Let's say I had a lot of fun freaking Alatar out with pictures of the things that live in the deep sea. xD I mean, really. Just go and Google that stuff. It's fascinating.

As for the actual content of this chapter - to avoid spoilers, let's just say things are never quite as easy as they seem.

Chapter 4

"Hey. Hey! Gabriel!" Somehow, Coyote managed to look impatient even in the form of an actual coyote. "Pay attention, will you? I don't know how this stuff is working on an archangel and not me, but there's definitely something here."

"You asked your buddies," Gabriel said, looking to where Coyote specified. "You were just as blind as me five minutes ago."

"Yeah, yeah." Coyote could roll his eyes just as well like that, too. "What do you think? Is it him?"

It looked like a river if anyone just looked, and it had looked like one to Gabriel, too. But now that he was aware of something not quite right, he could tell that there was something about it that was urging him to look elsewhere. If he pushed more energy into that space, he had no doubt that anything there would probably shatter.

And that would probably be bad.

"I think so," Gabriel said finally, turning away from the foaming mouth of the river. To any human it looked like it was spouting from a cave in the cliff, but he had no doubt something else was its source.

"So, we're going in?" Coyote gave the cliff a long look. "That's just great. It had to be a cliff."

"Blame Odin." Father knows he was. "You've squeezed through tighter spaces." And Gabriel could just make himself immaterial.

"That doesn't mean I like doing it." Coyote sniffed, looking as haughty as a coyote could manage.

Exhaling, Gabriel stepped slightly sideways in reality, reaching that place that would let him slip through solid objects and tangible enchantments.

"Cheater!" Coyote scrambled up the side of the cliff, far more gracefully and easily than an actual coyote would have been able to. Gabriel glanced behind him at the empty sky, reassuring himself that there were no raven spies to report back to Asgard.

They didn't know he was here yet; there would be no one coming to stop him.

With another useless breath, Gabriel pushed forward through the layers of enchantments that reached forward to trip him up, slipping through them only slightly hesitantly. Stepping through the cliff wall didn't put him in the middle of a rock face the way stepping through another cliff would have. Instead, he found himself standing in a dark cavernous space, the center of which was a huge gray wolf.

At first glance, the wolf just seemed to be standing there, but when one looked closely, it was possible to make out lines of a gleaming substance that looped around his limbs and body and held him immobile. It seemed insubstantial enough that the wolf could just break free and leave, but the dark liquid – both dry and fresh – painting the ground below his body suggested it wasn't that simple.

A noise escaped Gabriel before he could stop it. He almost didn't recognize it as his own voice, but Coyote hadn't yet made it in, and the wolf – Fenris – was quiet. Even the sword prying his mouth apart didn't seem to pain him anymore.

The noise caught Fenris's attention, though he didn't move beyond his ears twitching slightly. There was a faint whimper that sounded more frightened and exhausted than questioning, and it died out as quickly as it came.

Slowly, haltingly, Gabriel moved forwards, dropping to his knees before his son. Shaky hands touched the gray muzzle, leeching the old pain that wracked the other's body. "Fenris."

He didn't think Fenris could see him. The only reason Gabriel had slipped through the enchantments binding Fenris was because he wasn't quite here. He had to rely on Coyote to manage the rest.

"Fuck." That was Coyote's voice behind him, and the trickster sounded just as appalled as Gabriel had. "Those are some nasty spells."

"Can you unbind it?"

"It is so creepy when it's just your voice," Coyote mused, coming closer to Fenris to inspect his bindings. "If you help, I can manage it."

There was no sense of time in that in-between space where Fenris was bound, but that didn't matter. It was still too long. When the bindings eventually fell away, Gabriel rushed forward to try and stop Fenris from collapsing to the ground, forgetting his insubstantiality for a moment. When that failed, he destroyed the sword in a second, easing Fenris's mouth shut, stroking it once. Then, taking hold of Fenris, Gabriel pulled backwards, stepping back out of the cliff and onto solid ground.

Within a second, Gabriel materialized in the real world, his hands actually sinking into Fenris's fur. "Fenris."

Fenris hadn't had the capability of speech the last time Gabriel had seen him in this form, and he doubted that had changed in the intervening time.

Gabriel bent over Fenris's silent form, words almost muffled in the fur. "I'm sorry it took so long." It came out sounding a bit helpless.

Not for the first time, Gabriel wished that he could just heal without worrying about hurting the other person.

Fenris tried to push to his feet, and Gabriel didn't push him back down for fear of aggravating something. It didn't work, in any case - Fenris lay back down on his belly with a thump and a slightly pained huff of breath.

"Take a minute." Gabriel stayed sitting with him, stroking one hand over Fenris's muzzle and leeching what pain he could, very cautiously extending healing Grace. He could see Fenris's eyes on him, and saw when they widened in surprised recognition.

He didn't look very pagan anymore. Gabriel would be surprised if Fenris didn't have any questions for him.

"Last I remember," Gabriel said quietly, "you were still learning how to speak in this form."

There was a warm huff of breath against his hand, but Fenris didn't disagree.

