Reading Between The Lines (Sabriel)

Chapter 20

How are they still doing this?

Gabriel has beat them. He has shot them. He has embarrassed them. He has pulled every single trick in the book.

And yet they persist.

He said he was going to stay out of the way. He swore an oath to Loki himself that he wouldn't get involved. This was supposed to be as far as he took things, and they were supposed to figure the game out themselves. They were supposed to lose faith and finally go along with fate's plan.

But when Castiel crashes the show once again, Gabriel knows he needs to take matters into his own hands.

Gabriel bounds through the door with a grin, surrounded by thunderous applause. He waves it off with a "Thank you! Thank you!" His live studio audience is eating it up.

He turns his attention to his little brother, and one look at the terrified expression on his face is all the proof he needs that Castiel recognizes him. Gabriel had left him alone for the last few hours for this very reason — he needed to keep his identity hidden, and letting it slip to the Winchesters' pet angel would not be good. Fortunately, seeing as Castiel's mouth is currently duct-taped shut, Gabriel's not too worried about him spilling the beans right now.

"Hi, Castiel!" he says with a grin.

Castiel looks to the Winchesters like he wants to tell them, but Gabriel can't let that happen. With a flick of his hand, Castiel is out of here, and stuck in a much more secure facility, for lack of a better word.

Anything that happened to Castiel before this was 100 percent his own doing. Gabriel never laid a hand on him. No one did. Anything that happens to him now... well, Gabriel's got plans to pay him a visit, and he'll leave it at that.

"You know him?" Sam says quickly, and it only occurs to him then that, despite having heard the name a million times, he shouldn't be able to recognize Castiel.

Well, hey, it's apocalypse time. Who cares if Sam realizes he's not as clueless as he let on? That he's essentially lied about everything since the beginning? It's not like they could carry out a relationship with Lucifer in his body, anyway. It pains him to think of that, but he knew it was going to happen when he signed up for this. That's why he wants to make this as quick and painless as possible, for both their sakes.

"Where did you just send him?" Dean demands. Sam did say he and Castiel had a special bond. Gabriel kind of sees that now.

"Relax," Gabriel drawls, "he'll live." He pauses. Now that Castiel knows who he really is, he's not sure he can guarantee that, so he adds an awkward, "Maybe."

That's what gets Dean. He marches towards him, pissed. "Alright, you know what? I'm done with the monkey dance, okay? We get it."

"Oh yeah?" Gabriel says, almost mockingly. He knows they don't get it, but they will. They'll have to. It's destiny. "Get what, hotshot?"

"Playing our roles, right?" Dean says. "That's the game?"

"That's half the game."

"What's the other half?" Sam asks.

Gabriel looks Sam dead in the eye for this. The guy won't get it any other way. He'll try to wiggle out of it one way or another. He needs to understand this is serious, and Gabriel wouldn't tell him this if it wasn't.

"Play your roles out there."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Dean asks.

"You know!" Gabriel, still determined to keep his smartass, dumb-sense-of-humor facade, drops into an announcer voice. "Sam, starring as Lucifer. Dean, starring as Michael! Your celebrity deathmatch! Play your roles!"

"You want us to say yes to those sons of bitches?" Sam asks.

"Hells yeah," Gabriel says. It's weird, acting like it's a good thing, but he doesn't have much of a choice. He doesn't want this apocalypse any more than they do, but it's inevitable. If it's gonna happen eventually, it might as well be now. He wouldn't be able to stand a longer, drawn-out goodbye to Sam. And if they knew he didn't like this apocalypse, they'd try to get him to stop it, too. So, as if this is the most exciting thing he's ever heard, he says an enthusiastic, "Let's light this candle!"

"We do that, the world will end," Sam says, and he's pissed. He's doing a great job holding himself together, but he's very obviously pissed. Gabriel can't blame him. If he'd found out that Sam was secretly trying to get him killed, he'd be pissed, too, and it's not like Gabriel can tell him the truth. His secret identity is secret for a reason, and he can't explain to Sam why this is so important without letting it slip that his brothers are the ones preparing their fight to the death.

So he goes with the response that will inflict the most pain.

"Yeah? And whose fault is that?" he asks, and Sam almost looks confused. Does he think Gabriel doesn't know what happened? Should he elaborate, just to prove his point? "Who popped Lucifer out of the box, hmm?"

He can see the weight of his words sinking in, and he hates it. He hates that it had to come to this. Sam was just supposed to say yes. He wasn't supposed to need any encouragement, and certainly not from any outside parties. Gabriel was never supposed to have any part in this. He was never supposed to have to break Sam's heart, because it breaks his, too.

So he looks at Dean as he finishes his spiel. Dean has a killer resting bitch face. Gabriel can deal with that. He can't deal with looking at Sam's face. Not now.

"Look," Gabriel says. "It's started. You started it. So let's get it over with!"

Dean eyes him for a moment. "Which side are you on?"

"I'm not on either side." Even if he hadn't promised Loki he'd stay out of this, he wouldn't be able to pick a side. These are his brothers they're talking about. He can't just choose a brother.

"Yeah, right," Dean says sarcastically. "You're grabbing ankle for Michael or Lucifer. Which one is it?"

Gabriel lets out a brief laugh, trying to keep this light-hearted, trying not to let it slip that this is so much more than a game. "You listen to me, you arrogant dick. I don't work for either of those SOBs. Believe me."

Dean chuckles. "Oh, you're somebody's bitch."

That sends Gabriel over the edge. He didn't ask for this. He didn't ask for anyone to try to figure him out. He just asked them to speed this thing up, and he's not going to take this shit from them.

He grabs Dean by the flannel and slams him into the wall with so much force, he's almost surprised it doesn't crumble. "Don't you ever, ever presume to know what I am."

He's not sure why this shuts Dean up. Is it because he's hurt? Is it because Gabriel might be choking him just a little bit? Is he scared, finally realizing that Gabriel's so much worse than just a "Hugh Heffner type," always up for a game? That he's helplessly stuck in the Trickster's Candyland, and there's nothing he can do?

Gabriel drops a hand from Dean's flannel, but he's got more than enough strength in one arm to keep Dean pinned up to that wall. He finally looks back at Sam, and, this time, he really means business.

"Now listen very closely," Gabriel says. "Here's what's gonna happen. You're gonna suck it up, accept your responsibility, and play the roles that destiny has chosen for you."

And, for the briefest moment, Gabriel thinks it worked. Dean doesn't even try to protest, and he's always been the feisty one.

But then Sam asks, "And if we don't?"

"Then you'll stay here in TV Land. Forever." He takes a deep breath, calming himself down. "300 channels, and, uh..." He shrugs. "Nothing's on."

And then he's gone, because he really needs to cool down.