HC Bingo - Prompt 5
Title: My Private Nation
Prompt: homesickness
Medium: fic
Rating: PG-13
Warnings: Mild language, possible spoilers for SPN season 6
Word Count:
Summary: Sequel to 'Different Sort of Damsel' - Gabriel reflects on his family and all he's lost in the Apocalypse. The summary of what happens in that story is told in this one, so you don't need to go hunt it up.
In some families, the youngest get all the attention - or at least, the most attention. It sort of worked that way in Gabriel's family. The humans, the 'new baby' of his father's family certainly got loads of attention. Gabriel was used to that. Of him and his three older brothers, he'd received very little attention it seemed - Michael and Lucifer seemed to only notice each other and their father and Raphael... he was sort of like him, longing for attention but not getting it in the quantity they wanted. The only reason they didn't turn to each other for that was because Raphael, deep down, wanted to be an only child. Gabriel knew that - and so, he'd turned to other angels for companionship, but they were all to busy following the older archangels around to notice that he was an archangel too. So when humans showed up, Gabriel was secretly overjoyed. Maybe they'd be his friends - or at least give him what he was craving.
Then all Hell broke loose. Literally.
Lucifer and his cronies threw the biggest temper tantrum in the history of the Universe and got his ass smacked into Hell. Some of his friends went with him - and became fallen angels. Michael returned from locking their brother up a total head case and started drilling obedience into every other angel's head and he and Raphael watched as the eldest brother went from jovial to cold. Gabriel had hoped Lucifer would have calmed down and just accepted things - but no, the one who was constantly the center of attention refused to yield. He wouldn't even yield for his brothers.
Gabriel had honestly hoped that someone would have stopped him when he got ready to leave Heaven. It was some century in the Common Era, he's long forgotten which one. He poked around and picked the saddest and most downtrodden person in his vessel bloodline. He was a farmer trying to scrounge grain out of an unforgiving soil in what would later be the Ukraine. It's not that the ground wasn't good, it was among the best - but danger was everywhere. The man was miserable - he was childless widower who couldn't even look his well-off brothers in the face - and really, his disappearance would be a blessing to the family.
Gabriel knew who got respect on Earth in those days and Loki had been pathetically easy to kill. He'd moved into the Norse Pantheon and got the attention he craved. It was grand, even when he managed to piss the others off. Baldur needed to be taken down some pegs anyway... he reminded Gabriel of Lucifer to much. He didn't want the same thing happening again. The twit got resurrected anyway and his twin brother whom no-one gave a damn about got killed. Gabriel pulled a string or two and got Hoor a little slice of Heaven - he'd promptly zapped the lesser angel, Castiel was his name, if he remembered right - of any memory of the event. Heaven was so darn big that he didn't have to worry about someone finding the guy. He always liked the blind god - and honestly, if his mom and dad had given a shit about him and stopped spoiling Baldur, all the unpleasantness that followed could have been avoided.
But it didn't change the fact that Gabriel still wants to go home. He misses home, he want to go back so badly he can taste it - then he remembers how it is now. How chaotic it is - apocalypse and loyalty and get the Winchester brothers to say yes.
Gabriel never liked Zachariah - even when the seraph was a fledgling.
It's his annoyance with people refusing to do what they should that causes Gabriel to do what he does. Oh, some people definitely have it coming. He's knocked more people off the most wanted list than he can count, and since he smitted the lot, there are no bodies to be found. He always starts with people who hurt children first, because if there's one thing Gabriel likes best in his father's creation, it's human children. They're innocent, precious in a way he can't describe and so vulnerable it makes the archangel weep to know they have to grow up. That's probably why he likes the story of Peter Pan so much. The other criminals he tends to rid the world of are rapists and murderers... he leaves politicians alone, because they're not always evil - just ignorant.
Gabriel sometimes thinks about how he'd like to go home. Of the welcome back he'd get - he fears it will just be like he left... no one noticing. Coming back to find centuries of backlog to take care of. There are other messenger angels, but he'd trained that group of fledglings so well, he might as well be a myth to the later generations. At least the cherubs he runs into are in awe of him and the demons he encounters make the best expressions before he sends them into nonexistence. What he wants to happen when he goes home he's seen in countless homes, movies, books - everywhere. He wants to come home to hugs, to welcoming cries, to Michael, Raphael and dad telling him how much they missed him, how glad they are to see him, that he's come home at last...The sort-of prodigal son who ran off because he was sick of the fighting he couldn't stop and just wanted peace.
He can see it clearly now - now that it won't be happening.
He won't get that homecoming because he's dead.
Gabriel didn't think that Lucifer would kill him - deep down, he didn't think his brother was capable of such a thing. Lucifer's problem was with Michael, not him. So he'd told him the truth, straight up, told his big brother to grow up and accept he couldn't have all the attention. The Universe didn't work that way. He's not sure where angels go when they die. Father never told him. He's certain, however, that being dead shouldn't hurt.
“Here, let me help you...” A voice speaks somewhere above him and then he feels a hand tug on his arm.
Gabriel coughs out dust and a touch of blood as pulls himself to a sit. “What in...”
