Angry sex was great. Not as good as deep-fried Oreos dipped in chocolate and sprinkled with mini marshmallows… but still pretty high up there. And for the love of Dad, angry sex with a pissed off pagan goddess of destruction was even better.

"Mm… Loki, don't think I've forgiven you quite yet."

And the hands. Yeah Gabriel could do some amazing shit with six wings, but hot damn! Of all the women he'd had a tumble in the primordial hay with, pagan goddesses, mortals alike, Kali was probably the first he'd come across who could truly sate a frustrated archangel. Even if it was because she was angry with him half the time.

Gabriel took a moment and paused in his ministrations with a smirk. "Aw babe, you and I both know this isn't about making up."

Kali chuckled and hummed in satisfaction as the pseudo-god resumed his previous actions. "True. Though I'm curious, what has you so worked up that you'd come crawling back here? If Baldur shows up there will be hell to pay." Loki snorted and felt content enough to ignore the question and go on with the happy-fun-times, but it seemed Kali's curiosity had been spiked. She grunted and shoved him up and away and Gabriel allowed it with a small pout. "Loki." Her warning tone proved enough that she wouldn't let the matter drop and the archangel sighed.

"Look, it's nothing. Just a little family drama."

One of the goddess' well sculpted brows lifted in disbelief. "Family drama, really? Since when do you have a family?"

Gabriel's frown became genuine at that little dig. "Let's just say I had an unfortunate run-in with two headless chickens and their frustratingly loyal puppy, and the chickens won. Stole my puppy too."

Kali rolled her eyes. "I'm not following you at all Loki."

"Look do you want to keep doing what we were doing, or not?" Kali shrugged at the ultimatum and dragged the archangel back down into her bed.

As the night went on, Gabriel's mind stewed even as his body went on autopilot. He had to actively remind himself that creating a projection to play with Kali was kind of defeating the point of his visit. Especially if he was just doing it so he could think about his little brother.

Which, now that he thought about it, was weird. And gross.

Even still, as much as he tried to distract himself, a small portion of his attention was continuously tracing the pattern of grace he had tagged back during the whole TV Land debacle. Not spying really, just reassuring himself of its presence. After all, every moment Castiel managed to keep himself alive despite the Winchesters' best efforts was a chance the young seraph might change his mind, ditch the old ball-and-chain, and come join Team Pagan. Gabriel was even willing to make t-shirts with rhinestones and glitter. Who could say no to that?

For several weeks that had sufficed. But a shift in the feel of Castiel's grace just recently had sent foreboding shivers through Gabriel, and that had driven the archangel to search out Kali for distraction. Something was wrong. It wasn't with his vessel or his grace, though his powers were still draining. Yet somehow, Gabriel sensed the other angel drifting away. Idly, without even realizing he was doing so until he heard the voices, Gabriel focused on Castiel's grace.

I REBELLED FOR THIS!?

Gabriel stilled. "Loki what-"

"Shush." The archangel was off the Hindu goddess and across the room within a heartbeat and directed his full attention to Castiel's grace. Quickly tracing it to an alley near the home of Bobby Singer. It looked like Winchester #1 was there too. An unusual frown on the Trickster's face, Gabriel ignored Kali as she stormed from the room and felt his own consternation build as he listened to the confrontation going down halfway around the world.

He had never, in all of his existence, heard his little Cassie speak with such immutable rage. Such complete betrayal. Echoes of his true voice were even breaking through and Gabriel had to wonder if Dean would be able to take it if the angel got much angrier.

I gave everything for you. And THIS is what you give me?

The light above Kali's bed shattered as Gabriel clenched his fists at his sides. He got some satisfaction hearing the sound of Castiel beating the shit out of Michael's meat suit, but wanted to do it himself. He wouldn't hold back like the seraph obviously was.

He listened a while longer, anticipation building as everything seemed to come to a head. Castiel was accumulating his grace, more than enough to smite Dean Winchester clear out of existence, and Gabriel flexed his wings.

As soon as it was over the Messenger would wing his way over and whisk the younger angel away before the inevitable guilt set in. As far as Gabriel was concerned, Castiel's part in this mess was done. He'd replenish Castiel's grace and carry him far away from anything and everything that meant him harm.

Dean had given up. Michael would send one of his lackeys to resurrect his meat suit, Dean would say yes, and they'd get this show on the road. And so long as he and Cassie were on the opposite side of the universe when that happened, you wouldn't catch him complaining.

Do it.

Come on, Castiel.

Just do it!

Smite the crap out of the monkey.

