Gabriel walked into the kitchen and found Dean there by himself, seated at the table with a beer in his hand. Gabriel ignored him completely as he passed him on his way to the refrigerator. He was on snack detail. He and Sam were about to watch a movie.
"Where's my brother?" Dean asked in a gruff voice.
"He is waiting on me to screw his brains out, which I intend to do as soon as the movie's over," Gabriel said with a smirk. It had been almost a month since he and Sam got together, and any talk about it pissed Dean off, so of course, Gabriel used every opportunity he had to shove it in Dean's face.
Dean gave the archangel a disgusted look. "Enjoy yourself while you can. When this is over, I'm gonna make sure you never get near my brother again. I'm not gonna let you hurt him!"
Gabriel laughed in response. "That's a hypocritical thing to say, don't you think? Or are you projecting? After all, no one hurts Sam more than you do."
"Screw you!" Dean said angrily.
"Thanks, but I prefer your brother to do that. Tell me what your deal is, Dean? Are you really that afraid to see your brother happy?" Gabriel asked.
"Happy? With the dick that tortured him in a freaking time loop?" Dean asked before taking a sip of his beer.
Gabriel nodded. "You're right, I did. I hurt Sam, and I will always regret it. But it still doesn't hold a candle to what you've done to him and keep doing."
"You don't know anything about my relationship with my brother!" Dean yelled.
"Actually, I do, because he's told me. Let's see, there's holding the apocalypse over his head forever, even though you were hardly innocent. Not only did you break the first seal, but your deal made it possible for it to be broken," Gabriel said.
"I was saving my brother's life!" Dean said angrily.
Gabriel ignored the outburst. "But as I told him, that was all carefully orchestrated. Really, it's not your fault or Sam's, but that doesn't stop you from blaming him. Then you have his shredded soul ripped out of Hell and shoved back into his body."
"Oh, so I should've just left him there?"
"No. You should've done exactly what Lucifer did for Adam. You should've asked Death to release Sam's soul to Heaven," Gabriel said. He was glad that Sam was alive. He didn't even want to think about him being dead, but the fact that Sam was functionable was a miracle. It could've ended so much worse. He knew that every time he looked at Michael. It would've been worse for Sam. Michael was an archangel, so his mind would've been much harder to break. Sam's mind would've and should be in ribbons.
Dean huffed angrily and stood up. "You claim to care about my brother? You say it would be better for him to be dead!"
"There are worse things than being dead, Dean, believe me. I would think forty years in Hell would've taught you that," Gabriel said.
"He was walking around with no soul," Dean said.
Gabriel shook his head. "He wasn't. He was in Hell. The body that was here was just that. It was a body, a Zombie that was just a little more functionable."
"I was saving him! I did save him! He's good!" Dean yelled.
"Well, I don't know if I'd call him good. He still has nightmares about Hell, and about what he did without a soul. He is sane, so I supposed you're not totally off. The truth is, you got lucky, or I should say he did. Then you both did again when you let an angel possess him. I hear there's a young prophet that didn't get so lucky," Gabriel said.
Dean flinched a bit. The thing with Kevin still left him with terrible guilt. Kevin died because of him. He'd never forgive himself for it. He also knew that it hurt Sam, but it also saved him. Dean couldn't really regret something that saved his brother's life. "Once again, I did what I had to do to save my little brother. I always will."
Gabriel sneered in response. "You always think you're saving him. You're not. You're just causing him more suffering. Being possessed is no cakewalk for a human, Dean. That's why my father made it so that angels have to get consent. That and he wanted it to be different than demons. And because you selfishly allowed your brother to be possessed, people died. Someone you and your brother cared about died. Sam has nightmares about that too. But that's okay in your eyes because you were 'saving' your brother. You did what you thought was right. It's a different story when Sam does it, right?"
Dean didn't say anything. As much as he hated to admit it, Gabriel wasn't wrong. He did feel justified in the things he did, yet he blamed Sam for doing similar things. He knew it wasn't right. He just didn't know how to feel any different.
"And you're not done, are you? You're still hurting him. You tell him you're going to stop him from being happy," Gabriel said.
