I'm really very nervous about this chapter. Michael may seem a bit OOC, but I feel there's not enough on the show to really give us an accurate gauge of his character. So, ah, here this is.

Leaving Spencer at Singer's place wasn't exactly something that Gabriel was all that comfortable doing. He'd gotten sort of used to having Spencer under wing and leaving him alone just didn't feel right. Fledglings weren't supposed to be left outside the care of an angel. It didn't help matters that Spencer hadn't been all that happy about it either. Oh, the kid tried to cover it up, to act tough, but Gabriel knew how to read him. He didn't want to separate any more than Gabriel did. He just did it because they both knew there were things that had to be done. Gabriel needed to do some things and leaving Spencer there while he did it was really the best bet. Well, second best. Gabriel' would've been even more comfortable if he could've left Spencer on the safety of their island. There was nowhere on earth that was better protected for him. But he couldn't keep the fledgling trapped there. He couldn't do that to him.

The point was, his fledgling was safe. That would have to be enough for now.

Trusting in that, Gabriel focused his attention on the task ahead of him. He'd been preparing for this day pretty much ever since he'd taken Spencer in and really got to know him. He'd known before Spencer had ever said a word that the fledgling would want to come back and help, and he'd known what that would mean for him. Gabriel had slowly come to terms with the fact that he was going to be forced to face his family once more. After so long spent hiding from them, he was going to not only face them again, he was going to face Michael, and he was going to potentially fight against them. It would be suicide to fight against his oldest brother, of course, but there was no other choice. There was so much more at stake here than the Winchesters or Spencer knew. Something much more important was ahead of them. Gabriel would do everything he could to make sure that he and the others stood a chance. If that meant revealing himself and making allies with siblings who probably wanted nothing to do with him – s o be it.

The first thing that Gabriel had done to prepare for this was to start making up the vessel that he would need for his brother. Michael didn't have a vessel, hence why he wasn't down here on earth more often trying to persuade Dean. He wasn't like Lucifer, running around in a second rate vessel. So if Gabriel wanted to have a talk with him outside of Heaven he was going to have to make a vessel for his brother to be inside of.

That's what took the most time. It took time, effort, and not only his archangel powers but quite a bit of his trickster powers as well. The cover that he'd assumed all this time while hiding was more than just some mask he put on. Gabriel hadn't just pretended to be Loki – he'd become him. There was power in godhood even if his family didn't see it. Being a pagan god, one whose name was known, was a powerful thing. Having people believe in you – that was a lot. It was where many pagan gods gained their most power, from their followers. There were still people out there who believed in Loki.

With those two combined sets of powers, he got a vessel made up for his brother that he was sure Mikey would like. Sam and Dean might not be extremely pleased but, meh, he didn't really set out to please them. Though he didn't really want to upset the taller of the two.

The vessel looked like it could be a distant relation of their father's. Close to Dean in height, though not as tall as Sam – so sue him, he didn't want someone bigger than the sasquatch – and in pretty decent shape. Brown hair, almost black, and with brown eyes, plus a bit of facial hair just because it amused him to put it there. Beard, mustache, the whole shebang, just kept short and well-trimmed. He was even nice enough to think of Michael and put the guy in rather decent clothes. Plain jeans, a dress shirt, and a light leather jacket over it all. He'd blend in and wouldn't look like some idiot. Considering the circumstances, Gabriel figured it was best to just dress the guy normally. While making him wear stupid clothes would be amusing at first, there was no doubt Michael would find out soon enough and pissing off the guy you were asking a huge favor from really wasn't good form.

Once he had the vessel ready it was only a matter of picking a location and setting up the appropriate wards. Somewhere secluded was important, with no witnesses and no chance of innocent casualties if things didn't go all that well. To that end, Gabriel chose the middle of the desert. It seemed the perfect place to have their little talk. He scouted the area, found just the right spot that was far away from any sense of civilization, and then he started laying down the protections.

There was only so much he could do to make this safe for him. Really, in the end, he knew that a lot of it probably wouldn't matter. Short of summoning his brother straight into a circle of holy fire, he was putting himself at risk here. And he wasn't dumb enough to trap his brother like that. No, most of the protections he put down wouldn't keep him safe from Michael. They would, however, keep the two of them as hidden and safe as possible from the rest of the world. Gabriel had a cover to maintain around here and he didn't need someone trying to spy on them and finding out that, hey, Loki's not exactly who he said he is, the trickster tricked us all!

