Chapter 5

Come What May

It had gone horribly. Of course it had.

A full week had passed since Gabriel had flown off. To Dean, that was moderately understandable. Besides, who was he to criticize the guy for needing a bit of space to blow off some steam built up from family tensions? Still, Gabriel's vanishing act hadn't been very good for the other archangel in their household.

Lucifer had gotten snappish, which actually wasn't all that uncommon for whenever Gabriel wasn't around. This time around, however, Lucifer was also… unstable. Dean had already had that feeling that their dear pal Lucifer wasn't completely stable in the first place considering his familial issues – which Dean knew about first hand from having them over the years (though Lucifer's were on a much larger scale than Dean's).

Now Dean had been fine with Lucifer being a little off his rocker about Gabriel not coming back to the Bunker after three days (seriously though, it started to freak everyone out around the five day mark; Gabriel was just never gone for longer than about five days since the two archangels moved into the Bunker). However, what wasn't cool was when Lucifer started lashing out. Mary had to break up what would have become a fight between her sons and Lucifer over the simple fact that there was no point in going out to find Gabriel if Gabriel didn't want to be found.

Both Mary and Cas had been able to talk Lucifer down from leaving the Bunker to go find Gabriel (they all needed Lucifer to stay if they wanted their plan of make the two talk to work). Lucifer was placated for a little while, and they were able to distract him with a bit of quick thinking and the massive TV that Gabriel had left in the Bunker that still miraculously worked without even being connected to any sort of wires.

Then Gabriel showed up. You would have thought tension in the Bunker would have lessened a bit, but no. Not only did Gabriel fail to release the tension, but he also managed to increase it.

Oh God, who goes by the name Chuck, what the hell did they do to deserve this shit-fest?

Dean would strangle that stupid, short, candy-loving SOB if he could.

Cas and Mary had managed to convince Lucifer to have the sit down with Gabriel, who Sam and Dean easily tempted into the same area. The two brothers had stared each other down until Gabriel finally said:

"I have nothing to say to you."

Lucifer had taken that like a slap to the face. "Gabriel…" the older archangel started, trailing off into a silent conversation with the younger that none of the humans nor the other angel could hear, but the two's facial expressions said enough.

Dean could see the way Lucifer grew more desperate as Gabriel's anger furthered, and Gabriel seemed to notice too, which only made him even more mad for some reason. Somehow Dean knew that they were still skirting around the real subject they had been sat down for. And then Gabriel put it out there for everyone to hear.

"Oh, but that's nothing at all like lying to me about what was going," he spat, presumably responding to something Lucifer had said over their bond. "And don't even think about arguing the point. You lied by omission!"

Dean inwardly winced as Lucifer recoiled. "Gabriel, you wouldn't understand—"

Gabriel let out a notable growl. "I stormed off that night so a fight wouldn't break out, but so help me Dad, if you start with that BS, I will drag you to the Arctic and pin your wings to the North Pole."

It went on like that, spit-fire words being snapped between the two – though Gabriel's had a bit more heat to them while Lucifer seemed somewhat resigned to the words. And then (thank Chuck for small miracles) just like that, everything was fine. Okay, well not fine fine, but still way better than it had been five minutes beforehand.

"I'm sorry, Gabriel…"

The younger archangel's glare softened the slightest bit, and as Lucifer continued his apology, Gabriel looked off to the side, his gaze hazing somewhat. Dean could practically see the gears in his head turning as he considered something.

"You mean that," he muttered.

It wasn't a question.

Dean suddenly felt the conversation become very, very intimate. It was one of those feelings that came right before something life changing was said. But apparently archangels didn't always have to abide to tropes. Nothing was said, and silence filed the room.

The quiet lull was thick with suspense, but it was soon broken by Gabriel suddenly standing. He glanced over to Dean for a brief millisecond before flicking his eyes back to Lucifer. Again the two shared a few internal words, and then Gabriel's head tilted to the side in a silent question to which Lucifer responded with a quick nod.

