Fate, the ideology that there are some strands in life that is simple inevitable. The idea predates Stoics and is rooted in Greek mythology, the three Moirai, goddesses of Fate, weave everybody's thread of life, and cut it, so that the nature may take its course without obstruction. Their names are Clotho, the Spinner, Lachesis, the Alloter, and Atropos, the Inflexible.

The symbols of faith are many, Thread, Staff, Spindle, Scroll, Shears, and the book of Fate. Fate is found woven in so many different aspects of cultures. The well known concept found through the world is the Red Thread of Fate. An East Asian belief originating from Chinese mythology.

The concept of an invisible red thread looped around the fingers of those meant to meet. Soulmates. In the original Chinese myth, it's tied around both parties' ankles, while in Japanese it's bound from a male's thumb to a female's little finger, and in Korean culture, the red thread is thought to be tied around the little finger of both parties.

Some have even come to believe that this string doesn't always mean lovers. This simply connect those who are meant to cross paths, whether it was a stand alone instance of a catalyst to years of friendship, or a simple meeting that leads to years of good or bad fortune.

Whether one believes in fate or destiny is a question on it's own, but some people simply know. Some may have met a fate, or experience things unexplained. Nonetheless, fate is there and they are watching. Interfering, changing, involved.

Today's story is of none other than the Winchesters. A story that only few know of, a tale that a certain Archangel only shared with a few angels.


Gabriel never stopped watching the family, he felt responsible for them. After everything they went through, even if the family would never know. He felt the need to keep things from falling too far into the old tale. It was so much easier after he killed off Azazel, and with Mary alive and happy. It was easy to sit back and watch the happy family, all of them laughing and playing as if there wasn't a care in the world.

The angel wasn't stupid, he knew not to try and keep the family from hunting. With Mary's history, it wasn't unlikely for her past to come back. The whole point of watching wasn't to keep the family as vanilla as possible, but more so to keep his family from interfering with them. Hunting wasn't the problem, even if a there was some hope it wouldn't take the family that route.

But it did.

The boys were young, thirteen and seventeen, when a monster reared it's ugly head. A vampire tried to take a bite of Sam one family outing, and that's when fate decided the family was going to hunt. Mary broke the news to her family, and like that they were training. The boys grew up healthier, loved, safer. Mary and John raised their boys with the simple idea to protect people. If a monster was hurting people, it needed to be taken out. If it wasn't, it was okay for them to live their life.

So many old faces that Gabriel hasn't seen in ages circulated around the brothers. Bobby Singer, Ellen Harvelle, Jo Harvelle, Ash, the hunter circle was just as tight without the hunting involved. Now, with the Winchesters settled as hunters, those bonds only grew. The brothers were surrounded by a loving, and overly protective family. It was something odd for the archangel to watch, but it almost settled as a nice change.

The brothers lived with equal parts of pain and love, making them stronger than they had been. Different from the times Gabriel had met them. But they were still very much the same, the same brothers that the archangel came to care for. It was a new take from them, but it was so undeniably them.

Fate seemed to have a way of making sure some paths cross.

It first happened with a once beloved angel, Castiel. He had popped into the Winchester's life when he was sent to scourge and clean an angel and demon showdown. Of course upon first meeting, Dean had stabbed the angel. The perfect soldier Castiel was only lead to him handling the situation with stoicism. Barely much attention to the hunters, only answering the questions they asked that he felt fitted to.

Leading to the family reveling on what creature he was. It set them on a new path.

After a while, Gabriel found it safe to fill Castiel with the story. The alternate timeline. It changed the young angel, had his mind racing with the new knowledge. It was easy to tell how the younger angel was thrumming over the fact that he rebelled against heaven. Against his home. Against the one thing he knew, all for a human.

Castiel had many questions for the archangel, ones Gabriel wasn't quite in the place to answer. Gabriel simply grinned, bid his farewells, and left. He didn't run, not this time. Not anymore. He was tired of the bullshit that became of the past times he ran, this time he needed to get things done first.

His next stop was his immediate family.

It was heavy, arguing, blood-shed, but Gabriel didn't back down. He was tired of the useless family fighting, the stupid prophecy that his older brothers had to duke it out. He didn't want this timeline to have the same end result. He refused to believe it was inevitable. And he was right. He was damn sure not leaving until he got it through their thick, thick heads.

After so much fighting, all the elder brothers who still lived got involved. It was intense, but with Gabriel being unrelenting after years of being hidden. They made it work. They manage to find common ground. A simple settlement that kept the life of humans alive, it took some bargaining. Heaven was put in some order, and Hell was on it's way to follow.

It was ridiculously melodramatic, which was a lot coming from Gabriel, but it was all too childish. The bargain that was settled was barely even remotely intense, nothing too big was asked. More of a settled truce, neither Lucifer or Michael would try to take over the world, and angels and demons were to figure out how the hell to co-exist.

There was more details, of course there was, but Gabriel didn't give two kebabs about it. He had bigger fish to fry know, more things on his list he needed to do. Well more like one more thing. Regardless he figured the squabble could be settled between, only mentioning a certain crossroads demon in taking Lucifer's place in the angel decided to come back to heaven.

