Family Portrait

Yay. More SPN Headcanonny fanart.

So, here we have the four archangels. Left to right, we have Lucifer, Gabriel (in arms), Michael and Raphael. The once happy family.

Part of my headcanon is that Lucifer and Gabriel were particularly close when they were young. (Admission- good deal of this was pointed out on tumblr.) Remember Hammer of the Gods where Lucifer says that Gabriel learned everything, all of his tricks, from him? They must have been pretty close, once upon a time. As Michael seems a bit up himself, and probably had his hands full with Raphael, I reckon Gabe was drawn to Lucifer from a young age, and Lucifer did the majority of Gabriel's raising. He was the big brother. So when (during mystery spot) Gabe kept Sam on the time loop of Dean dying over and over, it was somewhat to help him. I'll only say somewhat. Why? Because he knew what it felt like to lose someone like that. Lucifer being locked in the pit, he must have been pretty much dead to Gabriel. He was preparing Sam for it, little brother to little brother.

And then gave Dean back. Because nobody should have to go through that, right?

Sorry, I... just have a lot of feels regarding Gabriel and Lucifer.

But for the photograph. I'd personally say that it was Joshua that took it, or maybe God himself. And gave a copy of the picture to all of the archangels. My ideas for what happened to the copies? Sure, I'll tell you.

Michael? Perhaps, whilst he still was on good terms with all three, he had it framed and kept it in a place where everyone could see it. He may have been the prince of heaven, but family would have been something to be proud of once. But after Lucifer was cast out, my guess would have been that he either ripped out Lucifer's face from it, or ripped the entire picture to pieces. Perhaps ripping it up would have taken place after Gabriel skipped out. Because family wouldn't have been something to be proud of anymore; one deliberately disobeyed God and the other ran away. He cannot be proud of this anymore.

Lucifer? Lucifer, again, would have been proud of his family. He'd have kept the picture safe. Even with being cast out from heaven by his big brother, he still loved them. He remained fond of angels, in particular archangels. (He had no question of obliterating Cas after he molotoved Michael with holy oil, which was the brother that God had cast him out. He even cried over Gabriel's "corpse".) But I believe that at some point during his stay in the pit, it would have been at least badly damaged if not destroyed. Not on purpose, never on purpose. He'd most likely have gotten upset over the damaged caused. Because it's the last thing that he has to remember those times before humans, before everything went wrong...

Raphael? He's the one whom I don't have the strongest picture of. However, I'd say that he kept the photo. To himself, possibly having it on the equivalent of a bedside cabinet. Up until Lucifer was cast out and Gabriel ran away. Part of me is tempted to say that he'd rip it in two, keeping the half with him and Michael whilst destroying or hiding the half with Lucifer and Gabriel. The family isn't perfect any more, he knows that from Michael. So why would he want to remember?

And finally, Gabriel? He would have held this close to his heart. In my mind, anyway. Particularly after skipping out of heaven. Always in an inside coat pocket, or on him somehow. Whenever he's completely certain he's alone, possibly (but very rarely) take it out and look back. Because what does he have other than memories? Even whilst running from the past. Hiding. He'd still have it. Remember the times that Lucifer would rock him to sleep, that he'd played with Raphael. That Michael had taught him about the bible and of Christianity. And when confronted with having to kill Lucifer, he couldn't do it himself. He sent in the carbon copies of himself and, for some reason, a copy of the photograph too. Not his own, he wouldn't ever give away his own. Just a copy of his copy. Possibly just to remind Lucifer of just who they are, and who they were. Maybe whilst his body lay there, Lucifer spotted the corner of it sticking out of his jacket. And he looked at it. Maybe he expected to find it was a photo of Gabriel and Kali, but no. It was this. And everything comes flooding back. All of those times in heaven, repressed in the back of his mind since the destruction/ damage of his own copy. So he'd take it. Because in the destruction of everything, he can't forget this again...

***

Um yes, I went on a bit there. It's just my headcanon thingy.

As a note on the drawing itself, I started it a week or two ago. I finished it when I realised that it mostly just required colouring. I know the aging affect I gave it didn't work out fantastically, but... oh well? I like this, for the most part.

Oh, and I did this almost entirely whilst listening to Stairway To Heaven on repeat. It's really calming...

Lucifer, Michael, Raphael, Gabriel, Supernatural (c) Eric Kripke
Art & Headcanon (c) me