"Gee, thanks for just leaving me in there." Coyote sounded vaguely disgruntled as he flopped down next to Gabriel, whiskers twitching. "How's the kid doing?"

Gabriel spent another moment cautiously healing the injuries he could sense in Fenris's body before answering. "Considering everything, all right. But…" He shrugged, not wanting to mention the invisible scars that they couldn't see.

They sat there for another few minutes, the only movement that of Gabriel stroking a hand down Fenris's muzzle to soothe the remaining aches and pains.

Eventually, with a small shudder, Fenris's form blurred and twisted until it was human. There was a pained grimace on his face at the effort the shapeshifting had cost him, but the reason why he'd done it was answered when he twisted to bury his face into Gabriel's stomach, one hand coming around to grip the back of Gabriel's shirt.

Without the fur, the marks and scars from his imprisonment were more noticeable. The oldest were silvery and fading, and the newest an angry red.

Gabriel pushed down a surge of fury at the sight, forcing himself to take several slow breaths. He couldn't afford to lose his temper now, not with Fenris and Coyote here.

"He's as resilient as you," Coyote said after a moment, eyes on Fenris's back.

Gabriel snorted, remembering how resilient he really wasn't. He looked down at Fenris, rubbing a hand over his back and idly noticing that his clothes were about six centuries out of style. "Did you want to talk?" Modern English was definitely beyond Fenris's comprehension.

The answer, when it came, was hoarse and in Norse. "Not…right now."

"Fair enough." Gabriel drew his hand up Fenris's back and though his hair. "But we shouldn't stay here. Do you mind if I move us somewhere safe?"

Fenris considered the question, turning his face slightly to look up at Gabriel with amber eyes. He eventually nodded, fingers flexing where they gripped Gabriel's shirt.

Taking a breath, Gabriel reached out to touch Coyote, whisking all of them away and into the bunker in the bedroom that he had stayed in before. It was better than appearing in the middle of the others, raising questions that he wasn't prepared to answer right now.

Fenris rolled over, looking around the room without moving anything but his head. It was still pretty empty of anything but the bed and a dresser, though at least the sheets had been replaced. Gabriel guessed that it was one of the many unoccupied rooms in the bunker.

"Humans live here," Gabriel said, answering Fenris's unspoken question. "They won't hurt you."

With an easy fluidity that came from centuries of practice, Coyote shifted back to his human form, stretching lazily as he also looked around the room. "Winchesters, hm?"

"Don't antagonize them," Gabriel repeated his earlier words.

Coyote waved a dismissive hand, shifting to his feet in one fluid movement. "Boring. I'm just waiting for Asgard to realize one of their most dangerous prisoners has escaped. That should be interesting."

"Sure," Gabriel said, no longer in the mood to joke around with Coyote. "I'll see you later, then?"

Coyote didn't seem too hurt by Gabriel's dour mood, simply giving Fenris one last look before leaving the room to probably scare the shit out of whoever happened to be in the bunker.

Once alone with Fenris, Gabriel shifted until his back was to the bed. Then, sighing, he returned to rubbing Fenris's back.

"Take as long as you need," Gabriel told him, gently running fingers through Fenris's tousled gray hair.

Fenris sighed, throat rippling as he swallowed. He wet his lips, eyes flickering between Gabriel's face and the ceiling.

Gabriel's own throat ached, his Grace flaring slightly in remembered pain. "Does it still hurt?"

Fenris's eyes went to Gabriel's. After a moment, he nodded.

Taking a slow breath, Gabriel closed his eyes, fingers going to Fenris's jaw. Even the light touch had Fenris flinching.

Healing was difficult now, but it didn't mean Gabriel didn't remember how it went. Slowly, he let his Grace smooth away the aches and the soreness of the muscles, healing the tears that he could sense.

Gradually, the tension seeped out of Fenris's muscles, and he let his head fall back, eyes falling shut as Gabriel's Grace healed him.

When he was finished, Gabriel exhaled in relief, pulling his Grace back in and letting his fingers trace the curve of Fenris's jaw. "Better?"

When Fenris spoke this time, his voice was still hoarse but free from pain. "Yes."

At least he'd been able to do something.

"Why are you so…" Fenris paused. "Different?"

Gabriel had expected this question, but that didn't mean answering it would be easy. "I'm…not quite the same. You're familiar with angels, right?"

"Dicks with wings," Fenris confirmed, the words probably something Gabriel had said at some point during his time as Loki.

Rip it off like a band-aid. "I'm one of them."

Fenris was silent for a moment. Then he rolled over again to face Gabriel fully. "What?" His brow furrowed in confusion, eyes scanning Gabriel's form.

"I wasn't entirely honest with you guys," Gabriel said slowly. "I had a life before I was Loki, one that I didn't share with you. I'm an angel." This was really the only time he'd actually explained it to someone, instead of them already knowing. "My name's Gabriel."

"Gabriel." Fenris was still giving him an inscrutable look. "…You look like one."

