Right, so, I promised not to kill Gabriel again. I swear, after this there will be more Cas/Gabe family fluff. I guess that's it. Thanks for reviewing and I don't own Supernatural. I own two cats and a sister.

Chapter Five: He's a Knockout

"Gabriel…" whispered Michael.

Slowly walking towards where his youngest brother lied unmoving, he fell heavily to his knees and ran a hand through the caramel hair. None said a word to break the oppressive silence that hung over Heaven like a plague, though many were heartbroken from the loss of this newfound light. None more so than the ones closest to the seemingly dead archangel. Namely the remaining high angels and Castiel. Michael especially seemed lost, as it had always been him to protect and nurture the other archangels. He had failed on his promise to their Father.

Lifting the limp head onto his lap, Michael ran a finger over the cheek with the sigil and cried silently. Little Gabriel, who had taken upon himself all the grief and misery their family had and turned it to joy, never thinking of the consequences to himself. Trickster Gabriel, who had killed for amusement and play but had still sacrificed himself for two of the humans he'd mistreated. Then there was the angel Gabriel, who fought fiercely with his brothers even as a part of him was falling with their beloved Star. So many things that Michael had never noticed until now that made the grief all consuming. Now, noisy sobs wracked his body as he cradled the still body to his chest.

The grace was gone, from all that anyone could feel. All that was left was a shell that would soon sink through the clouds with a blinding flash of light. Even by thinking about it, Michael's hold tightened defensively as the tearstained face of a nineteen year old boy with the eyes of an ancient being looked through the crowded angels straight at the stunned looking Winchesters. Mouth moving just a little, he whispered in a powerfully echoing voice, "Thank you. For, for bringing him home."

Rising steadily, he and Raphael walked together as close as possible for comfort, each reaching out now and then to brush the unnaturally still Gabriel's wings by way of reassurance. Suddenly, they stopped. Then the others felt it. The beautiful golden grace barely flickering as it began to build again. Michael huffed in disbelief, but still smiled widely when a soft caramel head nestled itself closer to him for warmth, shivering with the lack of grace. Allowing holy fire to dance along his arms, Michael sent a continuous trickle of grace to strengthen his brother. Amber and gold eyes opened slyly as Gabriel asked, "Didja miss me, Mikey?"

Stopping the grace, he felt for his brothers and made a shocked sound. It was building up quickly without his help and it was just now that he realized that the hole through Gabriel's chest was completely healed, without even a scar to show it had been there. Blinking, Michael let him drop and listened to the indignant wail that followed. Now looking up at him with hair from his fringe covering one eye, Gabriel laughed brightly and sang, "You know you love me, Mikey! Hey, do any of you have a Snickers bar around somewhere? I'm hungry."

Sighing heavily, Michael and Raphael did what big brothers do best. They turn around and walk away without a word, slowly shaking their heads and muttering insults under their breaths. Gabriel turned around and practically blinded them with an all-out Cheshire cat grin. A few of the angels gathered gaped and murmured, but a few who were familiar with the archangel's strange tendencies went forward to stroke his wings and scold him for nearly killing himself. Castiel managed to shove his way to the front, smacking his idiotic mentor in the back of the head. Hissing, he exclaimed, "Never, ever, do that again, Gabriel! You had us all worrying for your health. Michael cried, Brother! Cried!"

Slowly, the pouting face turned into a solemn expression. "They are going to have to learn to live without me for a while, anyways. I'm leaving with you and the knuckleheads."

Choking on air, Castiel whipped around to stare at him like he was insane. Which he was. Clinically. Still, it wasn't the point. Gabriel, Strength of God and messenger between worlds and times, was joining team freewill. Something was going to explode, all of Earth's chocolate will be eaten and the Winchesters would be sucked into alternate realities. What could he say? 'Sorry, Gabriel, but although you'll probably win us the war you are a great annoyance and threat to societies. Perhaps you could stay in Heaven and argue with Raphael?' No. Then they would have an angelic stalker after them with the power to create a chasm in the middle of heaven with one blast from a golden horn that only said stalker knew how to find.

