Title: reach then, and freely taste
Disclaimer: not my characters; title from Milton
Warnings: spoilers for season 5; AU
Pairings: none
Rating: PG
Wordcount: 190
Point of view: third
Prompt: Gabriel + Castiel, Gabriel joins Team Free Will and Castiel thanks him
They will still most likely fail. Their numbers are saddeningly few, with only a crippled old man, a borderline drunk, a recovering demon-blood addict, and an angel whose divine grace fades by the day among them.
Castiel has faith, though. He must. He has turned his belief from God, missing without desire to be found, to the Winchesters. They are a force to be reckoned with. And they are good men. More will come, when they sound the call.
And Gabriel is smirking at him, Hershey bar in hand. Gabriel had been one of the strongest angels, God's Messenger. Gabriel had seen God's face. Gabriel had spoken to God.
"Hey, lil'brother," Gabriel says. "What's shakin'?"
Castiel meets his eyes. "Thank you for coming to aid us."
Gabriel smiles, and it is a gentle smile, tired and worn, warm as a sunlit breeze. "I've become fond of this world, and the life that inhabits it," he says, shrugging. His gaze tracks the brothers as they walk in, and his smile shifts to a smirk.
Yes, Castiel thinks, they will still most likely fail. But they might also succeed, and he has faith.