Disclaimer:

I do not own Supernatural. I am merely playing with the characters.

That being said, please enjoy.

I present without much ado, my very first one-shot, The Symphony of Betrayal.

The Symphony of Betrayal

"You do realize that the last time we had to deal with Auntie Dearest it took all five of us, don't you?" Lucifer pointed out.

"I know."

"So what are we going to do? The cage didn't agree with Michael and the other two are dead. I can't play distraction this time around. She isn't going to fall for that twice. We can't take her on just by ourselves either, a.k.a, we're doomed. Unless you can pull out one hell of a Hail Mary out of your ass, this whole endeavour is kind of pointless. So whatever it is that you are planning, make it quick."

"Michael is perfectly alright. The cage was custom built to hold you. It wouldn't do shit to anyone else. Michael could have left anytime he wanted but stayed because he wanted a reason to talk to you. The whole "coocoo for cocoa puffs" act was just that, an act. Apparently, he had wanted to know how you would respond if you were in a position of power over him. I'm not sure what he had wanted with that but he left the cage a few minutes after you did. Stopped by Heaven to drop Adam there and left with no one being the wiser. He's been roaming around Earth ever since. Raphael is The Healer. Nothing can harm him permanently. When Castiel blew him up, Raphael lost his consciousness. He woke up, healed himself and saw that everyone thought him dead so he decided to stay out of everything and live for himself for a change. And as for Gabriel, he never was dead in the first place. He's The Messenger, son. One of the first lessons he had was to recognize when his message wasn't well received and to get out of a messy situation with his skin intact. So all four of you are actually available and you have already agreed to help. The trick is to convince the remaining three. "

"Wait! So the rest of the Arch-douches are still around and they never bothered to step in and help before?" Dean asked waspishly.

"I am assuming that you are referring to the whole Metatron debacle?" Chuck enquired.

"Yes! What else?!"

"The reason is quite simple. All three of them are thoroughly pissed off at me. Sure, it might be at varying degrees, but all of them decided that if humans get to do whatever they want and call it free will then they are going to exercise their right to free will as well. While they didn't put it as bluntly as that, it is an apt summary of their stance."

Lucifer snorted at that. "Michael is pissed off at you? How the hell did that happen? Mr Goody-two-shoes is mad at his daddy, hah!"

Chuck ignored his son and continued "Comparatively speaking, Raphael would be the easiest to tackle. Michael is going to be a lot harder to convince. Gabriel may or may not be a lost cause."

"Did you just call the only Archangel that did anything to prevent the Apocalypse a lost cause?" Sam asked incredulously.

Chuck winced slightly at the sharp tone but answered "He did what he did for humanity as a whole. Not because he was ordered to do so. He made a choice to give you a fighting chance. Archangels have more titles than they know what to do with. One of Gabriel's titles just happens to be the Herald of Apocalypse. True Apocalypse cannot begin no matter what anyone does unless he announces it. He knew that he would soon be forced to do it if he stayed in Heaven. Away from Heaven and Hell's control, he could at the very least, attempt to put off the Apocalypse as long as he could and give humanity a fighting chance. Heaven changed after the Fall, big time. So he decided to give humanity a ray of hope, even though you weren't aware of it, because it was something he had lost himself. And as to why he's going to be the hardest to convince, I may have got into a heated argument with him that ended in less than pleasant terms."

Lucifer let out a sharp bark of laughter. "Truly I say to you, nothing is impossible for the Lord." He bit back further laughter and asked "Just how did you manage to piss off the most laid back angel in Heaven, old man? That one is the King of Diplomats. The fact that you got into a heated argument with him is in itself a major miracle. Even then he is usually quick to forgive. What did you do?"

"Doesn't matter at the moment. Let us first deal with Raphael and then Michael. If we can convince them it might be easier to tackle Gabriel."

"The world is going to end and we have to convince three prissy Arch-douches to help if we want to survive. How is this our life?!" Dean asked miserably. Castiel patted Dean's forearm awkwardly which made Sam break into a fit of near-hysterical giggling, which made everyone in the room look at him in worry. And yes, that list included Lucifer.

"Can I count on your help in convincing them?" Chuck asked, eyeing the four other occupants of the room.

