Chapter Text
John was staring at this weird ass scene in front of him. It seemed like the angels had gone into some kind of trance. They’d said the devil was dying. That was a good thing though, right? He’d thought it was bad enough that both of his children had been taken over by angels and there were two extras tagging along, but then the short one left and came back with anotherI angel. At first the new angel had agreed with John. Then they threatened him. Now they were in some kind of hippy dippy love circle or some shit and John was irritated. He was in a fucking hamster cage for fuckssake and he wanted to scream. Fucking Walt and Roy were running on the hamster wheel. A fucking human sized hamster wheel. What kind of fucking angel were they dealing with. John shot a glare at the idiots and he heard Bobby snort a laugh.
“Ya know, sometimes I forget Gabriel hid out as a trickster for a long time. Then he does some shit like this.” Bobby says to Ellen like hanging out with monsters is the most normal thing ever. Ellen chuckles and Jo walks over to it.
“There’s even one of those little water things.” She says and then smirks. “Actually, if it wasn’t made to be a cage, it would probably be fun as shit.”
“What the hell happened to you guys while I was dead?” He growls as Bobby turns his gaze back to the angel meditation circle. Bobby shakes his head.
“When Sam died, Dean broke. I was sure I’d lost both of ‘em. Then Dean brought him back with a demon deal.”
“What?!” Mary shrieked beside him and that filled in some gaps in the story they knew. Bobby chuckles.
“Apparently it runs in the family.” John looks away, as does Mary. Neither of them really have any room to talk. “Then Dean died and Sam broke. I really did lose ‘em. Then Dean came back, but Sam…” Bobby shook his head sadly. “Only ever seen one man that set on revenge before.” Bobby gave John a pointed look again. “Sam got it though. Killed the demon that had held Dean’s contract, but he’d been so set on revenge that he didn’t listen to his instincts and let himself be manipulated. Good thing he did though or he never woulda been whole again. It’s complicated an’ they can explain it better than me.” Bobby sighed. “I’d already lost ‘em both so many times that when Gabe brought them back to my house after Sam popped the cage, I knew that it’d have to be pretty damn bad for me to turn my back on ‘em.”
“Sam popped the cage?” John asked in confusion and Bobby sighed again.
“The boys really should tell you themselves.”
“Right, the boys. Michael and Lucifer.” John scowled.
“No, your sons. Sam and Dean.” Bobby answered with a solid glare that probably would have made lesser men wilt. A sharp intake of breath brought their attention back to the angels. Meg was hovering close by, but not interfering. He wasn’t sure how she fit into all of this yet. Not really. Light began swirling around the angels and Meg took a quick step back.
“Close your eyes!” She shouted as she made her way to the opposite side of the room and hid behind some crates. John couldn’t look away though. Bobby, Ellen, Jo, and Rufus all turned their backs to the angels and covered their faces. The light grew and grew until it was painful. “Close your eyes!” Meg shouted again and this time he listened. He closed his eyes tightly and pushed Mary down so he was on top of her. He wasn’t sure what was happening, but it was so bright he could almost see through his eyelids. The light pulsed once, twice, and the third time it felt like an explosion. The light died down as quickly as it started. He blinked a few times, black spots spots flickering around.
“You okay?” He asked and Mary nodded. “What the fuck was that?” He asked as he looked around the room. Everything had been blown back a few feet except for the humans. He took a few steadying breaths. It wasn’t until he heard Michael shouting “Sammy” that he looked at the angels. Raphael seemed to be exhausted, swaying where he sat. Gabriel had a grim look on his face, as did Cas. Michael looked more than concerned. Gabriel looked over sharply before snapping and John flinched.
~~~
Michael looked over each of his brothers. Gabriel and Cas looked like they were half a second away from diving back into Sam’s mind, but Raphael looked like he had spent every ounce of his strength. Each of them were staring intently at the tiny flicker of grace still inside of Samael. None of them knew if it worked, but the grace was still there, pulsing slightly. Michael tried to rouse Sam, but the archangel was still unresponsive. He heard movement and looked up to see Meg grimly looking at the group.
