Ahhh, goshhhh, we've reached the end. I can't believe it. There haven't been as many readers as for the other stories, but I've LOVED reading all your reviews! They're all awesome, and I hope all of you will leave a comment at the end of this to tell me what you liked about this! Or didn't (although if you didn't, then why did you read this?).

And while this is kind of the chronological end of the timeline (kind of) excepting First Born, there will be some other stories in the interim that deal with events earlier. Such as Ultron's story and Samael's childhood and just how Balthazar came to be involved again.

But, anyway, please enjoy!

Epilogue

"I'm just saying, I can't believe you moped around the tower for years before finally moving up here!"

"Yeah, like you've said the last so many times," Tony said dryly, but he was unable to hide a smile.

"But you haven't even answered." Clint stared at him accusingly. "You just keep making that creepy smile!"

Tony promptly wiped it off his face, keeping a blank expression. "Do I?"

"Just because you wiped it off your face now doesn't mean anything!"

"I didn't know my face mattered that much to you." Tony tilted his head. "Let alone my choice in living arrangements."

"He gained a sense of interior fashion," James drawled over by a bookshelf, not looking up from the book he was skimming. Bruce was besides him, crouched down to inspect the scientific books on the lowest shelf. "Yours appalled him."

"He watched all the home renovation shows," Rhodey told Tony, bumping his shoulder. "At least, all the ones he could remember."

"Which was more than any of us expected," Pepper added.

"Excuse you." Clint looked affronted. "Just because you guys couldn't remember anything beyond movies doesn't mean I had to suffer in silence!"

Rhodey gave him an unimpressed look. "At least we had variety. And we did remember TV shows!"

"You guys only remembered the pilots and maybe the finales, because you never bothered to actually watch anything in-between. At least my shows didn't end on cliffhangers!"

Tony couldn't help but snort, bringing a hand up to his mouth to hide the broad grin. Clint definitely didn't need any more encouragement, and he would take Tony's obvious amusement as an incentive for more.

"I can tell you're smiling and laughing over there," Clint said, eyes glinting briefly. "Have I said before how weird it is to see that and your face?"

"Yes," Natasha said before Tony could. "Multiple times."

"It'll take a little practice," Tony said, letting his hand drop and giving a small shrug. "You can always dial it back to how humans see."

"It's not as easy as you make it sound," Rhodey said.

Tony flashed a quick smile. "Maybe not, but you'll get the hang of it."

"It's amazing actually seeing you," Steve said earnestly.

Raising an eyebrow, Tony tilted his head, a slow grin spreading across his face. "Yeah?"

"Of course!" Steve's smile was utterly sincere.

"Well, he's brighter now," Clint said offhandedly. "Comes from the whole 'being God' thing, I guess."

A shudder ran down Gabriel's spine. "Yeah, no, let's avoid saying that."

"Saying what? That you're effectively God?"

"You didn't have any issues with saying you were a god for a while," Natasha pointed out curiously.

"Small 'g.' There's a difference." Gabriel paused, seeing all their faces. "I know I said this before! Well, not to you, Peggy, or Rhodey and Pepper, but to the rest of you! It doesn't really matter if it's true or not, it's the equivalent of blasphemy for us. That, and it's just really weird swearing to our Dad."

"You always blasphemed," Pepper said slowly.

"Did I ever once say the big 'G' word?"

Rhodey tilted his head, surprised. "Huh. Didn't even notice that."

"So what?" Clint sounded grumpy. "Now we can't say it either?"

"You guys operate under different rules." Tony relaxed, grinning. "Feel free to drop it whenever. It'd be fun seeing some of the others get all up in arms over it."

"You're ridiculous," Peggy said, but she was smiling.

"If I weren't, you guys would think something's up." Tony glanced over to James, who was frowning down at the book he was reading. "The later ones are better than that. The author was still working out sex."

"Who was the author?" James asked, turning the book over to look at the cover.

Tony managed to hide the smirk. "Some guy in Asgard."

James eyed him. "You know more than that. I know you do."

