Angel Co-Counselling
Disclaimer: If I owned Supernatural, I wouldn't be writing fanfiction.
Things weren't looking good. Sam opened his mouth to put plan F (for F*ck it) into operation. Suddenly, however, a diminutive figure appeared between the two archangels.
"Loki?" Sam muttered in confusion.
With sharp gestures, the Trickster sent all the humans back to the Bunker. As soon as there were no mortals to harm nearby, they released the firm hold they had over their Grace, letting their wings manifest.
"Gabriel?" Michael questioned. "We thought you dead."
"As I wished you to," the archangel told their siblings. "I could not stand your constant bickering, so I left. You drove me from my home and family. You have made me very annoyed."
When their siblings failed to do anything but stare, Gabriel rolled their eyes. "Dear Parent," they said in English, then continued in Enochian, "You two, meet me at Heaven's gates. I am done with your silly rivalry."
So saying, Gabriel left their mortal body, wings stretching as they assumed their true form. Blinding light consumed the area for a split second before they took flight, appearing in their old home. A moment later, their errant siblings joined them. Without a word, Gabriel took the lead, moving purposefully to the Garden of Eden. Alone in the Garden, they gave, despite lacking a face in the conventional sense of the word, an excellent impression of glaring. Michael and Lucifer, though older and more powerful, quailed before their little sibling's ire.
"All right," Gabriel told the two archangels. "We are going to deal with this like civilized celestial beings, and talk about it! No more fighting."
"Michael," they started, "Why are you so set on fighting your sibling?"
"Our Parent told me to," the eldest archangel said, apparently considering this a sufficient explanation.
Their little sibling conveyed a sense of confusion. "So you are in contact with our Parent? They have come back to Heaven since Lucifer's Fall?"
"No," Michael said, "But they will, if I carry out the Plan. They will finally notice us!"
"What I am hearing, Michael," Gabriel told them, "is that you have done this so our Parent would return. So they would consider you important. Is that right?"
"Yes," Michael replied, shame radiating from their form, their wings drooping slightly. "I just... even before Lucifer's fall, they never had time for me – for us! I only wanted my Parent back."
Gabriel turned to Lucifer. "And you?" they asked. "Why did you try to harm your sibling?"
"They followed our Parent's words without thought. When we were young, their siblings came first! Now it seems the only thing that matters is the orders of a Parent who was never there."
If angels could cry, Lucifer would be. As it was, they radiated righteous anger. Gabriel felt for their sibling. They had felt the same on more than one occasion.
"So you were feeling ignored, and that you weren't as important to Michael as our Parent was. Is that correct?"
Lucifer agreed, "Yes, and that our Parent had done nothing to deserve that devotion. I always loved my siblings. When I was a cherub, I thought Michael hung the galaxy! But as soon as our Parent called, I was ignored. They threw me away like I was nothing, and for what? Because I loved my kin more than the mortal races!"
Again, Gabriel could empathize with their sibling. Lucifer was making it difficult to stay neutral. "So you miss your sibling, and feel like they don't care about you. Have you thought about telling Michael that? Do you think it's possible they don't know how much they've hurt you?"
"Michael doesn't care!" Lucifer snarled. "How many times did I try to connect and get pushed away?"
Michael broke in. "I never tried to push you away! I'm sorry if you felt like I didn't care about you. You're my little sibling, and I'll always love you." They reached out a wing, brushing tentatively at their sibling.
Lucifer pulled away, their own wings dejectedly limp.
Suspecting their presence would only complicate things, Gabriel took flight, landing in Heaven's library. To their surprise, the huge space was deserted. Something was definitely wrong. Before they'd left, the one place they were sure to find Raphael was the library. The third archangel was the model of a scholar, and loved the shelves of old scrolls and texts, and could spend centuries among them without ever speaking to another angel.
Leaving via the door this time, Gabriel kept an eye out for other angels. When they noticed Harahel, they changed course to intercept their sibling. Harahel was one of Raphael's closest siblings, the angel who presided over their precious library.
"Harahel," they said, "little sibling. I am searching for Raphael. Where might I find them?"