He was over halfway through the day when he finally had everything ready. A brief check of his protections, a quick wish that he wasn't about to get himself killed with this stunt, and then it was time. Gabriel stood in the middle of his protective circles and did the ritual that would call his brother down to him. As light filled the sky and the very sand seemed to shake, Gabriel held his ground and hoped that this wasn't going to end up being some giant mistake.

Gabriel didn't keep himself hidden as Michael stood up in his new vessel. Keeping up the cover of pagan god would've been a good way to potentially get smote on sight. This was an encounter he wanted to survive, thank you very much. So he didn't bother hiding himself and instead let his wings sit free. After so long keeping them hidden, it felt good to show them as much as he had lately, but it also felt a little strange. A little, exposing.

All it took was one look for Michael to see who he was. One look for Michael to see Gabriel's familiar grace and know exactly who was standing there in front of him. Gabriel wasn't sure what kind of reaction he'd expected here. Anger, maybe, or disgust, or even getting his ass kicked. All of those had seemed in the realm of possibility. What he hadn't expected in the least bit was for Michael's wings to lift up in an open display of shock that was echoed throughout the archangel's grace and then for all six glorious white wings to reach out for him like they had when he was just a tiny little fledgling. "Gabriel."

It'd been a long, long time since Gabriel had been home. A long time since he'd felt the grace of one of his siblings opening to him like this. Michael reached out for him without hesitation, without a single bit of anything other than absolute love, and there was no way that Gabriel could refuse it. He didn't have that kind of strength in him. He let Michael's wings wrap around him and let the grace of his oldest brother curl around his own and cradle him much in the same way that Gabriel had cradled Spencer just recently. It was an angelic equivalent of a hug and it was something that Gabriel had missed far more than he'd let himself dwell on. It felt so damn good to curl up against his brother. Feeling the vessel's arms curl around him, that was nothing, just something inconsequential. What mattered were the six wings of pure white that were around him and holding him close.

When they pulled apart, the both of them were smiling, even if a hint of sadness was starting to show through Michael's eyes. There was none of the anger that Gabriel had expected to see. None of the righteous fury he'd been so sure was going to be present in his brother. "Gabriel," One wing drew back from their hug, only to lift and brush across his vessel's cheek. "Brother, we'd feared the worst. With everything that had been happening and then your disappearance, we'd feared the very worst."

"I'm sorry." Those two words were true. They held more power for the fact that he knew Michael understood they weren't something he said easily or lightly. "I just, I couldn't handle it, Mikey. I couldn't. The fighting..."

The middle pair of Michael's wings tightened briefly over him. "You never did handle our fighting all that well." There was a note of sadness to his words.

The firm resolve that Gabriel had held in himself when he'd started this was melting away underneath all this. This wasn't the brother that he'd expected to find. With the apocalypse on them, he'd expected something so different from Michael. Something reminiscent of those days where the fighting had been the worst. He'd thought that he would find an angry, righteous Michael, one who was furious and sure of his course, sure of the rightness of it. He'd expected scolding and recriminations and potentially even a fight. He definitely hadn't expected this love and acceptance and sorrow. It was throwing him for a loop and he couldn't seem to quite find his footing underneath it all.

Michael's wings uncurled form around him, though the largest right wing stayed tangled with Gabriel's. It was a sort of hand-holding gesture for them. A way of staying connected to one another. "I'm sorry we ever made you feel that you had to leave just to get away from it all, Gabriel."

Now that definitely stunned him. Gabriel straightened up and his eyebrows shot up almost to his hairline. "You're apologizing? To me? Seriously?"

"Don't say it like it's something I've never done before."

"Well..." Gabriel huffed out a breath. What the hell was going on here?

"I never wanted to hurt you, brother. You, the youngest of us. We never wanted you to suffer for our fights. It was one thing that Lucifer and I both hated. We didn't want you and the others mixed up in the middle of all this."

That had Gabriel scoffing. He drew back abruptly, reminded with that one simple statement why he was here and what was going on. The soft feelings that had surrounded them before were shattered by reality. This wasn't just some special homecoming here. There was so much more going on, much more important things. This wasn't the time for rehashing old hurts. Gabriel drew himself out of the circle of Michael's wings and felt his own draw up behind him as he slipped back into the slightly mocking persona that he'd learned in his time as Loki. His lips curled up in a harsh mockery of a smirk and he arched one single eyebrow in a look he knew was harsh and derisive and as annoying as he could make it. "Good work with that. You failed kinda spectacularly at that, bro."

