Chapter 16

Michael doesn't know how he knows what room he's going to, but he does. He knocks on the door, but doesn't expect much to come from it. Surprisingly, the door opens, though there's no one there. Gabriel is lying on the bed, all the way to one side as if waiting for someone. His eyes are closed, and he looks surprisingly peaceful for the current situation.

"Hey, Sam," he says.

"Not Sam," Michael replies.

"Oh."

There's a pause in the conversation already, which is probably not a good sign.

"Can I come in?" Michael asks.

Gabriel sighs. "Sure. Why not?" He sits up as Michael steps inside, and that's when Gabriel finally notices Lucifer. "No need to stand out there, Luci. Come on in."

Lucifer comes inside, standing next to Michael in the doorway and looking very awkward.

Michael speaks first. "Gabriel, I'm sorry. I didn't mean —"

"You meant every word you said," Gabriel interrupts. "Because it's all true. Honestly, I don't care that that's what you think about what I did, because that's what I think about it, too. I just didn't want to hear it again. I wasn't trying to stop your small-scale apocalypse. If you guys want to fight, I won't stop you. As long as you don't blow up the bunker, I don't care. I just don't want to listen to it. Now, if that's all, please leave."

Michael sighs, seeing that Gabriel doesn't want to hear his apology. He turns to leave, but the doorway won't let him.

"Guess Dad doesn't think we're done, huh?" Lucifer observes.

"Should've known Dad sent you," Gabriel mutters. "You never would have apologized yourself."

"No, Gabriel, it's not like that," Michael says.

"Whatever. Why did Dad make you come in here?"

Michael shrugs. "We're not sure. He's probably hoping we'll talk."

"We are talking," Gabriel replies.

"I guess we aren't talking enough for him, then."

"I don't know why I had to come," Lucifer mutters to himself. "I wasn't the one that pissed Gabriel off."

"Michael didn't piss me off," Gabriel tells him.

"Well, I don't have anything to say here, so..."

Gabriel frowns, knowing what Chuck wants but not wanting to be the one that brings it up. Instead, he just waits for someone to keep talking. Gabriel sure isn't going to do it.

"I really am sorry, Gabriel," Michael says. "I wasn't thinking about you when I said that."

"I know."

It's quiet again, and Michael goes to lean on the doorway, knowing the invisible force keeping them in is basically a wall. To his surprise, he can walk through it. Lucifer attempts to follow him, but he can't, which does not make him happy.

"I guess Dad wants me to leave you guys alone," Michael says. "Bye." He leaves quickly, thankful to be out of there. It was definitely not a fun experience.

"This is so stupid," Lucifer mutters, leaning against the wall in exasperation.

"Tell me about it," Gabriel agrees. "Well, we might as well hurry this up. We talking or what?"

Lucifer shakes his head. "No, because I am not a puppet and I won't let Dad force me to do things," he says stubbornly.

"Then you're going to be in here for a long time," Gabriel replies.

"Fine by me."

It only takes about a minute for Lucifer to decide it's not fine by him.

"What are we even supposed to be talking about, anyway?" Lucifer asks.

"No clue," Gabriel lies, mostly because he doesn't want to talk about it.

"Well, that makes this a lot harder, doesn't it?" Lucifer says, a slight attempt at humor in this tense situation. "Anyway, what's up with you? Anything new?"

Gabriel shakes his head. "Nah. Nothing. You?"

"Nada."

It's quiet again, which is really starting to annoy Lucifer.

"How's being alive treating you?" Lucifer asks.

Gabriel shrugs. "Fine."

And it's quiet again.

"Is there a reason you're being so quiet?" Lucifer asks.

"Nope," Gabriel lies.

"Are you sure?" Lucifer asks skeptically.

"Yep."

"You're lying."

"Yep."

"What's wrong?" Lucifer asks.

"Nothing you can fix," Gabriel replies.

"Well, let me try."

"You can't," Gabriel repeats.

"Tell me what's up. Was it what Michael said?"

Gabriel shakes his head. "No, it's what you said," he says finally, knowing there's no point in hiding it any longer. Chuck will force him to talk anyway.

"What did I say?" Lucifer asks, sounding honestly confused.

"That I got what was coming to me."

"Oh," is all Lucifer says. He doesn't try to defend himself. He doesn't try to tell Gabriel he didn't mean it. He can't, because it wouldn't be true.

"Do you really think I got what was coming to me?" Gabriel asks.

"I do. I think you should have known better than to go against me or Michael. Me Michael. I'm not saying I'm glad I killed you, but you had it coming since the moment you decided to join our fight."

"Fair enough," Gabriel agrees. "It was worth it, though."

"Yeah, because you came back."

Gabriel shakes his head. "No. It would have been worth it even if I didn't come back. I told Sam about the rings, and I saved the world."

"And sent me and Michael to Hell," Lucifer adds.

Gabriel shrugs. "Well, you got what was coming to you, too."

"The apocalypse wasn't my idea," Lucifer says defensively.

"And going against it wasn't mine."

"Whose idea was it?" Lucifer asks, seeming genuinely interested. "Sam's?"

"Dean's."

"Seriously? It was ?"

"Yep," Gabriel replies. "So Sam's not the only reason you got thrown in the cage."

"Actually, I was pinning that more on you," Lucifer tells him.

"Really? I'm honored," Gabriel replies, only partially joking. It's sort of a nice feeling when someone says they think you were pretty important in stopping the apocalypse.

"You shouldn't be. I never got a chance to kick Michael's ass thanks to you."

"Not even in the cage?"

Lucifer shakes his head. "Nope. We pretty much left each other alone."

"Never would have guessed that, looking at you two now."

"Well, times change," Lucifer says in a tone that indicates that that's all he's going to say about the topic. He isn't going to talk about things between him and Michael to Gabriel. If he wants to talk, he'll talk to Michael himself. Preferably during another fight, because he loves fighting with his brother. It's not like Michael doesn't deserve it.