Warning - This Chapter Contains Season 10 Spoilers for Supernatural

THE TIES THAT BIND

Joshua Tree National Park - California

Gabriel didn't like the desert. Too quiet. Too dark. When he stood under the moonless night and stared into the sky, he was reminded of what it was like to be Home. A home the was no longer a safe or welcome place for him. Tonight however, he found himself wandering, dragging his feet along the dusty, hard packed ground. In the dying embers of daylight, the rugged rock formations and stark desert faded from his preferred orange and pinks to deep indigo.

With a shiver that ran the length of his spine, Gabriel wrapped his arms around himself and stared into the sky. It was not the stars he saw tonight, but a memory from long ago. One he thought had been banished from his mind. Before everything had been The Void, the Empty… in it a force so primal and instinctive, it was pure energy itself.

Before the Word had come the Creator - the womb that birthed night and day, yin and yang, light and dark. Before life could exist, there had to be a seed… a spark, atoms colliding… the big bang.

Gabriel sighed, looking down at the red sands beneath him. He had told this story over and over to people, but they didn't listen. The closest were Eastern philosophers, Buddhists and Taoists with more open minds. "Where should the seed take root? None other than The Eternal Darkness - she who is all…and from here, came all that we know..." The words were like a litany to the angel now. For tonight however, he had no audience.

If he was being honest with himself - and Gabriel admitted he didn't often do that - he knew exactly why he was wandering the desert, alone, as the world turned dark and cold. Sariel had affected him more than he liked. He had tried to put her out of his mind, jumping back into his Trickster life, but there was no joy in it. Her words, that Michael was looking for the Michael Sword, echoed in his mind.

Long had it been since Gabriel had involved himself in the dramas of Heaven. He preferred to stay to the outer realms, on Earth as much as possible, keeping his own guise neatly wrapped around him so much so that even his own siblings, when they crossed paths with him, did not recognise him. No, Gabriel enjoyed his anonymous existence, far from death and pain, he had grown fond of his Father's mud monkeys - more than any angel - and resolved that this was how he would see out the end of days.

He was not made for this life, yet he had made it his own.

Gabriel climbed up a small, pebbled path, the loose rocks and dirt causing his steps to be slippery and uncoordinated. It was true, he could teleport himself to the top of the rise, sit out on the flat boulder that overlooked the valley, and not get this ridiculous red earth all over his favourite red, hi-top converse shoes. They were already red for the love of all that is physical and real. He stopped, wondering at himself.

Why was he struggling up this slope?

With a troubled mind, he admitted that he was punishing himself for pushing Sariel away. She had not come to him for help before, and yet here she was - the Goddess's most proud: running errands. With a frustrated roar, he teleported himself up to his destination, seeing the shadows of night fall across the scenery before him.

Lost.

He hadn't felt lost for at least the last few hundred years. It troubled him more than he wanted to admit (which was not at all) that Sariel had him worried. And Gabriel might be a great deal many things, but it was never that.

Lying back against the hard rock, he stared up at the milky way, sparkling like a river of diamonds against the great black expanse, and started to speak the words he had passed on countless times before.

"In the beginning was the Darkness - we call it the darkness, but that is only because the human mind cannot comprehend the true form of pure Chaos… waterfalls crashing and driving earth into the sea; sinking sands in the desert pushing crystals to the surface; the crushing death of earth and fire spewed forth from the deepest bowels of the Earth… none of these come close. To say we came from Darkness is like saying a fish is birthed from the fishbowl, when it is tossed into the ocean. No, the son and daughter of Chaos, THEY were the light and the darkness - the yang and the yin.

"God and Goddess - Yahweh and Asherah, for those are their names to mortal ears. They, our divine benefactors, created all that you see - from the sea to the shore, above, below and beyond. But the Void, the Great Darkness… like a black hole, sucked up everything in its path, wreaked havoc with the new creations of our Divine Couple. So Yahweh and Asherah set about a plan to betray their creator, and lock it inside the Empty - the place of Nothing from whence it had come. They were not powerful enough to do this alone - so they created seven Angels each - two sides to one coin. Together these fourteen angels shone the light of their grace into the Dark, and somewhere in the Void… the Darkness pushed back..."

