Glad people seemed to like this idea! I wasn't really sure where to go with it, but there'll be a point to this...eventually. I'll figure one out at some point or another.

Disclaimer: I do not own Supernatural

The next time Gabriel ended up in a universe with a Heaven, it wasn't nearly as friendly an encounter.

From his end, at least, but could you blame him?

He'd barely touched down for a moment when two presences slammed into him, nearly knocking him off his feet. Gabriel spun around, wings trying to compensate for the lack of balance his legs could find and holy shit.

Michael would be one thing, but Lucifer? With him? And them looking perfectly fine with being right next to each other and not attempting to tear out the other's throat?

What kind of universe had he landed in?

Michael looked puzzled when Gabriel backed up, mentally cursing a blue streak when he realized there were no obvious exits. Flying wasn't an option unless he could distract them so that the takeoff was a surprise, but they'd catch up eventually. He might have been faster than his universe's Michael and Lucifer, but he didn't know anything about this one and he was still exhausted from the flight over here.

"I'm pretty sure this universe only has one Gabriel," Lucifer said eventually. "Care to explain what you're doing here?"

Gabriel eyed him warily, knowing that bringing out his sword would be practically suicide [with his universe's Lucifer, at least] but still tempted to. There was an ache in his chest that reminded him that he had a reason to be nervous. "Passing through," he replied after a moment, keeping his voice determinedly neutral. "No biggie."

Michael and Lucifer glanced at each other meaningfully and yeah, this universe was weird as fuck.

"What are you traveling universes for?" Michael questioned. "Unless you were looking for alternate versions of us on purpose."

Gabriel snorted before he could help himself, and then froze when both of them looked directly at him. It was like being under a damn searchlight.

"Oh, boy." That was Gabriel's voice, but it hadn't been Gabriel who spoke. It was, however, someone who looked disturbingly like him when he turned around to see. "What kind of mess got you over here?"

"I didn't come here on purpose," Gabriel retorted, bewildered and snapping back out of instinct even though it was exactly the lighthearted, joking kind of comment he would have made.

"Whoa, okay." Other-Gabriel held up his hands. "No need to get defensive."

"Just because we'd like to know where another Gabriel came from-" Michael began, then broke off when Lucifer gave him a look, and didn't that make Gabriel stare even more.

"We're just curious," Lucifer said. "It would be nice if you were a friendly alternate-Gabriel, and not one who's here to cause chaos and whatnot."

Lucifer? Curious?

Other-Gabriel must have sensed his confusion, because he threw an arm over Gabriel's shoulders. "What do you say we go somewhere more private and talk?" He said cheerfully, wings brushing up against Gabriel's. "I know a great little place that no one'll think to interrupt us at."

Gabriel let himself be pulled away, confusion making him slow to respond. The 'little place' was, of course, a bar; other-Gabriel settled in a private room disconnected from the noise and chatter of the place.

"Alright, spill," he said businesslike, putting his feet on the table. "You were staring at Mike and Lucy like one of 'em had grown more heads than usual. What's up?"

"I - is this normal for you?" Gabriel demanded. "Since when are those two even on speaking terms?"

"Oh." Other-Gabriel looked suddenly serious, realization dawning and making him lower his feet to lean forward. "What happened with them in your universe?"

"Besides the Apocalypse?" Gabriel tried to joke, but it fell mostly flat.

"How'd that go?"

"I don't know." Gabriel stopped himself in time from reaching towards his vessel's midsection, but other-Gabriel's eyes flickered and he had a feeling the other had caught the movement.

"That's a nasty wound," Other-Gabriel said slowly. "You probably shouldn't be jumping around universes like that, yanno."

"I know," Gabriel bit out. "Staying where I was wasn't an option."

Other-Gabriel didn't look satisfied. "What, you want to stay hurt? Give whoever did that the satisfaction of keeping you like this?"

"I'm not giving Lucifer anything." Gabriel knew he'd messed up when his counterpart stilled, eyes dropping to the injury again.

"Lucifer?" He practically whispered it, incredulity in every breath that left his vessel's lips. It was a vessel; Gabriel could tell that much. Certain things here were much more similar than in his old universe. "He wouldn't-" he cut himself off.

Gabriel hadn't thought his brother would do it, either. "Well, he did," he said tersely, and left it at that because he didn't really want to continue down that line of conversation.

Other-Gabriel shook his head, and with a visible effort forced a grin. "No wonder you looked so freaked to see him," he said. "'Course, things are different here. Didn't you notice their vessels?"

To be honest, Gabriel had barely noticed they were in vessels at all. "What about them?"

"The Winchesters."

Gabriel, if he had been drinking anything, probably would have done a spit take. "They said yes?"

For some reason, that made other-Gabriel look honestly amused, the grin pulling into something less false. "Nope," he said. "Turns out it was just Lucifer's Grace in the Cage, instead of all of him. Then Michael took a dive a while back, and..." he shrugged, smirking at the realization that he could probably see washing over Gabriel.

"You're telling me they are Michael and Lucifer?" He asked disbelievingly.

"Right on the nail!" Other-Gabriel cheered. "Honestly, it was pure chance that both of them decided they'd rather work things out peacefully. I blame Sam."

"But that's just one human life-"

"One human life," Other-Gabriel pointed out. "And they're pretty close, as humans. Guess that stuck around even when they angeled up again."

Closing his mouth, Gabriel looked away. It seemed like such an easy answer, for a conflict that had been going on for centuries.

Other-Gabriel seemed to guess what he was the thinking. "Look," he said. "I'm not saying it was easy, but it sure as hell was a lot calmer than them having their bitch fight."

It did. If only Gabriel's universe had gotten so lucky.

"What'd you do over there?" Other-Gabriel asked, calmness feigned to mask the curiosity and almost-worry threading through his Grace.

"Whatever I could before Lucifer shanked me," Gabriel replied, noting other-Gabriel's slight flinch at the overly casual reminder of what had happened. "I kinda got the hell out of Dodge before anyone realized I wasn't dead."

"So what'cha gonna do now?"

That was a good question. "I don't know," Gabriel said. "I only stopped here because I needed to. I guess I'll keep going once I can."

Other-Gabriel looked at him with eyes that managed to be dark, even with the vessel's light color and the brightness of his true form. "Well," he began, "I'll tell you something I figured out a while back, when those two had managed to get their shit together and started fussing about me. Running's fine, but you can only go for so long before you end up going in a circle. And then you're right back where you started and you've got to deal with all the crap you ran away from in the first place. And chances are it's just gotten worse 'cause you left it."

"I'm not running away from anything."

"I can tell that you've got pagan magic in that vessel, like me." Other-Gabriel quirked an eyebrow. "Loki, right? I ended up in the same place. But it doesn't last forever."

Damn right it didn't, Gabriel thought, Kali and her revelation flickering through his mind without him consciously trying to remember it.

"I should go," is what he said out loud.

"Already?" Other-Gabriel raised his eyebrows. "And here we were bonding."

Gabriel shrugged, and made an effort to smile. "Gotta leave some time." His Grace had returned surprisingly quickly, but maybe it was the presence of the other that was encouraging it.

"Safe travels, then, and whatnot." Other-Gabriel leaned back again, the picture of relaxation. "And if you run into any more of me - or you - send 'em my regards."

Kinda wanted to write a Lucifer!Sam and Michael!Dean story, didn't feel like starting a new one. So here you go.

Read and review, please!