The new residents of Baker Street had been settled in for a week before Gabriel and Sherlock decided that they were going to spend most of their time looking for any clues about Purgatory.
"You see," Gabriel explained, "Before Castiel, Purgatory had never been opened before after Dad shut it off from the rest of the universe. The archangels were created to be the bouncers of the gates of both Purgatory and for Heaven. After a few millennia before humans were even created, my bros and I got bored and drew back more into Heaven and stopped pulling guard duty. The actual gate point eventually ended up on earth and it's been so long that I have no fucking clue where it is since earth was formed around it. That's why Sherly and I have to go on a scavenger hunt and figure out how we're breaking it to the siblings upstairs how there's archangels back in business."
And that was that. Sherlock was less antsy now that he had a mental and physical challenge to focus on since he couldn't work outright with the Scotland Yard anymore and John, Sam, and Kevin were relieved that Gabriel would finally be gone for a while so the reign pranks would end.
Sam found himself in a unique position where he didn't have to hunt or do anything supernatural, and his brother was relatively fine (by their standards) and the problem was being handled by two beings he could trust. That left him with what to do with his free time.
"If you want, I still consult with the Scotland Yard when I'm not working a shift at the clinic. Honestly, even though Sherlock isn't around to take up every single waking moment with cases, they still hesitate to put me on more hours." John offered with a smile and honestly, working with police who weren't inadvertently trying to arrest them for being on the FBI's most wanted list and to be mostly honest with officers had a nice ring to it.
That was how Sam Winchester became the assistant to one Doctor John H. Watson. It only took Mycroft, with gently prodding, to make him a new official ID and American passport for one Samuel Watson, first cousin to John who happened to be staying with him indefinitely.
"You don't think he's going to whine about it when he gets back, will he?" Sam asked as they climbed out of a cab. The American could barely fit in the small vehicles and tended to take the tube when travelling more often than not.
"Well he'll be on about something. If anything, he'll be whining about me tossing his experiments that will most likely go bad by time he gets back." John scoffed and Sam let out a grin. Apparently when Sherlock had gone on his sabbatical away from his father, he had found plenty of things he wanted to test and set up at least 10 experiments he was planning on checking on them when he had the time. John, however, was not exactly happy that his flat that the "tosser" no longer permanently lived in was being overrun by the body parts and excrements of supernatural creatures. He would be going through the various projects with Sam and sorting out the more rare specimens and if Sherlock didn't show up to check his findings, the more common experiments would be tossed. The American hunter felt a little bad, but he had heard about the head in the fridge story and the random body parts were severely freaking out Kevin.
"John! Long time no see!" A grey haired man exclaimed happily as Sam and John reached the crime scene. A frizzy haired woman next to the man groaned while rolling her eyes.
"Oh great, you still are showing up?" John merely smirked.
"Lovely to see you as well, Sally. Greg, how's work been treating you?"
Greg grimaced before letting out a chuckle.
"Honestly, they're getting done but in triple the time they used to. I love your help and it certainly helps cut down the time, but honestly. No one can beat the mad genius himself. It's a case of 'you don't know what you've got till it's gone."
John let out a sad smile before turning to Sam.
"Sam, I'd like to introduce you to Detective Inspector Greg Lestrade. Recently back in business after the Yard pulled him out for a while during the investigation of Sherlock's old cases. The official check, y'know?" John then turned back to Greg. "Greg, this is my cousin Samuel Watson. He's currently on holiday from America. He's an agent of the FBI and decided to give my sorry self a hand after telling him about the good old days with Sherlock. He investigates violent and organized crime."
"Another Watson? Did your side of the family get all of the height genes?" Greg asked with a laugh as he extended his hand out to Sam. Sam shook it with a grin.
"You know, a lot of people ask that. I'm inclined to believe so. And ignore John, just call me Sam. I'm here to relax but I'm so used to working that if I can help speed up some cases, I'd love to be of service."
"This could be the start of a beautiful friendship." Lestrade said and John rolled his eyes.
"All right. You've replaced me already. Let's just start looking at the scene so we can get out of this weather. It feels like it's going to rain."
The three men moved underneath the police tape and strode towards the scene.
One would think that a gateway into a realm of monsters would be easier to find.
"Sadly, it would be extremely bad if there was even a hint of Purgatory somewhere on earth."
"But considering we're archangels and technically our purpose is to guard said doors, you would think they would be easier to find." Sherlock retorted and Gabriel huffed in amusement.
"Honestly, I would be inclined to agree with you but considering Michael was the main guard and was the one who actually knew where the damn thing was."
"So unless we are paying a visit down to Uncle Michael and Uncle Lucifer, we're on our own." The former detective drawled.
"Correctamundo. And I'm not inclined for you to meet either of those douchenozzles. Especially after they've spent so much time together recently."