Castiel was reaching out.

Gabriel's wings were already halfway pulling him into the ether.

Instead of meeting oblivion, the Michael Sword dropped unconscious, and the internal injuries he'd sustained from the angel's beating began knitting themselves together at Castiel's touch.

Gabriel dropped back into the corporeal world with something of grim finality. He could almost see Castiel standing over his limp charge, grace sputtering to try and right itself after the exertion. The angel leaned against the brick wall of the alley, chest heaving and wings shuddering.

Why?

Castiel dropped to one knee beside the elder Winchester and coughed. Gabriel's grace thrummed with an aching concern and without conscious thought he found himself sending waves of celestial energy across the realms to brush against the dying blue light that was Castiel and buoy him back to life.

It spoke of how close the seraph was riding the edge of the abyss that Castiel didn't question the energy flooding him or recognize the archangel's touch, and Gabriel was quick to mask it and pull away before he had the wherewithal to do so.

"Dammit, Cassie."

"Who's Cassie?"

Gabriel stiffened and threw up every mental wall he had the instant Kali spoke. He hadn't noticed her return.

"No one."

Arms wrapped around him, and a warm fire brushed against the back of his neck. "Another goddess? You can invite her if you want. If I can bring Baldur, I don't care."

Gabriel choked on air, "What- No! Hell, no!" and buried his face in his hands to try and smother the image that came to mind. "Ugh, that'll haunt me for the next thousand years."

Kali stepped back and crossed her arms. Gabriel could see she was growing angry with him again, but it also seemed she was trying to tamp it down. Her face held something akin to sympathy as she amended her inquiry. "Is this the puppy that was stolen by pheasants?"

"Chickens."

A fireball was lobbed at his head and Gabriel let it phase through a copy of himself as he flew to the opposite side of the room. Kali spun on him and scowled. "And yeah, okay. Cassie's the puppy."

Kali nodded. "What happened?"

"I thought he'd finally come to his senses. Turns out he's still stuck on seeing his little save-the-chickens crusade to the end. Even if it kills him."

The Hindu goddess hummed and pushed Gabriel back until he was once again sprawled out over her bed with Kali curled beside him. She rested her head on his chest and let her multiple arms trace nonsense patterns over his skin. He ignored her for the most part and just stared up at the broken light in the ceiling.

"I think I broke your lightbulb. Ooh, that makes me think of a joke. Okay, how many pagan gods does it take to change a lightbulb?"

"Loki." At the stern command, Gabriel shifted his focus back to Kali, who was giving him a serious stare down.

"What?"

"If your concern is for the pup's safety, then take him back. Surely two mortal fowl cannot best the god of mischief?"

And that thought was just so ridiculous that the archangel couldn't help but laugh and press a kiss to the back of Kali's nearest palm. "Nah, they couldn't. But it's a bit more complicated than that. Cassie's stubborn. It's part of why I like him so much, but it also means he won't leave. And if I take him away by force he'll never stop fighting to get away. Not to mention the fact that he'll probably hate me for the rest of eternity. More than he already does."

Kali huffed and pressed a searing kiss to his sternum. "I've never seen you this conflicted about something." She burnt a trail of pecks down Gabriel's chest then followed it back up as they healed. "I'm jealous."

The pseudo-god smirked. "Aw, Babe. You know you've got a special place in this little black heart of mine." He rolled over and pinned the destroyer goddess beneath him. "So… got any advice for me?"

Not expecting a reply, he ducked his head and focused his attention on… certain activities. Kali's voice, and a pair of her hands cradling his face and tugging it back up to meet her eyes, shocked him into stillness.

"Some battles must be fought, Loki. No matter the risk. And sometimes it is better to beg forgiveness than let inaction cost you dear. The world is quickly becoming dangerous for us with the Judeo-Christian apocalypse approaching. You should collect your pup before the summit. Once we take the Winchesters, it'll mean war with the angels."

Gabriel sighed and let himself flop down beside Kali. The last thing he wanted to do was think about that incoming shit show on top of everything else. "Darling, I'm a lover, not a fighter."

"If that were true, Loki I would never have let you into my bed. Although, Baldur would never let mortals lay claim to what is his."

The archangel groaned. "Jeez, does everything have to be about Baldur with you?"

The smirk on Kali's face revealed she knew exactly how the mention of the Norse god rankled the Trickster. And she was not above using every dirty trick she had to achieve her goals.

"Then go reclaim your pup."

A pout made its way onto Gabriel's face. "Fine. I will." He wondered if Cas and Kali would get along. Given how well both could get under the archangel's skin, he guessed they'd be making his life a living hell once they got over the species barrier.

