Hello my darlings. I would like to thank Hllo-Beastie, CastiellaWinchester94, lovely21 and rainystv for the wonderful reviews. I'm glad you are all enjoying the story still.
So here we are next chapter, which hope will answer any questions you may have had.
Disclaimer: I don't own Supernatural.
Gabriel had been jumping every time the door to The Bakery opened, expecting Shiva to come walking through. By the end of the day he had become a nervous wreck. Of course that was when Shiva arrived. (Of course it was. I'm not that nice to my characters, or Supernatural's characters, whatever.)
"Hello Gabriel." He said smiling at the man as he watched his eyes visibly widen. However amusing it was that Gabriel was scared of him he really needed the man to get past it. (So true.)
"Hi Shiva." Gabriel replied trying and failing to sound casual.
"I was thinking we could go for a drink at my hotel." Shiva said gently. Trying to put Gabriel at ease.
"Okay. Um I just need to close up." Gabriel replied swallowing the lump in his throat.
"I can wait." Shiva said with a smile sitting himself down at one of the little tables.
"Great." Gabriel muttered under his breath, moving round the man to lock the door.
Once he had finished closing down The Bakery Gabriel could think of no other reason to delay his drink with Kali's father. He had no idea what he knew about the situation but Gabriel had decided that it was best he find out. He wanted to get back with Kali which meant that at some time in the future he would have this man as his father-in-law. He wanted to make sure that when that happened (and no if was not a word he would think in relation to Kali) that he had Shiva's approval.
They went to the lounge in the hotel. Shiva ordered them both glasses of the finest whiskey and settled into his chair not saying a word just looking at Gabriel.
Gabriel knew this trick of Shiva's of old. He would watch you until you broke down and told him everything. But strangely it had the opposite effect on Gabriel. Instead of making him more nervous it calmed him. It reminded him of all the times he and Shiva had played this game before. It reminded him of the family he had found in New York. He liked it. With a smirk he sat back and watched Shiva in returned not saying a word.
After a minute of silence Shiva let out a bark of laughter.
"You were always contrary to popular belief weren't you Gabriel?" He asked rhetorically as the waitress brought them there drinks.
"Still am." Gabriel replied taking a sip and appreciating the dark taste of whiskey in his throat.
"That you are. Now I have two things I wish to discuss with you. One personal and one completely business. Which shall we start with?" Shiva asked him taking a sip of his drink as well.
"That depends very much on what you know." Gabriel replied carefully putting down his glass.
"I know only what your brother told me." Shiva replied watching Gabriel like a hawk. He had his suspicions about something and he wanted to see if he was correct. (You most probably are. You seem the type that is always right.)
At that sentence Gabriel tensed up in his chair and turned his stare on Shiva as he carefully asked in a neutral voice "and which brother would that be?"
"Castiel." at that Gabriel let out the breath he had been holding and relaxed back into his chair. Thank god for that, though it did bring another question to mind.
"Why would Cassie tell you anything?" (Why do you think?)
"Because he wants you to be happy and he thought I might be able to help you win Kali back." Shiva replied with a shrug.
"And will you?" Gabriel asked hopefully.
"That very much depends on what you have to say here and now." Shiva responded the calculating look back in his eyes.
Gabriel thought about that for a moment before he spoke. "What do you want to know?"
"I know the reason you left. Or at least a cliffsNotes version. What I don't know is why you did not tell myself or Kali you were leaving or why you never returned." Shiva replied sitting back in his chair with his glass in hand and crossing his legs, trying to give off an air of relaxation to the man in front of him.
"I'm sure you can work that out." Gabriel smirked copying Shiva's pose.
"Yes I'm sure I could but I would prefer to hear it in your words. I would also like to know what Michael Novak was doing in my restaurant the day before you vanished." Shiva replied with a reasonable tone of voice.
Gabriel let out a sigh as he said "you know about that."
"I know everything that happens in my house Gabriel. You know that." Shiva responded with a tone that was friendly but also held a note of steel.
"Yeah I do." Gabriel replied taking another sip of his drink he was going to have to tell Shiva everything, and to do that he needed some sort of fortification.
"Well?" Shiva said when Gabriel didn't say anything else.
Gabriel let out a sigh and turned to look out the window next to him. Watching the world go by. He then started talking. "An hour after I got home from asking you for Kali's hand Cassie turned up on my doorstep. He'd run away from our brothers who wanted to cure him of being gay. Sneaked out of his locked room with the help of our cook. The only one who knew my exact location and the truth of what I was doing, I kept in contact with her, she was the one who taught me to cook after all, but anyway she had given him my address and the money to get there. I had thought that he could stay with me you know? Go to one of the New York colleges, I had the money to pay his fees. So that was the plan, until Michael came to visit." At that Gabriel stopped talking, the memories of the long forgotten time rising to the surface. How happy he had been about getting to marry Kali. How his life was going in the right direction. The feelings of anger he had had at his family when Castiel told him what had happened. And how he promised himself he would make Cassie happy. Cos that was what family did.
