Unexpected Destinies Chapter 37
Title: Unexpected Destinies
Rating: PG-13
Spoilers: up to and including Exile on Main St., AU from the end of season 5
Warnings: AU, slash
Word Count: 3,072
Summary: Michael's point of view.
PAST
Michael held his position before Raphael as he waited to see what would happen next. He disliked being so passive, but he was afraid that anything he might do or say would only make things worse then they already were. He understood so little about his vessel and seemed to be constantly aggravating him without meaning to do so. Not that he didn't do so on purpose on occasion, but most the time he didn't.
It was amazing and fascinating to watch his vessel sometimes and, although Michael increasingly found himself growing found of Dean and even coming to admire him and his spirit, at times it took all of his patience not to show his vessel what he truly was and exactly how insignificant and frail the human was in comparison. Only he wasn't, insignificant that was, his Father had made that quite clear already and more then once. It merely shamed him that he'd misinterpreted his Father's wishes so badly and that he had not learned his lesson after the first instance.
Dean's significance, was what made Michael keep an eye on his vessel as well as his brother as he waited for their next move. Although Dean didn't have the Jewel of Abel on him at the moment and thus couldn't truly hurt Raphael or himself, he had learned not to underestimate the human's resourcefulness and stubbornness. If they didn't work against him so often, he'd almost admire his vessel for them. Such tenacity in a human despite such formidable odds was a very rare thing indeed. It made him curious about the hunter in a way he hadn't been about a human in a very long time, even if he took the brunt of that stubbornness.
All of that made his vessel dangerous despite the odds stacked against him and thus Michael knew to keep an eye on him. On top of all of that, he knew that Castiel listened to Dean- had nearly fallen for his vessel- so Dean could make his brother act even if Castiel wouldn't have on his own. The thought angered him for a moment, to think of any of his brothers and sisters brought so low as to take orders from a human, but then he immediately tried to reign it back in again. His Father had rewarded Castiel in a completely unprecedented manner for what he'd done, so there was something there that he needed to learn, something he was quite sure had to do with his vessel.
"Raphael pulled you out of the cage?" Castiel finally questioned.
"Yes," Michael replied. "The dates you mentioned for the ripples the Virtues felt correspond roughly to when Raphael broke free from the holy fire you left him in, his decision to pull me out and my rescue, respectively."
"That would definitely explain them."
"How the hell did he get out?" Dean demanded. "We secured that room."
"It took a while, but with enough determination most traps can be overcome," Michael replied for his brother.
Michael didn't feel like he could move aside yet and thus didn't think it wise to allow Raphael to speak. His brother hadn't liked it, but he'd agreed, deferring to him to him as always when it really counted. As did most angels, a fact which had made his shock all the greater when Zachariah had told him that Castiel had betrayed them for his sword. Although Lucifer had taken his fair share of their brothers and sisters with him when he rebelled and was cast down, almost none had left since. Just a small handful and each fresh betrayal always came as such a shock to him. He couldn't see why they were doing it; why they were choosing to leave their home and family for either the darkness of Hell or the drudgery and monotony of Earth. He just wanted to keep them together and provide them with the best that he could, hence his and Raphael's original desire to see Paradise opened to everyone who deserved it.
This connection to family was why he'd come to enjoy the training sessions with Castiel. Thinking back on it now, Michael knew he should have expected it, but he hadn't really thought about it. It was strange, needing to think about how he performed certain tasks so he could tell his brother how to do them. He supposed it was something like how human parents and older siblings felt and that parallel wasn't lost on him. Dean had been right when he'd pointed out that Father must have intended for either himself or Raphael to teach Castiel as otherwise He would have granted him the knowledge as well as the power. That connection, however, was what made the current situation all the more painful; to see the brother he'd started to know standing before him with his weapon drawn. It was a smart on Castiel's part, though, because he didn't really know the younger angel's moves with the sword too well, there brief duel notwithstanding and so he wouldn't be able to predict them unlike what they'd been practicing. Plus, he'd heard Castiel was quite proficient with the sword from Zachariah's reports.
