[Fic] "Trickster Intervention"
Jun. 28th, 2016 07:33 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
lux_tuliAfter the Winchesters had bust down the door on his old hidden slice of paradise, Gabriel had taken to jumping from town to town, paranoid that he would be found if he stayed in a single location for too long. Currently, the town of the week was Wellington, Ohio.
The looming Apocalypse and big bro Luci wandering the earth certainly did not stop him from dishing out just desserts as a trickster because the moment he stopped playing the role of his disguise, the easier it would be for one of his siblings to spot him. The use of his pagan magic helped disguised his angelic grace.
Though wouldn’t he know that the Winchesters would come along to ruin things...again. It was bad enough that the whole Apocalypse was their fault. Lucifer would have never been unleashed from the Cage if it were not for them. But they decided to stumble into one of his current hideouts.
He had half a mind to toss them in a tv inspired world to get them to play their roles so this whole fiasco would just be over with because there was no sense in delaying the inevitable. There was too many hurt feelings between Michael and Lucifer for both of them to agree to stand down from killing each other.
It was no coincidence that the Winchesters were here, they had to know the recent killings was his doing so what did they want? Gabriel popped a lollipop into his mouth and had a fake police report come in over the radio to draw them towards him since they were warded in a way that he was unable to detect their location.
He conjured a fancy looking living room inside the abandoned warehouse and plopped himself down onto a couch while he waited. Gabriel smiled when they appeared through the doors, wooden stake in hand. Unluckily for them, those stakes wouldn’t work against him, the only good perk about not completely renouncing his angelhood.
“Boys, boys, where’s the 911 emergency at?” The archangel sat up then jumped onto his feet.
“The police scanner...that was you, wasn’t it?” Sam concluded.
“Bingo, Samsquatch! So, what brings you all the way to little old me? Did you miss me that much?” Gabriel knew he wasn’t at the top of Sam’s favorite list with his whole stunt at the “Mystery Spot” incident where he had repeatedly killed Dean. Sam might have thought he was been intentionally cruel but he wasn’t trying to torture the boy at all. He just needed to learn how to cope with not having his big brother around.
Because that’s what was going to happen after Michael’s and Lucifer’s prize fight. Sure, Michael as the oldest was more powerful than the rest of the archangels but Lucifer was crafty and he knew how to fight dirty, after all Gabriel had learned all his tricks from him. So yeah, Gabriel was placing all his bets on Lucifer at the moment.
“The Apocalypse, I bet that’s going to ruin your game.” Dean went straight to the point.
“Hmm, maybe.” Gabriel shrugged in feigned ignorance.
“You’re bullshitting. Who exactly are you going to prank when everyone is dead?” Dean shot back at him, aggravated. Honestly, sometimes Gabriel wondered how Dean was Michael’s true vessel, though he could clearly see the parallels between Sam and Lucifer. Sure, he got aggressive at times but he didn’t have a huge stick up his ass like his big brother.
“Well, what do you expect me to do about it?” He tilted his head, prodding him to spill how exactly they expected him to help. Gabriel was willing to lend a hand...to an extent. He certainly was not going to place himself in the middle of the hate sandwich that would be Lucifer and Michael when duking it out on the chosen field.
“You’re a powerful trickster, aren’t you strong enough to take on Lucifer?” Sam suggested and Gabriel instantly balked at it. Like no, on so many levels. First, Luci was way stronger than him. He was never much of a fighter anyways, which is why Dad made him His messenger. Secondly, he still loved his brothers despite their douchery so in no way was he going to kill them.
“Kid, I think you’re overestimating how powerful I am. Sure, maybe I could go toe to toe with an ordinary angel, you know the footsoldier types. But an archangel? Hell no. They’re powerful in ways that you cannot even begin to comprehend.” He could see the frown form on Sam’s face, looking like someone kicked his puppy. Gabriel bet that Lucifer was already paying his true vessel visit at night and just wanted to be rid of him as soon as possible.
“You make it sound like you have tussled with them before.” Dean commented.
“I have had my run ins with the winged dicks. Nothing that I care to repeat anytime in the near future.” He was being partially honest at least, he didn’t want to go anywhere near his brothers. If Michael discovered him, he would try to drag him back to Heaven and scold him for not acting very angel-like. And no doubt Lucifer would attempt to convince Gabriel to join him.
“Sammy, this is a complete bust.” Dean shook his head, growing frustrated. And poor Sam, that look on his face showed how crushed he was, seems like he was pinning a lot of hope on him.
“Hey, don’t rule me out just yet. I can help out in other ways...like I bet that you don’t know that you can toss Lucifer back into his Cage.” Gabriel grinned as both of their eyes widened in shock. Figures since not too many knew about how the Cage operated. He happened to be old enough to witness its creation when most of the other angels were mere fledglings, probably too young to be made aware of that information.
“All you need are the rings from the four Horsemen and a little Enochian chant to go with it and boom the door to the Cage is open and you can toss his ass back there.”
“How...how do you even know this? If Cas knew, I’m sure he would have told us by now.” Dean said skeptically, erring on the side of caution, not wanting to get his hopes up.
“I have my ways. You know that I can be very persuasive.” Gabriel winked. “Cas doesn’t know because most of the angels don’t. Not something the big man himself wanted to broadcast everywhere or people would be able to let out Luci whenever they wanted.”
“Dean, this is great, we already have War’s and Famine’s.”
“Well, well, already halfway there!” Gabriel cheered. At least going about things this way, Lucifer would not have to die. Oh, he would probably be pissed big time at being thrown back into his prison but for Gabriel it was the better option.
“So, I’m guessing you know this Enochian chant we are going to need?”