It had been so cold. So many had fallen against the black cloud of pure, raw energy, pulling in angels and throwing out … something else. They had turned on each other, tormented by the shadow, and after a time, there was only one solution. The Archangels had to stand against her, alone.

Gabriel raised his hands to look at them. He remembered that night as if it were yesterday. Fourteen of them, all united by the grace that made them angels. Their powers connected, like a giant Care Bear rainbow. He chuckled at the image, it was one of his favourite cartoons: someone had gotten that one right, for on a grander scale that is exactly what had happened.

Even as they had fought, exhausted by the strength of the Great Creator… they had not feared for their lives. They had no emotion, they lived only to serve and obey, to push back the Darkness, and imprison her. But it was so cold. The icy tentacles of the dark hole in front of them had reached for them. Gabriel, on the very end of the line, and Zadkiel, his counterpart on the other side, had felt it first.

They had wavered.

"Hold the line!" Michael had yelled from the centre.

From the hearts of the gathered angels shot blinding white-blue light, like nothing anyone had ever seen before - and likely would never see again. And then Samael and Layiel, the light-bringers, had stepped forward.

"No!" Michael had called out. "You must hold the line."

"Trust us, brother!" Samael had replied.

He and Layiel had joined hands, their light growing to expand beyond the single beam of pure grace that was doing nothing more than holding the Darkness at bay.

Together, the two moved toward the Void, and when their wings touched the edge of The Empty, a white, blinding bubble had erupted, encircling the Darkness - trapping her. A cry of victory went up from the warriors as the sight renewed their efforts. Michael and Sariel led the charge forward, they had all moved, reuniting with Samael and Layiel, and then the job was done.

The doorway into the Void was slammed shut. Samael, his hand against it as he held for the seal. The final key to keep Chaos locked away forever.

"Well done my children," Yahweh had said, beaming at them with pride.

Samael knelt before their Father, panting with the effort of holding the door, his wings stretched out behind him long and white.

"You have proven yourself strongest, my son," Yahweh had said.

"I did not do it alone," Samael replied.

"Yet alone you hold the door." With that statement, Yahweh reached out, searing the angel's forearm with a red, angry looking mark. "You shall bear the key, my son," he said with a nod. "So that all others may live."

Samael had fallen, screaming in pain, to his knees as red electric light had rippled across his skin. Gabriel had run to his brother's side, seeing him writhe in agony.

"What have you done?" Asherah had asked, a ripple of unhappiness coursing through the Goddess. To Gabriel it felt like a soft spring rain on a sunny day.

"What I had to."

Gabriel had never forgotten how expendable they were. It was the first, and last, time all his siblings would work together as one, after that they had become but shells of their true divine selves.

2nd Realm of Heaven - The First Sphere

Time flows differently in Heaven, all the Spheres affected in their own way. To a mere human soul it remained much the same, though in a loop, for a human's afterlife in Heaven is a simple construct of one's most treasured memories - repeated forever. The third sphere, where all this happened, kept time as it did on Earth, and the lower you went in the Spheres, the more it sped up and was measured through the rotation of planets around stars, and the turning of seasons.

In the higher spheres, which were closer to the true essence of their Father, a human soul would experience time at an almost standstill. It was perfect order, all things remaining constant and locked in time. However, this was not a realm for human souls. Even to the other angels, this was a place of peace, quiet and communion with their Father, they could lie here for an age on Earth, and it would feel as if mere hours to them. The Seraphim, Cherubim and Thrones were the only ones who could traverse it's landscapes without feeling the effects.

Sariel had started her existence in the highest of the Spheres, that of the Seraphim and there she had witnessed a great many ages come and go. She had been the closest to her Mother, born first of her light, and alongside her Michael had been the first of all God's angels.

It was in the realm of the Cherubim, that Sariel now entered. When in doubt, she came here to commune with the others. Time stood still on this level, that of the first sphere, it was where those angels of the highest order lay in worship and reverence to their Father, the light-bringer, and held the energy of Heaven while they waited for him to return.

The Angels all lived to serve their Father now. It had not always been so. Sariel recalled better times, after the Darkness had been sealed away, where they worked in concert with their Father and Mother, to create new worlds, to birth galaxies and stars, planets and all the life upon them.

