Despite his need to defend whoever needs it at the time, Gabriel's not capable of actually killing his brothers, although he has no problem killing humans who deserve it. He could have easily killed Castiel to avoid having him expose him, but didn't. He would have probably let him go on his own, and his snide Oh am I? at Dean's demand that he release him was just him being annoyed that Dean was bossing him around. He may have threatened to shiv Michael and acted like he planned on doing the same to Lucifer if his older brother didn't back down (and this may have been all part of the game he was playing, another sad I don't care lie), but if he had any intentions of doing it, he wouldn't have made his attempt so obvious or would've taken Lucifer out when he had him down. He knows Lucifer- knows that Lucifer knows him. He likely chose the tactic he confronted Lucifer with, because it was the only way to get out without killing his brother- he would rather die, himself, or test the limits of Lucifer's mercy than stoop that low. In some ways it was a test to see if Lucifer was even capable of that much forgiveness- the same that Gabriel had found in humans- or if he would simply continue to fester under his own hatred. He chose to kill his own brother- a choice Gabriel would never have made were their roles reversed, but he likely felt that Lucifer deserved the chance to make the right choice. This is how Gabriel holds himself to a higher standard than the rest of his family. Yes, he's lower than dirt, because he slums it up and acts like a heathen, but he doesn't kill his family. He doesn't engage in apocalyptic hissy fits whenever he disagrees with something. He may be lower than a dog in their eyes, but he's better than that and he expects them to be too. More than anything, he wants them to look at themselves and see that they're all being idiots about everything. However, up until that moment with Lucifer, he was too scared to do so. As much of a cynic he is, as much as he knows that everything will never be the way it was before, he still has some hope that his family will get the fuck over themselves and actually try to make themselves better.
In the same vein, however, Gabriel is permitted to insult, threaten, or otherwise (non-fatally) harm any one of his siblings (or anyone he considers part of his family), but does not extend that right to anyone else. Doing so pisses him off- he gets annoyed at Dean for calling Michael and Lucifer “heavenly douchenozzles,” but later refers to his family to Kali as “winged assmonkeys” and calls Lucifer “a great big bag of dicks” to his face. They’re his family- he can do what he wants to with them, but no one else can. That’s his right and his alone as a brother. Gabriel doesn’t have the same archangel biases that Michael and Lucifer have- all the angels are his family- but while he might play the irritating older brother to lesser angels, it’s Michael and Lucifer he’s closest to- Lucifer, especially. It’s for that reason that Lucifer is the brother he’s the most afraid of and the one he probably loves most, although he’d never say as much. He was Lucifer’s protégé, everything he knows, he learned from him, even if he put his own spin on things. A knife through the heart, a choice that Lucifer never would’ve agreed with, and having to look in the eyes of his own brother as he twisted the knife into his chest can’t change the fact that he owes so much of himself to his older brother and that nothing will ever make him stop loving him. In fact, he spends his last moments clinging to his brother for dear life, even through the utter betrayal and devastation in his eyes. Despite the fact that Gabriel would never stop loving Lucifer after the fact, that doesn’t mean he isn’t upset that it ended like that- knowing it would happen and feeling it happen are two different things. He’s furious about it, but he’s furious about a lot of things his family does- they’re all idiots and he’s the only sane one, but he still loves them. He picked up unconditional love from his Daddy, but, as he’d put it, he actually practices it.
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Date: 2011-02-09 07:05 pm (UTC)In the same vein, however, Gabriel is permitted to insult, threaten, or otherwise (non-fatally) harm any one of his siblings (or anyone he considers part of his family), but does not extend that right to anyone else. Doing so pisses him off- he gets annoyed at Dean for calling Michael and Lucifer “heavenly douchenozzles,” but later refers to his family to Kali as “winged assmonkeys” and calls Lucifer “a great big bag of dicks” to his face. They’re his family- he can do what he wants to with them, but no one else can. That’s his right and his alone as a brother. Gabriel doesn’t have the same archangel biases that Michael and Lucifer have- all the angels are his family- but while he might play the irritating older brother to lesser angels, it’s Michael and Lucifer he’s closest to- Lucifer, especially. It’s for that reason that Lucifer is the brother he’s the most afraid of and the one he probably loves most, although he’d never say as much. He was Lucifer’s protégé, everything he knows, he learned from him, even if he put his own spin on things. A knife through the heart, a choice that Lucifer never would’ve agreed with, and having to look in the eyes of his own brother as he twisted the knife into his chest can’t change the fact that he owes so much of himself to his older brother and that nothing will ever make him stop loving him. In fact, he spends his last moments clinging to his brother for dear life, even through the utter betrayal and devastation in his eyes. Despite the fact that Gabriel would never stop loving Lucifer after the fact, that doesn’t mean he isn’t upset that it ended like that- knowing it would happen and feeling it happen are two different things. He’s furious about it, but he’s furious about a lot of things his family does- they’re all idiots and he’s the only sane one, but he still loves them. He picked up unconditional love from his Daddy, but, as he’d put it, he actually practices it.