Michael paced around his office in Heaven. Their father had left, leaving him in charge, but he wasn't sure that he was up for the job right now. He had only been starting to understand the intricacies of Heaven when his father had left. His father had always said that they were driving him so mad that he might just leave but none of them had ever took him seriously. Michael had been interested in the running of Heaven but had always been relaxed about it, assuming that his father would always be there to run Heaven. He had never, not in his best dreams of worst nightmares, thought that he would have to run Heaven alone. Let alone, try to clean up Heaven after one of the worst, arguably the worst, fights there had ever been. How could he be expected to do this? How could his father expect him to command every angel in Heaven and to look after every aspect of his home. Michael felt a flash of anger as he thought about how his father had left him, left them all, alone without any notice at one of the worst times. Michael had no one to turn to now. Lucifer, the brother he could once trust was gone. Thrown into Hell by Michael's own hand. Gabriel was too busy looking after his two fledglings to be any help. And Raphael. Well, Raphael could possibly help, in time, but right now, the second youngest archangel had no idea of what was involved in running Heaven. Michael had never felt so alone or so helpless.
He had hated seeing the destruction of Heaven and the pain of his siblings. He had wanted to help them but he wasn't sure how. How could he help his siblings, when all of his help could have just put them in danger of being hurt. He was too consumed in the fight that never should have happened. He didn't want to drag any of his other brothers into the fight they never should have been a part of. But they had become a part of the fight and they'd been injured. He should have done more to prevent it. Should have ensured that the fight was just between him and Lucifer. He had tried to, but it hadn't been enough. When he had been fighting with Lucifer he had distanced himself from his younger siblings and they had done the same back. They now only saw him as the leader of Heaven. Not as one of their brothers. His brothers had been changed by the war. They had become harder, colder, unfeeling. They no longer had the happy and carefree mindsets they had had before the war. But Michael hoped that there were still some angels left which were still loving and not simply cold soldiers. He hoped that he hadn't failed Heaven, and his family completely.
Michael was sure that Gabriel had made sure that Balthazar and Cas had remained unchanged and for that he was forever grateful. He hadn't wanted the young angels to become involved because he knew it would change them forever. Michael knew he was changed. He could still feel the pain of losing Lucifer. Whatever had happened, he still loved his little brother. He had hated throwing him in Hell even though it had been on their fathers' orders. Michael hoped that one day he would be able to see his brother again, but for now, he had to look after Heaven and his remaining siblings.
Balthazar had retreated to Earth on his own. He was still young and shouldn't have been down here without Gabriel and the flight down to Earth was difficult but once he was down there it was relaxing and worth the difficulty of getting there. It was true that Earth was not quite like some of the places his siblings sought solitude in, rather it was the opposite. There was noise everywhere. Where Heaven was quiet and peaceful, Earth was noisy and chaotic and Balthazar loved it. He had discovered the portal to Earth at some point during the fighting when he was running away from the main fighting and he now tried to come down whenever he didn't think he would be missed. Whenever he needed to distract himself. Technically, he wasn't supposed to come to Earth, but he was sure that nobody would mind. Well, Gabriel might a little when he realised that he was gone but Balthazar tried not to be gone for too long. And he felt slightly guilty about leaving Cas alone when Gabriel was still so distracted, but sometimes he just needed to escape from Heaven.
On Earth, Balthazar wandered aimlessly thinking about everything that had occurred. Balthazar had been quite close to Lucifer, unlike many of the other angels. Since he had been Gabriel's charge when he was young, he had grown up with Lucifer around him. Sure, Lucifer could be mischievous and argumentative but he was also fiercely loyal and loving towards his family and Balthazar could not begrudge him for that. After all, Balthazar loved Cas and Gabe and the rest of his family more than anything else and would never do anything to intentionally hurt them. In fact, he would do anything to protect them from hurting themselves.
Balthazar knew that everything had changed now that Lucifer had been exiled. His siblings bickered between themselves and there was obvious tension, as if everyone was waiting for what would happen next. Balthazar had never heard the full story of what Lucifer had done to be exiled. He mused about what could have been so bad that God himself ordered Lucifer to be thrown in Hell. Balthazar felt a stab of pain at the thought that he would never see his brother again. He would miss him and Heaven would not be the same. Balthazar knew that everything had changed, even Gabe, and he realised that he had too. Balthazar vowed to never leave Gabe and Cas for as long as they needed and loved him. He couldn't put them through the pain of losing another brother.
Gabe was, once again, sitting in Eden. He often went there when he wanted peace and needed time to think. It was peaceful and quiet and empty with no one but the archangels and Joshua being allowed to go there. Although, Gabe thought, it would become a lot less quiet now that he had given Cas and Balthazar permission to go there. Those two made up half the noise in Heaven, he thought to himself with a smile on his face.