Michael didn't take the bait. He drew his wings back in and straightened himself up, his shoulders squaring under yet another brother's recriminations. "I know."

There was a part of Gabriel that wanted to drop the act at the sight of that. Michael had always taken too much on himself, taken on the guilt for everything, kind of like a certain hunter Gabriel knew. It was a little bit scary how alike archangel and vessel were. But he couldn't let himself soften. Not here, not now. Maybe later, if things went well. For now, he had to stick to his plan. "I'm not here to rehash our old squabbles, Mikey. I'm here about the current one."

"Even when you hated our fighting, you never could stop yourself from trying to play peacemaker." Michael said fondly. Then he sighed and gave a small shake of his head. "This is one fight you cannot be involved in, little brother. It's one that you cannot be in the middle of."

"Can't be in the middle?" Shaking his head, Gabriel let out a harsh laugh. "Bro, everyone's in the middle of this one. This fight is going to destroy the planet – a planet I very much enjoy. Even now, there's angels out there fighting in your name, dying in your name. An you wanna say it's a fight I can't be in the middle of?"

"Gabriel…"

"Mikey…" Gabriel cut in. He spread out his hands and his wings both in a gesture meant to ask for silence, to ask Michael to listen. "What happened to you? This isn't Dad's will here. I know you know that. This isn't the time. If it were, Dad would've me blowing the horn to herald it."

"Our brother walks the earth. You would have me let him simply leave death and destruction in his wake?"

"I'd have you think!" Gabriel snapped at him. "I'd have you use all those smarts Dad gave you and actually think about this! How many more are going to have to suffer for your fight, huh? How many more have to die just because you two can't get your acts together?"

The first show of anger flashed over Michael's face. "Mind how you speak to me, Gabriel." He warned him.

As usual, the younger archangel didn't heed the warning. Instead, he sneered. "Or what? You'll kill me too?"

The absolute sock on Michael's face at that statement almost made Gabriel sorry for his words. Almost. He watched his brother draw back like Gabriel had struck out at him. "You really think that of me?" Michael asked. His wings shivered a little as he met Gabriel's gaze. "You, of all angels, truly think I'd strike you down just for arguing with me?"

"Wouldn't you?" Gabriel asked softly. "Isn't that what you're doing with Lucifer right now?"

This time Michael's flinch was much more pronounced. Gabriel watched as his brother turned away from him, turned to look off into the distance as he fought to control his grace. The defensive way he held his wings made Gabriel ache a little. It was a look he'd seen on Michael so many times before. One that said that the archangel was hurt and was slowly drawing his walls up around himself once more, walls meant to protect him and keep him as safe as possible. Walls that kept anyone from getting in there and helping him bear the burden that he took on his shoulders. It was what he always did. He took everything on himself as if it were all his own. When he spoke again, his voice was flat and almost empty, another sign of just how tightly he was holding himself now. It also clearly said that he wasn't going to be moved on this. He'd come to his decision, the Good Son here doing Dad's will, and he wouldn't be moved. "This is as it should be, Gabriel. Our Father wills it so."

Time to pull out the big guns. Gabriel blew out a breath and prepared to start himself down a road they couldn't turn back from. A road he'd been on from the moment he'd taken that little fledgling out of the panic room and back to his home. "There's a fledgling on earth."

Those words stopped Michael in his tracks. He went completely and utterly still; even his grace seemed frozen. Only his head and eyes moved, turning to lock onto Gabriel in a silent demand that the younger archangel easily read. He nodded at his big brother. "I've seen him myself. He's an adult by human standards, but by ours he's still under a year."

"A fledgling. On earth." The both of them knew what that meant. Even if Gabriel hadn't seen Spencer for himself, just hearing about him would've been enough for him to know, just as Michael knew. The only way for a fledgling to be down on earth, especially one so young, had to mean that they'd been born there. "A human fledgling."

"Yeah." Gabriel stuffed his hands down into his pockets. For once, there was no sign of humor on his face. "You know what that means, Mike."

"It can't be."

"You know what the prophet said." It was something only the Firstborn knew. Something only they had been privy to. "The four of us, we're the only ones besides Dad that know."

Still, Michael shook his head, more in shock than actual disbelief. "It can't be possible. Not now."

