Hello, m'dears! I am currently holed up inside to escape a cold breeze and thought, why not write another chapter? The last one had Gabriel telling the Winchester boys to look up his name so there's that, as well as a few stories from his past. Enjoy!
Chapter Twenty: The Village Idiot
Fresh air.
After an incident with a coffee machine on it's last legs he'd been told to get some. However, it was highly debatable as to whether or not the air was fresh. Considering it was blowing long golden hair straight up his left nostril and bringing with it the delicious scent of tar and decay, Gabriel was honestly considering a trip to Antarctica. At least there the smell doesn't carry. Plus, he loved those fluffy little penguins that always seemed to want to cuddle with him. They were extremely clumsy though. A few just fell over an-…oh. Face falling, Gabriel slumped over with a pout as Raphael laughed hysterically at his completely obvious revelation that really should have been made years ago. If something falls over and doesn't get back up then it's dead. Or having some sort of seizure. Either one is plausible. Lucifer's quiet chuckles warmed his heart since the Morning Star didn't laugh very often, if ever. Michael laughed once every Messiah. Don't even get him started on Castiel…
Actually, he had never seen the kid laugh.
Well, that's depressing, thought Gabriel as he frowned speculatively at a beetle doing it's damndest to crawl up his pants. He hoped it wouldn't, as the thing had very sharp-looking pincers that would be very painful in a number of places. An idea suddenly came to him. After all, Sam had been sacked pretty awesomely in the Japanese game show he'd dumped them in during TV land. Why not give Dean a little love nip? Pausing, he thought over the repercussions of that last one and shuddered. Gabriel may be a very open minded angel who had, on occasion, tried a few new things, but Dean Winchester? Oh God. Even if some day he managed to get drunk off his ass, Gabriel would much rather it be a complete stranger than a guy he had basically sworn to live with in relative harmony. At least then he could make a clean get-a-way.
Abruptly deciding against using the beetle for his own cause and realizing fresh air was hard to come by, not to mention the newspaper he'd just gotten in the face, Gabriel retreated to the less than safe indoors. Nobody shot him in the balls yet so there was a miracle in there somewhere. Absently wandering through the dusty halls in search of an idiot to annoy, he came upon a curious sight. Three men and an angel all gathered around a tiny book that he could imagine had even tinier writing. All of them had their heads tilted at the same angle and Bobby was muttering, "I can't see a goddamn thing…"
Walking over to them and shoving reading glasses onto the old man's face, Gabriel laughed when he saw just what they were all looking at. Said laughter died when he saw the so called picture of him on the next page. Holy shit! What is that? It wasn't a man or a woman so apparently, he was portrayed as a hermaphrodite judging by the facial features. If it was a woman, Gabriel was going back in time and shoving someone's head so far up his ass he'd swear he was in China. Then again, if it was a man the guy was one hell of a failure. The features were soft and feminine but there wasn't a breast in sight. Taking the book and turning the page, he snorted when he saw the cherubs in diapers. Oh, if only. Currently in heaven there were hundreds of butt-naked little angels roaming free and in the wild. Apparently, the rest of the heavenly host wore togas. Although what Michael was wearing looked infinitely more like a dress than a bed sheet.
That one got a laugh from Lucifer. At least until he saw the horns. It was one time! You dared me to paint myself red for a Pagan feast father was making us go to. Then Coyote showed up and gave me a Ram's horns!
…then how do you explain the tail?
No comment. Out of all of them the only one who didn't look like a total tool was Ariella. She was quite pleased with herself. Bobby snatched it back and flipped to the part about archangels in the index before discovering Gabriel wasn't in there. Sighing, he told them, "Look for Jibrail. They always change my name in these things. Of course, the others have the exact same spelling. Michael, Luci and Raph never get confused but no. The one time somebody calls for me on earth they summon some asshole with an close resemblance to my name. Jibrail isn't even a messenger so they probably would have been better off asking for Castiel but they always call for the archangels. Not to mention-"
"Brother, I believe we get the general idea," Castiel murmured dryly. Not even a smile.
"Really? I'm glad. Maybe you can explain to me why I look like a girl in most of them damn paintings. I mean, come on! The whole Jesus thing, I was in the body of a male teenager. The stables? Male child. Heck, Moses parting the waters I was right beside him in the vessel of an old slave guy! Again, male. Helping Metatron and Dad press the symbol into Cain's forehead, while extremely painful to watch and gory as hell, was done as a man. So why do you people constantly make me a woman?" Gabriel complained. Seeing the intrigued look on Bobby's face made him groan. "I'm going to regret bringing this up aren't I?"
