I TRY AND GET OUT, BUT THEY DRAG ME BACK IN (Castiel)

[GABRIEL]

And the only thing to save is the banner that you wave to be wrapped around your grave

Apparently an archangel-turned-Pagan-Trickster-god just couldn't get a job done in peace any more. Said being had been minding his own business out on the docks in a little Maine town, the cold air turning his breath to smoke as he watched a Great White Shark terrorize a fisherman who had a habit of taking more then his fair share of illegal game. He was perched atop one of the large metal structures--probably a crane or something for loading or unloading the cargo ships, the angel hadn't bothered to actually check what he was perched on--grinning down as the man screamed and scrabbled to the middle of his boat as the Great White yet again bumped the side. His little fishy was big, Bruce from Jaws big, bigger then any fish who was swimming around in the tiny little Main inlet had any business being. His friend would never believe a word of his story in the morning.

But something had Gabriel looking up, tearing his eyes away from the amusing scene in front of him to look at the inky black sky. It wasn't the sky he was looking at of course, it was the four spots of Grace, brilliant among the dullness of human souls around him, heading straight for him that he was turning his attention to. And these days that many angels weren't coming to just say 'hey'. The next moment Gabriel was standing in a more abandoned section of a dock several towns over, leaving his fishy to terrorize the man for a few more hours before inexplicably sinking back into the deep. Gabriel's initial intention had been to give his brethren the slip but as three suited men and one woman appeared around him it looked like that plan had royally failed.

"Hey guys! What's shakin'?" Gabriel asked the surrounding angels, instantly knowing them from the feel of their Grace despite their unfamiliar (and probably temporary) vessels.

"We have been sent to collect you, Brother." one of them, Abrasiel he recalled her full name being, got right down to business--her blade suddenly in her hand.

"....'Collect me'?...You guys are kidding, right?" he asked, looking around into the stereotypical stony faces of his brothers and sister," I forgot, not the kidding type. Abby, come on, you can't seriously think --"

"And yet we do, Brother, we have received Revelation that this is our task." Orphiel said from his left, "Come with us peaceably and we can keep this simple."

"Revelation from who? God? Please, the old man couldn't give a shit about me a thousand years ago he doesn't give a shit about me now." Gabriel said, pretty sure God wasn't the one who suddenly gave a crap about him, even with the current situation in Heaven.

"Brother, it is not our place to question the Will of--" Abrasiel began, that notion of mindless obedience still drilled into her head.

"The Will of the Lord, yeah, i know. I hate to tell you this but this isn't Dad's will you guys are following, it hasn't been for a long time." Gabriel said, turning as he heard the sound of another angel blade being slid from clothing behind him.

"Enough, Brother, your words are close to blasphemy. Come with us now before we must force you." That was Penatiel behind him, the vessel he was possessing large enough to overwhelm Gabriel's smaller frame even without the addition of Grace.

"Sorry, but that's just not gonna happen little Bro." he saw it now, that these four were going to try and drag him back to Heaven either way. Divine Revelation his ass, this was probably Raphael's handiwork (Mikey and Luci were to busy fighting each other to care about him) or that asshat Zachariah. His own angel blade dropped down from his sleeve as he saw determination and self righteousness fall on the faces of the other angels. So this really was gonna go down then.

At seemingly some unforeseen signal Orphiel rushed him from the front in the same moment Penatiel came at him from the back, seemingly intent on just snatching him up by surprise and making a run for the pearly gates before Gabriel could get his bearings. But they seemed to forget he was an archangel, a fight was what he was created for, so before either of the angels could grab a good hold Gabriel had vanished. He had been planning on landing on the other side of the globe but only got so far as the end of the dock--an Enochian binding sigil smeared on the ground had him cursing. It even had his name on it, how sweet of them. But Abrasiel's blade cutting the air inches from his chest caught his attention. She had always been a quick one. But with his attention turned to block the angel in front of him Gabriel didn't see Penatiel coming up behind him again until the angels forearm was around his throat.

TAGGED: CASTIEL

[CASTIEL]

is this the unhappy ever after they wanted?

Although it felt good to vent some irritation towards the brothers, Castiel knew it was unfair; after all, they needed to be hidden from Angel’s, and they thought he was dead. So, it wasn’t like they were intentionally making things difficult, though instead of finding either boys, Castiel seemed to be finding others who seemed to need help. Not that Castiel was annoyed by the distractions, each child of God deserved his attention, it just felt that there were more important things at hand, what with the ending of the world, then the seemingly smaller things. Yet Dean’s words kept echoing, that the whole point of this suffering world were the people in it, their hope, their families, their lives, their freedom, it all made life worth living. What happened when they had none of these things? Or suffered so greatly that life just didn’t seem worth living? Walking amongst humans, sensing their emotions, their thoughts, it tended at times to be very depressing.

Perhaps Castiel was spending too much time on Earth already, granted it hadn’t really been long at all, but there was a distinct hole in his heart, he missed home and he even missed the siblings he didn’t get along with so well. Perhaps that is what brought Gabriel to mind, Gabriel, Anna, all the others that, yet of all of them, Gabriel seemed the most likely to at least listen. After what he had done to Anna… Castiel could barely bring himself to think of the matter, his betrayal was cowardice and shameful and he should have been stronger. Finding Gabriel hadn’t been the easiest task, but it wasn’t impossible either, the archangel didn’t seem desperately deep undercover as previously. Or maybe Cas had just gotten that good at tracking… or maybe not, it seemed his older brother had guests and the Angel hang back to take in the situation.

"And yet we do, Brother, we have received Revelation that this is our task." Angel talk for ‘we will do what we are told at any cost’, Castiel wondered if they had ‘Revelation’ over how to deal with their renegade brother… if they knew Castiel was alive again, anyway. What their current task was, however, had Castiel curiously watching. Bobby had asked for help on figuring out about these horsemen, granted Cas knew a lot about them; their weaknesses however, not so much. With Gabriel’s age and knowledge, Cas had hoped that the self-proclaimed Trickster may have been willing to shed some sort of light on the matter. Instead, he seemed to be entertaining visitors.

"Come with us peaceably and we can keep this simple." Maybe Castiel had not been the only one to think Gabriel could be of help, if he had just missed his chance of gaining information, Castiel was going to be rather annoyed. Since when did Gabriel even indulge Heaven’s requests? Last Cas knew the guy was going out of his way to keep his distance from everyone picking sides, especially since their previous meeting. It wasn’t that Castiel didn’t understand the drive Gabriel felt to have things return back to how things were in the beginning, but Lucifer had gone too far, his anger festered too deep. There was never going to be that happy family scene with them all standing tall, together, united under their father’s eternal love. Even Castiel still held out the hope that his siblings would forgive him for siding with the humans over Heaven’s forces.

"Revelation from who? God? Please, the old man couldn't give a shit about me a thousand years ago he doesn't give a shit about me now." The words caused any thoughts of leaving before discovery to vanish, the Angel’s surrounding Gabe were far from friendly looking, they were intent on carrying out their business. But Gabe, he didn’t seem keen on making it easy for them; maybe things hadn’t changed as much during Castiel’s absence as it felt at times.

"Brother, it is not our place to question the Will of--" It was hard to suppress the roll of Castiel’s eyes, he was fed up with it all, fed up with how they never listened, never seemed to just think about how ridiculously out of character many of these orders seemed that supposedly came from their father.