"Ten bucks he wrote them," Bruce said, pulling out a hefty science book and letting it fall open to a random page.

"Excuse me." Tony let his insulted tone say everything.

"That's his way of saying that if he wrote it, it'd be better," Rhodey said. "Because of course it would be."

"What kind of bet is that?" James asked Bruce. "Ten bucks? You can't get anything for ten bucks these days. You saw the kids buy that chocolate!"

"Dollars isn't even the current currency," Natasha said, lips twitching.

"Maybe I felt like being nostalgic," Bruce said.

"Or maybe it's because you still have ten bucks sitting in your pants and you need to get rid of it."

"I will neither confirm nor deny."

"I can see the ten bucks," Clint informed him, squinting. "Right pocket?"

Bruce moved the textbook to cover himself. "Please stop."

"I can give them lessons," Balthazar offered from his seat on the balcony window, where he'd appeared a second earlier. "Since all you seem to be doing is smiling like a loon."

Tony managed to wipe the smile off his face, which he hadn't even noticed was there. "Yeah? What kind of 'lessons'?"

"Don't be so suspicious, Gabe." Balthazar stepped down, clapping Tony on the shoulder. "You trust me, don't you?"

Tony peered at him. "Yes?"

"I won't do anything you wouldn't," Balthazar told him.

"That's a terribly short list," Pepper said, unimpressed.

"Well…" Tony considered Balthazar's earnest face. "In this case he's actually serious."

"That doesn't make me feel better."

"It should." Tony gave her a soft smile. "I could help out, but I'm guessing Balthazar's here for a reason that isn't entirely altruistic."

"You're right; I'm not." Balthazar glanced outside. "Might be a good idea if you take a stroll or something."

Tony glanced askance. "Yeah?"

"Or a swim." Balthazar's grin was mischievous. "Whatever you'd like."

"You're not throwing me into any suspicious lakes," Gabriel said.

"It was one time." Balthazar threw his hands up. "One time. And I was saving my hide, thank you!"

"My taste buds will never be the same," Gabriel continued mournfully.

"Your taste buds are fine." Balthazar gave him a disgusted look, ignoring the muffled snickers from the others.

"Says you. Do you have my taste buds?"

"No, and neither do you, since you made this vessel yourself." Balthazar gave his arm a poke. "Now go on. I promise no one will come to any harm while I give them all basic how-to lessons on angels."

"Joy," Clint grumbled, although his excitement was palpable.

It was that more than anything that convinced Gabriel to leave. For the first time in a while, everything really was fine.

The concern of the Host was a little tiring. It was understandable given that he'd been dead and then just somehow dramatically popped back into life in front of them, with a major power boost to boot.

So he indulged them and took that stroll Balthazar had suggested, although Gabriel didn't so much stroll as fly a short way and land in the midst of his kids, who were giving a tour to a curious group of angels.

"Sir." Jarvis inclined his head, eyes skimming up and down Gabriel like he was checking he was in one piece.

"J," Gabriel said, giving him an easy smile and bumping their shoulders together. "Having fun?"

Jarvis's eyes flickered back to the angels, who were being roped into a sparring session with some eager Asgardians. A few actually accepted, inquisitive expressions on their faces. "Of a sort."

"He's having a blast," Fenris said cheerfully, sliding up against Gabriel's other side. "I had no idea how many random facts he knew about Asgard before he started talking."

"We're artificial intelligences," Butterfingers said long-sufferingly, like she'd said it many times before. "We're supposed to store information."

"Yeah, but we live here. And we're gods. You're not."

"You mean we don't live here?" Butterfingers put on a confused expression. "Does that mean we've been staying in a mock Asgard all this time?"

"Play nice, guys." Tony tweaked Butterfingers's nose before she could blink. "She has a point, Fenris."

"Besides," You said from behind Butterfingers, "you don't like studying."

"I can learn all that stuff without a book," Fenris protested.

"Say that next time you're faced with flying a spaceship and you crash it because you didn't read the manual," Jormungandr said, showing an angel a fine sword.