“Maybe you should take him home. The power might help feed his strength.” Michael sighed, that wouldn’t work, but it was a good thought for a demon. He shook his head.
“It wouldn’t help. Archangels aren’t tied to Heaven like other angels. Our strength comes from within. It’s how Gabe didn’t fall being away for so long.” Meg looked at him like he was an idiot.
“Not Heaven dumbass.” Maybe he was an idiot. Sam had gained strength from taking the throne of Hell. It was worth a shot. The archangels all seemed to be on the same page about it too. Gabriel snapped the humans, all of them, into a pocket dimension so they couldn’t go anywhere. They needed to have a big fucked up family meeting first.
“We all go.” Gabriel said, determination easily read on his face. Raphael wobbled and Gabriel reached out to steady him.
“I don’t think I can fly just yet, little one.” Gabriel nodded and took flight, holding onto his big brother tightly. Cas was right behind him. Michael gently scooped his brother up in his arms and followed, flying directly into Sam’s quarters in Hell. Meg was already there, rushing around and making sure that things were perfect. Michael gently laid Sam on the bed before climbing in behind him. He pulled his brother tightly to his chest. Gabriel wiggled in on the other side of Sam, but then snapped making the bed even bigger. Raphael and Castiel hesitated before joining their flock. Michael sighed. Even with Sam on the brink of death, he felt more whole than he had in centuries.
~~~
John yelped as he landed roughly on the ground. Ellen, Jo, Bobby, and Rufus were sitting on couches while the rest of them had just been dropped out of thin air. “What the fuck?” He grumbled, taking in their surroundings. They were in what looked like a house, but it was missing several very important things. Doors, windows, and weapons. “Where are we?”
“My guess is a pocket dimension.” Bobby said with a sigh and John watched the man get up and begin puttering around the house. “Gabe’s got a thing for ‘em. Don’t bother trying to get out, you can’t.” John glared. This was ridiculous. How could something this powerful not be considered a monster? Tim and Reggie were already looking, trying to get out. Steve just pulled his knees to his chest and started fucking rocking. Weak idiot. Walt and Roy oddly seemed saddened by the loss of the hamster cage.
“Oh, you know what? I bet Gabe stocked the kitchen!” Jo grinned as she jumped to her feet and rushed for what looked like a state of the art kitchen. The house was an open floor plan studio type deal. He could see a few doors that looked like bedrooms or bathrooms, but nothing like an ‘outside.’ Mary was shaking next to him, as confused as he was. Ellen and Rufus had already found a bottle of scotch and were sipping it calmly.
“How can you all be so calm about being put in cage, another fucking dimension by a monster?” John growled, but all he got in response was a snort from Ellen.
“If you think this is a cage, John then I’d hate to see you stand where you put your son.”
“He’s not my son.”
“Sure he is.” Ellen said like it was the most obvious thing and John was an idiot for not seeing it. “Listen, when we found out about everything, we were cautious. Terrified actually.” She shook her head with a soft smile. “But the more we were around them the more obvious it was that they were still just Sam and Dean.” Mary was staring at her incredulously. Like she just couldn’t grasp the concept. John was struggling with it himself. Rufus grunted in agreement. Tim came running back into the room, frustration emanating from him in waves.
“What have you gotten us into, Winchester?”
“Don’t you take that tone with me. I gave you an out.”
“You said we were savin’ the world from the devil!” Tim shouted back. “I didn’t sign up for some psycho angel bullshit.” John glared. “All we got from him was some kind of fucked up history lesson that probably wasn’t even true!”
“What’d he tell you?” Bobby asked, returning to the living room with a bottle of whiskey in his hand. John grunted before giving a quick run down of what Lucifer had told them. Bobby nodded his head. “Far as I can tell, that’s all true. Michael and Gabriel have confirmed it. Actually, they were the ones that told me.”
“How did any of this happen, Bobby? How did I give birth to the devil?” Mary asked, a sob trying to force its way out of her.
