Fic: They were thy brothers (March-Stalkers Mighty timestamp)

They were thy brothers.

a March-Stalkers Mighty extra

She wished to give her brothers pleasure, and plucked the twelve flowers, and thought she would present each brother with one while at dinner. But at the self–same moment that she touched the flowers the twelve brothers were changed into twelve ravens, and flew away over the forest, and the house and garden vanished likewise. And now the poor maiden was alone in the wild forest, and when she looked around, an old woman was standing near her who said, “My child, what hast thou done? Why didst thou not leave the twelve white flowers growing? They were thy brothers, who are now for evermore changed into ravens.”
Grimm’s Household Tales, The Twelve Brothers.

Word Count: 6800.

Pairings: None, though it might be read as pre-Gabriel/Sam in the context of the whole series. Mention of past Gabriel/OFC, past Gabriel/Lucifer/Michael.

Rating: Mature, mostly for Gabriel’s state of mind.

Warnings: (Mouse-over individual warnings for mildly spoilery details, if desired.) Hermaphrodite character. Mention of trans/gender confusion. Angst, and grief. Violent thoughts, mental and emotional instability. Memories of kids being bullied, handling weapons, being attacked by monsters, and facing the start of a civil war. Mention of unprotected sex – I’m pretty sure Terry Pratchett’s is still the only fantasy universe with condoms. (Withdrawal is not an effective contraception, kids.)

Spoilers: None (AU).

Summary: This summary assumes you’ve read the main story. Gabriel’s mind is jumping wildly all over the place here and his disjointed thought process will make even less sense if you don’t know what's going on; and besides, there are a lot of details about his family and the situation of angels in general that are assumed knowledge here which are only discovered by the humans later on.
Told from Gabriel’s point of view. Takes place after the events of Passus II, pes dexter (i. e., after Dean meets Castiel, drags Sam out of bed, and confronts Gabriel in his cage in the barn to demand answers about how angels can possibly be people). Dean having left, Sam re-enters the barn to get answers to his own questions. Gabriel, raw with the shock of hearing about his brother’s death and with his imprisonment, struggles to retain his grip on reality and on sarcasm.

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