“Sure thing, I am fluent in dick bag speech.” Gabriel confirmed. There was hardly a language that he did not know. Dean gave him a suspicious look but he did not voice any complaints. To make sure there was not any complications, Gabriel decided to tag along with the brothers.
“This is one fine girl you have right here, Deano.” He purred as he settled into the back seat of the Impala, running his hand along the leather and kicking up his feet.
“Hey, hey, no feet on the leather!” Dean scolded him. They had drove back to the motel they had rented a room from so that they could rest, though Gabriel had no need.
“Naw, I don’t need to sleep unless you’re offering to share your bed with me.” Gabriel fluttered his eyelashes at Dean as he teased him when asked if he needed a bed.
“Dude, really?” Dean just rolled his eyes at him but did not seem disgusted at the suggestion. Hmm, perhaps he was not as straight as he pretended to be. Sexuality did not matter much to angels being that they were essentially genderless.
They were not immune to desire but Gabriel would classify a good chunk of them asexual as many held no such interests. Like Lucifer. He hated humans so much that he would probably prefer to stab himself with his own blade than lay in bed with one. The only thing possibly appealing to him would be hate screwing Michael.
Dad knows that there was probably some pent up sexual tension hidden underneath all that hate between them.
“Though, before you two head off into snoozeland, I can help Samsquatch with blocking Lucifer from entering his dreams.” And boy, the look that across Sam’s face was if Christmas came early. Of course, Lucifer was going to be ticked off that he was suddenly cut off from his true vessel and grow very suspicious as to who was responsible. Hopefully, he would just go immediately to blaming Michael.
“Seriously?”
“Very.” Gabriel waved Sam closer to him then laid the palm of his hand on his forehead, using his grace to put up a shield around his mind.
“There, you are all good to go.” He gave him the clear to go to bed. When the brothers were both sound asleep, Gabriel popped over to Asgard to pay Thor a visit. When he had assumed Loki’s identity, absorbing the dying trickster into his grace, Gabriel had a suspicion that Odin and Thor knew he was an imposter but had accepted him anyways inside their home.
Thor was a great older brother, passionate and caring. He reminded him back of the days when Michael and Lucifer weren’t at each other’s throats. It wasn’t always perfect between his older brothers, they used to bicker sometimes as if they were an old married couple but at least they didn’t actually want to hurt the other.
“Brother, it is good to see you.” As soon as he walked into the palace and got a glimpse of the blond haired god, he was brought into a tight hug, practically crushing him. Thor was so huge that he made Sam look tiny.
“Same, how have you been hanging?”
“Father and Baldur have gotten entangled with Kali’s plans to stop the Apocalypse.” Thor heaved out a heavy sigh. Damn, quite a bit has happened since he had chilled with the rest of the pagans. Though, they were stupid to try to get involved, they didn’t have a chance against his brothers.
“You don’t approve.” It was a surprise, normally Thor would back whatever Odin or his brother decided without question.
“I don’t care for the angels treating the planet as a toy to do whatever they please but I think it’s better to ride this out then get involved. We never meddled before even when their God flooded the earth and wiped the slate clean.” Thor reasoned. Despite how the Marvel comics tended to show him as a bit of a dumb oaf at times, Thor was actually pretty intelligent.
“It’s the smart option. You and I both know that they’re no match for the archangels. They would just get turned into finger paint.” Gabriel frowned as he wished the rest of the pagans were like Thor and not get involved because he didn’t want the brothers he loved slaughtering the pagans he had grew to love either. Both sides were family to him.
“Loki…” Thor called out to him softly as tears started to well up in his eyes.
“You know, I had every intention of standing aside and watch as it all played out but those two boys, their vessels, came to see me. I was never a fighter, in fact, I always ran from conflict. But I don’t want to see anyone I care about die so I offered to help them, gave them a way to throw Lucifer back into the Cage. But I don’t know if I am strong enough to get through this.” Whoever said that angels were unfeeling warriors of God did not know jack squat, humans did not have a jeopardy on emotions. They cared deeply, sometimes too deeply for Gabriel’s tastes.
“Shh, brother, I know how difficult this is for you but I know that you have the strength to follow this through.” Thor pulled him towards his chest, comforting him. It reminded him of the days of when he was a fledgling under Lucifer’s care. Whenever he accidentally hurt himself, Luci would cradle him in his arms and use his grace to make the pain go away. Sometimes, he would even sing to him in that beautiful voice that was the envy of the entire Host.
His resolve strengthened by his visit to Thor, Gabriel returned to the Winchesters’ side before either one of them woke up. He honestly thought that Sam was the early riser but to his surprise, Dean was the first one to wake up, staring at Gabriel as he sat on the couch skimming through a copy of Busty Asian Beauties.
“Hmm, you got good taste.” Dean commented in a hushed tone, careful enough to avoid waking up his brother. He made a pot of coffee and tinkered around on a laptop until Sam woke up an hour later.
“How was your sleep? Devil free?” Gabriel asked as the younger Winchester rose up out of the bed, though he had not doubt over whether his shield did the trick or not.
“As advertised. Thanks.”
“Don’t sweat it. You’ll be in better form now that Luci can’t go Peeping Tom in your dreams.” The peace of their morning did not last as Sam got an urgent text from their writer friend Chuck, also known as the prophet of the Lord, so they packed themselves into the Impala and rode all night. Hopefully, Dad did not privy his prophet with information about everything or his cover as a trickster was going to be blown rather quickly.
They drove up to the Pineview Hotel but nothing had struck Gabriel as out of the ordinary or life threatening as Chuck had claimed. He sensed some lingering spirits but they kept themselves hidden so he did not deem them as a threat.
