Chapter Text
Sam reached for the first gallon of demon blood. This was it. He’d said his goodbyes and it was now or never. He was ready to defeat Lucifer, or at least die trying.
“STOP!” Surprised, Sam jerked, vaguely aware of blood flying before his vision blurred.
“What the hell?” Dean asked. Looking around, Same could echo the sentiment. They were in Bobby’s living room, about 600 miles from where they had been just moments before. Castiel and Bobby were also in the room and the four shared looks of confusion.
“Cas, did you-” Dean cut off when Castiel glared.
“I don’t even have enough power to get myself here, Dean. This was not me.”
“It was actually me.” The men turned to face the fifth person in the room. Although Sam thought maybe ‘person’ was a loose description for the slight blonde with a sucker stuck out of his mouth.
“Gabriel?”
“The one and only!” the archangel exclaimed with a wide smile. He turned to face Sam directly before he spoke again. “Sorry, kiddo, I couldn’t let you sacrifice yourself. I figured with another archangel on your side, we might be able to figure out another way to stop the apocalypse.” The level of shock and confusion in the room only rose when Sam suddenly lunged forward. Gabriel let out an undignified squeak as the hunter hugged him tightly.
“What happened to you? We thought you were dead!” Sam’s voice was accusing, but rather muffled from where his face was buried in Gabriel’s shoulder. Gabriel had one arm around Sam’s waist, the other rubbed his back in soothing strokes.
“Third time was definitely the charm. Good thing too, those charred wings were a real bitch to pull off.” Gabriel explained to the room at large. “After I got everyone off my tail, I was going to disappear, sit out this part of the apocalypse. I even scouted out a nice place in Europe.” Sam realised that he was still clinging to the angel and pulled away with a cough.
“What brought you back?” Castiel’s head was slightly tilted, as it usually was when he was confused.
“I decided to take Dean’s advice.” Dean frowned.
“My advice?”
“Yes, your advice. I’m standing up to my family, finally. And it seems to have worked heavily in the current company’s favor.” Gabriel seemed intent on being just as annoyingly cryptic as he had been before faking his death.
“So you’ve found another way to stop the apocalypse then?” Castiel demanded, stepping forward when all Gabriel did was widen his smile.
“I’ve found more than that. I’ve been suppressing my Grace for millennia, in order to stay undetected. When I unleashed it, I reached out and that’s how I knew about the death mission you all had planned. But the best part? I found God. He’s alive, Cassy.” Castiel’s response was intense and immediate. He crossed the room in a flash and crowded into Gabriel’s space.
“Where? Where is He?” Cas demanded and Gabriel’s face fell slightly.
“See that’s the thing… I don’t know where exactly-”
“Gabriel!”
“Excuse me for thinking saving Sam’s life was more important than getting an exact location on Dad right that second. I’m sure if I reach out again, I can find Him.”
“I’m sure you can too, Gabriel.” A female voice spoke out and Bobby’s living room started to feel more than a little crowded as all the room’s previous occupants turned to see who had joined them now. A young girl, looking no more than thirteen, stood in the doorway. She had long brown hair, blue eyes, and was wearing a sundress that flowed around her like melted gold. The two angels had looks of wonder on their faces as the humans shifted in nervous confusion.
“Dad,” Gabriel breathed, awed.
“Hello, Gabriel. I’m glad to see you’re still using the vessel I gave you.” Gabriel blinked a couple of times, as if making sure he was really seeing the short girl in front of him.
“It’s been perfect. Thank you again.” Gabriel said when he managed to find his voice. God- and it was really hard for Sam to think of this little girl as God- gave Gabriel a smile before turning to face Cas.
“I know how hard you’ve been looking for me and I apologize for not coming sooner, but I was waiting for the right time.”
“The right time? You mean after the apocalypse? After Sammy sacrificed himself for something you could’ve stopped?” Dean so was angry he ignored Castiel’s glare and the angel’s foot stepping on his own.
“Actually, Dean, I was waiting for one of my archangels to look for me.”
“Why are they any different than Cas looking for you?” The man in question elbowed Dean in the stomach and Sam watched his brother wince. “If you’re gonna beat me up, go stand by someone else.” Dean grumbled quietly. God smiled at the pair, full of affection and knowing.
“I left Heaven because of my archangels, I thought it only right that they be the reason I return.” God looked to Gabriel before continuing, “You’ve been trying so hard to keep your Grace under control that you didn’t even realize we’ve been sharing the same Earth for centuries. I’ve been watching you.” She turned her gaze to the room. “I’ve been watching all of you, in fact. For a long time.”
“Why did you leave us?” Castiel’s voice was quiet, almost like he didn’t want to know the answer.
“Would you like the whole story? You and Gabriel know parts of it, but so much time has passed and I’m sure the others are curious as well.”
