not now. Words would come later, but right now they only wanted to hold each other, body and soul. For right now, it was only emotions that passed between them, and those emotions were deep and pure and eternal.

There was no way of measuring time here in this paradise, no way to know just how long the two silently held each other tight. He never saw Chuck leave, but was eventually aware of the fact that they were alone, alone with his paradise. Gabriel was trembling as he held Eleanor against him, feeling her heart beat against his, her soul pulsing within his own body. When he did finally manage to find words, it was just to say her name once again, marveling at how amazing the once forbidden word felt on his tongue.

"Eleanor… Ellie, oh God, El."

Her hand caressed his wing lightly, running through the feathers as the beautiful angel pulled back enough to see his face at last. She smiled, and there were tears in her eyes – those eyes burning with passion that he had always loved. "You have no idea," she whispered in agony. "No idea how much it killed me, not being able to touch you."

Gabriel blinked, pulling back a bit more but refusing to let go of her, or pull his massive wings away from her smaller ones.

"What?"

Eleanor sighed slightly and raised one shoulder in a delicate shrug. "I never really left, Gabriel. I was with you the whole time, but… I couldn't… I…"

Whoa, wait, she'd been what? Gabriel stared, a hand settling on Eleanor's cheek, as he shook his head in confusion. Eleanor swallowed, then raised a wing to give him a gentle buffet on the side of the head. "Remember this?" she asked lightly. "Remember when we bound our souls together? Most of me was destroyed that day with the Knight… along with the part of you that dwelt within me. You probably felt it happen. But… part of me survived."

Her wings snapped outwards briefly, flaring ever so slightly as she glanced up at them. "As you can see, it was the part of my soul that dwelt within you."

The gold… his gold. Gabriel stopped to really look at the glorious wings now, feeling awed and oddly humbled. On him, the gold was dramatic, almost flashy… on her, it was regal, majestic - the wings of a queen.

"So you… you never really…?"

"Part of me died," she replied softly. "Well, most of me died. But we shared a soul, and you lived, so… I lived. No corporeal form, of course, I was less than a ghost, but I was always there with you, attached to your soul because it was my soul, too. It was… disorienting. I wasn't expecting it, to be honest, I thought I'd be killed for good. But when you were put back together, I suppose my part of our soul was separated out again."

Gabriel could only shake his head, at a loss, overwhelmed, trying to just keep on solid ground. "You… but I didn't… all that time, I never felt you…"

"You shut me out," she pointed out, a tinge of sadness in her voice that made Gabriel want to cry. "I mean, Gabriel… the wall of Jericho had nothing on you, when you build a wall, nothing can get through. You wouldn't let me in, you wouldn't even think about me, you attacked poor Castiel just for almost saying my name…"

"I'm sorry…" The words were barely a whisper, the words he'd wanted to say for so long. "El, I'm so sorry… I…"

"Shh…" And, once again, it was her trying to comfort him, and Gabriel took a deep breath. If it had been hell for him, how hard must it have been for Eleanor, to be right there but unable to be heard or seen? For all that time. How was she even still sane?

"I'm sorry," he whispered again, closing his eyes as the archangel reveled in the feel of her wings brushing his face lightly.

"I tried so hard to get through to you, I truly did," she murmured. "But I could only manage when your defenses were at their lowest. Like in the fire, Gabriel... you- you really considered not dropping that token. But I couldn't just let you die."

Gabriel blinked, remembering that moment in the warehouse with the Winchesters, surrounded by holy fire. He remembered hesitating, considering how easy it would be to just not save himself, how much sooner it would end all the pain. He remembered how his hand had twitched almost of its own accord, and he studied Eleanor with the slightest of smiles.

"So that was you, tipping my hand," he murmured. Then, his eyes widened. "El- wait, you kept making all the good booze blow up?"

"Well, you'd had quite enough, Gabriel. It was much easier to get in when you were drunk, but enough was enough."

Gabriel hung his head, abashed, though the rebuke had been a gentle one. He froze, then, as a horrible thought occurred to him. "Uh- so, wait, when you say… you were always there… always, as in… uh… always?"

Oh boy… that was awkward. His many… many… many indiscretions came to mind, and the powerful archangel gritted his teeth in chagrin. Eleanor just looked at him, expression dry, and he knew that she was perfectly aware of what he meant specifically. After a moment without her saying a word, just giving him that look, Gabriel cringed.

"Uh, now, Ellie, I can- I can explain all that…"

"Don't, honestly. I always understood. You were alone, you needed someone, I don't mind. I was glad you found a family… angels were never made to be alone. But, Gabriel, bedding the humans-" Eleanor broke off, looking upwards as she amended with much restraint, "-the, um… many humans – that was one thing, but… Kali? I get it, you were trying to forget me, but Kali? Really?"