Dean got caught up in staring at the line of Impalas in the parking lot. That was kinda strange but nothing urgent. As he saw the writer pacing in front of the hotel, Gabriel paused in his step and wondered if it was really a good idea to get close to him. Prophets fell under the protection of the archangels and since Gabriel was not currently upholding his angel duties, that means either Michael or Raphael was looking after him. He was betting on Raphael because Michael tended to be a hands off kind of leader, delegating tasks to other people. And of course, Raphael would accept without complaint because he had always sucked up to Michael.
He just hoped that the pagan magic was enough to mask him.
“Guys?” Chuck chirped up in surprise as he saw the Winchesters. He could see his face turn white when he got a glance of Gabriel, “You are…”
“Loki.” Gabriel said firmly. He seemed to recognize Gabriel but that could either be as the trickster or as his true self so he interjected before he spilled out his secret.
“What’s going on?” Dean asked impatiently. He had been upset that they did not have time to sit down at a diner for a proper breakfast before they left Ohio so he was a bit grouchy.
“Ah, not much, you know. What brings you three here?” He said casually, which told Gabriel that there was not anything urgent going on.
“You told us to come here, remember?” Dean crossed his arms and tapped his foot against the ground.
“No, I didn’t!” Chuck denied vehemently. Gabriel had a hunch that he was not lying, which is as much as he could speculate without reading his mind. On principle, he tended to avoid reading people’s minds because he tried to respect other’s privacy.
“What, are you saying that you butt texted Sam?” Gabriel joked.
“I swear to you, I didn’t send a text!”
“We drove all night!” Dean said, so agitated that even a blind man could see it.
“I’m sorry….oh.” Chuck suddenly seemed to have realized what had happened.
“Sam! You made it!” He heard a young woman screech in a high pitch voice like a harpy. It would probably give his true voice a run for his money for being eardrum shattering.
Apparently, the Sam obsessed lady was Becky, who the brothers had crossed paths with before, and she had been the one responsible for texting Sam using Chuck’s phone. Gabriel had not known that Chuck had published what was to be known as the Winchester gospels as a series of books which had a small but dedicated following and this hotel was hosting the first fan convention.
Putting the Apocalypse into the back of his mind, it was downright hilarious seeing the people in costume dressed up as their favorite characters. Lots of Sams and Deans wandering around. Thank Dad Chuck had yet to publish the books introducing the angels because it would be really weird to see people trying to dress up as his siblings.
“What about me? I don’t see anyone cosplaying the Trickster! Am I not a fan favorite?” Gabriel pouted as he looked around.
“Dude, you might have style but you’re still a mega douche.” Dean responded. Definitely still holding a grudge against him for Mystery Spot. They just did not understand the bigger picture yet.
They had suffered through watching an awkward question and answer session with Chuck, which afterwards the brothers had roasted the prophet for continuing to write about their lives. As the live action role playing activity continued upstairs, Gabriel could feel the ghosts start to stir.
He became alarmed as they did not feel as passive as before, what had triggered them to grow so aggressive? Gabriel rose up from the bar stool, ignoring the startled expressions on the Winchesters’ face, and darted upstairs. Things weren’t going to end well if angry ghosts were involved.
As he ran towards the library, he could feel a female spirit racing alongside him towards the same destination. This one did not appear hostile as it did not attack him. He spotted a young cosplayer cornered in the room by three child like ghosts. Damn, this was so messed up.
Their gaze turned towards him and the female. He could feel the pure malice radiating off of them. What the heck, how could children have so much hate inside of them?
“Leave them to me.” Gabriel assured her. He was no reaper but he knew how to send human souls, even lingering ones, on their way. They swiped at him with their nails and tiny axes but the damage to his vessel was inconsequential as he dug his hand into their souls and pushed a bit of his grace to send them onwards. Their ghostly forms dissipated into bright specks of light.
“Thank you.” The female ghost thanked him as she finally moved on, her soul finding peace at last.
It was too late for the Winchesters to do anything as they ran into the library, guns loaded with rock salt, except to stare in awe as the ghost dissipated as well.
“What the hell…?” Sam gasped.
“How did you…?” Dean spoke, baffled.
“I’m a trickster, remember? A lowly ghost holds no power over me.” Gabriel brushed off Dean’s questions. Certainly, a pagan overpower a ghost, no question about it, but they would only be able to destroy the soul, not allow it to move on as he had. Thankfully neither one was an angel or currently possessed by one so they couldn’t call him out on his bullshit.
After everything started winding down at the convention, the three of them had taken off towards their friend Bobby’s house. He had only met the hunter briefly when they had first gone after him, back when he was masquerading as a janitor, and it was not really enough to get a good grasp at his character.
Bobby greeted him warmly upon entry into his house with a gun pointed at his chest. “Tsk, tsk, you should know that little thing won’t harm me.”
“Sure, but it can still annoy you.” Gabriel snapped his fingers and the gun turned into a toy water gun, letting out a smirk as it sprayed him with water when Bobby pulled down on the trigger.
“You son of a-” Bobby cursed when he had realized what Gabriel had done, his gun rendered useless unless he planned on loading it with holy water and using it against demons. That would be an interesting way to exorcise them.
“See, this is why you don’t mess with the Trickster.”
“Okay, Loki, can you can it? This is not the time for one of your games.” Dean grunted.
“Oh, looks like someone was paying attention.” Gabriel winked as he praised him for taking note of the name he had offered to Chuck upon their introduction. Though, he had not been able to corner the guy and ask him how much he knew.