"The Will of the Lord, yeah, i know. I hate to tell you this but this isn't Dad's will you guys are following, it hasn't been for a long time." And for once in a long time, something the two Angel’s agreed on, Castiel moved quietly closer, keeping out of sight of those closing in on the archangel. "Enough, Brother, your words are close to blasphemy. Come with us now before we must force you." Force. Force. Tension could be seen visibly in Castiel’s jaw, he’d let Anna get taken, and after he’d been taken, after all he had endured during that, he still caved in and let Anna be taken! Well, if they wanted to drag off another Angel, then that would just have to be the trigger that Castiel said he’d need in order to risk being discovered alive.

"Sorry, but that's just not gonna happen little Bro." Though still, Gabriel was powerful, instead of charging in recklessly, Castiel stayed back. At first there had been relief that Gabe decided to flee instead of stand his ground, relief because at least it meant Castiel had a chance to find him on his own, though concern since if Heaven decided to hunt the archangel, Gabriel was going to go back into deep hiding. Apparently, the Angels had thought of that too, and prepared for the risk of Gabe just leaving without a fight. The older Angel hadn’t gotten far, Castiel could sense them right outside, and with a deep breath, and blade ready in hand, the wayward Angel found himself behind a rather large bulk of a figure outside.

Driving the Angel Blade through his brother, Castiel felt the same pang of guilt as always, sure it had to be done, in order to stop the end of the world and all, however it didn’t mean Cas was enjoying doing it. "The problem with blind faith, is that you can’t see the truth when it is masked by deception." The deep tones of Castiel’s voice could be heard as the body fell with a brief brilliance of light, the Angel he stabbed lay limp on the ground, lifeless with a wingspan burned out across the area beside him. A brief look was offered to Gabriel, before turning his attention to the others. "Here’s a question, if what I did was so against the will of our father -as has been made clear by many… why did he then bring me back?" A steely gaze focused on Abrasiel, watching intently the female, while still being ready to defend himself, waiting to see if perhaps the shock of his return might offer them an opportunity to just leave; he’d rather not have to fight them to the death, not unless they forced his hand.

[GABRIEL]

And the only thing to save is the banner that you wave to be wrapped around your grave

Just as sudden as it had come the pressure around Gabriel’s throat released as the archangel felt the telltale burst of burning Grace at his back. He turned and, sure enough, Penatiel lay dead on the ground, his wings burnt deep into the concrete behind him. Though the vessel would fade away or be discovered by humans those markings of wings would always be burned into that slab of grey concrete, the last remnants of Penatiel’s Grace bursting out through his wings. But glancing from his dead brother’s form Gabriel saw something he would have never expected—Castiel, come to save the day it seemed. Gabriel caught Castiel’s look to him before his little brother turned to continue speaking to the other angels but Gabriel wasn’t focused on them. He was still stuck on the fact an angel lay dead behind him at the hands of one of his kin.

Gabriel hadn’t been in Heaven during the core part of the war—as soon as the fighting really kicked into high gear he’d shagged ass out of Heaven so fast he was sure no one had noticed at first. He had never fought in the trenches like Anna and Balthazar and Castiel, never led a garrison into battle like he was sure Michael and Raphael had. If he really thought back he supposed he had left right after Lucifer fell and supposed that at least some of his kin had to have seen that as the second oldest archangel rushing to follow his favorite older brother in the fall to damnation but that wasn’t the case—Gabriel just didn’t want to watch his family tear each other apart. And, as a result, he’d gotten what he wished for back then and was spared the sight of the violence and bloodshed of the fighting in Heaven. So seeing actual angel-on-angel violence was slightly shocking.

Forcing his eyes forward and his mind on the business at hand Gabriel saw his shock mirrored on the faces of his siblings, though possibly it was more directed towards Castiel then their dead sibling. Last Gabriel had heard Raphael had smote the ever loving crap out of Castiel, turned the angel’s body into a nice paint for some poor prophet’s walls. But it seemed that Dad—or somebody else, Gabriel really didn’t know—liked Castiel and decided to un-paintify him. And it seemed that his remaining three brothers and sister were having a hard time wrapping their heads around this face.

“Castiel,” Orphiel began, the entire angels being wreaking of tension and internal conflict at the other angel’s sudden appearance, completely bypassing the question he was visibly shaken by but didn’t dare think of an answer too, “…Our business is with Gabriel. Leave now and we will consider Penatiel’s death an…unfortunate accident.”

So it seemed that bringing him in was more even took precedent over re-killing Castiel in Heaven’s eyes—if they even knew he’d been brought back that is. Gabriel would be flattered if his brethren succeeding didn’t mean that he’d be brainwashed, probably tortured along the way to instill obedience, and sent back out or into the battlefield squeaky clean of all his pesky free will and whatever scraps of humanity he’d gained on Earth. And the mere idea of that being in store for him back home sent shivers down Gabriel’s spine.

“But know that if you choose to stand in our way Castiel that we will not hesitate to kill you.” Abrasiel this time, her angel blade still in her hand and her face the picture of perfect angelic righteousness, “We have received Revelation to return Gabriel to Heaven—how can you stand in the way of this when you yourself have been shown the way of our Father?”

So they’d managed to snatch up Cas as well, huh? Gabriel had to give the other angel props for seemingly breaking whatever brainwashing they’d done on him, major props. Lessons from Heaven of that kind usually stuck like glue.

“And no one up there wants to know what Gabriel has to say about this?” the archangel asked, already knowing the answer.

“…We were told that you would resist us Brother. But this is for your own good, even if your judgment has been clouded to that fact.” Abrasiel said, a frown so deep on her face it might just stick there if she wasn’t careful.

“So you were told to pop down here and take an archangel back home against his will?” Was Heaven really stupid enough to send in the grunts to do a general’s dirty work?

The lack of an answer from his younger brethren was answer enough. Yes, Heaven really was that stupid. Or that callous. Or maybe whoever up there was orchestrating this little mission knew Gabriel’s soft spot for his family. But whatever the reason the three remaining angels sent to collect him were choosing to ignore it.

TAGGED: CASTIEL NOTE: You can take control of the three remaining angels any time you need to. They are NPCs after all

[CASTIEL]

is this the unhappy ever after they wanted?

"Castiel," Although it wasn’t really a ‘greeting’ persay, Castiel still nodded his head ever so slightly as if returning the recognition. "…Our business is with Gabriel. Leave now and we will consider Penatiel’s death an…unfortunate accident." Eyes drifted down to the empty form that lay by their feet, Orphiel’s ability to forgive Castiel for such an act seemed … heartless. Though granted that was not what the other Angel had said, but to ignore it was just as bad, Castiel would have preferred if they had run, or at least if they had to have stayed, made the first attack. A brief glance across Gabriel’s face as Castiel looked up from the murdered Angel told the rebel all he needed to know, from that his refocus on the remaining three had been only fueled with further determination to hold his ground.

"But know that if you choose to stand in our way Castiel that we will not hesitate to kill you." A brow raised slightly, perhaps invisible to the human eye the reaction so vague, yet an Angel wouldn’t miss the feeling behind the faint expression. Sure they could kill him, but what if God had brought Castiel back, what then? Would they really dare anger their father by killing him again, and if they did, would God bring Castiel back again or … What was the point of all this? "We have received Revelation to return Gabriel to Heaven—how can you stand in the way of this when you yourself have been shown the way of our Father." A deadpan expression remained steely fixed on Castiel, though his eyes alone were all that needed to be seen by those who knew him to know that the mention of his previous ‘rehabilitation’ didn’t help anyone’s chances of levitating his determination.

"And no one up there wants to know what Gabriel has to say about this?" Castiel didn’t look at his older sibling, continuing to be ever vigilant in his study of the others body language just in case they tried to take either him, or Gabe, by surprise.

