~*****~

I stared at the TV intently, patting at Mary's back absentmindedly. "What are you guys watching?" Sam asked as he stepped out of the bathroom.

"It's a hospital show," Dean retorts.

"It's Dr. Sexy M.D. It's based off of the book." I mention.

Sam snorted loudly. "When did you hit menopause?"

I turned my glare up at Sam. "Don't make me kick your ass, Sam." I snap. "You guys have fun, I'll be here, watching Dr. Sexy." I explain.

Sam rolls his eyes at me. "Zack on his way?"

I hum again. "Yeah, he'll be here in a couple of hours."

Dean kisses the top of my head before lowering himself and kissing Mary on the head, who squeals loudly in response, a wide grin bearing on her squishy face. I chuckle and continue patting her back. "Be safe," Dean hums. "Come on, Sammy!"

Sam rolls his eyes again and trails out after his brother. I snort loudly and lean back on the bed, returning to watching Dr. Sexy. "Damn, that guy is hot," I murmur. I gave a loud groan as the door rattled. "I swear to god, if you guys forget your keys one more time--" My breath hitched in my throat as Castiel appears in front of the door, looking as frumpled as usual. "Dammit, Cass," I snap irritably. "What'd I say about popping up out of nowhere?"

"I need your help." Cass states. "I may know the location of the Archangel Gabriel."

My brow quirked. "Thought he went under the radar," I murmur as I lift the whining baby out of her crib. "It's not like I can just leave. Someone needs to be here to watch--"

With a snap of his fingers, Zack stumbles into the room, holding an unwrapped burger and a magazine. "What the hell--" He murmurs, peering around wildly.

"Nice." I sigh. "Thanks, that's another can of worms I gotta spring on the poor guy."

"I don't understand that reference." Cass retorts, brows furrowing in confusion.

I set the baby into Zack's arms before snatching the burger and tearing a bite out of it. "We gotta get you to watch some tv before the world ends. You're kind of a stick in the mud sometimes. Hey, thanks for coming--"

"Unwillingly," Zack retorted blandly, patting at Mary's back. "Seriously, what kinda witch crap did he pull on me? Am I gonna be okay?"

I pat at his face with a smile. "He's not a witch, so don't worry about that. Have fun with the baby and for the love of God, keep the baby away from Ghostbusters, I'm getting sick of her screaming when we don't play the movie at least three times a day."

"No promises," Zack smiles.

Cass leans to my ear as I shove on my boots. "What's a ghostbuster?" He asks softly.

I palm at my face irritably. "Let's talk later, okay?"

~*****~

"You know, when I said we'd talk later, this is not what I had in mind-- God dammit, Gabriel!" I shout angrily, stomping my boots around in the remains of a squished up Slimer from the movie Ghostbusters. "You've got to be shitting me!" I don't know how long we'd been in this stupid trap of Gabriel's, but as soon as we stepped into that warehouse, everything went to shit.

"I'm still unsure of what--"

"Shut up, Cass," I snap angrily. "Come on, we've got to make our way through this stupid fantasy he's putting us in and kick the crap out of him because I am at my wits end!"

"Well, that didn't take long. You're not as fun to play with you know," Gabriel's voice rings out from up above. Cass and I sling our gazes up to the fire escape we're under. "Like the suit? Authentic. Totally ripped it off from old Bill himself."

"Why the hell didn't you tell me you were an archangel?" I snap, hands propping on my hips.

Gabriel rolled his eyes. "As if I'd let that information slip. I don't want anything to do with this, you're the one waltzing into my place."

"Gabriel, Lucifer has--"

"Can it, kid," Gabriel retorted irritably, and with a snap of his fingers, Cass is coated in slime and his mouth covered in duct tape. "So, you wanna come up and watch, or do you wanna spend the next twenty-four hours playing in my little game?"

"Watch what? What have you done?" I complain.

"Your little monkey friends are in some other shows right now, and it's gonna be funny~" Gabriel promises.

I glance back at Cass before turning back up to Gabriel. "I will, if you promise you'll talk about doing something about our asshole of an older brother." I snap.

Gabriel rolled his eyes and snapped his fingers. Suddenly, I'm on a comfy couch, popcorn in my lap with Gabriel on the other side. He's got a clay face mask on and his hair is up in small pigtails. My brows furrow and I feel the familiar tightness in my face. I prod at my cheek and grimace as wet clay sticks to my fingers. I try to move, but a bundle of fluffy blankets cover my body immediately and my rough jeans and boots disappear in turn for a matching set of pink pajamas.

"Setting the mood. It's about time we had some sibling bonding. Been due for over a couple thousand years." Gabriel hums as he tosses popcorn into the air and into his mouth. He presses the play button on the large remote between us and the tv flickers on.

Sam and Dean appear in some weird game show, attached by the feet on two platforms with a device between their legs that I can only assume goes only one way. "Hey, wait-- I need those--" I complain to Gabriel.