Tony hadn't heard this one before. "Oh?"

Fenris made a face. "So…maybe I crashed a spaceship when we were with the Guardians. But we got it fixed up really quickly!"

"Did you learn anything from it?"

"The manuals can be helpful?"

"That, and it's a good idea to listen to any pilots on board."

Fenris studied him for a moment. "Do you listen to pilots? Or read manuals?"

"He has you there, sir," Jarvis said.

"Shush, you." Tony bumped his elbow against Jarvis's "accidentally." "I know electronics and machines. There isn't anything I can't fly after I take a look through the controls."

"So modest," Jarvis said dryly.

Tony shrugged, unable to resist a grin. "I try."

Butterfingers glanced back to where Dummy was holding up scorecards for the various angels trying out weapons with Asgardians. "Are you staying for the tour?"

Tony considered the question, taking in how the Host felt. They were marginally more relaxed now, which had been the goal. "Nah," he said eventually, giving her a smile to soften the blow. "I've got some other things to check up on."

It wasn't even a lie.

Nodding, Butterfingers returned the smile. "Okay." She darted forwards to kiss his cheek. "Be safe!"

"Aren't I always?"

The unanimous response from all his kids, even the ones supposedly distracted, was loud. "No!"

Putting his hands up, Tony backed up a few steps. "Okay, point taken. Have fun!"

He took flight again, this time to where he could sense Loki. Aside from the brief conversation they'd had after Gabriel miraculously came back to life, they hadn't been able to talk.

And judging from the emotions Gabriel could feel coming off Loki, talking would be a good idea.

"I see you finally managed to tear yourself away from your friends," Loki said when Gabriel located him in a relatively small sitting room. By "small," that simply meant it was hidden away in the palace with no windows and only a few couches. But these were the comfortable couches.

"Balthazar's giving them lessons," Gabriel said after an awkward pause when Loki said nothing else. "He shooed me out."

"Hm." Loki tilted his head, not looking up from the book he was studying. He wasn't reading it – his eyes were too distant for that – but he clearly didn't want to look at Gabriel.

Hesitating, Tony decided to sit next to Loki on the couch, keeping a foot of space between them. Loki didn't seem to react to him, but his shoulders tightened minutely.

Tony let the silence hang for several more minutes before saying quietly, "You're upset."

"Am I?" Loki murmured, thumb stroking absentmindedly at the corner of a page.

"You haven't looked me in the eye since I came in and you're not talking." Tony paused, studying Loki's profile. "It goes both ways, you know," he continued. "I know you're upset."

"Does it really?" There was a note of irritation in Loki's voice, and he did look up now to meet Tony's eyes. "I clearly misread something, as none of what happened should have."

Tony blinked, taken aback. "That – none of what happened is on you. I didn't know anything was wrong – let alone Samael!"

"You think that matters?" Loki snapped the book shut with a hand, knuckles whitening. "I see things differently than you. I should have seen it – realized something was wrong. You were acting oddly, but then you had just visited Earth. I thought it was due to that, and I chose not to look further into it. I trusted that you would be fine as you usually are, but—" He broke off with a hiss, abruptly standing.

"I am fine."

"Are you truly?" The words were cutting, but there was no venom in them. "You were dead, Gabriel. That you are alive now does not change that fact. And you are changed as well."

"Not in the ways that matter." Gabriel stood, hand clenching briefly before he reached out to take hold of Loki's wrist. He could feel the tension vibrating under the skin. "I'm still me, Loki."

"So you have said." Loki met his eyes, something flickering behind his that Gabriel wasn't sure how to read. But the distress was clear enough, along with a vague undercurrent of anger. "Why are you here?"

The question took Gabriel off guard. "What do you mean?"

"Why are you here, Gabriel? Should you not be with your friends? They are alive now, are they not?"

"We have time." Gabriel considered Loki, loosening his grip in case Loki wanted to pull away. He didn't. "Besides, we had a chance to talk before I came back, and I showed them around the place when we got back. I haven't been able to talk to you."

