It´s not like this is the first time he finds himself in a bad situation, Gabriel tries to calm himself down, as Kali pushes him back to the temple, with an air that says pretty clearly that while at the moment she doesn´t really know what he is or how to hurt him, as a goddess of destruction she will surely find a way. For starters she manages by putting pressure on his shoulder blades, which since his wings aren´t physical shouldn´t hurt as much at it does, but maybe it´s different with gods touching them.
It´s not the worst situation he has ever found himself in either, he tries to further bargain with himself. First there was the deal for his escape from heaven, that while it turned out quite well in the end was maybe the most frightening thing he has ever done, then there were all the enemies he had made himself first with his lifestyle as Loki then as the Trickster, both of which were just bound to piss some people off and sometimes it was powerful people and getting caught by pissed off powerful people never ends well as a rule.
He shivers thinking about the time some Norse Gods thought it funny to bind him and let pretty nasty snake poison drop down on him. (Some people just can´t take a joke) Since the bounds were made for Norse Gods and not angels it wasn´t that big of a problem, but it left him with the choice of either revealing himself or waiting till they stopped watching and they just loved to watch. In the end he decided to play dead and when they came to look after him threw them into a pocket universe overpopulated with snakes, until Odin made him return them.
People might call it unimaginative, but in his experience playing dead, pocket universes and illusions just were the best defenses against almost everything and with good defenses there wasn´t such a thing as overusing.
Anyway, Kali wouldn´t fall for either of those things, so while his brain still tries to convince him that he has come out of a whole lot of worse situations unscathed, his instincts are screaming that the current situation is just horrible.
First of all and most importantly he has revealed himself, something he still can´t believe he has been stupid enough to do. After all that time spent just to find out how to cover up every trace of angel left inside him and block out angel radio, all that time training himself to only use his trickster powers and never go for his grace, no matter how bad the situation, all it took to make him grab for it without any conscious decision and throw all his hard work away, was a bit of confusion about Michael and a few demons attacking him. In some way he has not only killed the demons with that outburst, but also Loki and the Trickster and he is not sure at all if he can ever be Gabriel again.
Then of course Kali of all people had to witness it. Kali, who maybe is the person knowing most about him anyway, which makes her dangerous by definition. Unfortunately that is not the only way in which she is dangerous and Gabriel has seen in the past what she does to people she feels that have betrayed here. Against that he would immediately take the snake poison anytime again.
And last of all there is the problem he doesn´t even dare to think about. It has been centuries since he has used so much of his archangel power (he still feels overwhelmed by it, like his own power is making him dizzy, because he isn´t used to it anymore) and it has been so shortly after his encounter with Michael. (Maybe because of it, but he doesn´t dare to think about that either) If there is any time that the other angels can find him, it´s now, but that´s now even the main problem.
The main problem is deciding if he wants them to find him or not.
In his strange dizzy state it takes Gabriel way too long to realize that they have already gotten back to the temple. Kali maneuvers straight through it, ignoring the tourists, priests and worshipers crowding the now opened temple and goes straight for her apartment, throwing Gabriel facefirst on her bed, like a sack of rice.
He scrambles to his feet, trying to order his disheveled appearance and managing a weak grin. "Hey there, I thought the sex part was over for tonight"
She slaps him.
"Explanation. Now."
She is breaking down, he realizes, even though she is hiding it pretty well. That would give him an advantage if he wasn´t dizzy and close to breaking down as well.
"Uh, I was adopted"
She slaps him.
"Hey, that was kind of the truth"
"Not very reassuring Loki, or whatever you are"
He shots her an incredulous look.
"Kali, you are not stupid, you should know what I am by now. Do you really need me to say it?"
She takes a step backwards and starts playing with the knife in her hand, an action that shows her nervousness, which in turn makes Gabriel nervous, because the last thing anyone needs for a betrayed goddess of destruction with a knife to do, is to get nervous. "Alright then, just... if anyone told me I knew a hidden angel, you are absolutely the last person I would have guessed"
"Good camouflage then, isn´t it", he tries to dissolve the tension. "And it´s archangel by the way, no point in underselling myself now"
"Of course it would be archangel", Kali mutters in a mixture of desperation and amusement. "Wouldn´t it, Gabriel?"
He just stares at her blankly. It´s so strange to hear Kali say his name, to hear anyone say his name, that he can´t quite process it and the way she just drops it casually somehow makes it worse. He knows of course that she did it for show and even though he doesn´t want to jump on it, he automatically tries to wrap his brain around how she got his real name on the first try. "Alright", he finally declares. "You win this round, how did you do it?"
"Easy", she gives back. "You certainly are not Lucifer and yet everything about you screams younger brother, so it was fifty fifty"
"What makes you so sure I´m not Lucifer?", he tries her, just to give contra in some way, but she only laughs at him. "First of all, about everything about you. Second, the devil wouldn´t hide his identity from a goddess of destruction, would he?"