Then one day, their Father had decided to create something in secret. His master project as he called it when it was finally revealed. She'd once heard Gabriel telling the story to a crowd in Shanghai: long before it was known as that of course.

"On the first day He created what we came to know as Night and Day. On the second day He parted the waters and brought forth firmament - creating land and sea. On the third day, He called forth the grass… and the Great Tree which would form the basis for Heaven and Hell - but that is a story for later. On the FOURTH day, He placed his favourite constellations in the sky, and warmed his creation with the Sun in His image - and placed the Moon in the sky to remind those of His love, Asherah. On the fifth day, He played and brought forth sea creatures and birds - and on the Sixth Day… well on the Sixth day it all kind of fell apart."

Asherah had not taken kindly to this new creation of which she had no hand, but she had tolerated it for a time after Yahweh had begged Her forgiveness, and said they could continue to build the world together. And that is exactly what they had done. Asherah had birthed her own people from the different soils of Earth, but Adam… he had always been Yahweh's favourite, the one created without any touch of the Goddess. It was at Adam's bidding that Yahweh committed great atrocity to one of Asherah's angels, ripping out her grace and making her human. A companion for Adam. Gabriel had been right - it all fell apart from there.

When Asherah learned of what had happened she had waged a war against Yahweh, the Lady's Legion stirred to arms against him as she hit back at his most beloved planet. She did the unthinkable… she tried to kill the dawn star, the bearer of the key - to release the Darkness once more.

All had to choose a side - light or dark, and Michael was summoned from the First Sphere of Heaven to imprison Asherah.

After their Mother had been banished, Sariel had sought to keep the people connected to the truth, spreading her knowledge to humanity through the temple priestesses and the village herbal ladies. She knew now that she had been misguided, lost without connection to her creator, so Michael had brought her here to show her the true ways of Heaven. Here, emotions did not rule, it was logic, connection to their source; there were no questions, no doubts, only peace. Here angels entered into a formless union, a collective that a human mind could not comprehend.

Long had the Cherubim gone unguided, as unlike the other forces of existence - such as Death - the angelic forces were not a vacuum that needed to be filled in an absence. Once dead, they entered into The Empty, where they were at rest for all time. Those who fell were destined to reside in Hell for all eternity.

Six fiery wings propelled her forward, free of the confines of her mortal vessel. She could not enter the first sphere in physical form. Sariel moved through the blinding light of the Cherubim present, her wings expanding and burning so hot that they became a fierce, white flame. Sinking into the energy of the gathered angels, she became one with them. This was the moment of release, surrender, that she craved.

No thought.

No fear.

No doubt.

No pain.

Only one with all that is. One with the divine essence of being. Sariel drifted on soft strains of angels singing - their melodies so haunting and beautiful that if heard by humans, they cried tears of blood and then lost their minds.

No humans.

No Earth.

No Gabriel.

With a start, Sariel felt herself lifted out of the collective for a mere second, a lifetime on earth, and felt his absence.

Gabriel. Gabriel. Gabriel….

The voices of the collective around her had read the thought as quickly as it had entered her mind, and taken up the song of the archangel.

Gabriel…. He who is great….

Gabriel…. The voice of our Father...

All around her she heard his name whispered, carried from one to the next. Sariel pulled herself back from the union and placed a guard around her thoughts. But it was too late, the damage was done. If one of Uriel's angels happened to be in this level, they would know ... they would suspect she had seen him.

"Sariel," a familiar voice carried to her from the watery doorway leading into the 7th level. "Sariel come forth… do not lose yourself in the collective…"

She struggled. Oh how she wanted to stay here, let it all go. Wasn't this what Michael wanted? The question was barely in her mind before the collective took up the new call, a ripple of curiosity cresting over the gathered.

Michael… Michael… Michael… the golden son…

Michael… he who is great…

Their voices joined together in song and melody, singing the praises of Heaven's most powerful angel. The joyful strains were like prayers, lifted higher, to the Endless, out into the rest of the Universe where God was present and listening.

"Bring us Gabriel," Uriel's voice echoed in Sariel's mind. She found her heart being pulled on, as if tethered to a shoreline she did not recognise.

"Sariel!"

Sariel… Sariel… Sariel… she who shines brightest….