"The secret got out to everyone else. I didn't tell them, either. No point in trying to disguise myself if everyone's going to see through it." Fenris didn't say anything, so Gabriel quickly said the rest. "I was Loki. Really. I was just…Gabriel first."

"Why did you pretend?"

"I didn't. I'm Loki, but I'm Gabriel, too." Gabriel's hands curled into fists on his legs. "No one knew."

Fenris didn't say anything, but it easy enough to read the hurt. "Is…that why you didn't come?"

"No." In spite of himself, Gabriel reached out to touch Fenris's cheek. "If I could have, I would have come before. I just…it would have done neither of us good if I was killed by the other angels."

"So it is." Fenris drew back, pulling away from Gabriel.

Gabriel let his hand drop. "I'm sorry." His voice cracked slightly.

"Can you…" Fenris looked away. "I'd like to be alone."

"I can do that." Gabriel stood, putting space between them. "Just…find me when you're ready."

Fenris didn't respond, and Gabriel wasn't going to push for one. As he left the room, there was a soft shuffle of fur on the blankets.

It wasn't until he was outside the room and out of Fenris's sight that he let his shoulders slump, his hands coming up to rub at his face. Fuck.

"Tony?" Rhodey sounded hesitant.

Gabriel looked up at Rhodey standing awkwardly several feet away, face uncertain. Managing a painful smile, Gabriel let his hands drop to his sides. "I think that was a success."

"Sure." Rhodey stepped closer, reaching out to squeeze Gabriel's shoulder comfortingly. "So…I'm pretty sure I saw a wine cellar somewhere in here. I can get really drunk in solidarity and you can pretend?"

There was still Jormungandr and Sleipnir to worry about, but he wasn't going to leave until he could talk to Fenris. He wasn't going to let Fenris think that he'd left him alone again.

"Sounds good," Tony said, his next smile easier to manage. "I'll show you the dungeon while we're at it."

"I don't think that's a great idea when I'm drunk, but who cares. Lead the way."

Rhodey was dead asleep and Tony was considering the fact that he'd probably have to clean up when he heard the faint click of claws on the floor.

Turning, he saw Fenris enter the room, glancing briefly at Rhodey before focusing on Tony.

"Fenris." Gabriel shifted, drawing in on himself.

Fenris tilted his head, then shifted to human form, hugging himself. He glanced again at Rhodey.

"That's Rhodey," Gabriel explained, kicking an empty bottle under the nearest couch. "He's a friend."

"Does he know who you are?"

Gabriel flinched slightly. "Yes. I didn't tell him at first, either."

"But he knows."

"Yes." The word was a sigh, Gabriel's head dropping. "I didn't plan on it."

"Telling him?"

"Yes. Humans…don't deal well with surprises like that." Gabriel drew in a breath through his teeth. "But having to keep it secret from so many people I wanted to tell wasn't fun."

"So you wanted to tell us."

The answer was so complicated that Gabriel couldn't even begin to explain the true depth of it. At the time that he'd taken in the kids, he hadn't even really been Gabriel. There had been nothing to say.

"If there had been something to say," Gabriel said finally, "I would have. But...at that time…there was only Loki."

Fenris looked at his feet, toes curling in on themselves. "But you were an angel."

"Then? Not really. It's…" Gabriel sighed. "Difficult. Belief makes it tricky. I never stopped being Gabriel, I guess, but most of the time I was Loki much more than Gabriel. The two…don't really work well together. Not at the same time."

Fenris looked at Gabriel, eyes on his Grace in his body. "I don't think I understand it."

"I don't pretend that I do. Not completely."

"That was a lie," Fenris said. "Who you were at that time. But nothing else?"

"Loki wasn't a lie," Gabriel said. "None of that was pretend. I didn't pretend to love any of you."

"It wasn't a game to you? A trick? Because the others hated us and you wanted to do something they'd hate?"

"No. No. Of course not." Gabriel shifted his weight, leaning forward. "You…frightened them, but you were just kids. And I could help you. So I did. None of that was a lie, Fenris. I swear."

Fenris seemed to relax, his shoulders slumping slightly. "I believe you. And…" He inched closer, head down. "I'm glad…you didn't forget me."

"How could I ever forget any of you?" Gabriel reached out hesitantly, unsure of his reception after what had happened last time.

But the moment he touched Fenris, he found his arms full, Fenris wiggling in closely, arms tight around Gabriel. Gabriel's breath left him like he'd been punched, and he tightened his grip, his lips pressed into Fenris's hair.

Fenris pushed his nose into Gabriel's shoulder, inhaling deeply. After a minute of doing this, he said, voice muffled, "What about the others?"

Gabriel closed his eyes, resting his chin on top of Fenris's head. "I'm going to go find them next."

"Where…am I going to stay?"

"You'll be safe here. The brothers are hunters, but they won't hurt you."

Fenris looked like he might be about to protest, but his stomach chose that moment to growl loudly, startling both of them.

"Hungry?"

"Yes," Fenris admitted. "It's…been a long time."

Something inside Gabriel twisted. "Well, we'd better fix that, then."