They were soon joined by more of the Winchesters’ hunter friends, a mother and daughter duo, and his younger brother Castiel. Apparently his cover was holding up well as there was no look of recognition in Castiel’s eyes when he looked at him. If he wasn’t trying to stay out of sight, he would be hurt that the fledgling he had helped raise couldn’t recognize him. Originally, Castiel had been one of Lucifer’s charges but when he was cast out, most of them had fell to his care.
“I say something is up with Carthage. It’s lit up with omens like you wouldn’t believe.” Dean commented. Gabriel’s heart sank as he realized what it was.
“It’s Lucifer. He’s going to raise the Horseman of Death.” He stated out loud, hoping that they didn’t get any bright ideas to go chasing after his big brother.
“How are you so sure about that?” Dean looked at him skeptically.
“It’s in the lore, you chuckleheads.” Gabriel responded as if it was blatantly obvious but Dean still didn’t seemed convinced.
“Well, if he’s raising Death, that sounds like an opportunity to nick his ring.” Sam suggested.
“Are you crazy? Have you forgotten that I mentioned Lucifer is going to be there?” Geez, he had gone through the trouble of relieving Sam of his Lucifer plagued dreams and here he just wanted to go right up and sit in his lap.
“I know but how are we supposed to pass up an opportunity like this?” Dear Dad, he couldn’t believe this! Sam was supposed to be the smart one.
“It’s stupid and very risky. Lucifer is going to notice your presence and he’s not going to just let you walk out of his sight again, especially since he has been denied access to your dreams. You need to learn how to pick and choose your battles.” Gabriel argued, hoping he could get through his thick skull that this wasn’t a bright idea.
And of course, they didn’t listen to him. He should have just shut his mouth and not said anything. Rather than wait with Bobby, Gabriel reluctantly went along, despite the risk of Lucifer recognizing him, just to pull their asses out before their plan backfires on them. He didn’t sacrifice his cushy life of playing pranks just to be a dead weight.
He had never seen so many reapers gathered in one location before. It sent chills down his spine.
Rather than sticking close to the others, Castiel had decided to wander off on his own and Gabriel felt obliged to follow after him, his mind recalling back to the days where he was his responsibility. And great luck that brought him as it landed both of them in a ring of holy fire and Castiel confused as to why holy fire was effective against a trickster.
Gabriel did not even need to hear Castiel speak his older brother’s name as he felt his icy grace envelope the room they were trapped in.
“So, I take it you’re here with the Winchesters.” Lucifer briefly looked at Castiel before settling his gaze on him. His brother’s vessel wasn’t doing too well, already stretching at the seams. The problem of being an archangel was that they could not possess just any John Doe. The bloodlines were important and even then, Lucifer was cut off from the host so only his true vessel would be able to contain him without deteriorating.
“We came alone.” Castiel insisted and Gabriel sighed, knowing he would be unable to fool Lucifer. He could see his brother squint his eyes in scrutiny and then relaxed as he smiled.
“Clever. Very clever way of disguising yourself, brother.” Lucifer addressed him and damn, he was screwed.
“Brother?” Castiel gaped and turned towards him in surprise.
“Alright, so the cat’s out of the bag! But you know what, I’m sure not going to help you!”
“Gabriel, you offend me. I have not made any demands from you.” Lucifer spread his hands, seemingly warming them over the fire. His grace had turned icy cold when he was kicked out, denied the warmth that the Host provided.
“Yet! Don’t forget that I know you Lucifer.” The brother that he had once admired and loved was long gone, consumed by the taint of the Mark.
“I assume that you are the one that cut me off from entering Sam Winchester’s dreams? I had been skeptical that an angel barely clinging onto his own grace would be capable of such.” Lucifer casually changed the topic.
“And keep telling yourself that you were going to be able to sweep Sam off his feet that way.” Gabriel snorted.
“I’m not too worried about Sam. In time, he will come to me when he understands that resistance is futile.” Lucifer said somberly before leaving the two of them trapped behind the holy fire.
Once they had freed themselves from the holy fire, they had just managed to swoop in and fly the Winchesters away before they managed to do something stupid, like trying to fight Lucifer head on. Getting Death’s ring could wait. Unfortunately, a reaper had already collected Jo’s and Ellen’s souls or else Gabriel probably could have resurrected them.
Though the pain they felt for their friend's’ death was nothing compared to the look of utter betrayal that came across their face when Castiel informed them of the truth of who he was.
“You’re a fucking archangel? Well, bring them back, dammit!” Dean pounded his fists against his chest in rage, tears running unrestrained down his cheeks. Normally, he would vocalize his protest as being used as a punching bag but he could sympathize with Dean’s pain.
“I wish I could...but they are safely secured in Heaven. Going back there would only alert my siblings that I’m still alive. Michael would probably collar me as soon as he found out and I don’t mean in the sexy kind of way..” Sam and Bobby were visibly upset too but Dean appeared to be taking their loss particularly hard out of the group.
“Get out of my fucking sight.” He was being outright unreasonable, grief aside.
“Dean-” Gabriel protested. He got that he was angry and frustrated but that didn’t mean he should take it out on him. It wasn’t his fault that they were dead. If it was anyone’s fault, it was Lucifer’s.
“I don’t want to hear it! Go before I use a damn angel banishing sigil on you!” Dean’s hands were balled up into fists and he knew better than to argue with him.
Gabriel did not know where else to go other than Asgard as he knew it was a place where he would always be welcomed. Plus now that Lucifer knew that he was alive, he would not be able to creep up on him there and try to convince him to join his side.
He found Sif, Thor’s wife and Norse goddess of the earth, in the garden, plucking the red berry fruit off the rowan branches. It was her favorite plant so the garden was dominated by it. Her golden hair shone under the light of the sun and her flowing white dress fluttered about in gentle breeze.