"Do we have a choice?" Sam asked morosely. Dean hid his face in his hands and stifled a groan. Castiel merely nodded at his father. Lucifer on the other hand gave Chuck an odd look and then nodded as if he was satisfied with something. "Not sure what I'm supposed to do but I'll help with my brothers. I haven't had a proper look at them in ages, after all. But a word of advice be less "Lordly" with them. As someone who has been in their position before, I can honestly tell you that there is nothing that pisses us more off than you acting all high and mighty with us. Annoyed the hell out of me, I assure you."

"Very well. Let us deal with Raphael first."

"Do you even know where the remaining Firstborn are?" Castiel who had remained silent till then suddenly spoke up.

"Not really, no. But I do know that Raphael frequents the library in Washington, DC. If we wait nearby, we could run into him."

"Or he could sense us and give us the chase." Lucifer put in his two cents.

"Possible, but I think he's mad at me enough that running from me will feel like defeat to him."

"So you're counting on his pride to make him stay put if he sees us coming." Sam mused absently.

"Yes." Chuck agreed without an ounce of shame.

Lucifer shrugged and said "It's not like we have much of a choice."

Twenty minutes later, Team Free Will (plus God and Satan) found themselves inside the biggest library in America. Chuck had wanted to leave immediately (as in that very freaking moment) but the humans were not comfortable with dealing with Raphael without a concrete plan or even their weapons, while Chuck did not wish to be seen as threatening his son into joining them and was against bringing along any weapon to that particular meeting. Castiel wisely chose to stay out of that argument. In the end it was Lucifer of all people who put a stop to it before it could spiral out of control. The humans were allowed to bring all and any weapon that they could conceal on their person, provided they swear that they would not train the above mentioned weapons even remotely at his younger brother. It took about twenty minutes for everyone to agree to it, and thus they were there.

It was Lucifer who found Raphael. He was in a new vessel, a strawberry blond that seemed as though he were in his early twenties, sprawled in a very comfy looking armchair, his head resting on one of the armrests while his legs were draped over the other, engrossed in some book or the other. Everyone else seemed to be ignoring that particular corner of the room. The entire crew congregated near that point close enough to convey their intention but far enough that they were not crowding the notoriously private Archangel.

A few minutes later Raphael sighed softly and settled his book face down on his stomach, marking the place where he had stopped.

"Why are you here?" Raphael asked curtly, not bothering to beat around the bush. It took him a moment to realize that the moody Archangel was addressing him, not Dean or any of his assembled family. Sam was not sure as to how he should take the sudden attention, but blustered forward with a confidence he did not feel.

"Your Aunt wants to destroy the universe. Lucifer mentioned that it took all the four Archangels working alongside God to lock her up the first time around. We were hoping that you could put aside your differences and work together again. At least for as long as it takes to ensure the universe's continued survival. I know that we have no right to demand anything of you, but please, help us. We have got no other option but to beg you and your brothers for your help. I - "

Raphael cut off the rest off the rest of Sam's words with a raised hand. Once Sam's voice had dwindled down into uncertain silence, Raphael spoke up, never taking his eyes off Sam. "Did he mention the aftermath of that war?" When Sam shook his head, implying a no, Raphael continued " The only person that came out unscathed from that is the false prophet standing beside you. Lucifer had been slightly drained, and that too only because of the Mark. Nothing, a few days of rest wouldn't heal. Once he had distracted her, all he had to do was to be in place to cast the spell that would lock her up. The Mark and its aftereffects are on the false prophet's shoulders. Anyhow, the point remains that Lucifer came out of the fight relatively unscathed. Michael was the first line of defense. He led the whole battle while the false prophet there stood back watching. He claimed that he had been making the cage that was supposed to hold her and that it had to be done while she was distracted by us. Else she would have figured out the plan or so he said. Back then I trusted him but now seeing that he's nothing more than a coward who locks up every problem he encounters and makes others do his dirty work, I am not so sure of his reasoning anymore. Ah, but we weren't talking of the cowardly false prophet now where we? We were talking about Michael. She tore him apart from the inside. He should have by all means died then, but he kept on fighting, kept on going because if he didn't then she would have come for us and he would never let that happen. He still feels the wounds he sustained in that fight. Hard not to because they open up every time he moves the wrong way. The remnants of her power still tears him open from the inside, still feeds on his grace and that pathetic excuse of life that's standing beside you did nothing to help him, did nothing to stop what's left of her power from tearing my family apart. " Raphael was still seated as he had been when they first spotted him. His face betrayed none of the emotional turmoil he must have been feeling. His voice was still calm, never wavering but hints of his True Voice were starting to slip out. Unnerving his audience, he smiled pleasantly at them or rather at Sam because the Archangel still refused to acknowledge anyone else's presence.

