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Gabriel was dead. Killed by Lucifer to give the Winchesters time to escape the hotel with Kali. Castiel had heard it directly from Sam and Dean, but it still seemed impossible to believe. Gabriel was powerful. Gabriel was clever. Clever enough to be able to avoid all contact with their family for longer than Castiel really cares to count.

They say the first stage of grief is denial, and Castiel would even deny he's grieving for the estranged older brother he hasn't really spoken to in at least centuries. Despite that, though, he still leaves the motel room without so much as a word, just a rush of air as he takes flight. He can't even begin to imagine how many times, as the Trickster, Gabriel has faked his death, so he wants to confirm it for himself.

Within seconds, he reappears in the ballroom of the Elysian Fields Hotel. His eyes land on Gabriel, laying on the floor and he sighs. No, this certainly didn't look like another trick.

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"We can figure out what to tell them later. It would be best if none of them know I'm still around. They can be told when Lucifer's locked back up." Talking with his eyes closed is go. He can hear his little brother well enough without looking at him.

"You don't want them asking you for help."

To be fair, though, Castiel isn't sure he'd want to see Gabriel try to go toe to toe with Lucifer again either, given how well it went this time.

"Well, that too. But I was mostly thinking that if they knew I was alive, Lucifer could pull that information out of their heads." Big bro finding out he was still alive? No thank you. If he actually slept, the past night or whatever would be enough to give him nightmares for a long time.

"That's also a valid point." Castiel nods. "At least he won't be able to find us here."

Gabriel cracks open an eye to give Castiel an evil look. "Try not to jinx it."

Just what they need, Lucifer popping out of nowhere to scare the crap out of the both of them.

"I'm sorry." That likely wouldn't end well for either one of them, so no, absolutely no jinxing going on. "I have to admit, I'm surprised you tried to stand against him."

"Blame Dean. He's the one that shamed me into it." And look what it got him. Worst decision.

"Yes, well, Dean can be very convincing at times." He can understand that.

"He reminds me of Michael," Gabriel grumps. "In the way that gets me to listen to him, not the way that makes me inclined to tell him to go fuck himself."

Castiel thinks about that, and nods, smiling, "They do seem to have some things in common, don't they?"

"Yeah. Although Dean's more flexible, less rigid, which is gonna be of help whenever our oldest brothers meet for their date." He's pinning everything on the Winchesters now. The Apocalypse is out of his hands.

"If they meet." Castiel's still counting on Dean not saying yes to Michael.

"I'm pretty sure Michael would show up even if he has to do so as over-sized light monster to human perceptions," Gabriel points out drily.

He nods. "I suppose that's true. We may still find a way to stop them, though."

"Don't worry. I had a back-up plan for if things went pear-shaped and gave the boys a video explaining what I had in mind." He gives up on resting, since he seems to be busy running his mouth and rolls over onto his back.

"That was good thinking. I'm afraid I didn't get many of the details from them before I left." He watches Gabriel, suddenly aware that they're spending more time talking when resting should be a priority. "We can talk about this later, if you'd rather."

"There's a couple of details they'd probably prefer not to share he says with a smirk," turning onto his side and closing his eyes again. "Giving things more time to fix themselves sounds good."

Castiel nods, and settles back in his chair to keep watch over Gabriel while he rests. "We'll talk when you're feeling stronger, then."

"Mmm. Talk to you later then," he says, settling in to try to fix anything that he can take care of without time being the main cure.

Castiel stays in his chair this time, alternating between watching Gabriel rest and occasionally closing his eyes himself to grab some rest.

After taking care of what he could, Gabriel lets his mind drift and get him as close to falling asleep as it was possible for an angel to do.

A few hours later, Castiel's up and about, shuffling through the papers at Bobby's desk, and leafing through the books that have been left laying around. He hasn't come across anything particularly interesting or helpful, and nor was he particularly expecting to. It keeps him busy while Gabriel's trying to rest, and maybe it's not so helpful to just sit in the chair and watch big brother try to recover.

Castiel keeping himself busy is good. It spares Gabriel from ordering little brother to go find something to keep himself occupied in a way that doesn't involve staring at him.

When Gabriel's decided that he's had enough rest for now he opens his eyes and sits up to see where Castiel wandered off to.

Castiel is shuffling through the papers left laying on the desk when Gabriel sits up. He goes back to sit in the chair next to the bed, studying his brother. "How do you feel?"

"I have the feeling I'm going to become very tired of that question," Gabriel says, directing his comment to no one in particular. "I won't take up Olympic skating anytime soon, but I'll live."