The younger angel startled badly at seeing Gabriel, but responded. "Gabriel, sibling. It is good to see you home! Raphael is in the strategy room; I fear they have changed much since you were last here. The loss of two siblings has affected them badly, and you will find them much less caring than they were a few millennia ago."
Gabriel frowned. This was not the news they were hoping for. Regardless, they must reconnect with the last of their elder siblings. Before they moved on, they brushed a wing across Harahel's form, the angelic equivalent of a quick hug. They could feel Harahel's Grace lighting up at the touch, hope springing in the young angel for the first time, Gabriel suspected, since Lucifer's Fall.
They continued toward the strategy room, the door flying open with a touch of their Grace. Gabriel took in the sight in front of them, Raphael sitting upright in front of the board representing the universe. Stepping forward, Gabriel flared their Grace, watching how Raphael stiffened before turning, Grace carefully neutral.
"Sibling," said Gabriel, Grace aching at the mistrust radiating from their sibling. "I'm back."
"I can see that," Raphael replied. "Is there a reason why?"
"Michael and Lucifer went too far, sibling. They would destroy a race in their quarrel. A race I happen to be rather fond of."
"Of course," Raphael said, barely-concealed hurt in their voice. "For the humans. Silly of me, to think you came back because you missed us."
"Naturally I missed you," Gabriel said, hastening to reassure their sibling. "But I thought Heaven was beyond repair. I thought my family cared more for being right than for each other. And that, that I could not live with. That was why I left. Not because I did not love you."
Raphael snapped. Their control over their Grace shattered, their wings flared in threat. "So you left? Why come back now, why not try to fix it back then? I mourned you! When Lucifer Fell, I lost over one hundred siblings, all angels I knew! And you just left me to think you were dead. How could you?"
Gabriel's form slumped slightly. "I'm sorry. I know I hurt you, I just couldn't do it any more. Please let me try again, to be your sibling again?"
The bitterness in the glow of Raphael's Grace nearly broke Gabriel's heart. Their own Grace shone with sorrow, and they dared to reach out a wing and touch Raphael's form. As though that one touch was permission, the third archangel lunged for their little sibling, wings wrapping about them. Raphael wept into their sibling's wings, Grace bleeding from each archangel to heal the other's grief.
Eventually the two separated, Gabriel brushing a wing over their sibling's form once more, before launching themself into the atmosphere. They had another angel to visit...
This time, Gabriel's search was a good deal more complicated; Castiel didn't seem to be anywhere in Heaven. Eventually they expanded their search to the Earth plane, where they sensed their sibling's Grace. Gabriel was startled to find their sibling in the bunker they'd sent the humans to. With a mental shrug, they appeared to the trio, safely ensconced in their vessel.
Much to their disappointment, they were greeted with twin angel blades in their face. Well, well. It seemed their sibling had been naughty.
"Castiel," they greeted, careful not to slip into Enochian. "I have returned."
The youngest angel stared at their sibling with heartbreaking hope.
"Gabriel?" They asked in disbelief, "Is it really you?"
"Yes, sibling," Gabriel replied. "I'm so sorry. I left you all alone... you, Balthazar, Akriel, Zehanpuryu, Eremiel, Mihr, Rahatiel... so many I should have looked after. I made a mistake, sibling. Can you ever forgive me?"
"Always," Castiel replied, moving hesitantly to touch their sibling's arm. "I don't understand why you left, though. Weren't we enough?"
The hurt in their little sibling's voice brought tears to Gabriel's eyes. "Of course you were. I just couldn't stand all the infighting. You're young yet, but I remember when things were better. Understand, Castiel, that I had just lost my favourite older sibling... it's no excuse, but Lucifer was everything I looked up to. That they had Fallen – it broke my heart. I was wrong to do what I did, even if at the time it seemed the best course."
"It's okay," Castiel said quietly. "I think I'm starting to understand now."
Gabriel gave a little choked-off sound and wrapped their sibling in their wings. "Oh, Castiel."
Suddenly aware of their audience, they shifted reality with a thought, tugging Castiel with them to the gates of Heaven.
"Come on, Castiel. Let's go find the others. I think I owe them an apology as well."