On a Wing and a Prayer, Part 1
Title: On a Wing and a Prayer
Pairings: Dean/Castiel
Rating: NC-17
Spoilers: let's just say all of season 5 though the fic goes AU before the end of 99 Problems (the bit where Dean drives away at the end never happened, he really just went to get bandages from the Impala)
Warnings: AU, slash, dom!Cas, sub!Dean, first time, wing!fic, bare backing, oral
Word Count: 34,652
Note: This fic was written for the deancasbigbang 2011.
Summary: When Gabriel shows up to join Team Free Will and offers them a potential solution to the Apocalypse, none of them could have imagined what was going to happen or how it would changes things forever.
Beta: aerilex
Artist: fargone1789
Art Masterlist: BEWARE, the art will spoil the fic if viewed first!
"Oh you've got to be kidding me, Dean!" Sam exclaimed.
"What?" Dean asked, dragging his eyes from the TV long enough to look at his irate brother standing in the doorway. "Dude, close the door before someone sees and calls the cops!"
With that Dean refocused most of his attention on the TV even as his hands continued cleaning their weapons. So what if he was watching Doctor Sexy, he was doing something useful at the same time. Besides, this was one of the best episodes there was as Doctor Sexy finally got to bang the really hot nurse that had joined the show this season. God how he wished that he could do her!
"You're actually polishing your sword?" Sam demanded and Dean's eyes snapped from the TV to stare at his brother in disbelief, hands freezing on the angel blade he held. "Shit, I didn't mean it like that! That just sounded wrong."
"Ya think?"
Dean couldn't believe that his brother had actually said that and, to think, Sam said that he spoke without thinking! He never said stuff like that before realizing the sexual connotations of it, but then he wasn't as much in need of a good lay as his brother. Though he could do with one himself come to think of it. How long had it been now and why exactly had he let it go so long that he actually had to think about it? That just wasn't normal.
"What I meant is why are you cleaning that thing? It wasn't exactly dirty," Sam said, placing his laptop bag on the table and taking a seat.
"Hunting rule number one, Sammy, always take care of your weapons as you never know when you might need them or how," Dean replied, putting the blade down and picking up a shotgun as he turned back to the TV. "You know that."
"You cleaned everything last week!"
"Yeah and they've been used since then."
"Not all of them and that hunt was hardly an effort."
"After every hunt, you know that."
"I know Dad used to say that," Sam retorted. "I thought you were done following his orders so blindly."
"Hey! Leave Dad out of this. Yeah, he might have been the one who taught me this, but it's just good practice as well."
"Dean-"
"No, I'm serious, you weren't there when Darian died, you didn't see it."
"Darian? Darian Pullman? The one Dad attacked for no reason?"
Dean snorted. "He was trying to get you to do stupid shit, but yeah, he's the one."
"Darian's dead? Why didn't you tell me?"
"It happened while you were at Stanford, not long after you left actually."
"You could have told me!"
"You left us, remember? Wanted nothing to do with Dad and me or hunting, besides, it was a long time ago and I forgot that you didn't know."
Though he was the one who spat the words, Dean was sure that they hurt him far more than they did his brother. Not only had the whole ordeal never really seemed to touch Sam- hell, his brother had only come back because of Jess's death!- but he now knew that for Sam the actual leaving bit had been among the happiest memories of his brother's life. It hurt like nothing he'd ever known could and that was with thirty years on the rack in Hell under his belt. Who'd have thought that the one to hurt him worse than anyone else would be his own brother? Even he hadn't seen that coming despite the whole Ruby fiasco. He did his best to shove it all aside, to lock it up in a dark corner of his mind and forget that it had ever happened just like he usually did, but for some reason it just didn't seem to work this time.
Instead the pain still tore through him each and every time that Dean thought about that little trip to Heaven. And wasn't that just the biggest joke ever? That was Heaven? He'd never thought it possible but he was pretty sure that he'd found a place worse than Hell and if he ever went back there it would be too soon. Gone were any of the thoughts that he might have entertained of just ending it all. Not that he'd seriously contemplated them, but they had been there at the very back of his mind insidiously creeping in whenever things were at their bleakest. Which had pretty much been all of the time lately. But at least they were better than the other thoughts that he'd had recently, like the one that he'd been forced to fight off just a few days ago and even then it had taken all of his efforts not to succumb to it. He still wasn't sure how long he'd stood next to the Impala just outside the Green Valley Motel in Blue Earth, Minnesota, but it had been long enough to make Sam come out in a rush, sure that he'd given in and called Michael to say yes.