Dean shifted slightly, but his eyes didn't move and Michael feared that Raphael was staring him down. He knew his brother's pride has been hurt, being trapped as he had by a human and a Seraph, but he'd hoped Raphael would be able to control himself in light of Father's actions. The reminder of the incident didn't fail to arouse a certain amount of pride within him though. It was no small feat to trap an archangel and yet Dean and Castiel had managed it with some careful planning. It made him wonder what else they were capable of as they'd also managed to evade Zachariah for an impressive amount of time as well.
"Why'd you pull Mikey from the cage?" Dean demanded, breaking the uncomfortable silence that had fallen.
As it had been directly asked of Raphael, Michael kept quiet and chose to see it as progress.
'Mikey?' Raphael questioned privately, scandalized.
'Not now, Brother.'
At least he wasn't alone in disliking that ridiculous moniker Dean had given him. Michael felt Castiel took far too much amusement from it, though he seemed to have no objection to his own moniker. He wondered what it was about them Dean liked so much as he'd overheard him referring to his brother as Sammy once, so it wasn't merely about shortening a name. The other thing that he had noticed was that there was none of the malice and contempt in his vessel's voice when he used Castiel's moniker that there was when he was addressed as 'Mikey.' He was sure that difference had something to do with why his brother seemed to accept the alteration of his name. He wasn't sure why it would make such a difference, but he was surprised to discover that he wished he knew. It was a foreign desire that he wasn't sure what to do with and thus chose to push it aside for the moment.
"He is my brother," Raphael replied aloud.
Because he was watching Dean, Michael saw the flicker of emotions in his vessel's eyes and he was pretty sure his brother had said the right thing. He filed it away for future reference.
/
The words hit Dean with a force he hadn't thought possible and he had to swallow down the swell of emotions that rose within him. This was not the time for this and he knew it. Doing so now would only give Raphael a weakness to exploit and he had no intention of giving the archangel the chance to do so. Not after all the bastard had said he'd do to him nor the way he had threatened Castiel. Despite all of that, he couldn't seem to make his throat work.
"So is Lucifer," Castiel pointed out and Dean was silently thankful for how well his lover knew him.
Raphael's response was to stop glaring at him and to turn his scornful gaze to his brother. The action was enough to spur Dean back on track, not wanting the archangel- and how the hell had he ended up with three of them in his motel room?- to remember what he'd said to Castiel at the end of their last meeting.
"Lucifer betrayed us and is deserving of his situation," Raphael stated
"So why'd you let him out in the first place?" Dean demanded, knowing exactly how to bring the bastard's attention back to himself. "You that eager to see him killed?"
As expected, those words were enough to make him the sole focus of Raphael's attention once more, not to mention Michael's as well. The ferociousness of their combined gazes was enough to give Dean pause, but then he shoved it aside. It wasn't like he hadn't stood up to two archangels before and then he'd had less backup then he did now. He only wished that he'd thought to get out the Jewel of Abel before telling Michael where he was.
"You had better learn to watch your tongue, mu-" Raphael began.
"Raphael!" Michael barked, instantly silencing the younger angel and Dean couldn't help but be kinda impressed. "As for you, Dean Winchester, cease attempting to aggravate him. You know very well neither of us wish to see our brother dead."
Dean's eyebrows rose and he felt anger coil within him. "No, I know no such thing. All I know is that the two of you conspired to let Lucy free with the intention of killing him shortly afterwards in order to attain your goals. As far as I'm concerned, that equates to wanting to see him dead."
The small step backwards that Castiel took could have been construed as a retreat but for the fact that it allowed his lover to come within touching distance of him and Dean knew his angel was preparing for a quick exit, should it become necessary. Abruptly it reminded him of how he'd felt when Castiel had shot off his mouth to Michael when the archangel had first appeared and he briefly felt bad at putting his lover through that. The thing was, it really infuriated him, the way Michael and Raphael tried to explain away their actions at times. It was like that first conversation with Raphael all over again. He could still clearly recall the shock he'd felt when the archangel had declared God dead and subsequently why they'd decided to start the Apocalypse.
For a moment it seemed to Dean like they really would need to make a fast escape as Michael's face went dark and dangerous again, but then it cleared and the archangel seemed to almost slump. Well, as far as an angel would slump, which was not at all if one applied human standards, but he'd learned to ignore those when dealing with Heaven's residents and started measuring their responses based on what he'd learned from Castiel.
