Gabriel's Horn

SUMMARY: After feeling Belgirel’s presence and having a true heart to heart with Michael, Gabriel begins taking charge of his life. This does include some time skips to hit each mark within Gabriel’s time since feeling Belgirel’s presence from the time wrap event up to before the Birthday Bash Event. TRIGGERS: Depression, Death mentions, Panic Attacks, PTSD, War Trauma Mentions: @ofwarriors @zztophat

“That depends,” lucifer shrugged. he didn’t mind zach’s prideful nature. it definitely fed his power. but if zach’s hubris had anything to do with maze’s disappearance there would be hell to pay. lucifer didn’t enjoy doling out those kinds of punishments, but he also didn’t enjoy having his right hand demon snatched from under him (sometimes quite literally from under him). he nodded when gabe said that michael and zatanna were already looking into it. lucifer himself planned to conduct an investigation independent of theirs. he couldn’t exactly trust that if someone from heaven’s side was involved in this, they wouldn’t try to cover it up. he grimaced realizing that gabe was right. no one had told bells yet that cupid was gone, but they were likely to notice. “they’ll probably be here within the hour. i’ll handle telling them,” he nodded and stood up from the bar. “we need to collect more information on what happened.” he needed more to go on. he needed something that would give both himself, bells, and the world a fighting chance. 

Gabriel was sure Zachary would face some form of repercussions there was no escaping these regardless of who Zatanna was dating. He just hoped things would be resolved soon and without too much bloodshed for everyone's sake. He knew that Lucifer was probably doing some looking himself and he’d offer to help in any way possible but he knew that both sides would be looking into this if only to see if it came from the opposite side. “Probably, if we can all feel her lack of presence I’m sure they’ve long since gone through all her normal spots in search of Cupid.” He mused before nodding his head “Yes Brother I shall keep you in the loop should Michael and Zatanna find anything of importance, in case Mike has to look after any pressing issues. I’ll probably be at Zatanna’s if you require anything from me.”

“It was definitely slow and steady but the Industrial Age helped speed things along,” he mused. He chuckled when Gabe mentioned that Belgirel would simply be fulfilling his role as a younger sibling by causing chaos. “Perhaps that would’ve been okay when they were younger and things were less political between us all.” There was a time and a place for mischief and unfortunately some of his siblings, Gears included, weren’t good at reading the room. He tilted his head slightly when Gabe replied that he was enjoying his time on earth and that it was a needed break from Heaven sometimes. “Is that the truth or is it something you think I want to hear?” he asked frankly. It hadn’t escaped him that Gabriel was isolating more and connecting less with humanity and with his siblings. “You seem distant lately. Unhappy and unchallenged,” he pointed out. Either Gabe was lying to Michael or he was lying to himself about how he was really feeling lately. 

“Quite brilliant they can be with figuring out what tools can build what things” Gabe mused, smiling softly; he had always been fascinated with humanity; it was one of the reasons he couldn’t take Lucifer’s side in the war. “Ahh yes politics how I’ve come to hate that word so much, but I understand the need for it especially now” he mused, his voice softer than it had been before. He knew he couldn’t hide from Michael for long; his brother had seen him at his worst and could tell when he was falling back into less than normal behavior. “Must you always be this observant Mikey...it makes lying very hard…” He mused not taking his eyes off the pool before him. He’d taken time in his self-imposed isolation to think about things he wanted something more. He wanted to be someone people could rely on if Michael or Raphael were busy, but most of all he wanted to be happy again, and lately, he just wasn’t feeling it. “I feel...useless to you all, I know I’m an Archangel just like Uriel, Raph, and You but I feel worthless in helping anyone…”

