A/N: Gonna go ahead and get this posted now, in case the looming weather messes with my internet later, hahaha. Stay warm, my friends!

Confession... Cas broke my heart in season 6, so in my AU, things happen just a little bit differently ^_^

Epilogue

Castiel groaned, rolling over painfully on the grassy field as blood dripped from his nose and mouth. Raphael stood over him, staring at the lesser angel prone on the ground at his feet. Castiel tensed, hand clenching in the cool blades of grass. He knew he was beaten, waiting for the archangel to smite him. The killing blow never came, though.

"Tomorrow you kneel, Castiel," Raphael growled instead, coldly watching as Castiel coughed and spattered blood on the once pristine yard of the autistic man's Heaven. "Or you, and anyone with you, dies."

Raphael was gone with an imperious flap of wings, and Castiel closed his eyes. His body tried to curl in on itself, having a hard time healing from the archangel's attack. As beaten as his body was, though, Castiel's spirit felt even more so.

How was he supposed to stop an archangel?

He'd thought after defeating Lucifer, things would be alright... but now everything had gone so wrong. While Castiel wanted to cling to some arrogant belief that he could still do something about all this… the truth was, he was floundering, in over his head. He could not – would not – kneel to Raphael, who unlike Michael wasn't even trying to hide from the seraph that this was what he wanted, not God.

But if he didn't… not only would Raphael kill him, he would kill any angel who wanted this to stop, which meant Terriel as well. Then Raphael would be unchallenged and he'd simply restart the Apocalypse anyway. The Winchesters would be unprotected, no angelic assistance this time.

The only option was to oppose Raphael, but in his heart, Castiel knew he couldn't take the archangel on. Not by tomorrow, as Raphael's ultimatum indicated.

"Please…" Castiel desperately whispered, not even knowing or caring who he was praying to at this point. "Please, I… I need help. I can't… I- I'm not strong enough. I can't stop him."

His eyes closed, and a spasm of pain wracked the angel's body again, leaving him with another coughing fit. It made Castiel ache to know that his blood was tarnishing the autistic man's paradise, almost as much as it ached to consider his limited options.

"Help me-" Castiel murmured again, cutting off in a groan of pain, before finishing with gritted teeth, "Please, I need help."

"Well, you've come to the right place, then, kiddo."

Castiel's eyes snapped open again at the voice, gasping quietly. His shocked gaze turned upwards; he could only gape, unable to believe what he was seeing, as Gabriel grinned and held out a hand.

"Damn, looks like you really got your ass handed to you," Gabriel went on, raising an eyebrow. "I hope the other guy looks even worse."

Still, the lesser angel said nothing, nor did he take the offered hand... he just stared, gaping. Had… had Raphael perhaps already killed him, without him realizing it? How could he possibly be seeing Gabriel, who he had lost yet again, killed by Lucifer's hand? He'd seen the scorch marks himself, gone back to the hotel as soon as Dean and Sam told him what had happened. Gabriel was dead. Castiel blinked, but the apparition didn't disappear.

Finally, Gabriel rolled his eyes and squatted down. "Close your mouth, you're letting in flies," he advised cheekily, touching two fingers to Castiel's forehead. Instantly, the blood dried up, the wounds healed themselves, and the lesser angel was as good as new. But… that meant…

"You… you're… alive?" Castiel managed to ask, marveling at how real his brother's hands felt as he helped Castiel up to his feet. But it was impossible!

Gabriel looked down at himself, then retorted, "Uh… yeah, kinda looks that way, huh? I just can't get a hang of this whole "dying" thing. Guess we got that in common."

Castiel's throat closed up, eyes starting to burn. "Brother…" he whispered, as he simply grabbed Gabriel up in the biggest hug imaginable. He inhaled shakily, holding Gabriel like he'd never let go, far too overwhelmed to say anything else.

Surprised, Gabriel snickered slightly and remarked, "Wow, those Winchesters really have rubbed off on you." He returned the hug fiercely, though, even giving Castiel a little pat on the back. "Okay, kiddo, good to see you, too."

"But… why are you here?" Castiel finally managed to ask, pulling away again as he studied his older brother. "I thought…"

"Yeah, I kinda figured I'd finally bit the dust for good, after Luci," Gabriel agreed, waving his hand glibly. "Turns out I'm precious cargo, though, way too valuable to lose, of course…" The archangel paused, looking rather pleased with himself, as Castiel just stared. "But you know what they say, it ain't over 'til the fat lady sings!"

Castiel kept staring, brow furrowed in confusion as he shook his head. "I don't understand," he admitted in perplexity. "Why should the weight of the woman singing be of any significance?"

There was a pause, and the two angels stared at each other. Gabriel blinked, then rolled his eyes.

"Y-eah... anyway..." the archangel went on without answering the question. "The guy said I'd know when it was time to make my move. And since your prayer just now is the first one I've been able to hear since being back… I'm gonna go out on a limb and say that's now."

"What? What guy?" Cas was lost, but Gabriel just waved him off.

"Later. So let's hear it, tell me in on what's got your feathers in a twist."

Castiel was still having a hard time believing he was actually standing there having a conversation with Gabriel at all, but he nodded dazedly and filled his brother in on the whole affair. Gabriel pulled faces as he listened, clearly unimpressed with Raphael's ambitions, but also not appearing all that surprised by them.