He did. Bobby promptly asked, "What did the sign look like?"
"Like none of your business. Seriously, only three angels know what the thing looks like and two of them are me and Metatron. If God meant for men to be able to kill everyone who so much as gave them a paper cut he would have made you all sociopaths. Let me tell you, when Cain got married? There was no getting rough with his wife. He married at least twelve before he decided to become a eunuch. We all winced at that one. If Cain's mark became public to even you hunters, I would have hell to pay. Literally. As in, I would go to Purgatory and drag all of you down with me for all of eternity or until Metatron decided to rip the mark off. Which would kill you. So, any questions?"
Sam piped up, "Why were you beside Moses when he was parting the red sea?"
He was kidding. He had to be kidding. Castiel looked as though he were about to bash his head against the wall but the other two were looking damn intent. Gaping at them incredulously, Gabriel's mouth did an amazing impression of the first fish to walk the earth as he sputtered in soundless disbelief. Had they really not noticed? Especially Dean since he'd used hydro kinesis on him more than once. After the dream of Pestilence or even during Sammy's little freak-out, he'd threatened them and even slammed Dean into a wall to get some space. Shit. Just, shit. Looking at Castiel, he gestured between the three of them and squeaked helplessly. He got the hint.
"Gabriel is the archangel representing water. He created the oceans and lakes during the creation of this planet as well as supplying many species of creatures. The role he played in human creation is important as well, since your bodies are over half water. God didn't want one man to have so much power so he sent Gabriel to take the form of an elderly slave and part the waters for Moses. Of course, dropping it on the Egyptian king's army was just to show up Michael and Raphael after the blood and fire. Father didn't approve but he couldn't exactly fault him without also disciplining half of the Legion, as they helped with the killing."
They didn't exactly look like they believed it so Gabriel promptly dredged up a lake in Bobby's back yard and happily filled it with platypuses and piranhas that didn't eat each other. Pointing calmly outside the window and waiting for them to get up, he also added a dolphin to the mix just because they always looked so happy. Their ancestors? Absolutely terrifying. Looked somewhat like a cross between a whale and a crocodile with a hint of tuna. It was a prototype. It nearly ate him. Therefore, they were no longer prototypes and became nonexistent. Gabriel couldn't even imagine how that would of evolved. Would it grow bigger than a blue whale? Or would it shrink down to the size of a sardine and eat through the hulls of ships? Anywho, as soon as they were looking the dolphin did a flip and sang happily so that was enough for him.
Of course, the others had to show off too so now there was a veritable Amazon growing around his lake from Ariella as well as a wall of fire from Michael, a mini tornado from Raphael and a field of ice roses from Lucifer. When asked who made them he just said it was Metatron. It was okay, since evidently he wasn't in the tiny book with even tinier writing. Someone had torn out the page about him though so now he had to tell his life story and all the accomplishments. Basically, it was like a résumé with infinitely more details since he's been around since before the earth and universe began. There weren't many highlights, though. The first thing he'd done as a messenger was fly through a syren-infested swamp to deliver the idea of fire to a caveman eating nutritious bugs off of his mate's chest hair. Needless to say, Raphael had given him therapy for a year or two.
There's a reason women don't have chest hair.
Shuddering slightly at the mental image and resulting shrieks from several members of the garrison, also earning him a rebuke from Raphael, he pushed past the memory of his first message. It was scarring enough the first time. The chuckleheads and Bobby were now outside in their new oasis and the ever sensitive Samantha decided to pick an ice rose to give it a whiff. Of course, that was a terrible idea. Before he could shout at the idiot there was a massive thorn growing through his hand and Michael was bitching to Lucifer about having dangerous objects around children. The dangerous eventually became deadly as Sam just stared at the thing as severe frostbite spread from the wound like poison. Nice one, Luci. Give the curious idiot a poisonous plant to play with.
This wasn't my idea, so don't blame me. Ariella wanted ice roses to go with her jungle.
Don't you dare blame this on me, you ass! I didn't TELL you to make them frostburn anyone who got tangled in the thorns.
Gabriel, why weren't you keeping a closer eye on the humans? You know they don't have a survival instinct or common sense to guide their thoughts and actions. I'm leaving you to deal with this.