"You can fix it, we got powers to make that happen, you know." Gabriel retorts.

The door behind them starts banging. "Now what?" Dean complains. Cass stumbles inwards, still wiping ooze from his face. The duct tape is still hanging on his cheek from where he pulled it off when he spots Sam and Dean. "Cass?"

"Is this another trick?" Sam gasps out.

"It's me. What are you doing here?" Cass asks.

"Us? What are you doing here?" Dean complains.

"Carlotta and I came here a couple of days ago and when I got shoved out, I learn that you two have also been missing. So I came looking for you." Cass snaps.

"Then get us the hell out of here, then!" Sam hisses.

"Let's go--" Cass snaps as he approaches the two.

Gabriel rolls his eyes and snaps his fingers, causing Cass to disappear. "No, no, no, no--" The host hums in a thick Japanese accent. "Mr. Trickster does not like pretty-boy angels." The game continues.

"Gabriel--" I sigh irritably.

"No talking, the show's starting back up." Gabriel beamed.

"Dude, you're hitting them in the nuts for fun! Come on, this is not funny!" I complain.

"Oh, I got somethin' funny."

~*****~

The commercial starts up and I can feel tears prick my eyes from the laughter bubbling in my chest. I quickly slap my hands over my mouth, ignoring the tacky clay over my face as the first line is uttered by a woman doing yoga. "I've got genital herpes." She hums peacefully. An old man repeats her phrase calmly in the next scene. The scene after, Sam and Dean are playing basketball, and Sam turns to the camera.

"Seriously?" Sam murmurs.

"Hey, you're the one who said play our roles. So, uh..." Dean retorted before he went back to playing.

"Yeah, right..." Sam sighs, lowering his head in shame. "I've got genital herpes." Gabriel and I howl with laughter throughout the commercial for Herpexia.

Perhaps there was a thing to using our powers for fun. He made a whole sitcom for our lives, and it certainly looked a lot better than living it.

Then, we're off of the couch, being slung into the TV show. I groan loudly as I lay on the floor, wishing that tacky clay was on my face because this floor definitely did not feel clean. "Wipe out!" Gabriel joked, and loud laughter rang out. "Hey, Lottie, it's our friend, Castiel!" Gabriel chirps as he hauls me upwards.

Sam and Dean stare at me, then down at my clothes, which I'm embarrassed to admit, are still the fluffy pajama's Gabriel and I were wearing for the shows. "What the hell is going on?" Sam asks. "You know him?"

"Where did you just send him?" Dean asks.

"Relax, he'll live," Gabriel smiles, looping his arm around my shoulders as I dust my face off. "Maybe."

"Oh, shut up, he better. And I mean it." I snap up at Gabriel.

He rolls his eyes. "Fine, fine. Whatever. He lives."

"Okay, you know what? I'm done with the monkey dance, okay? We get it." Dean snaps as he rounds the table. He clasps my arm tight and tugs me away from Gabriel.

"Yeah? Get what, hotshot?" Gabriel asks, tilting his head.

"Playing our roles, right? That's your game?" Dean retorts irritably.

"That's half the game." Gabriel hums.

"What's the other half?" Sam asks.

"Play your roles out there." Gabriel states.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Dean snorts.

"You know-- Sam, starring as Lucifer. Dean, starring as Michael. Your celebrity deathmatch. Play your roles!" Gabriel beams.

"Oh, come off of it!" I exclaim angrily, shoving past Dean. "You said you'd--"

"I said I'd talk." Gabriel retorted smugly. "I didn't agree to anything."

"So-- so, what? You want them to say yes to those sons of bitches?" I snap.

"Hells, yeah. Let's light this candle!" Gabriel exclaims.

"We do that, the world will end!" Sam explains.

"Yeah? And whose fault is that?" Gabriel hums. "Who popped Lucifer out of the box, hmm? Look, it's started. You started it. It can't be stopped. So, let's get it over with."

"Heaven or Hell-- which side are you on?" Dean asks.

Gabriel smirked. "I'm not on either side."

"Yeah, right." Dean scoffs. "You're grabbing ankle for Michael or Lucifer. Which one is it?"

Gabriel just snorts loudly and steps up to Dean. "You listen to me, you arrogant dick. I don't work for either of those S.O.B.'s, believe me."

Dean hums again. "Oh, you're somebody's bitch."

Gabriel snatches Dean's shirt and shoves him up against the door behind him. "Gabriel, no!" I shout.

My throat locks up as I'm thrown across the room and into the wall, my limbs pinned down. "Don't forget kid, I've got eons on you." Gabriel retorts with a low tone. He turns his gaze back on Dean. "Don't you ever presume to know what I am." There's a tense moment of silence before he releases Dean. "Now, listen very closely. Here's what's gonna happen. You're gonna suck it up, accept your responsibilities, and play the roles that destiny has chosen for you."

"And if we don't?" Sam asks.