And that was that.

Gabriel had left with a satisfied smirk on his face, and Lucifer slouched into his chair with a certain form of relief. The rest of them either stared at the retreating figure of Gabriel or the collapsed form of Lucifer.

Later, when it was just Sam in the room with Dean, the older Winchester brother let the younger in on his thoughts. If the two archangels were any example, then this conversation was going to happen one way or the other. Of course, that didn't mean that Dean couldn't make it as exclusively between them as possible.

"It's happened to us, Dean," Sam said after Dean had told him what was worrying him.

"Yeah, but we're us..." Dean huffed. "We figure it out eventually."

Sam gave him a look before shaking his head. "And that's what happened with them. They got over whatever it was that Lucifer was keeping from Gabriel."

Dean frowned. He had a gut feeling that this was far from over. He told Sam as much.

Sam's response began with a heavy sigh. "I know what you mean, but we're not really in a position to do anything that can help."

"That's never stopped us before," Dean protested.

"You're not wrong," Sam muttered, looking away for a minute and then looking back to his brother. "But the most we can do right now is wait for the next fallout and be ready to pick up the pieces."

Dean really didn't like that answer.

~o-O-o~

Gabriel hesitated a moment before rapping a soft knock on Mary's door. The mother Winchester looked up from the book she was reading at the sound. She looked somewhat surprised to see him, which was understandable. Gabriel wasn't usually the one who came to her (no, that was Lucifer more often than not).

Still, it wasn't like Gabriel ignored her presence or anything. Technically, he and Mary were on pretty decent terms – especially after he sat down and talked with her about everything. It had turned into a rather philosophical conversation that he hadn't been expecting from her, but it was still enjoyable for him. It wasn't often that he got to pick a human's brain about their opinions of the universe and what not, which was suddenly much more relatable now that he had his own experiences to go by.

So when Mary sought him out several days ago in order to plant the seed of the idea that he should talk to Lucifer on that Thanksgiving night, he had considered her words carefully before making up his mind. And then when she was one of the ones to convince him to try again, he had listened. This time he was helping out by being the one to seek her out first.

"You got a minute or two?" he asked, albeit a touch awkwardly.

And, hey, Gabriel didn't usually go to others for help. For a very long time in his life (specifically the archangelic one), he had been by himself, a loner. It was nice – not being alone anymore – but he could (reluctantly) admit that he was still getting a bit used to the feeling.

It was a wondrous feeling, too. It was magnificent and awesome, and no one should ever have to go through never being able to know the emotions that come with it. It was, however, unfortunate that some had to face and deal with the loss of the feeling. He could only hope that none of the people he considered family now would have to experience such loss (again).

"Yeah," Mary replied amicably, ready and willing to help in whatever way she could. "What's up?"

"I, uh— I was wondering if you knew anything about the Moirai," he started slowly, battling any lingering sense of hesitation and smothering it. "They're one of the different groups of Fates, and I figured since you've teamed up with Sam to read through the Men of Letters' notes on that kind of stuff…"

"That I might have read something that would help you out?" Mary finished when he trailed off. Gabriel nodded. "I'm not sure how much I can help you, but was there anything in particular you wanted to know?"

Gabriel glance back at the hallway, making sure it was empty, before stepping into the room and closing the door. "What do you know about their contracts?"

~o-O-o~

Sam wasn't being... wary of the two resident archangels. No, he liked to think of it more as simply consciously cautious of their moods. The two were certainly on better terms now that Lucifer had apologized to Gabriel for whatever he'd done. (Though, to be honest, Sam didn't think it that Lucifer was completely sure about what he'd apologized for.)

But Sam really couldn't help the way he managed to leave the room whenever either of them showed up. He'd always stick around just long enough to make his escapes inconspicuous, and the others didn't say anything about it. Still, Gabriel must have taken notice.