"Am I simply an obligation, then?"

"You're my friend." Gabriel frowned before he could stop himself. "Fuck, Loki, you think I'm blind? I don't even have to try to see what's going on. You're upset—"

"And why do you think that is?" Loki sharply pulled away, mouth curling into a snarl. "You were not supposed to die—"

"It's not like I wanted to—"

"And yet you did!" Loki snapped, eyes flaring. "As you did last time!"

"Dying isn't fun," Gabriel bit out, folding his arms across his chest. "You think I do it for shits and giggles? It wasn't fun the first time or the second time or even this time. I'm sorry that it happened, but it wasn't like I intentionally set out with a plan to get myself killed!" Energy surged through him with the anger that sparked, unexpected and unwelcome.

Rearing back, Gabriel closed his eyes, forcing himself to breathe and push the energy back to where it belonged. When he was sure his eyes weren't glowing anymore, he opened them, only to meet Loki's wary ones.

"You are not the same," Loki said quietly, no anger left in his tone. "I may not have the eyes of your world's gods or children, but I can see that you have changed. As have your friends with their return. You are happier now as well; I have seen you smile more within the last day than you did in a century."

Gabriel wasn't intentionally looking, but Loki was broadcasting loudly enough for him to catch it regardless with his newly heightened senses. It was only a glimpse, but it was enough for Gabriel to see what he was thinking.

The shield in his room flashed through Loki's mind, the white star in the center glistening.

"Of course I'm happy they're back," Gabriel said eventually, slowly. "I've missed them. But I've been happy here, too."

"You never stopped grieving."

"You can't be both happy and sad?" Gabriel couldn't help a small smile. "I'm ecstatic they're back, but it doesn't actually change anything. You don't have to be worried about that."

Loki stiffened slightly. "We had an arrangement." The words were stilted. "The terms of that arrangement are no longer in place."

"We'll make new terms, then." Gabriel slowly reached out to touch his face, fingers light against his skin. "You're not just a friend, Loki. You haven't been one in a long time."

Loki carefully didn't move, eyes dark. "Then what am I?"

"Something else." Gabriel didn't have a name for it.

"You are not in love with me." Loki said the words carefully, like he was tasting them as he spoke.

"No." Gabriel didn't mask the truth; Loki deserved that. "That's not in me. But I do love you, and that isn't going to change. Don't doubt that."

"And if I were to say…?"

"You can if you want." Gabriel almost let his hand drop, only for Loki to catch it. "As long as you know."

Loki was silent for several moments, Gabriel's hand clasped in his own. He shuddered briefly, eyes closing. "I would rather you not die again," he said quietly, almost a whisper.

Gabriel smiled wryly. "So would I."

"I would also rather you not change."

Now Gabriel snorted, grinning. "Archangel, Loki. We don't change easily."

Loki smiled in response. "You know what I mean."

Sobering, Gabriel inclined his head, closing the distance between them. "I do."

Loki met him the rest of the way, words caught in the middle that Gabriel didn't quite catch but didn't need him to repeat.

Some things didn't have to be said out loud.

Later, Gabriel sought out Samael. Ne felt different now, much like he himself did. It wasn't strange, though. It gave Samael an added sense of familiarity, the new wealth of power ne had hugged close to his own, two sides of a coin.

Samael wasn't alone when he arrived, so Gabriel hung back, giving Samael and the guest some privacy. It was a reaper, dark-skinned and curly-haired. She didn't seem to know what to make of Samael, and Samael's slight amusement doubtlessly wasn't helping matters.

"I'm not changing anything," Samael was saying. "It's worked all these years, hasn't it? You know what you're doing."

"I find it difficult to believe that you won't change anything," the reaper said, the words sounding like she'd said it before.

"Do I seem that bad?" Samael tilted nir head. "I told you already, I didn't ask for this job. But I have it, so I'm going to do my best with what I've been given. Now," ne continued before the reaper could, clapping her on the shoulder, "you seem capable. I'll do my job, but it would help if I had a second-in-command."