Gabriel turns his gaze back onto Sam. "Then you'll stay here in TV land... forever. Three hundred channels and, uh, nothing's on. Come on, kid. We'll get front row seats, this time."

My throat unlocks and just as I try to hurl swears at him, we're sitting on opposite sides of a table, peering at a small TV at the end. I'm back in my regular clothes and glaring holes in the side of Gabriel's head.

~*****~

I rubbed at my temples irritably, boots tapping against the concrete. "Why?" I ask again. "Why are you so hell bent on having them pegged by Lucifer and Michael?"

"Because it's what they're destined to do, Lottie." Gabriel snapped. "You were never supposed to be a part of this. You were meant to come into your powers as soon as the apocalypse started, so that you could rebuild the world from the ground up. But a little miscalculation on Dad's part kickstarted your powers and crippled you from playing the part you were supposed to play. So that parts a bust."

"When the hell is anyone going to give me a straight story?!" I shout, slamming my fist onto the table.

"Everyone's told something different. Only the archangels know what your purpose is." Gabriel rolls his eyes. "Quit being so serious--"

"I'll stop when Lucifer is dead, and Michael isn't trying to force his way into Dean's ass." I snap.

"Don't talk about our brothers like that!" Gabriel snaps, slamming his fist onto the table. Gabriel sighs loudly. "Listen, flings come and go, it's a part of the lives we live. You're going to outlive Dean for an eternity. And no matter how much you beg and will it, it will not change. So get used to it, sister. They need to play their parts. One way or another." The scene around us disappears and we're back in my motel room. Zack glances up, brows furrowed in confusion. Gabriel peers around and hums in surprise. "Nice control."

"Get out of here." I say lowly. "I don't want to see you anywhere near us again."

"Oh yeah? And, uh, what about Sam and Dean?" Gabriel asks.

"They'll figure out just what you are, and they'll have a plan to escape. I know my boys." I snap. "And unlike you, I plan to stand up to the douche bags. I'm not going to hide somewhere like a coward. Now leave." Gabriel raises his hands and disappears from sight.

"You okay?" Zack asks nervously.

I shake my head and prop my hands on my hips. "Just tired. The baby give you any trouble?"

"Just the usual screaming when I didn't put on Ghostbusters." Zack shrugged.

"Don't even mention Ghostbusters to me ever again. I'm sick and tired of it." I murmur as I snatch the remote and turn the TV off. "Speaking of. I kinda hate TV, too."

~*****~

When Sam and Dean return, no one says a thing. Although, Cass is surprised as I sail into him for a tight hug. He doesn't return it, as he's basically a monkey with a math equation, but that doesn't stop my relief that he's actually okay.

Later that night, Sam snores into his pillow as Dean rocks the baby, his eyes trained on her little face. The silence is deafening. "So, have you always known about Gabriel?" Dean asks.

I perk up, brows furrowing. "No, actually." I murmur. "Just found out when he forced Cass and I into those stupid shows before offering to let me watch instead of being in them." I shrug. "Just thought he had a soft spot for me since he couldn't actually hurt me."

"You know, your family is kinda crazy," Dean mentions teasingly.

I snort loudly. "That's an understatement." I mention. "You've got my absent father, older brothers who all seem to have a hard on for my boyfriend and his brother, and then there's the other little douchebags who seem to want Earth to be saved or wiped out, there's no in between anymore."

Dean gave a light chuckle. "Yeah, seems like it." He murmured before ambling to the crib. "You'd think you'd have some say as to what happens with all that destiny crap." Dean mentioned.

I gave a subtle shrug. "I wouldn't know what to do with it in the first place. I mean, you saw how easily Gabriel overpowered me. And he's not even the strongest of the Archangels." Dean crossed his arms over his chest as he approached me with a hesitant smile.

"We'll figure it out, sweetheart. You know we will." Dean murmured softly.

My lower lip quivered at his tone. "But... what if we can't. What if-- what if Sam does say yes to Lucifer?" I asked meekly. "By something completely out of our control."

"Baby, if it comes to that, I'll--"

"I'll take care of it," I suddenly say, lip quivering harder. "If I have to drag him back down to hell and slam the gates on the both of us, I'll do it..." Dean stares at me, eyes burning with either fear or anxiety. "I'm the only one who can manage it. You know this, Dean."

"Yeah, well, I don't want you to." Dean snaps. Our gazes flicker to Sam as he lets out a rough grunt in his sleep. "Push comes to shove, you take Mary, and you haul ass." Dean orders. "Baby, please. Please promise me you'll run. I can't-- I can't bear the thought of losing either of you."

"And I can't lose you again..." I whimper.

Dean grasps my face tenderly, pulling my gaze back up to meet his. "Promise me, Lottie... Just... for the love of God, run if it comes to that."

My lips quiver violently and all I can do at the moment is lie to please him. "I promise..." I sob, burrowing myself into his shirt.