"…We were told that you would resist us Brother. But this is for your own good, even if your judgment has been clouded to that fact." Fingers tightened on the Angel Blade as Castiel listened, waiting, hoping the three would back down – they were no match for Gabriel, surely, why was the archangel letting them get away with this? If Dean were here, he’d be screaming for some smiting to be going on about now… or tossing some holy oil their way. Really, Cas really ought to be more prepared now, considering his actions and the anger the rebel would have directed his way, it just felt like being over prepared would just give the impression he was out to kill his brethren, when that really wasn’t the case.

"So you were told to pop down here and take an archangel back home against his will?" It appeared Castiel had not been alone in his thoughts Gabriel could deal with these three, Gabriel himself seemed to be aware of the dangerous grounds these three walked. Why then had Gabriel allowed things to get so perilously close to unpleasant for himself? One didn’t have to dig too deep for the answer; after all, it had been the reason the archangel had left in the first place, hadn’t it? He couldn’t stand the idea of the family falling apart, of Lucifer turning angel against angel, just because he disagreed with their father, and Michael felt betrayed and outraged by the things his brother had said. Castiel had been so young back then, but Gabriel, Michael, Lucifer all of them, all of his older brothers, they all had grown so close by then, long before their younger siblings had been created. Michael, the loyal son to the end, Lucifer the Angel who declared he had loved God too much and refused to love any other more… then all the others, with their equally potent personalities, it was little wonder that Castiel had found it easier to bond with Gabriel; the one who just wanted everyone to get along, and open and honest, determined to keep the peace and lighten the mood.

Was that it? Castiel frowned, visibly irritated as the thought crossed his mind, were these siblings taking advantage of Gabriel’s hesitance on getting involved? Were they actually going to force him back to Heaven hoping that he’d not cave in and harm them? The thought angered Castiel, who felt as if these siblings were betraying the love Gabriel had towards them, to take advantage of their older brother and hurt him. There had been a time Gabriel had taken Castiel’s hand, a time they had watched humanity crawl to the shores of a new world. Now it was Castiel’s turn, regardless of the disappointed felt during their last encounter, regardless of the hurt over his older siblings actions and treatment of him, Castiel wouldn’t allow them to destroy what made their elder brother so special.

"You take your offer-" Castiel said stepping forward, doing his best Dean impersonation; "-and shove it." He didn’t need to kill them all, but a few tactical strikes might get them to back off. A flicker of movement and Castiel’s form darted about the hostile Angels, he’d given them their chance, and they ignored it, they threatened Gabriel, and then they reminded Cas of what Heaven had put him through last time Castiel had dared step out of line.

Yes, Castiel was a foot soldier, and sure, he was hardly the strongest Angel out there, but he was no low level push over either, he could hold his own in a fight, and he’d remind them of that. A slash across the back of one of them came from nowhere, a misleading attack that appeared to have originally been targeted for Orphiel, only to land on the real target at the last moment. Fighters read each other’s body languages; obvious movements would get you killed. The pained yelling cries of the Angel as he fell in agony to the hard ground were ignored, Castiel’s only notice enough to make sure to keep his distance in case the fallen Angel decided to reach for him despite the anguish of the injury. Two remained standing, they were the soldier’s focus.

A duck, shift to the side, block, grab and twist, it was all fluid, the movements like memorized dance maneuvers; each Angel attempting to read the other and figure out where the next attack might come from. Abrasiel to the left, Orphiel to the right, Castiel’s sister grabbing his arm as he went to strike Orphiel across the face, it was hard working on handed, yet choices had to be made. Drop the weapon in his right to aid shrugging off Abrasiel, leaving himself open to Orphiel. Or keep the blade raised in defense of his brother’s attack, leaving himself open to Abrasiel, it all happened so fast and yet the decision had been settled on within the moment. Abrasiel’s blade swung at Castiel’s side, a far less damaging move then Orphiel’s which had been coming right at him, deflected with great effort by Castiel’s own blade and then with a flick of his wrist as the other lost the balance of his stance.

A heart beat later, Castiel’s blade cut across the Angel’s throat, pulled right back as the Angel of Thursday twisted his form just enough to unsteady Abrasiel’s footing, despite her firm hold, and slammed it hard at her chest. The scream burned his ears, she had made the wrong choice in whether to drop her guard and try to wrangle her way out of his own hold of her hand, or risk deflecting his oncoming attack. It was never a sure decision, anything could happen, and as always, Castiel watched the light of her eyes burst out, a look of sorrow in his own as her life faded. Whoever was making the false orders from God was pitting sibling against sibling, forcing them to choose between freedom or re-education; isolation or blind faith… They were the real enemies, they were the ones Castiel wouldn’t feel guilt over destroying.

The remaining Angel, Castiel stared at him, withering on the ground, kill him or let him live, the soldier in him felt as if no survivors would be the safest option, yet he didn’t have the heart to end yet another life. The trench coat swirled about Castiel as the rebel turned sharply towards Gabriel, the shallow cut of the blade that sliced into his side ignored despite the pain that emanated from it.

"This was not the reunion I intended, though admittedly it did involve about the same level of violence." Castiel stated flatly, though this leaned towards an air of humor, it also had some truth to it. Further more, it was clear Castiel was rather focused on getting both him and Gabriel out of there, how quickly they would be would depend on if Gabriel took the chance of Castiel distracting the attackers to sort out the barrier they had put up.

Instead of waiting for you to come back, I made some assumptions; but totally understanding if you want edits! Including whether Gabe would actually get involved or not, I was basing it on his previous hesitance and what we've discussed; figured it was easier to have you read and tell me what should be edited then just waiting to chat lol.

[GABRIEL]

And the only thing to save is the banner that you wave to be wrapped around your grave

Gabriel caught sight of the tense set of Castiel’s shoulder as some sort of irritation settled down on the other angel. He didn’t have a clue as to what could suddenly be pissing his normally level headed and stoic little brother off so much, he was to busy watching his three remaining younger siblings for any signs of movement. They must have been chosen especially for this, either because of their extreme willingness to obey or their complete disregard for common sense he didn’t know. But did they really think the four—and now three—of them would have been able to drag the former right hand of God back home and not suffer some sort of injury? Or maybe they just didn’t care, maybe they were willing to die in the attempt. It angered Gabriel slightly, that whoever it was of the higher ups that was behind this were willing to just throw away these angels lives all for the sake of bringing him home.

He quirked a brow at Castiel’s instructions to their aggressors on what to do with their offer, a vagabond’s grin crossing his features at the angels completely uncharacteristic words-- it seemed Dean Winchester was rubbing off on Castiel a bit, at least he knew how to properly bad mouth someone without it coming out awkward and formal. Good for him. It didn’t raise Gabriel’s opinion of the true vessel of Michael of course but it didn’t lower it any either. In the next moment however Castiel was a blur of motion and flashes of bright holy metal as he took down one brother with a swift killing blow. Gabriel turned his back from the fight, taking this opportunity to deal with that pesky little binding sigil that had stopped his initial escape.

Castiel’s attack seemed to have the desired effect of keeping the enemy distracted, for Gabriel reached the sigil with no problem at all. He listened to the sounds of the fight behind him, cautious of any of them managing to squirm out of Castiel’s focus and try and make a run for Gabriel or any cries of pain from Castiel. The archangel didn’t like the idea of hurting his younger siblings at all, and killing them less so, but he wasn’t about to sit on his ass while his little brother got overwhelmed by the winged douchebags that had come to collect him. But, with a slight feeling of pride for little Cassie, it seemed Castiel could more than handle himself in a fight as Gabriel heard nothing of the sort as he bent to examine the Enochian binding sigil.