"It is. His existence is proof of that. And you know just as well as I do what it means." Spreading his hands, Gabriel took a small step forward, imploring his brother to hear him. "I'm not telling you that you and Luci can't have your big death match someday, Mikey. We both know that if Dad wants it, it'll happen. I'm just saying – not now. This isn't the right time. If the prophet was right, we've got so much more trouble coming our way than you two fighting over who loved Daddy more."

"And a darkness will come, greater and more powerful than any before, and it will seek to consume us all. It is death, it is hunger. It is night and the end to all realms above, below, and between." Michael quote softly, the words giving them the same chill now that they had the first time they'd heard them. He closed his eyes briefly. "I had hoped this day wouldn't come."

"We all did. But it's here, an there's no turning back."

"Have you… you've seen this fledgling?" Michael opened his eyes and looked at him. "Is he, yours?" They both knew how a fledgling was born to earth. He had to have two angelic parents.

"I don't know." Gabriel admitted. He couldn't directly say no; there had been plenty that he'd slept with during his time on earth. Despite being in hiding, two of those people in all that time had been angels. But he'd only known them as the angels they were, not the vessels they'd been in, so he couldn't rightly say if one of them had been Spencer's mother or not. Nevertheless, it didn't matter to him. He didn't care who had sired the boy. "Whoever fathered him, he's mine now. I've Claimed him."

Michael's wings lifted in surprise. In Heaven, Claiming a fledgling was a big thing. Fledglings were created by their Father and, as such, had no parent but Him. They were all brothers and sisters up there. But occasionally, an angel would Claim a fledgling. Or, even rarer, an archangel would Claim one. It meant that they took that fledgling under their wing, literally, and accepted responsibility for them in every way possible. In human terms, it was almost like becoming a step-parent. Only bigger and a lot more binding.

And as the one who cared for Spencer, it was his responsibility to issue a few warnings here. "You'll need to be careful with him. He didn't even know what he was until a few weeks ago. Whoever sired him, one of them bound him when he was a baby. That binding didn't come off until he died a little while back."

Here was the horror that the Winchesters hadn't shown. They had no idea just how horrifying a thing it was to think of a little fledgling, or any angel, with their grace bound. But Michael knew. He knew and could share in Gabriel's anger over it. "They bound their own child?" The force of his anger had the air whipping up a little around them and the ground shaking lightly under their feet.

"Yeah. I've been teaching him since then, but…" Gabriel trailed off, shrugging.

Michael's wings showed his surprise. Then they lowered, the tops dipping briefly and twisting in a sign of acquiescence and understanding. "I would like to meet him. And the rest of your little…group. I have yet to meet them face to face. I would like to do so while this vessel still holds me." He stopped, and then – as if thinking about it for the first time – he stretched out his arms a little and looked down at the vessel he wore. "This body, I had no need of consent to enter. There was no soul inside."

"Course not." Gabriel said, scoffing. "It's not exactly standard issue. It's custom made, just like mine."

He kind of enjoyed the surprise on Michael's face when he looked up at him again. "You made your vessel?"

"Yep!" He made his voice pop on the 'p'. Then he grinned. "Made yours too, bro. Don't worry you can keep it. But, there's a catch."

A wary hesitance covered Michael's face and curled his wings. "Of course there is."

Gabriel decided not to be offended by how hesitant he was. He deserved it, really. "You won't be as strong as you'd be if you were in Dean-o. We're at our strongest in our True Vessels. This, it's the equivalent of the power you'd normally have in a vessel that isn't Dean-o. I'm sure you can feel that. But it'll hold you without blowing to smithereens." Being in their True Vessel gave them a power boost because it had the soul of one made for them, in a body meant to house them. That was why neither brother fought as they were now. They wanted that extra power. Not to mention, bodies like this weren't made to hold them and wouldn't stand up to a fight. They'd break apart and explode. But the body Gabriel was offering would hold. It'd hold them without breaking apart, just like a True Vessel would, only without the power boost that their True Vessel's soul would give them.