The father-son pair was currently flying around the earth for at least the hundredth time in the past hour. Sadly, like the past week, there was nothing to show for it. So, they retreated back to Gabriel's off the grid London flat. Gabriel had added on his own bedroom just to lounge in and installed a tv and pretty much every gaming system known to man. For their own sanity, they didn't spend more than 12 hours a day looking. Gabriel typically flew around most of the time while Sherlock researched all he could on Purgatory. In the next couple days, Gabriel promised to show him where some research might be such as the 'Angelic Library of Alexandria' that was apparently hidden in some secret structure in Egypt.
"You know…I've been thinking." Gabriel was laying on his back in the middle of the floor while Sherlock read from an old book written in enochian to test his reading speed.
"Father, you know that thinking is a trying task for you." He replied without looking up from his reading. Gabriel stuck his tongue out at him.
"Brat. Well, I'm thinking that it may be our best bet to reveal ourselves to Heaven."
At this, Sherlock did look up and turned to the elder archangel.
"Hear me out-" Gabriel sat up in his spot, "To be honest, I should have stepped in sooner. I mean, by rank and authority I am the next in line and since Dad is still out on vacation and I'm not dead anymore and you're functioning…well…I guess having to be responsible for you rubbed off a little bit more on me than I would have liked."
Sherlock continued to stare at his father and Gabriel let out a groan and fell back down on his back again, looking up at the ceiling.
"Not that I don't like being a dad, and at least you were fully grown when I took responsibility of you. And it's not even like full responsibility, I mean you're a great kid. Technically in human terms you're not even a kid but in angel years you're pretty much a 1 month old so if I ever seem overbearing, that's why. I mean, Castiel was the youngest angel created and he's older than Larry King looks. And Dad's project back with Mary was technically only a test for this since Jesus is usually hanging out in the garden with Joshua and doesn't really have any duties or anything-"
"You're rambling." Sherlock cut in. Gabriel looked like a mix of a meltdown and being ready to bolt. Taking a deep breath, the golden haired man took a moment.
"Sorry." He replied sheepishly. Sherlock merely shrugged.
"Honestly, I believe you are the best one to take over. You're well acquainted with earth and humans and can begin to teach the rest of the angels how to handle themselves in a, technically, post-apocalyptic universe. You don't pull any punches and are used to getting your way but have empathy for those around you who are innocent or who honestly think they are doing good, such as Castiel and the Winchesters. You are obviously the right choice, not just because you are currently the only archangel with the experience to command the garrisons of Heaven."
Gabriel merely stared at Sherlock who shrugged again and turned to look back at his book.
"If you plan on leading Heaven, just inform me since it is most likely that I'll have to accompany you for my 'grand unveiling' as it were and to learn the duties that I will most likely try to avoid in the future to conduct my own education about the universe that you're so insistent that I commit to memory."
With that, Gabriel bellowed in laughter and let out a wide grin.
"We may be very different, but there are times in which you are undoubtedly my son."
And that was that.
Meanwhile, the ragtag group in Purgatory had finally reached the dense forest that housed the portal back to earth. Sadly, a lot of desperate beings had camped out around the area in an attempt to get back and we're exactly glad when they couldn't make it through, therefore the demon, angel, and the human would have to fight their way back.
"You know," Dean said with a grin as he beheaded another vampire in the coven they had stumbled upon, "I have to say that seeing Crowley grumpy all the time in a crappy-ass suit and camping in a forest wasn't on my must-see list before I kicked the bucket for good, but damn am I happy that I've gotten to see it."
Castiel let out a small snort of amusement as he took out another female vampire while Crowley snarled.
"You better be glad I am forced to keep to alive and uninjured, Squirrel." The demon growled as he took down two vampires in a row, finishing off the vicious coven. After cleaning off their machetes, the group traversed farther into the dense forest.
"You know, this kind of road trip could be a movie on Lifetime: a demon, an angel, and a human all misfits just trying to find their way home. Instant classic." Dean commented as he ducked under a low hanging tree branch.
"Is there a time when you ever shut up, or is talking for long periods without stopping a general human trait that developed in the past couple hundred years?" Crowley groaned, scowling when his shoe caught in a hole.
"I've observed that Dean tends to talk about random things to get his mind off of personal topics that his wishes to ignore." Castiel quipped from the back of the pack. Dean whipped his head around angrily.
"Hey! Dude, not cool!" The Hunter whined and both Castiel and Crowley chuckled. "Come on, let's just find this damn portal you two can make friendship bracelets when we campout for the night."
"Great, then you can cuddle up to your angel boyfriend while I ignore the PDA till morning."
"He is not my boyfriend!"
"But you are warm at night Dean."
"CASTIEL I SWEAR TO GOD."