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Five minutes later found the same six in the same room, but slightly different positions and all three humans with beers in their hands. Sam and Dean were sprawled on the couch with Cas between them. Gabriel had settled on the floor by Sam’s feet while Bobby had taken his usual chair. God was sitting on the desk, swinging Her bare feet and looking much like the child’s body she inhabited. Everyone was quiet, waiting for God to speak. She took a deep, unnecessary breath and began to speak.
“I believe you all know that the four archangels were the first I created. I love all four of them, more than I probably should. Gabriel always knew I had a soft spot for them, used it to his own gain a few times, if I remember correctly.” She gave Gabriel a sly look and he smiled back, almost looking shy.
“For a time, everything was… well, I really cannot say it was perfect, but it was very close. I decided a change was needed, however. I tired of having an army of mindless followers. I wanted my beloved children to be greater than that. So three things happened at once. I lessened my control over the angels, gave them opportunities that I wouldn’t have if I wasn’t trying to lead them towards having free will. I created another generation of angels, hoping that the newcomers would be more able to adapt to having free will, as they’d never known the life of blindly following a leader. I also gave my angels a way to bind themselves to another. It was a marriage of sorts, one that I hoped would lead to the angels realizing that I should not, and could not, always be their first priority.
“The changes were… touch and go. The first generation of angels were wary of all the sudden changes. They welcomed their new brother and sisters with open arms, of course, but all of it seemed to be too much for them to handle. I almost lost hope that I would ever be able to see my angels as anything but a mindless army.
“Then two angels came to me. They wanted to know more about the bond, everything it entailed, how to perform the ritual. I explained everything and I am still honored that I was allowed to be present to watch the first bond happen. When the pair returned to the other angels, of course everyone could tell the change. The two were happier than I’d ever seen them and it was almost infectious. After that, the bonds were a roaring success. Angels that had been close for millennia realized that they could be even closer, that they could join in a way special to just the two of them.
“After a time, I decided to implement the next part of my plan. I created humanity, hoping that seeing the creatures who went about with their own free will would encourage the angels, give them something to mold themselves after. I wanted the angels to see it as the learning experience that it was meant to be and to respect humanity. I encouraged them to visit Earth, see the humans personally, instead of from afar. Many were open to the idea, but appeared to be more comfortable just watching.
“However, some few angels were unhappy. Lucifer, in particular, was adamant that he would never bow to humanity and all their flaws. Michael, ever the level headed of the two, tried to convince him to see reason. Angels weren’t meant to see humans as their gods or above themselves in any way. Lucifer still refused to respect humanity. It lead to near constant fighting between the two of them. I believe I would have let it continue indefinitely if two things hadn’t happened at once.
“Gabriel came to me. He was distraught. He couldn’t handle his older brothers fighting anymore. He wanted an escape. I had talked of angels travelling to Earth and he wanted that. He made it clear that as long as Lucifer and Michael fought, he didn’t want to be in Heaven. I told him that I would need time to consider. Of course, I already knew that I would let him go. I also knew that my angels would need vessels on Earth and that they would need their vessel’s permission to use it. But I also knew that archangels had a Grace too powerful to house in just any vessel. It seemed unfair to take a living being from their life and keep them prisoner in their own body as long as Gabriel wanted to stay. So I made an empty human vessel and sent it to the Garden. When that was done, I returned to Gabriel and wished him luck. In his sudden departure and with the fighting happening, the other angels thought he had died and mourned him as such. It was a shock that stopped even Michael and Lucifer from their fighting for a time.
“The peace didn’t last though and Michael came to me eventually. He couldn’t take the fighting anymore. He loved Lucifer too much to be estranged for all eternity and needed help. He pleaded with me to do something, anything. Perhaps I was too harsh, but I was tired of the fighting too. My angels were drawing lines, picking sides. I realized with startling clarity that I should’ve done something long ago. So I gave Lucifer an ultimatum: bow to humanity or be cast down and take all those who sided with him along. Michael switched back to trying to reason with him. He just knew that he was going to get through to Lucifer. Michael was convinced he was worth it to the other angel.
“I gave Lucifer what was probably too much time to decide. When the time was up, I sought him out. He was with Michael, which I was expecting. He refused to bow to humanity, which I also expected. I don’t think Michael was prepared for the decision, however. Angels do not show emotions as humans do, but the only words I can use to describe Michael were distraught and heartbroken. Lucifer was his brother, someone he had always had beside him. He would be lost without his partner. Lucifer had made his choice though. I took his name and his bond, but Michael was the one who cast him out, full of rage that Lucifer had been so selfish.” God let out a long sigh.
“They were the first for so many things, I never wanted them to be the first bond I had to break.”