He could see how he'd caught Michael off guard with this and he knew that there were going to be questions. It would've never occurred to Michael to think of making a vessel. He had to have countless things he wanted to ask. But, really, there weren't really words to explain all of this. Nor was there time, he realized as he looked up at the slowly changing sky. He needed to get back to his family soon. "Look, I'll explain everything later. But I needed you to know so you can understand he's not like the fledglings you're used to. He wasn't raised with us, Mikey. He doesn't know anything about what it is to be an angel. He doesn't know our rules or customs or anything like that. It's like throwing you down to earth and expecting you to be a perfect human. It's not happening. He won't know you and he damn well won't trust you. He barely trusts me. He hasn't had an easy life an it's made him skittish. I know you'll want to touch him, but you can't."

That seemed to stun Michael even more and Gabriel understood it. Fledglings were affectionate by nature. They wanted to touch and be touched. "What has happened to him?"

"It's a long story. One I don't even know all the pages to yet." Gabriel admitted. He'd caught glimpses, sure, but gaining Spencer's trust was a slow thing. He had to earn every single bit of it. And the more he earned, the more he learned about his boy and his past, the more he understand the more willing he became to work for it. "Just, be cautious with him, okay?"

"Of course."

"Good." Gabriel said. "Because, you're my brother and I love you, but if you hurt him, Michael – it won't be Luci you're gonna have to worry about." The threat was delivered calmly, just a simple statement of fact backed by a swell of grace and a flare of his pagan power that left no doubt whatsoever to the meaning of his words. When he saw Michael nod back, he relaxed a little. "It won't be easy." Gabriel pointed out, his voice relaxed once more. "No one's gonna want to listen to you, bro."

"They will do what is right."

That had Gabriel snorting. "Oh, yeah, this is gonna be great." He muttered. Then, in a normal voice. "They haven't done what you've felt is 'right' so far, Mikey. You really think they're just gonna conform now? You're trying to end the world, in their eyes. They aren't going to want to exactly listen to anything you have to say. Especially if that's still what you're set on." So far, Michael hadn't said if he was going to stop or not. Gabriel eyed him cautiously, testing the waters, waiting to see what his brother would say.

Michael smiled and his wings ruffled in the angelic version of a head shake. "The fight between Lucifer and I will happen, Gabriel. But," he held up a hand, cutting off whatever Gabriel had been about to say. "Not yet. You're right – we've something far more important coming our way."

It took a little bit of work on Gabriel's part to modify the wards around Bobby Singer's home enough for him to bring Michael inside. He knew that the hunters weren't exactly going to be happy with him later because of it. Hell, they probably weren't going to be happy about any of this, really. That was a risk he was going to take, though. They needed to meet, all of them, and they needed to talk. The best way to do that was to bring Michael to them. It was a gamble, yes, and one he knew could go very badly for him. But he trusted Michael. His brother was an angel of his word. He wouldn't lie. That thought wouldn't even occur to him. He always, always told the truth. If he said that he wasn't going to fight, he meant it, and Gabriel trusted it.

Still, maybe he should've taken the time to fly ahead and at least warn the others?

Bobby and Sam looked beyond stunned when Gabriel landed. It was nothing compared to how they were going to look here in a bit. At the moment all they knew was that Gabriel had someone with him. They wouldn't know who it was without being told.

That was remedied rather quickly. The door slapped open and Gabriel turned his head as he felt his fledgling come in. He saw when Spencer's eyes landed on Michael, saw the immediate fear that hit there, and it made his grace ache so damn badly inside. He saw Spencer stumble and was surprised when Dean not only caught him, but actually shoved Spencer behind him and moved protectively in front of him, demanding "What's going on?" with a growl and a glare that made it clear he wanted answers. It was a move that Gabriel would've expected the hunter to do with Sammy, not with Spencer. Something had changed between the two of them while he was gone.

Gabriel put on his most charming smile. "Guys, I'd like you to meet my brother – Mike."

The stunned shock that spread around the room was just a bit funny. It had the trickster in him wanting to snicker. He held it in, though, and watched as Michael looked at everyone. He stopped on Dean for a moment, eyeing the one that was supposed to be his vessel, before finally moving his gaze to Spencer. Another pang hit Gabriel when he saw Spencer take a full step back. "Hello." Michael said to him. The small smile he wore was sad to those that knew him well. "It's a pleasure to meet you."

A quiver ran down Spencer. The grace inside of him drew in even tighter as if trying to keep as far back from Michael as possible.

"Mike?" Bobby repeated, breaking the stare going on between archangel and fledgling, and pulling attention back to the room at large. He was staring at Michael with shock and awe and a hint of fear. "As in, Michael?"