He hadn't, but damn had Dean been close to doing so, still was on some levels. It just seemed to make so much sense right now and he wasn't sure how many more innocents he could simply stand by for and watch die, not while knowing that there was something he could do to end all of this. But there was something holding him back and he just couldn't figure out what it was. After all, it wasn't like his brother truly cared about him, Heaven had proven that irrevocably confirming all of his worst fears when it came to where he stood with Sam. How was it that his brother had put it? Oh right, family just didn't mean the same to Sam as it did to him.
Seemed like no one wanted him enough to want to stay with him. And why would they want to? Dean was no longer under any illusions as to his worth to those he held most dear.
"How did he die?" Sam demanded.
"Gun backfired on a hunt, injured him so bad that by the time Dad and I had dealt with the wraith nest it was too late."
"His gun backfired?" Sam repeated, stunned.
"It was dirty as hell. I'm sure you remember how he'd always say we were crazy for cleaning the weapons so much, right? Well if he'd only cleaned his a bit more then he'd still be alive so don't try and tell me that I shouldn't ensure that the same thing doesn't happen to us."
The stricken look on his brother's face made Dean curse and get up to start pacing around the room. Shit, he hadn't meant to take out his frustrations on Sam, but damn if his brother didn't make it easy to do so at times. But annoying or not, Sam wasn't the one who deserved his ire. Problem was that the ones who did weren't around. Douches like God, Zachariah, Raphael or Michael. Man but would he just love to get his hands on any one of them on even ground without any of their unimaginable power to protect them. He'd teach them a thing or two about messing with humans like they were nothing more than pawns on a chess board and just as disposable.
"Look, Sam, I-"
"No, it's okay," Sam interrupted. "I get that after witnessing something like that you'd take the whole gun maintenance thing quite seriously. But, shit, he was really killed by just that?"
"Yeah, Dad and I managed to keep the wraiths away from him, hoping we'd be able to get him to the hospital on time, but he bled out before we could get rid of them all. It was a large nest and really a three man job, hence the reason Dad had agreed to have Darian there in the first place as there was no one else available."
His brother ran a hand over his face before he sat down and Dean felt bad at having broken the news of the other hunter's death so callously. He'd forgotten how much Sam had liked the guy though if that had been because of Darian himself or because the man had always been arguing with Dad he didn't know, but he figured that it wasn't really relevant anymore.
"So, any luck at the library?" Dean asked.
"No, the only books they had that I've not seen before hardly even mentioned the Apocalypse itself and instead focused more on who would get into Heaven and who'd go straight to Hell."
"Oh, nothing of interest there then?"
"Beyond the fact that according to the author Heaven will be deserted and Hell quite crowded, no, nothing of note."
"How's Heaven supposed to be a good place if no one's there?"
Sam blinked at him. "That's what you'd miss about that kind of Heaven?"
"Well, yeah," Dean frowned. "Wouldn't you?"
"No, of course no-"
The subtle shift of air in the room had Dean diving for the angel blade on the bed even before the flutter of wings could be heard. Only one type of being made that kind of disturbance and Castiel had said he'd be busy for a few days so it probably wasn't their friend which left only angels that they didn't want around.
"Dean, what?" Sam demanded, leaping to his feet.
Dean ignored his brother and had the sword up and ready by the time Gabriel had appeared in the room with them.
"Shit!" Sam cried out, jumping backwards.
The archangel didn't even spare a glance at his brother, focusing instead on him and the angel blade Gabriel probably thought far too close to him for comfort. The thought made Dean smile grimly even as his mind raced desperately for a way out of this mess. The last time they'd seen the archangel had been in that abandoned warehouse where he'd first trapped Gabriel in Holy fire and then basically called him a spineless coward to his face. Somehow he didn't think that the archangel was here to serenade them with praise.
"Well lookie who decided to show up," Dean sneered. "Come back to moan about your woes some more?"