Several feet off to the side, Rhodey groaned faintly, hitting something that sounded suspiciously like several bottles.

"I should probably try to get him sober, too."

Gabriel was surprised anyone was in the kitchen, but given that the Winchesters were probably used to operating on about four hours of sleep, he probably shouldn't have been.

Sam, to his credit, glanced at Fenris and seemed to guess the situation. "Hey," he greeted Gabriel.

Gabriel nodded back. "What kind of food do you have in here?"

"Seeing as how Dean really likes to cook, just about everything." Sam looked back at the cabinets. "What are you in the mood for?"

"What would you like?" Gabriel asked Fenris, using the Allspeak so Sam could understand.

"Something…with meat?" Fenris shifted his weight nervously, pressing into Gabriel's side. "I think I can smell something."

Nodding, Gabriel turned back to Sam. "Hamburgers, maybe? Do you have that?"

"He understands English but doesn't speak it?" Sam asked, opening the freezer and taking some meat patties out.

"His English is fine," Gabriel said. "Just about six centuries out of date, so not a huge chance at coherent communication. This is the Allspeak, the language the Asgardians in my universe use. Everyone understands it, everyone's happy."

"Your universe?" Fenris tilted his head.

"I think that topic should be shelved until your siblings are here," Gabriel said, bringing an arm up to pat Fenris's shoulder and squeeze him close. "I'm already not looking forward to explaining the Loki thing more than once."

"It'll be okay," Fenris assured him, a faint smile pulling at his lips. "You came back."

Gabriel felt struck speechless. A moment ago Fenris had thought he'd been feeding them a lie, and now he was back to having such faith in him.

"Did he take it well?" Sam asked, grabbing a few glass spice shakers off the table and checking the heat of the stove.

"About as well as can be expected." Gabriel ruffled Fenris's hair again before pushing him to a chair. "You good with the cooking?"

"Not as good as Dean, but I can manage," Sam said. "Shouldn't you go check on Coyote? I think he and Cas were staring at each other."

Not too concerned, Gabriel turned his attention to where he could sense Castiel and Coyote. There was no hostile energy surrounding them, and all he was getting from Coyote was intense curiosity and an eagerness to see if he could make Castiel laugh.

"They're good."

Fenris was staring around at the modern appliances curiously, and not-so-subtly trying to see what Sam was doing with the oven. Sam's laptop was on the table, propped open. It was practically an invitation to look.

With absolutely no guilt whatsoever, Gabriel pulled it over, noted that it was the one he had hooked up to Heaven, and then started reading through the open tabs.

It was all information on the Norse gods. There was one tab open to a complicated looking family tree, and several others were open to pages describing Gabriel's kids, including what their fates were.

Gabriel was familiar with Hel's and Sleipnir's, and looking at Jormungandr's reaffirmed his decision to go after him next. The only problem was whatever might be in the way.

He just hoped it wasn't selkies.

He could deal with just about every other supernatural threat the ocean contained, but selkies were in the category of too annoyingly curious for him to like them, and Gabriel always felt like kicking he was kicking a puppy when he said anything rude to them.

"I hope you're not doing anything strange to it," Sam said disapprovingly, eyeing Gabriel warily.

Gabriel waved him off, not taking his eyes off the screen. "Ye of little faith."

Sam snorted in disbelief, then seemed to promptly regret it when he inhaled a whiff of onions. "Thanks for what you did do. It doesn't need charging anymore."

That hadn't actually been what Gabriel planned on happening, but whatever worked. "Sure."

"What is that?" Fenris asked, leaning in close to peer at the screen.

"A computer," Gabriel told him, turning the laptop slightly so Fenris could see it better. "You missed electricity being invented. Humans have gotten pretty advanced. This…is like an advanced messaging system and library. A lot better than ravens and books."

Fenris considered this. "Ravens stink," he said finally. Then, "How big of a library is it?"

"As big as you want."

"…Is what I missed in there?"

"Sure." He'd just have to translate it first. Easing Fenris into modern English would be interesting, but it shouldn't take too long for him to get it. Though…maybe he should consider the Allspeak instead.

The main problem with teaching a language was that Gabriel had never actually learned a language. He did remember learning English while growing up human, but that had been with absolutely no prior knowledge of speaking. Every other language he knew had essentially been "downloaded" into his head.

"We'll start with language," Gabriel said finally. "That way you can talk to the others."

"Couldn't you just tell me what happened?"

"Trust me, learning English is worth it, especially if it keeps on being one of the more common languages." Gabriel sighed, pushing the laptop away. "And there's a lot of history to cover. You'd be better off reading it and finding it out on your own. It's more fun that way."

Fenris looked like he was tempted to argue with Gabriel's definition of "fun."

Sam had stopped moving and seemed to be contemplating something. "Does he like onions?"

"Put them on the side." Gabriel leaned over to get a better look at what the meat patty was doing. It still looked rather pink; he discreetly turned the heat up and urged the meat to cook a little faster.

Sam didn't seem to notice, although he did turn to coaxing it to turn brown, leaving everything else to the side. He didn't turn when Rhodey stumbled in, squinting into the light and looking none-too-pleased to see Gabriel sitting there.