"Yes." Michael said lowly, nodding his head. He tilted it a little and studied Bobby for just a second before tipping his head at him. "Hello, Robert." Then he looked from one brother to the other. "Sam, Dean."

"What the hell?" Dean demanded loudly. He still hadn't moved from his position in front of Spencer but he did shoot a glare over towards his brother, who responded to it almost immediately by starting to inch towards him. It amused Gabriel, especially since he could see the gesture was just slightly unconscious. Years of training had bred in the instinct to follow Dean's directions in dangerous situations.

It was going to take some work to keep this situation from blowing up. Temper would only be met with more temper. So, Gabriel kept his pose casual as he snapped himself up a chair and dropped down into it. His legs kicked up over the one side and a drink was now held in his hand. "So," He drawled out, smirking at the room. "My conversation with Mikey went a little better than I expected." Tilting his head, he looked up at Michael and then gestured to the couch. "Have a seat, bro. Humans tend to find it intimidating when you loom over them."

At least no one had drawn any weapons yet. Not that anything they had here could hurt either Gabriel or Michael. Still, it was the principal of the thing.

Michael took his advice and sat down on the couch, close to Gabriel's chair. He didn't look as casual as Gabriel did in a vessel, but nor did he look anywhere near as stiff as Castiel looked most of the time. This wasn't the first time Michael had been in a vessel.

It was no surprise that it was Sam, ever the voice of reason, who spoke up. "Gabriel. What exactly is going on?" His voice was flat and even but there was a hint of threat underneath, a warning that he better have a damn good explanation for this. He'd reached his brother by now and the two stood side by side with the little fledgling behind them, while Bobby still stood at his desk, though he had moved to the side that put him nearest his boys. It very neatly split the room in half, a distinct them and us. Gabriel was surprised by how little he liked being on the side of them.

Dean snorted at Sam's question. "What do you think is going on, Sammy? I told you we couldn't trust that douche." He squared his shoulders and glared hotly at Michael. "I'm not saying Yes. So whatever poor sucker you've convinced to let you wear him, you're stuck there."

Michael's wings rose up a little and he turned to look at Gabriel with raised eyebrows. "I'd heard he was a rather, volatile one. Is he really so brave, or simply foolish?" He asked in Enochian.

Laughter bubbled up Gabriel's throat. "Both." He said, still in English. "Definitely both."

A hint of the humor not many got to see sparkled in Michael's eyes. When he turned back towards Dean, the ghost of a smile touched his lips. "I'm not here to pressure you into saying Yes, Dean Winchester. Nor am I 'wearing' some 'poor sucker'."

"Yeah, right." Dean interrupted, scoffing.

Before anything else could be said, the young fledgling who had been so quiet up until now apparently decided that he'd had enough of staying in the background. He put a hand on Dean's shoulder, just a brief touch that clearly looked like a request for silence, and then he slipped between the two Winchesters until he stood in front of them instead of behind them. His spine was straight and his shoulders were back, even if Gabriel could see the fear in his eyes as clear as day. For all his bravado, he didn't look at Michael. He very deliberately did not look at him. Instead, his eyes were locked right on Gabriel, watching him carefully. Spencer could have a very unnerving stare sometimes. He had a way of looking at you that left you feeling like you were being analyzed straight down to your very last cell. Gabriel kept still underneath it and didn't squirm. He met Spencer's gaze and let the fledgling see whatever it was he needed to see.

After a few seconds that felt much longer than they really were, Spencer nodded. When he spoke his voice was low but it carried the weight of his conviction. "You wouldn't bring someone here if their intention was to hurt any of us." It was said firmly, a statement instead of a question, and Gabriel smiled at the show of trust. "No, I wouldn't, kiddo."

"I apologize for startling you or making you uncomfortable." Michael said, and it was again clear that it was Spencer he was speaking to. He was barely paying anyone else any attention. His eyes were locked on Spencer, staring at him with a sense of fear and wonder that Gabriel understood. It was the same thing he'd felt when he'd first realized that there was a human fledgling in front of him. When he'd realized just what it meant. But Michael's tone was still gentle and easy, the same soothing tone quality to it that Gabriel associated with his own early days when his big brothers had still been happy and his Father and his brothers had been his entire world. "I mean you no harm. I simply wanted to come meet you." One of Michael's wings twitched like it wanted to reach out to Spencer.