"And then there's Gabriel. He was still a child when you placed that blade in his hands and asked him to fight. Hell, he barely knew how to fly back then! And you went and told him to fight against his Aunt, who as far as he knew back then was literally the nicest person he knew. She used to sing him lullabies for goodness' sake! That's a way lot more than what you used to do for him. She took out her anger on him during the fight because those two got along the best and as far as she knew he had betrayed her, the one who had raised him for a worthless piece of shit. Turns out even then she couldn't bring herself to hurt him all that much, at least not to the extent that she did to Michael but he still was a mess when all the shit was said and done." Raphael had turned to face Chuck, taking the weight of his burning gaze off Sam for which he felt grateful. But at the same time he was having trouble not punching Chuck in the face. Raphael was not painting a pretty picture there. No wonder The Trickster had wanted the fight over with. A bloody war at a very young age could do that to you, he mused. Sam had a feeling Raphael would have said more had his phone not started ringing. The Archangel pulled out an iPhone and Sam took a moment to marvel at the fact that he knew how to use one.

"Mikey? What's wrong?"

"What?"

" What?! What do you mean you're in love? "

Lucifer raised an eyebrow at that. A few moments later he had manhandled Raphael into putting the phone on speaker mode and was listening intently to the conversation, ignoring Raphael eyes which were almost boring holes into him. Instead he swatted the healer's arm and gestured at him telling him to focus on the phone.

"- and I swear I fell for her right there. I can't believe that something that came from humanity could be this beautiful." Michael broke into a fit of giggles, which caused Dean to exchange horrified looks with Sam. Even Chuck and Castiel looked mildly disturbed. Lucifer on the hand, looked like he was enjoying a rare treat while Raphael looked contemplative. Then Raphael asked slowly "Micha, are you drunk?"

"Oh, very."

"How many?" Raphael insisted.

Michael hummed a tune under his breath. Breaking it off suddenly he answered "Two... sorry, three bottles of Absinthe topped with the most potent Holy Water that humans can make."

"Any water source blessed by you would be much more effective than anything blessed by some random human." Raphael pointed out.

"What's the point in getting drunk if I've got to do all the work?" Michael asked, his voice trailing off into another fit of giggles.

"That's it. Stay where you are. I will be there soon."

"Oooh. Do you want to join me, RaRa?"

"No. But I am not leaving you alone in your current condition."

"Once a healer, always a healer, eh?" Michael sounded put off but his voice was unmistakably fond. It brought a quick smile to Raphael's otherwise stoic face even though it disappeared as soon as it came. Raphael slipped his phone into his jacket and disappeared, book, armchair and all, which resulted in Lucifer (who had been perched on the armrest) meeting the floor, his nose breaking with an ominous crack.

"Oooh, blood spilled at the beginning of a task is considered an omen of ill fortune. To whom it remains to be seen."The Devil commented straightening himself and his nose in one graceful movement.

"Now what?!" Dean asked, which prompted the librarian, a beautiful lady in her thirties to glare at him till he quieted sheepishly.

"Now we follow Raphael to meet with Michael." Chuck stated.

"Less "Lordly", jackass." Lucifer hissed at Chuck.

"Did Raphael speak the truth?" Castiel asked quietly.

"Of course not! Your brother was exaggerating."

