After Dean had caught his breath and it was understood that yes, Cheryl and Gabriel can indeed, switch back and forth, ground rules had to be established between the two of them, which meant an entire conversation held by one body.

"So, you're going to help me with my homework right?"

"Why in Dad's name should I?"

"Because you're using my body!"

"You said I could!"

"By the way, you're not allowed to show up in the shower."

"I think I have more respect than that... ok, fine."

"Excuse me, but I believe we have more important things to discuss," Sam interjected, looking incredulously at Cheryl/Gabriel. "We need your help, actually."

Gabriel stood tall and that familiar grin flitted across his face. He snapped and a cherry blow pop was called into existence. "What can I do you for, Sammy?"

Sam briefly outlined the situation to Gabriel, how Azrael was essentially working for Raphael on false pretenses and they needed Cas and Gabe to talk her out of a tenth plague encore. Gabriel looked as though he were considering it for a minute, then snapped his fingers and disappeared in a flutter of invisible wings.

It took Castiel only one look at his elder brother in his new vessel to understand what had transpired. With new courage and a plan that Castiel wasn't sure would work, the brothers appeared at the Impala's side and picked Dean, Sam and I up and with a strange tug on my midsection, we were all transported into a fully stocked bar devoid of people. (To encourage her to take our side, Gabriel said with a grin) He set up the summoning altar, lit a flame and chanted the Enochian spell in a harsh voice. As the last echos of the summoning spell faded they all started looking around, expecting at any moment to be attacked by a pissed off Archangel of Death. Nothing happened. Everyone began to relax, slowly, cautiously.

"So, you called. I would suggest you make it quick. Believe it or not, I do have things to be doing." She looked nothing like any angel the brothers had seen, and she looked about as deadly as a teddy bear. She was on the small side, only standing about 5'3". Short, ragged cut red hair swept across her eyes, cheekbones, the layers ending at her jaw. The red was a bright contrast when compared to her porcelain white skin, and emerald green eyes that practically glowed. Her face was delicate, almost elf-like, with almond-shaped eyes and high cheekbones. Oddly, a pair of wire rimmed glasses set on her nose, almost giving her the look of some Irish librarian. She unfolded herself gracefully from the booth she had been sitting in, a black, mid-thigh length tunic falling around her body in neat folds. She picked up the small glass she had sitting in front of her, sipping at it delicately, eyeing the group in front of her over the rim. "So... let's see... humans, and two angels. Interesting group set-up. But hey, whatever works for you. I'm more of a solo flier myself. Not a great companion or something." She blinked, and when her eyes opened, rather than the green that was there before, there were solid black eyes gazing at them. It was only when she walked closer that they realized her eyes weren't completely black. There were stars in her eyes. Stars like a midnight sky on a new moon. Bright, hopeful spots surrounded by cold darkness. She ran those eyes slowly over the brothers, and myself. Seemingly satisfied, she turned her eyes to the two angels. Castiel got a surprisingly thorough checking out, and there was a slight flash of emotion in her eyes before she looked over to Cheryl. The stare leveled at Cheryl could have frozen lava.

"I can tell who Thursday is over there, despite being dressed as some holy tax accountant," she said, gesturing with her head at Castiel, "but you... you seem a bit harder to track down. Do I know you?"

"Well, I should hope so, sister dear. It would be a huge blow to my pride if you forgot your favorite brother so soon."

There was a brief moment of shock in the Archangel's starry eyes, and then rage, pure and unadulterated, flared in them. "Bad idea. I don't know who you are, but no way in my Father's good Heaven are you Gabriel. I watched Gabriel's soul scatter to the four corners of the universe and I couldn't do anything to stop it. I can't find a single piece of it. And you decide to summon me, the Archangel of Death, to play a suicidal prank on? Bad idea. I'm not just going to kill you, I'm going to erase you from the entirety of Creation. Shame. Do not pass go... go straight to Jail." The power building in the room was starting to make the hair on everyone's arms stand up.

"Gabriel... do something..." Dean said, inching slowly away from the obviously pissed angel.

"Oh, do not worry, Dean Winchester. I have a bone to pick with you as well. You're the reason two of my brothers now reside in a small prison rather than one being dead and me at least having SOME of my family left alive."

