REVIVE ▸ d. winchester [2] ✔

Chapter 20

The depths of heaven were covered in a darkness so cold that even the archangel who was indifferent to temperature felt uncomfortable. Gabriel hadn't been in heaven for a long while, not since he first discovered Azrael's intentions and heard the rumors of Castiel's imprisonment. So much had changed, so much that he hardly recognized the holy ground.

Sneaking into heaven hadn't been that difficult. There were many portals that were being guarded by Azrael's followers, but these were the ones that were to be used by mortals and other beings who do not originate from heaven. Gabriel did not need these portals. He could simply enter the grounds as he had a right to be there. He was an angel, after all.

The difficult part was staying hidden once within the gates. There was no doubt that Azrael was somehow keeping tabs on who entered heaven, so Gabriel popping in unexpectedly would raise alarm of unknown proportions. So, as soon as the archangel apparates into heaven, he starts to move.

Gabriel immediately makes his way towards heaven's prison. He's sure this was where Azrael would keep all of his 'renegade angels.' Once there, he would put the plan he promised to Sam and Dean into action.

Gabriel thought it impossible for the prison to be any darker and eerie than the rest of heaven already is, but he was wrong. There is a heaviness in the air, and Gabriel is certain that the groans of pain heard from locked up angels play a role in this.

As he turns a corner, he abruptly comes face to face with one of Azrael's many horrors. Through the bars of a cell, he could just make out the silhouette of an angel. The vessel was broken and bruised, and if not for Gabriel being able to sense the angel's grace, he would have thought he were dead. Along the ridge of his forehead, Gabriel could see blood pouring out from many small holes. He knew what caused the wounds, and just the mere thought of such torture makes him sick to his stomach.

Gabriel continues to walk quietly down a row of cells, each small space holding an angel in no better shape than the first. Some are passed out, some gasp in pain for help, and others are simply dead. The sight brings about anger in Gabriel, which pushes him forward to carry out his plan. He hates seeing his brothers and sisters in such conditions, and he just wants this to stop.

Before Gabriel can turn the next corner, he hears a new voice among the pleas for help and the painful groans. The voice seems to be getting closer with each second, so without hesitance, Gabriel snaps his fingers. The archangel, tapping into his trickster side, immediately vanishes and blends in to the dark gray metal of the cell walls.

A moment later, two figures round the corner and walk right where Gabriel had been standing. The archangel doesn't recognize the angels, or their vessels at least.

"He doesn't know what he's saying. We can't trust him," the taller, more broad angel says. His words cause the skinnier man to look at him, his eyes running over him skeptically.

"Maybe. It's not up to us, though. He'll be back soon, he can figure it out himself. He'll know what to do."

By now, the two figures have passed without giving a second glance to where Gabriel is hiding. They simply continue down the same hallway Gabriel had come from. As they pass the cells of the imprisoned angels, many scowl at them while others flinch away. The two angels pay no attention to them, though. It was clear that these angels were unpopular among the general census, and it wouldn't take long to discover why.

Before the angels disappear around the next corner, the taller one adds another statement that practically stops Gabriel's heart. "These angels all talk crazy. They just say whatever they have to so they live to see the light of another day. If it was up to me, I'd say kill 'em all."