"I would give anything to have my brother back with us," Michael stated. "Anything, but that is not possible. Lucifer has made his views quite clear and I know now there is no changing his mind, not after everything that has happened. Regardless of that, I have no desire to either kill him or see him dead by another's hand."
"Call me stupid, but if I had the choice between keeping my brother locked up or having to kill him, I'd keep him locked up. That's like a no-brainer."
"I was trying to help my other brothers and sisters."
Castiel shifted slightly, drawing Dean's attention back to him. The fact that his lover felt safe enough to glance back at him, thus taking his eyes off his brothers, made him relax a little and he met the blue gaze head on. Cheesy as it sounded, he felt they could communicate quite a lot without any words passing between them and he was currently quite thankful for that as it let them reach a decision without Michael or Raphael overhearing it. In fact, all it took was one good look at his angel's eyes to know that Castiel wanted to at least give his brother's the benefit of the doubt.
Dean sighed even as he knew that he'd do it. Not only did he find it hard to deny his lover anything, but Castiel had been mostly right when it came to Michael. Although the archangel had lied to them, it hadn't been to betray or use them and had instead been for a reason that he was forced to admit he understood. If their situations had been reversed, he just knew that he'd have lied to keep his brother safe. Damnit, but he hated being able to see where Michael was coming from, it made it harder to remain angry with him.
"So, what? You just want us to believe that you now wish to avert the Apocalypse?" Dean finally inquired.
"Yes," Michael replied
"You're the ones who started it in the first place!"
"Of this I am very much aware, as I am of Father's disapproval."
Dean snorted. "That's one way of putting it."
"Nevertheless, we now wish to help you," Michael stated.
"How?" Dean demanded.
"What we need is to gather together as many archangels as possible," Raphael said.
"There aren't any others left who'll help us," Castiel replied. "We're it."
"Not true," Michael countered. "There is Gabriel."
"Gabriel abandoned his post, you know this," Castiel shot back, lip curling.
"Yes, I do."
"And do you know that he's spent his time on Earth pretending to be a pagan god?"
"Yes, I am aware," Michael replied calmly.
"You are?" Castiel blinked.
"Zachariah's angels picked up traces of his presence when they managed to briefly track the Winchester brothers. They were too late, but we did learn the truth at that point."
"Our problem has been locating him," Raphael added. "Gabriel has always been good at hiding, so we have attempted to track down the other pagans that he would normally hang out with, but we have had no luck there so far either."
"That's 'cause they're almost all dead," Dean stated, sorely tempted not to say anything given the sheer frustration this failure had apparently caused Raphael, but he knew he couldn't. The situation was far too grave for such childish tactics. "Baldur, Ganesh, Odin, Mercury, Baron Samedi and Zao Shen, they're all dead. Only Kali remains."
"What? How?" Michael demanded.
"Lucifer."
"Why would Lucifer want to kill them?" Castiel inquired.
It caught Dean slightly off-guard, but then he remembered that all of this had transpired when his lover had been... wherever the angel banishing sigil had sent him. When they'd finally gotten him back there had been so much going on and the events hadn't been truly significant apart from the knowledge of the rings that they'd never gotten around to telling his angel about it. He swallowed as he realized that Castiel didn't know that another of his brothers was dead.
"Because they wanted to stop the Apocalypse and were planning to kill him."
Raphael snorted. "As if they could. What were they planning to do, use their powers on him?"
"No, they were going to use Gabriel's sword," Dean explained.
"How do you know all of this?" Castiel asked.
His lover stepped closer, almost as if he already knew the answer and Dean took his hand reassuringly. "Because they set a trap for Sam and me. They wanted to use us as bait to lure Lucifer in."
"Let me guess, he slaughtered them," Raphael said.
"Yes."
"How did you get out?" Michael asked, regarding him steadily.
"Gabriel," Dean said, watching the surprise and shock blossom on all of their faces. "He decided at the last minute that he wasn't just going to sit around and let Lucifer kill all of his friends and then destroy Earth. He was too late to save the others, but he managed to distract Lucifer long enough to save Kali, Sam and me."
