[SPN] faith is a series of complications (3/16; second act)
II: second act-no more dreaming of the dead.
It hurt, it had hurt a lot, and it still hurt.
It hurt, having your Grace pierced and shattered into a million fading fragments.
He recalled the moment it happened, the instant when the blade slipped through his ribs and struck right where it hurt most.
He remembers the look that Lucifer gave him, the momentary slip of the mask that crossed his face before his Grace burned out.
He wonders if the devil feels regret as he slips and falls to the ground, vision growing dark.
Gabriel wondered if it was coincidence or fate that he so happened to drop by the studio when he felt it happen. He couldn’t not feel it, not when he was the only supernatural being in this world-he had checked twice to make sure of that fact. A world that had no supernatural beings whatsoever besides himself; a blessing or a curse, the archangel really wasn’t sure what to make of it. Sure, he was glad that he could live here without any worries about being hunted, but on the other hand-
A world like this, so unused to the supernatural-when Balthazar had cast his spell and sent the Winchesters to this world, Gabriel had felt it. It hit him like a speeding truck, the sudden disturbance across the plane. Dimensional spells were always rather intrusive (which made sense, considering the fact that one was meddling with the very fabric of reality), but the feeling had been so much stronger, so much more intense-this was a world that was never used to the supernatural, and without the supernatural happening on a frequent basis the fabric of this reality was startlingly weak, which meant that the spell had more impact than it should have.
So yes, he had felt the disturbance, and the sudden surge of wrongness that echoed across the plane was so strong and violent that it felt like he was being run over by a speeding truck. Of course, he was curious-hard not to be, when this was the first supernatural thing that happened since the time that you randomly woke up to find yourself in a body that was and wasn’t yours at the same time. Just as he was Richard Speight Jr, he was also Gabriel the Archangel and Loki the Trickster. It was a bit weird at first, but Gabriel quickly got used to it; it wasn’t that hard becoming the man the rest of the world thought he was anyway, and he even enjoyed some of it. It was a good life, one that required no hiding and no lying at every corner of the way. No angel or demon or pagan god would ever find him here, which made everything so much sweeter.
But now.
Now, the Winchesters were here with news he wished he never heard. But he did hear it and now said news was gnawing at his conscience as he turned around on his bed, trying to catch some sleep. Gabriel liked to tell himself that he wasn’t concerned, but he knew that he was-even back when he had been in Heaven, Castiel had always been a curious thing. The little guy had been under his garrison, after all. A garrison that he left behind when he fled and hid as the Trickster, a garrison that would later break apart further because of Anna, who took charge and then later Fell, before Uriel turned against his brothers and sister for Lucifer. And now Balthazar had left too, leaving Castiel alone to try and hold everything together…
Gabriel sighed, feeling a frown forming on his face as he tried and failed to banish the thoughts and images from his head. Castiel had always been the smartest and brightest of the lot, full of curiosity and hope and well-wishes for the future. But at the same time he was young, young and naïve and far too innocent, almost like a child-which did make some sort of sense, he supposed, considering that Castiel was pretty much the last angel that popped into existence before the big guy went AWOL.
Another sigh escaped him as the archangel turned to the other side on his bed, his mind flooded with memories of the time spent in heaven with his garrison. Balthazar learning from him, his ever quick-witted protégé; Anna and her fierce determination, the single-minded stubbornness that Gabriel used to tease her about; Uriel with his strength and might, the once-dependable ally-and then Castiel, the tactician, the strategist, sharp and smart and even until now so painfully naïve, so trusting.
But at the same time, it was that trust that made him rebel against Heaven, rebel against the Host to aid Dean and put an end to the end itself. It was that very trust that was making him fight a losing battle, pitting himself against the most fearsome wrath of Heaven-a wrath that had ended him once before and would do so again in a heartbeat.
It wasn’t a particularly comforting thought.
There was already that part of him that was telling him to go back to where Castiel was and help the little guy, help him keep Heaven in check and make sure that nothing like the last few years happened again. And Gabriel wanted to, he really did, but memories of Lucifer and the Elysian Fields hotel kept flashing across his mind, making the archangel groan and press his face to the side of his pillow. He didn’t want to go through that again-couldn’t. Not again, not like that. Once was more than enough, and he didn’t want to put himself in danger of an encore performance. He didn’t belong there anyway, not anymore. Lucifer had killed him in that world, and there was no reason for him to be there again. This world was where he lived now, as shitty as it was sometimes.
A shitty world where Sam and Dean weren’t Sam and Dean but Jared and Jensen-two guys who really needed to get wasted, in his most professional opinion; the only comfort he ever found was in Misha, and even that was debatable. It wasn’t a good world, not really, but it had been quiet and peaceful, and Gabriel did find it comforting, being able to live without worry of anything hunting him here when he was the only supernatural being. Which did make him the best and the most powerful, also placed him at the top with nobody else alongside him.
He didn’t want to admit it, but it was lonely, being here. He was away from his home, his world, everything that he knew and had been so intimately familiar with, staying in this place that wasn’t even all that great. He had just been taking each day as it was, drifting through without thinking about just why or how he was here-he didn’t want to bring himself to care. He was here and he wasn’t dead, and Gabriel had been content to keep it that way and maintain the status quo.
Now with the Winchesters showing up and telling him about what happened, keeping said status quo now seemed to be more and more impossible. The Apocalypse was a big thing-big in the sense that it wasn’t just limited to that world, it was something that would affect all worlds. The impact of a world being destroyed was devastating; it had happened only a few times, all back before humans existed and time wasn’t even a concept that existed yet. Even then the impact had sent Gabriel reeling… he didn’t want to think how it would be now, with things as they were.
It’d be pretty bad of me to let Cas die like this, Gabriel sighed to himself, turning to face the ceiling that was shadowed by his curtains. I guess I can go there and stick around for a bit. It’s not like I’m doing much in this world anyway. And hey, once he was done he could always return here and pretend that none of it ever happened. As far as Gabriel was concerned, it was a pretty good plan-he could get his small dose of adventure, and he’d be doing something of a good deed. It was a win-win situation for all. Even as he thought that however, there was a small part of him that was convinced otherwise.
The part of him that got him killed.
Gabriel wondered if he could get it to shut up.
It wasn’t too much of a surprise to see the Bozo brothers already up when he got up himself, although he couldn’t help but huff a little at the impatience that Dean was letting out once he had shown Gabriel the spell that Balthazar had performed on them (which Gabriel couldn’t help but be a little impressed by-he didn’t know his protégé had the ability to whip up something like that). Even without feeling it, the impatience was only all too obvious from the tone of his voice as Dean snapped at him. “When are we going to leave, Gabriel?”
“As soon as Clif arrives.” He had called the driver earlier-much to the man's confusion seeing as it was supposed to be either of the J's who should do the calling-so it would still be a bit more before their car arrived. “Just be patient, will you? I can’t go Air Angel.”
Dean glared at the archangel a while more, but eventually did deflate and sat back down in his seat. Sam sighed and continued to eat the toast Gabriel had so nicely snapped into existence for them. (“You can snap things up, but not take us there?” “Transportation uses up more energy that you can imagine, Sammy. Besides, I can only snap up little things like these.”)
Just as promised, the car arrived as soon as the brothers were done with their food, and Gabriel snapped the plates away before taking the lead in heading to the car. He shooed the two into the back and rode shotgun himself (much to Dean’s displeasure once more, but he took some indulgence in that fact).
“Must have been one heck of a night last night,” the driver noted neutrally, sunglasses hiding the expression that crossed his face.