“We’ve been tryin’ to tell you that you didn’t. You had Sam and Dean who happen to be the fallen angels Samael and Michael. Samael was never evil.” Mary seemed consoled slightly, but John didn’t want to hear it.
~~~
The angels had been watching over their brother for days now. Well, Hell days. Sam still hadn’t stirred, but his grace had been growing steadily. It was such a relief for Michael. They had been so close to losing Sam. Once Raphael had recovered some of his energy, he healed Sam in small increments. Michael knew they needed to have a talk, but all of them were needed for it. They would wait for Sam to wake. Gabriel had turned the bed into something like a nest after the first day. It was now a sunk in bed-like couch, rounded and large enough for all of them. Tons of pillows and blankets. It reminded Michael of their flock nest in Heaven. One of them remained in physical contact with Sam at all times. Usually, all of them, but always at least one. Sam’s grace was almost completely healed now. It would be any minute that he would wake up and they could be a family again.
As the Hell-days dragged on, Michael began to worry. Maybe something wasn’t right. It had been two weeks topside. He knew they would have to do something with the humans eventually, but Gabe had reassured them that the pocket dimension was well stocked. Michael stroked a hair back from Sam’s face. His worry was eating him up inside even though Raphael tried to be reassuring. Tried to make sure they knew that it was just taking time for Sam’s mind and grace to heal. Michael was starting to doubt it though.
~~~
Sam blinked his eyes open slowly. His head felt like mush, but otherwise he felt better than he had since before the mark. He could feel the graces of his flock close by in the… nest? Sam hadn’t had a nest since he fell. He knew the tiny body curled next to him was Gabriel and he tried to cuddle closer, but his vessel wasn’t moving right just yet. His grace searching out for his flock seemed to have alerted them because Michael was suddenly there, wrapping his arms around him and Gabriel. “Sami?” He asked and Sam nodded.
“Oh, thank fuck.” Dean said as he squeezed Sam tighter. “I thought we’d lost you for sure.”
“What happened?” The last thing Sam remembered clearly was being in that cell in dad’s basement, then it was just the cage and begging for death.
“Well, our dumbass dad decided to lock you up and you got stuck in your cage memories. Your grace was tearing itself apart.” Oh. Sam hadn’t even realized that was possible. “But we found you and Raph was able to heal you.” Wait, what? Raphael had healed him? He looked over at his brother who was sitting awkwardly a little away from the others. Raph gave him a small smile.
“I’ve missed you, Rapha.” His little brother made a choked sound at that and Sam tried to push himself up so he was sitting. His vessel was finally starting to cooperate, but his head still felt like it was full of cotton.
“I’ve missed you too, Sami.” Sam held his arms out and then they were full of little brother.
“I’m so sorry, Raph. For everything.”
“You have nothing to apologize for. I’m the one who should be sorry.” Sam held his brother tightly. “I got so lost.” He mumbled into Sam’s shirt.
“It's fine. Everything is okay now.” Sam was trying to be reassuring, but wasn’t sure if it was working.
“No, it’s not.” Sam rubbed Raphael’s back, offering silent support.
“We need to talk. All of us.” Michael said and Sam felt Raph flinch. Sam nodded and moved his brother from his lap. The other angels all positioned themselves in a circle. They hadn’t done this in ages. It was how they used to have difficult discussions when they had first been created. Sitting in a square with their knees touching. On equal ground. When Cas came into the flock, it had grown into a circle. Sam smiled before he could stop himself. His memories flashed back to the conversation they had had in his mind when his grace was crumbling. Michael had been right. They were all equals. All parts of the same mechanism and it was the only way they had ever fully worked. “First things first, Raph we need to know where this apocalypse crap came from.” Raphael shrank in on himself a little, but nodded.
