A/N: Hello hello! Here's the next promised chapter! Lots of stuff happening IRL but I'm trying to get an upload schedule started. Or at least some more frequent uploading. All of you that have been here since the beginning, you know it's pure chaos. On that note, thank you so much for sticking with me and following this fic. I hope I can finish it soon because this is the start of something cool ;)

As always, I'm looking for feedback. A writer never stops honing their skills. I've gotten such good pointers from readers on this site. You're all such wholesome people and I thank you for that. I hope I can continue to create stories you enjoy.

I've been working on my own original novel! Yes! Exciting! And boy is it a lot of work! lol Hoping to get it out soon. The goal is before Summer 2020, but I also have two other jobs that demand attention, too. Still, fingers crossed!

I love you all! Mwah!

Talk to me on Discord! I made a server just for us!

And, as always *drumroll*... Shoutouts to: Megatronas and Kathy! Thanks so much for the reviews!

Also, monkeygirl77, awesome fics as always! Been catching up on my reading now that I can read for pleasure again!

Enjoy!

Eliyon woke up slowly, groaning softly as he became aware of the overwhelming ache in his body. Breathing was difficult and moving was out of the question. He could hear moans and soft sobs of pain all around him and he struggled to open his eyes, prepared to see the battlefield once more. White curtains and the soft smells of healing greeted. A Rit Zien passed by quietly, his arms full of bandages and salves.

Well, at least he knew where he was now.

His body was wrapped tightly in bandages and he tasted something bitter and sour, like pitch, on his tongue. He tried to raise a hand and the sudden fiery pain that arched across him left him gasping for breath and tears burning in his eyes.

"Easy," Ezekiel said softly and gently lifted his head, pressing a cup of cool water to his lips. "Small sips now. There you go. Like that. Easy now. Just rest."

Eliyon peered at him blearily. "E-zekiel…" his voice caught on a groan of pain.

"Rest," Ezekiel said again. "Your injuries challenged the Rit Zien to the full extent of their skills."

"The…battle?" Eliyon asked hoarsely.

"Over and won," Ezekiel replied. "Thanks in no small part to you."

Eliyon gave him a confused look. "What…do you…mean?"

Ezekiel gave him a slightly searching look. "You decimated approximately a third of the demons." Eliyon's look of puzzled surprise worried him. He had only ever seen an archangel capable of such destruction, and it had always been intentional.

"I… I was just… just fighting," Eliyon murmured tiredly. "I was trying… Castiel? Is he… alright?" He asked worriedly.

"He is recovering," Ezekiel assured him. "I had feared he was lost to us. But the venom is not lethal, thank Father." He sighed, his expression turning deeply grieved. "Eliyon… you should know… Gabriel… he is lost to us."

Eliyon sighed deeply, eyes closing in an attempt to stifle the agony that suddenly gripped his core. "I know," he murmured.

"Michael found his body," Ezekiel went on. "It took all of Lucifer's princes to take him down. Though, I know that isn't a comfort to him."

Eliyon didn't have the energy to look as confused and surprised as he felt. Gabriel wasn't dead. He'd left long before the battle was even a rumor.

"Gabriel…"

"Ezekiel, he must rest," one of the Rit Zien scolded softly. "It's paramount to his recovery. If you wish to stay, you must be silent."

"Of course," Ezekiel nodded.

Eliyon fell asleep to the feeling of a cool cloth on his face. When he awoke, the hot, almost overwhelming presence beside him wasn't Ezekiel; it was Michael.

The archangel looked ragged, exhausted, but his eyes were still sharp. The shadows beneath them, though, betrayed the deep grief he was concealing.

"How are you feeling?" Michael asked with gruff concern.

Eliyon took a moment to evaluate himself. "Better than I did," he said hoarsely.

"Well, since you've been unconscious for three days, I'd consider that decent progress," Michael said. "You… you fought well," he nodded slowly. "Of course, that's what drew the horde directly to you. You were fortunate to survive. Others… were not," he finished grimly.

The archangel's face was like stone, but behind his burning green eyes was a bitter, unfathomable pain.

Eliyon had survived, and Gabriel had not.

"How did you survive?" he asked softly.

Eliyon thought back to the battle, the horde that had swarmed him, the certainty he'd had that his existence would end that day, at that moment. Then, Lucifer had intervened.

"I don't… understand it, myself," he murmured, just as stunned and confused by the memory as he had been the moment it had happened.

Michael's jaw clenched. "Luckily for you, Lucifer's regard for his own force was as little as his regard for his own kind, in the past. He killed at least a score of us, and his demons at the same time. That was where I found you."

Eliyon nodded slightly. "I saw him."

"I'm sure you did. All of Heaven did," Michael scoffed. "It's a wonder that his attack didn't finish you off."

Eliyon didn't reply to that. Michael's grace was barely contained as it was, and learning that the Morningstar had saved his life could only end badly. However, Michael didn't seem eager to pursue the matter, and silence fell for a moment.

"Michael," Eliyon said, at last, his voice hoarse and tired. "Ezekiel said… he said that Gabriel—"

"Don't," Michael snapped in a low tone. "Do not speak of him. I should have thrown Lucifer into that cage with his wings shredded and his grace carved out for what he did." The words were whispered, almost like he'd forgotten he wasn't alone, and he was shaking with barely restrained wrath and grief. "Eternity in that prison will be too good for him."

"He's not…"

"I said do not speak of him," Michael snarled softly. "Not now. Not ever."

Eliyon nodded and sank back against the pillows again. He didn't have the strength to force the issue. He barely had the strength to keep speaking.

"As soon as you've recovered, you're to return to your duties with the Grigori," Michael told him.

"Understood," Eliyon nodded slowly in exhaustion.

Michael suddenly looked slightly contrite, like he'd just remembered that Eliyon had barely survived the battle and should have to endure his temper just yet. "Get some rest," he said in a gruffly gentle tone.

He lingered by Eliyon's bedside long after he'd fallen asleep. He was exhausted, as well. So much had to be rebuilt, but it could wait for a little while. He watched over the recovering angel as memories floated through his mind.

This was all he had left of Gabriel.

Lucifer's rebellion would never be repeated. Too many had been lost, too much had been shattered beyond repair and who knew how many of his followers remained? Rooting them out would be next to impossible and that was without considering the corruption of Earth.

Earth he could nothing about. The humans could look after themselves. But Heaven? He could ensure nothing of the sort ever happened again. Maybe then, when everything was put right again, Father would return.

A/N: Whoops! I forgot to hit upload and it's been... two days? I'll admit to two.