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Life as he knew itChanged in an instant.The small bundle inHis arms.Bright golden eyes,Mirrors of his own,Staring up at him.Waiting. Life moved on fromLoss.Life grew.The girl grew upTo a womanTall and strongBut still his little girl.His princess. The moment heSaid goodbye.Heartbreak.The woman lostEverything.One instant changedLife as she knew it.
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"What do you mean, 'She's gone'?!" the golden haired man stood glaring at the doctor, panic threatening to overwhelm him. "Where is my wife?!" The doctor sighed, hating this part of his job. "I'm sorry sir. There were complications with the delivery. We did everything we could, but she lost too much blood." He paused a moment to let the grieving man absorb the information before adding, "Your daughter is fine though." The man's whiskey eyes were shining with tears as he looked at the doctor in surprise. "Daughter?" His breath caught. "I have a daughter?" he said the question faintly, almost to himself. The doctor smiled gently. "Yes, sir. Would you like to see her now or do you need a few minutes?" The man nodded his head. "Yeah. I want to see her." The doctor led the man down the hall to the nursery and over to a small bassinet near the door. Lifting the tiny bundle into his arms, the doctor turn and placed her gently into her father's nervous arms. The man's previously grieving face lit up with joy at the sight of the tiny girl in his arms. "Hey, princess," he whispered softly, "I'm your daddy." He carefully inched the blanket away from her face and was rewarded by the sight of his daughter's eyes opening. His breath caught in his throat. He had expected her eyes to be blue, like every other newborn in the world. They weren't, the little girl's eyes were bright golden, the same as his. The doctor must have noticed his reaction because he said, "Her eyes are very unusual. It's rare but not impossible for a child to be born with a different color other than blue. But I don't believe I've every seen so bright a color before. I'd say they're almost-" The man cut him off, looking straight at the doctor as he said, "Golden. Just like mine." The doctor smiled. "I hadn't noticed that but yes. It appears your daughter does have your eyes." The man smiled back down at his daughter who yawned and shifted in her father's arms before falling asleep. A few days later, the man was able to take his daughter home. In a cabin nestled in the middle of a secluded forest, the man had set up everything for his family. Putting his daughter down in the bassinet at the end of his bed, he looked around sadly. "I'm sorry your mom can't be here, baby girl," he sighed, looking down at his daughter. "It's just you and me from now on." With that, the man, know to most of the world as the Trickster and to all of Heaven as Gabriel, settled into life as a single parent.
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"Ali, let's go!" the girl's dad called to her from the front door. "If you want to do this we have to go now!" Alexis Jordan Stewart, known as Ali, smiled as she grabbed the last of her gear and tossed it into her backpack before running out of her room. The nineteen year old ran to the front door of the cabin she had shared with her dad since she was born in time to see him pretend to look at the nonexistent watch on his wrist. "Ha, ha, Dad," Ali said sarcastically. "We're not going to be late. And how can you even be late for dishing out justice anyway?" she asked, pausing for a second to think about it. "I mean, doesn't that go on your time not theirs?" The Trickster rolled his eyes at his teenaged daughter. "I don't have to take you, you know." "I can follow you, you know," she snapped back while smiling sweetly at her dad. "You never take me anywhere. This will be the first time I've ever gotten to see you in action, Daddy." With that said Ali knew she had him. Gabriel grinned. He knew the game she was playing but, since he had already decided to take her to Ohio with him, he wasn't going to argue. "Okay, Princess," he said indulgently, "let's just get going." "Thank you Daddy." The teenager adored her dad. He was all she had and she was his everything. He did everything he could to hide her and made it no secret to her. They didn't have secrets between each other. He knew all her most private thoughts and she knew all his. She knew about his life as an Archangel and when he had decided to leave. She knew how much he loved his brothers, even some of the younger angels. She also knew about his life as the Trickster. When she was