It was a doozy of a spell and specifically targeted towards him—there sat his name carefully spelled out in Enochian along the top of the sigil. But it had been sloppily done and all it took was a slight burst of his own Grace to have the blood it was drawn in burning up. Gabriel didn’t immediately make a run for it though; instead he stood and turned back around towards the skirmish going on. Abrasiel lay dead on the ground along with her two brothers, Oprhiel lay gravely wounded and clutching at his side as the shape of his wings slowly began to burn themselves into the ground beneath him. He’d better run on home and get patched up before the wound killed him—and it seemed the thought was crossing Orphiel’s mind as well as suddenly the angel and his forming wing burns were gone along with the bodies of his dead siblings.

Well so much for laying low and avoiding Heaven’s notice anymore—Gabriel would bet anything that Orphiel would tattle on the archangels whereabouts whether he survived his injuries or not. And now that Heaven had an idea of where he was that left very few places on Earth to hide anymore. He couldn’t ditch his vessel, it was his true vessel after all and the process of finding one even close to strong enough to contain him would take too much time. And then that left him having to change vessels ever few years when one wore out, a process that would leave him exhausted before long. He could go and bury his head in the sand among the Pagans, use the ties he had formed as Loki and cook up some lie that Heaven was suddenly after the Pagan god for some reason. Kali would probably shelter him, she had loved him a few millennia ago and they had broken up under friendly enough terms. But of course there was the problem of Gabriel having no idea where Kali had gone to and it wasn’t as if the Goddess had a cell phone.

He didn’t blame Castiel for letting the last one go though—Gabriel hadn’t been able to bring himself to lay a finger on any of his siblings whereas Cas had just killed three of them within the space of five minutes: the archangel would be the ultimate asshole if he scolded him for not ‘finishing the job’.

But he did give the rebel angel an inquisitive look as he turned sharply towards him—was it his turn for a beating now? Gabriel remembered his actions towards his younger brother the last time they met—that duct tape had probably been a bitch to get off and those bruises no doubt took some time healing up. If he were Castiel he would have punched himself square in the jaw by now for it. But in the Tricksters mind Castiel had gotten in the way of Gabriel’s artfully trying to drive home a point with the Winchesters—he couldn’t just let him fly around TV land unchecked and ruin everything.

“Dream on little bro, like you could actually land a hit on me.” Gabriel said with a grin, slinging a genial arm around his little brothers neck as the angel approached, mindful of his wounds, “In any case we better get outta before they send in the reinforcements.”

He didn’t sense any of those mentioned reinforcements at the moment but Gabriel had no doubt that—whatever that had actually been—would be the end of it. It was all very troubling to the archangel—more than two thousand years of Heaven letting him be and all of a sudden they wanted to bring him in for reeducation? It just didn’t seem right. They already had two archangels on their side; were they really so greedy they felt they needed to bring the third back into the fold? Or was Heaven really that nervous of Lucifer and his demons they felt they needed him?

One moment Gabriel was standing on the former battlefield and the next had him landing clear across the state in a snow covered field out in the middle of nowhere, the white specs still gently falling from the sky and sticking, unmalting, onto Gabriel’s clothes and hair as they landed. He didn’t go too far, unsure of the distance his injured brother would be able to cover. Besides, whoever else they sent after him would probably expect him around the vicinity of Africa by now, so sticking close to the scene of the fight was a better idea.

TAGGED: CASTIEL NOTE:it's okay, what you had worked out fine! lemme know if you need more to go on here, it was getting a bit long and i didn't want to end up writing more of a novel then i already did

[CASTIEL]

is this the unhappy ever after they wanted?

"Dream on little bro, like you could actually land a hit on me." Although Castiel’s expression remained rather straight-faced; the Angel’s eyes however contained a pool of emotions. Eyeing Gabriel initially before the others arm flopped over Castiel’s shoulders, the younger Angel was half tempted to see if the archangel’s words were true or not. Though it would be far from smart, he’d been smacked from oblivion by one Archangel, and while Castiel had felt more capable, stronger even, in that previous fight then in the past… It might be pushing his luck to try settling scores with Gabriel at this point. Castiel’s eyes focused on the remnants of the sigil, which had entrapped Gabriel and stopped him from leaving without a fight. There was so much going on right now, still waiting on Dean and Sam to call Bobby, still figuring out was going on… now this?

"In any case we better get outta here before they send in the reinforcements." The slightest tilt down of Castiel’s head was all the nod the Angel bothered with in agreement to Gabriel’s suggestion. The sudden change of scenery offered no reaction from Castiel, who cared more about making sure they weren’t followed then taking in the sights. The slash in the renegade Angel’s side was deep enough to be a bother, but not so bad that he felt particularly handicapped by it. Putting on a brave face around Gabriel was almost a stubborn determination anyway.

"So..?" The younger sibling eyed Gabriel questioningly, clearly wanting to ask the obvious questions, even if just to get a clearer picture on what was going on. However they had more pressing matters to discuss other then the previous attack, like the threats before of just dragging the archangel back, not to mention the reason Castiel initially went to find Gabriel.

"It’s been a while.." Not that Castiel excelled at small talk, yet he’d seen Dean and Sam talk their way in and out of so many situations that it seemed worth a try. "What do you know about the Apocalypse? Specifically the horsemen and how to stop them." Ok, so he was really, really bad at small talk, but the sooner they could discuss the facts the better, considering Castiel just came back in the middle of all this he’d really like to know what was going on. Maybe then he’d have a better grasp on the next steps to take.

Not that the thought of Gabriel being dragged up to Heaven was being neglected, in fact, Castiel wanted to figure that out as well; it just seemed pretty obvious someone up there didn’t want Angels getting in the way of the plans. Plus they’d want any weapon they could find to ensure things went according to plan and the Winchester’s took their place in history as the chosen vessels. If Heaven was so determined to take these drastic measures, and Hell was all on board with the recruitment drive, Castiel really was starting to see some wisdom in finding the Winchester’s their own conscriptions. Maybe Gabriel would reconsider his hide and seek method, considering Heaven’s minions made it clear they weren’t going to stop till Gabriel was retrieved, maybe the Winchester’s might have another Angel on their side. Castiel just hoped that any discussions on the matter went better then last time.

[GABRIEL]

And the only thing to save is the banner that you wave to be wrapped around your grave

The older archangel saw Castiel consider the option of hitting him, patting the younger angel on the shoulder when Gabriel saw the idea drop from his eyes. Probably the best option--Gabriel wouldn't exactly just up and blast him clear across reality like Raphael had but he'd at least hit back. And Gabriel's punches tended to hurt.

He found himself grinning at Cas' s shitty attempt at small talk before abandoning the notion and skipping to the point. It seemed Cas was developing a fair bit of 'people skills' but he either found them too troublesome or too confusing to keep up. Gabriel could pass for a human no problem, having spent more then his fair share of time walking among them and 'getting to know the locals'. The very few angels he had come across who hadn't fled or tried to kill him on sight had been slightly mystified as Gabriel interacted with humans with such ease and dexterity that the humans he was interacting with never suspected anything--it was one of the many traits he'd cultivated that brought the archangel a feeling of pride.

So the Winchesters were trying to take on the Horsemen then, aye? Not exactly the smartest of options but then again when had those brothers ever erred on the side of anything even close to caution or safety? But Gabriel had to assume the brothers had no clue what they were up against walking into a fight with a Horsemen--those four were tricky bastards, turning a humans own vises against them until it out and out killed them. He'd once seen a man beat his beloved wife to death with a chair leg under Wars influences. Death was the only Horsemen the archangel could stand, the other three just left bad tastes in his mouth.