"The hell he was! Raphael almost killed himself trying to save Michael and even then it wasn't enough. I took over healing Gabriel because 1. Raphael was running on fumes to begin with, 2. Michael had been beyond death's door, 3. By the end of the week, I was the only one at full power and 4. Everyone was beyond depressed. And you went and ignored the fact that two of my brothers were dying while the other was running himself to the ground because you were too busy creating! You were pretty much churning out fledgling after fledgling and then just dumped them on our heads while none of us were in any condition to look after ourselves much less them. The next time we saw you was when you showed up to announce that we should bow down to the humans! So yeah! Of course, Raphael was exaggerating. After all, your word is the truth." With that parting shot, a visibly irate Lucifer disappeared.

Chuck looked shaken at Lucifer's reaction, but then snapped out of it and turned to his remaining company. "Are you ready to meet Michael?" he asked.

"But where are they?" Castiel asked.

"You don't know? But Michael practically told us where he is. "

"He did?!" Dean asked incredulously.

"Where can we find the most potent holy water on Earth that was prepared by a human?"

Understanding dawned on Sam. He answered almost reverently "Vatican City."

"That's right. He's either at the St. Peter's Basilica or at the Sistine Chapel. I would bet on the Chapel though. It is smaller and has a very detailed decor. Michael is a bit of what you would call an art junkie." Chuck explained.

"What about Lucifer?" Dean asked impatiently.

"He just needs some time to cool himself. Once he is calmer, he will show up by himself. We better get moving now." And with a snap, Chuck transported them to the Chapel.

Sam had always wanted to visit the Chapel and now God himself had taken him there to seek an angel's help. The irony was not lost on Sam. The fact that the said angel was an actual canonised saint ways just the icing on the cake. Speaking of cakes wasn't the sweet toothed Archangel a saint as well?

With rising wonder, he tilted his head back to observe the legendary ceiling only to recoil back in horror. The entire fresco had been vandalised! Judging from the Enochian scribbled here and there, it seemed as though Saint Michael the drunk Archangel had found the artwork wanting and had taken it upon himself to fix that fact. Sam really hoped that the additions had been done using removable ink or at least that the Church had invested in some decent insurance policy. Although he had to admit, Michael's artwork on Lucifer's representation was hilarious - the angel had doodled flowers and hearts all over the statue, that too in bright fluorescent colours. Then again he might be slightly biased on the subject. Sam was suddenly captured by the irrational desire to watch the Devil's reaction to his brother's handiwork. Lucifer was most probably going to flip his shit and anyone sane should not want to see that. Then again Sam has not been sane in a long time and perhaps could be forgiven for his wish.

They found Raphael and Michael sitting on the floor between the first and second pew. It was a tight fit despite both of the vessels being borderline anorexic, but they managed as Michael had pulled Raphael into his lap and had buried his face into The Healer's shirt. Raphael sat there, almost rocking Michael, crooning softly into his older brother's ear. They would have missed them had it not been for the fact that Michael seemed to be suffering from a breakdown and no matter how quietly it was, the Archangel's voice echoed through the empty Chapel. Chuck walked towards them and placed a hand on Michael's shoulder. Surprisingly, Michael flinched badly at the contact and flung his arm out, which caused Chuck to crash into the Altar, shattering it. Michael forced himself onto his feet and stepped forward subtly shielding Raphael from Chuck. Speaking of Chuck, he raised himself slowly from the ruins of the Altar and dusted himself absently as though he was trying to come to terms with what had happened mere moments before.

"Michael, son -"

"Don't you dare call me that."

Chuck looked taken aback at the hostility that Michael was showing towards him while Castiel looked surprised. Raphael had settled on an odd combination of pride and sorrow. Dean shot a look at his younger brother and felt surprised himself. Not because of Michael's reaction, no, it was about time that happened, but because of Sam's reaction or rather the lack of one. The last time Dean had seen that odd vacant look in his brother's eyes Sam had been missing his soul. Dean pushed down his trepidation and turned his focus back to the celestial drama that was unfolding in front of him.

"Mi-"

"What do you want?" Michael asked, cutting through whatever it was that Chuck had wanted to say.

"Can't a father just visit his son?"

"A father can, but mine has never visited me unless he wanted something from me. So I am going to ask you once again, what do you want?"

"I haven't seen you in ages, son -"

"And whose fault is that?" Michael said with a snort.