"-and I just… I don't know what to do," Castiel finally admitted softly, staring at the ground. "It seems so hopeless, right when I thought maybe… maybe things were going to be alright. I can't kneel to him, Gabriel, but I also can't beat him."

"Hmmm… maybe not alone."

Castiel's gaze shot up hopefully at the cryptic reply, but before he had a chance to ask what Gabriel meant by that, there was another soft flutter of wings. The lesser angel looked over Gabriel's shoulder, and his jaw dropped.

"Eleanor?!"

"Hello, Castiel," the beautiful angel replied with a wide, gentle smile, holding a small bundle close to her. "It's been a while, hasn't it?"

"I… I don't believe it…"

He could only stare, as the last angel he would have ever expected to see again walked calmly up to stand beside Gabriel. The archangel wrapped an arm around her waist, positively glowing with happiness to see her there, but again seemed unsurprised. Castiel looked between the two of them, at a complete loss.

"Gabriel, you… you brought her back?" he asked uncertainly. Gabriel only smiled, then turned to look at his soul mate.

"Well… you might say… we brought each other back," he murmured softly as she smiled lovingly back. Castiel didn't understand this any more than he'd really understood anything so far, but Gabriel was certainly real, and that meant Eleanor must be as well.

The lesser angel exhaled slowly, wondering how many more revelations were waiting to be sprung on him; which was when the bundle Eleanor carried started to squirm. Eleanor looked down, beaming even brighter as she stepped forward.

"Of course, darling, I know you're excited to meet your brother."

"...What?"

"Castiel… say hello to your newest sister. This is Renee."

But… no… this was impossible. Then again, he was starting to think that nothing was truly impossible anymore. Castiel's head was spinning, hardly daring to believe it as the feathery bundle was brought close enough for him to see. The infant fledgling was still so young that her downy wings weren't even hidden yet. Her eyes were bright as she looked up at Castiel and cooed with delight, reaching towards his face.

"But… there haven't been any fledglings since…"

"Long time, right?" Gabriel asked with a chuckle. "But I think things might be turning back around." He looked at Eleanor, suddenly sighing heavily as he complained, "It's that time."

Castiel looked back and forth between the two as the fledgling Renee shifted and cooed again, now playing with invisible specks that only she could see. Gabriel and Eleanor seemed to be occupied in some silent conversation between themselves, if their facial expressions were any indication. The entire scenario was so surreal that Castiel was starting to wonder how hard Raphael had hit him.

Perhaps he was hallucinating… that would account for the absurdity of this situation.

"Gabriel," he spoke before he could stop himself, almost unconsciously wanting to assure himself that his brother was truly there at all. Both the archangel and Eleanor looked at him, and Castiel hesitated before hanging his head. "Last time we spoke…" he said, voice low and gravelly, "you… expressed disinterest in leading the angels. But someone has to, and it can't be me. I don't have Authority, but you do. I know you don't want to-"

"Boy, you can say that again," Gabriel griped. Eleanor shushed him with a look.

"But you… you're the only hope we've got. I don't ask for myself. I ask for all the angels, for our family." Castiel met his brother's eyes, sincere and desperate. "Gabriel… please. Help us."

For a long time, Gabriel didn't say anything, just regarded Castiel and pursed his lips slightly. It was clear that he was struggling within himself, that he still had obvious misgivings about leadership. The archangel's eyes flicked from Castiel to Eleanor, from tiny Renee to the blood that stained this paradise - angel blood.

Finally, he heaved a sigh and grumbled, "Look, if I agree to be the ringmaster of this crazy little circus… I'm gonna need a second-in-command that I can trust. It's your fault I'm even considering this, kiddo, so I think it's only fair that you get stuck with that job."

Castiel stared. "You… you want me as your second?"

"How are you actually surprised by this? Whaddya say, you gonna do it or not?"

With a blink, Castiel slowly nodded. His heart leaped with hope. Did that mean… did that mean Gabriel would help them?! Did that mean he would finally take the command he'd been made for? If so, then… then the angels had a chance! "Yes," he whispered gruffly. "Yes! Gabriel… thank you…"

"Yeah, yeah, don't get weepy on me."

Castiel nodded again, swiftly straightening up and trying to force his moist eyes from shedding tears. His heart was pounding, and he sent out a silent but heartfelt prayer of gratitude. They were in for a long and bitter campaign, but now for the first time Castiel believed it was a campaign they might actually win, with Gabriel on their side.

The archangel was smirking, while Eleanor beamed in pride and gave him an approving nod. A blade appeared in Gabriel's hand, and he twirled it nonchalantly, turning to Castiel.

"Come on then, bro," he said. Gabriel's grip on his sword tightened, and he brandished it with a grin and a wiggle of his eyebrows. "We've got work to do."

The End...?

A massive thank you to everyone who's reviewed, favorite-ed, or folllowed! Thanks most especially once again to Aini NuFire, for the very kind and helpful critiques during the writing/editing process! ^_^ Thanks also to LadyWallace, VattaKeto, jrobanduknowit, Shezaweza, Missa Bearr, TalarAleya, The Green Huntress 109, FireChildSlytherin5, Sapphire Prime, and Who I Want To Be.

I can't believe it, but we're finally finished :) You all have been wonderful and I truly TRULY hope you've enjoyed sharing this adventure.

Once more to the SPN writers, just in case... PLEASE, more Gabriel!