Gabriel grinned. “You should join us one of these days, Clif. It’s fun.”
“No thanks, Richard,” Clif replied as he started up the car and drove them to the studio without another word. Gabriel didn’t live too far from the place, so it only took about thirty minutes to get there. The archangel tried not to think about how everything was going to change during the ride, and quickly snapped himself out of his thoughts as the car pulled up at the entrance, signalling that they had arrived.
“Pick us up at five,” Gabriel went before Clif could speak, getting out of the car along with the Winchesters and giving the driver a wave as he drove off to park the car and do his thing… whatever Clif did at the studio, anyway. Gabriel really didn’t know much aside from the fact that he worked as J-squared’s bodyguard-cum-driver. Talk about multiple positions.
Once Clif and the car had vanished around the corner the archangel turned back to the brothers, clapping his hands once and rubbing his palms against each other. “Alrighty, let’s get cracking as much as we can before show time starts.”
“…Show time?” the look on Dean’s face was next to incredulous as he said that, and Gabriel couldn’t help but grin a little. What, did the Winchesters think this was going to be a five-second affair? Pffft. (Actually, it pretty much was once he snapped up the ingredients, but the brothers didn’t need to know that-he wanted to see how they would be on camera anyway. TV Land didn’t count.)
“Yep,” he replied, wagging a finger. “Filming starts in about ten minutes and lasts for about three hours, which is just about enough time for me to get the correct ingredients and get the spell ready. Once recess starts I can work on sending you guys back and we can all pretend none of this ever happened.”
Along with myself, a part of him added mentally, but Gabriel expertly shut that part of him up. Nothing was certain yet.
The brothers exchanged looks with each other once more, the action making Gabriel raise an eyebrow and then two when Sam turned to look at the archangel and cautiously spoke up. “We appreciate that, but we’re not quite sure what will happen once we’re on the other side. I mean, we have the keys to the hiding place of the weapons that Balthazar stole from Heaven.”
Trying to lure him in now, were they? That was an utterly pathetic attempt if Gabriel had ever seen one-Ganesh would have done so much better, and that elephant was hardly a master of subtlety. The archangel let out a loud hiss of breath, wondering if stopping the Apocalypse made the brothers dumber or something; it sure seemed like that was the case to him. “I’m sure Cas and Balthazar will get to you once you guys return.”
“Along with Raphael,” Dean pointed out darkly, glaring daggers.
“-who they’re prepared for, I’m sure,” Gabriel returned, even though his mind was telling him something else entirely. This was an archangel they were going up against; how certain could he be that they could even handle whatever that Raphael had in store for them? To be completely honest, dying would probably be the best case scenario for them. Maybe.
Go help them, the sensible, righteous part of him was saying, but the archangel shut it once more. He did not need to put himself in danger of getting himself killed again, thank you very much. Even for an angel, dying did happen to be a very big deal-sure he managed to survive the last time (not that he knew how, but Gabriel wasn’t going to question things that shouldn’t be questioned), but there was no way of telling what could happen the next time. Better to be safe than sorry, and all that jazz.
One of the stagehands from the set was shouting at Dean and Sam to come on over to get ready for the filming, which was Gabriel’s cue to start cracking. Going up to the brothers, he pointed them towards said stagehand before speaking up. “Both of you go to that nice chap over there and he’ll bring you to the places you need to be. Get your script, don’t ask questions and do your part. If things go well enough, filming might end earlier which means you guys can go home sooner.” Not that he expected it to, really-the director would most likely maximize all the available time anyway. Gabriel figured it was best to let the boys have a little hope as he shoved them lightly towards the stagehand, moving off after that to start snapping up the needed ingredients.
The boys were so going to hate him for this later, but hey-it had been a while, and Gabriel needed his entertainment. Being the outcast in this world would only let him do so much, and he wanted to have his fun.
(And hey, he didn’t even need to lift a finger this time round. Figuratively speaking, of course.)
If Gabriel had thought TV Land was the best thing he had ever done, then he was finding himself corrected now. This was the best thing he had ever done, and by the third take he was already struggling with the effort to not burst out in laughter because holy shit, these boys were so bad that no words could describe just how bad this really was. Hell, they could give Twilight a run for their money if this ever came to air. Even Misha with his usual brand of douchebag-ness and desire to troll was looking far too unamused as he put on his Castiel lineface (of which he could see the Misha-brand of unamusement bleeding through now) and said his line for what seemed to be like the millionth (actually the eighth) time.
“Balthazar is no hero-” he started, and Gabriel had to try to not snort because yeah, Balthazar really was no hero. “But he knows Raphael will never take him back.”
Dean started to move to his mark now, and the way he moved was more than enough to start sending Gabriel into hysterics-although that didn’t happen, since Gabriel did a very impressive job of not bursting out into laughter even as Dean said his line (“Dean, grimly. And yet, somehow you got no problem with it.”) in the worst false voice ever, which made poor Bob Singer snap out a “Cut!” in pure distress.
The archangel just managed to straighten himself as the bell rung, looking at Misha as the actor looked back at him and mouthed a very appropriate ‘What the hell?’ towards him.
Gabriel only grinned and mouthed back a ‘Very busy night’ in response and tried not to laugh too hard at the wide eyes he received for that.
“If there’s a key then there has to be a lock. And when we find the lock we can get the weapons, and then we can have the weapons. And the lock. We’ll still have the lock, I imagine, because we’ve opened it, and of course, the initial key-”
Gabriel was already on the floor laughing his guts out like never before by the time Bob cried out the thirtieth “Cut!” in two hours, easily ignoring the bewildered looks that the rest of the crew were sending him as he attempted to recover.
“What is happening?!” came the voice of Bob while Gabriel started to get back on his feet.
“An atrocity is happening,” Serge replied.
“Oh yeah, a right atrocity,” the archangel added with a grin, tears still at the corners of his eyes. “I’ve never been more amused in my life, and that’s saying something.”
Once the bell sounded and Bob could do nothing else but bash his head against the wall and contact Sera in hopes of salvaging their eventual downfall, Gabriel went over to where the brothers were, grinning as he saw Dean making a gesture to his brother that could only be interpreted as “Gun. Mouth. Now.”
Yep, pure gold, right here. The archangel laughed as he stepped forward, waving at Misha who was currently furiously tweeting (‘IMHO, J and J plus Rich had a late one last night.’) before turning back to the boys. “Having fun so far?”
“Fuck you,” Dean instantly growled out in return.
Yeah, he couldn’t regret this.
“How much longer do we have to do this?” Sam added and geez, weren’t they both all sunshine and rainbows.
“You’ve given me enough blackmail material for ten lifetimes, boys,” Gabriel started, grinning even more at the way Misha snapped his head up to stare at him before starting to furiously tweet yet again. (He could hear it now: ‘Rich totally conned J-squared into something. ROFTLMAO.’ Priceless.) Pointedly ignoring the combined power of the brothers’ glares, Gabriel held his hands up in a sign of surrender. “Alright, alright, no need to get all angry at me, kids. I’m done. Just gotta wait until the guys are out and then I can work on sending you two back. But before that-”
“What now?” Dean went with a snarl, glaring daggers at Gabriel.
“Now, Dean-o, is break time, which means you boys gotta clear out this place too. We’ll be back here in thirty.” Gabriel grinned at them again, turning around with a wave as he made his way off the set. “See you in a bit, boys.”
