Notes

Gabriel's encounter with Death had gone smoother than he originally expected. Death had willingly given his ring to Gabriel and no one had gotten hurt except for the guy who bumped his shoulder with Death's. Gabriel stared at the ring in his hand dumbfoundedly and then stared back at Death, who was gleefully eating his pizza.

"Go on, child," said Death. "Do me a favour and throw that angelic baby back into his timeout zone, would you?"

Death looked up from his plate and raied an eyebrow. "You know how the rings work, don't you?"

Gabriel nodded and swallowed loudly before standing up from his chair and leaving the restaurant. he returned to the motel room and quietly placed the ring down on the coffee table and then sat down, glancing over to the two sleeping forms on the beds.

/Of all the things that I chose to mess with, I chose them.

Why?/

He tilted his head and stared at them. None of his past choices made sense to him. Playing around with the Winchesters? Okay that was understandable. But genuinely caring about them? /Falling in love/ with one of them?

Gabriel pinched the bridge of his nose. What in the world did his past self see in them? Shaking his head lightly, he left the room and leaned against the wall outside the motal room, staring up at the sky. He watched the stars twinkle, a mixure of burning gases several light years away.

Then he heard explosions. Alarmed, he looked around. But relaxed upon realising that they were just fireworks. He fixed his eyes on them and admired the colourful explosions in the sky, smiling to himself, when suddenly-

/Gentle, hazel eyes staring at him with adoration.

The press of chapped lips against his, tasting mildly of something pleasant./

Gabriel gasped, placing a hand on the wall behind him to steady himself.

/What the fuck was that?/

He glanced at the fireworks warily and pushed himself off the wall, going back in. He sat back down, mind still processing the images and feelings that just shot themselves through his brain. Groaning softly, he snapped himself a glass of whiskey and [insert a phrase that describes people drinking whiskey. like that weird "throw your head back and swallow the whiskey" motion], placing the glass back onto the table, formulating a plan on how to get Lucifer back into the cage. There was no way he would let Sam say yes to Lucifer, and then lure Lucifer into the cage. It was too risky and if that plan failed, it would just kickstart the battle sooner than anyone wanted and he didn't want to watch his brothers fight again. He couldn't.

He sat in the dark, thinking. It didn't take him long to figure out that there was only one way to do this.

He would have to sacrifice himself. Grab Lucifer and then throw Lucifer and himself into the cage.

But him sacrificing himself......wouldn't that just waste Sam's sacrifice? Or was that counted as his sacrifice? It was his memories after all. But because of that, Sam's happiness......

Gabriel groaned again and sipped his whiskey. It was all too confusing for him.

He folded his arms on the table and rested his head on them, closing his eyes. Nothing made sense. Absolutely nothing made sense. But the world wasn't going to stop and wait for him to figure everything out. Stopping his brother was the priority. He would just have to go with the flow until the main goal was achieved. It would be a bonus if he managed to survive. But, for now, he settled for watching over the two men, listening to their even breathing as they slept.