“My roster of charges sort of feels like a phone book,” Charlie laughed. There were a lot of them, but thankfully no one was punching their tickets tonight so she’d be able to go out and enjoy the evening in peace. “I guess it must’ve been a year of firsts for Sam. An angel landing in his lap and then getting body swapped into a reaper.” It was a hell of a ride but just from the small things Sam had told her while he was drunk she knew Sam had experienced weirder shit too. She hoped they could put that stuff behind him once they got him clean and sober but she couldn’t shake the fear of the reaper tingle that she felt the last time she was with him. There was no cheating the natural order without fucking things up in the process. She nodded when he said that that he believed he could continue to treat Bells as their sibling despite knowing there was something vile inside them. She held the door open for him as they reached the bar. “I dunno how much recon you’ll get from Maze. She’s pretty tightlipped about Lucifer’s business. Her friendship is also…” Charlie smiled a bit to herself. She and Maze had become close friends due to the sheer fact that they dealt with so many of Lucifer’s siblings. “Well, let’s just say I hope you’re ready for her to put up a billboard with your personal number on it for any lonely soul to call at any given hour of the night to see if you’re single and ready to mingle.”

Gabriel chuckled, shaking his head he rather enjoyed Charlie’s somewhat dry humor. She hadn’t been someone he’d given the chance to hang out with but lately with them being on Earth it seemed to open up plenty of relationships he never thought possible. “You are quite right, maybe I should get a second bottle of Lavender Body Wash to ensure he gets all the relation he deserves” He teased laughing before moving through the door it was rather interesting trying to make friends outside of his normal group. He’d heard plenty about Mazeikeen and found in her own right seemed rather interesting. “True, but hopefully I can learn about her, outside of being a weapon lover and Lucifer’s protector I don’t know anything else.” He replied before laughing “Oh That would be such an awesome prank, though I seriously doubt anyone would call me, as I keep forgetting to grab it when I leave. I think I’m too used to Angel Radio.”

 “Yeah,  the  same  unfortunately  can’t  be  said  for  our  friends.”  Most  of  his  were  dead.  In  his  universe,  several  of  them  died  just  trying  to  reign  Sam  in.  Dean  struggled  at  first  coming  to  Zatanna  because  he  didn’t  want  her  caught  in  his  shit,  but  here  they  were.  Tangled.  “I  dunno  how  much  easier  it’ll  be  here,  but  it  can’t  get  any  harder,”  he  shrugged.  This  world  had  its  problems  but  his  universe  was  an  absolute  shitshow.  “You’ve  been  around  since  creation  so  I’m  sure  you  know  the  lore  behind  most  of  the  creatures  we  hunt.”  Especially  if  these  angels  were  interested  in  protecting  humanity  like  Zatanna  claimed  they  were.  “I  dunno  if  extraordinary  is  a  word  I’d  use  to  describe  us,”  he  laughed.  Pains  in  the  ass  was  probably  a  more  accurate  marker.  “But  thanks,  I  guess.”  He  wouldn’t  say  he  was  looking  forward  to  getting  to  know  the  angels,  but  they  were  a  part  of  Zatanna’s  sphere  and  she  was  helping  him.  He  could  remain  cordial.

“You know loss and I’m sorry for that, it's one thing that can never truly be prevented even for someone as strong as I.” Gabriel replied looking at Dean he could see the hint of death and pain surrounding the male’s soul but still he kept on and powered through life not many had that strength. “I hope so if only for your sake, sometimes even the best need a well-deserved break so to speak.” He mused chuckling softly nodding his head “I love Lore, more often than not I was found in the heavenly library when I wasn't causing mischief with my baby brother Lucifer.  Though some of the creatures you’ve hunted sound different here, Ambrose comes to mind as he turns into a full wolf rather than some wolf-human creature.” He mused curiously he wondered if it had to do with this being a different universe than the one the hunters had come from but he was sure Dean probably didn’t wish to talk about such things. “You’re welcome Dean, I’m glad you had time to hang out with me today. I also want you to know I understand it's not easy for you or Sam to be around us, from what I gather your angel was right assholes who didn’t care one bit.” He paused before looking at the other giving him a soft smile “Either way I’m just glad I’m being given a chance to prove to you that we aren’t all bad.”