“When you fell and Gabriel left, I was distraught. I had been too angry to listen and didn’t remember what you had said. I went to Joshua, hoping that he would know more, but you know how he is.” Sam nodded. He knew that the angel who tended the garden was… odd. Difficult to understand at times and usually vague. “He said that Father told him everything was working out as it should.” So that confirmed Father knew of their plans. Sam wasn’t sure how to feel about it in all honesty, but it did give him a little encouragement that Father didn’t really want him dead. “But I didn’t remember the plan!” Raphael was deteriorating quickly into an emotional mess.
“Breathe, Raph.” Sam knew his brother didn’t really need air, but he hoped that the action would slow him down. Raphel took a few slow breaths and shot Sam a grateful smile before starting again.
“I was losing control and the angels were panicking.”
“Why didn’t you go to Cas?” Michael asked and Raphael scrunched his face in discomfort.
“He was trying so hard to comfort me, but I was too broken. Every time I saw him, it reminded me of what I had lost.” Raphael shot Cas an apologetic look. “I will never forgive myself for what I did to you, little one.” Cas looked torn between anger, confusion, and grief. Sam rested his hand on the seraph's knee, hoping to give him some support, but he was wondering what had happened. What Cas would be hiding from them.
“What did you do, Raph?” Sam asked and even he could hear the anger in his voice. Raphael winced.
“Naomi came to me. I had just yelled at Castiel to leave me alone for what must have been the thousandth time and moved him back to the garrison’s quarters. She must have chosen that moment to come to me. She said she could help. Make sure Castiel never disobeyed again. I agreed to whatever it was. I still don’t know what she did to keep the angels in line, but I noticed the changes. All of the garrisons became more rigid and formal. They stopped grooming each other, stopped having nests and flocks. I should have stopped it, but I just didn’t care.” Sam felt his anger growing and knew his eyes were glowing bright red. The temperature dropped and he could feel the demons in Hell begin cowering.
“Reeducation.” Cas whispered and if they hadn’t been angels, Sam was sure they wouldn’t have heard him at all. Sam whipped his head to the side to stare at the youngest in their flock.
“What, Cas?” Michael asked and Sam could tell he was barely holding in his own anger.
“She called it reeducation. Whenever someone thought of disobeying we were sent for reeducation. I don’t remember much of what it was like, but I remember the pain.”
“You’re telling me that Cas was the first angel this was done to?” Sam’s fury was increasing with every second. “You let them forcibly alter the memory and actions of our flock because you didn’t want to deal with him?!” Sam shouted, his wings flaring behind him. Raphael shrank back again under the weight of Sam’s rage.
“I was grieving!” Raphael tried to defend, but Sam was having none of it.
“He was our responsibility! You were supposed to be there for him! He was still in contact with Gabe and would have told you everything if you had just listened!”
“Sami,” Cas’s call was the only thing to break through his rage. He looked to his fledgling and saw only sadness in his eyes. “Fighting over it won’t change anything. It’s over now and the angels have all been fixed. We just got our flock back, please don’t break it over me.” Sam was breathing hard and he only just now realized his blade was in his hand, leaning up on his knees. He was poised to attack. Was he really going to kill his little brother? Did he really have any room to be angry after everything he’d done? He knew what grief could make you do. Knew how it could make you do things that you’d never thought possible. He dropped the blade to the ground and crouched back on the ground, burying his face in his hands.
“I’m sorry, Raph.” Raphael nodded and looked just as dejected as Sam.
“Don’t be. I deserve it.”
“No you don’t.” Sam huffed. “It’s not like I have any room to talk.” Gabriel and Michael growled, but both seemed to decide to let the self-degradation go for now.
“Now we know about the reeducations, but where did the prophecy come from?” Michael asked, guiding them back in a productive direction.
“Joshua was no help, I had already sent Cas away, the only other person I thought might have an idea was the only other person who communicated with Father.” Of course. Why hadn’t they thought of him before now? The little prick who always thought he was more important than he really was.
“Metatron?” Gabriel asked, cocking his head to the side.
“That asshole?” Michael chorused and Sam could feel the anger of all of the angels starting to rise again.