younger she had gotten an introduction to that life when she had met some of the pagan gods. To them, she was Loki's daughter. She knew the games he liked to play and the way he liked to dish out punishments to bad people. Personally she couldn't blame him and actually agreed with him to an extent. But this would be the first time she ever got to witness her dad at work. "You ready?" Gabriel asked, looking at her with a smile. At her eager nod he chuckled and held out a hand. "Then let's go." Ali grabbed his hand and off they flew. They had been in Wellington, Ohio for a few days when they heard the rumors. The Winchesters were on their trail. Or to be more specific, on the Trickster's trail. The first sighting came when Ali was pretending to casually walk past the house where her dad had had the guy's head ripped off by the Hulk. She chuckled to herself. That had been funny. Ali loved and shared her dad's sense of irony. She had just moved behind a tree when she noticed a freakishly tall man walk into the house through the hole in the door. Ducking around the back of the tree, she looked around before she flew into a closet in the house. Ali peaked out of the crack in the door to see the tall man looking around the room. He didn't seem to be looking for anything in particular but Ali watched in alarm as the man bent down and picked up something off the ground. She swore to herself when she recognized it as one of her dad's candy wrappers. He was so sloppy! As soon as the man was far enough out of earshot, Ali flew back to her dad. "Dad, we've got a problem," she said walking into the room. Gabriel glanced at her for a second before looking back at the TV. "What's wrong, Princess?" "I just saw this ridiculously tall guy walk into that house where the guy lived and snoop around." Ali was starting to get annoyed with her dad for not paying attention. "He picked up one of YOUR candy wrappers and ran off." "How do you know it wasn't just some weird trash collector?" the Trickster asked his daughter. "There are people-" She cut him off in growing frustration. "He looked like he knew it was YOU Dad!" She threw her hands into the air and stood in front of the TV. "Didn't you say one of those Winchester guys was freakishly tall?" Gabriel nodded and sat up, giving the teen his full attention. "Yeah, Sam. And I did hear that they may be in town." "So?" The girl looked at him hopeful that he had a plan. "Yeah, Princess," he said answering her unfinished question. "I have a plan." "This is ridiculous," Ali grumbled to her father as she followed him down the hall in his Dr. Sexy disguise. "I hate this show." He gave her a look that effectively told her to shut up and turned to greet the two dumbstruck men at the end of the hall. "Doctor," he said to the shorter of the two, though Ali noted they were still both taller than her dad. "Doctor," the man replied and Ali had to fight laughter when she realized he was quietly fangirling. Her dad then turned to the one that Ali recognized as Sam Winchester and repeated, "Doctor." The other one, which Ali assumed was Dean, elbowed Sam and he rolled his eyes before responding, "Doctor." Dr. Sexy/Gabriel then turned and rattled off a bit of TV dialogue that Ali really didn't care to remember and Dean mumbled a bit in response before looking down at her dad's shoes. "You're not Dr. Sexy," he said in realization before slamming her dad into the wall. "I swore what made Dr. Sexy sexy was the fact that he wears cowboy boots, NOT tennis shoes." "Yeah, not a fan," his brother mumbled next to him in bemusement and Ali chuckled lightly. "It's a guilty pleasure," Dean replied defensively. Dr. Sexy/Gabriel looked at Ali and said, "Call security." Dean held him to the wall and looked at him in triumph. "Yeah go ahead, we know what you really are." Ali watched her dad at work as everyone froze around them and he shape shifted back to himself. "You guys are getting better." He smirked at the Winchester boys playfully and winked at his daughter. Dean didn't look amused however when he said, "You're gonna let us out of here." "Or what?" Gabriel asked. "I don't see your wooden stakes anywhere big guy." He grabbed Dean's arm and twisted it away from him before moving to stand next to his daughter. "Who is this?" Sam asked, looking at the teenager in worry, like she was his victim not his daughter. Gabriel smiled with pride and threw his arm around her protectively. "Eyes off my daughter, Samsquatch." Dean laughed in disbelief, "Since when do you have a daughter?" "Since I was born nineteen years ago, jackass." Ali was starting to get annoyed at the three of them