It was far more amusing than it should, really, seeing the utter confusion that was now running rampant across the crew as they all puzzled over Sam and Dean’s-or rather, Jared and Jensen’s-abrupt change overnight. Of course, none of them would ever be able to figure out the exact truth, as startlingly close as their script was to what was happening now. It was kind of funny, really, how their show was all about the supernatural, yet not even one supernatural idea crossed their minds to explain this mess. Not that Gabriel could blame them; this place (world) had been pretty supernatural-free until he came along.
And I’m still the exception to the rule, the archangel thought to himself as he waved at a couple of passing stagehands and, satisfied with examining the chaos running around the place, started to make his way to where he kept the bowl he had prepared the mixture in. It was almost the very same mixture that Balthazar had thrown together to send the two here, except with a few differences; differences that were needed since unlike Balthazar, he had no connection to the Host and thus needed a few more potent things to make the spell work. If he had to be honest, Gabriel wasn’t too sure if this was going to work, but he had enough confidence in his abilities. For all the years spent hiding out on Earth and being the Trickster (well not the Trickster, but it was close enough), he was still an angel first and foremost.
An archangel, Gabriel reminded himself when he grabbed the disposable bowl sitting almost innocently at the buffet table. Getting the materials hadn’t posed too much of a problem, although he was never going to mix things in the toilet again. At least the stagehand that walked in on him when he was taking out the blood seemed to be a lot happier after getting a hastily signed autograph and fifty dollars; one of the perks of being famous… one way or another.
With the bowl secure in his hands, Gabriel started to make his way back to the set, where Sam and Dean were most likely waiting for him, but just as he was passing the sewer set, the all-too familiar sounds of a commotion reached his ears along with the shouts of the two brothers. Trouble already and it hadn’t even been time yet-couldn’t they just stay still for thirty minutes? The archangel swore under his breath as he made his way towards where all the noise was coming from and popped in from the other end where the action was going on.
Dean was too occupied with the stagehands restraining him, but Sam (the giant that he was and thus being tall enough) caught sight of Gabriel at the other end and shouted across the set. “He’s got the key!”
What? Gabriel only had a second to process the information before his mind registered the man-no, not man, angel-running down the set and soon past him. Without thinking the archangel instantly was on the move, throwing up the bowl in the air before he went in for a tackle, kicking the guy right in his gut to send him sprawling down onto the ground. The key flew out from the other’s grip from the force of the blow, but the archangel quickly snapped it to his side along with the bowl he had thrown up earlier, its contents still safe and secure.
Cling wrap was a wonderful invention.
The angel was still curled up in pain from the strength that Gabriel had thrown into his kick, and the archangel looked down impassively as Sam and Dean rushed forward, stagehands soon following behind as they all stared at the half-conscious figure on the ground.
“Richard-” Bob started, but Gabriel already held up one hand to hush the director and turned around to look at him.
“It’s Gabriel, Bob,” he started, smirking a little at the splutter that came with those words before he continued. “Yes, the Gabriel you guys so nicely killed off just as I was finally getting a fan club. Now if you don’t mind, I’d appreciate it if you guys can take this chap on the ground away so that I can have a sortie with J-squared to see how we should convince you all that this is one bad and somehow still hilarious joke.”
There was a terse silence that followed after those lines, but then Gabriel went “Now” in his best commanding voice and that was enough to get everybody except Sam and Dean scrambling away, some of them taking the angel away with them as they left.
Both Sam and Dean stared at Gabriel as the archangel turned back to them. “Well, now that I’ve so nicely destroyed both my reputation and disguise, I think it’s time for us to return. Wouldn’t you agree?”
The Winchesters looked at each other at that, sending equally confused looks-and Sam was the one who spoke up after a pause, glancing back at Gabriel and nodding. “Uh, yeah. Sounds great.”
With the crew occupied by the random angel that had somehow managed to come to this world (Gabriel had a feeling that he should know said angel’s name but for some reason he couldn’t remember properly), Gabriel quickly took the chance to get things going before more damage could be done, dragging both Sam and Dean to the now-cleared studio.
“Let’s make this quick,” Gabriel went, speaking as he busied himself with removing the cling wrap from the top of the bowl so that he could reach into it and scoop out a generous amount of blood on his index and middle finger, painting the symbol onto the glass panel. “Once I’m done you guys jump through like before, and you two should be back before anybody can say ‘Qudditch’.”
“‘Should’ be back?” Dean questioned instantly, and Gabriel cursed himself for his choice of words. Smooth work there, self.
The archangel clenched his jaw, scowling as he continued to work on his task. “Should, alright? I can’t use the exact spell that Balthazar did-it’s too weak to work in this world, seeing as I’m only one angel and Balthazar still had a connection to the Host when he did this to you guys.” He hated that he had to admit this, admit that he was weak even though he was the strongest in this world-but it was a fact that compared to back there he was about as strong as a baby; heck, even Castiel could probably overpower him at this moment. It was tempting, just a bit, to go with the Winchesters back to where he was supposed to be-but no, he couldn’t; it’d most likely do more harm than good no matter how he thought about it.
Gabriel shook his head, dislodging the unhappy thoughts in his head as he finished up the symbol and tossed the bowl away, stepping back. “Alright, there. Just jump through and go straight home and get Cas to pick you up or something.”
Dean muttered an ‘about freaking time’ under his breath and started to make his way to the window, but Sam stood in his place and turned his head over to look at Gabriel, biting his lip. “…you sure you don’t want to come with us, Gabriel?”
“Yes, I’m sure,” he hissed back, not really wanting to discuss this with Sam Winchester of all people; it wasn’t really going to end well if he did. “Just go before-”
“You two are not going to escape from me so easily!”
“-that.” Well, not that it mattered anymore; the random angel had somehow returned to consciousness, wriggled his way out from the people who had been holding him and was quickly making his way to Sam and Dean, and Gabriel knew there wasn’t going to be a choice in the matter. Not when the rest of the crew was running up from behind, anyway. Besides, he really didn’t want to deal with the backlash and crap that this was going to cause. Taking in a deep breath Gabriel turned to the brothers, shouting at them to go as he lunged out and tackled the angel to the ground, trying to keep him away and prevent him from following the two humans.
“Go away, human!” the angel snapped back, Grace blazing in his eyes and-oh yeah, now he remembered who this guy was.
“Maybe next time, Virgil,” he returned with a not-too kind smile, raising one fist. “Nighty-night now. Say hello to Raph for me later.”
Virgil’s eyes widened at the mention of his name, as well as the casual way the archangel was talking about his boss (not that Virgil would ever know what hit him-literally), too stunned to defend himself as Gabriel swung down his fist with every intention of knocking the angel out-but then found his wrist being held back by an iron grip belonging to Bob Singer himself. “Let go, Richard!”
“I already told you, its-” Gabriel started, breaking off with a yelp when Virgil took the chance while he was distracted to shove the archangel off him and run for the window where Sam and Dean were just starting to leap through. With no time to waste Gabriel did a small snap to get himself out of the entanglement he had been stuck into with Bob, running after the angel hit man and leaping right after him with a shout. “Oh no you don’t!” he cried out as he tried to reach out with his arm, attempting to grab Virgil by his ankle and pull him back-
But then there was a crash that resounded in his ears and the next thing he knew, the archangel found himself sprawled over asphalt and had the taste of dirt in his mouth, something Gabriel tried to spit out as he pushed himself back up off the ground, eyes darting about as he looked at his surroundings. Cars, trees, dirt, night sky-yeah, he wasn’t in the studio anymore.