“Metatron.” Raphael confirmed. The flea. Sam knew immediately who Death had been referring to. “I went to him and asked if he knew of the plan. He said he did, but he would have to write it all down for me. When I returned, he gave me this fantastical story about two brothers who loved each other, but were destined to fight. He gave me all of the steps to release Lucifer from the cage. All of the things that needed to be done and when it was over, Father had promised paradise.” Sam growled. Metatron was a conniving little shit who always hated Samael. He’d never been able to figure out why though. “I believed him. It was close enough to what I remembered from what Michael told me. Why would I go against what Father had commanded? Only now I realize Metatron’s story never came from Father.” Raphael finished with a sob and Sam felt every bit of his little brother’s grief. His regret. “I harmed so many.”
“It’s not your fault, Raph. You couldn’t have known that Metatron would give you a false prophecy.”
“Why didn’t you ever come find me?” Gabriel asked, breaking the silence they had fallen into.
“I did.” Raphael sniffed, a wry smile sneaking onto his face. “You were… busy.” Sam looked at his brothers in confusion. “I believe there was a blonde human involved.” Oh. Sam barked out a laugh as Gabriel actually blushed. “I thought for sure you had known I was there so I left thinking you would find me when you were… done.”
“I didn’t know, Raph. I’m so sorry.” They fell into another silence, but this time it was more comfortable.
“What do we do about mom and dad?” Sam asked, knowing eventually they would have to deal with it.
“We tell them everything. The good, the bad, and the weird.” Sam snorted.
“Yeah, I tried that. They didn’t exactly believe me.”
“Then we tell them again. If they don’t want to be in our lives, then that’s on them.” Sam nodded, uncomfortably agreeing with the decision. He excused himself to check in on Meg and Crowley. Once he’d confirmed that everything was still going okay, he returned to his quarters and waved himself into fresh clothes. Michael and Gabriel did the same, much more comfortable with the human gestures of changing their appearance. Once they were ready, they took flight and landing inside the pocket dimension. Most of the humans startled, but Bobby launched forward and wrapped Sam in a tight hug. Sam melted into the fatherly embrace.
“I’m okay, Bobby. Everything’s fine.” He reassured and Bobby pulled away. Ellen was next, hugging him tightly. She lurched away and Sam smiled as he noticed her wiping her face with her back to him. He turned back to the rest of the room. Michael took a step forward and addressed the extra hunters.
“We need to have a family meeting. Gabriel will be sending you back, but know this. If you ever so much as think about coming after one of my siblings again, the rest of us will not sit idly by.” The hunters cowered, but nodded eagerly. Sam smirked, Dean was in full big brother mode now. Gabriel snapped, sending them away. Jo, Ellen, and Rufus agreed to go with them to make sure they left everything at the compound alone and left. John and Mary were still standing defensively, looking ready to attack. Sam watched as Dean sighed and flopped down on the couch. Bobby pulled up a chair while Gabriel snapped another couch into existence for himself, Cas, and Raph. It left Sam to sit with Dean with a third couch across from them for John and Mary. Neither seemed to be willing to sit though.
“Guys, this is a long and emotional story. It’d be easier if you sat.” Dean said, waving a hand at the empty couch.
“What are you gonna tell us? Another sob story about it not really being the devil’s fault?” Sam winced, but didn’t back down.
“No, I thought we’d start in the middle with what happened after you died.” Sam said, looking John in the eyes. The older hunter huffed, but sat down dragging Mary with him. Sam wondered why his mother seemed so compliant with everything John did. The stories that Dean had told him of what he remembered about her weren’t… this. Maybe learning you gave birth to Satan could break you?
“Alright. Start talkin’.” Sam looked to Dean, knowing that John was more likely to believe it from the eldest.
“So, uh… after you died, we kept huntin’. Looking for Azazel, but in the middle of that he kidnapped Sam and all the other special kids. Put them in some kind of battle royal.” Dean swallowed hard. “Sammy died. I kind of… lost it. I ended up making my own demon deal to bring him back, but I only got a year. We started hunting the demon that held the crossroad contracts to try to break the deal, but it didn’t work and I went to hell.” Sam knew he’d have to pick up at this point, but he really didn’t want to do that. He squirmed in his seat and kept his head down. He couldn’t look at his parents now.