"Maybe. For fun", Gabriel answers, knowing that he is talking for the sake of talking and trying not to show how uncomfortable it still makes him when someone calls Lucifer the devil.
"Oh shut up, Gabriel", Kali sighs, clearly winning that round.
He goes to pouting slightly, but is careful not to provoke her to slap him again. He knows that she wants to and at the moment he is really not keen on it.
That is when he feels it.
Michael. Some other angels. Close. Really close. Coming for him.
He really shouldn´t have used his power like this, is his first thought. His second is Finally, and he pushes that traitorous thought back as quick as he can.
He has not been waiting for this. He has not wished for this to happen. Not at all.
"Kali, let me go"
She is polishing her knife-the knife he bought her less than two hours ago- and looks up surprised at the urgency in his tone. "Suddenly a coward? You always tended to run, Loki, but you certainly are not one to beg, so what is it? So afraid of me now?"
"I´m not afraid of you", Gabriel spits back, pride taking over. "It´s just… They are coming for me, you have to believe me"
"Demons?" She actually looks a bit alarmed at that. He can almost see her planing how to defend the temple and keep him in check at the same time. Maybe he should just say yes. If she thinks she is protecting the temple against demons, maybe he can use that distraction to escape. But Kali is not stupid. She doesn´t feel Michael and the others yet, because she is not linked to them, but as soon as they come closer, she will recognize them as angels, or at least know that they are not demons. He doesn´t know if he can so blatantly lie to Kali one more time, without getting body parts ripped of.
Probably not.
"No, angels actually" Strange to tell the truth just like that. Loki and the Trickster are screaming at him. "But you can´t let them get me, Kali. Please" The pleading burns his tongue, but he doesn´t really have a choice. He doesn´t know if he wants to met his brothers again, but he certainly doesn´t want them to find him kept prisoner by a Hindu goddess.
Talk about embarrassing family reunions. They would never let him live that one down.
"Interesting" Her eyes are sparkling now and Gabriel is trying not to freak out, because a) she is really getting scary and b) the angels are getting closer. He can clearly distinguish Michael and is slightly irritated by that, because he knows about his eldest brothers dislike for earth. The others are more of a blur, one of them seeming more familiar than the rest, but he can´t concentrate on it.
"Why is your own kind hunting you?", Kali demands to know and he can see her arms now, all of them and the situation is not looking good at all. "Making enemies everywhere, Gabriel?" So the one time she called him Loki was just a slip up and she is still using his real name against him. "Maybe they just want to see me again, Kali", he gives back, with exaggerated pronunciation of her name. "But I´m not sure if I want to see them again, so let me go"
"Tell me your story"
"No time for that"
"If they take you now, there ´s no time for it later"
"Kali, if you ever loved me..."
"Don´t come me like that. What movie do you think this is?"
"Something Bollywood maybe. No, wait, not enough singing for that. The only thing I´m sure of is that it´s definitely not Casa Erotica"
"Shut up. And you want me to let you free!"
"Just… don´t tell them I´m here. I will stay in the room, shield myself, they shouldn´t find me then, they don´t know enough about my new powers. I won´t go, just observe the situation first, so I just need you to..."
"Fight off your crazy family? Not happening! Why are you laughing?"
The laughing wasn´t planned at all and he knows it is making him sound like a maniac, but he has just now realized that his half formed plan basically is to set Michael and Kali on each other and see what happens. Probably his worst plan ever, but it sounds like so much fun he knows he won´t get it out of his mind again.
Kali and Michael.
Absolute opposites, but two fires, that can be absolutely terrifying when provoked.
Should he want to see that confrontation? Definitely not.
Does he want to see it? Definitely yes.
And it looks like he will, because now the angels are in the temple and Kali is getting nervous. This is her temple, her home and she doesn´t like the presence of Christians at all. And apparently there are more feelings for Gabriel left in her than he has dared to hope for, because he can see her internal turmoil and finally she hisses: "Alright, but if you don´t stay in the room, or if you are playing me in any way, I will find you and I will find a way to kill you slowly. You know I will"
Okay, so much about feelings, but he knows this is all he will get and just manages to get his shields up, trying to not use his grace and seeming as Norse as possible, when the door breaks open and Michael storms into the room, followed by three other angels.
If the situation wasn´t so threatening, Gabriel would have laughed at the sheer absurdness of it.
Michael standing in the door, like he owns the place, but clearly uncomfortable in his vessel, while the other angels seem like the have no idea what to do; Kali in the middle of the room, knife drawn and looking ready to gut any western idiot that seems like he might want to conquer anything and oh, Gabriel himself, crouching behind the bed, shielded, hopefully invisible to the angels and trying to be Norse.
Regular Friday night.
"What have you done to my brother?", Michael opens with an absolute lack of diplomacy and Gabriel all of the sudden feels like someone just set him on fire, because this isn´t Michael. Not his Michael anyway. This is the Michael, that didn´t listen to Lucifers begging, that didn´t blink when he shoved his little brother into the pit.
