It all happened in slow motion. They grabbed Castiel, one on each side and pulled him away. Dean froze, partly from surprise and partly from shock. He felt like they had just ripped a hole in his reality.

The two angels dragged Castiel to the other room where Gabriel was waiting for him. Castiel gave him a puzzled look. He had expected Raphael or even Lucifer. "They...ordered me to come and get you."

That made more sense, he was simply following orders "Well, considering the circumstances I am glad I get to see you again" Gabriel gave him a weak smile, that was all he could manage.

Dean had regained some of his senses and stormed in, pushing one of the angel's out of his way. The other readied his blade. Castiel nearly had a heart attack.

"Hey hey, blades down boys, no stabbing the human" Gabriel warned.

Castiel blinked, looking at Dean with panic and slight fascination "Dean - " Castiel tried but Dean already wasn't listening.

"How could you do this to your own brother?!"

Gabriel turned an annoyed glance in his general direction and rolled his eyes but didn't otherwise respond.

"How can you just stand there and let them take him? What could he have done to deserve being killed by his own family huh? What the hell kinda brother are you, to just stand by and watch, don't you care about him at all?!"

Gabriel rounded on him and even though he was shorter, Dean shrunk back, only slightly before catching himself and standing his ground against the pure rage radiating from the archangel "You shut your cake hole. You don't know anything about me, you can't begin to understand what's about to happen and you're just pissed off because there is nothing you can do about any of this, so spare me your bull crap!"

There was silence between all present. Gabriel turned away, his voice lowering "You think I want to do this? To drag my little brother, who I practically raised from birth to his execution? You think that if there was anything I could do I wouldn't have done it?"

"You can save him" Dean stated. The archangel met his eyes then and Dean didn't look away. Gabriel was trying to stare him down but Dean wasn't going to give up "You're right. I'm human, I can't do anything about this, but you can. Save him"

Castiel was looking between the two hoping that this would not escalate any further.

Sam walked in, tablet in hand. He was about to say something when he looked up and was greeted with three extra pairs of eyes and his brother in one of those stances he did when he was about to do something stupid. The dangerous kind of stupid.

"...Dean? What's going on" he tried, hoping it would at least distract him a bit. It didn't.

Gabriel was the one to break the stare off, Dean, however, was determined to bore holes through the side of the archangel's head.

"Look, this is getting ridiculous" he glanced between Sam and Dean "This is happening, there's nothing any of us can do about it and Cassie knows his responsibility-"

"I do, and I'm okay with it" Castiel offered. He made a point not to look at Dean when he said this, however.

"-so there's no point in making a big deal out of this. When Castiel dies, you guys won't remember him at all, and you'll probably be assigned a new guardian angel. Them's the rules."

Dean was about to protest when Gabriel turned his back and, with a remorseful glance at Castiel, he snapped his fingers and they were gone.

The court was deathly quiet as they dragged Castiel in before the archangels. Michael sat at the top of a raised platform, its steps descending to the hall below. His eyes were soft, though his entire body radiated authority pronounced more by his large, pure white wings folded neatly behind him. Lucifer stood to his left, his arms folded across his chest and an ever-present grin turned his lips up in a snarl. His wings were not as neat as his older brother's, ruffled and a shade darker, they drooped slightly, the tips reaching the floor. Raphael stood below them. His expression was smug and his eyes were cold as he glared at Castiel.

Last but not least was Gabriel. He did not stand on the stairs or anywhere near the platform. Instead, he stood with the other, lower ranked angels on the ground floor to Castiel's right. Only two of his six golden brown wings were showing. Gabriel often didn't show his wings because he claimed they were too big and annoying. Now, they were folded loosely, drooping all the way to the floor and dragging behind him, reflecting the mood of their owner, reserved and deflated.

Castiel tried to smile when he met Gabriel's eyes, but it quickly faltered when Gabriel looked down and away. He couldn't look into Castiel's eyes and the expression he wore told Castiel everything he needed to know. He didn't want to be here. He wanted to pretend this wasn't happening.

Michael sighed, so softly only Lucifer who stood directly beside him could hear it before he spoke "Castiel; Angel of Thursday, you have committed crimes against heaven, disobeying direct orders from your superiors and proving to be unrepentant. You have committed the unforgivable crime of killing two angels in your escape and attempting to injure an archangel. Do you have anything to say in your defence?"

"Why bother asking him that, he's gonna die anyway"

Michael turned to Lucifer levelling him with a stare that said his input was not appreciated, Lucifer just shrugged and turned away, pretending to inspect his fingernails.

Castiel looked up at his oldest brother and Michael was surprised to see the confidence in his eyes "I don't believe what I did was truly wrong. I no longer believe free will to be something bad, simply, it is freedom...I used that freedom to follow my heart"

Michael was silent. Castiel's words replayed in his mind and he found himself regretting this entire ordeal. If only Castiel had asked for forgiveness sooner, maybe something could have been done, but no matter how much Michael wished he didn't have to pass this sentence, he knew he had no choice, no matter how bad it felt. There could be no free will in heaven.