“When Dean died, I tried to make my own deal. Me for Dean, but none of them would take the deal. I uh… I tried to-” Sam licked his lips while he thought of how to say what needed to be said. “There was this demon named Ruby.” He heard Mary suck in a startled breath and John curse. “When we killed Azazel he’d already opened the gate to hell. Ruby must have gotten out then. She told us she wanted to help us and she did. Saved our lives several times. For some fucked up reason I trusted her. I-I was psychic. Precog, telekinetic, probably more. When the Azazel fed us his blood as babies, it changed us.”
“That’s what he did?” John growled and Sam shrank in on himself. He nodded and waited for John to stop cursing.
“The other kids he did it to, they could unlock all of the powers the others had if they gave into it. I never did. I was the only one still alive after we killed Azazel.” He took a deep breath knowing he was bouncing from place to place in this story and needed to settle down. “Anyway, once Dean died, Ruby told me I could use those powers to save him from hell. So I practiced. Could exorcize demons with my mind. When Dean came back from hell, I stopped, but I couldn’t let go of this need to kill Lillith.” Sam shook his head sadly. “They told us that it was the apocalypse. The angels and demons both.” Sam saw Raphael wilt slightly and Gabriel put a reassuring hand on their brother’s back. “Said Lillith was trying to break the last seal that would open the cage for Lucifer. I-I thought I was doing the right thing. Stopping this mess, but in the end killing Lillith is what opened the cage. It was supposed to really be me down there, but it was just my grace. It-we- I reconnected with my grace. Dean didn’t realize what was wrong until Gabriel showed up and explained everything. It took a long time for them to trust me again, but we’ve gotten there.” Sam smiled a little at the memories.
“Once Gabe explained what happened, we took off to find my grace.” Dean shrugged easily, like it was no big deal. “The truth of what happened was a long, long time ago, Father told me to ‘do my job.’ My job has always been to take care of my brothers. When Samael was losing himself to the mark, we knew something had to be done. Gabriel and I came up with a plan to heal Samael. We removed his grace so he fell to earth as a human. I fell not long after and we reincarnated until we became Sam and Dean. Oddly enough we were born into our true vessels.”
“What does that mean?” Mary asked cautiously. The brothers all shared a glance before turning their attention back to the confused humans.
“When Father first created humans, he said one day a human would be born that would be the perfect match for each archangel.” Sam sighed nervously, fidgeting with the hem of his shirt.
“Angels can’t walk on earth with humans. We’re not made of the same stuff. Angels are light and wavelengths. Just looking at part of us can burn out a human’s eyes. Father still wanted us to be able to enjoy earth though, so he said he would make us humans that would love us and accept us. We would live in peace and harmony with the human. Think of it like having an angelic soulmate. Sam and Dean Winchester would have always been the vessels of Samael and Michael. It's a bloodline that can contain our power, but only one perfect person.”
“So angels possess some poor bastards?” John shot a glare at the other angels. Cas shifted nervously.
“My vessel Jimmy was a very devout man who went into it with fully informed consent. When Father brought me back, it was only me inside the vessel. Jimmy is at peace in heaven.” Raphael smiled sadly.
“Mine was terminally ill and of the correct bloodline. He was begging for rest and to see his soulmate again. I sent his soul to heaven the minute I received consent. My true vessel is still very young.” John still looked like he might be sick, but nodded anyway. They spent the next few hours going through the stories, explaining how everything had brought them to this moment. It had been long and emotional, but they'd powered through. Sam felt exhausted afterward and knew his brother must be feeling the same.
“I know you have plenty of questions still and we will answer them. But my question is, can you accept us for who we really are? Even if we aren’t human?” Dean’s question hung in the air for a long time. They never doubted Bobby, so the question wasn’t even directed towards him. Sam watched as John and Mary shared a long look before his human father spoke.
“I think we’re going to need some time.”
