Author's Note:

The response I got from you guys after the last chapter was awesome! I'm thrilled you guys are so excited, and I can't wait for you to see what else is coming!

Thanks to diskidi, SPN Mum, ncsupnatfan, and 1983Sarah for their reviews on chapter 24!

Chapter 25 - But I Am Hell Bound

Dean may have recovered first, but Sam snapped out of it soon after, demanding answers. "How the hell are you alive?" He blurted, eyes wide with shock. He wasn't sure what his reaction was yet.

Gabriel shrugged. "Benefit of being in the witness protection program." When Sam continued to glare at him, obviously expecting an answer, Gabriel rolled his eyes and continued. "Look, I'd been with the pagans for years. I had plenty of power as a god that was totally separate from my power as an angel. I was afraid something was going to go wrong that day, so I planned ahead. You really think someone like me didn't figure out how to get around an angel blade a long time ago?" Gabriel made a scoffing noise, folding his arms and leaning up against the door frame.

"Wait, you've been alive this whole time?" Sam demanded, outrage building in his eyes. "You were around for everything? All of it?"

Dean gave Sam a funny look at the anger in his voice, but both Castiel and Gabriel wore identical expressions of understanding. Gabriel actually winced at Sam's tone. "Sorry, kiddo. If it helps, I think you chuckleheads did a bang up job cleaning up after yourselves, not to mention after Cas." He shrugged at the look Castiel gave him before continuing. "I'd become to visible over the last few years, so I went back into hiding. Besides, you guys didn't need me."

"Who says we didn't?" Sam challenged, expression still hostile. "You could have stopped a lot of really awful things from happening. There are good people who would still be here if we'd had someone like you to help fight." The memory of Bobby being shot by Dick Roman played through his mind. He had forgiven Castiel a long time ago, but the truth of it was that if Castiel had never set the Leviathans free, Bobby would still be alive.

Gabriel held his hands up in mock surrender. "Slow down there, kiddo. Yeah, I probably could have saved you guys a few casualties, but it's not like I was hiding with a big screen television tuned into the Winchester channel. I was hiding in Heaven. Any kind of power use would have given me away, so I didn't start catching up on current events until after Constantine over here hit the wrong lever and we all fell."

Dean's lips twitched at the nickname for Castiel, but he raised an eyebrow at the fact that Gabriel had been hiding in the one place he'd avoided for so long. "How the hell did you get away with hiding in Heaven?" He asked skeptically.

"Easy," Gabriel replied nonchalantly, crossing his arms again. "I found an empty Heaven, did a little customization, and stayed there. Course, after Metatron decided to take Dad's throne, things got complicated."

"I would still like to know what exactly happened when you appeared in my motel room," Castiel interjected, looking at Gabriel warily. He hadn't given the archangel any time to explain anything while they were in Heaven. He wasn't sure what his plan was, but anybody else knowing about Gabriel seemed like a bad idea. He trusted Sam and Dean, so he'd simply grabbed his brother and transported them to the bunker.

"Wait, you knew he was alive?" Sam exclaimed, whirling on Castiel. "Geez, Cas, why didn't you say something?"

"Because it was a manipulation devised by Metatron and I had been given no real reason to believe he was alive!" Castiel snapped back. "Also, the timing was less than ideal." Turning back to Gabriel, he added, "Well?"

Gabriel waved a hand at Castiel and moved into the library, taking a seat a few chairs down from Sam and propping his feet up. "Okay, long story short is that I fell out of Heaven with everyone else, but Metatron caught me on the way down. I'm the only archangel left of the four, and he didn't even think I was still alive. Obviously he recognized me, and he popped me right back into the Heaven I'd been hiding in. The fall weakened everyone, plus he caught me off guard. Otherwise it wouldn't have even been possible. He never had that kind of strength. Anyway, he locked me in, but he fixed up my television so I could watch everything go down. He said he wanted me to witness his greatness and know I could do nothing." Gabriel scowled, shaking his head. "I always knew the scribe was sketchy, but he's a total weasel."

"You can say that again," Sam muttered. He fidgeted slightly in his seat, seeming to be interested in spite of himself. "So how come Cas got to see you?"

"That was later," Gabriel clarified. "I'd been locked in my Heaven for a while at that point. I mostly did research, which is why I know what happened while I was hiding out. I watched you guys running around, which was mildly entertaining, and that was about it. Metatron needed me to coerce Cas into following his script, so he trapped Cas and projected me into his mind in this fake scenario where I was a returning hero coming to help save Heaven." Gabriel made a scoffing noise and rolled his eyes. "Obviously, Cas figured it out. I was limited to what Metatron was allowing me to say, or I'd have tried to help more." He paused, giving Castiel a significant look. "I did try and clue you into the fact that I was really alive though. I hoped you'd come looking for me."

"I had my suspicions," Castiel admitted. "I was not strictly speaking looking for you though when I found you."

Sam's head snapped up, looking first at Castiel in revelation and then at Gabriel in surprise. "You opened the portal!" He exclaimed.

"Oh, yeah, that was me," Gabriel admitted casually. "Glad to know that got some attention."

Dean made a disbelieving noise. "Dude, flying monkeys were attacking farmers in Kansas. Of course that got attention."

Gabriel flat out grinned at that. "Why do you think I chose Oz?"

"How did you even know the portal key was there?" Sam asked, bewildered. "Cas said no one should have been able to sense its location."

"Metatron," Gabriel overemphasized, "is like a bad stereotype of a super villain." At the questioning looks he received, Gabriel clarified with, "He monologues. A lot."