and threw her dad's arm off her. "I can take care of myself Dad." Having had enough of the conversation, the young nephilim raised her hand and, with a snap to disguise it, flew out of the room, leaving her dad to play with the Winchesters to his hearts content. Ali was relaxing in her hotel room half an hour later when the TV crackled on. With a sigh, the girl looked over to see Sam and Dean Winchester on a Japanese game show. She grinned as she settled down in front of the TV to watch. It was hilarious to see Sam get hit the nuts for failing to answer the question. After a moment, everyone appeared to be surprised to see a man enter through the door behind the boys. Ali became more interested when Dean identified the man as Cas, which she assumed was short for Castiel and this was confirmed when he disappeared and the Japanese man announced that, "Mr. Trickster does not like pretty boy angels," to which Ali rolled her eyes. "Really Dad, that's like saying you don't like yourself." "Who are you?" came a grainy voice from behind her. Ali yelped in surprise and spun around to see the angel, Cas, standing there looking at her in confusion. "What the?!" the girl started in shock before she realized what had happened. Looking around the room she yelled, "Really Dad?! Why am I suddenly a babysitter?!" "I am not a baby," Cas said. The girl just rolled her eyes at the angel. "How are you associated with the Trickster?" "Dude, did you not just hear me call him Dad?" The girl didn't wait for a response as she turned back to the TV in time to hear Sam say, "I have genital herpes." She laughed hysterically while Cas sat down next to her looking even more confused. "How is it that a Trickster has a child?" the angel asked and the girl narrowed her eyes at him. "You're not human." Castiel stared at her for a moment. "What are you?" "Rude question dude," was the only response Ali was willing to give the angel for fear of him finding out about her dad or her. "You're Castiel aren't you?" she asked him innocently attempting to divert him. She knew she had succeeded when he responded, "Yes, I am." Smiling warmly, the girl said, "It's nice to meet you Castiel, I'm Ali." "I am sorry I must leave, Ali, but I need to help my friends." Cas stood up to leave and the girl let out a sigh of regret. "I'm afraid I can't let you do that," Ali waved a hand and the angel went flying into a wall. "Daddy won't be happy if I let you go." She moved to throw him again but was shocked by the sudden force that hit her. "I regret having to strike you, Ali, however, I must leave now." Before she could react, Castiel was gone. Ali looked frantically at the TV in time to see him burst through the door of a motel room where the Winchesters appeared to be in some type of sitcom. He began to tell the boys that he didn't think her dad was a Trickster when he went flying into a wall and her dad made a grand entrance. "Hey Castiel," Gabriel said to the younger angel, who Ali noticed now had duct tape across his mouth. Her dad snapped his fingers and Cas disappeared. Ali turned away from the TV, looking around the room to see if her dad had given her another chance to keep an eye on Cas. She sighed when he didn't appear. "I'm sorry, Daddy," she mumbled. "He had you distracted, Princess," her dad's voice said from behind her. "Don't worry, he won't get out again unless I want him to." Gabriel approached his daughter and wrapped her in a hug. While they were standing there, they faintly heard Dean's voice on the TV, yelling for the Trickster. With a sigh, Gabriel pulled away from the girl, ready to go answer to irate hunter alone. "Let me go with you Daddy." He simply nodded and to two of them appeared in front of the apparently lone Winchester. "Where's Sam?" Ali asked, looking around curiously. Her dad answered her by saying to the car, "Wow, Sam, look at the rims on you!" "Bite me," came Sam's voice from the car and that was when Ali realized her dad had pulled a Knight Rider on the boys. "Let's get this show on the road," Gabriel said, moving to stand in front of the boys. Ali grinned in amusement and stood back from her dad, not wanting to get too close. Dean shook his head. "Nobody's going anywhere until Sam's got opposable thumbs." "What's the difference?" the wayward Archangel said sarcastically. "Satan's gonna ride his ass one way or another." Ali sighed. "Just do it Dad." Gabriel glanced back at his daughter before he rolled his eyes and snapped his fingers. "We just have one question," Dean said as his brother exited the car and stood next to him, "why didn't the stake work on you?" Ali started nervously