Gabe had spent the last few days looking after his younger siblings and helping in cleaning Heaven. Things were starting to get back to normal now, at least in terms of the buildings and landscape, but other things were changed and Gabe knew that they would never go back to how they were before. Already some of his brothers and sisters had been thrown out of Heaven for supporting Lucifer. He couldn't believe that they were now throwing their own siblings out of their home for believing in something else. Sure, Lucifer had disobeyed their father and ignored their mission, but surely something else could have been done rather than banishing him and his supporting angels from Heaven forever. Gabe just couldn't quite believe that their father could be so cruel to the son who was once his favourite.
Gabe would miss all of them, of course, but the greatest sadness he felt was for Lucifer. A ghost of a smile came to Gabe's face as he remembered the tricks that he and Lucifer had gotten up to when they were younger. He remembered Michael, pretending be angry, but actually laughing with them. He remembered Raphael, trying to work out why Gabe and Lucifer were laughing at him and laughing with them when he realised. He remembered his older brothers helping him when he didn't know what to do with Cas and Balthazar when he first became their carer.
Gabe leaned his head back onto the tree, shutting his eyes and turning his face upwards. A single tear traced its solitary path down his face as he thought of his brother, alone in his own, private prison, forever excluded from Heaven and from his family.
Lucifer sat huddled in his cage. His once pure red wings were now singed with hellfire black as he held them tightly against his body. He was surrounded by heat yet he still shivered when he thought of his old home and the damage he had caused. Despite always presenting a tough exterior to everyone around him, Lucifer couldn't stop the tears from rolling down his face when he thought about what he had left behind. Why did he have to rebel against his father? Why couldn't he just hold his tongue and be the good archangel he was expected to be? But why wouldn't his father listen to him? Why was he punished for loving his own family more than anything else? More than his father's newest creations. Humanity, was supposedly his father's best creation but it was so flawed and damaged that Lucifer couldn't bring himself to love them. Why did his father have to ruin the perfect family they had? And why did Lucifer now have to pay the price for it?
Lucifer felt a pang of loss as he thought of his brothers, Michael, Raphael, Gabriel, Balthazar and his smallest brother. Lucifer thought of Cas and Gabe with sorrow. They had both been so similar to him. He had felt that same flame of defiance, of free will. Lucifer leaned back onto the bars of his cage his heart filled with pain. Lucifer felt something in his hand. He opened it to find a slightly crushed black feather, his last reminder of his youngest brother, his family and of his home. Somewhere he would never be allowed to return to.
It had not been difficult for Cas to understand what had happened, however it was difficult for him to process. Cas knew that Lucifer was gone and would never return to Heaven, but he couldn't accept that it was true. He had loved Lucifer so much. Whatever people may think, Lucifer did have a soft side, and Cas had seen it. He remembered his brother as daring, cheeky and stubborn but he could also be caring and loyal. Almost painfully loyal, especially to those that he was close with. Lucifer would never hurt his family if he could help it, Cas thought. But the war had hurt so many of his siblings. It had changed so many of his siblings.
With Lucifer gone things were meant to return to "normal", however, there was now more bickering between the angels. Cas could sense the tension between them. It hurt him to see his family, once so loving and loyal, turning on each other. To make it worse, Cas had no idea how he could try to fix it. He had tried cheering his siblings up, but they didn't notice him anymore and he was too young to have any control. Balthazar was also still too young to try and change anything, although he did try and support Cas whenever he could.
Cas' thoughts turned to Gabe and Michael. They were old enough to change things and everyone would listen to them. However, he soon realised that this wouldn't work. Michael had not come out of his office since the war and he seemed to be too busy trying to run Heaven from afar. Gabriel was still out among the other angels, but he seemed different. He was more withdrawn, quieter and often retreated away from their siblings when he heard them fighting. He realised that there was only person who could help him. His Father had left Heaven but Cas was certain that he was still watching over them. Uncertainly, for the first time, Cas shut his eyes and prayed to a silent father.
Dear dad, he began, I need your help.
God watched over his children with pain in his heart. He had never realised just how much hurt this would cause them. Despite what they might think, he was still watching them, making sure that they were okay. He would never abandon them completely. He couldn't. They were his family, his children after all and he would always love them. He saw his eldest son trying his best to get Heaven back to normal. He was proud of him for taking on such a big role while he was still hurting. He saw Gabe, trying to protect the younger angels, while he felt lost with no one to look after him. He saw Lucifer, in his cage, begging for forgiveness, saying he never meant to hurt anyone. Lastly, God saw little Cas. He saw him trying to cheer the other angels up, while he hid his own sadness and confusion. He saw him trying to look after his older brothers, who were lost and alone. He saw that Cas had grown up. He was no longer the innocent fledgling, that had never felt loss or pain. He was now growing up and becoming the angel who would save not only the righteous man, but also the world. He knew that his innocence would be tainted, but it would never leave him completely. He knew that Castiel would always do what he believed was right.
God had never wanted to hurt his children, but maybe it wasn't all bad. Maybe, just maybe, some good would come of the situation.