"Dean!" Sam hissed.
"What? That's what it was all about the last time. Bitch, bitch, bitch, moan, moan, moan and all of it excuses for why he ran away and buried his head in the sand instead of-"
"Dean, for once in your life shut up!"
"I'd listen to your brother if I were you," Gabriel added, voice low and eyes narrowed.
"Or else what? You'll shove me into TV land some more? Or perhaps you'll take me right to Michael? Oh, no, wait, that would require you to actually meet with your brother."
"There are other things that I could do," Gabriel stated, tone low and dangerous.
"Like what?" Dean challenged. "Killing me over and over? Oh, that's right, been there, done that and we both know you can't actually kill me permanently as Zach or one of your other douche brothers will just bring me back again like they did before."
Okay so plan distract the archangel seemed to be working but all it did was serve to piss Gabriel off while Dean was still coming up blank on other options. Given that Sam had yet to try and catch his eye he could only assume that his brother had nothing as well.
"There are other things that I could do," Gabriel repeated threateningly. "You forget that I spent the past few millennia as a trickster."
"Oh, I've not forgotten," Dean began but then there was another shift in the air. "Sam, behind you!"
What happened next occurred so fast that it gave Dean a head rush. He knew his brother had managed to turn around in time as Sam's startled "Cas" overlapped with Castiel's growled "Gabriel" but then things became a bit of a blur. All he knew for sure was that the archangel had managed to disarm him and send Castiel flying into one of the of walls because the next thing he knew, he was pinned to one wall, swordless, with Gabriel in his face while his friend was pinned to another wall.
"Son of a bitch!" Dean exclaimed, trying to twist free even as he scrambled to sort everything out in his head.
His thoughts froze and his breath caught in his throat as Dean realized just how close the archangel was. Definitely close enough for him to feel the crackle of Gabriel's power in the air around them. It had been a while since he'd felt anything even remotely like that from Castiel and the thought nearly made him flinch, knowing that was all his fault. He'd been the one to convince his friend to turn his back on Heaven which had led to the slow and tortured descent into Castiel's current state, whatever that was.
His deer in the headlights look continued on as Dean's gaze was caught and captured by that of the archangel and he found that he couldn't tear his eyes away. Like Castiel did so often, Gabriel's intense gaze now seemed to be boring into him through all that he was right down to his very soul. Whereas he'd come to accept (and perhaps even enjoy, if he were being completely honest with himself) those same penetrating stares from his friend, getting them now from the archangel made him feel nothing short of vulnerable and exposed as if everything that he was and thought were laid bare before Gabriel's judging eyes.
Dean was only partially aware of the strangled whimper that escaped him but it seemed to spur the others into action.
"Leave him alone, Gabriel!" Castiel called out, struggling against the archangel's powerful hold.
It was hard to tell what Sam was up to as Dean still couldn't seem to tear his eyes away from Gabriel, almost as if he were being hypnotized, but he did catch some movement out of the corner of his eye.
"Try and pick up that sword, Sam, and you'll find yourself pinned to a wall just like big brother here or little Castiel," Gabriel stated, his eyes never leaving Dean's.
Though a part of him wanted to try and send his brother a signal, Dean resisted, not sure if the archangel could read his mind right now or not and definitely not wanting to take the risk if Gabriel could. They stood little chance of success in overcoming him as it was, there was no need to stack the odds against them even further.
"Gabriel!" Castiel cried out again, tone full of anger. "Let them go."
"Oh don't get your panties in a twist, Bro," Gabriel replied flippantly though he still maintained eye contact with Dean and it was all that Dean could do not to squirm and make more embarrassing little noises. "I'm not here to harm your little pets."
"We're not pets!" Sam exclaimed, voice an odd mix of fury and fear.
It took Dean's fried mind a few moments to realize exactly what it was that was scaring his brother so much. Him. Or rather whatever the holy fuck Gabriel was doing to him just now. He could only imagine what he'd feel if he were to see Sam at the mercy of an archangel like this. As it was his brother had already outperformed him as he knew that he'd not have been able to resist attacking the archangel, no matter how futile that particular gesture might have been. It just wasn't in him to not at the very least try, even if doing so was probably going to get him killed one of these days. Well killed in the sense of never coming back killed, none of this bouncing back and forth crap that he was doing so much of as of late.