Ah, Michael. He just had to butt in there somewhere. Snorting dryly, Gabriel flew quickly through the veritable deathtrap of absolute randomness and simply watched as the idiots panicked. Leaning against the normal wall, he hummed a tune as he waited patiently for his moment. This would also bring many exclamations and guns pointed his way but as long as there was no holy oil, screw them. He wasn't moving until Sam was good and dead. Which ended up being a long time in coming. Castiel poured his grace into healing the wound until he gave out completely while Dean held his convulsing brother to his chest in a moment reminiscent of the warehouse. It was pretty fucking adorable. Castiel finally noticed him and pulled him over to the young Winchester, who now had black ice running through his veins about three inches away from his heart. Rolling his eyes to the heavens, Gabriel started to whistle Dixie as he waited for another ten minutes for the ice to reach Gigantor's ticker.
It took over three hours for him to die.
By this time Dean had a gun pointed at his head and kept whispering, 'you son of a bitch' while Castiel stared at him in betrayal. Bobby was sitting somberly near the lake. That last one made him raise his eyebrow, until he realized the old man was pushing his almost-son into the waters. Dean watched with the gun still pointed squarely at Gabriel. Castiel also decided to press his own archangel blade against his throat with a mildly shaking hand. He was hurt. What, did they think he wanted Sam to die? The last guy he tried to heal turned into a turkey and since he was pretty sure Dean didn't want his brother as Thanksgiving dinner, Gabriel figured he'd wait a while. Sighing, he teleported over to Bobby before he could put the kid in the lake and…great. There were the piranhas. The three of them watched in horror as Sam was quickly stripped of flesh by thousands of sharp teeth. Even Michael winced a little. He just pinched his forehead and drawled, "You just had to make this harder, didn't you?"
The weapons were pointed at him yet again but now he jut pushed them aside. Walking into the water and mentally telling his piranhas to back off, he gathered what was left of the deceased Sam Winchester and teleported them to shore before going there himself. Muttering all the while, Gabriel all put pulled grace from his body and began to form it into Enochian sigils that even Castiel didn't know. Placing them on and around Sam's body, he glared at them as he slowly sank beneath the ground. It was like an elevator that went about an inch a minute but at least he didn't have far to go. Sam's soul was trying to reach Heaven while being dragged by the ice into Hell. Grabbing hold of one arm and heaving, Gabriel took the soul in the centre of his chest near his vessel's heart. It was bloody painful!
Muttering louder as the elevator rose to the top, he promptly ignored the humans and said to Castiel, "Your boys are idiots, you know that? Singer isn't much better. Who the hell do you think Michael dredged the power from to reach Dean in Hell? He was going for God but reached me instead. Now I have to piece together a body, mend the original damage all while having Sam's soul imbedded in my vessel. I hope you're happy."
He was. For a guy that didn't show much emotion other than deadpan, he looked pretty damn excited. The idjit duo finally gained comprehension on the subject after the reference to Hell. To make matters worse, angels bound to earth suddenly decided to drop by for a favor. Tiphiel brought a woman he'd been courting who'd been killed by demons, Haliel brought three children who'd seen his true form and Ariel decided she was going to make him resurrect twenty abused teenagers for her to mother. After at least a dozen trips Gabriel's vessel was getting crowded and the strain was agony. When Crowley showed up asking for a favor, Gabriel instantly gave him the finger and banished him to the middle of the arctic ocean. He was already trembling like a drug addict because of the sheer number of souls he was carrying. Walking stiffly into the centre of all the bodies and glaring at Ariel, he snapped, "I swear to Father, if you bring just one more dead baby I'll-
Get on with it, Gabriel.
And Michael joins the party. Moaning at the intrusion, he hissed, "Fine, then. Let me just pull another archangel out of my ass so I can fricking resurrect about thirty people at the same fucking time. I wonder how long it'll take to turn me inside-out?"
The flood of grace was immediate. Gabriel didn't know whether to be grateful to his brothers(and sister)for their extra power or cry because they didn't remember the first time he did this. Stupid Lazarus. His grace took years to recover from it, not to mention the pain. Taking a deep breath, he let the souls tear themselves free of his vessel, all the while biting back a scream. Ariella caressed his grace soothingly while, unfortunately, both Michael and Raphael recoiled. The result was blood pouring from his eyes as the power drain became too much. Dean was squinting in the golden glow of his sheer power, even though his eyes were shut. The Enochian sigils he had placed near he bodies quivered and faded against their skin while drifting towards the heart, carrying the souls with them. Sam jackknifed up with a gasp as he started hyperventilating which, unintentionally, made a rhythm with Gabriel's heavy breathing. Before she left with her brood, Ariella carried him to the couch and let him face-plant onto the cushions. Mentally giving his brothers the finger, Gabriel just breathed.