A soft, barely noticeable shiver ran down Spencer's body. If his wings were out, they would've been drawn in around him at the moment in a protective gesture. He did, however, lean back just the slightest bit towards the Winchesters.

Michael smothered a sigh and pushed himself up to his feet once more. "Perhaps it might be better if I came back at a different time. I'll allow Gabriel to explain to you what's going on. Maybe the next time we see one another, you can all feel more comfortable in the knowledge that I mean you no harm." He turned to look down at Gabriel and one of his wings brushed against one of Gabriel's. When he spoke, he switched to Enochian, keeping their words private. "Take the time to explain to your group here what you can. I'll go home and handle my side of things. But we should meet soon, brother. There is still Lucifer to deal with."

"I know." Gabriel said with a little twist of his lips. "Don't remind me. Somehow, I doubt he's going to be as easy as this."

A soft smile and a curl of his wing were all that Michael gave him before he vanished from the room. That left Gabriel with two pissed off looking hunters, one pissed off but mostly curious looking hunter, and a fledgling that was silently watching him in obvious preparation for whatever was to come. In true form, Gabriel didn't flinch in the least from the glares that were being sent his way. He snorted and then snapped his fingers. Immediately, everyone but Spencer flinched, but Gabriel had only snapped up drinks for the room. A tray holding drinks appeared on Bobby's desk and his own cocktail appeared in his hand. "Aren't you all a jumpy bunch? Relax, guys. Half the work is done!"

"Are you kidding me?" Dean demanded.

Always the calmer of the two, Sam spoke over Dean, cutting off whatever other angry words might've come out of his mouth. "Gabriel, you've got to give us a little something here. I mean, yesterday as far as we knew Michael still wanted to wear Dean like a cheap suit and was all for the apocalypse. Now you show up with him out of nowhere in a house that should've been warded against him and you don't even really explain what's going on. You guys just say that your talk went well and then you take to staring at Spencer. Can you see where we might feel just a little out of sorts with all that?"

"You're so diplomatic, kiddo." Gabriel said, a fond smile touching his lips. Then he sighed and slumped back a little more in his chair. "I don't know what else you guys want me to say. I told you I was going to talk to him – I did. I told you the conversation went better than I planned. Mikey's on our side now. Shouldn't you guys be, y'know, celebrating?"

"You expect us to just believe that, what?" Dean paused and snorted. "You two just talked and now he's all Team Free Will?"

Gabriel's lip curled up a little at the team name. Go figure they'd named themselves something like that. The little idiots. He rolled his eyes but let that slide for the moment. "I told you he'd be the easy one."

"How? What the hell did you say that was enough to convince him to stop this?"

"You really wanna look a gift horse in the mouth, Deano?"

It was sort of adorable and amusing to watch the confusion that spread over Spencer's face at that phrase. His lips moved like he was testing that sentence out for himself, trying to find a way to make sense of it. That only made Gabriel's grin grow. That kid – sometimes Gabriel really wondered how on earth they ever managed to talk to each other. Gabriel was all naughty jokes and sly innuendo and mocking sentences, while Spencer could speak like a dictionary sometimes, had absolutely no social graces, missed pretty much every sexual comment sent his direction, and could be as clueless as Castiel when it came to figures of speech and the random references that most people in this group made.

"I don't think it's unreasonable to want to know what the hell could get your big brother to back off." Bobby spoke up, his voice calm albeit gruff. He'd moved away from his boys and was back over by his desk. To Gabriel's surprise, he actually took one of the drinks off the tray that had been snapped up. The archangel had figured Bobby would be one who wouldn't ever trust something from him. Instead, the hunter took the glass of whiskey and sat down in his desk chair, sharp eyes watching Gabriel.

He'd held out under much sterner gazes than that, though. They weren't going to get anything out of him until he was ready. Eventually he knew he'd have to tell them what was going on and all about the prophecy but for now he wanted to just focus on one problem and not let this one get in the way. His eyes flickered briefly to Spencer, who had inched just a bit closer, and he admitted to himself that it wasn't the Winchesters he was worrying about with this. Voice calm, Gabriel said, "Let's deal with one problem at a time. The Apocalypse first. Then, I promise, I'll explain everything."

That seemed to be the breaking point for Dean. He stormed forward to better glare down at Gabriel, who was still sitting in his chair. "We deserve some damn answers!"

If he thought his intimidation was going to work, he had another thing coming. Gabriel took a drink of his cocktail and then arched one eyebrow up at Dean in a completely calm look. "And you'll get them…" He paused, taking another drink, "…after we deal with Luce."