Apparently noticing his drift in focus, a second set of Kali's hands moved down. Ooh, if that was his reward for agreeing with Kali, he might have to consider appeasing her more often. "Right after this."

He was asleep with Kali in his arms a few hours later, or as close to sleep as archangels got, when he heard it.

Gabriel?

It was tentative. Guarded, and remarkably vulnerable, but also resigned in a way that had the Messenger shooting out of the goddess's bed in a fraction of an instant.

Castiel. His little brother was actually praying to him. Calling out to his grace like a distress beacon. Gabriel's mind raced, formulating a response that wouldn't immediately broadcast his location to the Host, but Castiel continued before it left him.

Gabriel, I don't know if you're listening… Or if you care. But I just… please, I need someone to hear me.

Gabriel shifted into the ether so he wouldn't be disturbed if Kali woke.

Dean… Dean's given up. He wants to say yes. I suppose you were right, about him. About everything. You must be pleased.

Sympathy washed over Gabriel's grace and his wings twitched with the urge to wrap around the lesser angel. He felt some manner of satisfaction that he'd been right in his appraisal of the Winchester's resolve, but he also knew how it felt to have such faith in someone and be let down.

It wasn't something he'd wish on anyone.

'You believe in them that much?'

'As much as I ever believed in you.'

And now Castiel was feeling it, again. In that moment Gabriel's hatred of Dean Winchester could rival the level of the demonic.

I don't know what to do anymore. I can't go back to the Host. I won't. So, I suppose the only thing left to do is see this to the end.

What did that mean? Gabriel used Castiel's prayer to begin triangulating the angel's location.

Zachariah has taken Adam Milligan to serve as substitute for Michael. I will help the Winchesters reclaim their brother. It's the only thing left I can do for them now.

Who in Dad's name was Adam Milligan? Why did the dynamic duo give a shit when they were ready to let the world go boom? Clearly there were more important things for them to focus on.

Ice lanced through his grace as Castiel's flickering essence shifted. Something wasn't right. Something was very, very, not right.

Brother, if this is the end… I wish I could have gone with you.

Gabriel took flight and raced across creation, releasing his power further than he had since the day he'd fled from Heaven. If they had been looking, doubtless every angel in existence, Michael and Lucifer included, would have recognized him.

The very fringes of Gabriel's immense presence brushed against Castiel's diminished grace, and the archangel could taste fear. Fear of pain. Fear of returning to nothingness. Fear of what would be left when he'd gone. So much fear.

'Castiel, you idiot. Wait! Don't do anything stupid!' Gabriel cried out in response, but the angel was too far fallen to hear the archangel return his prayer.

Please, just… even if our brothers curse my name beside the Great Adversary, I ask you not to hate me.

Gabriel manifested inside a dark warehouse in Van Nuys. Across the room, beside what appeared to be a pocket dimension with Michael's grace slathered all over it, was Castiel surrounded by four angels.

"What are you waiting for?" Even weaponless and next to graceless, the other angels eyed the young seraph with caution. "Come on."

They lunged, Gabriel opened his mouth to command the lesser angels to halt, and Castiel slammed his hand over a bloody banishing sigil that had been carved into his chest.

It was too large, too intricate. He couldn't have done it himself.

One of the Winchesters had carved a death sentence into his brother.

The cursed lines flared with celestial light.

FATHER PLEASE.

The Angel of Thursday shattered.

Gabriel braced each of his six wings and the enormity of his true form against the absolute authority of the banishing spell, but even the archangel was not immune. His vessel cried out as fractured pieces of Castiel's grace buffeted him across the cosmos and he curled his very self around what wisps of Castiel he could grasp even as they dissolved into nothing within his very hands.

When the torrent ceased, Gabriel regained control of his essence somewhere beyond Saturn's rings.

Then, in full force of his true form, Gabriel screamed.

Worlds died, civilizations were laid to waste in an instant, and in depths of His apathy, He turned away in the face of His Messenger's anguish.

Gabriel caught the fledgling before he could plant a careless foot on the strange little fish crawling onto shore.

"Don't step on that fish, Castiel," he chided, snickering a little at the look of clear bewilderment and fascination on his younger brother's face. "Big plans for that fish."

Castiel fluttered his wings and nestled himself into the space between Gabriel's uppermost set of wings. From his perch, he peered over the archangel's shoulder to watch the fish waddle its way further into the sand.

"Why? What'll happen if I step on it?" Gabriel shifted to meet the lesser angel's eyes and let their foreheads knock together.