The rejoicing Winchester brothers ignored him completely when they practically ripped the door down in Dean's haste to check his idiot over for injuries. The owner of the fine establishment thoughtfully dropped ice water over his head and shrugged when he didn't move while Castiel was still angry at him, therefore completely ignoring his existence. At least until the pain set in. The pillows muffled his screams as his body started to twitch spastically in response to the lack of souls powering his true form, like an addict in withdrawal. After five minutes of this, little brother thoughtfully flew him up into one of the bedrooms while staring at him as if he were a bug under a microscope. Ariella did one more favor to the world and muted the sounds coming from the room so he could finally scream.
Castiel started rushing around like a chicken with it's head cut off while Raphael was shrieking instructions in their heads until the fledgling finally listened. Gabriel was pushed onto his stomach so he could release his six straining wings. While the overprotective brothers soothed the edges of his shattered grace, the overprotective little brother ran his fingers through golden wings. The feathers were dull with the occasional burst of brilliant light as Michael, Lucifer and Raphael worked seamlessly to repair what was left of the core of his power. By the time Sam and Dean remembered who he was Gabriel had managed to fall into a light doze…that was promptly broken when all three of the blights in his life came in with beer and even more questions. The urge to scream again just for the hell of it brought more scolding from Michael, though gentler, and Lucifer's promise to come up with good revenge for his baby brother.
Sam looked close to overjoyed when he saw Gabriel's wings and was surprisingly gentle when he took one of them. Actually, they all took one though Sam was more careful about it. He was pretty sure the elder Winchester just liked causing him pain. Bobby was indifferent though he clearly still wanted to pluck him and use the feathers to make pillows. All in all, it could have been worse but at least there were no villagers trying to drain him of blood and dance around with his severed wings in pieces right in the centre of a fire. For God-fearing people, they sure as hell hadn't been very fearful of the archangel they'd just pulled from Heaven. The pain was slightly similar to it and other than that much more pleasant, since two out of four people holding his wings weren't attempting to tear them to shreds with nothing but fingernails.
The newly resurrected Winchester was acting pretty shy and Gabriel hoped to God he wasn't about to pronounce his undying love for him. He may be less annoyed by Sam than his idiot older brother and it was possible he actually liked the guy, it still didn't mean he wanted to get that close to him. So it was a slight relief when he asked, "How did you do that, Gabriel? All I remember is freezing from the inside and suddenly, it's like being dumped in a vat of warm water without drowning. I thought only God could give the power of resurrection."
Well, he didn't have to describe it since Gabriel had kinda been there too. Obviously. Giving them a deadpan look he said, "Exactly."
He actually looked like he believed it for a second. Then he grinned and lightly smacked him on the back of the head in a very Gibbs-like manner that also reminded him of when Lucifer cuffed him on the ears. As a result, he didn't smite the kid and instead explained, "I'm the angel of resurrection. That's my job and the last time I was contacted by God, it was him telling me to let Castiel dredge up thing 1 over there from his new employment in the pit. So I channeled grace to him every time I thought he was going to get stuck between Heaven and Hell then physically went there to help push him to the surface. Of course, after I fell with Mikey and Luci God brought back Cas then channeled power through him to bring back Bobby so there was no strain on me. Therefore, I could shield Sam-I-Am from the worst of it until Lucifer decided to get back at me for shoving them both in for around ten years. Sorry about that, by the way."
This was beginning to turn into a show and tell. First with the water and then with the bringing-an-idiot-back-from-six-feet-under. It was extremely sad that they didn't know what the archangels represented since it was practically screamed in Sunday school. Gabriel was mercy, messenger, strength and justice. Raphael was healer and wind while Michael was champion, fire and the eldest. Lucifer of course was ice, while Ariella was earth, a protector for everything and everyone as well as a connector between land and sky. She also had a thing for protecting Sam Winchester but was currently keeping Adam safe and hidden from anyone searching to destroy Michael's other vessel. Somewhere in Kentucky, or at least surrounded by corn.