“Loki, is all well? Thor told me that you had paid a visit not too long ago.” She hummed as she looked up from her basket filled with fruit, probably to be part of the spread at the dinner table.
“Not really.” Gabriel confessed, biting down on the inside of his cheek.
“It is unlike you to be so sad.” Sif observed, pressing a soft hand against his face. No matter how much she tended to the garden, dirtying them in the soil or pulling weeds out, they remained soft to the touch.
“I just want all of this Apocalypse drama to end. And I have this feeling that no matter what I do, however I try to change the course of things, that it will still only end in disaster.” Gabriel rambled off. How were the Winchesters in any better shape now that he had joined their side? And he know no matter how bad it got that dear old Dad wasn’t going to step in and resolve things. Dad had not shown any interest since He had left, leaving the archangels behind to pick up the pieces.
“Have more faith.” Sif said calmly.
“In who, God?” Gabriel laughed bitterly. Dad didn’t care, didn’t care that his two oldest sons were going to kill each other and take a good chunk of his beloved creation with them in a blaze of glory.
“No. In yourself. There is nothing to be gained if you do not at least try.”
There was no expense spared when it came to dining in Asgard, the highest quality of meats and produce. It was certainly a feast meant for kings but both Odin and Thor were absent. Sif told him that Thor had departed to try to convince his father and Baldur that following along with Kali’s plans would not be in their best interest.
Gabriel wasn’t exactly sure why Odin was going along with the Hindu goddess in fearing the end that the angels were going to herald as he firmly believed that when it was time for Ragnarök, which a lot of people tended to equate with the Apocalypse even though they were completely different, he would be devoured by a huge wolf.
“He’s not convinced, he’s just going along for the sake of Baldur. Apparently him and Kali are a thing now.” Sif answered when he had voiced his confusion. Ugh, Gabriel wished he had not asked. He had a brief relationship with Kali himself and even though they had broke it off, he still cared about her. But Baldur? Geez, she could do much better than Odin’s second born son, whose arrogance eerily reminded him of Lucifer.
“I know that look, Loki. You’re hardly in a position to complain.” She looked amused.
“It’s not that I’m upset she’s with someone else but seriously, Baldur?” While Gabriel was most notorious for his flings with women, he was definitely not adverse to dating men. He had done so in the past but Baldur was definitely not his type. Too uptight for his tastes. He preferred his partners to have a more relaxed personality, like him.
“Loki, jealousy is unseemly.” Frigga, Odin’s wife, greeted them as she joined them in the dining room, wearing a stunning blue dress with bright white gems.
“It’s not jealousy, mom.” Gabriel rolled his eye at how infuriating the two women were. She moved closer to him and kissed him on the cheeks. Loki had been the youngest of his brothers just as he had been amongst the archangels so he was treated like the beloved baby of the family.
“Sure.” She let the word roll sarcastically off her tongue.
Bless Frigga’s sweet heart because she kept Loki’s room reserved for him, giving him a place to relax inside the palace. Most of the items that laid inside the room were of sentimental value to the pagan god and not himself but he kept them in place out of respect.
Loki had a sizable library inside his own room. Asgard had its own library but apparently the Norse god liked having a collection of his own. Many of which was written in old Norse, posing no problem for Gabriel as he was fluent. He was older than creation and with his interest in humans, he took the time to pick up as many languages as he could. Gabriel was the only one among the archangels that held such an interest. Michael was too busy trying to fit into Dad’s shoes, Raphael was more interested in medicine, and Lucifer...well, that answer was obvious.
His ears started ringing as he heard someone praying to him. Normally, he just got a bunch of prayers around Christmas for his role of telling Mary that she was pregnant and Michaelmas, the feast held in September in dedication to the archangels. Though as the name suggested, most of their prayers were focused on Michael because of how he was revered for kicking out the “Serpent”.
“ Gabriel, if you are listening...Please, I need your help. This kid swapped bodies with me and the demon is going to have him say yes to Lucifer .” Sam’s desperate voice called out to him, following his plea with their location since no one could current track them with the warding on their ribs.
Though, Gabriel was not that surprised to hear Sam praying to him, he knew that he was a man of faith as he had constantly heard his prayers while in his presence, some to Dad, some to Castiel. Now if it had been Dean then it would certainly raise an eyebrow. His lack of faith was one of the points of his personality that made him so starkly different from Michael. Michael was a devoted believer of their Father, even after He left, unquestioning of His so called plans.
The smell of sulfur was unmistakable, trailed behind demons like the cape of a superhero. For as much Gabriel had grew to love humans, demons were revolting. Corruptions of the beauty that was the human soul, which had been Lucifer’s intention.
It was just a low level grunt so Gabriel did not even break a sweat as he pressed the palm of his hand to the girl’s forehead and exorcised the demon out. Now that the threat was taken care of, Gabriel looked around, Dean was nowhere in sight and all he could find was Sam’s soul glowing underneath the surface of a scrawny kid and the dead body of a curly blond haired teenager.
“Where’s Deano and the kid that nabbed your body?” He asked calmly, groaning at whoever’s bright idea it was to switch bodies. That could get incredibly complicated and it would be best to return Sam to his own body as soon as possible.
“At the Cloverleaf Motel.” Sam answered as Gabriel worked on untying him from his bonds. Upon freeing him, he flew the both of them over there, leaving the girl’s body behind. She was safe and would eventually regain consciousness. Dean was pacing around the room while Sam’s body was bound with rope. He stopped in his step when he finally noticed the two of them.