"Gabriel," It was Spencer who spoke this time. His voice was soft, but one hand came up to brush against the wing that had unconsciously started to reach out for him. The feel of his fingers through Gabriel's feathers had him looking over towards the kid. He found Spencer watching him carefully, but openly, those big eyes of his so damn trusting on Gabriel's face. "We're not asking that you give us everything. We're just asking that you trust us enough to give us something."

Dammit. Oh, damn the kid. Between those big freaking eyes and his plea for trust, which only reminded Gabriel how much Spencer was trusting him and how he should show some in return, there was no way he could completely deny him. He huffed out a breath and mock glared at the fledgling. "Has Sammy been giving you lessons on puppy eyes?" He sighed and pressed his wing out a little more, curling it around Spencer in a half embrace that was more to soothe himself than anything else. He was going to have to give them something here, as little as he wanted to. "There's a prophecy." Gabriel said slowly, reluctantly. "One that only the Firstborn know. And it's coming up on us fast."

"What kind of prophecy?" Sam asked.

"One that trumps any pissing match my brothers wanna get into. Michael recognizes that. We're hoping Luci will, too. But if he doesn't, we need to be prepared to take him out of the picture, quickly. The sooner we get the rings, the sooner we can confront Lucifer and get this done with. So I need you to focus on finding the other Horsemen right now and when this is all over, I'll answer any questions I can. But first, we need to deal with Luci."

Before they could get any more out of him, he rose from his chair and snapped away the chair and the drinks that hadn't been taken. "Well! It's been a rather exciting day. You guys get your rest and the kiddo and I will be back in the morning." HE gave them no chance to voice any protests they wanted to say. Another snap and he and Spencer were gone, appearing once more in the living room of his island beach house.

Spencer didn't even falter anymore at the change in venue. He still stood just a little ways away from Gabriel, still watching him carefully.

There were plenty of times that Gabriel had to remind himself that Spencer might be young by angelic standards, but he wasn't by human standards. He'd lived a human life and was more intelligent than most. He had a quick mind that made amazing connections long before most humans could, and most of the time with less information than someone else would need. It was a bit of his angelic heritage that had shown through, though really, most if it was genetics. But sometimes Gabriel forgot that all of that was sitting underneath the quiet surface of the kid. Until moments like these, when Spencer watched him as if he could see straight through him and then opened his mouth and proved to Gabriel that no matter how hard he was trying to keep things hidden, he wasn't as good as he thought he was – especially with someone who could see the emotion in his wings that Gabriel could never fully suppress without hiding them completely.

"Whatever secret you're keeping – it involves me." Spencer said. It wasn't really even a question. The way that Spencer said it told Gabriel he already clearly knew the answer.

Gabriel couldn't lie to him. Especially not about this. "Yeah."

"Do I…am I…"

Everything about Gabriel softened. He knew what Spencer was asking and it made his grace ache a bit to hear the kid even attempt to voice this kind of fear. "You're nothing evil, Spencer." He said softly. "This has nothing to do with you going bad or anything like that."

The kid watched him a moment longer and then nodded. "Okay."

Surprise had Gabriel's eyebrows going up. "Okay?" That was all he had to say? Just, okay?

A hint of a smile touched Spencer's lips. He brushed his fingers lightly over the wing still around him. "I told you I'd trust you, Gabriel. That hasn't changed. You've done nothing to make me think I shouldn't. I'm trusting that you mean what you say, and that you'll explain things later."

Gabriel knew better than anyone just how big a deal that trust was. He watched his fledgling as Spencer bade him good night and then made his way upstairs to the room that had become his since the moment Gabriel first brought him here. Was the kid ever going to stop surprising him?

While Spencer went up to sleep, Gabriel stayed downstairs and prepared himself to plan. It was time to get serious on the stopping Lucifer side of things. They had Michael on their side, and his brother was going upstairs to take care of things up there and try to get Heaven to back off. That just left them Lucifer and Hell to deal with.

Somehow, Gabriel had a feeling this brother wasn't going to be as easy.

Let me know what you think :) Remember, reviews are gold, my dears. I'd love to hear what you think about this chapter and about Michael. Did you like him? Do you think he'll stay on their side? How do you think (or how do you WANT?) Lucifer's going to react?

You can find me at tumblr as thequeervet :)