"Hmm, you're probably right," Gabriel agreed easily, his whole demeanor suddenly changing as the archangel finally looked away. "You're not nearly obedient enough to be proper pets."
With that Dean was suddenly let go and he slumped to the ground with a gasp like a marionette whose strings had been cut. Distantly he was aware of his brother calling his name but all he could do was gasp for air as it felt like he hadn't been breathing for the entire time Gabriel that had been staring him down. Then Sam was there beside him, tugging him upright into a proper seated position so that he could be inspected and that was when he realized that Castiel was also free. Free and standing boldly between the two of them and Gabriel. It must take a lot of courage, he thought dimly, for his friend to willingly stand up to the brother that had thumped his ass before, not to mention the fact that Gabriel was an archangel just like Raphael and-
And Dean would really rather not think too much about what had happened to Castiel when his friend had gone up against that particular archangel without any backup or the aid of Holy oil. Just the mere thought alone was enough to make him feel sick and infinitely grateful that he hadn't been around to witness that. It also sent a vicious stab of satisfaction through him to think of exactly how the two of them had left the douche bag in question and he couldn't help but wonder if Raphael was still there in that abandoned house, trapped in a ring of Holy fire. If they won this Apocalypse he'd have to go back and see if he could gloat, that ought to teach the self-righteous bastard a thing or two.
"If you're not here to harm them then why have you come?" Castiel demanded.
If he didn't know his friend as well as he did, Dean was sure that he'd never have detected the undercurrent of fear in that hard voice. However he did know Castiel well enough to detect it and it made him even more thankful to the angel though it also kept the flame of fear alive within him. Wise cracks and sass aside, he was well aware of how incredibly powerful Gabriel was and how hopelessly outmatched they were despite the angel blade that Castiel now wielded and the discarded one lying just a few feet away on the carpet though, considering the circumstances, it might as well have been several miles away. There was no way either himself or Sam could hope to get to it even with Castiel running interference.
"I had been planning to see if their offer from before still stood," Gabriel replied nonchalantly, his entire stance relaxed and at ease as if he wasn't facing one of his brothers who had his weapon drawn.
"Offer?" Sam questioned.
"Yeah, you remember, the one you made before you learned who I really was."
"The talk. You want to talk about stopping the Apocalypse now?"
Dean could understand his brother's incredulity- it really did seem completely unbelievable- but not quite Sam's anger. Couldn't his brother see that this was a good thing? It had taken him a while to see it, but their experience in TV land had proven Gabriel's power if nothing else. Sam had been right when he'd pointed out that they could use someone on their side with the archangel's power, even if his brother had thought that Gabriel was just a demigod at the time.
"Well, duh," Gabriel replied. "What? Did you think I'd come here just for kicks? You two may be fun to play with, but not that fun. You realize how big of a risk I've taken just coming here?"
"Oh poor you," Sam snapped right back.
And okay, whoa, where was all of this venom coming from? If Dean didn't know any better he'd say that his brother was totally against this idea which was just plain ridiculous seeing as it was Sam's idea to begin with. He'd definitely not come up with it, being far too used to just going after whatever they were hunting without any thoughts as to not killing it or, Heaven forbid, talking to it. No siree, he was very much a shoot first and ask questions later kind of guy and damn proud of it too. It meant that he was far less likely to get himself killed pulling some stupid stunt, unlike his idiot brother who'd gotten into more than one mess because of his insistence that things might not always be quite so black and white. The whole Ruby debacle was just the tip of the iceberg even if it was by far the biggest and worst incident of that nature.
"Sam," Castiel warned, turning his head slightly towards them but never taking his eyes off of his brother. "If you're here to speak with them, then why did you attack, Gabriel?"
"Dean drew a weapon first," Gabriel countered, face going sullen. "He started it."
"You can't be serious!" Sam exploded. "What are you, five?"
"Hey," Dean protested, finally confident that his voice wouldn't either abandon or embarrass him. "That's my line."
"It seemed appropriate."