"Well as far as our little Sunday dinner party here i know they're probably not going to wait for me before they start." Gabriel said, referring to his own supposed role as the one to signal the start of the Last Day with his Horn, "And as for the Horsemen those four are tricky sons of bitches. I know they can't be killed and you'd sooner die of spontaneous stomach cancer or drink yourself to death then ever lay a hand on one of 'em. Death is the only civil one, the others ones you're better off skipping the small talk. But I've got no idea how you'd go about stopping 'em."

This was, of course, a lie. As far as he knew Gabriel was the only one on Earth at the moment who knew about the Horsemen and their rings. How he had ended up as the keeper of that particular secret he had no idea but there was no way in Hell he was going to just go and share that information with Castiel. He could picture it now: he'd answer all of Cas's questions, Cas would go back to the Winchesters and relay the information and the brothers would send the angel to get the rings himself like a good little attack dog. And Castiel would do it too, not having the heart or good sense or Dad knew else what to say no to Dean Winchester. No way Gabriel was letting that happen.

Gabriel remembered actually meeting the Horsemen himself once, back in the days when they still rode actual horses instead of luxury or classic cars. Famine had downright creeped him out--the seemingly old man screaming his head off about how hungry he was and looking at those around him like pieces of meat for the barbecue. War he'd wanted to punch in the face, the smug bastard. Pestilence too, though he looked at Gabriel (or maybe just the vessel he had been inhabiting, he didn't know) as more of a guinea pig then a sacred container for an angel. But Death he liked, Death had a sense of humor and was willing to be civil. And the Horsemen could recommend some damn good pizza places to boot.

"Why? You guys thinking of going toe-to-toe with the Horsemen?" Gabriel asked, already suspecting the answer and already picturing the Winchesters getting themselves and his little brother killed in the attempt.

TAGGED: CASTIEL

[CASTIEL]

is this the unhappy ever after they wanted?

The wait seemed infuriatingly long, even if it were but moments as Castiel watched the thoughts dance across Gabriel’s features. What was his older brother considering? Most likely deciding on whether to be honest and give a straight answer or go for cryptic, if not bald faced lie. Castiel was a horrific liar, some would consider that a good a thing, however if he hadn’t had telepathy to rely on in order to even somewhat sense when people lied to him; the angel would be a pretty easy target. Unfortunately Castiel lacked that ability when it came to his brethren, usually it was never an issue, they were plain and to the point. Some however, some had spent too much time around humans and picked up certain traits, lying happened to be one of them.

"Well as far as our little Sunday dinner party here i know they're probably not going to wait for me before they start." Considering the urgency both sides seemed to be showing in getting things moving, and Gabriel’s resistance to returning home before… maybe not. Yet to be honest, the younger brother would have thought Gabriel would have been all too keen to kick things off considering their previous encounter.

"And as for the Horsemen those four are tricky sons of bitches. I know they can't be killed and you'd sooner die of spontaneous stomach cancer or drink yourself to death then ever lay a hand on one of 'em. Death is the only civil one, the others ones you're better off skipping the small talk. But I've got no idea how you'd go about stopping 'em." So the Trickster had no tricks should he ever come face to face with a horseman? Castiel’s eyes squinted just slightly enough to narrow his gaze yet not so much that it was clear whether the look had been a grimace from the wound or suspicion over Gabriel’s denial of knowing anything. It wouldn’t take a genius however to guess which one if you actually knew the archangel in question.

Nevertheless, Castiel looked away, standing motionless as his eyes seemed pinned on the falling snow. There were two options, argue the point across regarding Gabriel helping out, or go find some someone else who might have an idea. Not that Castiel knew who that someone else was… Lucifer was hardly going to talk to him, Michael either for the same reasons; and Rapheal could be dropped face first in a meat grinder for all Castiel cared.

"Why? You guys thinking of going toe-to-toe with the Horsemen?" A tension of the jaw in Castiel’s otherwise stoic features was all that came in response at fist, Castiel wasn’t sure how Gabriel would react – and was a little cautious due to their recent history.

"It is not just about the Winchester’s." Castiel stated, knowing the opinions others had felt regarding Castiel’s sentiments towards the boys. The voice gruff, as if the words came from a low growl in the pit of the angel’s throat. "Our father gave this world to humanity, we were asked to bow before them, to guide and serve their will and needs. How is ripping apart their world in any way our right when all they do is fight so hard to stop it?" Castiel’s body turned, eyeing Gabriel face to face with an inquisitive, yet stubborn look. "Where is their freewill in this; I will not take from them what our father gave with all his love." Free will, a term so difficult for many angels to grasp, they were drilled to be soldiers and little more, and for so long Castiel had held the same mentality. All those countless years of playing the perfect soldier, doing as he was told, seeing in only the black and white he was raised to see… Then all it took was one Dean Winchester to break down the faintest cracks that marred the excellence of his existence. Dean wasn’t perfect, sometimes he was rather heartless in the things he said so offhand actually, but his ideals and determination were pure; all he wanted to do was save the world at any cost. If one man could face Heaven and Hell to keep his home and all the people in it safe with such vigilance, then surely that earned some respect.

[GABRIEL]

And the only thing to save is the banner that you wave to be wrapped around your grave

Did Castiel know he was lying to him? Or at the very least not giving him the full story? Gabriel wasn’t really aware how good his lying skills were against angels, who tended to be a bit more in tune to that sort of thing. But whether he knew it or not the younger angel didn’t call him out on it, instead he went about answering his later question in possibly the most roundabout way Gabriel had ever heard. So, yes, in short, they were thinking of going up against the Horsemen. But the archangel couldn’t help but tighten his jaw at his younger sibling’s words on two fronts: one, of course it was about the Winchesters—Gabriel highly doubted that Castiel would ever think of going up against the Horsemen if it wasn’t for those two. The Horsemen weren’t demons—they were created by God as instruments of the Apocalypse, so technically they were on the side of Heaven. And pre-Dean Winchester Castiel would have never fathomed getting in the way of an instrument of God.

The second thing he disagreed with was Cas’ whole spiel about free will and the humans right to their own planet. Sure, Gabriel supposed they had a right to live but of coursethe humans that knew about their oncoming doom tried to stop it—it was nothing more than basic survival instinct on their part. But did the humans have any idea what it was doing to his family? He had just had to watch his younger brother kill three of his siblings and nearly kill a fourth over these humans instinct to continue their own existence. If the humans would just give it up and allow the Apocalypse to happen, to get over any silly hang-ups about death or the afterlife or whatever they had, let Lucifer have his little bitch-fit and have it be done…well there would be no more reason to fight, would there? Lucifer probably wouldn’t be accepted back into Heaven (sure, the Apocalypse had been foretold since he was a fledgling angel but he had been a bit of a dick about it) but at the very least the fighting would stop. Why should they have to tear their own family apart for the sake of the humans?....But that was exactly the thinking that had gotten Lucifer a one way ticket downward into Hell. All of a sudden Gabriel wasn’t as set in his pro-Apocalypse, ‘Winchesters play your roles’ ways as he had been since this whole thing started up. He just didn’t know any more.

He supposed this train of thought had played out on his face pretty much in real time to a brother who knew him well enough. Lucifer would have been able to read every single thought off of his expressions alone with zero doubt about his little brothers feelings. He would probably have encouraged this thought process, maybe tried to warp it to suite his needs, maybe not—Gabriel didn’t know his older brother as well as he used to any more. No more then he knew if Castiel would be able to make a correct interpretation of his thoughts from his face.