"What happened to solidarity?" Rhodey demanded, sitting down heavily in the other seat next to Gabriel.

"Hey, I sobered you up."

Rhodey narrowed his eyes briefly before inclining his head, grudgingly conceding the point. Then he looked at Fenris, face softening. "This Fenris?"

"Yep. Fenris, this is my buddy Rhodey. He doesn't bite."

"You talking about me or him?" Rhodey stuck his hand out for Fenris to shake.

Fenris looked at it like it might bite him.

After a moment of awkward staring, Gabriel took pity on Rhodey. "Shaking hands wasn't really done back then."

"You could have told me that before," Rhodey muttered.

"He's human?" Fenris sounded like he wasn't sure.

"He's my best friend." Gabriel pretended not to notice the faint blush dusting Rhodey's cheeks. "He's cool."

Fenris studied Rhodey for a few moments. "What kind of name is Rhodey?"

Gabriel snorted despite himself, grinning broadly.

"What?" Rhodey demanded, eyes flickering between them.

"It's a nickname," Gabriel managed, stifling mirth. "You...when you see Pepper, let me be there."

"He's coming back with us, then?" Rhodey sounded just a bit surprised.

The question reminded Gabriel that it was very likely Fenris wouldn't be coming back – that he'd prefer to stay here. Humor dissipating just as quickly as it had come, Gabriel dropped his eyes to the table, unwilling to answer.

"What?" Fenris asked, a sharper edge to his voice.

"Nothing, it's…nothing." Gabriel took a breath, looking back up at Fenris. "We'll talk about it when the others are here."

The answer didn't seem to satisfy Fenris, but he did nod, sitting back in his chair. He glanced to where Sam was politely pretending not to hear them.

Noting that the burger wasn't quite finished but almost, Gabriel did Sam the favor of flash-frying the rest and plating it before he could blink, earning only an indignant squawk.

"If you could do that before, why didn't you?" Sam's voice was heated, but there was a resigned slump to his shoulders as he took the plate over to Fenris. "If you want ketchup or something, let me know."

"Ketchup wasn't around back then," Gabriel told him. "Burgers weren't either, actually." He nodded to Fenris. "Try it."

The look on Fenris's face after that first hesitant bite was worth just about everything Gabriel had gone through to get here. Fenris set upon it after that like – well, like a starving wolf. Gabriel tried not to think about the first part of that phrase too carefully.

Sam watched Fenris for a little bit more before saying, "I'll make some eggs. You do your thing."

Putting a hand on Fenris's back, Gabriel rubbed small circles into it, carefully avoiding Rhodey's too-knowing eyes.

Jormungandr was next, he reminded himself. And then it was just two more.

"Please don't be selkies," Gabriel said, looking down at the churning waters. "I hate selkies."

"What's so bad about them?" Coyote was looking at the water equally distastefully, though because of a general distaste for water than because of selkies. "Personally, I think you deciding that this cliff was closest to your kid was the most unfortunate part of this trip."

"No, it's going to be the selkies," Gabriel insisted, rubbing the side of his head in an effort to assuage the imaginary headache he could feel brewing. "Just wait."

Coyote eyed him like he was crazy. "They're selkies."

Gabriel snapped his fingers. "Exactly." Then, sighing, he said, "You good for going underwater?"

"This prank better be worth it," Coyote said, craning his head back to look at the sky.

"I can already see the chaos in Asgard," Gabriel reassured him. "C'mon."

Without looking down, Gabriel stepped off the cliff and let himself fall. He didn't feel the impact of the water breaking his fall, twisting around briefly to see Coyote following him. Once Coyote saw him, Gabriel slipped sideways, leaving a faint blur for Coyote to track.

"Again," Coyote said once he had shapeshifted to a shark, "so unfair."

Gabriel shrugged, though he didn't think Coyote saw it. "If you've got it, own it."

"I can barely hear you down here," Coyote complained.

"I'd get used to it. We've got a while to go."

Gabriel had figured it out using a variety of maps of the ocean's currents and other overly complicated methods, both magical and mundane; he just wished it hadn't been the Irish coast Jormungandr was closest to.

Due to Ireland being Ireland, they ran into selkies almost immediately.

Gabriel groaned as the first one darted past them, black eyes managing to find him. "Oh, come on."

Coyote caught up with him a bit, and the seal shot off - the former did still look like a shark. The motion stirred the water in a way that made it pass through Gabriel weirdly.

"Please don't stop being a shark," Gabriel said.

"I'll be whatever I want," Coyote said petulantly. "What's so bad about those guys, anyway?"

"They're like underwater dogs. I mean, I like dogs," Gabriel said hastily, because Coyote was close enough to a dog's ancestor that he'd never let that go if Gabriel didn't say that, "but these guys are really persistent. Imagine being followed around by about a hundred dogs when you're trying to do something stealthy and they're all asking really loudly what you're doing."