The silence that fell over the room was heavy and made Dean want to fidget but he refrained from doing so. He also swallowed the impulse to make some smartass remark. The three angels could be in no doubt as to how the encounter between Lucifer and Gabriel had ended and, insensitive though he could be at times, even he couldn't make light of the death of a brother. And if the archangels had once stuck together as he'd assumed they probably had, then this came as a heavy blow to Raphael and Michael. Besides, though Gabriel had been a royal pain in the ass and an unbearable jerk most of the time, he'd come through for them in the end and Dean could respect that.
"This was after he told you about the fact that you could use the Horseman rings to reopen Lucifer's cage?" Castiel finally inquired.
"No, before," Dean said and then rushed on to explain before he got anyone's hopes up. "Just before he faced Lucifer, Gabriel gave me a DVD and told me to guard it with my life. On it was a recording of himself in which he told us what we needed to know."
"Do you still possess of this... DVD?" Michael asked.
"Yes."
"May we see it?"
"Ah... I don't really think you'd want to," Dean replied, trying to think of how they'd react to witnessing Gabriel reenacting a porno.
"Yes, we do," Raphael declared.
Dean could already tell by that tone alone that Castiel wasn't the only angel who had trouble distinguishing shades of meaning from human voices.
"Okay, but don't say I didn't warn ya."
In retrospect, Dean thought that he really shouldn't have hesitated to show them the DVD. The twin looks of horror and disbelief on Michael and Raphael's faces were priceless whereas Castiel's curious little head tilt made him wonder what exactly was going through his lover's mind. Maybe he was glad to know that he wasn't the first angel to have enjoyed sex so much, or maybe Gabriel's performance was giving him ideas. Although he had no interest in watching the former Trickster doing that, Casa Erotica 13 was one of his favorites and it did have some interesting positions in it, even if Mikey and Raph seemed completely unable to appreciate that particular fact.
A.N.: Can I ask people for a little help? I'm a big spoiler avoider, as I really don't want to know anything about upcoming episodes until they air. Now, I've started another fic that goes AU from the last episode and I was wondering if someone would mind telling me when the next new episode is due to air? I don't want to look in case I get spoiled about anything. Thanks.
Chapter 38
Rating: PG-13
Spoilers: up to and including Exile on Main St., AU from the end of season 5
Warnings: AU, slash
Word Count: 3,072
Summary: Michael's point of view.
PAST
Michael held his position before Raphael as he waited to see what would happen next. He disliked being so passive, but he was afraid that anything he might do or say would only make things worse then they already were. He understood so little about his vessel and seemed to be constantly aggravating him without meaning to do so. Not that he didn't do so on purpose on occasion, but most the time he didn't.
It was amazing and fascinating to watch his vessel sometimes and, although Michael increasingly found himself growing found of Dean and even coming to admire him and his spirit, at times it took all of his patience not to show his vessel what he truly was and exactly how insignificant and frail the human was in comparison. Only he wasn't, insignificant that was, his Father had made that quite clear already and more then once. It merely shamed him that he'd misinterpreted his Father's wishes so badly and that he had not learned his lesson after the first instance.
Dean's significance, was what made Michael keep an eye on his vessel as well as his brother as he waited for their next move. Although Dean didn't have the Jewel of Abel on him at the moment and thus couldn't truly hurt Raphael or himself, he had learned not to underestimate the human's resourcefulness and stubbornness. If they didn't work against him so often, he'd almost admire his vessel for them. Such tenacity in a human despite such formidable odds was a very rare thing indeed. It made him curious about the hunter in a way he hadn't been about a human in a very long time, even if he took the brunt of that stubbornness.
All of that made his vessel dangerous despite the odds stacked against him and thus Michael knew to keep an eye on him. On top of all of that, he knew that Castiel listened to Dean- had nearly fallen for his vessel- so Dean could make his brother act even if Castiel wouldn't have on his own. The thought angered him for a moment, to think of any of his brothers and sisters brought so low as to take orders from a human, but then he immediately tried to reign it back in again. His Father had rewarded Castiel in a completely unprecedented manner for what he'd done, so there was something there that he needed to learn, something he was quite sure had to do with his vessel.
"Raphael pulled you out of the cage?" Castiel finally questioned.
