"Years," said Castiel, but to an angel that meant next to nothing. It was a blip in the grand scheme of things, a blink, nothing more. Time passed differently in Heaven and Hell, where months felt like decades for a human, but on Earth? To an angel, time on Earth passed so very quickly indeed. "Four, five years."
His eyes flickered to Gabriel's wings, watching body language that no human would ever truly see. "Heaven was in chaos. The civil war, the ..."
He trailed off. Gabriel didn't need to know about the Leviathans, or what Castiel had done with Crowley. He didn't need to know that the only reason he'd been able to kill Raphael was because he'd absorbed the power of tens of thousands of human souls and declared himself God.
"Metatron cast a spell that expelled all of the angels from Heaven," he said. "There's been a power vacuum, different factions all scrambling to rule. Metatron decided it was his time. — He's been dealt with. It's all been dealt with, and Heaven has some semblance of order now. Hannah's in control and she's done nothing but good."