"He wants us to fight Aunt Amara again." Raphael said softly from where he stood behind Michael, one arm wrapped around his brother's waist while the other clutched at the older Archangel's biceps, almost as if he was restraining Michael.

"Apparently, Lucifer agreed to help them already. Speaking of which, where is he now? Or did I dream up the entire episode?"

"One, I never agreed to help the old guy. My reply had been, and I quote, 'let's see'. Secondly, I went along with this farce because there are a few people I wanted to introduce you to and he was my best bet for finding you guys. Speaking of which, interesting paint job, Micha. Although I would have preferred less neon and more glitter."

Lucifer was sitting at the far end of the first pew and to everyone's surprise, a newborn was cradled in his arms while a petite but tired looking woman sat beside him, seemingly at ease in the Devil's company.

Michael was the first to respond. "Is that a child?"

Lucifer grinned at him and then walked towards his brothers, the woman demurely following him. He placed the infant in Michael's arms and then pulled the woman close to him. "That's Jack, my son and this" the Devil continued, tightening his hold on the woman beside him "is Kelly, his mother. Alright Kels, this is my big bro Michael and the shorty beside him is my baby bro Raphael."

"Nice to meet you." Kelly told the stunned looking Archangel duo.

"The pleasure is all ours, I assure you." Raphael replied, his training kicking in. He nudged Michael mindful of the child he was carrying in his arms but Michael merely continued staring at the child with an expression that could be interpreted as morbid curiosity. Raphael finally stopped bothering Michael and just took the child from him and started running diagnostic spells all over the newborn, much to Lucifer's amusement and relief. He had been worried that his brothers would react badly to the existence of a niphil, especially considering that little Jack was born to an Archangel, who also happened to be the Devil. One down, two more to go.

After a few tense moments Michael said "He looks a lot like you, grace-vice that is. Physically he takes more after his mother." Lucifer let out a breath he hadn't even realized that he was holding. Michael turned to Kelly and continued "Keep my brother straight and honest for me, alright?"

"I will try." Kelly answered sincerely.

"That's all I can ask of you." Michael conceded with a nod.

Two down, one more to go. Speaking of one more "Where's Gabriel?" Lucifer asked with a slight frown.

Raphael handed Jack back to his mother and answered "We've been looking for him, but as usual he's nowhere to be found."

Seeing Kelly's confused look, Lucifer explained "Gabriel has always been good at hide and seek. Like, scary good. If he doesn't want you to find him, you won't unless you're just that lucky. It's carried over to his adulthood as well. All of us were under the impression that he was dead for the last few millennia, only to find out that he had been hiding from Heaven and Hell."

"From us. "Michael said softly. Lucifer merely gave her a helpless shrug.

"Please tell me we don't have to deal with the antichrist next?" Dean asked slightly horrified.

Kelly frowned at that and held her child closer. Lucifer, on noticing the movement, wrapped an arm around her once again and answered Dean "Technically speaking, you've already dealt with the antichrist."

"Who, Jesse? The demons said that the Cambion only qualified because the chance of a direct descendant of yours claiming the title was close to nothing because considering your legendary hatred of humans, there was no way you would get down and dirty with a human woman." Dean replied, directing the last point at Kelly. Kelly on the other hand merely gave him an unimpressed look.

"Nope. Not Jesse. I was talking about your baby brother there. The Antichrist is supposed to rule Hell in my stead and who is known as the Boy King of Hell, Squirrel?" Seeing Dean's surprise, he continued "Crowley had a lot to say about you guy was one of the very few demons around that could actually think for himself. Shame, he turned out to be such a back-stabbing traitor and had to be dealt with. Such a shame." The Devil ended with a melodramatic sigh. Kelly laughed lightly at her husband's antics but smothered her reaction when she noticed the others looking at her oddly.

Jack suddenly pulled himself up in his mother's arms and then snuggled closer to her, wrapping his arms around her neck. Sam gave the child a hesitant wave when he noticed the child looking at him. A few moments later, Jack returned the wave and proceeded to fall asleep.

"He's growing fast even though you've already sealed his powers." Raphael mused absently.

"Yup. Kid finished gestation in two months. The growth rate is slowing down though."