Sariel… leader of the Lady's legion…

Sariel… keeper of Her wisdom…

"No!" Sariel forced herself out. She separated, rising above the light of the Cherubim, looking down on them from six, red hot and fiery wings that burned now with a passion of anger.

"I am nothing!" She shouted back at them. But her words echoed through the formless level and were not taken up by the collective.

"I am nothing…" she whispered again.

Joshua Tree National Park - California

This won't do at all! Gabriel thought, sitting up. Here he was, wallowing in what? The spectres of the past? It was long gone, the world a different place now. Earth turned and seasons changed. Heaven - well, it stayed much the same as it always did, he supposed, but he didn't truly know because he hadn't been back in almost fifteen centuries.

What if I just take a peek?

The thought faded as quickly as it came. Why? What would be the purpose of returning now, when they were searching for him? It would be like handing the hunter a gun and helping him pull the trigger.

Gabriel would not get involved, he resolved. This was a war that no one would win. Final Revelation? Nobody won in that scenario. Not, Heaven, not Hell, certainly not the people living on Earth. No, Gabriel was not going to give Michael the weapon to wipe out the planet.

Not that there was a war at this time, but why should he help them prepare for one? He stared out into the deep indigos of the night, and wondered about Sariel.

What was she doing? Why was she helping Michael? She had witnessed what it meant to be chosen for Father's purpose. She knew that serving him to the best of their abilities led only to heartache and ruin.

Samael had learned the hard way. Even Heaven's golden boy was expendable.

Gabriel ached for the days of old, where he had been young, new in the world. How they had laughed and enjoyed each other's company. Long before the humans came.

The scriptures were wrong when they spoke of angels differing to man because they had no free will. Angels had free will, Yahweh just didn't like them to know it. They were conditioned to thinking that they had no choice - but that was not the same as being an automaton.

If anyone was living proof than at angel had free will, it was Gabriel!

So why was he suddenly afraid?

What was brewing in Heaven that made him feel out of control?

'Gabriel…'

In the forefront of his mind, Gabriel felt the touch of his twin, the feminine aspect of himself created by Asherah.

'Zadkiel, I am here.' He sent back to her telepathically.

'Gabriel, I am dying…'

She didn't have to say it, he could feel it in his very bones. As long as their connection was open, he felt what she felt, she knew what he knew.

'I'm coming.'

He broke the connection before she could protest. Knew she thought it was a trap, but he was smarter than that. Long before his sister Jophiel had been locked away, imprisoned for trying to help Samael save Layiel from the Garden and Adam, she had shown Gabriel the doorways. Jophiel could open portals to anywhere she wanted to go, a gift that had not been given to all angels.

Gabriel did not have the ability to create new doorways, but he could access those that had gone before him. As such, he had an ace, a backdoor into Heaven. Not even Uriel would see him coming.

Standing on the rock beneath his feet, Gabriel pulled himself up to full height and prepared to teleport to the nearest doorway. It was going to be a wet and wild ride, that was for sure. He was rather looking forward to it! With a deep breath, he closed his eyes and visualised his destination. First… the surf shop, and then...

Wet rapids, white foam and cold spray…. He was moving at a hundred miles a minute, whooping at the top of his voice.

"Woooooohooooo!" Gabriel called out, his hands thrown up in the air as he precariously balanced atop his acquired surfboard, his feet spread apart so that he wouldn't fall. Gabriel had impeccable balance, he knew he could pull this off with his eyes closed, but the thrill was still there as he rushed around rocks that jutted out of the surface, and then sunk into the eddies of swirling water.

People were starting to see him, tourists lined the walkways with their cameras out, gesturing animatedly as he continued on his insane - and for all intents and purposes what appeared to be quite suicidal - pilgrimage toward the edge of the waterfall. It was coming up, he could see the far horizon beyond the drop, spread out for all to see.

Gabriel raised his hands in the air, making the peace sign, as he let out one final whoop and then went flying over the edge into infinity. It would be talked about for days, the crazy leap into oblivion. Gabriel knew he had more than enough time to enter Heaven, do what he needed, and then return through the gate, hidden at the bottom of the plunge, in time to resurface a hero!

As soon as he hit the icy water, he took a breath, sinking lower and lower until he saw the tell tale shimmer of silver light, along the bottom of the river. He kicked, propelled more by his own energy than his legs, and within a second he was through to the other side and riding a different kind of wave.