Now it was time for a harder fight, the younger archangel found their father, determined to make things change.

Chuck was a dick, that was something that was bound to never change. They fought, worse then when he confronted his brothers. It wonders Gabriel how he even managed to hold himself against his father, he thought that was the day he officially dies. He wouldn't put it past their asshole of a dad, it wouldn't have been that big of a surprise. He didn't really understand the problem considering Chuck didn't do shit for humanity.

Luckily for the trickster, things had a good turn.

He wasn't sure how it happened, half dazed in an almost dead state. Vague memories of his aunt appearing, another fight, this one with someone much more equipped to go up against god himself. He can't say he was too surprised Amara had a word or two she wanted to duke out with Chuck. Although the lingering question of she got free of her own technical cage still stood, there were times not to look a gift horse in the mouth.

The conclusion was unexpected, but very much appreciated.

This apocalypse was avoided, the world was safe for the biggest threat. His job was basically done. So Gabriel took his leave and went to have fun. This archangel wasn't built for responsibility, he can only be mature for so long. Thirteen years was way too long, and two massive fights was asking for too much. So he went on a long over due vacation. The whole works, strippers, porn stars, candy, and a lot of much needed chaos. He avoided Loki completely, knowing too well he would kill the god the moment he saw him.

Years flew by like days, it was so much easier for him to lose himself in his fake life. In his cover, in his mischief, and in his fun. The world took a turn in his favor for quite a while, he was left alone. None of his family came poking their nose into his business, well most of them. He only got three visits from Castiel in that time, the angel would just give him updates. Not ones he asked for, but the thought was appreciated.

After that it was easy to fall into old habits, and to forget that the infamous Winchesters were still out there and very much still feared.

Maybe bringing inanimate objects to life to fuck with peoples lives wasn't the best idea, especially when one of them lead to a death. It was an accident, how was he supposed to guess a stapler could cause such a tragic death? He couldn't, but that's exactly what happened. All he really wanted to do was give a few of the bastards some much needed trauma for a few years of therapy.

Objects coming to life did make the news, but they always painted the assholes as crazy, which he really didn't care. It was just something to pass time as he lived life as a human. Working was hard, he just needed a stress reliever. Not that he really need to work, but things get boring pretty quickly for the trickster. It really was only a matter of time for a hunter to find him, and they did. Can't say he was that surprised when hunters came rolling into town.

He just really wished it hadn't been the Winchesters.

It was much like the first time they met, there were very few differences but it was still just the brothers. Finally at an age Gabriel could handle. Gabriel wasn't a janitor this time, settling for a barista. Those workers seem to encounter the dickiest of the dicks. He figured his affinity for all things sweet was his giveaway, can you blame him when his coffee shop had cake pops and sweet bakery items on hand? Once again, Sam was the one to find him out. Too damn smart and observant.

They cornered him one night when he was leaving a late shift, the angel already running through ways he could escape death. More so out of habit, then actual fear. He remembered the new code the Winchesters cared once the rejoined the life of hunters. Sam gave Dean good solid points on why they should let Gabriel live. After all, the only death he caused was purely accidental. Ignoring the psychological trauma, although Sam did scold Gabriel about that. Which was a little weird for the angel. There was only a little grumbling from Dean, and some talk about how he dislike Gabriel of the bat.

Nothing new in that sense.

He kept them thinking was a trickster, there was no real reason to correct them. He wasn't one for telling just anyone he was an archangel. He also lucked out that Castiel wasn't around, which didn't mean he might not spill his secret in the future. The brothers only really gave Gabriel a warning to keep his nose clean, or they would personally track them down.

Leave it to Sam to save his life again, even if it wasn't in true danger. Gabriel figured that's the end of it, he'll be a little more careful and if things get out of hand again, he could just fly the coop. Sometimes running isn't that bad. All it took was moving a few states away, debating about changing his name, and finding a new job. Working in the coffee shop had an odd appeal to him, so that's just what he settled on.

Life settled in a quiet fashion after that, even if it was a little off brand for the archangel. A little bit of mischief here and there, an occasional drop in from one of his family started to pick up. Apparently after his new move, everyone seemed to know where he was. Even his aunt stopped by a few times, although Chuck has been MIA again ever since their fight. Not that Gabriel was upset about that, he could go the rest of his life never seeing the douchebag again. Gabriel thought for once he's life would be drama free, more specifically free of the drama he didn't create.

But as fate would like to have it, family drama seems to be a constant in Heaven and the Winchesters seemed to always be in some trouble. No matter how hard the angel tried to keep things under wraps. To be honest, Gabriel couldn't be upset when the rumor spread of Lucifer's son. A Nephilim. A soft reminder of the young nephew he wanted to know more than he did.

Nonetheless, it wasn't particularly like Gabriel had to get involved. It was hard not to, not after already going through so much with this people that he had yet to form those bounds with. Relationships he still needed to explore, one that didn't have the ridiculous weight of them as they had before. Regardless, Gabriel still had his job. Self-proclaimed job, but still a job. There was only a few things the archangel had as his goals.

Don't let the world implode, and keep the stupid Winchester brothers alive.