Sam was up early the next morning. He headed down to the kitchen around seven to start coffee. When he got there, he found Gabriel sitting at the table. "Morning."
Gabriel flinched and yelped, both in surprise and fear. He was very jumpy whenever someone entered the room and he didn't notice.
"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to scare you," Sam said.
Gabriel took a deep breath. "Don't apologise. All you did was walk into your own kitchen. It's not your fault I'm afraid of every little thing."
"It's not yours either," Sam said before going over to the coffee maker. He found that it was full. "You made coffee."
Gabriel nodded. "I couldn't sleep, so I thought I could make myself useful."
"Thanks, but you didn't have to," Sam said. He didn't want Gabriel to think he had to do anything.
Gabriel shrugged.
Sam poured himself a cup of coffee and joined Gabriel at the table. "You couldn't sleep because of nightmares?"
Gabriel nodded.
"I still get them sometimes too," Sam said.
"Great. So, they'll never go away," Gabriel said miserable.
"I mean, it's not as bad as it used to be. At least it wasn't until he...well, it, was released," Sam said.
"How did whatever that thing is get released again?" Gabriel asked curiously. He'd never heard the story of how the being with his brother's Grace got back out of the cage.
Sam quickly explained what happened with Amara and how Cas had consented to let Lucifer's creation possess him in order to stop her. He also explained how the situation with Amara ended.
"Bastard," Gabriel said a bit angrily. "Dad nearly destroyed Luci by giving him the Mark and hen goes ahead and forgives her. The whole thing was for nothing!"
"Dean too," Sam said.
"It was majorly stupid for him to take that mark," Gabriel said.
"He wasn't thinking clearly at the time, plus he had Crowley with him. That probably didn't help his rational thinking process. Plus, I can't really judge Dean on a stupid mistake. No one can argue that I've been there," Sam said.
"But it sure makes him a hypocrite, doesn't it? He continues to go at you when he's done his fair share of stupid moves," Gabriel said.
Sam nodded sadly. He saw it that way too. It wasn't fair that Dean constantly made his own stupid decisions, but when Sam did it, it was the worst thing in the world.
"Sorry. I didn't mean to upset you. You should be able to enjoy your brother's absence without me reminding you of what a dick he's being," Gabriel said.
"No, it's okay. It's not like I wasn't already thinking about it. I...I don't know how much more I can take, Gabriel. I can tell that Dean doesn't trust me. If he did, he would've believed me when I said I wasn't with Lucifer. He hasn't trusted me in a long time. It's becoming more and more clear that he won't. I don't know if I can accept that much longer," Sam said.
"You shouldn't have to. You know, you've always reminded me of Lucifer. He was the best of us, just like you were of you and your brother. Then he made one mistake and he was judged for life," Gabriel said.
Sam laughed. "A few weeks ago, a comparison to Lucifer would've made my skin crawl. Now, I know he's not as bad as I thought. He's not the one who tortured me. He's not exactly good, but he's better than a lot of angels I've seen. Hell, he's better than a lot of humans I've seen too."
"He is somewhat darker than he was before he fell. I think that's because he feels betrayed. He was. He was punished for something that was forced upon him. The Mark was destroying him, and he was cast out for that. That was the real reason I left Heaven. I said it was the fighting, and while that did bother me, it wasn't the reason. I couldn't watch my brother be torn to shreds," Gabriel explained.
"And the reason for all of it was Free Will. As if that's something that's so wrong," Sam said.
"It was then. Hell, a lot of angels still think it is, like Michael," Gabriel said.
"I can see why he'd be so angry with Chuck," Sam said.
Gabriel frowned at the hunter's last comment. "Chuck?"
"Yeah, it's just easier to call him that. I told you how we met him when we were dealing with Amara. He was posing as a prophet we met in the past. Or at least we thought he was a prophet at the time," Sam said.
Gabriel nodded.
Soon they both heard music coming from the piano in the library.
"Luci's up," Gabriel said.