"It'll die, knucklehead."

Castiel's head listed to the side in a funny little tilt and he squinted his eyes as if trying to tell if the archangel was fooling him in some way. "But then it'd go to Heaven. Isn't that good?"

"Huh." Gabriel canted his own head and considered the question for a moment. "I guess. But remember Cassie, to everything there is a season. We should let things run their course. And that means not stepping on them." He puffed up the feathers of his wings so that they brushed and tickled Castiel's sides. The fledgling giggled and bat his own black wings in retaliation until Gabriel let his settle again.

"Gabriel?"

"Hm?"

"If things go to Heaven when they die. What happens to us when we die?"

Gabriel plucked Castiel from his back, held the small form of the seraph in his arms, and frowned. "You mean angels?"

Castiel nodded. "Mhmm."

"Angels don't die, kiddo. We're too awesome"

Castiel's face pinched in confusion. "Ever?"

"Eh~" Gabriel shrugged. "I guess it's possible. But I don't see why it would happen. Only an angel or Dad could destroy another angel."

The fledgling nodded. "But if an angel did die. Where would they go?"

Gabriel shuddered at the thought and tucked Castiel close to his chest and let his chin nestle in the young angel's hair. He let his grace ebb and flow with the seraph's and washed feelings of love and protection over him.

"Nowhere, bucko. I guess they'd just, disappear."

Castiel's grace hooked tightly into Gabriel's and the fledgling clung to him with singular intent. "Don't ever die, Gabriel."

Despite the grim direction their conversation had taken, Gabriel smiled. "Don't worry Cas. I won't. Promise."

Eons, or perhaps mere fractions of an instant, may have passed over the duration of Gabriel's suffering cry. But when it was over, in the stead of mourning was dark and fiery rage. He flew.

Gabriel zeroed his focus on the Winchester brothers and hovered, looming, above them as they fled Michael's pocket dimension. He could feel his elder brother approaching and for a moment, considered delivering all three of the monkeys to him on a silver platter.

But by the looks of things, and Zachariah's burnt out wings, it seemed the situation had once again changed. What do you know? Dean said 'no' because Sammy had faith in him.

He'd had the faith of an angel at his back and it hadn't been enough. But the boy with the demon blood? Stop the presses!

So, what? Gabriel had to lose his little brother so that Dean could come to his senses and keep both of his?

No.

Gabriel was not just the Messenger. He was the Angel of Justice.

He would not have it.

It was pitiful how little effort it took to stay Adam Milligan's footsteps and slam the door to the pocket dimension shut in front of him. Gabriel wouldn't touch Sam or Dean. For the love of Castiel he would let his brother's charges be. But Dean Winchester did not get to come out of this with a win.

Gabriel would see him loose a brother this day.

He could hear Adam calling to Dean. Pleading for help. He willed the doorway to burn with the heat of celestial flames as Dean called back. From opposite the dimensional barrier, he sensed Michael, Prince of the Archangels and the Angelic Host, arrive.

"Gabriel. You've returned."

Gabriel shied away from the brush of his elder brother's grace. "I came because our brother is dead. Not for you."

Michael's grace bristled with indignation. "Many of our brethren have died before this day. Why now?"

The Messenger flared with pain and emptiness at the loss of the Angel of Thursday. Michael accepted the response with little reaction.

"I see. Do not mourn, Gabriel. Castiel was condemned the day he turned from Heaven and Fell. Now, deliver the Michael Sword and Lucifer's vessel to me."

Gabriel lashed out with his grace and fortified the barriers of the pocket dimension. Effectively locking the Great General inside his own green room. "No. Keep the spare, but I won't give you Castiel's charges."

"GABRIEL." Gabriel could have laughed. He had been spoken down to with the full might of their Father, Michael's pitiful display could not command him.

"No, Michael. I'm leaving. And you will not pursue me or I swear on the name of our Father that you will be fighting a war on two fronts."

Gabriel flew away and back to the bed of Kali. The Hindu goddess accepted him into her arms, and if she was surprised by the waves of distress he emanated, she did not show it.

"The pup?"

Gabriel shook his head and let himself sink into the pagan's warmth. "You said the others are meeting?"

She nodded, and ran a hand through the curls of his vessel's hair. "Soon. Once we've tracked the Winchesters down."

"Good." He gave the goddess a Trickster smile. "Just tell me when and where."

Kali smiled and gave him her word that he would know the time and place. "Soon, Loki. We will show the archangels that they may not have their way. We will bring down upon them the hammer of the gods."