Raphael glanced at Michael and saw the hesitation in his eyes, deciding to speak up "Brother, with all due respect, you must pass the sentence..."

Gabriel glared at Raphael then, who responded with his own glare and a smirk "despite what some of us may think, rules are here to give us order, peace. He is guilty of disrupting that order and must be punished for it or else others might think it okay to disobey-"

"Enough" Michael closed his eyes, pinching the bridge of his nose briefly "Castiel you do understand that what you did is unforgivable. Despite your reasons...I cannot let it stand. This is necessary to maintain order"

Castiel nodded, never breaking eye contact with Michael "Yes, I understand and I accept my punishment"

Lucifer laughed out loud this time earning a glare from Michael, Gabriel and surprisingly Raphael. The latter mainly because he was annoyed at the interruption.

"The one who died for love huh? Pathetic" Lucifer continued to laugh ignoring the annoyance of the others "I'd much rather die for power...makes more sense doesn't it?"

"Lucifer" Michael cautioned.

"I mean what does love get ya? " Michael turned to fully glare at him now because he was really getting on his nerves. Lucifer huffed. "Alright alright. Geez, can't I have my two cents?"

"No!"

"Well, excuse me"

Michael huffed and returned his gaze to Castiel, something flashed in his eyes that caused Gabriel to raise his brow briefly in confusion before looking away again.

"Castiel, Angel of Thursday, I hereby sentence you to death"

The angels on either side of Castiel tightened their grip on him. Lucifer pushed himself from his leaning position and stepped forward before Michael stopped him with an outstretched hand, eyes focused on Gabriel.

"Uh, Mikey, your hand is kinda in my way"

"You will not carry out this execution"

The youngest archangel looked up then, making a face of complete horror, before schooling his expression into one of placid annoyance "I don't want to Mike"

"Ah come on, that's mean even for you Michael. Just let me do it"

Michael gave his brother a long-suffering stare "and where is your blade, then?"

"You know where it is, its Castiel's fault I lost it, besides, I don't need the archangel blade for this-"

"Gabriel, if you would" Michael gave Gabriel a pointed gaze. There was that flash again.

He hesitated for a few seconds, knowing that he had to do this even if he didn't want to, Michael had given the order. Everyone was waiting.

He took a deep breath and tried to steady his hand as he pulled his gold blade from his jacket and stepped toward Castiel, who smiled at him. Gabriel didn't break eye contact this time. He stopped directly in front of Castiel, close enough that he could see the pale blue spots in his eyes, feel his breath on his face. Gabriel closed his eyes "I can't do this, Cas"

Castiel freed his hand from one of the angels and stroked Gabriel's arm. Gabriel looked up at him "I don't want to do this."

"I know...however, I would much rather be killed by the person who gave me a life. If it wasn't for you I wouldn't have survived this long. I'm okay with it ending like this."

Gabriel had to fight to keep his composure, he refused to cry in front of the court but Castiel knew what he was feeling. Gabriel hugged him tight and Castiel returned it happily. He smiled and closed his eyes as he felt his grace rise, warming his entire body in a flash of light. He held Gabriel tighter, in effect pushing the blade further into his body.

"I'm so sorry Cas" Gabriel managed to choke out before Castiel's grace flashed again, a bright shining blue and white that burned through his wings and consumed his soul, leaving Gabriel holding his lifeless body, scorch marks staining the white marble floor.

"He didn't have to die! You could have dropped the sentence!" Gabriel yelled. He and Michael were walking through one of the upper halls. It had been a few hours since the trial, but the sting was still fresh in Gabriel's mind.

"No, I could not. What kind of message would that send?" Michael stated.

"Who cares about the message?! He was our brother!"

"So is every other angel out there" Michael turned to Gabriel then "I know what you're feeling Gabriel, I had hoped that Castiel would not have disobeyed, but he made his choice. And I had to make mine, for the sake of this family"

"By ripping it apart?"

Michael sighed "No. By maintaining the rules Father left, keeping the peace, avoiding chaos. It's my responsibility, I don't expect you to understand-"

"If father was here he would have-"

"Father left!" Gabriel was surprised by that outburst. Lashing out and raising voices was mainly him and Lucifer's job. Michael was usually above that.

The oldest archangel turned away, clenching his fists at his sides continuing in a softer almost vulnerable voice, "Father left, and I have been trying. Trying so hard to keep heaven running properly. To keep us all together. Anarchy is the last thing I need. As a leader, I could not let my personal feelings cloud my judgment in that way, don't you get it?"

There was silence between them for a while. Gabriel took that time to calm himself down despite how hurt he was feeling and Michael regained his composure.

Gabriel looked up at his brother, letting all his feelings play out on his face "I couldn't do it...Castiel and that human; Dean. You know they were-"

"...Yes, I know. I saw it"

"Then why?!"

Michael paused for a few moments before turning to walk away "...because I knew you couldn't do it"

Gabriel's eyes widened as he watched his brother leave.

"In any case, this is over. Time to move on"