Michael walked back into his father's thrown room and found the young boy in there quietly eating. He still could barely comprehend that this child even existed, and it was even harder to believe he was Gabriel's. His baby brother had brought a Nephilim into the world. If he'd found out any other way, it would probably anger Michael, but his father had made changed his mind about the matter. He seemed to love the boy. That meant something. So instead, Michael was just shocked. It was hard to picture the baby brother he watched grow up as a parent.
"Hi," Sam said to Michael.
"Hello," Michael said with a smile.
"Where's that man who said he was my grandpa?" Sam asked.
"He will be back. He had to go talk with someone," Michael told him.
"Okay. Are you really my uncle, by blood?" Sam asked. He honestly didn't see how he could be, and he didn't see how that other man could be his grandpa. He knew they weren't human. How could they be his family. His family was human. His dad had even taught him that things that weren't human were bad.
"Yes, I am," Michael said before going over and sitting down next to the boy.
"So your my mom's brother? You can't be my dad's," Sam said. If this was dad's family, his dad would've recognized the mand that came to get him. Plus, Sam didn't think his dad would ever have family that wasn't human. Although, he didn't really understand how his mom could either. She was human, wasn't she?
"Well, it is a long story, but it will be explained to you soon," Michael told him.
"You look like an angel," Sam said. Well, okay, he didn't exactly know what angels looked like, but he knew they had wings. Although, he didn't think they had as many as his new uncle did.
"Do I?" Michael asked with a grin.
"Yeah. You have wings like angels. My dad says angels don't exist though. My brother doesn't think they do either. He says too many bad things happen for angels and God to be real. Pastor Jim thinks they're real though. He told me about them. Dad didn't like that," Sam said.
"What do you think?" Michael asked curiously.
"Well, I know if angels are real, they're not saving people or making the monsters go away, but maybe they help in other ways. Maybe they help people like my dad become hunters," Sam said.
"You live with a hunter?" Michael asked in disbelief. What was Gabriel thinking by leaving his child with a hunter. Most hunters believed that anything that wasn't human needed to be killed. This boy certainly qualified as something that wasn't human. Of course, Michael could see leaving the boy with someone who would be able to handle his powers when the time came, but what if this man didn't accept Sam when the truth came out?
"Yeah, my dad's a hunter. My big brother is sort of one too. He helps my dad sometimes. I'm supposed to learn to," Sam said. He wasn't actually supposed to tell people about this. His dad had lecturing him about that when he found out. But that was for people that didn't know about this type of thing. This man did. Besides, he said he was family.
"You don't want to," Michael said. It was a statement, not a question. He could tell the boy wasn't very enthused by the idea.
Sam shrugged. "I don't know. I just found out about it. Dad said since I knew about it, I could learn about it too, but it's kind of scary."
"There are things out there that are very frightening. Things that children have no business learning to fight," Michael said. This child should not be being trained to fight the supernatural. Even for a human he was too young. As an angel, he was even younger. What kind of person taught this kind of thing to kids?
"It's okay. Dad says it's our job to fight them because they killed my mom. Dad says she died to protect me," Sam said before looking down. He always hated when his dad mentioned his mom and how she died. Sometimes he thought his dad blamed him for it.
"It's not your fault," Michael said after seeing his young nephew's body language shift.
Sam shrugged and looked at his hands.
"Have you been told it's your fault?" Michael asked.
Sam shook his head. "No, but I don't think Dad likes me the way he likes Dean. He never yells at Dean the way he yells at me."
"Dean?"
"My brother," Sam said.
Things began to click for Michael. His nephew's name was Sam, and apparently his 'brother's' name was Dean. There father had become a hunter after losing his wife. His nephew was Sam Winchester, the boy he'd thought was supposed to hold Lucifer. That clearly couldn't be the case though. A Nephilim couldn't hold an angel.
Michael was dumbfounded, not to mention worried. What did this mean for the final plan. Would it still happen? Was there a new plan now? He'd need to ask when his father returned. His father did say he'd changed things a bit.
"Are you okay?" Sam asked.
"Yes, I was just thinking for a moment," Michael said when he finally came out of his thoughts.
Sam began to rub his eyes. He was tired. It had been a long day, and he was sure it was pretty late.
"It looks like you could use some rest. Let's find you a place to sleep," Michael said before standing up.
"I want to go back to my dad. I can sleep there," Sam said.
"I'm afraid you have to stay here tonight," Michael said. Actually, the child would be here indefinitely, but he did not want to be the one to explain that to him.
"Please take me back. My dad doesn't hit me very often. He only did it once before. Please," Sam begged.
Michael was shocked and outraged to hear that Sam had been struck. While he'd known this child less than an hour, and while not too long ago he'd been willing to destroy the boy if that was his father's wish, his entire outlook changed the moment his father proclaimed that Sam was family and needed to be protected. Now, Michael only saw Sam as Gabriel's son. And Sam reminded Michael quite a bit of Gabriel. Anyone that laid a finger on him needed to suffer the consequences.