"So he just told you where he put it?" Dean asked skeptically.

"No, he was talking about weapons of Heaven he had possession of, trying to scare me or impress me, not sure which, and after that I started using the TV to watch him. He hid the portal key not long after the fall. There was a lot he'd already hidden, but once he took control of Heaven he had access to a lot more, so he started taking short trips to hide stuff he didn't want anyone knowing he had." Gabriel rolled his eyes again. "All I needed to know was where the thing was. Activating it was easy. The fact that it was in Kansas was just a bonus, since I knew you'd be more likely to investigate that way."

"Well, it worked," Castiel admitted slowly.

"It should of worked faster," Gabriel criticized mildly. "I mean, seriously, who else has the comedic genius to open a portal to Oz in the middle of Kansas?"

Sam's lips twitched in amusement, but he quickly schooled his expression, as if remembering he was supposed to be mad. "So, what, you just wanted someone to free you then? Or are you actually planning on being helpful now?"

Gabriel hesitated. "Helpful with what, exactly?"

Sam gave him a meaningful look. "There's any number of things you could be doing," he explained pointedly. "Helping with Heaven, fixing Cas-"

Interrupting Sam's list, Gabriel turned to look at Castiel more closely. "What's wrong with your grace?" He demanded, as though noticing the problem for the first time. Given how briefly they had interacted, it was possible that it really was the first time.

"It is not mine," Castiel admitted. "Metatron destroyed my grace as part of the spell he used to cause the fall."

"No he didn't," Gabriel countered immediately. "You can't destroy grace. It's out there somewhere."

Castiel looked so ridiculously hopeful in that moment that Sam suddenly found himself desperate for it to be true. "Do you think Metatron still has it?" Castiel asked tentatively.

"Probably not. Anything he had left over he probably hid." Gabriel paused, considering for a moment. "There's going to be fragments, but we'll find it. If we find enough then I can help you rebuild it."

Sam and Dean both looked relieved, giving Castiel encouraged glances. "That's a relief," Dean stated, shooting Castiel a grin. "So, what, are you guys going to go on the road and look out for shiny grace bits or something?"

"Or something," Gabriel replied, snorting slightly.

"Heaven is more important than my grace right now," Castiel argued weakly, torn between what he considered his duty and his desire to live.

"We can fix Heaven after we fix you," Gabriel said firmly. "It'll be way easier to deal with Heaven if I've got you here and not dead. No ifs, ands, or buts, okay?"

Castiel looked mildly amused, but nodded his agreement.

"What about you two?" Gabriel asked, turning back to the Winchesters. He address both of them, but was looking at Sam with an upraised eyebrow. "You need something from me too?"

"Just take care of Cas. We can handle our end," Sam replied, his tone confident.

Gabriel raised an eyebrow. "You sure? You don't need any help handling your pet demon over there?" He nodded in Dean's general direction, ignoring the dirty look the older hunter sent him in response.

If Sam was started that Gabriel knew about Dean's nature, he didn't react. "We can handle it," he repeated.

Gabriel made a skeptical noise, but didn't argue. Giving Dean a once over, he shrugged. "Well, I'll say this. You're a weirdly attractive demon." When Dean gave him a bewildered look, he added, "I mean your true face, it's hardly noticeable, and even if I'm looking for it it's not ugly, not like a normal demon. I don't know what to make of you." He shrugged casually, indicating that while he thought it was weird, he didn't really care.

Dean remembered Castiel saying something similar when his friend had first discovered that the hunter was a demon. Castiel hadn't seen his true face before Dean had shown him his eyes, and even after he had the angel had seemed perplexed by how non-repulsive his true face was. Dean wasn't entirely sure it was a compliment, but it felt like a good thing.

"Figures you wouldn't be normal," Sam ribbed his brother, giving him a half smile.

Dean rolled his eyes and stood, stretching slightly. "So this has been an eventful day," he announced sarcastically.

"Indeed it has," Castiel agreed, his tone solemn.

Gabriel chuckled. "Hey, I'm just happy to have some breathing room." Turning to Castiel, he offered, "So, time for Cas and Gabe's Excellent Adventure?"

Castiel's brow furrowed as Dean snorted loudly. "I do not understand that reference."

Dean looked scandalized. "Wait, so Metatron downloads you with all the pop culture knowledge he's got, but somehow he's never seen a classic 80's sci-fi?"

"I have knowledge of Back To The Future," Castiel offered hopefully, as though that would be helpful.

Dean rolled his eyes. "That's a relief, but it's not good enough. Are you going to die in the next two hours?"

"I highly doubt it," Castiel informed him wryly.

"Good, then we're having movie night. You guys can start your quest in the morning." Dean hurried towards the room that housed the television actually connected to a DVD player.

Sam wasn't even sure they had Bill And Ted's Excellent Adventure on DVD, but upon hearing Dean's crowing from the other room decided that his brother must have found a copy somewhere. "It's best to just go with it," He explained to the angels, shrugging helplessly.

Gabriel grinned. "No arguments from me!" The archangel stood, tugging Castiel along with him and down the hall towards the room Dean had disappeared into.

Sam followed behind more slowly, amusement playing across his face. He was still skeptical of Gabriel's involvement, but he couldn't deny how light hearted everything felt now that the archangel was with them. He seemed willing to help Castiel, and he was playing nice with both Sam and Dean so far. Maybe they could trust him this time. Sam watched the two angels and Dean attempt to find suitable seating arrangements on the one large bed in the room in front of the television and couldn't help but smile. With any luck, this was the start of everything going right for them.