Breaking from his thoughts, he blinked up at Castiel as the fledgling requested the story of Jesus. Gabriel smacked his head repeatedly off the headboard on the bed and moaned at the memory of Mary Magdalene. God, the woman had been an absolute horror. She may have been chosen by God to bear his child but it was only because she was old enough and still a virgin. He really didn't want to remember their first meeting. Of course, he then made the mistake of looking into Castiel's expectant puppy dog eyes and suddenly he had the urge to tell the story before said eyes started to tear up. He would know. He had taught that trick to every fledgling in Heaven. Snorting nervously, he grinned. "Aren't you a little old for stories, Cassie? I told this one to you at least a million times before I left Heaven. You should have memorized it by now."
He was adamant. Shit. "Alright. So around two thousand years ago the last Messiah was born. Consequently, it was the last time I ever heard Mike laugh. Moving on. So God called me from wherever he went because he wanted me to find some woman named Mary Magdalene to give birth to his child. I had no idea why or how since God having sex with, well, anyone was pretty much a taboo anywhere. You wouldn't believe the grief I got for that one… I collected a piece of his grace, found Mary and was scared to death for the first time in a millennia or more. The woman had the mouth of a sailor and the skills of a car salesman. See, she wasn't exactly a beautiful woman after a little problem with pox when she was little so that was the main reason she was still a virgin. Therefore, I had to get her a husband before I could get the bitch pregnant. Problem was that the guy she wanted was way above her station and there was no way he would have her. But, there was one guy who thought she was one of the most beautiful things he'd ever seen. The poor sucker was Joseph, which was pretty much a given.
After gently pointing out that there was no way in hell the king's son was going to fall in love with her, she ran off crying and I learned that Joseph had an even worse mouth than she did. He could also speak in three languages so there was some ingenuity in there. He went after her and, BAM! Love at first sight. Then I went back for what felt like the thousandth time to ask her to bear the child of God. Until Joseph explained that Mary was partially deaf so she couldn't hear me when I asked her to get pregnant. I didn't get very far with that one. Eventually, I just healed her completely and fortunately didn't turn her into a piece of poultry like that guy in Egypt years later. It also proved I was an archangel since nobody had believed me from the start. Now Mary was beautiful and able to hear fully and I realized I'd been played for a sucker. She'd gotten exactly what she wanted in the first place. In the end all it took was three years and the promise to be there for the birth of the child so no bandits could kill her or something. Mary was a paranoid broad.
I agreed and then I could finally get out of that hellhole before some rapist took a liking to the pretty boy hanging around town. It was at that point that Raphael became all but deranged after an incident that nearly killed Michael and we finally realized that there were no new fledglings being created. The archangels had the ability to create them but there was no way in hell we trusted each other enough to summon the grace to do it. Seriously, collapsing after making a mini you in front of people who may kill you in your sleep brings out the paranoia like you wouldn't believe. We decided after much arguing that the baby would probably make a good angel when he died so agreed that no matter what he was going to Heaven. That took a full eight months to deal with and then the very pregnant Mary decided she was going to visit her parents very, very late into the night. Joseph was a patsy and couldn't deny her anything so off they went. I had to follow them since God casually informed me from very far away that she was going to give birth halfway through the long trip. I got a nice tan from it, though.
As it turns out Mary mellowed with the whole birth of a Messiah thing so she didn't scream curses at me the whole way to Nazareth. It was actually creepy how often she smiled but at least she was happy. They both were. Until the labor pains started. Women are scary when they get like that, you know. She demanded I make room for them in the inn until I reminded her that I wasn't God and that was exactly what it would take to get someone out in the storm that blew in three hours before. There was a leaky old stable, though, so I had to lie on the roof and spread all six wings after God requested that I keep them dry. There was also a horse that needed convincing to give up it's blanket for the little thing after it was born. My job was finally over so I took the horn and played a song in relief. For reasons unknown, three more messengers decided it was the perfect time to see what I'd been doing for the past four years and joined in. The combined grace made it look like a star since I'd pretty much wasted my vessel and had abandoned it in an alleyway somewhere. Don't worry, he was fine.
Ariella decided to greet the child with an animal symphony that nearly drowned us out and God, for some inexplicable reason, wanted everyone to meet the squirt. Therefore the kings, Sheppards and whoever else. The sad thing is, the kings brought him stuff for when he died, which pissed off Mary to no end. It also made me laugh my ass off which didn't exactly help matters. After that, I left and was extremely happy when Jesus screwed over Heaven with the whole coming back thing. It was like a little piece of me ended up in there. So, that's the story."