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“Avoiding the role entirely isn’t playing the part,” Belphegor pointed out. They didn’t really have much hope for any of this working out if it was going to be like this, but at least they got one day out of training. That much was worth it. They rolled their eyes when he said they were in the clear now. That was far from the truth. “Yeah, I’m not the pulling their weight type. I’d rather stick with Hell.”

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“Ahhh what’s the point in having a role if I can’t play it” Gabriel mused before looking at the other. Michael would know that they didn’t train but either way it was nice to have this time with his Sibling it wasn’t something he often got so he was just enjoying it. “Yeah, well that’s not an option for me unfortunately my dear Bells.” He replied taking a bit out something from the table.

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“Why would it matter to them how important Cupid is to me?” Lucifer cared about all of his siblings. They knew that, but their love lives weren’t as important. They were ancient and they had the time to move past people. Belphegor wouldn’t, but even then Cupid was so much more than just someone that Belphegor loved. She was love itself. Her importance shouldn’t have just been about her connection to Belphegor. The world needed her just as much as Belphegor did. Maze had no reason to care about who Belphegor cared for, so why did everyone keep saying that she’d do it for them? How was that the most important thing they could think of when Cupid kept the world from falling apart? “The board won’t tell me anything,” they sighed, flopping down on their back. “There’s a bajillion of them. Where are we even supposed to start?”

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“Because you are important to us? surely you know that Belphegor” Gabe mused looking at his sibling he cared about them and would do anything to make them smile or feel better. Cupid was everything to them and he would always look out for her when it came down to it. Of course they would’ve looked after Cupid regardless of their connection to Bells but without he life wouldn’t be long he was sure. “No, but its something to pull focus and see what thoughts come to us.” he looked around before landing his gaze on Bells “How about we start with 1? we will get them back even if it feels like we wont now.”

Birthday Bash || Gabriel’s Party Outfit

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“I can’t do all the talking. It’s a joint effort.” Michael would definitely know something was up if Belphegor was the only one putting in effort here. There was no way he wouldn’t ask Gabriel about this. Belphegor grunted as Gabriel pushed them down. They rolled their eyes and kicked him off of them. “The annoying feelings are there,” they insisted. “I don’t miss those kinds of duties.”

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“Well I wouldn’t be able to play the loveable annoying little brother if I gave you everything you wanted.” He mused looking at them before laughing when he felt the kick “See was that so hard? now we are in the clear.” He replied before nodding his head “Well there is just us now we all have to pull our weight, Its not horrible but does time consuming.” 

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Belphegor rose a brow at that. “Why would she protect Cupid for me?” they questioned. Belphegor liked Maze well enough, but they also knew they were a pain in the ass. Belphegor’s happiness wouldn’t be one of her priorities unless it directly affected her or if Lucifer ordered it, and Lucifer couldn’t order anything like that when he couldn’t reach her either. What Lucifer had said about Maze was probably more accurate. Hell owed Cupid a debt, and regardless of how Maze felt about Cupid, she would see a debt repaid. They sighed. “I don’t want to eat right now.” They insisted. They didn’t think they could stomach it if they tried. Glancing back up at the board, they sighed again. “I don’t know if we can. They’re in some other universe apparently, and I don’t know how to track them to it.”

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Gabriel looked at his sibling smiling “Because we all know how important Cupid is to you. Maze would know this and see to her safety Lucifer would’ve seen to that.” He replied looking around their apartment it was a well known fact that they couldn’t allow Belphegor to loose anything more, especially Cupid she was someone that Belphegor needed to calm them. He nodded his head “Okay, then we can focus on this little lost board you’ve created.” he mused looking at them signing shrugging his shoulders. “Still a great start, Looking in other universes is pretty hard tracking even harder.” He mused looking over the red lines that seemed to connect things.