"It's Winter Solstice today." Michael suddenly said to the confusion of others. Sam was the first to understand the implication of that statement. "You want to try and summon him."

"No, not summon. But we could try to gain access to his court." Michael clarified.

"Will someone explain for the rest of us peasants?" Lucifer asked, annoyed.

"Gabriel was hiding as a pagan, remember? The Trickster god Loki?" On receiving several nods, Sam continued "Loki is a night god. On Solstice, either would work, if you know the correct way you can secure access to his courts and seek for boons, provided you can offer him something he thinks is of worth and Winter Solstice is when the night gods are at the peak of their power while the same is true for day gods and Summer Solstice. We could try and enter his courts, and of course that's hoping he hasn't closed it down or just kicks us out even before we actually enter. There is also the slight possibility that he isn't in the Pagan jig anymore. He took that form to hide and considering that everyone he was hiding from knows of it..." Sam trailed of uncertainly.

"We won't know unless we try." Castiel said from the corner he had decided to hide in. As it was, he was trying and failing spectacularly to blend into his surroundings. He might have succeeded if not for Michael's renovation work. Sam really, really hoped that the authorities had invested in some decent insurance policies. Are vandalism by drunk angels even covered by them?

"Can't believe I'm actually saying this, but that uppity seraph is right." Raphael said with a grimace.

"Hey, before I forget, just who exactly were you waxing poetic about on the phone?" Lucifer asked curiously.

Michael merely pulled out something from his pocket and handed it to Lucifer. When the Devil saw what it was, he couldn't hold back his laughter. Kelly looked over her husband's shoulder and asked confused "Is that a permanent marker?"

"Yup, I'll explain later." Satisfied by Lucifer's answer, she turned her attention back to the dozing child in her arms.

"Will you help me defeat your Aunt once again?" Chuck suddenly cut in, rather put off by how everyone was ignoring him.

Michael just rolled his eyes at that. Lucifer made a huge show about thinking and then answered "Nope." Raphael on the other hand pinned Chuck with a look that was equal parts revulsion and anger. "What part of Michael reacts badly to Auntie dearest's power and presence is it that you don't understand? And I'm not letting Lucifer anywhere near her either. That Mark made quite an impact on him and I'm not looking forward to seeing how he'll react to her presence. Especially considering that he has got a wife and kid to think about now. I'm pulling Medic's Privilege over this, you hear me old man? Plus I really doubt Gabriel will be willing to fight her alone, that is if and that's a very big if, he even agrees to fight her in the first place. You couldn't be bothered to step in and help when there was tumult in heaven. What makes your problems bigger than ours? Deal with your sister yourself, Father." The irate Archangel somehow managed to make it sound like being called "Father" was one of the biggest insults he could come up with. It was impressive in a very morbid manner, Dean thought.

Two hours later, the entire group found themselves standing in the middle of a very deserted court. Judging by the looks of the place, it seemed as though it hadn't been used in years. On one hand, Dean was happy that Michael had been planning to do the ritual even before they had shown up and had prepared everything required beforehand but on the other hand, the Trickster had blown the joint ages ago and their only clue turned out to be a dead end.

"Who's there?" Michael called out suddenly. A few tense moments later, a hulking giant of a blond stepped out of the shadows. The heavy-looking archaic war hammer clipped onto the newcomer's belt solved the mystery of his identity.

"Ah, you must be Loki's biological brothers, I assume?" Thor asked politely.

"You assumed rightly. Pray tell, do you know of our sibling's whereabouts?" Michael replied in kind.

Thor hummed lightly and then gestured to the long table nearby before taking a seat himself. The others followed suit.