Dean and Sam were getting up beside him, both brothers equally confused as they looked around, trying to place where they were. Gabriel turned around to look behind him-Virgil wasn’t there. Did he not manage to get through the window?
The duo seemed to have noticed too since Dean was now frowning at the spot Gabriel was staring. Dean had just about to start talking (“Where’s-”) before he suddenly stopped with his eyes wide, hands flying to his throat as he gasped for air. Sam was on his brother in an instant, crying out his sibling’s name in worry and concern for a few seconds before there was that tell-tale rustle of wings which Gabriel knew all too well who it belonged to, because this guy was his brother.
“If you want him to live,” Raphael started as the elder archangel walked in the female vessel he was now possessing, black eyes staring flatly at Sam alone. “Then pass me the keys.” Beside him/her was Virgil, looking rather smug as the angel hit man sneered at the brothers and then at Gabriel too. Gabriel himself resisted the urge to respond in kind, choosing to stare back coolly at Raphael as s/he turned to lay his/her gaze on him, frowning.
Virgil started to step forward, but Raphael raised an arm to stop the hit man from moving and stared at Gabriel for a while more before turning away. “There is no need to pick on strangers, Virgil. The Winchesters are who we should be dealing with.”
Gabriel froze at that along with the Winchesters, and he couldn’t ignore the stunned look that Sam was giving him or the fact that he was just as lost himself. Raphael… couldn’t recognize him? Seriously? What was going on here? It hardly seemed like the other archangel was kidding-Raphael had regarded him with all the curiosity of a human looking down at an ant. Gabriel knew that look well enough to know that Raphael really didn’t know him at all and wasn’t joking. The question was why.
What the heck is going on here? Gabriel thought to himself as he stared between Raphael and the brothers now, trying to figure out the sudden mystery that had popped up. Why couldn’t Raphael recognize him? Even if he was in another body, his Grace should be something that the other archangel would know. To just brush him aside like this, not knowing it at all… it did hurt. Raphael was still his brother, even if he was a dick too. He still had been family, and now his last brother had just cast him aside. It hurt more than Gabriel could make himself admit, the pain lurching in his gut, making him stay frozen to the spot even as Raphael advanced towards the two humans.
“Give me the key, Sam Winchester, and I will spare your brother’s pathetic life.” Raphael’s voice was a growl now, impatience dripping from the elder archangel’s tone as Sam stayed in his place, still trying to stop Dean from choking himself to death. “Now.”
The younger Winchester gritted his teeth as he glared at Raphael, obviously not too happy with this. He glanced over to Gabriel and the archangel nodded, and then Sam tossed the keys over towards Raphael who caught them easily in the vessel’s hand.
“-and that, my friend, will open you a locker at the Albany bus station,” went a new voice that belonged to none of them, and all heads turned towards the slim figure of Balthazar as he stepped out from the shadows, a smile playing across his lips.
Virgil started to move again, but Raphael stopped him and turned to place his/her gaze evenly towards the other angel. “Really.”
“You see,” Balthazar started, the smile only growing bigger as he waved his hands idly. “I needed a modest decoy to make this entire act all the more convincing.”
Gabriel’s eyes narrowed as he slowly put two and two together, but Raphael didn’t seem to care for whatever Balthazar was saying, only growling at him. “Give me the weapons.”
Balthazar inclined his head at Raphael, putting on a false expression of sympathy when he replied. “Sorry, darling, but they’re gone.”
The glare from Raphael was instantly dangerous and demanding. “What?!”
“I said, too bloody late,” the angel drawled back in turn, eyes rolling. “You see, they were so well-hidden that I needed time to find them. So,” he gestured towards the brothers who were busy recovering now that Raphael had stopped trying to get Dean to strangle himself. “I volunteered these two marmosets for a game of fetch with Virgil.” That said, he turned towards Sam and Dean, bowing a little in a gesture of false gratitude. “You two were such an adequate stick. Thank you. Thank you, boys.”
The brothers were hardly appeased by that display, but none more so then Raphael who now had a stormy expression on his vessel’s face as s/he took a step closer towards Balthazar, thunder rumbling overhead. “You’ve made your last mistake,” the archangel hissed, a dangerous glare now fixed at the lesser angel.
Rather than being frightened, however, Balthazar merely shrugged, a smirk on his face as he replied almost sweetly. “Oh, I’ve got a few more tricks up my sleeve, honey.”
There was no pause from that comment-as soon as Balthazar had said that, there was the rustle of wings as another angel appeared, and Gabriel looked as Castiel stepped onto the playing field, back straight and his face set in a grim sort of determination that reminded him of Dean. His voice was low, even lower than usual as he took another step forward, facing Raphael without even so much as flinching as he spoke. “Step away from them, Raphael. I have the weapons now. Their power is with me.” And he saw it. Father, he saw it; the shadow of magnificent, giant wings that jumped out as lightning flashed and thunder rumbled in retaliation.
“Castiel.” Raphael’s tone was curt, but Gabriel could hear the wariness that had edged into the corner of the archangel’s voice.
Cas kept his gaze on Raphael, waiting for the Winchesters to fully recover and get back on their feet again before replying. “If you don’t want to die tonight, back off.”
“You insolent-” Virgil started, but Raphael cut him off quickly and gazed at Castiel, an almost-sneer crossing the female vessel’s features.
“You will regret this, Castiel,” was all that the archangel said, and in the next moment the two had vanished, the retreating roll of thunder being the only thing left of Raphael’s appearance there.
Balthazar rolled his shoulders in a small shrug once Raphael was gone, working a crick out of his neck as he tucked his hands into the pocket of his pants. He glanced around, noting the Winchesters, Castiel and of course, Gabriel who was still sitting on the ground and trying to properly digest everything that had transpired.
He snapped out of his reverie as Balthazar tilted his head, studying the archangel in curiosity. “And who just might you be now?”
Gabriel opened his mouth to respond before he even thought over his words. “A thousand years and you can’t remember your awesome teacher? You suck, Bal.”
The response only made Balthazar widen his eyes, surprise clear on his features as he looked over to Castiel, the other angel turning to regard Gabriel with a questioning gaze as well. The frown that crossed on Cas’ face didn’t seem that all comforting as the lesser angel tried out tentatively. “…Gabriel.”
“In the flesh, bro,” he answered, now pushing himself up to get back on his feet.
“Lucifer killed you.”
Gabriel slapped his hands against the back of his jeans, making a face. “Well, I managed to survive. Can we stop harping on that?”
“No, I don’t think Lucy killing you is the issue here,” Balthazar interjected, making a gesture with his hands. His face was serious now, his gaze steady on Gabriel while he talked. “You died, Gabriel. You were literally unmade by your own sword. All of us felt it across the Host. There was no way you could have survived.”
“Well,” Gabriel started slowly now, because he did not like where this conversation was going and he had this rather bad feeling that he’d rather not prod into. “What can I say? I’m good at defying fate.”
Castiel’s frown deepened even more as the angel tilted his head, studying Gabriel with even more scrutiny than before. Gabriel wasn’t really sure what to feel about that as he looked to the Winchesters. “Uh, guys? A little help here?” Dean was the one who always was at the end of these kinds of looks, so he could do something about it, right? Right?
Sam only shrugged helplessly, but Dean broke the silence, looking over to Castiel and calling out to him. “Is there something wrong, Cas?”
“Yes,” Castiel replied, expression and voice solemn as he fixed his intense blue gaze on Gabriel even though his words were for Dean. Even then, Gabriel couldn’t help but feel his blood freeze at the next words that the angel said. “I can’t sense Gabriel at all.”
