His eyes slide shut in relief as Sam's fingers slide through his hair. His Sam. Gadreel forces himself to drag in a calming breath as he'd been taught. "There were.. other angels. Visiting Castiel." A hard swallow. "They recoiled from me. From the collar that I bear."

The angels would not listen, would not understand. Of course they wouldn't. Gadreel was the fallen, the failed guardian of Eden. Why would they understand or listen to what he had to say?