“Got some of that free will for yourself there, huh?” Gabriel said with a slight smile, despite everything liking this new development in his brother, though his smile faded on his next words, “Though I’d like it better if you didn’t do leaping into Death’s arms--this whole thing with the Horsemen is just plain stupid. Have you got any idea how powerful those bastards are? How ancient they are? People say Death is at least as old as our Father, if not older. The Horsemen can affect our vessels, Cas, even mine, so you can forget about even getting within five feet of them let alone close enough to stop them from doing their thing. You should know better, let the Winchesters go get themselves killed trying to stop them.”

TAGGED: CASTIEL

NOTE: Gabriel big brother mode, activate!

[CASTIEL]

is this the unhappy ever after they wanted?

Whether Gabriel would be swayed by the chosen approach or still anger at the interference, Castiel could only wait, watching the others expression and inwardly bracing himself for any retaliation. Clearly there was some sort of thought process going on, though Castiel had not had the amount of time he’d have liked to grow as close to his older siblings before loyalties began to split as he’d of wanted to. They all had developed so tight a bond and it was hard sometimes finding the time needed to spend with them between various chores, tasks and not to mention the different levels of Heaven each resided in and were busy watching over. Then there was Gabriel’s decent to Earth and soon enough him parading around as a Pagan God, it felt like much time together had been robbed from them due to this never ending fight. Still, it was clear there was some doubt, or some sort of hesitance, something that might be able to be talked around into seeing things a different way.

"Got some of that free will for yourself there, huh?" The thought hadn’t entirely crossed Castiel’s mind, it was still hard for him, easier to conceive the idea that he was merely bending the rules instead of out right breaking them. However that thought was pretty much out the window once you consider that as far as Heaven or Hell were concerned, there were only two ways this war would go, to either of those specific two sides; why didn’t humanity get a chance in their plans? Castiel eyed Gabriel enough that it was clear the younger Angel was a little torn between wondering if Gabriel considered any air of freewill a good or bad thing in this scenario.

"Though I’d like it better if you didn’t go leaping into Death’s arms--this whole thing with the Horsemen is just plain stupid." A frown settled on Castiel’s brow as he listened to his brother talk, there was concern in the eyes, for more then just Castiel dislodging the pre-destined plans set in motion. Did Gabriel really worry about Castiel just ‘throwing his life away’ as the elder suggested? It was hard to trust his siblings nowadays, between hunting Castiel, the torture, the threats, the beating him around, the whole killing him off thing as well, it all was getting too much. "Have you got any idea how powerful those bastards are? How ancient they are? People say Death is at least as old as our Father, if not older." The hesitance in Castiel’s gaze as he shifted eye contact suggested that he was aware, that perhaps he even feared the idea, yet was going ahead with it regardless. The vague flicker of apprehension grew that little brighter as Gabriel continued. "The Horsemen can affect our vessels, Cas, even mine, so you can forget about even getting within five feet of them let alone close enough to stop them from doing their thing." That sounded, unnerving, Castiel’s frown remained settled once more on the archangel as he finished up. "You should know better, let the Winchesters go get themselves killed trying to stop them." Clearly the mention of the humans dying caused some form of upset inside of Castiel, which had been attempted to be kept out of sight of the elder sibling.

"The Winchester’s weren’t the ones who tore me from my vessel for speaking my mind, nor did they forced me to betray my sister, and they weren’t the ones who exploded me without an air of regret in their eyes." The words were strained to remain level, steady, the raw emotion bubbling deep within barely contained under the façade of composure. Anna was a sore spot, amongst all the emotional wounds that lay beneath the barriers, she was more an infection, the guilt festered more painful then that of the slice in his side. "There are three sides to this war, Gabriel. What right do we have to declare that humanity has no say in it, when it involves their home, and their families too? What makes our brethren so much better that we can treat our father’s creation, his children, as ants to be stepped upon?" There was more to all this then just Dean’s words which had opened the angel’s eyes, Castiel was the Angel of Thursday, by God’s will he was tasked with guiding people during transition, by divine rights Castiel was a guardian of these very people that his family was threatening.

How can any of them turn their backs on the very beings that their father had them guide and console for so many countless of their generations? He hadn’t been the first Angel to realize that something was off with the orders pouring down from heaven, yet it really started to feel like he had been stuck right in the middle of it all, and sometimes it felt like a very lonely place to be. Surely Gabriel could understand on some level, even if he exiled himself from their home, even if it had been by choice not to return, Gabriel had to have felt the loneliness of losing touch with the family he had grown up with, and that was all because the archangel had a different view on the matter. He didn’t want to pick one side over the other, but in itself, that isolated the heavenly being and confined his options to but a few; run and hide and avoid it all.

[GABRIEL]

And the only thing to save is the banner that you wave to be wrapped around your grave

“You’re right, it wasn’t the Winchesters—all that was the dicks we have to call our family! Raphael was the one who turned you into finger paint, though really he’s always been kind of a douchebag. No, instead the Winchesters are treating you as their own personal holy WMD—the two of them are so busy making angsty puppy eyes at each other and lamenting their own destinies they can’t be bothered to give a shit about the eventual hell they’re dragging you into!” Gabriel shot back, almost able to feel his temper slowly getting the best of him, “And I like humans ,I really do Cas, but I’d throw them under the bus in a heartbeat at this point if it meant all of this bullshit stopped. Because in the end, the only ones that are going to lose here is us—cause lemme tell yah, unless this Apocalypse train gets back on track again all the fighting that’s been going on? The deaths and the in-fighting and everything else? Just like I said back in that warehouse: none of it’s ever gonna stop and pretty soon no one’s gonna be left standing; they’ll all have killed each other!... So I say let Michael and Lucifer have at it, it’s better than Heaven destroying itself trying to make it happen!”

So maybe humans were better than angels would ever be, but Gabriel had been on Earth long enough to know that the great blue spinning ball and all of the people in it were cold comfort when then homesickness really kicked in. And in the Archangels eyes it would only be worse when there was no home to go back to anymore, if all the angels destroyed themselves in the aftermath of the failed Apocalypse. To him in that moment as before the reverse of Castiel’s assertions were true—just because humans were better why did it have to mean the angels had to all end up throwing themselves onto the fire just to save them?

So maybe Dean Winchester was right, maybe what he’d said back in their warehouse in the aftermath of his little TV land trick had been true: maybe Gabriel was too much of a coward to stand up to his family. Maybe it was because he had been alive to long, maybe he’d experienced to much of the Heaven he considered home, been allowed to get too close to his own family. Maybe he was the biggest coward of them all; maybe he should just join the ranks of Team Winchester and start shanking his family left and right in the valiant effort to save humanity. But where did Dean get off telling him that when he could never bare to do the same with his brother? Back in the days when Big Jonny Winchester told Dean Sam would turn evil, when he’d been addicted to the demon blood, before he’d royally fucked his whole species over and killed Lilith Dean still didn’t ‘stand up to his family’.

And besides, say they did win. Say those humans stopped the Apocalypse one way or another, the Earth got to keep all its humans and said humans got to go on with their everyday lives, and Heaven was just left to kill each other until no one else was left. Then where would either of them be? All that would be left was Castiel, those god damned Winchesters and Gabriel (if he managed to keep his ass alive and out of the fighting that is). No home. No Heaven. No brothers or sisters or Father. Just left to wander around in a world full of humans until they died, went bat shit insane or the world ended some other way. In Gabriel’s mind they could take that offer and shove it up their asses. Thanks but no thanks.