“What the fuck? Are you a witch? How did you get in here like that?” The kid inside Sam exclaimed in shock while Dean just shook his head, looking displeased that Gabriel was with his brother.
“Hardly, I’m an angel of the Lord, you jackass. I want to know what you were thinking switching bodies like this. Do you know how dangerous it is to be messing with the soul like that?”
“What do you mean?” Dean asked, his throat tight.
“One wrong move during the spell and Sam’s soul could have ended up in oblivion, lost for all eternity. While my Father created the human soul to be resilient, able to endure against many things, tampering with it is still risky.” Gabriel explained, crossing his arms as he looked towards the kid in disapproval.
“More importantly, can you put them back into their proper meatsuits?”
“Of course but you know...if you leave the kid inside Sam, Sam can live in peace and not have to worry about Lucifer stalking him. I mean sure, he will have to go through puberty all over again but…” Gabriel suggested. Lucifer only needed his body, what would it matter to him whether his soul was still residing inside it or not.
“No!” Sam voiced his protest instantly, shaking his head fervently. “As much as I want to be free from Lucifer, this isn’t the way to go about it. Besides, that won’t stop the Apocalypse, I would just be taking the easy way out.”
“I tell ya, you Winchesters are stubborn.” He lets out a deep sigh, “Alright, I will put you back but let me tell you that it’s going to hurt a bit. You might want to sit down.”
Sam took a seat on the bed just a foot away from his body. Once he was settled, Gabriel leaned forward and reached his hand inside of the body Sam was inhabiting, grabbing for his soul. He let out a cry of pain and once extracted the body collapsed lifelessly as it was nothing more than an empty shell for the moment.
“Sam!” Dean had cried out in panic but his worries for naught, his brother’s soul was in good hands. His approach was slow and gentle to avoid any accidents in the process.
The soul shone brightly in hands, rivaling the light that an angel’s grace emitted. He turn towards Sam’s body and as soon as he pulled out the kid’s soul, he stuck Sam’s soul back in place. While Sam heaved a deep breath, he returned the kid’s soul to his body.
Dean had untied Sam after he was put back into place and Sam rose out of the bed to check himself in the mirror, wanting to confirm that it was really his body. His hands hesitantly touched his face but let out a sigh of relief as soon as he did.
“So, you good?” Dean asked, patting him on the shoulder.
“Yeah.” Sam nodded and turned towards Gabriel, “Thanks for answering my prayer...I wasn’t sure if you were going to respond or not. Or if you were even able to hear them.”
“Even though I left, I’m not fallen but even then fallen angels can still hear prayers directed towards them.” Gabriel responded. He wondered how many prayers that Lucifer got. Most of them were probably crazy Devil worshippers. Then there was Michael who was constantly slammed with prayers as the ones directed towards their Father were sent to him as the current viceroy of Heaven.
“So...Gary.” Dean cleared his throat, redirecting their attention on the teenager who was still seated on the bed. He must have been too terrified to even move one inch.
“Look, I know...mea culpa.” The apology was not even made to appear heartfelt and it just made Dean even more aggravated.
“Nuh-uh, that’s not enough. You heard Gabe, you really fucked things up and it could have gone worse. It’s a good thing that you’re just a kid or I wouldn’t hesitate to put a bullet between your ears. So let me tell you, you are gonna clean up your act or one day you will find me knocking on your door. Do I make myself clear?” Dean threatened, going into protective older brother mode.
He had never really experienced it much with his own brothers, except for the few times that Lucifer stuck up for him whenever Michael would scold him for something lame. Though, he could see Thor easily acting like that with how much he looked out for his siblings but never had the need to since they were pretty good about looking after themselves. It was not like there was much to endanger a pagan god.
“Very.” The Winchesters drove the kid, who was apparently called Gary, back to his parents talk, giving him a pep talk about how his life did not suck as badly as he thought it did. Seriously, Sam and Dean could take the trophy for most awful childhood.
While the brothers had hope that Gary could turn his life around, Gabriel kept silent as he knew the inevitable truth. No matter what he did, he would never be able to escape the tainted mark on his soul that was from his dabbling into dark magic. His Father might be willing to forgive and allow into Heaven those that used it for good - white magic - but other witches? No, they had a one way ticket to Hell.
It was mildly surprising that Lucifer had let Gabriel be rather than constantly harassing him now that he knew that he was alive. Though, perhaps he wanted that to stay a secret from Michael because as soon as his brother would say something to him on the part of angel radio that was exclusive for archangels, the others would know. And no doubt Michael would not be so generous as Lucifer.
Honestly, between the two, being captured by Lucifer would be a mercy.
It was another night in a motel room with the Winchesters, sleeping off the drama that Gary had stirred up with his little spell. Dean had not seemed too resistant when Sam had asked him to rejoin their group, perhaps he was no longer so mad at him.
Gabriel had relaxed on the couch while they slept. Free from Lucifer invading his dreams, Sam continued to sleep peacefully though strangely he saw Dean toss and turn a bit. He had not complained before about his dreams so he had assumed that the angels had not taken to visiting his. Perhaps, he should have warded Dean’s mind as a precaution as well.
Obviously something had happened because as soon as Dean woke up, he had instantly called for Castiel. Though he waited to say anything until his brother showed up and Sam was awake.
“It was Anna...she visited my dream. She apparently broke out of Heaven and said that she wants to meet us.” Dean looked downright uncomfortable. He spoke with familiarity so it seemed like he had encountered her in the past. Admittedly, Gabriel did not know much about his sister as he had not lingered too long after Lucifer left to get to know them well.
“No one simply breaks out of Heaven. They let her out. Anael is acting under their orders.” Castiel responded firmly. Both of the Winchester brothers looked towards him for confirmation.