Gabriel snorted and said, "Relax, Cassie! I won't go anywhere you don't need me or try exploding the Impala. Although, the chocolate idea might be fun to tr- fine, fine, I'm sorry. Just don't look at me like that. Sheesh. No wonder Uriel is the funniest in the garrison…"

Face-palming, Castiel wondered how in the world he grew up normal with this as his mentor. Actually, it was a wonder he grew up at all with all the times Gabriel had lost him somewhere either in Heaven or in a different time period. Let's just say, late Cretaceous? Not fun. He'd nearly gotten trampled by a Giganotosaurus. Twice. In one day. All because Gabriel found it hilarious to watch, until Michael came down and kicked him back to Heaven for a timeout. It was worth nearly dying to see that, although the elder archangel quickly regretted keeping Gabriel in the Pantheon. Who knew Heaven could be worse than hell?

One of the angels, Aziraphael, seemed to take pity on him and poked Gabriel somewhere in the stomach. To his amazement, the messenger squealed and fell fast asleep. Jaw dropping in slight shock, a human emotion that he had never felt before, Castiel asked, "How do you do that? If I knew, I could get him to stop talking. Show me?"

Smiling, his older brother replied, "It's a trick most of Gabriel's Garrison picked up in the early days. There's three spots on his stomach, one that makes him sleep and two that make him ticklish. Tariel found it when they were wrestling and it knocked him out for a good five hours. Peace and quiet unnerves us still, since we never had it before Gabriel left, but you should have seen poor Tariel's face when he didn't get up. He was frantic until Gabe started snoring! Ever since then, we poke him when we want him to stop. The best part is that he doesn't even know we do it!"

Lips twitching, Castiel thanked him and left to find Sam and Dean. Maybe having Gabriel with them won't be so bad, with a way to shut him up.

In the Pantheon with Sam and Dean…

To say that Dean Winchester was twitchy would be a lie. He was beyond that now.

No, Dean was full blown paranoid about being anywhere near Michael and Raphael. Of all the places he could have gone, this came second on the 'Get-me-out-of-here' list. The first was hell, of course. Heaven didn't exactly hold fond memories, but at least he wasn't being tortured. However, by nature Dean was a very patient guy unless Sam was in trouble. Here, with everyone he knew in danger, suffice to say he was waiting for the other shoe to drop. At the very least, waiting for Michael to make his move. Surprisingly, they were left pretty much alone. That also meant his paranoia grew.

When Castiel arrived with the flapping of wings, Dean had a gun to his head before Sam could even blink. Eyeing him cautiously, the fallen angel slowly put up a hand and forced the barrel away from his face. "I know you are uncomfortable here, Dean. We will be leaving shortly. Until then, I suggest putting away the gun so none of my siblings get the wrong idea. Also, Gabriel wishes to come back with us."

The last part was said so nonchalantly it was as if the angel had just asked him to pass the ketchup. Putting the gun back in it's holster, he snarled, "No. No fucking way is that creep coming anywhere close to me and Sam. Cas, you know what he did, so why are you still asking? Look, I know he's been through some pretty tough shit but that does not equal instant sympathy!"

"I'm not asking for your sympathy, Dean. He wishes to help and he wasn't even smiling when he said it. Gabriel was being serious and that has only happened a grand total of three times since I became his fledgling. He saw something when he was surrounded by the golden light that made him ask. So I ask of you, if I can keep him controlled, would you let him join us?"

Wavering slightly, one look at both Sam and Castiel's puppy eyes sent him over the brink. "Fine, I'll let him follow us. But I swear, if he makes just one innuendo, so help me God I'll-"

"Chop my balls off with a rusty spoon? Ruin my perfect features by repeatedly bashing my head against the Impala? Dean-o, we all know that you wouldn't do that to the old girl! As for my face, Cassie always did say I have a hard head. Let's prove it!" purred the freshly awake archangel.

Sighing softly, Castiel reached for his brother's stomach.

Awww, poor Gabriel got knocked out by his own garrison…repeatedly. There is a reason for putting the whole 'knock-out' point in the story, but you'll just have to wait and see!