"Yes," Michael replied. "The dates you mentioned for the ripples the Virtues felt correspond roughly to when Raphael broke free from the holy fire you left him in, his decision to pull me out and my rescue, respectively."
"That would definitely explain them."
"How the hell did he get out?" Dean demanded. "We secured that room."
"It took a while, but with enough determination most traps can be overcome," Michael replied for his brother.
Michael didn't feel like he could move aside yet and thus didn't think it wise to allow Raphael to speak. His brother hadn't liked it, but he'd agreed, deferring to him to him as always when it really counted. As did most angels, a fact which had made his shock all the greater when Zachariah had told him that Castiel had betrayed them for his sword. Although Lucifer had taken his fair share of their brothers and sisters with him when he rebelled and was cast down, almost none had left since. Just a small handful and each fresh betrayal always came as such a shock to him. He couldn't see why they were doing it; why they were choosing to leave their home and family for either the darkness of Hell or the drudgery and monotony of Earth. He just wanted to keep them together and provide them with the best that he could, hence his and Raphael's original desire to see Paradise opened to everyone who deserved it.
This connection to family was why he'd come to enjoy the training sessions with Castiel. Thinking back on it now, Michael knew he should have expected it, but he hadn't really thought about it. It was strange, needing to think about how he performed certain tasks so he could tell his brother how to do them. He supposed it was something like how human parents and older siblings felt and that parallel wasn't lost on him. Dean had been right when he'd pointed out that Father must have intended for either himself or Raphael to teach Castiel as otherwise He would have granted him the knowledge as well as the power. That connection, however, was what made the current situation all the more painful; to see the brother he'd started to know standing before him with his weapon drawn. It was a smart on Castiel's part, though, because he didn't really know the younger angel's moves with the sword too well, there brief duel notwithstanding and so he wouldn't be able to predict them unlike what they'd been practicing. Plus, he'd heard Castiel was quite proficient with the sword from Zachariah's reports.
Dean shifted slightly, but his eyes didn't move and Michael feared that Raphael was staring him down. He knew his brother's pride has been hurt, being trapped as he had by a human and a Seraph, but he'd hoped Raphael would be able to control himself in light of Father's actions. The reminder of the incident didn't fail to arouse a certain amount of pride within him though. It was no small feat to trap an archangel and yet Dean and Castiel had managed it with some careful planning. It made him wonder what else they were capable of as they'd also managed to evade Zachariah for an impressive amount of time as well.
"Why'd you pull Mikey from the cage?" Dean demanded, breaking the uncomfortable silence that had fallen.
As it had been directly asked of Raphael, Michael kept quiet and chose to see it as progress.
'Mikey?' Raphael questioned privately, scandalized.
'Not now, Brother.'
At least he wasn't alone in disliking that ridiculous moniker Dean had given him. Michael felt Castiel took far too much amusement from it, though he seemed to have no objection to his own moniker. He wondered what it was about them Dean liked so much as he'd overheard him referring to his brother as Sammy once, so it wasn't merely about shortening a name. The other thing that he had noticed was that there was none of the malice and contempt in his vessel's voice when he used Castiel's moniker that there was when he was addressed as 'Mikey.' He was sure that difference had something to do with why his brother seemed to accept the alteration of his name. He wasn't sure why it would make such a difference, but he was surprised to discover that he wished he knew. It was a foreign desire that he wasn't sure what to do with and thus chose to push it aside for the moment.
"He is my brother," Raphael replied aloud.
Because he was watching Dean, Michael saw the flicker of emotions in his vessel's eyes and he was pretty sure his brother had said the right thing. He filed it away for future reference.
/
The words hit Dean with a force he hadn't thought possible and he had to swallow down the swell of emotions that rose within him. This was not the time for this and he knew it. Doing so now would only give Raphael a weakness to exploit and he had no intention of giving the archangel the chance to do so. Not after all the bastard had said he'd do to him nor the way he had threatened Castiel. Despite all of that, he couldn't seem to make his throat work.
"So is Lucifer," Castiel pointed out and Dean was silently thankful for how well his lover knew him.
Raphael's response was to stop glaring at him and to turn his scornful gaze to his brother. The action was enough to spur Dean back on track, not wanting the archangel- and how the hell had he ended up with three of them in his motel room?- to remember what he'd said to Castiel at the end of their last meeting.
