.-~*~-.

"Lucifer! Y'know, sometime you're gonna have to come out and… talk to… God." Gabriel laid back on Sam's bed next to Lucifer, staring at the ceiling.
"They're right, you know?"

"Let them seethe for a bit." Lucifer responded, tucking his arms behind his head and nearly elbowing Gabriel in the face.

"Luce."

"Gabe." His brother retorted with a hum. "Here, I'll decommission them for a minute." He waved his hand and the music stopped. "If Dad has something to say to me, I'll hear it from him! Until then, I'll be in my room."

"It-" The music restarted and Gabriel turned his head slightly.

"Having fun?"

"No. I'm not helping Him."

"I'm not asking you to, Lucifer. I wouldn't. I don't want to. I'm asking-"

"You're gonna have to try harder than that. You don't want to any more than I do. You may have convinced them that you're on their side but I know you better."

"You don't know me anymore, Lucifer. Even if you did, you have my intentions sorely mistaken. Do you think for a second that I would've come with them to save you if I didn't plan on doing my part?"

"Yes." He responded without missing a beat. "You wanted me here, because I'm the only one that's going to force him to say it."

"He's not going to apologize, Lucifer. You know it as well as I do."

"He will."

"If He doesn't? We had a deal."

"Our deal was that I wouldn't kill you. I was gonna help but you know what I've decided? Until He gets off his ass and apologizes, I'm not doing anything. Amara can have her victory. Go Amara!"

"Are you really that petty, Lucifer?" Gabriel huffed, rolling off his side to sit up.

"I'm not being petty, Gabe. I'm being rational. Don't tell me you don't want the same exact thing."

"I want it, I'm just not stupid enough to think I'll get it. I'm not childish enough to think I'll get it. This is bigger than you, damn it!"

"If it's big enough that I'm needed, he'll get past himself and give us- me the apology I deserve."

"He won't give you what you want." Gabriel rose to his feet, crossing the room. "You know why you hate him so much, Luce? It's because you and him- you're so alike that you forget that you're not always right. The both of you are so arrogant and self absorbed that you would rather burn the entire universe than admit you're wrong. I don't know when it happened- but you became him. God, your ego. All you did was grow and grow and he grew to match it. The both of you are so arrogant and self absorbed it's a wonder your very existence hasn't wiped it all out."

"Gabriel, we aren't done talking."

"Oh, yes we are. Until you pull your head outta your ass I'm not doing anything for you. Got it, bro?" Gabriel scowled as he threw open the door, storming into the hallway and ignoring the nagging sense of dread that followed him all the way.

.-~-.

"You need to talk to him." Gabriel huffed, glowering at his father from where he was leaned against the wall while Chuck cooked up pancakes. That was what they needed. Damned pancakes. Pancakes he could make without cooking.

"Won't do any good." Chuck responded passively, glancing at Gabriel with his usual unreadable expression.

"Why not?" Sam asked carefully.

"Because I can't give him what he wants."

"And what's that?" Dean asked while casting an uneasy look at Gabriel.

"What everyone wants. My sister, my children, you humans – an apology. A big, wet 'I'm sorry'."

"Well, so give it to him. It's not like he's askin' for a weapon, or for Hell, or for Heaven. He's askin' for words."

"I can't say I'm sorry if I'm not." Chuck set a plate of pancakes in front of the brothers. "What he wants an apology for, I did it for humanity. For the world. Look, Lucifer wants what everybody wants, Amara gone. 'kay? Let's just give him a little time to cool off."

"He's not going to cool off." Gabriel bit out, snapping his fingers and summoning a larger plate of pancakes. "Every damned second you sit around screwing off- playing lazy gardener, she's getting closer and he's getting angrier! In case you haven't noticed, your world- your kids, we're dying and you- the both of you!" A bitter laugh tore from his lips and he shook his head. "You're so much alike. That's the problem- I figured it out! I know why he's your favorite, why he's always been your favorite!"

"Gabriel-"

"You're just alike. Spitting image! Both of you too damned arrogant to get past your own egos and deal with each other. You know, I get a lot of shit for what I did, but the two of you? Man, what I wouldn't give to show the world the truth of your cowardice."

"Gabriel."

"Talk to him! Get past yourself and talk to him. We're your kids- but him? You put him through hell! Literal Hell- with the big H because that's where he was! He might've killed me, but it was because I didn't really give him much of a choice. At least I'm willing to acknowledge my own screwups!"

"Gabriel." His voice vanished in a whoosh of air and he was left to glare violently at Chuck who was watching him with silent fury. "I want to make one thing very clear to you- I am still your father. I am more than willing to acknowledge where I went wrong, and you do not want me to cross into that territory. Not here, not now. I am not going to apologize, not to Lucifer, because what I did to him was a necessity."

"Hey- uh, Chuck." Dean spoke up tentatively, glancing between the two warily, Sam looking just as uncomfortable as his brother but not quite as panicked.

"What?"

"Okay, well, I don't know if you've noticed, but a little time is not something that we have. The end is frickin' nigh. Just- stow the crap. I can't believe I'm saying this but… Talk to Lucifer. You don't have to apologize- but talk to him."

"That work for you, Gabriel?"

"It's a start." Gabriel huffed to his father when his voice returned.

"We'll talk then." Chuck spread his arms to the side, "I'm willing to listen."

"Are you willing to talk, though?"

"I'm amiable."

Gabriel snorted and shoved off the wall. "This is going to go horribly, boys. I'm not gonna stick around to see it blow up."

"What? Where are you going?" Dean demanded as he made for the doorway.

"I'm going on my farewell tour. Either Luci'll nuke the planet, or Amara will- assuming they don't blow it up trying to talk it out. Might as well enjoy the ride."

"You were the one that agreed we needed Lucifer's help, you dick!"

"I did. What I didn't think about was their egos. We're screwed, Dean-o."

"Standing right here, Gabriel."

"You're always here, doesn't mean you're actually paying attention." Gabriel quipped with all the hostility he could muster, sending a final glare at his father before disappearing from the Bunker.

~-.-~