"I am one of the very few who knew of his identity before it got revealed ... explosively, to say the least, by Kali. In fact, apart from Hermes he had warned off everyone that knew that he was more than just a Trickster from attending that meeting. Since he himself had not been properly invited to the meeting, he couldn't show up without raising suspicion if it had been a harmless meeting. Hermes was there as his eyes. Then when the Vessels showed up, he sent Ganesha for damage control. When it turned out that it was his own mother that had been spearheading the entire show and Ganesha could do nothing to stop her, Loki had no other choice but to make an appearance himself. He replaced Hermes and Ganesha with illusions and tried to warn the others. My father and brother were the victims of their own hubris and Loki only stepped in to save Kali for Ganesha's sake. There wasn't much he could do for the others though. Good riddance, I say. A true warrior is one that knows when to retreat so that they can live to fight another day. Loki had a reputation of knowing things and his information is rarely, if ever, false. They should have heeded his warnings and prepared to protect their charges. Not blindly rush in because their pride couldn't visualize that something could be stronger than them." Thor ended with a barely controlled snarl. He turned to face Lucifer and continued "I do not blame you for my father and brother's death, Morning Star. But I do blame you for what you did to Loki. He might not be my brother by blood but most of us in the Norse Pantheon do see him as family, to speak nothing of the others. I believe that Kali on returning home was at the receiving end of the usually mild mannered Ganesha's wrath. He figured one of you might try to summon him and since he wanted nothing to do with his birth family he asked me to intercept any calls from you." But to the surprise of others he said "But I will tell you where to find him."

"Why?" Michael asked as he was the first to recover from the surprising declaration.

"Always the difficult question first, isn't it?" Thor asked with a slight smirk which widened when Raphael looked surprised. "He spoke of you all. Not always, and never sober, but no matter how much he may wish for it, he can never completely hate you. It's the curse of having a Family, especially one that went through some serious bloodshed as yours did." Thor's otherwise stern expression softened a little. "He misses you a lot, you know? He hates himself for it but can't help it. Annoys the hell out of him too. I don't know where exactly he is, but my brother Loptr might know. The only problem is that I don't know where Loptr is hiding either. But I do know of someone who knows where." Thor pulled out a slip of paper and a sealed envelope and handed it over to Michael. "You will find him at that address. Give that letter to him. I have explained the situation to the best of my abilities in it. Of course, I expect that you will not attempt to find out its contents. I wish you well in your endeavour." With that the Norse god of Thunder and Fertility, rose to leave.

It was Kelly's question that stopped him in his tracks. "Wait. Why did you have that letter prepared beforehand?"

Everyone turned towards the blond who simply smiled in return. "Eh, I have got siblings myself. I knew it was a matter of time before you came searching for him. If that is all, young lady?"

"Thank you, Sir." Kelly replied. The god vanished from their sight.

"What does the note say?" Raphael asked curiously.

"Australia."

The rag-tag crew of three Archangels, Three humans, one Niphil, one Seraph and one Chuck found themselves at a beach in Australia. Judging from the lack of crowds and the pristine condition of the place, Sam deduced that it was one of the less frequented beaches on the Australian coastline. He cast a wide gaze about their surroundings and realized that he had misjudged the situation. The beach wasn't devoid of crowds but rather was devoid of life itself. There were no people, no crabs, no seagulls, nothing. There was no way a beach would be this empty on a nice summer day like this (It's rather funny really, it was freezing cold in America and later at the Vatican City, but due to the placement of the continents with respect to the equator, Australia was in the middle of its summer.) On one hand, there was no one to spot them standing in the middle of a freaking beach in summer still in their winter gear (explaining that would have been a bitch and a half) while on the other they were most probably in a pocket dimension created by the dozing young man in a hammock (the only other being other than themselves in the entire beach). He had no idea what was going on and judging by the looks on the faces of the Wing Patrol, they were, well, winging it themselves. He cringed at the very bad and very accidental pun.

Michael nodded subtly at the stranger and gave Castiel a pointed look. Castiel nodded and then proceeded to fulfill his Commander's order. The man blearily opened his eyes and rolled out of his hammock, barely missing Castiel while he managed to land in an odd crouch. He straightened himself and cast a questioning look at the gathering.

"I was under the impression that I was done with you lot." He remarked blandly.

"I'm sorry, do we know you?" Sam asked politely.

The man just sighed and asked in the same put upon tone "What do you want?"