Castiel looked like a kicked puppy. "That's not the story you told me. What happened to Joseph saving her from demons or the little boy who played the drums?"
Shit. The fledgling had been too young for the real thing since the majority of it had swear words out the wazoo, so Gabriel had turned it into a fledgling tale. Nowhere close to the real thing. At least now he knew where the Little Drummer Boy song came in. He had dug himself into this hole and now he was going to have to get himself out. Either that or someone's going to come along and dump even more crap on his head. Like Dean, who abruptly decided he wanted to tighten his grip on the wing he was holding while holding back laughter. Grunting irritably, Gabriel attempted, "Well, I may have taken a few liberties with the story but if I just told you I stalked them for four years you would have fallen asleep."
"It was a bedtime story, Gabriel. I would have fallen asleep anyways."
Sam interrupted. "I thought angels didn't sleep."
Ah, great. "Okay, it's one in the morning so I'll make this quick. Fledglings up to the age of three thousand years old need naps and sleep regularly. Castiel is just passed the age where he doesn't need sleep anymore period. That's it, that's all now go the fuck to sleep."
"Alright, what about the resurrection? Did you do that?" Sam asked curiously, unaware that a very sore and cranky archangel was very close to choking him with his own blood. Unfortunately it would defeat the purpose of bringing him back after Lucifer killed him so Gabriel would have to endure. Not to mention how pissed Michael and Ariella would be with him. In the end, he just sighed and listened to baby Winchester babble on about the importance of learning the truth on religion as it could settle many disputes between factions. How they would site their sources, Gabriel had to idea. An angel told me so isn't exactly accepted on Wikipedia. Sam eventually realized he was being ignored and Castiel gave him puppy eyes again to make him reconsider. "Okay. Fine. Swear to God this is the last one."
"So, yeah, I left Heaven like a demon out of Hell but decided to keep an eye on my half brother. He grew up and it was creepy, too, because he never cried when he was supposed to. Mary was a shockingly good mother and I think she only swore a grand total of two times during the kids' stint as Messiah. They lived in Nazareth in a cozy little place and left sometimes to go traveling. Blah, blah, blah. Point is, the guy had a good childhood until he got stapled to a cross and became a human thorn bush. Seriously though, Jesus was a good guy. I met him a few times when he was living, like, actually met him and not stalking him from afar. I watched him heal blind men, give food to poor people, the works. World's first humanitarian. When he died a lot of belief in God and angels went with him since many people believed we had let it happen. In truth, even I didn't know he would die. However, because of the way he went Jesus went all ghosty on us and refused to leave.
Me and a bunch of other angels who left Heaven thought, why not piss in Mikey's wheat germ one last time? and we helped him out. We gave him enough grace to maintain form while going around to the apostles and helping the lost get their faith back. It got tiring after a while and eventually, Jesus agreed to go to Eden. He was a little ticked off about the whole war in Heaven thing and how it would affect humans when Luci broke his cage and it worried him. I helped write the bible and put all of the signs of the apocalypse into it. The damn thing probably weighed more than a sheep, too. So Jesus went to Eden and agreed to take Joshua's place as it's caretaker for as long as he needed a break. The end."
Sam didn't exactly look satisfied but did Gabriel care? No. Not in the slightest. Jesus was a good guy and deserved to be remembered, yeah, but by people who actually new him like John. Yes, they had met a few times and technically he was the one who got Mary preggo, but he didn't really know him. Chances are that he could have but he knew God was keeping a close eye on his son and, well, it hurt. Gabriel had been abandoned outside Heaven's golden gates with nobody around but the deer and trees. It had taken centuries to find himself and he'd been nameless until his Father, nearly hysterical in his sobbing, named him the Strength of God. Meanwhile, there was a child on earth being watched and crooned over for just being himself when Gabriel had all but died to get his brothers to see him. Bitterness doesn't begin to cover it.
Castiel must have seen the darkness lurking behind his eyes because he took the boys and after giving him a slight smile, left him alone. Then Lucifer was there, stroking his golden hair to try banishing the old memories still haunting him. Ariella flowed into the room with a ready influx of support on the tip of her tongue while Michael and Raphael fussed endlessly over the state of his wings. Apparently, Dean had been rubbing the feathers backwards. There was guilt and grief in their eyes for what had been done to his childhood, until Lucifer whispered in his ear, "You were still a spoiled child, Gabe."
That started a whole new war. At least this one used pillows.