"Lucifer betrayed us and is deserving of his situation," Raphael stated
"So why'd you let him out in the first place?" Dean demanded, knowing exactly how to bring the bastard's attention back to himself. "You that eager to see him killed?"
As expected, those words were enough to make him the sole focus of Raphael's attention once more, not to mention Michael's as well. The ferociousness of their combined gazes was enough to give Dean pause, but then he shoved it aside. It wasn't like he hadn't stood up to two archangels before and then he'd had less backup then he did now. He only wished that he'd thought to get out the Jewel of Abel before telling Michael where he was.
"You had better learn to watch your tongue, mu-" Raphael began.
"Raphael!" Michael barked, instantly silencing the younger angel and Dean couldn't help but be kinda impressed. "As for you, Dean Winchester, cease attempting to aggravate him. You know very well neither of us wish to see our brother dead."
Dean's eyebrows rose and he felt anger coil within him. "No, I know no such thing. All I know is that the two of you conspired to let Lucy free with the intention of killing him shortly afterwards in order to attain your goals. As far as I'm concerned, that equates to wanting to see him dead."
The small step backwards that Castiel took could have been construed as a retreat but for the fact that it allowed his lover to come within touching distance of him and Dean knew his angel was preparing for a quick exit, should it become necessary. Abruptly it reminded him of how he'd felt when Castiel had shot off his mouth to Michael when the archangel had first appeared and he briefly felt bad at putting his lover through that. The thing was, it really infuriated him, the way Michael and Raphael tried to explain away their actions at times. It was like that first conversation with Raphael all over again. He could still clearly recall the shock he'd felt when the archangel had declared God dead and subsequently why they'd decided to start the Apocalypse.
For a moment it seemed to Dean like they really would need to make a fast escape as Michael's face went dark and dangerous again, but then it cleared and the archangel seemed to almost slump. Well, as far as an angel would slump, which was not at all if one applied human standards, but he'd learned to ignore those when dealing with Heaven's residents and started measuring their responses based on what he'd learned from Castiel.
"I would give anything to have my brother back with us," Michael stated. "Anything, but that is not possible. Lucifer has made his views quite clear and I know now there is no changing his mind, not after everything that has happened. Regardless of that, I have no desire to either kill him or see him dead by another's hand."
"Call me stupid, but if I had the choice between keeping my brother locked up or having to kill him, I'd keep him locked up. That's like a no-brainer."
"I was trying to help my other brothers and sisters."
Castiel shifted slightly, drawing Dean's attention back to him. The fact that his lover felt safe enough to glance back at him, thus taking his eyes off his brothers, made him relax a little and he met the blue gaze head on. Cheesy as it sounded, he felt they could communicate quite a lot without any words passing between them and he was currently quite thankful for that as it let them reach a decision without Michael or Raphael overhearing it. In fact, all it took was one good look at his angel's eyes to know that Castiel wanted to at least give his brother's the benefit of the doubt.
Dean sighed even as he knew that he'd do it. Not only did he find it hard to deny his lover anything, but Castiel had been mostly right when it came to Michael. Although the archangel had lied to them, it hadn't been to betray or use them and had instead been for a reason that he was forced to admit he understood. If their situations had been reversed, he just knew that he'd have lied to keep his brother safe. Damnit, but he hated being able to see where Michael was coming from, it made it harder to remain angry with him.
"So, what? You just want us to believe that you now wish to avert the Apocalypse?" Dean finally inquired.
"Yes," Michael replied
"You're the ones who started it in the first place!"
"Of this I am very much aware, as I am of Father's disapproval."
Dean snorted. "That's one way of putting it."
"Nevertheless, we now wish to help you," Michael stated.
"How?" Dean demanded.
"What we need is to gather together as many archangels as possible," Raphael said.
"There aren't any others left who'll help us," Castiel replied. "We're it."
"Not true," Michael countered. "There is Gabriel."
"Gabriel abandoned his post, you know this," Castiel shot back, lip curling.
"Yes, I do."
"And do you know that he's spent his time on Earth pretending to be a pagan god?"
"Yes, I am aware," Michael replied calmly.
