Sam walked into the library the next morning and found Gabriel at the table observing Michael, who was looking around at the different books. Sam went over and sat down next to Gabriel. "Hey. Babysitting duty."

"I guess you could call it that. I decided to give Amenadiel a break. It's unnecessary though. Michael doesn't need to be babysat. He's not gonna hurt anyone."

"Well, we don't know that for sure. I mean, he looks harmless, but we don't know if he'll snap," Sam said. He didn't think Michael should be underestimated. They knew how dangerous he was. He'd orchestrated the apocalypse. They needed to be careful.

"I do. He doesn't want to hurt anyone. All he wants is to feel safe," Gabriel said quietly.

Sam looked at Gabriel sadly. "It has to be hard for you to look at him like this, both because he's your brother and because you know what he's been through."

"I feel bad for him. He literally went though Hell, and it broke him completely. His mind couldn't take what was done to him. I do sympathize with him. But do you wanna know something truly messed up, Sam? A part of me resents him for being like this. I resent him for being able to shut the world out the way he has. Look at him. He's smiling. As long as he doesn't hear Luc… our brother's name, or loud voices, he's the happiest being in the world," Gabriel said. He wished he could be like this sometimes. He wished he could forget everything and be obliviously happy, albeit insane, like Michael was.

"That's not messed up, Gabriel. I can understand wishing you could check out mentally, that you could shut the world out," Sam said. He felt like that a lot of times. Every time he thought about the Cage, a part of him wished he could go back to insanity. It wasn't exactly a great time, but it was easier to deal with what he'd been through when he was crazy than now that he was sane.

"I never thought anything could break Michael. I would think I would long before he did. I guess that means he had it worse," Gabriel said. It was hard for him to believe that anyone could suffer worse than he did. Then again, he was sure Michael and Sam thought the same.

"It doesn't have to mean anything. People handle things differently," Sam said.

"This is inaccurate," Michael suddenly spoke as he was looking at one of the books.

"Uh, well, everything here was written by humans. I'm sure they don't know about everything they wrote about," Sam said.

"Yes, I know. Humans shouldn't write about things they can't understand. Angels are beyond your understanding," Michael said.

"Not mine," Sam mumbled a bit bitterly. Aside from Cas, Gabriel, Lucifer, and Amenadiel, he didn't think much of angels. They all showed him they were no better than demons.

"We weren't always like this," Gabriel whispered to Sam. He could tell what the hunter was thinking.

"You're still not. There are a few exceptions, and you're definitely one," Sam said.

Gabriel smiled in response. "How about we go see about breakfast. I don't know about you, but I could do with some pancakes."

"You don't need to eat," Michael said as he put the book down and looked over at his younger brother.

"Actually, I do. I'm low on Grace. Plus, I liked to eat anyway. You should try it. It's really good," Gabriel said.

"Okay. If you say so," Michael said.

Sam and Gabriel led the way out of the library and down to the kitchen. The others, aside from Amenadiel were all there as well. Lucifer was cooking while the others were seated.

Dean was the first one to notice Sam, Gabriel, and Michael. "Really? You bring this dick down?"

"You want us to lock him in a room?" Gabriel asked sardonically.

"Why not?" Dean shot back.

Lucifer, meanwhile walked over to his son and stood by him protectively.

Michael, meanwhile, walked over to his younger brother. "Hi, Samael. Who is he?" he asked as he glanced at the boy next to his brother. He could tell what he was. The Grace and human soul were very clear. He was a Nephilim.

"Keep your distance," Lucifer said dangerously.

"My name's Jack," Jack said. He wasn't sure what else to do. This man, his uncle, was staring at him, and it was becoming uncomfortable.

"Hello. I'm Michael. You're a Nephilim. That's not allowed," Michael said in a matter-of-fact tone.

"Stay away from my son," Lucifer warned in a dangerously low tone.

Michael gasped at his brother's words. "He's yours?! Samael, father will be very angry with you."

"I don't give a damn how angry the old man is," Lucifer said, his voice raised just slightly.

"But he'll lock you away!" Michael said in a dire tone.

Lucifer paused. The way Michael said that made it sound like he was speaking from prior knowledge. Perhaps Michael remembered more than he knew. That would need to be brought up to Linda.

Gabriel went to Michael's side. "Michael, it's okay. Dad knows about Jack." He was sure that was true. Nothing really happened that their father didn't find out about.

"He does? He's not angry?" Michael asked.

"No," Gabriel said. That might actually be a lie. Gabriel had no way of knowing what his father thought of Jack. But in order to keep the tension at a minimum, it was best that Michael believe their father was okay with Jack.

"Okay. As long as Samael won't get into trouble," Michael said.

"Yes, I'm sure that's your main concern," Lucifer said sarcastically before going back to cooking. He made sure to keep his eyes trained on his son and older brother as often as he could. Michael might seem mostly okay with Jack, but Lucifer didn't want to take any chances.

"Michael, you can sit down if you want," Sam said.

"Really?" Dean asked Sam with a raised eyebrow.

"Dean," was all Sam said.

Dean got up and headed out of the room. Suddenly, he wasn't hungry.

"I'll be right back," Sam said before following his brother out of the room. "Dean, you have to stop. The tension is bad enough around here."

Dean turned to glare at his brother. "Gee, I wonder why that is. We've got three to four archangels around her at any given time. One is the freaking Devil, another a wannabe Trickster, and another the dude who orchestrated the freaking apocalypse!"

Sam sighed. "Look, I get how you feel about Michael I'm not exactly that comfortable with him being around her either. No one is. But we need him if we're going to save Mom, which means we need to find a way to bring him back to reality. Losing it every time he enters the room won't help with that. And I really wish you'd back off when it comes to Lucifer and Gabriel. Maybe they've done questionable things, but they are not evil. Anything Gabriel has done has been to protect his family."

"Yeah, I get it, you're into him, but he'll never be anything more than the dick that stuck us TV Land to me. Not to mention stuck you in time loop. So, you were blinders all you want, but I'm not going to!" Dean said sharply.

"Fine, think whatever you want, but don't bring it up to me anymore if you don't expect me to say anything. Just give it all a rest please. I know you don't want Michael here, but he needs to be here," Sam said.

"I don't hear you saying this to your new buddy, Lucifer," Dean said.

"If I thought that it would help, I would. Lucifer's anger at Michael runs much deeper than ours. Though, I do think he'll calm down some now that he knows Michael isn't a threat to Jack, at least while he's like this. Will you please do the same?" Sam asked. He was really just tired of the tension. He was tense because of things with Dean, and everyone was tense because of Michael. He just wanted to ease some of it.

"Fine, whatever," Dean finally agreed.

"Thank you," Sam said before heading back to the kitchen.

"Don't think I don't know what you're planning, Sammy, and don't think I won't stop you," Dean called after his brother at the last moment.

Sam stopped and turned back to his brother. "What?"

"I know you plan to leave with Gabriel and Lucifer when this is all over. You're crazy if you think I'm going to let that happen," Dean said firmly. It wasn't that he wanted to stop Sam from leaving. He didn't want his brother to go, but he could accept it. He wouldn't accept him leaving with two asshole archangels though. He wasn't going to let them mess with and influence his little brother. He'd been down that road before and would not watch it again.

"There's nothing you can do about it," Sam said furiously. So much for cutting down the tension. That just became much worse with his brother's belief that he somehow had the right to keep him from moving on with his life.

"We'll see," was all Dean said before walking away.