Michael bent down a little so that he could look his nephew in the eye. "It was wrong for him to hit you."
"No, it's okay. It's my fault. I made him mad by not training. Please send me back. I won't make him mad again, I promise," Sam said. Now he was near tears.
"No, little fledgling. You have done nothing wrong," Michael told him softly.
"Please," Sam begged.
"It's not my decision," Michael said. He failed to mention that if it were, he still wouldn't send the child back. "Come, let us get you someplace where you can sleep."
Sam quivered his lip in defeat and before standing up and taking his new uncle's hand.
Michael cringed at the look on the boy's face. If he didn't already know the boy was Gabriel's, he would now. He gently led the boy out the room.
Xxxxxxxxxxx
Gabriel yelled out as a couple of Gods used him as a punching bag. Gods were capable of hurting him, not killing him, but hurting him. "Come on. It was just a little joke. Where's your sense of humors,"
Gabriel's words earned him another punch to the stomach. He groaned and pulled at the chains holding him to the wall. Of course, he could get out of them, but to do so, he'd have to blow his cover. The chains were made to hold Loki.
"Let's see how funny you think this is, Loki," one of them said as they held up a stake.
Before Gabriel had a chance to respond, both Gods were sent flying into opposite walls.
Gabriel looked up just in time to see a shortish man with curly hair appear. The man looked anything but intimidating. In fact, he looked kind of weak. But Gabriel knew better. He felt the power that barely even scratched the surface of what was in that tiny vessel. He knew exactly who was actually standing in front of him. His father.
"What is it with people feeling the need to attack my kin today," Chuck asked with a small bit of annoyance in his voice.
One of the Gods got up and approached the intruder menacingly. "I don't know who you are, but you're gonna pay for that."
Gabriel asked slightly amused and slightly annoyed as the idiot God tried to attack his father only to be lifted from the ground and held in mid-air by his father's immense power. Honestly, he wasn't thrilled about the interference. He just knew his father was going to blow his cover. Plus, he preferred him not to be around at all. It wasn't that he hated him or anything, but he had secrets that it was essential he kept.
The other God in the room immediately disappeared, knowing he was in over his head.
Chuck kept his attention on the God who attempted to attack him. "Learn your place. You may think you're a God, but you're a poor imitation. Isn't that right, Gabriel."
Gabriel groaned and used his Grace to free himself from the chains. "Thanks, Dad.
"Leave before you face my wrath for attacking my son," Chuck said before releasing the now petrified God. He then watched as he fled.
"You had to blow my cover, didn't you?" Gabriel asked annoyed.
"Your welcome, son. It was my pleasure to rescue you," Chuck said sarcastically.
"That would be a first. You haven't gotten involved to save anyone in a couple thousand years. And as it happens, I didn't need to be saved. I would've been fine on my own," Gabriel said.
"True, but I didn't have time to wait for you to get yourself out of this. You're needed back home now, Gabriel," Chuck said.
"Thanks, but I'm good. I have better things to do," Gabriel said before attempting to leave. It had been days since he'd seen Sam. He didn't like leaving him solely under the care of John Winchester for so long. He needed to go see him.
Chuck watched as his son tried and failed to fly away.
Gabriel glared at his father. "Let me go!"
"No. I told you, you're coming home. It's time to stop running," Chuck said.
"You first," Gabriel countered.
Chuck laughed. "Nice play, son. As it happens, I intend to go back. So will you."
"The hell I will! I'm not going back. I have things to do here," Gabriel said.
"Not anymore you don't," Chuck said with a knowing look.
All anger and defiance disappeared from Gabriel's face. All that was left was fear. His father knew. He could tell that from the look on his face. He knew about Sam. Gabriel had prayed his father didn't know and would never learn about Sam. He didn't want to think about what could happen to his son if the truth came out.
"Did you really think you could keep something so big from me. I knew the moment your child entered the world," Chuck said.
Gabriel grabbed his father and slammed him against the wall. "Where's my son?!"
Chuck didn't fight his son. "Calm yourself, Gabriel. If I wanted to hurt your child, I would've done so when he was born. He has nothing to fear from me. Neither do you."
"Where is he?!" Gabriel demanded to know. He didn't even really hear his father's words so far. All he could really see was that everything he'd tried to prevent had come to pass. He had to get to his son.
"He's in Heaven with Michael. Gabriel…"
Gabriel's eyes became impossibly wide as his fear got worse. Michael had his son. Who knew what he would do to him. "Let me out! Let me out now, old man!"
Chuck snapped his fingers, allowing his son to take flight. Gabriel wasn't going to hear anything else he had to say until he saw for himself that Sam was alright.
Gabriel immediately took off for Heaven. Chuck followed right behind him.