Apparently, it didn't take long for the archangel to figure out a way to keep Sam from leaving before they could talk. Sam and Gabriel didn't exactly see eye to eye. Sure, he was fine with Gabriel – Sam didn't not like him or anything, but they weren't the best of friends either. That being said, Sam was not happy about being backed into a corner by a determined archangel.

"Heya, Sammy-kins," the archangel beamed cheerfully, moving over towards him, easily blocking the exit. "You've been avoiding me."

Sam fought the urge to look away, though he did scoot back in his chair a bit. "Not you," he responded warily.

"No," Gabriel both agreed and disagreed. "Just me and Lucifer. Which I get— really, I do… But I need you to do me a favor."

"A favor?" Sam questioned with a half scoff. He was slightly (okay, a bit more than slightly) worried about what Gabriel might want. The youngest-archangel/Trickster wasn't one to just ask for favors.

"Well, you see," Gabriel began with an odd chuckle. "I've got a job for you. There's a nest of vampires making their way through Washington State."

Sam frowned. That… was not what he was expecting. And Sam wasn't sure where exactly Gabriel Bennett's little sister was, but he remembered the archangel moving her to some little town in… Wait a minute— "Why didn't you just take care of them?"

"I noticed that you guys don't have anything to do nowadays, so I thought this would be a great opportunity for you and your brother and mother to go on a hunting trip," the archangel replied flippantly.

"You make it sound like we're just going out to the woods," Sam deadpanned, frown deepening.

Gabriel shrugged a shoulder. "If you just wanted to camp in the woods, I would recommend the backyard. I could hide a dead body out there the human way, and no one would know."

"Don't make this weird, Gabriel."

"But you're so easy to tease!"

Sam let out a huff of irritation. At least Gabriel wasn't asking him to ask Crowley to let Gabriel borrow one of his hellhounds so that Gabriel could make a chocolate model of it. Suffice to say, Gabriel had actually asked that of them before. (Crowley had flatly refused.) That didn't make this any better (well, actually it kind of was— fine, it was a lot better).

"That's not why you want us to go," Sam stated.

Gabriel made a face, probably because Sam was right. "So? Just go. Cassie can hold down the fort. Everything'll be fine."

Right, Sam inwardly scoffed. The first thing wrong with that statement was that nothing was ever just fine; more often than not, something was not-right. Secondly, Sam didn't think that leaving Gabriel and Lucifer alone was a good idea. It was more than likely that the two archangels would ditch Castiel as soon as the others were gone. The only reason they hadn't taken off already was because Mary had asked that they stay in the Bunker for a little while longer – mostly to make sure that any tensions had been smoothed over.

"Are you trying to get rid of us by sending us on a hunt?" Sam asked, raising an eyebrow.

Gabriel let out an affronted noise that Sam didn't really know how to describe. "What?! No… Okay, yes. Yes, I am."

Well that answered that.

But Sam still didn't understand why Gabriel would want them gone now of all times. It had barely been a week since they had talked it out, and, really, everyone could tell that there was still some lingering tension between the two archangels. Sam could grasp the possible reasons pertaining to Gabriel wanting to be alone with Lucifer for a while, but it simply wasn't a good idea to leave them by themselves yet.

A part of Sam reasoned with himself that Gabriel and Lucifer were big boys who could talk to each other without blowing up the planet, and yet another part of him argued that it was just as likely that they become the stars of the next apocalypse.

Okay, so maybe Sam could understand why Gabriel wanted to have them gone for a while – which was to get some time alone with Lucifer (again, not that Sam thought it was a good idea). Reasonably, Gabriel knew that not everything was square between himself and Lucifer, but with the Winchesters and Castiel constantly around, it would be difficult to have the long and private conversation that was warranted, one in which talking over a bond probably wouldn't suffice. The two needed to actually talk, and it had to be without the distraction of three humans and another angel.