Gabriel shook his head and sighed, pinched the bridge of his nose and thanked Dad his vessel couldn’t get stress migraines. He let his hands fall back down to his sides with an air of giving up. The fact he wasn’t being allowed to just hide his head in the sand and wait out the fighting any more was exactly what he needed. His options were being picked off one by one like teenagers in another bad Freddie Kruger remake and the ones left weren’t looking all that appealing: join Heaven and be stripped of everything that made Gabriel Gabriel, join the Winchesters and have to kill his own family for the sake of humans, or join Lucifer and have the entire world and Heaven turn against him. If there was ever a time for Daddy dearest to really start giving a shit about his kids and his pet project now would be it.

“So tell me, Cas, really. What’s the right way here? What would Dad want me to do? ‘Cause honestly…with the God Squad after me trying to drag me back home and do Lord knows what to me…I’m running out of options here, man. And I am just sick and tired of it, of all the fighting, and of freaking Dean Winchester calling me the bad guy and the coward here for just wanting it to be over.” he said, all of his previous anger and conviction seemingly having gone clean out of the archangel.

TAGGED: CASTIEL NOTE: tldr; Gabe’s options suck, lol

[CASTIEL]

is this the unhappy ever after they wanted?

"You’re right, it wasn’t the Winchesters—all that was the dicks we have to call our family! Raphael was the one who turned you into finger paint, though really he’s always been kind of a douchebag. No, instead the Winchesters are treating you as their own personal holy WMD—the two of them are so busy making angsty puppy eyes at each other and lamenting their own destinies they can’t be bothered to give a shit about the eventual hell they’re dragging you into!" A perplexed squint of Castiel’s eyes flickered into view at the mention of being their ‘WMD’, though the rise of frustration quickly drowned it out. Not that Gabriel was unjust in his complaints, Castiel had more then once felt Dean had been a little too absorbed in his own problems to consider Castiel’s. Some of the commentary slung the angel’s way wasn’t always the most pleasing or sympathetic or understanding… There had been times the two had seen eye to eye., however, and those times had been potent enough to see Cas through some of the very things Gabriel stressed about. The archangel was furious, Castiel was still recovering from the betrayal of Rapheal’s careless disposal of him back at Chuck’s house, it made the situation more then just a little uncomfortable.

"And I like humans ,I really do Cas, but I’d throw them under the bus in a heartbeat at this point if it meant all of this bullshit stopped. Because in the end, the only ones that are going to lose here is us—cause lemme tell yah, unless this Apocalypse train gets back on track again all the fighting that’s been going on? The deaths and the in-fighting and everything else? Just like I said back in that warehouse: none of it’s ever gonna stop and pretty soon no one’s gonna be left standing; they’ll all have killed each other!... So I say let Michael and Lucifer have at it, it’s better than Heaven destroying itself trying to make it happen!" There was anger, real heart felt pain that burned to the core of the elder being, had things been different Castiel may not have hesitated in offering some sort of support, right now the lower angel found himself rather glued; resembling a deer before oncoming rays of light that one couldn’t tell as being from a car or perhaps a sunrise.

The sigh that came would have been enough to snap Castiel out of his mild trance, having found himself almost waiting for the anger to spill out and overflow with fatal consequences. The problem however, was with Gabriel raising his hand, in the similar way Rapheal had done before snapping his chocolate hued fingers; the thought that Gabriel was about to remove Cas from the picture and get the ‘train back on track’, as he referred to the apocalypse being, was so blinding that Cas couldn’t help but close his eyes.

"So tell me, Cas, really." The younger sibling opened his eyes as Gabriel began talking, feeling inwardly disorientated at the fact nothing happened and the other’s tone of voice had dropped. "What’s the right way here? What would Dad want me to do? ‘Cause honestly…with the God Squad after me trying to drag me back home and do Lord knows what to me…I’m running out of options here, man. And I am just sick and tired of it, of all the fighting, and of freaking Dean Winchester calling me the bad guy and the coward here for just wanting it to be over." Human’s could be hypocritical at times, or all the time, Castiel had seen it before, and could see it at times in the Winchesters. Just because Dean said it though didn’t mean he knew the truth, and all this was such an emotional rollercoaster for the human, it wasn’t surprising there were certain things that just took its toll on the man.

As for what would dad want? Castiel had no idea, he was still trying to figure out if God actually brought him back for a reason, to give him another chance at helping the Winchester’s or just for the fun of watching Castiel squirm for him siding with the brothers. Gabriel was asking for advice… or at least just thinking out loud and allowing Castiel to voice some sort of comment on the subject. The desire to avoid further bloodshed was obvious, the dislike of being forced back to Heaven also, so really there did seem like so few options Gabriel had left; the war was here, and someone, somewhere, insisted that Gabe join the fight. However, it felt selfish for Castiel to want Gabriel on his side, selfish to demand that the archangel join him in what would definitely lead to their exile, even the possibility of being cut off from Heaven entirely. The idea frightened Castiel, though he’d see it through with a heavy heart, would it be fair to drag his elder sibling down with him?

"Someone up there is ordering our brothers and sisters to hunt us down, to kill us or drag us back, if anything was worth dying for, Gabriel, I would think figuring out who is giving these false orders and stopping them would be it. And it just feels as if doing that runs along the same ‘track’ as ‘derailing’ the apocalypse." The insistence in Castiel’s voice had dimmed from his previous attempts of getting his message across, instead now there seemed a slightly more withdrawn though stubborn stance from before. "I don’t want any more of my siblings blood on my hands, but their blind faith in Rapheal, or whoever else it may be, is the real thing that is killing them. Who in their right mind sends mere soldiers to drag you back, their death would only have been spared by your complete cooperation, it was suicide." And that was the point though, wasn’t it? Here Gabriel was preaching the sins of the Winchester’s sending Castiel off on fools errands, and yet were their brothers not doing exactly the same thing? "So maybe I am being treated carelessly, but who isn’t? At least here I choose my suicide mission." Gabriel was powerful, he could force Castiel into silence without even a blink, toss the Angel half way through the planet with his pinky finger or drop Castiel in one of his warped realities. "isn’t there something here you are willing to fight for?" It was foolish to say Castiel held no fear in speaking his mind to his brother, yet they were taking; and so far that’s all that they were doing. That had to mean something, right? The words were smoothly dragged out, forced by sheer will power to keep the brave face, and yet softly enough spoken that the stubborn angel clearly felt an air of trepidation while not being sure which way Gabriel was leaning.

[GABRIEL]

And the only thing to save is the banner that you wave to be wrapped around your grave

Both of them had calmed now and with the veil of his own temper lifted Casitel’s words actually managed to work themselves into Gabriel’s head. His younger sibling made it sound so valiant, so righteous and worthy. He had to admit that even he had questioned who in their right mind would send normal soldiers after an archangel, but without Castiel’s input it had been nothing more than a passing query. But he pursed his lips as he held back a frown at his brother’s talk of choosing his own suicide missions—he didn’t want him to have to choose any at all. That was his whole point of the side he picked—or once picked, since it seemed that side was getting smaller and smaller by the second.

He did pause a moment to give Cas’s question some thought however. What was he willing to die for? Was there anything on Earth he would want to try and save? His own sappy sentimental nature told him that Kali dying in all this was not a thought he ever wanted to entertain, and something deep and base inside of him commanded him to protect the humans he had been asked to bow to. And hadn’t Dad been right all along? Wasn’t that the reason Lucifer had been cast down, because he disagreed with their Father? It just seemed that now everyone had lost sight of that fact. Gabriel supposed that a human in his shoes would immediately think to their family, but the majority of Gabriel’s family was the ones behind this—all besides Castiel and Anna and only a few others, so few he could count them on both hands. A tiny fraction of the multitudes of angels up in Heaven. He had always been taught as an archangel his duty was to defend and guide his younger siblings in their father’s absence. Alright, then, fine. If the Winchesters side was the only one that wouldn’t get him brainwashed or turn him evil then he’d do it for them, for the remaining few of his brothers and sisters with some sense in their heads.