Coyote considered that. "Whatever," he said eventually, changing from a shark into a sort of fish that was probably more suited to deeper waters. Gabriel didn't feel like digging through his memory to try and come up with the scientific name. "Anything else I should watch out for?"

"Hope we don't run into Rán," Gabriel said. "But she's gonna be our only worry once we get too deep for selkies."

The question was, how deep was deep enough that Jormungandr would be there?

Coyote being no longer shark-shaped, a few more selkies trailed after them, curious eyes fixed on the two of them. Gabriel flapped his wings a few times, but all it did was make them swim a little farther away.

"Hey," Coyote said, not talking to Gabriel.

Oh, for the love of… "Don't encourage them," Gabriel told him.

"Who's your friend?" one of them asked Coyote.

"Don't tell them," Gabriel hissed, stirring up a slight current that pushed a bit more distance between them and the selkies. All it did was make the selkies swim after them even more determinedly.

Irritated, Gabriel shot ahead of Coyote, going deeper with a single beat of his insubstantial wings. It was deep enough now that there was barely any light, but he didn't need sunlight to navigate around the various fish and other species that inhabited the ocean.

Although the thought of what lay near the very bottom was enough to make him shudder a little.

"They're not that bad," Coyote said, catching up with him. "Admit it, something happened."

"Probably not what you're thinking of."

"Was it embarrassing?"

"Like I said, nothing you'd be thinking of."

Gabriel really didn't mind dogs, but there was just something that was so aggravatingly annoying about selkies. After all, dogs didn't exactly talk, and Gabriel didn't have to understand them if he didn't want to, but there was no ignoring selkies.

"Are they spies?" Coyote asked.

"They would be the world's worst spies since none of them can keep a secret."

"Did one of them get into your business?"

"If they had, then it wouldn't have been secret anymore." Gabriel shot the selkies behind them a glance. "It's not because of anything that happened. There are some beings that you just don't get along with."

"I thought that was part of the gig," Coyote said. "Being part of Upstairs."

"Yeah, no."

They were deep enough now that there was only the barest hint of sunlight. Coyote changed fluidly from one shape to the other, eventually settling on a nightmarish looking fish that wasn't that big, though the teeth made up for his small physical size.

"Nice fangs," Gabriel said sarcastically.

"Thanks," Coyote said through the mouthful of sharp teeth that made up literally half his body size. "It's a fangtooth fish."

Sometimes humans really did hit on the right name for a species… "I'm not gonna ask why you know a fish weird enough to live down here well enough to shift into it."

"Like you've never been bored."

"I don't hang out in a dark ocean when I get bored."

"It's called reading, moron."

"There's no use reading scientific textbooks that get a third of the facts wrong," Gabriel said. "That's what fiction's for."

"I'm sorry, Mr. I-Was-Apparently-There-When-All-This-Shit-Got-Made, you wanna write one yourself and get it right?"

"I probably will eventually." He was pretty sure he'd already published several papers as a human. "Though it's not too likely to get published."

"Hey, people know angels are a thing now. Aren't they already bugging you guys for answers?"

Gabriel shrugged, though Coyote probably didn't see it. "They would probably try to stick me in a mental institution if I came out and said anything where I'm living."

"Ha. Good luck." Coyote probably would have snorted, if fish could do that. Or if he could manage it around all those teeth.

"Doesn't mean they wouldn't try." Humans were amazingly persistent when it came to things like that.

Gabriel paused as a few creatures slinked by in the darkness - well, swam by. Coyote managed to swim backwards a little, not that Gabriel would be much of a barrier like this.

"Let's just find your kid and get out of this place," Coyote said. "Man, I am never going to the beach again."

They descended more rapidly after that, the water around them getting impossibly blacker and the animals even creepier and otherworldly.

"It seems weird that we haven't run into anything that's tried to eat us," Coyote muses after they're so far down Gabriel's pretty sure they've gone below whatever depths humanity had managed to reach. "Aside from the selkies, everything's left us alone."

Gabriel sensed the approaching presence before Coyote even finished speaking. "You had to jinx it."

"What? What did I—" Coyote shut up the moment he saw what Gabriel had sensed. Although there was no way to express fear or displeasure through the form he was in, there was no hiding the palpable waves of "oh, fuck no" that were radiating off him.

"You trespass in my domain," a bony-looking fish said, the words not at all distorted by the fangs in its mouth.

"What the fuck," Coyote hissed. "That thing looks freakier than I do right now."

"We're not after your place," Gabriel told the fish.

"Yet you are here," a large squid said, twisting underneath them, one large eye fixed upon Coyote's visible form. "And swimming ever deeper."

"There's other things down here besides your realm," Gabriel said. "I don't have any intention of staying any longer than necessary."

A fish identical to the form Coyote had assumed literally swam through Gabriel. Gabriel suddenly understood what ghosts must feel like when they went through things. "Necessary for what?"

They were by now surrounded by various fishes, all of which Gabriel could very well have gone the rest of his existence without seeing up and close. "I think you know of whom I speak, Rán."

From above came a long shape, the inhuman looking shark keeping up leisurely with Coyote. "Then you wish to break his bonds?"