“Yeah, exactly, they run a tight joint up there, no one is getting out unless they desired it.”
“I will go to see what she wants. You wait here under Gabriel’s protection.” Castiel stated. As much as Gabriel wanted to offer to go along with him, it would probably blow what little remained of his witness protection program.
“So, how did you meet Anael?”
“During a case. She had ripped out her own grace and was living like a human. At the time she didn’t remember that she was an angel but that changed when she got her grace back.” Damn, wasn’t she a bold angel.
Gabriel had never even dared to think of ripping out his own grace. Though honestly, it had become a bit of a safety net so he was not sure if he could handle being without it. And besides forgetting about all his brothers? Sure, they gave him too much of a heartache with their drama but he still loved them. And underneath all the bad that had transpired, there had been good moments.
Lucifer showing him all the nature that their Father created. Naming to him all the star constellations in the sky. Singing with his beautiful voice. The rare moments of Michael hoisting him over his shoulders and introducing him to each new angel that was created, telling him that one day they would look towards him for guidance as their older brother.
He used to catch Michael and Lucifer holding each other close, smiles on their faces as they whispered words to the other, too soft for anyone else to make out what they had been saying but Gabriel would wager that they were words of love.
“And Dean slept with her.” Sam curved his lips into a smirk.
“Dude, c’mon, did you really just tattle on me?” Dean halfheartedly punched him in the shoulder in protest.
“Oh.” Gabriel parted his lips but it was not really earth shattering. Dean was definitely attractive so it was unsurprising that he had lured in his sister. Like seriously, he wouldn’t mind having a roll in the hay with Dean himself. Not that he would ever utter that out loud because he still was not sure about how firm Dean was in his sexuality and Gabriel was not one to force himself on others.
“That’s it?” Sam seemed disappoint that he did not flip out on his older brother.
“What can I say? Anael is old enough to make decisions for herself. It’s not like she’s a fledgling that needs to be held onto as she tests out her wings for the first time.” Gabriel shrugged.
“Is that really a thing?” Dean inquired, probably thankful for the opportunity to get the topic off him and Anael.
“Yeah, I remember affixing Castiel with a leash so he wouldn’t get out of my reach.” Gabriel recalled. There was a reason for the leash. Lucifer had been a lot more lax with him and on his first attempt, he had flown right into a tree. And rather than be nice and immediately help him, Lucifer laughed his ass off. Though once the laughter had worn off, he had gone to his aid.
“Dude, a leash? What was he, a pet dog?” Dean said in disbelief.
“You wouldn’t understand.” He sighed, shaking his head.
It was not good news that Castiel had brought back from Anael. She wanted to kill Sam to prevent Lucifer from acquiring him as a vessel, which would only be effective if his body was shattered to pieces and scattered across the universe or if his soul was sent to Heaven.
Lucifer could easily resurrect any soul that went to Hell but being cut off from the Host, he was unable to touch upon a soul that had ascended. And just because Sam was Lucifer’s true vessel, it did not automatically condemn him to Hell. Though he doubted Dad would be entirely pleased with the whole demon blood drinking stunt.
“So that plan, could it work?” Sam asked and Gabriel’s jaw drop. What was with the martyr complex?
“No!” Dean immediately rejected the idea. He would have said the same if he was in Dean’s shoes.
“But does she have a point?” Sam insisted, not letting Dean’s protest deter him.
“Don’t be ridiculous. You might be able to deny Luci his true vessel that way but it’s not going to stop him from going through with his plans. Trust me, I know my brother.” Gabriel spoke up. Lucifer was incredibly stubborn and once he had put his mind to something, he was not going to easily let it go. So while not having Sam would put a dent in those plans and put him at a disadvantage, it would not stop him. No, the only way to stop him was to kill him or toss him back down in the Cage.
Meanwhile Castiel was busy setting up a spell on a table with some chalk, presumably to track down Anael.
“Why are you looking for her? She wants to kill Sam.”
“She will not stop until Sam is dead so we kill her first.” Honestly, Gabriel wished they avoid killing any of their siblings but Castiel was right. It was either Sam or Anael. Pouring oil into a bowl, his little brother recited the Enochian chant. Lord, was it ages since he last heard Enochian being spoken, he had no need for it as a pagan.
Castiel looked up from the bowl, an odd expression on his face.
“Where is she?”
“Not where. When. She has traveled to 1978.” Gabriel furrowed his eyebrows as he tried to recall what he was doing during that time. Sure, he was old than creation but he was at the age where years would just blend together. Oh right, he was hanging with those twins that he picked up from a concert.
“What? I wasn’t even born then.” Sam gave a perplexed look, unclear why she would travel that far back and a light bulb went off in Gabriel’s head.
“Of course! She won’t need to worry about you if she offs your parents.” He supplied.
“Excuse me?”
“She’s going after them because she knows that I’m protecting you.” Castiel responded.
“Then take us back.” Dean demanded.
“No, that would be delivering you right to her. I should go with Gabriel alone.” His brother insisted firmly, trying to deny him.
“We’re going! They’re our parents, I would be damned if I don’t help them!” Not really but Gabriel knew Dean was just trying to hammer home how important his family was to him, even if his parents were presently deceased.
“It’s complicated.” Castiel looked at Gabriel uneasily. He did not even need to speak for him to understand. Time travel was tricky, even for an angel at full strength, but his brother was struggling to hold onto his grace as he was cut off. Gabriel took pity on him because it was unfair as he was able to hold onto his grace and Lucifer was still pretty powerful even for being fallen.