“Sorry I'm a little late...” The voice speaks again and Gabriel turns. Crouched down next to him is the prophet Chuck Shurley... no... Gabriel recognizes the small glint in the man's eyes and is glad he is sitting.
“Father?” The word is immediately followed by the thought: Where have you been?
“It's a nasty mess...” Chuck looks sadly around the ruined hotel room and then over at the corpse of Baldur, his nose slightly upturned. “Arrogance brings nothing but pain...” He turns back to Gabriel and ruffles his hair, smiling. “I am sorry I was late getting here... I'd prefer not to see your brother right now.”
“How... why...” Gabriel is stuck dumb at this. How had Raphael failed to notice this?
“I don't think your brother shares the same convictions you do, Gabriel.”
“I'm...”
“Don't start apologizing - you've done nothing to apologize for. Although that whole disco thing... that was pushing it...”
Gabriel chuckles weakly as he hears a faint clinking noise and a moment later, an over-sized puppy bounds into the room and bowls him over, licking his face excitedly.
“Becky!” Chuck admonishes. “Heel!”
The dog obediently backs off, allowing Gabriel to sit back up and give the dog a good rub behind the ears. “What's...”
“There's still a few things I have to do...” Chuck stands and helps the archangel to his feet. “But given the fact that your brothers and the Winchesters think you're dead...” He sighs. “You go find a shady spot until this settles down... it'll be a few weeks... then you, me and the dog are going to have some fun.”
Gabriel blinks in surprise, but doesn't argue. “Where did you get the dog anyway?”
“The Winchesters saved it a few weeks ago... they couldn't keep it and Dean, well, he couldn't ditch the thing at a pound, so they dumped her at my door.” He gave him a half hug. “I have a feeling that Michael and Lucifer are going to get locked up together, so the two of us, Gabriel... we're going to figure out how to take that stick out of Raphael's ass and teach him what family means.”
“Sounds like fun.” He smooths down his hair, feeling the best he has in centuries. “Good thing I packed my trumpet.”
Chuck shook his head and chuckled. “I'll see you in a little while - and I mean that in the human concept of time, not ours.” With that, the man vanished.
The archangel looked down at the dog, Becky, who in response, stood up, wagging her tail excitedly. “I could eat... how about you?” It might not be a homecoming entirely - but the promise of one on one time with his father? This could turn out to be even better. Hell, no one had gotten something that great in.... pretty much forever. Gabriel and the dog left the ruins of the Elysium Hotel and the remains of the slaughtered pagan gods behind in exchange for a dusty road in Australia. That was another thing he was better at than his other three brothers:
Being patient.
Prompt: homesickness
Medium: fic
Rating: PG-13
Warnings: Mild language, possible spoilers for SPN season 6
Word Count:
Summary: Sequel to 'Different Sort of Damsel' - Gabriel reflects on his family and all he's lost in the Apocalypse. The summary of what happens in that story is told in this one, so you don't need to go hunt it up.
In some families, the youngest get all the attention - or at least, the most attention. It sort of worked that way in Gabriel's family. The humans, the 'new baby' of his father's family certainly got loads of attention. Gabriel was used to that. Of him and his three older brothers, he'd received very little attention it seemed - Michael and Lucifer seemed to only notice each other and their father and Raphael... he was sort of like him, longing for attention but not getting it in the quantity they wanted. The only reason they didn't turn to each other for that was because Raphael, deep down, wanted to be an only child. Gabriel knew that - and so, he'd turned to other angels for companionship, but they were all to busy following the older archangels around to notice that he was an archangel too. So when humans showed up, Gabriel was secretly overjoyed. Maybe they'd be his friends - or at least give him what he was craving.
Then all Hell broke loose. Literally.
Lucifer and his cronies threw the biggest temper tantrum in the history of the Universe and got his ass smacked into Hell. Some of his friends went with him - and became fallen angels. Michael returned from locking their brother up a total head case and started drilling obedience into every other angel's head and he and Raphael watched as the eldest brother went from jovial to cold. Gabriel had hoped Lucifer would have calmed down and just accepted things - but no, the one who was constantly the center of attention refused to yield. He wouldn't even yield for his brothers.
Gabriel had honestly hoped that someone would have stopped him when he got ready to leave Heaven. It was some century in the Common Era, he's long forgotten which one. He poked around and picked the saddest and most downtrodden person in his vessel bloodline. He was a farmer trying to scrounge grain out of an unforgiving soil in what would later be the Ukraine. It's not that the ground wasn't good, it was among the best - but danger was everywhere. The man was miserable - he was childless widower who couldn't even look his well-off brothers in the face - and really, his disappearance would be a blessing to the family.
Gabriel knew who got respect on Earth in those days and Loki had been pathetically easy to kill. He'd moved into the Norse Pantheon and got the attention he craved. It was grand, even when he managed to piss the others off. Baldur needed to be taken down some pegs anyway... he reminded Gabriel of Lucifer to much. He didn't want the same thing happening again. The twit got resurrected anyway and his twin brother whom no-one gave a damn about got killed. Gabriel pulled a string or two and got Hoor a little slice of Heaven - he'd promptly zapped the lesser angel, Castiel was his name, if he remembered right - of any memory of the event. Heaven was so darn big that he didn't have to worry about someone finding the guy. He always liked the blind god - and honestly, if his mom and dad had given a shit about him and stopped spoiling Baldur, all the unpleasantness that followed could have been avoided.
