Gabriel took Balthazar and Henry to the service elevator.
Thor and Modi had taken themselves outside to make certain Balthazar hadn't been followed by any other angels and to do their daily "demon cleaning" run in the area.
Gabriel jammed the up and down buttons in a pattern, then the door opened.
They entered the elevator and the doors closed.
Then, the elevator went sideways, then up towards Gabriel's flat - which was between floors four and five.
Gabriel looked over at Henry, who was lost in thought.
"Now would be a good time to say whatever's on your mind, Henry," Gabriel said.
"What am I supposed to say? I've missed all of my son's life, and my grandsons are hunters, when they should have been Men of Letters, like their father should have been."
Gabriel let out a sigh. Henry had figured out that John was dead - "Well, it was obvious something had happened, what with none of you wanting to tell me where he was", Henry had said.
"I'm sorry," Gabriel said.
"And now you tell me that my grandsons are meant to be the vessels of Michael and Lucifer? That my grandson Dean has already accepted Michael? I mean, what am I supposed to say?"
"Look, I get this isn't easy to hear," Gabriel said, "but right now, we need to focus on your grandson, Sam. He's not showing it but the kid is hurt and confused. He won't say admit it, even to himself, but he's scared that he's going to accept Lucifer…"
"Why would he think that?" Henry asked, appalled.
Gabriel reached over and pressed the "stop" button on the elevator.
"Because every time Sam wanted to get out of the life of being a hunter, your son, John, treated him as as if he was a rebellious brat. Because when Sam told John he'd gotten into college, John acted as though Sam was joining a cult and told him that if he left to never come back…"
"Don't you try to blame this on John," Henry said. "He must have had his reasons…"
"Oh yeah, I get that too. He was scared; his wife had died in insane circumstances and he was frightened out of his wits. And then he found out that demons were real and that one had killed his wife. He feared that if he let Sam and Dean out of his sight, that they would die. But what I blame him for is that he tried to make Sam feel as though he could never live up to his ideals. Sam's like you, Henry. He likes the things you do - books and knowledge - and maybe John saw that in him, and he tried to squash it out of him…"
"Because he thought I left him and his mother," Henry said. "He hated me."
"But the thing I will never forgive your son for, is that he told Dean that he would have to kill Sam because of something he had no control over! Sam was not responsible for having demon blood in him, but he acted as though that explained everything about Sam that he didn't like."
Henry nodded. "What do you want me to do?"
"Your grandson needs you now - he needs to know that what he feels, what he believes in, isn't wrong or evil. That there's more than one Winchester way. And you have to help Sam do this, or he will go down that path my brother wants - not because Sam's evil - but because my brother will make him believe that he is the only one who accepts Sam for who he truly is."
Henry looked at Gabriel, his eyes filled with unshed tears. "And what do you get out of this? From what you've told me, Heaven's manipulated Dean to get him to say yes. Are you on their side?"
Gabriel snorted. "Please; I'm not with those ass-clowns any more than I'm with my brother Lucifer. But Dean's already said yes; if he has any regrets, then he's going to have to figure it out for himself how to get out of agreeing to be Michael's vessel. The only thing I can do now is help Sam."
Henry reached over and pushed the "go" button on the elevator. "I'll help you. But I want a promise from you…"
"Which is?"
"You help Dean, too. You don't write him off."
Gabriel opened his mouth then closed it. "There's no way…"
"Find a way," Henry said. "You're an archangel; you find a way."
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Sam was starting to get worried. The few angels that he trusted - and yes, he included Inias and Samandriel in that small number along with Castiel and Gabriel - were in the room with him, and the fact that one of the heavenly douchebags was out there with Gabriel, didn't sit well with Sam.
"He'll be okay," Jesse said, coming over to Sam.
He held a can of grape soda in his hand. "They're talking. That's a good sign."
"Yeah," Sam answered, leaning against the wall by the door.
Jesse got up on a stool and sat at the counter, and looked at Castiel, who was holding a can of orange Slice, as he sat on one of the sofas.
"I guess he doesn't want to kill me anymore," Jesse said.
Before Sam could answer, Jesse got off the stool and went over to Castiel.
"Hello," Jesse said.
Castiel looked at Jesse. "Hello."
The two looked at each other for a few moments before Castiel said, "I suppose I should apologize for attempting to kill you this past year."
Jesse shrugged his shoulders. "If you want to," he answered.
"I want to. I apologize. Sam was right about you."
Jesse shrugged again. "No worries, dude." He went back over to the stool and sat down again.
"Wow," Sam said. "I never thought I'd see that happen."
"Why?" Jesse asked.
Sam wanted to say, because angels aren't exactly big on admitting they were wrong about anything - but the door opened and Gabriel walked in with two men.
"Okay, everyone," Gabriel said. "We can all stand down from Defcon 1 - the angel in question is my brother Balthazar. Not exactly the brightest bulb in the box, but decent enough."
"Hah, hah, " the tall, blond man said in a British accent.
"And this is," Gabriel pointed at a slender, dark haired man. "Well, there's no other way to say it - Sam, this is your grandfather! Surprise!"
"Wait - what?" Sam asked.
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A/N: Sorry for the delay with this chapter - I swear I don't do these things intentionally!
I went to the Chicago Supernatural Convention and had a blast - got my picture taken with Mark Sheppard, Mark Pellegrino and Sebastian Roche!
And then I came home and was promptly laid up for a week with the head cold from hell.
Finally went back to work this week, but was still too stuffy until today to actually finish this chapter.
Thanks to everyone who has reviewed (42), followed (101) and favorited (62) this story! YOU ROCK!