"Azrael, relax. I am your family. I'm Gabriel. You still have me." Azrael's head snapped around, cold eyes fixating on Cheryl. "You push me too far, whoever you are. Enough." Her hand snapped out, and Cheryl was slammed against the wall. Castiel's blade was already in his hand as he charged. "Castiel no!" Gabriel shouted. With an almost deadly grace, Azrael spun away from Castiel's attacking, brushing his forehead with two fingers as she slid past. Castiel dropped, snoring. "Don't bring a knife to a gunfight, Thursday," she said with a shake of her head. Those cold, starry eyes turned on the humans of the group, specifically Dean. She only advanced one step though. Confusion flickered across her features as she obviously tried to move, but didn't succeed. "Elo -" The first words of a spell, and then she couldn't open her mouth- duct tape had mysteriously appeared over it. She struggled against whatever was holding her. What was holding her walked in front of her, Gabriel, in Cheryl's body, eyes blazing with Grace. "Azrael, stop this foolishness." Starry eyes met eyes glowing with Grace, and obviously some agreement was met. Azrael blinked, and her eyes were back to emerald. The Grace disappeared from Gabriel's gaze and with a snap from his fingers, the duct tape was gone from Azrael's mouth.

"Impossible. He killed you. I saw it... felt it. Then I couldn't find you. Any of you. I was going to put you back together, even if it took centuries, but I couldn't find you. Who brought you back?" There was sadness in Azrael's voice, and now that it wasn't colored with the tones of rage, it was surprisingly pretty, like honey almost. "We figured you would know. Your Uncle maybe?" "No. Death left here as soon as Lucifer's binding on him was broken. He takes no interest in Heavenly matters. He would not have brought you back... That only leaves..." "Father." Both Azrael and Gabriel snapped their gaze to Castiel, who was slowing standing up, rubbing his head. "My apologies, brother." Azrael said, nodding at Castiel, an odd look in her eyes. "But yes... that only leaves Father."

"Let me just get to the point. These are the Winchester brothers. The vessel I am inhabiting is this human's friend. We have come to bring you truth." He took a deep breath. "Raphael is a lying dickbag and you can't keep killing all these people! He's just trying to use you in his efforts to destroy everything in this War! " Gabriel's voice rose and Castiel turned to them and tilted his head at his brother's choice of words. Azrael smirked. "Guess it really is you. I don't believe I know any other angel that would use that exact expression." Her face froze as the exact meaning of the words sank in, then all Hell broke loose. Rage filled her eyes and her wings burst from her back in a whirlwind of feathers. "What do you mean Raphael lied? He said Father had specific instructions for me."

"Yeah... that was complete bullshit."

All at once, the air was sucked out of the building and the walls felt like they were collapsing. Air flooded back in but was now saturated with the hot smell of burning ozone. I collapsed, clawing red streaks into my throat, the immense pressure she was emitting strangling and burning my lungs. To my sides, Dean and Sam seemed to be having the same trouble. Cas had backed off, his eyes wild and panic written all over his face. Only Gabriel seemed unaffected, his arms crossed as he stood in the middle of the room.

"Okay, that's enough. Sit down and I'll pour you a drink."

"Fuck you too. Make it a Jaegerbaum..." A slight whooshing, and the three pairs of wings disappeared. The smell of ozone slowly faded, and she looked over at the three struggling humans. "I think I might have broken them," she spoke calmly. She snapped and I sat up in a rush, the blood finally returning to my extremities and the fresh air filling my lungs. Beside me, Sam groaned as he sat up.

"God damn it!" Dean yelled from his prone position as he rubbed his chest. Three striking pairs of angel eyes stared him down in utter silence. Dean finally looked up and blushed crimson as he realized his mistake. "Sorry, guys.."

The angels were smashed. An endless parade of drinks, fruity and otherwise had been flowing from the taps for hours like mana from Heaven. Gabriel let out a shrill giggle. "Why do the black jelly beans taste like ASS?" He picked through the massive pile of candy that covered the countertop.

"Why don't... Why don't you jus' change the colors? Then they aren't black an' they won' taste sobad." Azrael slurred from her spot on the floor.

Castiel's tie was wrapped around his head, his shirt unbuttoned and his trench coat on inside out. He seemed to be completely fascinated by the stool next to the one he was so precariously perched on. "I.. couldn't find Him." Cas whined. "I couldn't find Father. Even Dean's amulet didn't work. I failed and I'll... I'll fail again!" He said, hiccuping and raising one hand up in a salute to depression.