~~~
Samael was preparing himself to enter Heaven for the first time since his second judgment. He was a ball of nerves and not quite sure how it would go. It had been six months since the talk with John and Mary. They had immediately gotten to work on the hunt for Metatron. It didn’t take too long to find the weasel holed up with some Native American tribe. It was hard to hide from four pissed off archangels. Things with their flock had gotten much better. Raphael had made a public announcement to all of the angels taking responsibility for his actions. He’d also announced he would be stepping away from the leadership role he had as an archangel to allow himself time to heal. Sam knew Gabriel was excited to show their brother all about the earth and humans. After the announcement, Sam had opened himself back up to the host. It had mixed reviews. Many of the angels were still nervous about his presence, but wouldn’t dare go against the commander.
Today was the day of Metatron’s judgment.
Sam took flight and landed in the middle of the archangel’s personal quarters. Gabe, Michael, and Raphael were all there waiting. He hugged his flock as they prepared for what would be a big moment in the angel’s lives. They would be passing judgment for the first time without Father. He’d already completed his portion of the preparations, but he was still unsettled. Cas entered a moment later with a quick hug to Sam and announced that all of the angels were ready. They filed out of their private room and made their way to the Great Hall. It was awkward. Many of the angels shifted uneasily when they saw Samael. He tried to not let it get to him. As Michael approached the podium and began speaking, Sam tried to keep his focus on his brother and not his nerves.
“Host of Heaven, you are here to witness the judgment being passed on a traitor. Things will be handled a little differently without Father here to pass judgment. An angel who has been accused of crimes against the host will be thoroughly investigated independently by each archangel and three seraphs. They will be brought before the Host and each investigator will give their own verdict. The angel will be dismissed or punished accordingly. It will ensure that all get a fair punishment.” The angels all nodded and there were some whispers among them. Sam could feel their delight at the changes. That they would have representation and that there wouldn’t be another incident where an angel was falsely accused.
“Metatron has been found guilty of passing false prophecy as the Word of God.” There were gasps among the angels as they took in the accusations. “He knowingly fabricated the entire prophecy of the apocalypse and presented it to the archangel Raphael as Father’s orders. His plans were to incite a fight between me and Samael, but he was not aware of the true plan which nullified his attempts.” Sam snorted slightly and shook his head. Never in his life had he imagined Dean using so many big words at one time. He knew Dean wasn’t stupid, but he tended to downplay his intelligence on purpose. Hearing him use the word ‘nullify’ was almost enough to bring him to giggles. Gabriel seemed to agree if the elbow he received to his side was any sign. Michael turned to glare at them, but it quickly turned into a smirk. “Bring in the accused.” Metatron was brought into the room. His scraggly little vessel shuffled along in the manacles.
“Metatron, do you know what you have been accused of?”
“How do you know that I wasn’t right? I am the scribe after all!” Metatron’s arrogance was never ending and Sam sent him a little glare. “Besides, it would have been a much better ending if you had just played your parts and put down the annoying pain in the ass you call a brother.” The angels were getting uneasy hearing someone speak to the archangels that way. Nobody disrespected them, didn’t even talk to Samael that way.
“Watch it, Metatron.” Michael warned, his tone promising violence if the little leach continued talking.
“What do you even have against Samael anyway?” Gabriel asked, tilting his head much the same way Cas did.
“That piece of shit gets everything handed to him! He literally rebelled against God and he’s still the golden child! And of course he’s beautiful .” Sam winced. He really didn’t see himself as someone that got everything handed to them, the golden child, or beautiful. Maybe once upon a time, but his wings were literally bloodsoaked now.
“So, you did all of this because you were what… jealous?” Gabriel asked incredulously. Metatron didn’t answer, just tried to cross his arms in a pout before realizing it wouldn’t work. Michael cleared his throat.
“You know the crimes you have been accused of. Castiel, Seraph, Garrison Leader, what is your verdict?” Cas stepped forward to glare at Metatron.
“Guilty.”
“Balthazar, Seraph, Garrison Second?”
“Guilty.”