"I am not gonna let my brother go off with two dick archangels, one of them being the Devil! I will protect my brother, like I always do!" Dean said strongly.
Gabriel laughed. He reached into one of the cupboards and pulled out a bag of popcorn and some candy. "You're not afraid of us hurting Sam. That's an excuse you use to stop him from moving on with his life. Well, it wont work. I'm not gonna let you hurt him anymore. Sam wants to come with us, and he will. If you try to stop him, I will make you pay!"
Gabriel was almost out the room when Dean spoke again. "Yeah, with your low-powered Grace? You're not strong enough anymore."
Gabriel didn't bother turning around as he raised his hand, sending Dean crashing into the nearest wall. "You sure about that?"
Dean picked himself up and glared at Gabriel's retreating back.
~
Michael was sitting in the library in front of the computer screen that his doctor was on. He was fiddling with a pen as she spoke to him.
"How are you doing today, Michael?" Linda asked.
"I'm okay. Amenadiel is still gone, and Samael is still angry with me," Michael said absentmindedly as he played with the pen in his hand.
"Do you know why you brother is angry with you?" Linda asked.
"No," was Michael's only reply.
"Does it bother you?" Linda wondered. Michael had never shown much concern over lucifer being angry. He expressed desire to know the reason, but that was all.
"No. Samael has been angry with me before," Michael said.
"So, you believe he will get over it. Why does he usually get angry with you?" Linda asked.
"When I have to punish him," Michael said.
Linda saw an opening. Michael's break had to do with him helping to punish Lucifer by sending him away. This might be the opening she needed to get him to start remembering that. "Do you have to punish him often?"
Michael looked at her. "Samael doesn't like rules. He tries to break them. Father says I need to punish him when he does that. Maybe that's why he's angry with me. He thinks I'm going to punish him."
"Why would you need to punish him now?" Linda asked.
"Because of Jack."
"Jack? Lu...Samael's son? Why would you need to punish him for that?" Linda asked.
"Because it's not allowed. Samael has a child. That is against the rules. But Gabriel says father knows about Jack. He hasn't punished Samael or tried to take Jack away. I think that means he's not angry," Michael said.
"Hang on. You're not allowed to have children?" Linda asked.
"No, it's forbidden," Michael said in a serious tone.
Linda blinked in shock. From her conversations with Lucifer, she knew that his father was somewhat controlling, but this took that to a new level. He implemented rules for his children that stemmed even to them creating children? That was more than a bit too far. "What other rules does have?"
"We cannot disobey, ever. We will be punished severely," Michael said.
"But you're adults, and your father is gone," Linda said.
"No, he's not! He's around. He knows what we do, and he will punish us."
Linda frowned. The way Lucifer and Michael described their father, it was like he really was God. While Linda knew it was a metaphor whenever Lucifer referred to his father as God, she also believed he thought they were pretty damned close. She wondered if their father was in the mafia or something. That was pretty close to being a God to some people. "Has he punished Samael?"
"No, I punish him. That's my responsibility. I had to do it. I had to punish him or...I don't want to talk about it anymore. I don't want to talk about punishing Samael," Michael said.
While she wanted to push, Linda knew she would likely only make it worse. Michael was at his limit on the subject. He wasn't ready to remember what happened. But he was close. She would try again another day. For now, there were other things to explore. "Okay. Tell me more about your father. Your brothers say you were close to him."
"Yes. I was obedient. I always did what Father wanted. I wanted him to be proud of me," Michael said.
"You must miss him a lot," Linda commented.
"No. I hope he never comes back. I hate him," Michael said.
Linda was taken aback by the admission. Amenadiel and Lucifer told her that Michael was close to his father. They said his love for the man was as blind as it came, yet Michael had just professed hatred for him. "You hate your father?"
"Yes. I don't want to talk anymore," Michael said. He then got up and left the room without another word.
Linda sighed as she watched Michael leave. Fixing this messed up family was going to be harder than she thought it was. Michael might be the most messed up, but he was far from the only one, and it was going to be extremely hard to help all of them. Every time she learned something new, it seemed to get that much more complicated. She just hoped there was a way to save these men from their demons.