"Shut up, you little bitch," Azrael and Gabriel said simultaneously. Azrael looked at Gabriel and giggled. "It's like we're twins! Sep-a-rated at birth!" She sat up, a small groan escaping her lips and another when she sloshed the rest of her drink all over her shoes. "Ok. Ok. I think.. I think we've all had enough."

Gabriel turned to his sister. "So... you won't decimate the planet in revenge?"

"Naw," she waved her hand at him. "I like these humans. I'm sorry." She turned and yelled to me, Dean and Sam where we sat in the corner playing cards. "I'M SORRY GUYS! MY BAD!"

"Gabriel," she turned back to him. "Where's your body? That little redheadish vessel you used for however many millennia you went AWOL?"

Gabriel let his head slump to the bar, soaking Cheryl's curly black hair in tequila. "I dunno. I was kind of hoping you could get me a new body. I've got to give this one back eventually. She's still in school. And her friends are weird."

She muttered something that vaguely sounded like 'hypocrite'. "What?" Gabriel asked. "I said I'll fix it." Azrael said. "Definitely did not say hypocrite. Definitely."

"Jerk." Gabriel said.

"Bitch." replied Azrael.

The Winchester brothers looked at the two angels with odd looks, looked at each other, back at the angels, shrugged, and went back to the game. "This is why we lost, Sammy... our angels are a bunch of alcoholics..."

A few hours later, Cheryl was sitting next to Sam, I next to Dean. The four of us were in a diner off highway 45. Dean was molesting a double chili-cheeseburger and seasoned fries. I had a turkey club and Sprite. Cheryl had four slices of pie in front of her and was experimenting with different flavor combinations. Sam was nursing his third cup of coffee. We decided to pull off the highway and eat once Gabriel started singing "On Top of Spaghetti" in Enochian, claiming that he would "flip this hunk of tin over if we don't get something sweet soon". Castiel stayed back at the bar with Azrael, but assured us that they would find a way to configure a new, EMPTY vessel for Gabriel as soon as they could. All was silent except for the chewing and scraping of plates until Cheryl put down her fork, looked Sam up and down slowly and with no trace of sarcasm, said

"So.. is everything... proportional?"

Three things happened. I burst into raucous laughter, Dean choked on his oversized bite of food, and Gabriel popped in a beat later to say "If he wasn't, I would be legitimately disappointed!" with Cheryl's creepiest grin plastered on his face.

A flurry of wingbeats and Castiel and Azrael stood at the end of our table. The rest of the diner had gone chillingly still, as all time had been halted. Cheryl looked up at the odd couple and smiled, extending her hand to Azrael.

"Hi, I'm Cheryl! I don't think we officially met earlier."

Azrael cocked an eyebrow at the hand, but made no move to grab it.

"Yes, I'm Azrael, Archangel of Death. Nice to meet you too." She addressed the group, "I have found, with Castiel's assistance, a suitable vessel for you Gabriel and am prepared to make the exchange immediately."

Cheryl's face fell. "So I ate all this pie for nothing? I don't even LIKE pie!"

Gabriel suddenly stood up and spun in a circle, arms out like he was going to hug his brother and sister. "So where's this new meat-suit?" he asked, smiling. Castiel disappeared, then reappeared before the first sounds of his wings had faded away, this time with a male body standing next to him. There was no sense that body was actually living. It was the body of a reasonably good looking man, probably in his twenties. He was slightly tan, the hair was a reddish gold, the eyes were honey colored. The strong jaw was slightly scruffy, the lips made perfectly for a slightly smirk. The clothes the body had on were nondescript. A short sleeve shirt in a faded dark blue, torn blue jeans, and Converse was it. The sleeves were short enough to display well toned arms., and the legs within the blue jeans were sturdy. He would probably stand about 5'11" when upright, not tall, but not short. "I did at least try and find one that was close to similar. I assumed familiar would be comforting," Azrael said. "I couldn't get your old one back from the hotel because I... may have burned it down when I lost control."

Gabriel lurched forward and embraced Azrael, her face fading from initial shock to a warm smile. She pushed his chest so that he stood about five feet back then made the switch, pulling Gabriel out of Cheryl's body in one liquid stream of white-hot Grace and pouring it into the empty shell beside her. Dean, Sam and I sat in the booth shell-shocked. There weren't any earth-moving tremors, no explosions. Cheryl's body didn't instantly collapse or burn up into a pile of dust. She DID however, lean over clutching her stomach muttering "I feel sick" before plopping back down into the booth seat beside Sam.