The only reason that Dean didn't feel tempted to throw out a 'Christo' to see if his brother had managed to get himself possessed- again!- when he hadn't been looking was because although he could hardly believe the words coming out of Sam's mouth, he easily recognized the anger burning oh so very brightly in his eyes. Much as he hated to admit it, his brother had been right about what he'd said after they'd killed that wraith in the psychiatric hospital. Sam did carry a lot of rage with him these days and his little brother had always been prone to anger with a flaring temper, especially around their father.
"Why did you attack Dean, Gabriel?" Castiel reiterated. "You could easily have disarmed him but you chose to restrain both him and me."
"Well I wasn't going to give you the opportunity to attack me and I already know how relentless you can be when trying to protect tweedly-dum and tweedly-dee here."
"Bite me," Dean stated.
A wicked grin crossed the archangel's face as he looked down at Dean once more. "Maybe later, big boy."
"Gabriel," Castiel growled, voice low and Dean shuddered inexplicably at the sound of it.
"Alright, alright, keep your shirt on, Bro. I wanted to see if I could figure out how he was able to do it."
"Do what?"
"Detect our arrivals, 'cause there is no way human reflexes are fast enough for him to have gotten the jump on me like he did when I arrived. Nor should he have been able to sense your arrival as early as he did."
"Excuse me," Dean interrupted. "He is right here and he isn't stupid. I mean, come on, I know I'm not the brightest crayon in the box but even I can put two and two together to come up with four."
"Dean, what are you talking about?" Sam asked, a frown on his face as he helped him to his feet.
"The slight displacement of air and the sound of wings flapping before one of them arrives. It took me a while and I'm not sure why I didn't click to it sooner, but they're kinda a dead giveaway that an angel's about to appear. And since Cas had said he wouldn't be around for a while, I knew it had to be someone else," Dean explained before he frowned himself and looked at his friend. "Wait, why are you here now anyway? Not that I'm not thankful you showed up but you'd said you'd be a few days."
Even before he finished speaking, Dean knew that something wasn't right. Not only was Gabriel staring at him, but Castiel had turned around to do so too and Sam was looking at him like he'd grown a second head.
"What?" Dean demanded.
"I broke one of his wards coming here," Gabriel said absently. "Castiel would have been alerted to my presence as a result."
"Wards?" Sam repeated.
"Yes, after what happened with Dean and Zachariah and with you both with those other hunters recently, I felt it prudent to add some additional protections to your motel room," Castiel explained.
"What?" Dean questioned again, having to forcibly prevent himself from squirming under the intense gazes of the two angels.
Damn but that was unnerving. If it had been just Castiel then Dean was sure he'd be fine with it, perhaps a little worried given the circumstances, but pretty much okay with it. After all, it wasn't like his friend didn't stare all of the time and he'd pretty much gotten used to it. Now, however, with Gabriel there and Sam watching him as well he just felt stripped bare and he hated it. Why would anyone want to be the center of attention like this all of the time?
"Dean, I'm not able to do that," Sam said.
"Do what?"
"Sense any kind of disturbance in the air or hear the flutter of wings before an angel arrives. It's like they just pop out of thin air with no warning whatsoever to me."
The feeling of ice that flooded through Dean was starting to become far too familiar for his comfort. It was exactly the same one he'd had when Alastair had first told him about the seal that he'd broken or when Zachariah had informed him that he was actually Michael's vessel or when he'd faced Michael or when he'd killed the Whore of Babylon or any number of other similar situations recently. Yet, despite all of that, this was one sensation where repetition didn't seem to breed familiarity as it was still as intrusive and unpleasant as always and for that he was absurdly grateful. At the very least it proved to him that he hadn't lost it completely if things could still affect him like that.
Almost without his permission, Dean's eyes darted to Castiel, all but begging his friend to contradict the implications of his brother's words but he didn't need to hear Castiel say anything to know that he wouldn't get it. The look on the angel's face alone spoke volumes- well for him it did, knowing Castiel as well as he did though he could easily imagine that for someone not as accustomed to the angel that it would probably still look pretty inscrutable- and he felt his heart sink.
Why him? Why did everything lately seem to come down to him? Dean was already heartily sick of it all and more than ready for it all to just stop. He was perfectly happy being nothing more than a regular old human without any kind of special powers or destiny so why couldn't it happen to someone who felt too ordinary and wanted to be special and different?