← first act | third act →
It hurt, it had hurt a lot, and it still hurt.
It hurt, having your Grace pierced and shattered into a million fading fragments.
He recalled the moment it happened, the instant when the blade slipped through his ribs and struck right where it hurt most.
He remembers the look that Lucifer gave him, the momentary slip of the mask that crossed his face before his Grace burned out.
He wonders if the devil feels regret as he slips and falls to the ground, vision growing dark.
Gabriel wondered if it was coincidence or fate that he so happened to drop by the studio when he felt it happen. He couldn’t not feel it, not when he was the only supernatural being in this world-he had checked twice to make sure of that fact. A world that had no supernatural beings whatsoever besides himself; a blessing or a curse, the archangel really wasn’t sure what to make of it. Sure, he was glad that he could live here without any worries about being hunted, but on the other hand-
A world like this, so unused to the supernatural-when Balthazar had cast his spell and sent the Winchesters to this world, Gabriel had felt it. It hit him like a speeding truck, the sudden disturbance across the plane. Dimensional spells were always rather intrusive (which made sense, considering the fact that one was meddling with the very fabric of reality), but the feeling had been so much stronger, so much more intense-this was a world that was never used to the supernatural, and without the supernatural happening on a frequent basis the fabric of this reality was startlingly weak, which meant that the spell had more impact than it should have.
So yes, he had felt the disturbance, and the sudden surge of wrongness that echoed across the plane was so strong and violent that it felt like he was being run over by a speeding truck. Of course, he was curious-hard not to be, when this was the first supernatural thing that happened since the time that you randomly woke up to find yourself in a body that was and wasn’t yours at the same time. Just as he was Richard Speight Jr, he was also Gabriel the Archangel and Loki the Trickster. It was a bit weird at first, but Gabriel quickly got used to it; it wasn’t that hard becoming the man the rest of the world thought he was anyway, and he even enjoyed some of it. It was a good life, one that required no hiding and no lying at every corner of the way. No angel or demon or pagan god would ever find him here, which made everything so much sweeter.
But now.
Now, the Winchesters were here with news he wished he never heard. But he did hear it and now said news was gnawing at his conscience as he turned around on his bed, trying to catch some sleep. Gabriel liked to tell himself that he wasn’t concerned, but he knew that he was-even back when he had been in Heaven, Castiel had always been a curious thing. The little guy had been under his garrison, after all. A garrison that he left behind when he fled and hid as the Trickster, a garrison that would later break apart further because of Anna, who took charge and then later Fell, before Uriel turned against his brothers and sister for Lucifer. And now Balthazar had left too, leaving Castiel alone to try and hold everything together…
Gabriel sighed, feeling a frown forming on his face as he tried and failed to banish the thoughts and images from his head. Castiel had always been the smartest and brightest of the lot, full of curiosity and hope and well-wishes for the future. But at the same time he was young, young and naïve and far too innocent, almost like a child-which did make some sort of sense, he supposed, considering that Castiel was pretty much the last angel that popped into existence before the big guy went AWOL.
Another sigh escaped him as the archangel turned to the other side on his bed, his mind flooded with memories of the time spent in heaven with his garrison. Balthazar learning from him, his ever quick-witted protégé; Anna and her fierce determination, the single-minded stubbornness that Gabriel used to tease her about; Uriel with his strength and might, the once-dependable ally-and then Castiel, the tactician, the strategist, sharp and smart and even until now so painfully naïve, so trusting.
But at the same time, it was that trust that made him rebel against Heaven, rebel against the Host to aid Dean and put an end to the end itself. It was that very trust that was making him fight a losing battle, pitting himself against the most fearsome wrath of Heaven-a wrath that had ended him once before and would do so again in a heartbeat.
It wasn’t a particularly comforting thought.
There was already that part of him that was telling him to go back to where Castiel was and help the little guy, help him keep Heaven in check and make sure that nothing like the last few years happened again. And Gabriel wanted to, he really did, but memories of Lucifer and the Elysian Fields hotel kept flashing across his mind, making the archangel groan and press his face to the side of his pillow. He didn’t want to go through that again-couldn’t. Not again, not like that. Once was more than enough, and he didn’t want to put himself in danger of an encore performance. He didn’t belong there anyway, not anymore. Lucifer had killed him in that world, and there was no reason for him to be there again. This world was where he lived now, as shitty as it was sometimes.
A shitty world where Sam and Dean weren’t Sam and Dean but Jared and Jensen-two guys who really needed to get wasted, in his most professional opinion; the only comfort he ever found was in Misha, and even that was debatable. It wasn’t a good world, not really, but it had been quiet and peaceful, and Gabriel did find it comforting, being able to live without worry of anything hunting him here when he was the only supernatural being. Which did make him the best and the most powerful, also placed him at the top with nobody else alongside him.
He didn’t want to admit it, but it was lonely, being here. He was away from his home, his world, everything that he knew and had been so intimately familiar with, staying in this place that wasn’t even all that great. He had just been taking each day as it was, drifting through without thinking about just why or how he was here-he didn’t want to bring himself to care. He was here and he wasn’t dead, and Gabriel had been content to keep it that way and maintain the status quo.
Now with the Winchesters showing up and telling him about what happened, keeping said status quo now seemed to be more and more impossible. The Apocalypse was a big thing-big in the sense that it wasn’t just limited to that world, it was something that would affect all worlds. The impact of a world being destroyed was devastating; it had happened only a few times, all back before humans existed and time wasn’t even a concept that existed yet. Even then the impact had sent Gabriel reeling… he didn’t want to think how it would be now, with things as they were.
It’d be pretty bad of me to let Cas die like this, Gabriel sighed to himself, turning to face the ceiling that was shadowed by his curtains. I guess I can go there and stick around for a bit. It’s not like I’m doing much in this world anyway. And hey, once he was done he could always return here and pretend that none of it ever happened. As far as Gabriel was concerned, it was a pretty good plan-he could get his small dose of adventure, and he’d be doing something of a good deed. It was a win-win situation for all. Even as he thought that however, there was a small part of him that was convinced otherwise.
The part of him that got him killed.
Gabriel wondered if he could get it to shut up.
It wasn’t too much of a surprise to see the Bozo brothers already up when he got up himself, although he couldn’t help but huff a little at the impatience that Dean was letting out once he had shown Gabriel the spell that Balthazar had performed on them (which Gabriel couldn’t help but be a little impressed by-he didn’t know his protégé had the ability to whip up something like that). Even without feeling it, the impatience was only all too obvious from the tone of his voice as Dean snapped at him. “When are we going to leave, Gabriel?”
“As soon as Clif arrives.” He had called the driver earlier-much to the man's confusion seeing as it was supposed to be either of the J's who should do the calling-so it would still be a bit more before their car arrived. “Just be patient, will you? I can’t go Air Angel.”
Dean glared at the archangel a while more, but eventually did deflate and sat back down in his seat. Sam sighed and continued to eat the toast Gabriel had so nicely snapped into existence for them. (“You can snap things up, but not take us there?” “Transportation uses up more energy that you can imagine, Sammy. Besides, I can only snap up little things like these.”)
Just as promised, the car arrived as soon as the brothers were done with their food, and Gabriel snapped the plates away before taking the lead in heading to the car. He shooed the two into the back and rode shotgun himself (much to Dean’s displeasure once more, but he took some indulgence in that fact).
“Must have been one heck of a night last night,” the driver noted neutrally, sunglasses hiding the expression that crossed his face.
