As Castiel gazed balefully up at the stained tile of the motel ceiling, he couldn't help but think that he'd be much more comfortable in Dean's bed, surrounded by the scent of him. That was how he had planned to die; not like this. Not alone on a filthy duvet in a flea bag hotel in an alien world with only the muffled sound of adultery coming from the surrounding room to see him off. He was pulled from his melancholy musings by a soft thump from outside of his room. He glanced towards door. The handle rattled for a moment. Then the lock clicked and the door swung inward, revealing the form of a man silhouetted against the blazing sunset outside. Castiel watched with a mounting sense of dread as the silhouette stepped into the room. Cas tried unsuccessfully to make his limbs respond, but he was too weak.

The voice in his head pointed out that it was senseless for one who was waiting to die to panic at the prospect of death. That didn't stop him from straining to raise his body to a sitting position.

He looked back up as the door swung shut behing the man. Cas blinked, unable to make out any distinct features in the dim lighting.

"Well. Don't you look like something the cat dragged in and then regurgitated."

Cas squinched up his face in confusion.

"Gabriel?"

Gabriel flipped on the buzzing lights as he waltzed further into the room. He smiled broadly.

"In the flesh! Which was no small feat, let me tell you." He sashayed around Cas's bed and leaned on the headboard, laughing at him.

"Why are you here? " Cas demanded, trying to sound intimidating. He suspected that the trembling and sweating somewhat detracted from his menace.

"Ah, that is quite a tale. An epic story full of twists and turns and long, character-building challenges. But, I've got places to go and people to see, so I'll try and give you the bullet points version."

He pulled up a tattered armchair and put his feet up on Castiel's bed.

"It all started eons ago when I realized I had had enough of Dad, and our family, and their bull. So I ran."

"You became Loki," Castiel supplied, still subtly trying to regain his mobility.

"Not at first! No, first, I tried to leave the whole mess. The whole universe, even. The plan was to run as far as I possibly could, where no one who's even heard of our dimension could ever find me. But the thing is, in every universe I ran to, I could see Dad's handiwork, and I knew I wasn't really safe. Until," he paused and leaned forward for dramatic effect, "I discovered this place."

Castiel blinked, confused, as it seemed Gabriel wouldn't continue without prompting.

"What's so special about this place?" he asked, curious despite himself.

"Glad you asked! You see, the thing about this place? Dad can't enter. Apparently, nothing infused with his divine spark may enter this dimension. And I thought, 'hey, that's the perfect place to hide out!' Unfortunately, the very thing that made it perfect also made it impossible for me to get in. This universe sensed my grace and refused to let me enter. Ever since then, it's been my little obsession to break into this dimension."

Castiel took a moment to digest this.

"I don't understand. How can Our Father be exiled from anything? His presence suffuses all things. His power and might are as limitless as his mercy and wisdom," Castiel recited as though by rote.

"Or so he would have you believe. But apparently, in this dimension there arose a new, powerful Divine Force that kicked Dad's butt the hell out. Not only that, this thing made it so he and his could never enter this dimension again. Which, unfortunately, meant that no creature imbued with His grace could enter this world."

A light bulb went on in Castiel's head.

"Until me."

Gabriel smiled indulgently.

"Until you. Even without your grace, you're still an angel. You beat the system and in doing so, destroyed the barrier protecting this place. You created the loophole, bro. I just followed you in." Silence momentarily followed this declaration, so thick you could hear a pin drop. Eventually Gabriel broke the tension, unable to go without the sound of his own voice.

"Oh, don't be like that! I don't have any nefarious plan, I just wanted to get away from our father and our crazy family."

"How could you possibly know that Charlie would ask me to come to this world?" Cas asked, looking (and feeling) perplexed.

"Well, this is actually sort of complicated, but, I didn't. See," he said, beginning to pace, "I could never get into this universe. So throughout the centuries I've been putting schemes into place which, in time, were likely to open a gateway between our world and this one. Throwing a magical-winged-monkey-summoning-hat into this dimension, for instance. I figured, eventually, the monkeys would find their way home, and I could find a way to exploit any opening they made. It was kind of a goof, not the plan I thought would actually pay off. But then, imagine my surprise when little Charlie Bradbury takes up the quest. When a genius like her sets her mind to something, you can be darn sure that she's gonna accomplish it. I was monitoring the situation in Oz. I just manipulated you a little bit to help her out. Which, may or may not have required altering the passage of time in Oz."

"Why?"

"Why what? There's a lot of moving pieces here, you gotta be more specific."

"Why are you telling me this? You got what you wanted. You're in this dimension, although I fail to see how its safe now that the dimensional barrier is destroyed. What more do you want from me?" Castiel glared at him from his bed, angry at once again being manipulated.

"See, I thought you might feel that way. But the thing is..." Gabriel hesitated, "I like you, Cas. You don't got a lot of brains or common sense, but you've got heart. And even when you're fucking up spectacularly, you always try to do what's right, not what other people say is right."

"Gabriel..." Cas said warningly, forgetting for the moment that he was effectively helpless.

"And because you're my favorite little brother, I have a gift for you." Gabriel reached inside his jacket. When he pulled his hand out, there was something beautiful and white glowing within his closed fist. Cas's eyes widened, not quite believing what he was seeing. His gaze darted from the closed fist to Gabriel.

"Is that-"

"One of the side effects of dimensional magic? It leaves unexpected ripples in space AND in time. So if, say, someone were to open a portal to another world in the same spot where you did, even if it was opened BEFORE you opened your portal, it might lead to the same place. Enjoy your reward." Without further ado or any warning at all, he slammed his hand against Castiel's mouth. Castiel felt his consciousness greying out at the edges as everything that he was flooded his being in one giant, crashing wave. When the pain became too great he lost consciousness; so he didn't see the expression on Gabriel's face as he made his quiet retreat.