“Another month?” She laughed. “I should be honored, huh? A whole month to bother you some more.” She furthered teased. Daphne’s grin pressed into something a tad more hardened as he spoke. “You know, you always speak about ‘humanity’ like-” Well, Gabriel never said he was an ordinary person. And Daphne never asked. ”They really have.” She amended instead of continuing the same line of questioning. It wasn’t her place to ask, not in this situation. Gabriel would tell her if he wanted her to know. “Lots of food,” Daphne agreed. “It’s like I’m tasting everything for the first time again after being gone for so long.”

Gabe chuckled softly shrugging his shoulders “I rather like your type of bothering me, its always filled with such information.” he mused looking at his friend as she spoke “like an outsider looking in?” He questioned before tilting his head “Lots of food and plenty of things they didn’t have back in the old days. My treat you lead the way to your favorite place.” He mused looking at her laughing.

“Of course,” she grinned. “what’s michael got you assigned to these days?” that was always a point of contention for him and michael. god hadn’t exactly left earth in the best position which meant there were more than a few dirty jobs that needed to be done. while gabe might’ve kicked a fuss about some of those things, at the end if the day he did get the work done. she smiled when gabe caught the reference. “it’s a good movie, one of my favorites actually. you’ll definitely see which aspects of the magic market inspired it,” she grinned as they made their way into the candy shop. as with everything else in the market, the shop was bigger on the inside. it was decorated in bright colors with candy figurines everywhere. the shop workers were all stout men in bright uniforms much like the oompa loompas in the movie. they greeted gabriel and zatanna by giving them sample sweets to try. zee took one off the tray and thanked them. “it does happen from time to time,” she nodded. “i personally don’t gatekeep the craft, but some of the older mages feel like we should. i think it ought to be an experience shared by the world, y’know? we can let the people decide what they choose to believe.”

Gabe smiled looking at zee “Currently it’s the usually keeping watch on certain events ensuring they don’t escalate to much beyond what they were supposed to, the more mind-numbing one is watching the polar ice caps for melting speeds and such.” He replied honestly, he usually kept to the same assignments as always unless Michael needed him on something else. “Is it really? You do have a Wonka personality especially at Christmas, you have this glow and warmth about you that draws people in. I’m excited to see it, you know my sweet tooth is quite big.” He followed after her taking in the scene before him everything about the shop was amazing and exciting to look after. He smiled taking a free sample before taking a bite “mhmm yummy!” He mused looking around “It makes sense in a way given how certain people could miss use the knowledge but that’s true for anything. I can understand more then most given not many people believe we exist anymore, so when faced with the truth it does drive people crazy.”

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 “Ah,  Uriel,”  they  chuckled.  “He  means  well,  I  just  think  he  enjoys  arguing.”  Or  maybe  he  enjoyed  the  sound  of  his  own  voice.  Raphael  didn’t  entertain  the  arguments,  but  they  could  concede  to  Uriel  when  he  had  valid  points.  Uriel  was  a  very  logical  thinker,  sometimes  too  logical  though.  “I  like  staying  busy,”  they  nodded.  “There’s  always  something  in  the  world  that  we  can  make  better.  Father  never  cared  much  for  it  and  it  shows.”  The  damage  done  to  the  wellspring  of  nature  was  immense,  but  not  irreversible.  “If  you  need  any  help  with  your  projects  I’d  be  happy  to  lend  a  hand  though.”  They  could  always  delegate  some  of  their  tasks  to  one  of  their  Guardians  so  that  they  could  free  up  some  time  in  their  schedule  to  help  Gabriel.