“Ion, Seraph, Intelligence Section?”
“Guilty.”
“Gabriel, The Messenger, fourth born archangel?”
“Guilty.” Gabriel’s anger was palpable as he gave his answer and Sam reached out with a wing to try and calm him.
“Raphael, The Healer, third born archangel?”
“Guilty.” Raphael said with more ice in his voice than Sam could ever remember hearing.
“Samael, The Morningstar, second born archangel?” Sam looked at Metatron, almost feeling guilty for the guy.
“Guilty.” Metatron’s face became pale as he realized there would be no mercy. Nobody would come to his aid.
“I Michael, The Commander of Heaven, first born archangel, find you guilty. Your crimes have damaged not only the Host, but humans as well. Had your plans actually worked, Father’s creation would have ceased to exist. You are sentenced to the cage Father built to hold the angel that would destroy the world. Maybe with time we will reevaluate your sentence.” With that, Michael opened the door to the cage behind Metatron. The angel began to panic, but there was nowhere he could go. Gabriel snapped and removed the chains binding Metatron at the same time that Michael pushed the angel backwards. Sam grimaced as he remembered being that angel. He’d argued that the punishment was too harsh, but his brothers had said that it should be used as a lesson. That other angels should know that the punishment for falsifying Father’s Word would be harsh. Sam had relented at that and agreed to do his part. Sam had removed Michael’s purifying spell that wasn’t supposed to be broken. Sam was the only one who could do that, being the King of Hell and all. He’d cast another punishment spell on the cage in preparation for Metatron. Nothing nearly as dark as the one that had been on it when Sam had been there, but would still put him through some punishments. As the door closed back, Sam breathed out a sigh of relief. Being near the cage always made him uncomfortable.
“Have fun, flea.” Michael smirked before dismissing the angels. The archangels and Cas returned to their private quarters for flock time. Michael was determined to not let this be a bad day. “You okay?” Michael asked as he sat down behind him in the nest and began grooming Sam’s wings.
“Yeah,” He nodded, but his grace still felt tense. The other brothers joined quickly and Sam smiled brightly. Yeah, he was okay.
~~~~
In the end, John and Mary continued hunting and using the Campbell Compound as a base. They had finally relaxed enough to be around Dean sometimes, but still weren’t ready to see Sam. He was okay with that. He’d already come to terms with the fact that his human parents would never accept him for who he was. He didn’t really need them anyway. He had his flock. Gabriel was dragging Raph and Cas across the globe to experience the best and worst of humanity. Sam was constantly getting updates through their link in the host. It had gotten him odd looks from his demons a few times as he randomly burst into laughter in the middle of a meeting. Things in Heaven were good. The angels were creating flocks again and Michael was working on making a system so the souls in Heaven could visit with each other. Hell was progressing as well. All of the demons had fallen in line with Sam’s orders and each change he made was being carried out easily now. Meg and Crowley were finally beginning to work together well after a rocky start.
Sam flew himself to Bobby’s for their weekly family dinner. His brothers were already there and Bobby was making chili again. Dean passed him a beer and he really wasn’t sure why he still drank them, but it was a comfortable routine they’d never broken. Gabriel and Dean were trying to teach Raph and Cas how to play poker and why you should bluff. Cas seemed very confused about this aspect of the game and Sam had to stifle his laughter more than once. A cool breeze blew through the kitchen, caressing each angel gently. Sam looked up, sensing that familiar presence he hadn’t felt in so long. A scrap of parchment landed in the middle of the table, a beautiful script written in gold. Michael’s eyes widened comically as he read the note reverently and then passed it over to Sam.
“I am so proud of all of you.”
Sam felt his eyes begin to water and he tried to blink the tears away. He passed the note on to Gabriel. Each angel had their own reaction to the note, but none of them were any less touched by it. Father not only approved of what they had done, but he was proud of them. His eyes met Dean’s and he knew then, no matter what they faced, as long as they were together it would be okay. He felt his mouth quirk up into a smile as Dean began dealing the next hand. Yeah, Sam would be okay.