"Fine," Sam finally replied. "I'll make sure we leave by tomorrow morning, and I'll even ask Cas to come, too. But if you want me to keep this little chat to myself, you're going to have to answer a question."

Gabriel's eyes narrowed for a brief moment before his expression fell back into its usual carefree manner. "Ask away, Sammy-boy."

"Why'd you ask Mom about the Moirai?"

The archangel quite notably stiffened at the question. Something that Sam vaguely recognized flashed through Gabriel's amber eyes. It worried the human – those were not the kind of emotions that Sam wanted to be seeing in those eyes.

"It's none of your business, Sam."

No nickname. Yup, Sam just stepped into some serious shit. Abort! Abort! But, no, this was Sam freaking Winchester. He wasn't about to back down because he pushed a wrong button. "You didn't answer the question."

Gold burned into the amber. "Drop it, Sam."

"That bad, huh?" Sam let out a sigh.

Figures that it would be on levels of importance that forewarned shit on the apocalyptic scale. Well, okay, maybe apocalyptic was over-exaggerating a little, but one never really knew when it came to archangels. And as much as Sam still wanted to push for an answer, he had the feeling that doing so would gain him nothing. So he went with the option that would hopefully lead to Gabriel eventually telling him what was wrong.

"You didn't exactly answer my question," Sam started, gauging Gabriel's stiff reaction with observant eyes. "But I'll keep this to myself— for now. Anything goes wrong, and I'm telling everyone about your suggestion to go to Washington."

The archangel's entire demeanor seemed to relax at that. "Deal."

"Don't say that," Sam groaned.

Gabriel only laughed.

~o-O-o~

The new base was outfitted with everything the old one had and more. However, for the moment, it was just the two of them manning it. And while they were running the base rather smoothly for a pieced together office space made of storage units, it was still only the two of them. It didn't help that one of them wasn't as suited for field work as the other – they couldn't both handle some of the… missions they were sent on while also taking care of the base.

"Something troubling you again?"

Grey eyes flickered up to the other. "What makes you ask?"

A wolfish grin crossed the other's face for a brief moment before it gave way to the closest the other's smile could get to genuine. "So there is something wrong," he mused. "The deflection was a dead giveaway."

"I already told you, I don't have the best memories of a situation not unlike this," the first replied with an edge in his voice. He let out a sigh, rubbing some of the sleep from his eyes.

"As long as you don't let it get in the way of our work, I don't really care," the other said with a sniff and a twitch of his mouth after a moment. "What of our… reinforcements?"

Those grey eyes, lighter than the shade of the other's own eyes, looked down at the papers laying beside the typewriter on his desk. "I don't even know if they're coming."

"Typical," the other scoffed. "The Old Men must think we can handle ourselves, don't they? We'll have to prove them right."

The more scholarly of the two didn't voice his thoughts on the matter. He could leave it to the other to take care of the more... physical problems. He was mainly worried about when it finally came do to clearing away the dust and rubble, that there'd be anything left of them.

After their first failure, it had taken heavy amounts of convincing to even bring the Headmistress to the idea of letting them try again. But the Old Men were also becoming ambitious. They wanted America. And so, America they would get.

A/N: And just to be clear – yes, Lucilia and her mom are in the State of Washington (not Washington, D.C.) along with her cousin's family (they were mentioned in the Prologue and in BMG's chapter 5). Also, plot! So much plot sneaked into this chapter. I couldn't help it.

Also, quick game: Who can figure out first how long it's been from the beginning of BMG to about the end of this chapter? I'd love to see who can get it right XD It tells me you're paying attention to details.

Last edited: [August 12, 2018]

Borrowed Silence: I had a wonderful birthday. Thank you! I finally have a driver's license now, and one of my presents was my parents' old Toyota Tacoma. School is also going well (applications for colleges are a bit stressful though, to be honest). And I was able to pass my driver's road test, so now I also have a driver's license.