"What did he say?" Shiva asked when Gabriel stopped talking.
Gabriel snapped out of his memories and turned back to the man opposite him.
"He gave me two choices, give him Castiel or he would destroy everything I loved." Gabriel replied with a shrug as if he didn't care, but the look in his eyes told Shiva that the opposite was the case. That in fact, even now, after all these years, Gabriel could and would quite happily kill Michael for that threat.
"Kali." Shiva nodded as he uttered his daughter's name. Yes he knew Gabriel would never risk her.
"And by extension you." Gabriel said taking another sip of his drink as he looked at Shiva smiling and shaking his head over the rim of the glass.
"Michael Novak does not have the power to destroy me Gabriel, whatever he may believe to the contrary." Shiva said still smiling at young Gabriel's naïve.
"Yeah well I didn't really want to go round calling my brothers bluff. So I packed Cassie and myself up and put us into our little witness protection program." Gabriel replied with a smile on his face.
"And that is why you never explained." Shiva nodded his head in understanding. Gabriel was trying to protect them.
Gabriel was about to agree. Tell Shiva he was right, but he knew he couldn't lie to him. He needed to tell him the complete truth. As such he took a deep breath before he spoke again. "No. I knew if I told Kali she would want to come with me. I couldn't do that to her. I couldn't make her give up her dreams just because of my stupid family."
"So instead you let her go?" Shiva asked with a frown on his face.
"Yeah." Gabriel replied not looking at him, instead swirling the whiskey and watching it coat the sides of the glass.
"Have you ever regretted that decision?" Shiva asked gently making a small smile appear on Gabriel's face.
"No. Not once. She's become so much more than even I thought she could be." He replied wistfully at the thought of the woman he loved.
"And you?" Shiva probed.
"I'm content." Gabriel replied looking up and him and stopped playing with his glass.
"What are your dreams now Gabriel?" Shiva asked curiously.
"My only dream is having Kali back." Gabriel replied instantly. That was all he wanted now. He just wanted his Kali back.
"My dream is having you take over my legacy when I retire." Shiva said conversationally.
Gabriel's reply was immediate and absolute. "No."
"Why?" Shiva asked with the raise of eyebrows.
"I've been out of the game for 15 years Shiva. I can't do that stuff anymore." Gabriel replied shifting slightly under the intensity of Shiva's stare.
"I don't believe that for a second Gabriel, but be that as it may if you do take over I will of course subject you to intensive training for the job." Shiva said. He would have Gabriel take over. He would knock down every objection the boy could come up with. In this Shiva would win. (Yes I have a feeling you always win.)
"Wow way to sell it there." Gabriel said flippantly, hoping that Shiva would leave it alone, though knowing that wasn't likely to happen, ever. (Very true.)
"So will you take it?" Shiva asked smirking at him.
"No." Gabriel responded with a shake of his head. No way.
"Gabriel." Shiva said sternly and he knew what he wanted. Well he might as well get it out the way now. Sighing once again Gabriel spoke.
"It's not mine to have Shiva. That belongs to Kali."
"And yet you just asked her to marry you and wish to get her back correct?" Shiva asked, now they were getting somewhere. The true reason Gabriel wouldn't take what he was offering him.
"Yes." Gabriel replied through gritted teeth. He was pretty sure he knew where this was going.
"So what is hers is yours." Shiva said stretching his arms out with a smirk on his face. Gabriel couldn't stop the chuckle that left his lips as he just shook his head at the man.
"Don't let her hear you say that. She might just kill you, or me." Gabriel replied.
"Think about it. Kali will be here for the next 6 months or so. I'll give you that time to decide." Shiva haggled going back to business.
"I'll think about it." Gabriel agreed. And he would. It would very much depend on what happened between him and Kali in that time.
"Good, now what plans do you have to get Kali back." Shiva asked with a gleam in his eye. You could almost see him rubbing his hands together in glee. (Oh the plotting.)
"Honestly? I've kinda run out of them right now." Gabriel replied. He had no idea what to do to get Kali back.
"Come round to the store tomorrow at 2. Bring nothing but yourself and talk to her honestly." Shiva said with confidence.
"She wouldn't talk to me Shiva." Gabriel said warily. He didn't want to upset the man.
"You leave that to me. Speaking of which I must go have dinner with her. It was good seeing you again Gabriel." Shiva replied standing and slapping Gabriel on the shoulder.
"Good to see you to Shiva." Gabriel responded as the man made his way out of the lounge area. Leaving Gabriel to finish what remained of his drink and think over all they had just discussed, though mostly, what he would say to Kali tomorrow and how he felt about a dream he had given up as dead suddenly being once again in grasping distance.