He did not shout this time, for this close to Heaven it would be heard and noticed. Most travelled the Great Tree, and the ley lines that led to the other levels of Heaven. It was easier than taking the portals because, unless you knew where these doorways were, you needed a threshold angel to lead the way. Gabriel knew all the open doors however, thanks to Jophiel, and he smiled to himself as he slid through the etheric field and into the Fourth Level of Heaven. There was something to be said for making friends.

With the simple closing of his eyes and will of his mind, Gabriel's clothes changed from wet to dry - simple and practical for his mission. White baggy pants and a similar shirt, he felt like he was off to a meditation class in the middle of the Mojave Desert! But these were the sorts of things angels in the Healing Garden wore, so he wanted to blend in.

His vessel was holding up fine in the fourth level, any higher and it might start to show some wear, but he was still close enough to the physical realms to keep it. Gabriel didn't like abandoning his Vessel, he felt doing so made him vulnerable. In truth he was more powerful outside of it, but a Vessel afforded him the anonymity that he wanted.

The Garden was as beautiful as ever. Here, every tree, every flower, every plant that had ever existed thrived in abundance. His favourite was the tropicals, and he knew that was where he would find Zadkiel. Millennia ago, before Earth when the Universe was still new, they had walked a tropical paradise on another world, and many of the plants from there had become prototypes for their Father when he created this Earth.

All were in the Garden.

Gabriel had no idea if that world even existed anymore. They had delved into it like children, running through the warm waters, ducking under huge palm fronds, and the drinking nectar from the pink fluted flowers. But he knew it was here. No sooner had he visualised the very flower, he was standing beside it. With a smile, he inhaled deeply of its sweet, rich scent - like honey and jasmine mixed together- and then picked it from the bush: another flower grew immediately to replace it. Gabriel turned, his gift in hand, seeking the healing pond. He could feel her there, floating among the lotuses and the wild papyrus, her hair spread out in a crown around her head.

2nd Realm of Heaven - First Sphere

"Sariel."

Turning, free now of the hazy thoughts of no-thought, no-form, Sariel could see the amber eyes of her sister Remiel.

"Why are you here?" She asked plainly, looking back on the Cherubim below.

"You cannot lose yourself to the collective this time, Sariel, you are needed," Remiel replied, not truly answering the question - a habit of angels and humans alike.

Sariel paused and silently observed the angel who glowed golden. Everything about her was lit up with a soft, gold tinge. As Remiel turned, waving a hand to gesture for Sariel to follow, streaks of light flashed through the air.

Her robes, light and billowing were reflections of creams, silver and gold, glittering yet also dull. It was an appearance that only an angel could create. Her royal energy of seeking daily revelation had pulled her closer to the Sun, the golden sphere of their Father, than any other. Over time her celestial connection to the moon had waned.

Sariel frowned, but followed her sister to a rainbow that curled around the trunk of the Great Tree of Life.

"Come," Remiel said. "We must speak privately."

With those five words, Remiel dived into the rainbow, two massive golden wings spreading out behind her. She twisted, and wove, until she seemed to collide with the wide unyielding trunk of the tree, disappearing in an array of golden fireworks, joining the leylines that ran the length of the tree.

Sariel had once gotten a rush from riding the ley lines, but she was too curious about Remiel's secret rendezvous that she didn't have time to enjoy it. She followed after her sister, taking the same path across the rainbow until she too was inside, riding the waves of life and light, her six wings straight behind her, free falling through the spheres of Heaven. Without knowing where they were going to exit, Sariel had to pay closer attention to Remiel's movements, breathtaking in their grandeur until finally, without warning, Remiel left the pure white stream of the tree, and Sariel dove to follow her through the same portal.

Like being thrown from a rushing river on to a still island, Sariel gasped for breath, bringing her wings around her face, legs and torso. They cradled her, a comfort, as she found herself in the Garden, and almost in pain as the forces of being so close to the physical realms crushed in around her.

The amber necklace around her throat glowed fiery red, and she coughed, struggling to touch it. Finally, with a single spoken word in Enochian… "Nadea," Sword, she felt the restriction recede, and the form of her vessel come forth, to which she entered. Taking a deep breath, she sighed, looking down at the hands in front of her again, running them through her long, thick curls.