Gabriel grinned. “You should join us one of these days, Clif. It’s fun.”
“No thanks, Richard,” Clif replied as he started up the car and drove them to the studio without another word. Gabriel didn’t live too far from the place, so it only took about thirty minutes to get there. The archangel tried not to think about how everything was going to change during the ride, and quickly snapped himself out of his thoughts as the car pulled up at the entrance, signalling that they had arrived.
“Pick us up at five,” Gabriel went before Clif could speak, getting out of the car along with the Winchesters and giving the driver a wave as he drove off to park the car and do his thing… whatever Clif did at the studio, anyway. Gabriel really didn’t know much aside from the fact that he worked as J-squared’s bodyguard-cum-driver. Talk about multiple positions.
Once Clif and the car had vanished around the corner the archangel turned back to the brothers, clapping his hands once and rubbing his palms against each other. “Alrighty, let’s get cracking as much as we can before show time starts.”
“…Show time?” the look on Dean’s face was next to incredulous as he said that, and Gabriel couldn’t help but grin a little. What, did the Winchesters think this was going to be a five-second affair? Pffft. (Actually, it pretty much was once he snapped up the ingredients, but the brothers didn’t need to know that-he wanted to see how they would be on camera anyway. TV Land didn’t count.)
“Yep,” he replied, wagging a finger. “Filming starts in about ten minutes and lasts for about three hours, which is just about enough time for me to get the correct ingredients and get the spell ready. Once recess starts I can work on sending you guys back and we can all pretend none of this ever happened.”
Along with myself, a part of him added mentally, but Gabriel expertly shut that part of him up. Nothing was certain yet.
The brothers exchanged looks with each other once more, the action making Gabriel raise an eyebrow and then two when Sam turned to look at the archangel and cautiously spoke up. “We appreciate that, but we’re not quite sure what will happen once we’re on the other side. I mean, we have the keys to the hiding place of the weapons that Balthazar stole from Heaven.”
Trying to lure him in now, were they? That was an utterly pathetic attempt if Gabriel had ever seen one-Ganesh would have done so much better, and that elephant was hardly a master of subtlety. The archangel let out a loud hiss of breath, wondering if stopping the Apocalypse made the brothers dumber or something; it sure seemed like that was the case to him. “I’m sure Cas and Balthazar will get to you once you guys return.”
“Along with Raphael,” Dean pointed out darkly, glaring daggers.
“-who they’re prepared for, I’m sure,” Gabriel returned, even though his mind was telling him something else entirely. This was an archangel they were going up against; how certain could he be that they could even handle whatever that Raphael had in store for them? To be completely honest, dying would probably be the best case scenario for them. Maybe.
Go help them, the sensible, righteous part of him was saying, but the archangel shut it once more. He did not need to put himself in danger of getting himself killed again, thank you very much. Even for an angel, dying did happen to be a very big deal-sure he managed to survive the last time (not that he knew how, but Gabriel wasn’t going to question things that shouldn’t be questioned), but there was no way of telling what could happen the next time. Better to be safe than sorry, and all that jazz.
One of the stagehands from the set was shouting at Dean and Sam to come on over to get ready for the filming, which was Gabriel’s cue to start cracking. Going up to the brothers, he pointed them towards said stagehand before speaking up. “Both of you go to that nice chap over there and he’ll bring you to the places you need to be. Get your script, don’t ask questions and do your part. If things go well enough, filming might end earlier which means you guys can go home sooner.” Not that he expected it to, really-the director would most likely maximize all the available time anyway. Gabriel figured it was best to let the boys have a little hope as he shoved them lightly towards the stagehand, moving off after that to start snapping up the needed ingredients.
The boys were so going to hate him for this later, but hey-it had been a while, and Gabriel needed his entertainment. Being the outcast in this world would only let him do so much, and he wanted to have his fun.
(And hey, he didn’t even need to lift a finger this time round. Figuratively speaking, of course.)
If Gabriel had thought TV Land was the best thing he had ever done, then he was finding himself corrected now. This was the best thing he had ever done, and by the third take he was already struggling with the effort to not burst out in laughter because holy shit, these boys were so bad that no words could describe just how bad this really was. Hell, they could give Twilight a run for their money if this ever came to air. Even Misha with his usual brand of douchebag-ness and desire to troll was looking far too unamused as he put on his Castiel lineface (of which he could see the Misha-brand of unamusement bleeding through now) and said his line for what seemed to be like the millionth (actually the eighth) time.
“Balthazar is no hero-” he started, and Gabriel had to try to not snort because yeah, Balthazar really was no hero. “But he knows Raphael will never take him back.”
Dean started to move to his mark now, and the way he moved was more than enough to start sending Gabriel into hysterics-although that didn’t happen, since Gabriel did a very impressive job of not bursting out into laughter even as Dean said his line (“Dean, grimly. And yet, somehow you got no problem with it.”) in the worst false voice ever, which made poor Bob Singer snap out a “Cut!” in pure distress.
The archangel just managed to straighten himself as the bell rung, looking at Misha as the actor looked back at him and mouthed a very appropriate ‘What the hell?’ towards him.
Gabriel only grinned and mouthed back a ‘Very busy night’ in response and tried not to laugh too hard at the wide eyes he received for that.
“If there’s a key then there has to be a lock. And when we find the lock we can get the weapons, and then we can have the weapons. And the lock. We’ll still have the lock, I imagine, because we’ve opened it, and of course, the initial key-”
Gabriel was already on the floor laughing his guts out like never before by the time Bob cried out the thirtieth “Cut!” in two hours, easily ignoring the bewildered looks that the rest of the crew were sending him as he attempted to recover.
“What is happening?!” came the voice of Bob while Gabriel started to get back on his feet.
“An atrocity is happening,” Serge replied.
“Oh yeah, a right atrocity,” the archangel added with a grin, tears still at the corners of his eyes. “I’ve never been more amused in my life, and that’s saying something.”
Once the bell sounded and Bob could do nothing else but bash his head against the wall and contact Sera in hopes of salvaging their eventual downfall, Gabriel went over to where the brothers were, grinning as he saw Dean making a gesture to his brother that could only be interpreted as “Gun. Mouth. Now.”
Yep, pure gold, right here. The archangel laughed as he stepped forward, waving at Misha who was currently furiously tweeting (‘IMHO, J and J plus Rich had a late one last night.’) before turning back to the boys. “Having fun so far?”
“Fuck you,” Dean instantly growled out in return.
Yeah, he couldn’t regret this.
“How much longer do we have to do this?” Sam added and geez, weren’t they both all sunshine and rainbows.
“You’ve given me enough blackmail material for ten lifetimes, boys,” Gabriel started, grinning even more at the way Misha snapped his head up to stare at him before starting to furiously tweet yet again. (He could hear it now: ‘Rich totally conned J-squared into something. ROFTLMAO.’ Priceless.) Pointedly ignoring the combined power of the brothers’ glares, Gabriel held his hands up in a sign of surrender. “Alright, alright, no need to get all angry at me, kids. I’m done. Just gotta wait until the guys are out and then I can work on sending you two back. But before that-”
“What now?” Dean went with a snarl, glaring daggers at Gabriel.
“Now, Dean-o, is break time, which means you boys gotta clear out this place too. We’ll be back here in thirty.” Gabriel grinned at them again, turning around with a wave as he made his way off the set. “See you in a bit, boys.”
