AN: A huge thanks to all my lovely reviewers. Thank you for having so much patience with me. You guys keep me motivated.

Firstly, this chapter does not contain the Winchester bros, sorry. This one focuses on the angelic set of bros. Ugh...it was so difficult to write. Sam and Dean are relatively easy to write. But Cass and Gabe, the show didn't really touch up on their relationship. So a lot of though went into it. Many might think them to be ooc but I'm trying to be a bit more realistic. They are inhuman creatures, but that does not mean they don't have any humanity in them, especially Cass. So, I'm trying to get in depth with their characters. This one is mainly Cass; Gabe will have his turn later.

Anyhow, enjoy...

Chapter 17

Two small silhouettes were barely visible against the gigantic landscape of colossal mountains with invisible peaks. Pristine snow blanketed the vast expanse, enveloping the silent panorama in its freezing embrace. A powerful blizzard almost threatened to knock the figures down, but somehow, they miraculously…inhumanly, held their own.

The billowing waves of snow formed a persistent screen, drowning the visibility to almost zero; not that there was anything worth seeing. The harsh wind bellowed and roared as if bestowing its wrath on the frozen tundra.

A sigh escaped the shorter creature; for surely no human could endure such unforgiving climate without being paralysed by the cold. The shorter of the two figures hollered to be heard over the deafening weather.

"Are you satisfied yet, Castiel?"

"We have not accomplished our objective, Gabriel. It would be unproductive and wasteful to go back right now."

Another sigh. "There's nothing here, Cass. No one."

"We don't know that." The stubborn voice answers. The wind continues to howl, filling in the gaping space between them, drowning the unsaid words.

"Are you sure about this, Castiel? Father…maybe…maybe He really did…leave…" The last part is barely above a whisper and yet the words are carried to the younger angel clearly.

"Father wouldn't abandon His children, Gabriel. Maybe He is just unaware…we must find Him…we must let Him know….."

Gabriel looked at his companion, his eyes filled with pity and compassion…and hurt…because Castiel was only a child and he needed their Father…and Gabriel needed his Father too…because his brothers were fighting and killing and tearing the world apart…and he couldn't stop them…no one could stop them…except Father…and He was gone…and he wanted Him to come back and Castiel wanted him to come back…but He was gone…and Michael and Lucifer were fighting and the world was ending…

'Stop this.' Gabriel ordered the runaway voice in his head. 'You can't fall apart now.' Blinking back against the pathetically human stinging in his eyes, he steeled his nerves again.

"I know, kiddo. I know. But Father isn't here in this freezing box of ice. Maybe He really is unaware, maybe He really doesn't know. But He's not here. Come on, we need to go."

Castiel sighed in disappointment and stared morosely at the warring landscape. Here, in this isolated corner of the world where humans dare not tread, nature was at war with itself. The gusting wind seemed to be trying to move the impassive mountains while the latter boldly held its line of defense while frequently retaliating with booming avalanches. The snow raining down from the rumbling sky seemed determined to smother all life in its deadly embrace.

Is this what the world is destined to be, Father? Castiel wondered. Will your creations be plundered to dust in the wake of the storm that has been unleashed? Will all forms of life be annihilated by your first children until all of earth is as barren and cold and dead as this place where I stand?

Or will your plan end in fire instead of ice? Will the holy fire commanded by angels lay waste to the very lives it swore to protect. Will the fires of anger and hatred ravage and destroy everything you once held so close to your loving heart? Will everything be burned to the ground until the world is nothing but a reflection of hell?

Is this your big plan for humankind? Is the looming guillotine of the apocalypse your unalterable will? Is this what you want?

"Castiel…?"

"Very well, Gabriel. Let us go."

But the words of his acceptance were overshadowed by a strange flicker of grace, a wavering presence at the periphery of his awareness. It was barely there, the slithering presence, skirting along the edge as if playing a game of catch. The presence disappeared again for the moment making him wonder if it was a mere figment of his imagination.

He turned to his more experience brother, a question at the tip of his tongue. But the unexpected fear in his companion's eyes sent a shock of alarm through his body and halted the query at his lips. Something was wrong; that presence…certainly Gabriel must have felt it too. But what?...Or rather, who was it?

"C..Castiel….run…Now…GO…!" Gabriel's grace fluttered in panic alerting the younger of his distress. But what…why…?

"Gabriel…?"

"Run…run Cassy. Run away…" Gabriel begged urgently but stayed rooted to the spot, knowing that it was already too late…too late…

"Maybe you can still escape…he wants me…I'll hold him off…go…"

"Gabriel, whatever are you talking about? I'm not leaving you here. Do you sense any danger?" Castiel looked at the shivering form of his older brother, more surprised than scared. What's going on…?

"Don't you see, Castiel? Don't you feel it? He's here. It's too late. A trap. We're trapped."

"Gabriel, what are you…"

The words were lost to the howling wind, carried away unheard. But it did not matter as words became redundant the very next moment. With a jolt Castiel understood. Even before he felt it, he knew. He grasped the cause of his brother's distress; for there could only be one cause. He was here. They were trapped.

"Long time no see, little brothers."

The deceivingly gentle voice cut through the air like ice. The voice was soft, unassuming, almost reassuring if not for the cold, implicating almost threatening edge to the words. It was a voice that was instantly recognizable.

Gabriel released a defeated sigh, well aware that struggling against the concealed sigils around them was futile.

"Lucifer."

A restless Gabriel paced the length of the narrow confinement where they had been secured courtesy of Lucifer. Castiel himself was sitting cross-legged in one corner watching his brother's movements with apprehension and mild irritation.