But it didn't change the fact that Gabriel still wants to go home. He misses home, he want to go back so badly he can taste it - then he remembers how it is now. How chaotic it is - apocalypse and loyalty and get the Winchester brothers to say yes.
Gabriel never liked Zachariah - even when the seraph was a fledgling.
It's his annoyance with people refusing to do what they should that causes Gabriel to do what he does. Oh, some people definitely have it coming. He's knocked more people off the most wanted list than he can count, and since he smitted the lot, there are no bodies to be found. He always starts with people who hurt children first, because if there's one thing Gabriel likes best in his father's creation, it's human children. They're innocent, precious in a way he can't describe and so vulnerable it makes the archangel weep to know they have to grow up. That's probably why he likes the story of Peter Pan so much. The other criminals he tends to rid the world of are rapists and murderers... he leaves politicians alone, because they're not always evil - just ignorant.
Gabriel sometimes thinks about how he'd like to go home. Of the welcome back he'd get - he fears it will just be like he left... no one noticing. Coming back to find centuries of backlog to take care of. There are other messenger angels, but he'd trained that group of fledglings so well, he might as well be a myth to the later generations. At least the cherubs he runs into are in awe of him and the demons he encounters make the best expressions before he sends them into nonexistence. What he wants to happen when he goes home he's seen in countless homes, movies, books - everywhere. He wants to come home to hugs, to welcoming cries, to Michael, Raphael and dad telling him how much they missed him, how glad they are to see him, that he's come home at last...The sort-of prodigal son who ran off because he was sick of the fighting he couldn't stop and just wanted peace.
He can see it clearly now - now that it won't be happening.
He won't get that homecoming because he's dead.
Gabriel didn't think that Lucifer would kill him - deep down, he didn't think his brother was capable of such a thing. Lucifer's problem was with Michael, not him. So he'd told him the truth, straight up, told his big brother to grow up and accept he couldn't have all the attention. The Universe didn't work that way. He's not sure where angels go when they die. Father never told him. He's certain, however, that being dead shouldn't hurt.
“Here, let me help you...” A voice speaks somewhere above him and then he feels a hand tug on his arm.
Gabriel coughs out dust and a touch of blood as pulls himself to a sit. “What in...”
“Sorry I'm a little late...” The voice speaks again and Gabriel turns. Crouched down next to him is the prophet Chuck Shurley... no... Gabriel recognizes the small glint in the man's eyes and is glad he is sitting.
“Father?” The word is immediately followed by the thought: Where have you been?
“It's a nasty mess...” Chuck looks sadly around the ruined hotel room and then over at the corpse of Baldur, his nose slightly upturned. “Arrogance brings nothing but pain...” He turns back to Gabriel and ruffles his hair, smiling. “I am sorry I was late getting here... I'd prefer not to see your brother right now.”
“How... why...” Gabriel is stuck dumb at this. How had Raphael failed to notice this?
“I don't think your brother shares the same convictions you do, Gabriel.”
“I'm...”
“Don't start apologizing - you've done nothing to apologize for. Although that whole disco thing... that was pushing it...”
Gabriel chuckles weakly as he hears a faint clinking noise and a moment later, an over-sized puppy bounds into the room and bowls him over, licking his face excitedly.
“Becky!” Chuck admonishes. “Heel!”
The dog obediently backs off, allowing Gabriel to sit back up and give the dog a good rub behind the ears. “What's...”
“There's still a few things I have to do...” Chuck stands and helps the archangel to his feet. “But given the fact that your brothers and the Winchesters think you're dead...” He sighs. “You go find a shady spot until this settles down... it'll be a few weeks... then you, me and the dog are going to have some fun.”
Gabriel blinks in surprise, but doesn't argue. “Where did you get the dog anyway?”
“The Winchesters saved it a few weeks ago... they couldn't keep it and Dean, well, he couldn't ditch the thing at a pound, so they dumped her at my door.” He gave him a half hug. “I have a feeling that Michael and Lucifer are going to get locked up together, so the two of us, Gabriel... we're going to figure out how to take that stick out of Raphael's ass and teach him what family means.”
“Sounds like fun.” He smooths down his hair, feeling the best he has in centuries. “Good thing I packed my trumpet.”
Chuck shook his head and chuckled. “I'll see you in a little while - and I mean that in the human concept of time, not ours.” With that, the man vanished.
The archangel looked down at the dog, Becky, who in response, stood up, wagging her tail excitedly. “I could eat... how about you?” It might not be a homecoming entirely - but the promise of one on one time with his father? This could turn out to be even better. Hell, no one had gotten something that great in.... pretty much forever. Gabriel and the dog left the ruins of the Elysium Hotel and the remains of the slaughtered pagan gods behind in exchange for a dusty road in Australia. That was another thing he was better at than his other three brothers:
Being patient.