“Look, it’s too much for my brother to do on his own. He really doesn’t have the juice for it but I do.” Gabriel explained before the brothers got too antsy. The impact on Castiel, in his current state, would be potentially catastrophic but for him, it would hardly put a dent on him.
“Are you ready?” He prompted them and grinned as he saw Dean bend his knees in preparation. He must have done this before. When they affirmed that they were, he sent them to the past with a snap of his fingers.
They landed on the sidewalk outside a slew of businesses in a downtown looking area. Though it was not his power that had been drained, Castiel had slouched against him, exhausted from the travel.
“Hey, Cas, are you alright?” Dean looked at his brother in concern while Sam walked up to a phone booth and flipped through a phone book, presumably to look for the street address for their parents.
“He’s just tired, he will recover shortly. Just imagine if he had brought you, he would probably be comatose on the ground.” They were lucky that they had Gabriel around or they would be shit out of luck trying to get back to their own time with Castiel as a vegetable. Sure enough, Gabriel felt the pressure on his shoulder ease up as his brother straightened himself.
“I apologize.” Though Gabriel could not be sure if Castiel was apologizing for leaning on him or for being tired.
“Got ‘em.” Sam held up a page that he had torn out.
Gabriel had suggested that he just fly them over there but Dean insisted on hotwiring a car to drive to the Winchester house. When they had arrived, Sam wanted to walk right up to the door but Dean stopped him.
“What? Anna could be there right now.” Sam spoke in urgency.
“You’re good, I don’t sense her presence.” Nor did Gabriel think that she had a thought to try to conceal her grace, which even then it would not be very effective against him. Again, another perk of being an archangel, their powers easily overshadowed any other angel.
“So, what do you plan on telling them?”
“Why does it matter? I can take them along kicking and screaming as much as they want.” Gabriel threw up his hands, not understanding why this detail was important. Truth or lie, it really did not matter either way.
“Dude, no. We’re not kidnapping them!” Dean replied, angry that he had even suggested taking them without their consent.
“Fine, then hurry up before Anael shows up at the front door.” Gabriel urged him. Dean took the lead, ordering them to follow along. When Mary opened the door, she did not look thrilled to see Dean.
“You can’t be here.” She looked back, making sure that no one was behind her. “I don’t do that kind of stuff anymore. I have a normal life.”
“I get and I’m really sorry to intrude but this is important.” Dean persisted. He hears someone clearing their throat and looks to see that John Winchester has walked up behind his wife. Gabriel knew that the Cupids had orchestrated their union because of their bloodlines but honestly wow, they were both smokin’ hot. No wonder both of their sons were attractive.
He certainly would not mind being in the middle of a young Mary and John sandwich.
“Sorry, sweetie, they’re just…” Mary started to explain awkwardly.
“Mary’s cousins. Well, Sam and I are. These two are….our partners.” Dean pulled up an explanation randomly out of his ass while he gestured towards Castiel and him, causing Gabriel to nearly snort in amusement. To play along with the disguise, Gabriel placed a hand on Dean’s shoulder and smiled while Castiel just gave them a deer caught in the headlights look.
Surprisingly, neither one of their parents flinched at the idea of them being homosexuals. Gabriel never understood why humans gave a shit nor why they had the impression that God condemned it when his Father certainly did not care. Besides, in one of his few and brief conversations with his aunt Amara, whom Gabriel had avoided because she had freaked him out with being the Darkness and all, she had implied that his Father had dated some men.
“Sam? Mary’s father was a Sam.” John spoke up.
“It’s ah, a family name.”
After some more awkward moments where Sam did not want to release John’s hand as he was still caught up in seeing younger version of his parents, Mary had reluctantly allowed them inside the house at John’s wanting to better know her side of the family. She had looked utterly pissed.
Sam had remained flustered but Castiel tried to ground him, hopefully preventing him from doing else embarrassing because it was really hard not to cringe while watching him. Like yeah, he could understand him being in awe over his mother as he had been able to get to know her since he had only been an infant but he needed to hold it together. The chit chat was nice and all but they needed to hurry up before his sister decided to show up and ruin the family reunion.
John had gotten up to answer the telephone when it rang while the rest of them remained seated in the living room. Gabriel could hear that he was having a desperate conversation with his boss about his job.
“You have to leave. Now.” Mary ordered firmly, her patience growing thin. Sam and Dean bickered back and forth with her, telling her that she and John were in danger. She had grown confused when they assured her it was not a demon.
“An angel.” Sam let the truth slip out of his mouth and his mom let out a hollow laugh. The brothers looked at the two angels for assistance but Gabriel knew that exposing even just a small part of his true form would be harmful, especially since they were not from his vessel bloodline. They might be able to withstand Lucifer’s or Michael’s form but certainly not his.
“No can do, kiddo, unless you all want to be blind for the rest of your life.” Gabriel answered their unspoken question for them to provide proof.
“What about you, Cas? You showed me your wings when we first met.” Dean turned to his brother with his plea.
“I...my wings are not what they used to be…” Castiel responded in a small voice. He sounded ashamed even though he was not in control of their state, as they started to crumble with his failing grace. Feathers falling off and not being replaced.
“You’re telling me that your partners are angels?” She said skeptically, scrutinizing the two of them with her intense gaze. He could understand the doubt, the angels had stayed uninvolved with the earth until it was time for them to spring Lucifer out of the Cage so they had not made their presence well known.
Gabriel instantly stood as he realized that John was no longer in the house. He had tuned out his voice because he really did not need to listen to his conversation and was so distracted by Mary that he had not even noticed that he had left.
“Dammit, John left.” He informed the others grimly.
“What!?” They charged into the hallway, where the phone was situated. Mary points out the notepad placed next to it that said, “ Back in 15. J ”