It was Raphael who explained the entire situation this time around. Michael passed Thor's letter to the stranger and calmly waited. Jack on the other hand decided that waiting calmly and quietly was for plebians and made such a fuss that Lucifer had to step in to calm the toddler down. Jack eerily enough could now pass for a one year old, while he had looked barely two days old when they had been first introduced to them. Moments later, Jack started squirming in his father's hold and Lucifer decided to indulge his son and set him down. The child took wobbly steps towards the stranger and then proceeded to tug on his knee-length shorts till he transferred his attention from the surprisingly short letter to the unsurprisingly short child in front of him.

"You must be the Antichrist, version 3.0. More like .03, if you ask me."

"Jack." Little Jack introduced himself by stating his name and then pointing at himself. Kelly squealed slightly at that, while the others looked on interestedly. The stranger merely laughed at that and crouched down to the baby Antichrist's level. He ruffled the child's hair and said "I'm Jesse Turner. How do you do?"

Jack's face scrunched up in concentration and then he replied hesitantly "Fine?"

"Wait a minute! Jesse? How are you? Where are your parents?" Sam asked, surprised at the teen's presence.

Jesse grimaced slightly but answered. "Dad bolted the first chance he got, while Mom had apparently been controlled by the demon since before my birth. She had no recollection about the years she had been under the demon's control. So I let them go. But not before I erased their memories about me. I've been on my own ever since. At least, until I agreed to host an Archangel that is. We fused perfectly." He shrugged lightly and then looked up at them, one eye swirling with Grace and the other an all encompassing black. "So I ask you once again, what do you want?"

"Gabriel." Michael breathed out stunned. Then he frowned and continued "That makes no sense. Thor said he was sending us to someone who knew where his brother Loptr was, who in turn knew where you were. Did he not know that you and Jesse were one and the same?"

"He did." Jesse replied and then passed Thor's letter to Michael.

Send them on a wild goose chase, tell them who you are or none of the above. It is your choice. Loptr and the others will undoubtedly play along.

-Thor

Jesse picked up Little Jack and extended a hand towards Kelly, who shook it nervously. He smiled at her and said " The name's Gabriel but we prefer Jesse. Keep my big bro on the straight and narrow, won't ya, Kelly?"

"I'll try. Wait, how do you know my name?"

"Messenger, sister. An advertised aspect of my position is that I'll know who and where everyone is, no matter what they do to hide themselves." Jesse explained cheerfully.

He then suddenly turned to Chuck and said "Hey Daddy-o, I've got a message for you from Auntie Amara. She said that she has no intention of destroying this world. Apparently, the sitcoms are too hilarious to do so. You can thank me later for that, by the way. But she wants to meet you to discuss the conditions for the truce. Oh, and Michael? She removed her power from you and fixed your grace. The same goes for you as well. She said Raphael ought to give you guys a full check-up, just to make sure that she didn't leave anything out. She also expects visits from us four and an introduction to her niece and grand-nephew, once the treaty is signed. She's currently in Paris, so chop-chop, old man."

There was a stunned silence for a minute or two and everyone burst into action. Chuck disappeared in a flash of light while Raphael dragged Michael and Lucifer away for a check-up. The Winchesters looked on confused, while Castiel joined Jesse, Kelly and Jack for some idle chatter.

A few moments later, Dean turned to Sam and asked " So the world's not going to end and we didn't have to do anything to stop it?"

"Weird." Sam concurred. "Let's just not look a gift horse in the mouth, shall we, Dean?"

"Sure. But seriously, did sitcoms just save the world?"

"Apparently."

"Weird." Dean answered.

Then they both broke out laughing.

FIN

A/N:

I hope you enjoyed reading this as much as I did while writing this. I plan this to be the first of a series of one-shots all revolving around the theme "Betrayal" while staying firmly within the Supernatural world. Here, it is Chuck's betrayal that is being discussed.

I can't promise you a prompt update on the second part [ Oh, and before I forget, these won't be necessarily in chronological order.] as my writing schedule is highly erratic as those who have read my other works can testify. Additionally, college could start any time and my free time will shrink considerably.

I haven't quite decided what my second part should be, so if you have any ideas please leave a review.

Also let me know what you think of this as well. Again, leave a review.

Wishing you a prosperous and fruitful New Year in advance. [If you wish to read my Christmas fic, check out my profile. It actually deals with Christmas unlike this one!]

Best wishes.

- Baron Silver.