The reaper's eyes narrowed. "Me?"

"Death trusted you. And," Samael added, "I'd prefer not to flounder my way through this. Advice from an experienced reaper would help."

"Flattery won't help," the reaper said, unimpressed. "But you make a good point. Let me know when you need me."

"Of course, Billie."

Billie's eyes flickered over Samael's shoulder to Gabriel. She inclined her head in a nod, something like respect flickering over her features before she was gone.

A breath later, Samael turned, giving Gabriel a small smile. "Hello, Gabriel."

Gabriel smiled back, breathing out as he felt Samael's Grace extend in welcome, more familiar than ever. "Hey. Everything all right?"

Samael made a face. "You're lucky you don't have anybody about to show up and question your ability to do your job."

"There might be. Some of the pagans would be in snits at the idea of an angel taking on the big name."

"Good thing you didn't ask them."

"There was very little asking going on," Gabriel said dryly. "More like…what should I be doing here?"

Samael snorted. "You think it was any different for me?"

"I dunno. You were a little more alive than me, I think. And you had Death talking to you. I got Dad's words secondhand through my friends. Great friends, not so much concise messengers."

Samael paused, face pained. "I'm not sure how alive I was," ne said slowly. "At that point, I'd…disintegrated Earth. I probably did myself in, too."

"Well, you look remarkably alive for someone supposed to be dead."

"Likewise." Samael's grin was mirthless. "And FYI? Death's not so good at explaining things either. You think Dad would've been any better?"

"Probably not, but I could've given Him a punch for what He pulled." As it was, he'd have to live vicariously through Bruce.

"So could I," Samael muttered. "Was it too hard to leave a note?"

"Apparently. It would've ruined the suspense."

"Suspense? What suspense? More like giving us all heart attacks." Samael shot him a look. "And don't say we don't get heart attacks."

"We don't," Gabriel said seriously, only to grin a second later. "Nah, I get what you're saying. I was close to one a few times."

"Yeah," Samael sighed, dropping nir head to rub the back of nir neck. Rolling nir shoulders, ne relaxed, turning nir gaze out to Asgard.

Eventually, ne said, "Death talked about a cycle, things beginning and ending."

"And we're the new beginning." Gabriel rubbed his mouth. "Eventually there's going to be an end."

"Or not." Samael glanced at him, the corner of nir lips ticking up in a brief smile. "I think…part of what they were hoping for was that the cycle would end. That there wouldn't need to be a new beginning again, that things could move on."

"Nothing lasts forever."

"Maybe not, but the type of ending that they had?" Samael closed nir eyes. "They don't know how they were born – and the memories I got aren't too clear on that – but there was something before them. There had to have been."

Breathing out, Gabriel let himself remember what he'd seen in that lost dimension. The visions had been disjointed, but he could link them together well enough. "Wanna bet that they ended up destroying each other before the new cycle started and they could try again?"

Samael shot him a look. "That's a sucker bet." Ne hesitated, then said, "We almost did that. Just…on a smaller scale. But now…if we tried that…"

"End of everything as we know it?" Gabriel couldn't help a mirthless smile. "Let's not, yeah? They made their mistakes; let's not repeat them."

Samael huffed. "We'll just make our own."

"With less emphasis on destroying things."

"Please." Samael shook nir head, exhaling. Looking back at Gabriel, ne said quietly, "I'm glad. I'm glad it's over. I can't do that again."

Silent, Gabriel touched the back of nir shoulder, letting comfort wash into nem. Honestly, he couldn't either. It was a literal miracle he'd made it this time.

"It's not yet over," he said eventually.

Samael glanced at him, brow furrowed. "It isn't?"

"We didn't get all of them." Gabriel closed his eyes, remembering how it felt to be something more than himself. It had been all too easy to feel the Dark escape through the cracks in the dimensional walls, seeking refuge elsewhere.

"Fuck."

"Hey, no worries." Gabriel squeezed nir shoulder. "We've got this. Together, right?"