"The Fourth realm," Sariel commented, looking around her. "Why am I here, Remiel?"

'Here' was where the tree of life had first been seeded. It's roots extended far beneath them to the heavenly realms of the afterlife, all the way to take physical form in the once revered, now forgotten, Garden of Eden.

"Our sister is seeking Revelation," Remiel replied. This answer displeased Sariel for she was not the keeper of the revelations nor did she care if someone was seeking one. Remiel's hand lifted to the base of the great tree, and where the roots sunk into the earth sat her sister Raziel. Her eyes were closed in prayer, she sat in the lotus position, resting comfortably. It was a strange sight to behold given that the position was so peaceful, yet Raziel was wearing her silver armour of Legion commander.

"And what is that to do with me?"

"War, sister," a voice came from behind. "As leader of the Lady's Legion, it has everything to do with you."

Sariel spun around, her heart thundering at the second voicing of that name in such a short time.

"I am the leader of no one," she replied, her eyes narrowing as she spotted a fourth angel standing behind her. She quickly hid the surprise that he'd been able to sneak up on her, and prepared to pull her blade should something be amiss.

"Lies do not become you," said the angel, circling her. The physical form was male, but the energy inside - the essence of their creator, was still feminine. Sariel felt herself drawn into the bright blue eyes of her sister-line.

"Azakiel," she said softly, her heart softening slightly.

"I prefer Ezekiel," he replied, tilting his head to the side.

"Our Mother gave you the name of the blessed one, why won't you use it?" Sariel asked, feeling herself troubled by the very thought. Her siblings had gone through much in the time since their Asherah had been banished. Many lost their way as their purpose for being was reassigned, or destroyed.

"You know why," he said, a fire flashing behind his eyes. "I will not claim that name while She still slumbers. But fear not, sister, for Her return will be sooner than you think."

"Blasphemy," Sariel uttered.

The very air around them seemed to crackle with tension, picking up on the unspoken words that flowed between the three angels. All were of the same lineage, all created by the banished Mother. Some were able to put this aside more than others, Sariel falling into the former group, though it had no always been so.

"She speaks," Ezekiel said, looking at Sariel with a stare.

"You lie."

"Is that what we have fallen to now?" He asked, looking at Sariel with a deep sadness.

"He speaks the truth," Raziel cut in, her form coming to wistfully stand beside the dark haired man, looking out at the others. She had the lightly darkened skin of the Huns, her eyes dark with wonder, and straight chocolate brown hair that hung evenly to just below her shoulders.

Raziel nodded to both Ezekiel and Remiel, acknowledging them both.

More restricted by what she could do with her energy, Remiel still managed to look striking, her vessel tall - skin a golden brown that seemed to glitter from underneath. Her long waves of flaxen coloured hair were just another shade of gold, muted to be sure, but the theme stayed true.

Sariel had never liked being backed into a corner. She was a warrior, created from the pure creative power of the Darkness itself. She had been created with one purpose, and one only… to drive the Darkness back. After that, she had been delegated to the first sphere, and the highest level of Heaven, to worship and adore her creators for eternity. She had no needs, no desires… there was nothing beyond her purpose.

"The Lady's Legion is being called, Sariel," Ezekiel said. "Remiel is not the only one who has heard it. Why do you think Michael is scuttling to find his lost lineage? He seeks his vessel, so he may walk among mortals again."

The Third Sphere - Fourth Realm of Heaven

For centuries after he left Heaven, Gabriel had felt Zadkiel's every move, and she his. They were connected at the heart, and what happened to one, happened to the other. But over time he had learned how to cut himself off from her; telling himself he was doing her a favour, that she was better off not knowing where he was, or what he was doing. He had missed her presence, but after a while he started to enjoy the aloneness.

By the time he was standing with her in the pond, she had opened her eyes. She didn't move to embrace him, instead reaching a weak hand up to clasp at his.

"Remember this?" Gabriel asked, his worried eyes taking in the energy signature of her cells. She was fading, and fast. He held aloft the pink tubular flower and smiled.

"How could I forget…" she whispered… "you got drunk on the nectar."