 Raphael  found  themself  grinning  as  Gabriel  described  how  he  and  Bells  were  able  to  pull  off  a  stealth  attack  on  Michael.  “Good  thinking  forewarning  him,”  they  chuckled.  Michael  wasn’t  apt  to  act  in  violence  these  days  but  if  he  was  on  a  date  with  Zatanna,  he  would’ve  been  quicker  to  it  in  order  to  protect  her.  “And  you  got  dinner  out  of  it?  Well  that  settles  it,  next  time  we  spar,  we’ll  use  Michael  as  the  target.”  Maybe  Raph  could  win  themself  a  dinner  on  Michael’s  tab  too  at  this  rate.  They  listened  quietly  as  Gabriel  described  an  overwhelming  feeling  of  being  alone  even  in  a  crowded  room.  “Ah,  yes,  one  of  the  pitfalls  of  a  long  life.  Isolating  in  heaven  unfortunately  doesn’t  make  the  feeling  go  away.”  Sometimes  it  made  it  worse.  Up  in  heaven,  they  were  treated  differently.  Everyone  recognized  them  as  the  supreme  authorities  that  they  were.  But  here  on  Earth  they  could  go  around  being  generally  unknown.  They  could  create  lives  for  themselves  that  they  normally  wouldn’t  have  been  able  to  have.  Raphael  themself  had  lived  a  thousand  lifetimes  and  loved  each  and  every  one  of  them.  “Perhaps  we  can  find  you  something  that  gives  you  that  spark  you’re  looking  for.”  Love  generally  did  that  for  most  people.  Maybe  that  was  what  Gabriel  was  looking  for.

Gabriel smiled looked at Raphael shaking his head “Uriel is why the humans made the motto stick up one’s ass. Either way I think we all work better when everyone is in the room, given how you act as middle between us when needed.” He teased before nodding his head he liked being busy, he also liked learning more about their human charges since the last time they’d been allowed down here things had been so much different. “You are so kind Raph, I’m managing the only thing on my list that is quite boring is the monitoring of the ice caps, so unless you wanna try ice fishing with me?” He asked smiling, since being here he often wanted to try as many human things as he could.

Gabe chuckled “You should’ve seen it Raph, I was so proud of them, it was this whole planned attack that they came up with most of it.  Some of that training is really rubbing off on them either they believe it or not.” He laughed nodding his head “Yep it was super nice, we got to order anything we wanted, so we should definitely try for a twofer” He winked at his sibling happily he enjoyed the family time before nodding his head “Quite the pitfall, I try not to isolate but sometimes It does get to hard or to easy just to be alone.” He mused before looking at his sibling “I suppose it doesn’t hurt to try after all being here gives us almost a clean slate without people knowing who we are.”

“And now they’re a population of 8.4 million in New York City alone,” he mused. It was a pleasure watching them grow and learn new skills. As one of the Earth’s protectors, Michael ensured that its inhabitants would have to opportunity to evolve and grow safely and freely. It wasn’t always an easy job protecting humanity, but it was rewarding in its own way. He had noticed Gabriel lately taking a step back from that duty and he wanted to check in and see what was going on. Was he overwhelmed? It was hard to tell. Michael pondered the question of Belgirel for a moment. “I think Gears would’ve liked any world where Belphegor and Cupid were still alive, but he likely would’ve caused just as much chaos and destruction as those two do in a weekend. You’re probably too young to remember what it was like dealing with all three of them in one setting, but they were a handful.” He smiled at an old memory. Despite being more than a handful, he did miss Belgirel. “And what about you?” he asked. “How are you finding your time in New York? I know a lot has happened over the last few months alone…”

“Its strange to think how things have changed, simply given how it’s a drastic change.” Gabriel mused smiling softly looking down at the pool for another moment before looking at Mike. He knew what was coming he’d been doing his duties just fine, but he’d taken a step back from humanity for a moment. He’d even allowed himself to get quiet to those closest to him he was sure they’d noticed but he didn’t really feel like talking just then. “Isn’t that our job as somewhat younger siblings to make the oldest ones pull their hair out in frustration?” He teased nodding that it was probably something terrible especially given what jut Bells and Cupid got up into from what he could see.  “what about me Mikey?” He asked before shrugging his shoulders “I like it, it’s a nice break from everything we have going on up here, but I know heaven only runs so long as we all do our part. Plenty things have happened over these last few months, things that I haven’t even thought possible.” He mused before turning his gaze back towards his brother for a moment “I’m sure you’re having an even better time in New York.” He smirked nudging his brother.