It was far more amusing than it should, really, seeing the utter confusion that was now running rampant across the crew as they all puzzled over Sam and Dean’s-or rather, Jared and Jensen’s-abrupt change overnight. Of course, none of them would ever be able to figure out the exact truth, as startlingly close as their script was to what was happening now. It was kind of funny, really, how their show was all about the supernatural, yet not even one supernatural idea crossed their minds to explain this mess. Not that Gabriel could blame them; this place (world) had been pretty supernatural-free until he came along.
And I’m still the exception to the rule, the archangel thought to himself as he waved at a couple of passing stagehands and, satisfied with examining the chaos running around the place, started to make his way to where he kept the bowl he had prepared the mixture in. It was almost the very same mixture that Balthazar had thrown together to send the two here, except with a few differences; differences that were needed since unlike Balthazar, he had no connection to the Host and thus needed a few more potent things to make the spell work. If he had to be honest, Gabriel wasn’t too sure if this was going to work, but he had enough confidence in his abilities. For all the years spent hiding out on Earth and being the Trickster (well not the Trickster, but it was close enough), he was still an angel first and foremost.
An archangel, Gabriel reminded himself when he grabbed the disposable bowl sitting almost innocently at the buffet table. Getting the materials hadn’t posed too much of a problem, although he was never going to mix things in the toilet again. At least the stagehand that walked in on him when he was taking out the blood seemed to be a lot happier after getting a hastily signed autograph and fifty dollars; one of the perks of being famous… one way or another.
With the bowl secure in his hands, Gabriel started to make his way back to the set, where Sam and Dean were most likely waiting for him, but just as he was passing the sewer set, the all-too familiar sounds of a commotion reached his ears along with the shouts of the two brothers. Trouble already and it hadn’t even been time yet-couldn’t they just stay still for thirty minutes? The archangel swore under his breath as he made his way towards where all the noise was coming from and popped in from the other end where the action was going on.
Dean was too occupied with the stagehands restraining him, but Sam (the giant that he was and thus being tall enough) caught sight of Gabriel at the other end and shouted across the set. “He’s got the key!”
What? Gabriel only had a second to process the information before his mind registered the man-no, not man, angel-running down the set and soon past him. Without thinking the archangel instantly was on the move, throwing up the bowl in the air before he went in for a tackle, kicking the guy right in his gut to send him sprawling down onto the ground. The key flew out from the other’s grip from the force of the blow, but the archangel quickly snapped it to his side along with the bowl he had thrown up earlier, its contents still safe and secure.
Cling wrap was a wonderful invention.
The angel was still curled up in pain from the strength that Gabriel had thrown into his kick, and the archangel looked down impassively as Sam and Dean rushed forward, stagehands soon following behind as they all stared at the half-conscious figure on the ground.
“Richard-” Bob started, but Gabriel already held up one hand to hush the director and turned around to look at him.
“It’s Gabriel, Bob,” he started, smirking a little at the splutter that came with those words before he continued. “Yes, the Gabriel you guys so nicely killed off just as I was finally getting a fan club. Now if you don’t mind, I’d appreciate it if you guys can take this chap on the ground away so that I can have a sortie with J-squared to see how we should convince you all that this is one bad and somehow still hilarious joke.”
There was a terse silence that followed after those lines, but then Gabriel went “Now” in his best commanding voice and that was enough to get everybody except Sam and Dean scrambling away, some of them taking the angel away with them as they left.
Both Sam and Dean stared at Gabriel as the archangel turned back to them. “Well, now that I’ve so nicely destroyed both my reputation and disguise, I think it’s time for us to return. Wouldn’t you agree?”
The Winchesters looked at each other at that, sending equally confused looks-and Sam was the one who spoke up after a pause, glancing back at Gabriel and nodding. “Uh, yeah. Sounds great.”
With the crew occupied by the random angel that had somehow managed to come to this world (Gabriel had a feeling that he should know said angel’s name but for some reason he couldn’t remember properly), Gabriel quickly took the chance to get things going before more damage could be done, dragging both Sam and Dean to the now-cleared studio.
“Let’s make this quick,” Gabriel went, speaking as he busied himself with removing the cling wrap from the top of the bowl so that he could reach into it and scoop out a generous amount of blood on his index and middle finger, painting the symbol onto the glass panel. “Once I’m done you guys jump through like before, and you two should be back before anybody can say ‘Qudditch’.”
“‘Should’ be back?” Dean questioned instantly, and Gabriel cursed himself for his choice of words. Smooth work there, self.
The archangel clenched his jaw, scowling as he continued to work on his task. “Should, alright? I can’t use the exact spell that Balthazar did-it’s too weak to work in this world, seeing as I’m only one angel and Balthazar still had a connection to the Host when he did this to you guys.” He hated that he had to admit this, admit that he was weak even though he was the strongest in this world-but it was a fact that compared to back there he was about as strong as a baby; heck, even Castiel could probably overpower him at this moment. It was tempting, just a bit, to go with the Winchesters back to where he was supposed to be-but no, he couldn’t; it’d most likely do more harm than good no matter how he thought about it.
Gabriel shook his head, dislodging the unhappy thoughts in his head as he finished up the symbol and tossed the bowl away, stepping back. “Alright, there. Just jump through and go straight home and get Cas to pick you up or something.”
Dean muttered an ‘about freaking time’ under his breath and started to make his way to the window, but Sam stood in his place and turned his head over to look at Gabriel, biting his lip. “…you sure you don’t want to come with us, Gabriel?”
“Yes, I’m sure,” he hissed back, not really wanting to discuss this with Sam Winchester of all people; it wasn’t really going to end well if he did. “Just go before-”
“You two are not going to escape from me so easily!”
“-that.” Well, not that it mattered anymore; the random angel had somehow returned to consciousness, wriggled his way out from the people who had been holding him and was quickly making his way to Sam and Dean, and Gabriel knew there wasn’t going to be a choice in the matter. Not when the rest of the crew was running up from behind, anyway. Besides, he really didn’t want to deal with the backlash and crap that this was going to cause. Taking in a deep breath Gabriel turned to the brothers, shouting at them to go as he lunged out and tackled the angel to the ground, trying to keep him away and prevent him from following the two humans.
“Go away, human!” the angel snapped back, Grace blazing in his eyes and-oh yeah, now he remembered who this guy was.
“Maybe next time, Virgil,” he returned with a not-too kind smile, raising one fist. “Nighty-night now. Say hello to Raph for me later.”
Virgil’s eyes widened at the mention of his name, as well as the casual way the archangel was talking about his boss (not that Virgil would ever know what hit him-literally), too stunned to defend himself as Gabriel swung down his fist with every intention of knocking the angel out-but then found his wrist being held back by an iron grip belonging to Bob Singer himself. “Let go, Richard!”
“I already told you, its-” Gabriel started, breaking off with a yelp when Virgil took the chance while he was distracted to shove the archangel off him and run for the window where Sam and Dean were just starting to leap through. With no time to waste Gabriel did a small snap to get himself out of the entanglement he had been stuck into with Bob, running after the angel hit man and leaping right after him with a shout. “Oh no you don’t!” he cried out as he tried to reach out with his arm, attempting to grab Virgil by his ankle and pull him back-
But then there was a crash that resounded in his ears and the next thing he knew, the archangel found himself sprawled over asphalt and had the taste of dirt in his mouth, something Gabriel tried to spit out as he pushed himself back up off the ground, eyes darting about as he looked at his surroundings. Cars, trees, dirt, night sky-yeah, he wasn’t in the studio anymore.