Coyote didn't say anything, but Gabriel could sense his confusion at the fact that Rán wasn't attacking them.

Gabriel looked down into the depths below them, sight going through the darkness and to what lay at the bottom. "Yes." Then, looking the viperfish swimming next to him in the eye, he said, "I don't want to hurt you, but I will if you try and stop us."

The circle of creatures that could have easily inspired Lovecraft were silent for a few moments, as if Rán was thinking over her words. She'd probably realized who Gabriel was by now, even if she'd only identified him as an angel and not Loki.

"I have no quarrel with you," Rán said finally, speaking through the squid below Coyote. "Nor with your companion. If you wish to take the beast, then take him."

Despite himself, Gabriel couldn't stop his anger from leaking out into the water around him, heating it to the point that the fish Rán was possessing fled to a safer distance. Even Coyote gave him a wider berth. "I would have thought you'd care," he said finally, keeping his tone even.

"He has caused no end of trouble in his prison," Rán said dismissively. "I care not for this prophecy that Odin feared, and it grows wearisome dealing with the beast's tantrums. Take him, angel, and leave."

"He's not a beast," Gabriel snapped, his temper fraying. "At least call him by his name."

Rán didn't speak for a long moment, a few of the fish around them even swimming off. Eventually, the fangtooth fish said, "Perhaps I did speak ill, angel. You may take Jormungandr and leave. Do not return." With those words, the remaining fish swam off, leaving them alone.

After a moment, Coyote said, "Fat chance of me ever coming back here. Those things are just creepy."

Although he didn't need to breathe in this form, Gabriel went through the motions, expelling some of his anger and reining in his Grace. The water cooled to its usual temperature. "You look like one of those right now," he said finally.

"Not by choice. Why is that only the creepy looking things live down here?"

"I'll give you my Dad's number and you can complain to Him, how does that sound?"

"Like a big fat nope?" Coyote made as if to shudder, but the only thing that accomplished was him swimming slightly weirdly for a second. Then, "Are you telling me you don't know?"

"Look, I've made my fair share of weird things, but I didn't have any design input into the deep sea. Consider this my Dad's experimental stage before He figured it all out." Gabriel was never letting the Leviathan go.

"So, what, He wanted to forget about it and just shoved 'em all in the ocean?" Coyote paused. "Wait. You've made stuff? As in animals?"

"Designed – I designed them." Gabriel was pretty sure that his Father had regretted the decision the instant He'd been handed the platypus.

"Like what?"

"I don't remember all of them." If he told Coyote the truth, they'd get distracted while Coyote made him list them all. He'd been very bored at that particular time, just barely after the beginning of Creation. "Most of them are in Australia now, probably."

"C'mon," Coyote wheedled. "Two examples. There's too much weird stuff in Australia to narrow it down."

Gabriel fixed him with a look that lost all effect thanks to his immaterial state. "What makes you think you have to narrow it down?"

"Humor me. One?"

Gabriel stayed silent an amount of time that he could claim had been used thinking until they hit the bottom. He stopped, feeling the weight of the enchantments layering the space.

"I am going to ask again," Coyote threatened him, swimming off to inspect the magic.

"Sure, sure." Gabriel pressed down a little further, slipping past the enchantments that Coyote couldn't, sinking until he actually hit the rocky ground of the ocean floor.

It was stone, unsurprisingly – there was so much pressure at this depth that if he'd still been in any tangible form, he would have to use his Grace to stop himself from being crushed. At this point, even Coyote was cheating with his pagan magic.

Underneath it, he could – if he tried – hear breathing.

"It's not as bad as it was with your other kid," Coyote called down, swimming over Gabriel. "Guess they weren't as freaked out by this one."

Gabriel ran another scan of the enchantments, assessing their strength. "So I could break it if I wanted?"

"I thought we wanted to go incognito?"

"Rán will tell the others. At this point, it doesn't matter anymore." Sleipnir was literally in Asgard itself, and Hel was in a realm that even the gods didn't visit lightly.

"So," Coyote said slowly, a hint of glee entering his tone, "you want to bust it wide open?"

It really was a pity that Coyote couldn't see his grin. "Why not. Back up a bit."

Coyote swam up and well out of range of the various enchantments, clearing it just before Gabriel ripped into the web of magic with all the finesse of a pair of scissors. With one violent sweep of Grace, the magic holding Jormungandr into place shattered, and suddenly Gabriel was standing next to a scaly length that spanned the breadth of the ocean floor.

And before Gabriel could react, Jormungandr stirred, his form rippling, shaking the earth as he moved.

There was going to be a massive earthquake if this continued, and Gabriel would really prefer it if that didn't happen. "Jormungandr." He brushed lightly against Jormungandr's back, moving towards his head. "Hey, hey. Jor. It's just me."

Jormungandr stilled briefly, shock running through him. Then, slowly, his massive head rose from the ocean floor, looking directly at the insubstantial form of Gabriel. The sight of his jaws clamped onto the edge of his tail had anger surging through Gabriel, the water boiling around him.