"You are?" Castiel blinked.
"Zachariah's angels picked up traces of his presence when they managed to briefly track the Winchester brothers. They were too late, but we did learn the truth at that point."
"Our problem has been locating him," Raphael added. "Gabriel has always been good at hiding, so we have attempted to track down the other pagans that he would normally hang out with, but we have had no luck there so far either."
"That's 'cause they're almost all dead," Dean stated, sorely tempted not to say anything given the sheer frustration this failure had apparently caused Raphael, but he knew he couldn't. The situation was far too grave for such childish tactics. "Baldur, Ganesh, Odin, Mercury, Baron Samedi and Zao Shen, they're all dead. Only Kali remains."
"What? How?" Michael demanded.
"Lucifer."
"Why would Lucifer want to kill them?" Castiel inquired.
It caught Dean slightly off-guard, but then he remembered that all of this had transpired when his lover had been... wherever the angel banishing sigil had sent him. When they'd finally gotten him back there had been so much going on and the events hadn't been truly significant apart from the knowledge of the rings that they'd never gotten around to telling his angel about it. He swallowed as he realized that Castiel didn't know that another of his brothers was dead.
"Because they wanted to stop the Apocalypse and were planning to kill him."
Raphael snorted. "As if they could. What were they planning to do, use their powers on him?"
"No, they were going to use Gabriel's sword," Dean explained.
"How do you know all of this?" Castiel asked.
His lover stepped closer, almost as if he already knew the answer and Dean took his hand reassuringly. "Because they set a trap for Sam and me. They wanted to use us as bait to lure Lucifer in."
"Let me guess, he slaughtered them," Raphael said.
"Yes."
"How did you get out?" Michael asked, regarding him steadily.
"Gabriel," Dean said, watching the surprise and shock blossom on all of their faces. "He decided at the last minute that he wasn't just going to sit around and let Lucifer kill all of his friends and then destroy Earth. He was too late to save the others, but he managed to distract Lucifer long enough to save Kali, Sam and me."
The silence that fell over the room was heavy and made Dean want to fidget but he refrained from doing so. He also swallowed the impulse to make some smartass remark. The three angels could be in no doubt as to how the encounter between Lucifer and Gabriel had ended and, insensitive though he could be at times, even he couldn't make light of the death of a brother. And if the archangels had once stuck together as he'd assumed they probably had, then this came as a heavy blow to Raphael and Michael. Besides, though Gabriel had been a royal pain in the ass and an unbearable jerk most of the time, he'd come through for them in the end and Dean could respect that.
"This was after he told you about the fact that you could use the Horseman rings to reopen Lucifer's cage?" Castiel finally inquired.
"No, before," Dean said and then rushed on to explain before he got anyone's hopes up. "Just before he faced Lucifer, Gabriel gave me a DVD and told me to guard it with my life. On it was a recording of himself in which he told us what we needed to know."
"Do you still possess of this... DVD?" Michael asked.
"Yes."
"May we see it?"
"Ah... I don't really think you'd want to," Dean replied, trying to think of how they'd react to witnessing Gabriel reenacting a porno.
"Yes, we do," Raphael declared.
Dean could already tell by that tone alone that Castiel wasn't the only angel who had trouble distinguishing shades of meaning from human voices.
"Okay, but don't say I didn't warn ya."
In retrospect, Dean thought that he really shouldn't have hesitated to show them the DVD. The twin looks of horror and disbelief on Michael and Raphael's faces were priceless whereas Castiel's curious little head tilt made him wonder what exactly was going through his lover's mind. Maybe he was glad to know that he wasn't the first angel to have enjoyed sex so much, or maybe Gabriel's performance was giving him ideas. Although he had no interest in watching the former Trickster doing that, Casa Erotica 13 was one of his favorites and it did have some interesting positions in it, even if Mikey and Raph seemed completely unable to appreciate that particular fact.
A.N.: Can I ask people for a little help? I'm a big spoiler avoider, as I really don't want to know anything about upcoming episodes until they air. Now, I've started another fic that goes AU from the last episode and I was wondering if someone would mind telling me when the next new episode is due to air? I don't want to look in case I get spoiled about anything. Thanks.
Chapter 38