Dean and Sam were getting up beside him, both brothers equally confused as they looked around, trying to place where they were. Gabriel turned around to look behind him-Virgil wasn’t there. Did he not manage to get through the window?
The duo seemed to have noticed too since Dean was now frowning at the spot Gabriel was staring. Dean had just about to start talking (“Where’s-”) before he suddenly stopped with his eyes wide, hands flying to his throat as he gasped for air. Sam was on his brother in an instant, crying out his sibling’s name in worry and concern for a few seconds before there was that tell-tale rustle of wings which Gabriel knew all too well who it belonged to, because this guy was his brother.
“If you want him to live,” Raphael started as the elder archangel walked in the female vessel he was now possessing, black eyes staring flatly at Sam alone. “Then pass me the keys.” Beside him/her was Virgil, looking rather smug as the angel hit man sneered at the brothers and then at Gabriel too. Gabriel himself resisted the urge to respond in kind, choosing to stare back coolly at Raphael as s/he turned to lay his/her gaze on him, frowning.
Virgil started to step forward, but Raphael raised an arm to stop the hit man from moving and stared at Gabriel for a while more before turning away. “There is no need to pick on strangers, Virgil. The Winchesters are who we should be dealing with.”
Gabriel froze at that along with the Winchesters, and he couldn’t ignore the stunned look that Sam was giving him or the fact that he was just as lost himself. Raphael… couldn’t recognize him? Seriously? What was going on here? It hardly seemed like the other archangel was kidding-Raphael had regarded him with all the curiosity of a human looking down at an ant. Gabriel knew that look well enough to know that Raphael really didn’t know him at all and wasn’t joking. The question was why.
What the heck is going on here? Gabriel thought to himself as he stared between Raphael and the brothers now, trying to figure out the sudden mystery that had popped up. Why couldn’t Raphael recognize him? Even if he was in another body, his Grace should be something that the other archangel would know. To just brush him aside like this, not knowing it at all… it did hurt. Raphael was still his brother, even if he was a dick too. He still had been family, and now his last brother had just cast him aside. It hurt more than Gabriel could make himself admit, the pain lurching in his gut, making him stay frozen to the spot even as Raphael advanced towards the two humans.
“Give me the key, Sam Winchester, and I will spare your brother’s pathetic life.” Raphael’s voice was a growl now, impatience dripping from the elder archangel’s tone as Sam stayed in his place, still trying to stop Dean from choking himself to death. “Now.”
The younger Winchester gritted his teeth as he glared at Raphael, obviously not too happy with this. He glanced over to Gabriel and the archangel nodded, and then Sam tossed the keys over towards Raphael who caught them easily in the vessel’s hand.
“-and that, my friend, will open you a locker at the Albany bus station,” went a new voice that belonged to none of them, and all heads turned towards the slim figure of Balthazar as he stepped out from the shadows, a smile playing across his lips.
Virgil started to move again, but Raphael stopped him and turned to place his/her gaze evenly towards the other angel. “Really.”
“You see,” Balthazar started, the smile only growing bigger as he waved his hands idly. “I needed a modest decoy to make this entire act all the more convincing.”
Gabriel’s eyes narrowed as he slowly put two and two together, but Raphael didn’t seem to care for whatever Balthazar was saying, only growling at him. “Give me the weapons.”
Balthazar inclined his head at Raphael, putting on a false expression of sympathy when he replied. “Sorry, darling, but they’re gone.”
The glare from Raphael was instantly dangerous and demanding. “What?!”
“I said, too bloody late,” the angel drawled back in turn, eyes rolling. “You see, they were so well-hidden that I needed time to find them. So,” he gestured towards the brothers who were busy recovering now that Raphael had stopped trying to get Dean to strangle himself. “I volunteered these two marmosets for a game of fetch with Virgil.” That said, he turned towards Sam and Dean, bowing a little in a gesture of false gratitude. “You two were such an adequate stick. Thank you. Thank you, boys.”
The brothers were hardly appeased by that display, but none more so then Raphael who now had a stormy expression on his vessel’s face as s/he took a step closer towards Balthazar, thunder rumbling overhead. “You’ve made your last mistake,” the archangel hissed, a dangerous glare now fixed at the lesser angel.
Rather than being frightened, however, Balthazar merely shrugged, a smirk on his face as he replied almost sweetly. “Oh, I’ve got a few more tricks up my sleeve, honey.”
There was no pause from that comment-as soon as Balthazar had said that, there was the rustle of wings as another angel appeared, and Gabriel looked as Castiel stepped onto the playing field, back straight and his face set in a grim sort of determination that reminded him of Dean. His voice was low, even lower than usual as he took another step forward, facing Raphael without even so much as flinching as he spoke. “Step away from them, Raphael. I have the weapons now. Their power is with me.” And he saw it. Father, he saw it; the shadow of magnificent, giant wings that jumped out as lightning flashed and thunder rumbled in retaliation.
“Castiel.” Raphael’s tone was curt, but Gabriel could hear the wariness that had edged into the corner of the archangel’s voice.
Cas kept his gaze on Raphael, waiting for the Winchesters to fully recover and get back on their feet again before replying. “If you don’t want to die tonight, back off.”
“You insolent-” Virgil started, but Raphael cut him off quickly and gazed at Castiel, an almost-sneer crossing the female vessel’s features.
“You will regret this, Castiel,” was all that the archangel said, and in the next moment the two had vanished, the retreating roll of thunder being the only thing left of Raphael’s appearance there.
Balthazar rolled his shoulders in a small shrug once Raphael was gone, working a crick out of his neck as he tucked his hands into the pocket of his pants. He glanced around, noting the Winchesters, Castiel and of course, Gabriel who was still sitting on the ground and trying to properly digest everything that had transpired.
He snapped out of his reverie as Balthazar tilted his head, studying the archangel in curiosity. “And who just might you be now?”
Gabriel opened his mouth to respond before he even thought over his words. “A thousand years and you can’t remember your awesome teacher? You suck, Bal.”
The response only made Balthazar widen his eyes, surprise clear on his features as he looked over to Castiel, the other angel turning to regard Gabriel with a questioning gaze as well. The frown that crossed on Cas’ face didn’t seem that all comforting as the lesser angel tried out tentatively. “…Gabriel.”
“In the flesh, bro,” he answered, now pushing himself up to get back on his feet.
“Lucifer killed you.”
Gabriel slapped his hands against the back of his jeans, making a face. “Well, I managed to survive. Can we stop harping on that?”
“No, I don’t think Lucy killing you is the issue here,” Balthazar interjected, making a gesture with his hands. His face was serious now, his gaze steady on Gabriel while he talked. “You died, Gabriel. You were literally unmade by your own sword. All of us felt it across the Host. There was no way you could have survived.”
“Well,” Gabriel started slowly now, because he did not like where this conversation was going and he had this rather bad feeling that he’d rather not prod into. “What can I say? I’m good at defying fate.”
Castiel’s frown deepened even more as the angel tilted his head, studying Gabriel with even more scrutiny than before. Gabriel wasn’t really sure what to feel about that as he looked to the Winchesters. “Uh, guys? A little help here?” Dean was the one who always was at the end of these kinds of looks, so he could do something about it, right? Right?
Sam only shrugged helplessly, but Dean broke the silence, looking over to Castiel and calling out to him. “Is there something wrong, Cas?”
“Yes,” Castiel replied, expression and voice solemn as he fixed his intense blue gaze on Gabriel even though his words were for Dean. Even then, Gabriel couldn’t help but feel his blood freeze at the next words that the angel said. “I can’t sense Gabriel at all.”
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