This is the cold Michael, the one that made Gabriel run and he has no idea how to deal with this Michael, he somehow never thought he would meet again.
Somehow he was naive and thought he would just get his gentle, big brother back, while Michael probably thought he would get his innocent, little brother back, even though the persons they once were both died a long time ago in Lucifers rebellion.
Great. Just great.
"Westerners!", Kali spits back. "You think you can just march in, take over and ask all the questions you like! Not with me! I´m Kali the destroyer and you just broke into my temple. Get out!"
She isn´t doing this to protect him, Gabriel realizes. She is really fucking angry with the angels for intruding and he isn´t sure which party he should be afraid for. Or what side he should be on anyway.
"Give. Me. Back. My. Brother." Michaels cold anger is way scarier to Gabriel than Kalis fury, but maybe that is because Kali is reacting like she should. He knows Kali, but he has no idea who Michael is anymore. And that just scares the shit out of him.
"Well, maybe he doesn´t want to be given back", Kali takes her shot. "Maybe he´s had enough of you crazy Christians and that is why he ran. Honestly, given the way he always runs away, when something lasts longer than two weeks you must have given him quite a trauma"
Michael looks ready to rip Kalis head of with his bare hands, but he can´t hide that the accusation has hit him the hard way. In observing him, it takes Gabriel way to long to realize that he never told Kali anything about running away. "Have I really been that obvious?", he murmurs to himself, cursing himself immediately for not being able to keep his mouth shut.
One of the three angels behind Gabriel suddenly turns in his direction and in a weird mixture of joy, surprise and anger Gabriel is barely able to keep his shields up.
It´s Balthazar!
Only that the kid doesn´t really feel like the old Balthazar anymore. Gabriel sways between guilt for not recognizing him immediately and anger that all this shit has not only affected Michael and himself deeply, but also the other angels, the young ones, almost fledglings during the rebellion.
He checks the other two angels in the room, curious who else could be there and detects two more outside, probably on watch, but he just can´t put names to the feelings and that frustrates him beyond belief.
The Michael and Kali conversation has meanwhile reached the final stage before escalating into a war and the room holds more tension than Asgard, the hours after someone actually has succeeded in getting Odin drunk, which always left everyone fearing for their lives, because a drunk Odin belongs to the most frightening things that Gabriel has seen in his existence and he has seen quite a lot.
He sees Michael going for his angel blade a second before Kali does and doesn´t allow himself time to think about what he is going to do now. The moment Kali sees the blade, this will turn irreversibly into an absolute disaster, so he takes one deep breath, drops his shields and just saunters in between them, while his survival instinct gives one last scream and then officially gives up and dies of neglection.
"Michael! Long time, no see"
He doesn´t know what he wishes for most at that moment, Michael-proof cover or a camera, because Michaels face is just hilarious!
Judging from the looks on the two angels faces, whose names he still can´t remember, they definitely wish for cover. Balthazar meanwhile looks like a little child on Christmas, barely able to hold still and Gabriel gives the kid a wink, which is responded by a large grin. He would also go and hug Balthazar, at least rather that hugging Michael, but Michael would probably deep fry them both.
"Gabriel", his big brother finally manages. "You are...alright"
"See, I didn´t torture him more than he asked me to", Kali mocks from behind Gabriel, who suddenly realizes that turning his back to Kali was a tremendously stupid idea. "Satisfied now, Christian?"
"And I hope I´m more than just alright", Gabriel grins, in a desperate attempt to drown out Kali. "I mean, I´m fantastic"
Michael looks like a gold fish and Gabriel really needs a camera.
"And she...she is..."
"She has got a name, Christian!"
"She is my girlfriend", Gabriel announces, turning around and pulling Kali to him, while two factions inside him are waging war. It´s not like he doesn´t want to see Michael or wants to embarrass him, but it´s easier somehow. It´s easier behaving like the Trickster and getting strange pleasure out of Michaels shocked expressions, than actually admitting how much he missed Michael and being cooperative.
So he almost kisses Kali.
The almost is because she slaps him.
In front of Michael.
Oh, and Balthazar, who is having a laughing fit.
Isn´t family just great?
"We haven´t decided about that yet", she hisses at him. "As far as I can see, you have still deceived me for centuries and while I can´t deny that I still like you in some ways, that doesn´t mean all is back to normal. Also, never ever use me as presentation object" She actually turns to Michael after that. "Has he always been such an idiot?"
Gabriel already wishes to be stabbed and die on spot, when Balthazar saves him, by almost collapsing from laughter.
"That´s enough", Michael hisses, ignoring Kalis question. "Out, all of you! I want to talk alone with Gabriel"
"Well tough, Christian. This is my temple and I´m staying", Kali states, sprawling lazily over the bed.
Michael goes a shade redder, then grabs Gabriel by the arm and almost wrestles his little brother out of the temple.
Well, Gabriel thinks, with one last glance at Kali, who looks slightly disappointed about missing the next part of the soap opera, if I get a bit of a break, maybe I can come up with a way how this could have gone worse.