Gabriel rubbed the back of his neck, looking away awkwardly. Well, this was seriously uncomfortable. "Now, look, the pagan gods might seem kinda backwards and unpleasant, but underneath, they're... well, backwards and unpleasant, but-"

"Gabriel." She cut him off, still giving him the same deadpan look, and the archangel lapsed back into silence. Eleanor shook her head. "It doesn't matter to me that she's pagan."

"Oh. Then…?"

"…She eats people, Gabriel."

Ah. Right… right, there was that.

Which led to the small matter of how many humans he had killed, which Gabriel was certain Eleanor was biting her tongue about for the moment. He wouldn't have even been upset if she'd yelled (he was probably in for a severe talking-to later on); he was too overwhelmed by good feelings that Gabriel hadn't thought he could ever experience again.

Caught up in a whirlwind of emotion, Gabriel suddenly reached out and pulled Eleanor in close again, the beautiful angel's head resting gently on his shoulder. Their wings had barely removed themselves from each other during the entirety of the conversation, too desperate for contact after far too long apart.

"There was only ever YOU… my brave, beautiful queen," he whispered to her soul, and Eleanor's golden wings glowed lightly in acknowledgment, wordlessly replying the same.

There was so much to say, but there would be time for that. There was so much to apologize for, so much to ask… so much to tell her, and so much that he'd never be able to put into words. There were no words for some things, and that was why it was such an incredible feeling to just sit there with her, holding tight like they would never let go.

"Oh," Eleanor suddenly said after a long while, suddenly pulling away with a smile. "Wait a moment." She stepped away, and only now did Gabriel really focus on the surroundings, this little bit of paradise that had been carved out for him. It was Heaven, though separate, and yet it looked the same… like an alternate version of Heaven tucked away that only he and Eleanor could reach, like one of his pocket dimensions.

It was the nook, complete with lily-scented pool, the cozy benches… and the space on the floor that Eleanor was leaning over now, lightly restoring the very first sigil with quick, graceful dexterity. Gabriel closed his eyes, his heart too full to even breathe, as the distant singing of the stars filled his ears. This song was her, and in that moment Gabriel was falling in love with her all over again, falling in love to the rhythm of creation.

This place… it was perfection, but he understood what Chuck had meant; his paradise could have been anywhere, as long as Eleanor was there with him.

"Better?" she asked with a smile, as Gabriel swallowed and opened his eyes to give her a weak smile and a nod. He pulled her in again; it was going to be a long time before he'd be willing to let go of her.

Though Gabriel still wanted to be furious with his Father, he had to grudgingly appreciate this paradise that he'd never in a million years expected. The price, apparently, was having to take command of the Heavenly Host someday, though he still wasn't convinced that he would actually do it if he truly had the option not to.

After all, why couldn't Dad just come back and take charge Himself?! Why should Gabriel have to pick up the slack just because Dad had abandoned them?! Of course… the same could be said of the angels, by the humans… and he did have Ellie back now… maybe he should rein in his irritation with God for a while…

"And maybe we're not as abandoned as you think," Eleanor murmured suddenly, feeling his emotions, his thoughts. There was a soft tenderness in her voice that made Gabriel look at her in confusion.

"Eh?"

She only smiled again, nodding towards something over his shoulder. Gabriel turned a bit, then whirled around the rest of the way in disbelief. "What the-"

But he knew what this was; he'd seen it before… but the archangel had never expected to see this again in his life! It was a brilliant, pulsating ball of light, swirling like liquid grace. Gabriel and Eleanor both stepped closer, approaching the ball of light that glowed brighter and brighter, impossibly bright like a million suns - the light of pure Creation. Then, quite suddenly, the dazzling light disappeared.

Where it had been, there now lay a tiny form, curled up like a sleeping baby. Two perfect, white, feathery wings spread from its back, fanning out and then folding in. A pure white aura flickered around the little shape, and Gabriel caught his breath in utter awe.

"A fledgling, Gabriel," Eleanor exclaimed joyfully, reaching down and picking up the tiny angel. She smiled, running a gentle finger over its hand until it grabbed hold instinctively. The blazing white wings fluttered slightly, the feathers ruffling, and Gabriel was lost. "The first in thousands of years. Your paradise would have a fledgling, you softy. Honestly, I don't know how anyone was ever fooled by your I-don't-care-about-anyone routine."

Gabriel didn't respond. How could he? What was there left to say? He couldn't have ever imagined a happy ending to his situation. Now… now he didn't know what to think, what to feel, what to expect.

But he had Eleanor, and, as he gazed down in wonder at the newly created fledgling, Gabriel knew that he and all of Heaven had just been given the most precious gift of all:

A second chance.

A/N: I did promise y'all a happy ending, after all :) Things finally seem to be okay, which means we've just about reached the end of this little tale! (Ha. Little. Can't believe I ever thought this was going to be a little 4-chapter romance...) Thank you all SO MUCH who've stuck with it to the end, even amid the crazy angst and the times when it seemed there was no possible way for things to ever get better. :)

Just an epilogue left. I hope you've all enjoyed reading this as much as I've enjoyed writing it.