But God did it feel like he was chickening out.

In any case he nodded to Castiel’s final question, not willing to get all sappy and reveal who or what those things were, at least not now, in any other way then to look right back at Castiel. Let the socially challenged angel interpret that however he pleased, Gabriel certainly wasn’t about to enlighten him further.

“Fine.” He said with a sigh bordering on melodramatic, “Count me in, I guess you guys are better than being a brainwashed zombie.”

And one other thing:

“You don’t have to be scared of me, you dork.” Gabriel said, walking forward to give his little brother a light flick on the nose, “I’m not Michael, or Lucifer, or Raphael—I’d never blow you to smithereens over some stupid Prophet…Duct tape your mouth shut and rough you up a bit, sure, but I draw the line at explosions.”

He was smirking towards the end of his words, but he was serious. He might lose his temper or shove Cas out of his way a bit too hard but he would never dream of hurting the little nerd angel. But there was no solid reason for the deer-in-the-headlights look Cas had adopted when Gabriel had been losing his temper or any hesitance he had to speak his mind to Gabriel. They weren’t exactly the picture perfect brothers but if the Winchester knew one thing it was that brothers should never fear each other—a few punches now and again were basically healthy. And the idea of Castiel being so afraid of Gabriel he didn’t speak his mind or air any of his grievances with him just didn’t sit right.

TAGGED: CASTIEL NOTE: none

[CASTIEL]

is this the unhappy ever after they wanted?

There was a nod, not a very informative nod, but a nod had to be good, right? A moment of further study and Gabriel still neglected to offer further explanation on what exactly he had agreed with. Hopefully it was a yes to having something to fight for on Earth, which was enough for Cas, if that actually was the case.

"Fine." An exaggerated statement was better thing a snap of ones fingers, and Castiel couldn’t help but feel he had definitely gained some valuable ground here. "Count me in, I guess you guys are better than being a brainwashed zombie." Relief eased some of the tension, though he wasn’t yet prepared to deal with how to inform Dean or Sam about Gabriel’s agreement to help them out. For now, Cas just wanted to be happy that he had a sibling on his side. "You don’t have to be scared of me, you dork." Sometimes Gabriel seemed more human then the Angel Castiel remembered growing up, and while that made it a little hard at times to understand certain things, it also made Gabriel more three dimensional. Perhaps a hell of a lot more unpredictable, but the benefits the archangel seemed to gain from his taste of humanity made it seem worthwhile. Still, the flick on the nose caused Castiel to stare, a little awkward on how to reply to that, though feeling a little rather exposed at having his anxiety being so clearly obvious.

"I’m not Michael, or Lucifer, or Raphael—I’d never blow you to smithereens over some stupid Prophet…Duct tape your mouth shut and rough you up a bit, sure, but I draw the line at explosions." There had been a time however that only Lucifer had ever seemed dangerous enough to snap to that extreme. Now it felt as if every other angel out there was ready and willing to smite one another, and for what? Definitely not God’s will, that was about as much as Castiel knew for certain.

"I appreciate that." Saying he was still edgy over the whole ordeal would just be crying over spilt blood, for now there were more things to be worried about. "Do you have somewhere safe to go… or…" Somehow Castiel couldn’t imagine Gabriel lounging around at Bobby’s, which oddly enough seemed the only safe haven Castiel had at this point, there was some sort of strangely homely feel forming around that junk yard. Not everyone would feel that way, especially around a human’s home, Castiel didn’t want to force Gabriel onto people, the only reason to do so would be if they needed to. The idea of Gabriel being hunted was worrisome at best, the thought of him having nowhere to hide unacceptable; then again the archangel had done pretty well over the years, maybe there were a few places he could still crawl under during all this mess. Otherwise there were wards they could put up in certain locations that would hide them from Heaven’s sight… Castiel just doubted that Gabriel would want to hang around with Dean and Co, assuming Castiel could find the Winchesters. "Actually, have you any idea where Dean or Sam are?" The change in subject also brought forth a change in tone, the Angel of Thursday found himself almost hoping that for Gabriel’s previous focus on the boys had warranted the archangel keeping tabs. This thought brought some hope to the otherwise dreary task of searching for them, though with them being a blind spot for Angels, Gabriel would have gone out of his way, that might not have seemed worthwhile an effort. Still, it was worth asking.

any notes here

[GABRIEL]

And the only thing to save is the banner that you wave to be wrapped around your grave

Cas’s lack of reaction to Gabriel’s slight teasing gesture had the archangel grinning—it seemed Cas hadn’t gotten enough hours in around humans to know how to react to such a thing yet. He didn’t even wrinkle his nose up, just stood there a bit awkwardly and stared back at him. However it was good that his brother seemed to relax a little bit around him, and he hoped the notion that Gabriel would never hurt him (seriously, anyway) would eventually allow Cas to trust him a bit more. If he were going to be joining this Team Whatever-They’d-Decided-To-Call-Themselves to stop the Apocalypse Gabriel could use all the trust he could get from his teammates. He didn’t need one of them deciding not to have his back in a pinch just because they thought they couldn’t trust him.

Now as far as Gabriel having hiding places he could think of a few right off the top of his head—most of them right smack in the middle of a populated city where hopefully the presence of humans would be enough to cover him. There was always that apartment in LA with his dog or that little flat in the middle of London with the old landlady who still prayed at night. But then again was that really the best idea? If the angels came after him would those humans just get hurt? He would take the time to pick his hidey-hole more carefully later, at the very least he had a few places to go.

“Yeah, I’ve still got a few places I can lay low for a while.” Gabriel replied, wondering what Castiel would have done if he’d replied that he didn’t, in fact, have a place to go, “Not sure if they’re safe but I’m a big boy, I can take care of myself. Spread a couple hex bags around and I’ll be just peachy.”

On the question of the Winchesters whereabouts Gabriel actually had a straight answer. He had been keeping tabs on those boys ever since the warehouse, partly looking for the perfect time to exact some revenge on them for overdoing the whole ‘put out the holy fire’ thing and soaking him to the bone. The sigils carved into the ribs made it much harder than it had to be to keep track of them himself, so Gabriel had resorted to word of mouth in the supernatural community—wherever the Winchesters turned up every supernatural creature within a hundred miles that values their life and had enough of a brain to do so tended to skip town. Last he checked had been a few days ago in a moment of mind numbing boredom – the brothers had been somewhere in North Dakota on the trail of what they didn’t yet know was a Water Wraith. But apparently all that researching and library trips somehow kept the boys away from their cell phones if Cas was resorting to asking him about it.

“Last I checked they were somewhere in North Dakota on a hunt, didn’t bother getting an exact location though.” Gabriel said with a shrug, since it wasn’t exactly his job to watch the brothers every little move.

For the moment Gabriel was wondering how Cas was going to exactly break the news of his change of loyalties to the brothers. Telling them straight forward probably wouldn’t work and Gabriel wasn’t about to explain himself to those idiots, at least not give enough of a true answer to satisfy them. And even if he had Cas’s good word and his own valid reasons the brothers probably still would take an annoyingly long time to even not watch their backs every time he walked into a room or pull their guns whenever he snapped his fingers. Gabriel could already tell the whole thing was already going to be one giant pain in the ass.

TAGGED: CASTIEL NOTE: I just bsed the brothers location, we can change it later if we need to