"I seem to recall I wasn't the only one." He chuckled, tears springing into his eyes. "And you carried me until we found solid ground to pass out on."

"Good times," she smiled. "I've missed you Gabe."

"Me too," he whispered, leaning in to kiss her forehead. "I'm here now, I can fix this."

Zadkiel's smile faded and she shook her head softly. "I don't know if you can," she said, and for the first time he heard fear in her voice.

"Of course I can…I'll just give you some of my…" he had been going to say grace - the life force of an angel. His was perfectly aligned to Zadkiel's, unlike any other angel, and that meant he could give her some of his to heal her.

"I'm tainted," she cut him off. "It won't work."

"Tainted?" He asked, frowning. That word hadn't been used in millennia, not since the Fall. "How?"

"Uriel…" In an instant he saw a rush of images flow through his mind. Uriel, his sidekicks, the torture, the pain. Zadkiel fighting, refusing to reveal his location. Then a needle, a vial of blood attached. "Don't make me do this Zadkiel…" Uriel said. But he had.

"I'll kill him!" Gabriel snapped, feeling her grip his hand a little firmer.

"If our Father… could be found..." her suggestion made Gabriel see red, and he shook his head furiously, like a stubborn child.

"He is missing, Zad. You know that. I haven't seen him in almost two thousand years." He sank into the water, his arms moving underneath her, and pulled the angel close into his chest. She sighed, moving to curl around him, her head resting on his shoulder as he rocked her softly, contemplating their options.

"If Mother were here…"

"Don't say that, never say that!" Gabriel said, frowning. "It's blasphemy to even say her name in Heaven."

"But it's true…"

Gabriel knew it was. His active mind was flipping through the options, weighing the pros and cons. Who could he trust? Who would he have to kill?

"I'll find a way," he said, pressing his lips to her head. "I won't let you die."

It was ironic, he thought, how just a short while ago he'd been torturing the Winchesters with a Groundhog's day version of death, watching Dean die over and over again.

With a stab to the heart he realised just what he'd been putting Sam and Beth through. Did he feel guilty? No. But there might have been a sliver of compassion melting in the angel's heart.

"Sariel."

"Is working for Michael," Gabriel said, a scowl coming across his face.

"No, she can be trusted," Zadkiel said, clutching at him. "She will do what is right."

"She will do what she has always done, turn and hide from her true destiny in order to keep herself safe," Gabriel argued. "You were there, you saw her turn on your mother."

"She was only doing what she had… to … to protect us," Zadkiel said. "It was a war she wasn't going to win, Gabe."

Gabriel didn't disagree there. He had seen a lot of good angels die that day, for both sides, just as he had the day they imprisoned the Darkness. Gabriel himself had sealed the cage while Sariel sobbed just yards away.

"Talk to her…"

"I will," he promised, looking up at the trees overhead and closing his eyes. Oh, I'm going to talk to her all right… I'm going to kick her ass until she tells me how we fix this. He shielded his final thoughts from the angel in his arms, feeling her drift off, the pain for a moment waning. It wasn't a full sleep, he knew, for angels didn't sleep, but they did dream, and they did enter into prayer.

As he tuned back into Zadkiel's thoughts, he was surprised to hear a litany to their mother. In Heaven! But he supposed there wasn't much more that could be done to her, than Uriel had already done. Gabriel's resolve grew firm, and his eyes narrowed as he contemplated what he had learned today. So his brother was using demon blood to torture angels…

Author's Notes

This chapter is set Mid-Season 3. I'm going to be trying to catch this story up to where the Dean and Beth storyline is currently sitting in the next few weeks/months.

There's a lot of ideas I have for the Angel storyline that are NOT canon, and will run alongside, in the background, of Dean and Beth's story. I'm hoping it will continue to be a nice complement.

A lot of what I'm writing is laying foundation for where I'm wanting to take Dean and Beth in Season 10-11. It's not a complete change, but there will be some major differences in the story. And I'm kind of liking where Season 13 is now going, and think it's going to fit in well with the story I'm building.

Naturally, things might change, and it's actually harder to write this without knowing exactly where the writers are taking Canon SPN, but that is part of the challenge and I think I'm up for it!

I hope you enjoyed this update, and hope to have another one out soon!

Please leave me a review, I always love to hear from readers.