"Easier said than done." Samael shook nir head. "But yes. Together." Ne turned to look at him. "You have a plan?"

"When don't I?" Gabriel saw the look on Samael's face and quickly said, "Don't answer that. Do not."

"You walked right into that," Samael complained.

"Which is why I said don't answer that."

"How are we doing this?" Samael murmured, attention briefly on the rest of the room before returning to Gabriel.

"The easy way." Gabriel snapped his fingers, turning the lights off. "By finding the needle in the haystack."

"How is that easy?" Gadreel sounded confused.

"If the haystack's yours? Real easy." Gabriel ignored the eye rolling from the peanut gallery, along with Castiel's muttered "That makes no sense."

"The haystack being all of Creation?" Samael raised an eyebrow.

"Well, yeah." Gabriel shot nem a grin. "But c'mon. Haven't you tried stretching those muscles? Haven't you tried…seeing?"

Before his vision had been relatively limited unless he strained, but now… Oh, now it was the easiest thing in the world.

Snapping his fingers again, Gabriel pulled into form a map of the universe. It shrunk down, only to be replaced by others. More universes popped into life, whole realms blinking into being and spinning in slow orbits that mirrored their real-life counterparts.

Gabriel let an amused smirk cross his face at the gasps his friends made. Loki and Thor weren't unaffected, and even the other angels were wide-eyed. "Not quite the entire thing, but we can move the camera if we need to."

He reached out, touching one spinning realm to let it glow. "But here's where we start. And here…" He touched the blank space outside the universe, small dots lighting. "Here's where the trail starts."

"Isn't this…?" Samael eyed the realm darkly.

"It's ours." Gabriel touched a blank space next to it. "This is what you're thinking about – or where it was before. It's not there anymore, and I'm not about to look into the past to get a view of it."

"So we follow the trail?" Raphael asked, stepping closer to look at it.

"If you want." Gabriel tilted his head, letting his awareness expand. "Or I can just go to where there's something not quite right. It's a bit like a bruise."

Reaching out again, Gabriel pulled forth a single universe, letting the rest of the glowing map float above their heads. "Can you sense it?"

It took Samael only a moment to sense what Gabriel had. "Yes."

"I've not seen that universe before," Raphael said slowly, eyes fixed on a distant location. "It feels…"

"Newer," Castiel said, eyes closed. "Yet old."

"As if time was sped up to let it grow to this point," Raphael agreed.

Letting his awareness draw back from the void he'd sensed in that universe, Gabriel realized what they'd seen about the universe. They were right in that it was new, their Father's energies stronger there than elsewhere.

But also…

Gabriel's fingers twitched in surprise, his eyes widening. "Is that…?"

"Michael," Samael breathed, meeting his eyes in stunned amazement.

"He's alive?" Raphael sounded disbelieving.

Gabriel didn't answer immediately, breathing in as he felt his brother's Grace, warm and alive. And inside the new universe that their Father had Created not long ago.

Meeting Samael's eyes again, Gabriel let himself smile, holding the universe between them. "What do you say about a little trip?"

And, NOW...I'm going to make a comment on Loki's and Tony/Gabriel's relationship. I'm guessing it could be defined as queerplatonic, but I'm not entirely sure of that. In any case, it's kind of its own category, and it deserved to have its closing of sorts here.

Didn't I tell you this would have a happy ending? Didn't I? And it does! It's happy! Even if the path we took was really bad...

Please, if you enjoyed this story, let me know what you thought! I love hearing all your feedback. It's the reward at the end of writing a long story, and this was quite an adventure for me as well.

I'm not entirely sure what my next project will be, but First Born is still ongoing. However, I have also started a long-term project for Dragon Age, so if I have any readers who are also Dragon Age fans, keep an eye out for it! You can also follow me on my tumblr (inukagome15 dot tumblr dot com) for updates on how that's going. The tumblr for updates specific to this series thelastarchangelaskblog.

Now, I'm going to clock off. Again, please drop a note! Thank you so much for reading!