It wasn't until Jormungandr flinched, the water displaced with the movement disturbing the rocks around them, that Gabriel realized what he was doing.

Swallowing, Gabriel wrenched his Grace back in, stuffing his anger inside until a later time.

Calmer now, Gabriel touched him again, hand resting between Jormungandr's nostrils. "You can't really see me, but I'm here. It's time to go."

Jormungandr looked nervous – Gabriel was glad he could still tell what Jormungandr was thinking, even with a lack of the usual facial cues.

"It's all right. Nothing's going to happen if you let go. I won't let them touch you."

Gabriel stayed close to Jormungandr, keeping one hand on him, waiting as Jormungandr obviously considered his next move. Finally, with a sigh, Jormungandr's jaws loosened, and Gabriel helped ease the end of his tail out.

"Why don't you downsize slightly?" Gabriel asked softly. "It'll make getting to the surface a bit easier." He was glad Jormungandr had held onto his tail so gingerly – he'd worried, for a moment, that there would be tooth wounds to heal, but it was nothing more than a few bad scratches.

It was impossible for Gabriel to miss the sense of Jormungandr retracting his massive body, his form gradually shrinking down and becoming smaller, until he was no longer wrapped around the Earth. Eventually Jormungandr was small enough for a strong man to carry him, and Gabriel almost reached out to hold him before remembering that he couldn't.

"Let's go," Gabriel said instead, stirring the waters around Jormungandr. "They'll probably be here soon."

He pulled them up, floating past Coyote and nudging him into action with a gentle poke. After that it was a simple matter of getting to the surface and avoiding the selkies.

"Never again," Coyote said as soon as he was back in his usual shape, which was about three seconds after they could see the surface. He stepped out of the shallows, shaking water out of his hair. "I am so glad none of your other kids are underwater."

"Join the club," Gabriel said. "Jormungandr, you need to loosen up a little. I may not need to breathe, but I'd like to be able to."

Jormungandr, who had wrapped himself around Gabriel's arm and then around his torso the moment he'd phased back into the real world, uncoiled slightly. His head was settled on Gabriel's shoulder, but he raised it to press against Gabriel's cheek.

"All right, I love you, too. What do you say we head back?" Gabriel glanced at Coyote questioningly.

"I would be thrilled to not be near water for at least a year," Coyote said. "You do it, shapeshifting wore me out."

With a small sigh, Gabriel whisked them back to the bunker, landing in an empty room so as not to scare Jormungandr with any unfamiliar faces. "Are you saying you're not going to be drinking for a year?"

"Very funny." Coyote gave Gabriel an unamused look. "I'll just leave you two and see how your brother is doing. Maybe he'll have learned to crack a smile by now."

Gabriel chose not to tell him that Castiel could smile and had been doing so for years now. "If you keep bothering him, it's just going to get less likely."

"I am a ray of sunshine," Coyote said petulantly.

"Then go shine on him."

"I will." Having gotten the last word, Coyote left, shutting the door behind him to give them some much-needed privacy.

Stepping back until he hit the bed, Gabriel sat, closing his eyes as he stroked gentle fingers over Jormungandr's scales. "If you want to talk," he murmured, "then you might want to shift."

Jormungandr tightened his grip briefly, rubbing his head against Gabriel's face. Then, with a sigh, Gabriel had an armful of a gangly teenager that clung to him just as tightly as before.

Pressing his face into Jormungandr's black hair, Gabriel squeezed Jormungandr to him, not wanting to break the silence.

Finally, nosing along Gabriel's neck, Jormungandr whispered, "You don't look the same."

"Yeah," Gabriel breathed. "That…would be because of who I am. Something I didn't tell you. My name's Gabriel, and I'm an angel."

Jormungandr didn't say anything for a moment. Then, pulling slightly away, he looked at Gabriel in confusion. "Angels don't like pagans."

"It's why I was one. And I was Loki. I'm sorry I wasn't able to come earlier."

Jormungandr's amber eyes were dark. "You were busy, weren't you?"

Gabriel closed his eyes, swallowing as he shook his head once. "No," he managed. "I...if I'd done anything back then…if Heaven had found me, it would have been even worse."

"So you couldn't come. But now you can?"

"I wanted to. And it's safe now." Gabriel smoothed down Jormungandr's hair. "Fenris is here. I'm going to get Sleipnir and Hel next."

"Fenris is here?" Jormungandr shot up into a sitting position. "Where?"

"Somewhere in here." Gabriel gave him a lopsided smile, jerking his head in the direction of the door. "You can go look for him, if you want—"

Jormungandr was off the bed in an instant, dropping to the floor in green coils to move faster. Gabriel laughed to himself, swinging his legs off the bed and standing up. He'd better follow behind, or someone was going to break out the holy water.

We don't have face claims for Fenris or Jormungandr. That's mainly because Alatar drew some AMAZING pictures of what they look like on her tumblr. You can also find them on thelastarchangelaskblog on tumblr.

Gabriel's so lying, something absolutely happened with selkies :) But I leave the details up to your respective imaginations. Please leave a comment! :D