while her dad said, "I am the Trickster." "Maybe not," Dean said as he flicked a lighter and threw it on the ground in front of Gabriel, causing a ring of holy fire to spring up around him. "Maybe you've always been an angel." Gabriel scoffed at him, "You're crazy." Ali began panicking to herself, looking wildly between her dad and the Winchesters. "Really?" Dean replied knowing he had him. "Then how about you just jump out of that holy fire and we'll call it our bad." Gabriel and his daughter stood looking at the two hunters in silence for a moment before the world shifted around them and the abandoned warehouse appeared. "Where'd you get the holy oil?" Gabriel asked, looking down at the fire surrounding him. Dean grinned in amusement. "Well you might say we pulled it out of Sam's ass." Ali snorted with laughter while Sam looked awkwardly uncomfortable. "Who are you anyway?" Dean asked turning his attention to the teen. Gabriel narrowed his eyes at him. "I told you. She's my daughter." "Yeah right," Sam said in disbelief. "You're an angel. Angels don't have kids." "Don't you read?" Ali snapped and the hunter looked at her in confusion. She rolled her eyes and clear her throat before quoting, "There were giants in the earth in those days; and also after that, when the sons of God came in unto the daughters of Man, and they bare children to them, the same became mighty men which were of old, men of renown." She smirked at the three astonished men. "Genesis chapter six verse four." Gabriel chuckled and winked at his daughter before looking back at the hunters. "She's right. That book may have had a lot wrong but not all of it." He paused a moment then said, "How'd you figure it out?" "Well call it personal experience, but no one gets that pissed off unless they're talking about family," Dean said and Ali noted the shift of discomfort in the taller hunter's shoulders. "So which one are you?" Sam asked. "Sneezy, Sleazy, or Douchey?" "Gabriel, okay? They call me Gabriel," the angel answered in resignation. Ali wanted to reach out to her dad, frustrated by the flames that separated them. "Gabriel? The Archangel?" Sam said in surprise. "Guilty," he replied halfheartedly. "How does an Archangel become a Trickster?" Dean asked glancing at Ali. Gabriel smiled and, with a flourish went on to explain how he became a pagan as well as telling the boys how they needed to do what they were meant to. Ali rolled her eyes at her dad when he raised his hands and said, "As it is in Heaven, so shall it be on Earth." The Winchesters noticed her eye roll, causing her dad to look back at her. "Don't sass me, Princess." Ali just grinned at him. "You are so full of it Dad." She looked at Dean and, ignoring her dad's annoyed look, said, "So are you gonna let my dad out of there or what?" "Well first," Dean began, "you're gonna bring Cas back from wherever you stashed him." "Really?" Gabriel said in defiance. "Just do it Dad," his daughter said with a sigh. "I don't want to be standing here all day." The Archangel rolled his eyes at his daughter and snapped his fingers. "Cas, you okay?" Dean asked in concern as the angel in question appeared behind him. "I'm fine," Castiel said in annoyance, and looked at the older angel. "Gabriel." "Hey bro," Gabriel said in false cheer, causing Ali's heart to break for her dad, "how's the search for Dad going? Let me guess, terrible." "Dad," Ali said softly and Castiel looked at her in surprise. Gabriel glared at the younger angel. "Don't even think about telling anybody about her. She's innocent." "She's a Nephilim, Gabriel." Cas replied warily. Ali flared in annoyance. "And SHE'S right here you know!" She glared at Castiel. "I'm not doing anything to anybody, so just leave me alone!" Cas sighed and looked at the young nephilim, "Nephilim are forbidden." Gabriel rolled his eyes. "No they're not." Cas looked at him in shock. "Who told you that? Let me guess. Michael told you all that dad told me to say that right?" At Castiel's slow nod he continued. "Never happened. Dad never said anything like that, and definitely not to me. I should know." Castiel looked at him in confusion. "I'll have to think about this." Gabriel just nodded, happy his brother was starting to think for himself. Ali turned away from the rest of the conversation, not wanting to hear the Winchesters yelling at her dad. She turned back only when Dean pulled the fire alarm and water began raining down on her and her dad. Approaching him she took his hand and said, "Let's go home Daddy." Gabriel grinned at his daughter and smiled. "Okay, Princess." They flew out of the warehouse and headed home.