Uhm...anyone here who's reading that story?

Since months I don't get any feedback, which saddens me, because I really put my heart into this story and it is very much hard work for me to translate every chapter from german into english and yet nobody seems to give a damn about this story...

Well but I keep updating in the hope somebody does one day...

Chapter 21

Betrayal, disbelief, disappointment...

These were the first and the only things that went through Archangel Gabriel's head, when he opened his eyes and after hours of powerlessness, he was finally back and, still slightly dazed, he tried to look around in the room where he was now.

He was surrounded by antique furniture, but he just looked through them.

He was lying in a soft bed, shrouded by blankets and soft pillows, but he hardly felt it.

All he saw, was the treachery of his little brother.

All he felt, was the disbelief, which was accompanied by this betrayal.

And he felt the disappointment like a sword thrust. Powerful and painful...

He still couldn't understand what had happened, that Castiel had attacked him and that he put his brother Lucifer, this abomination, before any other angel, before his brothers, his sisters and even before his own father...

What had become of the little brother, whom he had raised so lovingly?

He didn't recognize him anymore; saw in him only what Lucifer was also:

A cold-hearted monster!

The thought of it caused a pain, worse than any blade and every gun in the world could have inflicted. It was a pain, as if a cold hand clutched his heart and squeezed it so firmly, that he thought it would burst in his chest. A pain, deep, persistent and incurable. A pain that would never pass away. A pain that had burned so deep in his innermost that he would have liked to reach for his Archangel sword and finish it, just to escape this pain...

"Gabriel?"

A voice came to his ears. It sounded blurred, as if it had come from far away, but he ignored it, staring with a blank look against the wall. He had the feeling that the world broke apart and at this moment he wanted nothing more, than it would bury him under the rubble of his destroyed world...

"Hey, angel? Can you hear us?"

Another voice. Deeper, more menacing sounding than the first, but he didn't care.

"Damnit Gabriel! Come back to us!"

A third voice. A voice that seemed strangely familiar to him...

"Come on, do something!"

"What shall I do in your opinion? Do I may look like a heavenly nurse? I am rather the complete opposite of it, don't you think?"

"Could you two bury your hatchet at least for a few minutes? We have other problems!"

Another familiar voice and slowly life went back into the golden eyes of the archangel and he turned his head towards the voice, trying to see something through the veil of his pain.

He could see four silhouettes. Three of them were standing, one of them was sitting next to his bed, looking at him, spoke soothingly to him, but nothing but pain flooded his body, drove him almost insane, deprived him of his will power and his strength, and it was not long, until the first tears made their way down his cheeks.

The pain of betrayal, disappointment...it was just too hard, too powerful, broke over him like a tidal wave, that destroyed everything in its path.

Once he had been a proud archangel, a messenger, a formidable person.

Then he had become a warrior, as the beast, Lucifer, had dared to fight against his father and his brothers and sisters. He had dared to deny the respect towards humanity and had dared to claim the throne of his father for himself. Lucifer made a warrior out of him. Made something out of him, what he never wanted to be and what never was his destiny.

And he took everything from him.

Even his little brother…

The last bit of happiness what he had left.

More tears ran down his cheeks, a sob broke away from the throat of the otherwise so cheerfully acting Trickster. But he was only a shadow of himself now. The wounds, he had suffered from the fight, didn't hurt nearly as much as his heart did.

"Please calm down Gabriel."

But he didn't calm down, sobbed more and more, louder and louder.

Hot tears made their way down his cheeks, his neck, and his torn clothes and wet the bed sheets. His body shook with pain and grief at the same time, his heart was beating so fast in his Vessels chest that he thought it would burst.

The voices, at first clearly heard, faded with each passing breath, until they just came from far, far away. But he no longer paid attention to it. In front of him flashed images. Images of a long forgotten battle. A battle, that was so terrible that hardly an angel dared to talk about it. Then he saw his brother in front of him, and next to him was Lucifer, the dragon, the snake, the traitor. His eyes were cold, expressionless, but Gabriel clearly felt the hatred and contempt in his eyes. He shuddered, tried to avert his eyes, but the images were in his head and he couldn't escape them.

Castiel drew his sword, and stared at him still with cold, dead eyes, as he approached him with slow steps. Lucifer didn't move, looked at the spectacle with a sardonic glint in his eyes and his lips curled into a sinister grin, when Castiel raised his sword, ready to ram it through his brother's body...

"Gabriel…"

He winced, was pulled out of his hallucinations when he felt a touch.

Slowly he turned his head, looked at his hand on which the hand of a human lay now, touched him gently, calmed him down and brought him back to reality. His vision became clearer as the tears stopped, his mind refocused on the here and now and it was not long, until his eyes met those of the human who was sitting next to his bed and held his hand so lovingly.

"Bobby? Is...that...you?" He managed to ask with difficulty and clearly you could hear how hard it was for him to speak.

"Yes Gabriel, it's me. Calm down. You are safe here…"

The words were spoken so softly, that Gabriel again got hot tears in his eyes.

But these tears were not filled with sadness. No. These tears were filled with happiness.

He was happy to see that Bobby was still alive, that his brother didn't kill him and when he turned his head, and his vision was clear enough again, his heart was filled with even more happiness and relief at the same time, when he looked right into the faces of Sam Dean.

And next to them, he could see another person.

A person who didn't look like a human at all…

A person, with a face that made him shiver, and he almost recoiled back, when he looked into the face of a demon. And it was not just any demon, which stood there. No. It was a demon, he already knew for a long time and he despised this demon with all his heart.

"Crowley..."

More didn't pass his lips; he was too weak to speak.

"Easy angel. I'm on your side and that of the humans."

If Gabriel would have been able to, he would have shown this scum, what would happen if you treated an archangel with so little respect as he had done it just seconds ago.

But he could do nothing more than to look at Crowley incredulous.

His mind had yet to realize, that he was in the presence of a demon. Moreover not a normal demon, because Crowley was more powerful than the ones he had tortured weeks ago, in order to get information about his little brother.

Crowley was a demon he could not lose sight of...

Bobby still held his hand gently and that alone was able to calm him down.

In the presence of the humans he felt safe, secure, protected.

Feelings that he had not felt since an eternity…

Feelings that seemed almost foreign to him...

"What do we do with him?" He heard Dean asked and Gabriel could see concern in the green eyes of the human.

"I think we give him a few more days, so that he can rest properly and get his strength back, what do you think?"

Sam earned approving nodding, even from Crowley, and Gabriel shivered when he thought about how much his little brother Castiel must have hurt him, to put him in such a state.

Whether he ever could forgive him?

He didn't know and he didn't want to start thinking about such a thing, because now it was more important that he came back to his strength, and then they would make a plan in how they would proceed against Castiel and Lucifer.

But Gabriel was afraid of the decision they would make, because he feared for his brother's life.

And he was afraid, that he would be the one who would kill him...