Gabriel wrung his hands as he marched occasionally muttering obscenities and generally looking like a mad-man on a rampage. Finally, Castiel's vast reserve of patience was drained of its last drops when the archangel's gesturing hands came too close to his face for comfort in the constricted prison.

"Gabriel, I understand that you are upset but I must ask you to sit down for a while and try to remain calm."

"Upset? UPSET? Castiel, we're trapped in this hell-hole at the Devil's mercy. The same bastard who is going to kick-start the apocalypse, end the world as we know it and feast on our intestines while he's at it. DO NOT tell me to calm down."

Castiel wordlessly tilted his head. He had rarely seen Gabriel, to paraphrase Dean, 'freak out'. While his brother had always been energetic and full of life and even childishly hyperactive, Gabriel had always been, while not exactly calm, but somewhat collected and composed. Though his composure included acting like a child, it was just a part of his person. Gabriel was always lively and dynamic and spirited and on occasion dramatic, but these qualities were just 'Gabriel'. To Castiel, these characteristics had become synonymous with the archangel. It was just who he was.

But thinking back now, Castiel failed to recall a time when Gabriel had been so noticeably distressed, so…dare he say it…scared. Gone was the jovial, mischievous angel who laughed in the face of danger, who remained unfazed in the direst of circumstances. Gone was the all-powerful member of Team Free Will who consoled and reassured others but never required any comfort himself.

Instead, Gabriel's joyful and sarcastic façade had given way to the worried and anxious angel he was inside. This realization was by no ways reassuring to the younger angel, though he could more than sympathize. Gabriel's entire world had been ripped apart once by Lucifer's betrayal and now the meager semblances of sanity and normality that he had scraped together over centuries were being wrenched from him as well.

Castiel realised with a wave of guilt that he had never stopped to consider the effects of the upcoming apocalypse on Gabriel. He had been selfishly trying to right the wrongs and bring the offenders to justice that he had neglected to realise the shades of grey that blurred the distinction between black and white. He had failed to see his brother's constant struggle in the staggering grey; too convoluted to tell the difference in the monochrome.

He had self-righteously condemned Gabriel for choosing the coward's path, for running away instead of fighting for a greater cause. But now that he knew, could he really fault Gabriel for his heart…for his precious humanness?

For this was not a fairytale battle between good and evil. This was not a contest of light verses dark; there is no black or white. This was a quarrel of brothers, the bludgeoning of a family. This was Gabriel's beloved brothers consumed in a hateful battle to death. This was the tragedy of a loving family shattered by storms of hate and anger, darkened by clouds of distrust, betrayal and misunderstandings.

How much blood did he himself have on his hands? How many of his own brothers had he killed in the name of the greater good? He had felt all but a slight remorse standing over the bloody corpses framed by singed wings. He had barely known them, let alone remembered their names. He had consoled himself by the conviction of his righteousness.

But suppose, Gabriel had been his enemy…could he have raised his sword against a brother he had loved as only a human could love another? Could he have endured Gabriel's broken body and charred wings by his own hands? The thought sent a debilitating shudder through his body. The very image in his mind…is this feeling what the humans called a broken heart? Because he felt that his heart might very well break in its anguish.

Was it fair to ask Gabriel to stand by his side, to force him to murder his own loved brothers? How could he make Gabriel suffer through an ordeal, the very thought of which made him so…so…

"Castiel?" Gabriel's soft voice dragged him back from his painful thoughts. He watched in confusion as his brother knelt beside him worriedly.

"What's wrong, kiddo?"

Gabriel's fingers moved across his cheek and Castiel was surprised to feel moisture on his cheeks. How had that happened?

"Are you crying?"

Was he? Is that what the moisture was? Tears? He was crying?

The time he had spent on earth with Dean and Sam had proved that he was not impervious to emotions. It was like his emotions had been locked tightly in a box and were now slowly unraveling, leaving him confused and frustrated. He could barely keep up with the surges of feelings that crashed against his body, let alone identify and name them. Guilt, remorse, fear, worry, anger, pain, anguish…they all melded together indistinguishably . And now, for the first time since he could remember, he was crying.

"It'll be alright, kiddo. You'll see. I know we're in a bit of a mess right now but I'll get you out of it. Don't worry."

Gabriel's gentle voice resulted in a few more drops of water trickling down his cheeks. And he still didn't completely understand why. Nevertheless, he tried to calm his raging emotions, promising to sort them out at a more appropriate time.

"Gabriel…I…I'm sorry."

And he was; sorry for blaming him, sorry for dragging him into a war against his wish, sorry for burdening him, sorry for taking him for granted, sorry for being so selfish, sorry for…for…

"Huh…?

"I…I…"

"Castiel, what is it?"

"I'm sorry."

So, how was it? I'm trying to slowly ease Cass into humanity. If you've noticed, he was mainly stoic in the earlier chapters. Now he's coming to terms with his human emotions. His confusion stems from the fact that he is inexperienced with his emotions and has never felt them before. In ch 7, during his reunion with Gabe, he was mostly angry and betrayed. Now he's begun to realise the complexities of human emotions and is trying to make sense of them. That is, if anyone was wondering about the occness. I'm just trying to humanise him a little...give him a little warmth.

Was this chapter confusing? Too much? Too mixed up and abrupt? Could you guys make any sense of it or was the meaning lost?

I'm hoping for some feedback since I'm not exactly happy with it. It was very difficult to write.

Please review?