"Or Jack. Lucifer's been trying to teach him how to play. Maybe he's practicing what Lucifer taught him," Sam said.
"I still can't believe Lucifer had a kid," Gabriel said.
"Neither could he. He didn't want to believe Jack was his at first. It didn't take long for them to bond though. I can tell Lucifer loves him," Sam said.
"The kid clearly idolizes his old man too. That'll make things easier when Luci takes him home. You do realize that's the plan, right?" Gabriel asked.
Sam nodded. "Lucifer hasn't said it in so many words, but its pretty obvious he's not gonna leave him behind. Thankfully Dean hasn't come to that conclusion yet though. Things would probably be worse than they already are."
"He wants me to go too," Gabriel said. He remembered Lucifer talking to him when he still thought the whole thing was a trick. His brother wanted him to go with him when he left, and the majority of Gabriel wanted that. But there was also a large part that wanted to stay where he was. He wanted to be around Sam. Of course, he knew he couldn't. He doubted Sam wanted him around.
Sam froze, and his stomach dropped. He didn't know why, but it hadn't occurred to him that Gabriel would leave when Lucifer did. It should've. It was very clear that Gabriel needed Lucifer right now and Lucifer wasn't going to stay at the bunker forever. Sam wasn't sure how he'd handle that. He didn't want to lose Gabriel again.
Soon, Lucifer made his way downstairs. "Good morning."
"Morning, bro. I guess it is Jack on the piano," Gabriel said.
"Yes. I assume he's practicing the notes I've shown him. I wasn't sure he'd have the discipline or patience to learn, but he's shown great dedication," Lucifer said with a proud smile.
Just then, a fluttering of wings could be heard, and then Amenadiel appeared. "We have a problem."
"Well, thank you for stating the obvious, brother. We'd forgotten," Lucifer said sarcastically.
Amenadiel rolled his eyes at his brother's antics. "Your creation is no longer trapped in an alternate universe. He's returned to this one."
"What? What about my mother?" Sam asked.
"I don't know, but I'd guess she's not here," Amenadiel said.
"How do you know it's returned?" Lucifer asked.
"Well, I suppose we don't for sure, but there's an angelic being feeding on angels and stealing their Grace. All other angels are accounted for, so it's a reasonable assumption. Speaking of Grace, why do you seem to have more?" Amenadiel asked. He could sense more Grace within his brother, and he knew it was unrelated to the deaths of the other angels. Lucifer would never stoop that low, plus he'd lived on limited Grace for centuries.
"Later. If you're right, this gives us an advantage. If it's Grace has been depleted, it's weak, and that Grace won't grow back since it wasn't actually taken from an archangel," Lucifer said with a smile.
"Wait, how did it lose Grace in the first place?" Sam asked.
"I'm not sure, but Luci's right. It's weak, unless it finds a way to steal enough Grace to sustain itself," Amenadiel said.
"It's time to end it," Lucifer said.
"I've located the few angels still on Earth and have them monitored. I'll know the second it makes a move, and then we can stop it," Amenadiel said.
"Wait, should we wait for Dean and Cas?" Sam asked.
"No. They'll be of little use anyway. I will go with Amenadiel and Maze," Lucifer said.
"No, I'm going too. I need to watch that thing die," Sam said in a firm and desperate voice.
Lucifer looked at the hunter for a moment. He could tell that Sam needed this in order to move on. He needed to see that the abomination was no threat to him or anyone he loved anymore. "Alright. Gabriel, do you believe you can stay here alone with Jack. If you can't, it's alright. We will figure something else out."
Sam winced. He hadn't thought about Gabriel. Someone should stay with him and Jack, and while Sam wanted to go, he also wanted Gabriel to feel safe. "I...I'll stay if you need me to."
Gabriel shook his head. "No, you need to go. I wish I could've seen Asmodeus die. I won't deprive you of the chance to see your tormentor put down. I'll be fine. I should get to know my nephew a little better anyway."
"You're sure?" Lucifer asked.
Gabriel nodded.
"Alright then. Let's get ready," Lucifer said before heading out of the room.