"Great, just what I needed, another Whore of Babylon thing," Dean spat out darkly. "As if that wasn't already enough for this week."
Just what was he supposed to do with this new knowledge anyway? Was it yet another indication that he really was destined to say yes to Michael and let the archangel inside of himself? Everything definitely seemed to be indicating that way and Dean couldn't help but wonder if he was just being incredibly selfish and pigheaded here by not giving in and playing his role. How many more people had to die before he got his head out of his ass and put a stop to it all? Yes, he knew that saying yes to Michael and letting the archangel ride him would result in the deaths of millions of innocent people but if he was going to cave then surely it was better for everyone that he did so sooner rather than later. At the very least he'd be able to save all of those people that Lucifer would kill between now and his inevitable acquiescence later on. Besides, if it was only him who said yes then perhaps not as many people would die? If he gave Michael his rightful vessel while Lucifer was forced to make do with a less than suitable one then surely Michael would be able to win that much faster and thus cause less damage to Earth and everyone on it.
"You've faced the Whore?" Gabriel questioned. "I assume that she's no longer alive with you two muttonheads relaxing here."
"Who says we were relaxing?" Sam demanded but then look away in shame as the archangel glanced pointedly at the TV.
"Ah, man!" Dean complained as he saw the end credits scrolling on screen. "I missed the best part!"
"Dean!"
"Well I did."
"Just forget about your stupid show for once," Sam responded in exasperation. "We have more important things to talk about here."
"There's nothing to talk about," Dean countered stepping away to grab the discarded angel blade on the floor and toss it on the bed along with the other weapons.
"Your brother is right, Dean," Castiel stated. "We should discuss this."
"And what do you wanna talk about, huh, Cas? You have an explanation up your sleeve for why I can sense you guys coming when I shouldn't? Or why I was able to kill the Whore of Babylon despite not being a servant of Heaven? 'Cause if you do, I'd really love to hear it, but otherwise there's no point speculating about it as we can do that till we're blue in the face and we still won't be any further."
The look Castiel was giving him, head tilted to one side as the angel so often did, just served to unnerve Dean now and he silently cursed Gabriel for making him so self-conscious of the whole staring thing again. He'd fallen into a quite happy routine with his friend where he'd become used to most of Castiel's quirks and had even come to expect them. To have that routine disrupted now, especially in such a way as to have him wonder exactly how he could have become used to this and to actually have to wonder as to what it meant angered him in a way he didn't quite understand. Why hadn't the archangel just been able to leave everything alone?
"You killed the Whore?" Gabriel demanded, eyes sharpening and locking onto Dean once more.
"Yeah," Dean replied defiantly.
"Well, aren't you just full of surprises, Dean."
"I'm a regular piñata."
Sam sighed and Dean knew that his brother had to be biting his tongue, but really, what did Sam expect? It's not like he had any answers here and, frankly, the whole thing just creeped him out, what with the freaking prophecy and strange coincidences lately. It was enough to make him start really believing in God's existence independently of Castiel's or Sam's belief in the Guy. After all, who else could be such a big douche but some neigh on all powerful being that demanded that people kneel before Him and worship Him or they'd get a one way ticket straight to Hell?
"So what made you change your mind, Gabriel?" Dean asked, changing to subject. "You seemed pretty pro-Apocalypse the last time we saw you."
"What can I say?" Gabriel shrugged nonchalantly as if it wasn't a huge deal. "I gave it some thought and realized that you two Hardy boys are right, I really do like the status quo down here too much to see it change. And why should I anyway, if Michael and Lucifer need to squabble then let them do it elsewhere, I'm tired of just standing by and watching them wreck and ruin everything that I love."
Dean opened his mouth to say something to that but for once he found that absolutely nothing came to mind. For all of his posturing, it seemed to him that the archangel was sincere in his desire to help now and he didn't want to risk upsetting that. Besides, he'd given Gabriel's words from their last meeting some thought and he could understand how difficult it was to stand by and watch your family tear at each other's throats, seemingly unable to stop it or do anything about it. He'd tried everything he could think of to keep Dad and Sam from fighting, but it had never been enough. He'd never been enough. Surely if they'd really cared for him then they'd have been able to at least tone it down or find a way to make it work. But no, they hadn't even seemed willing to consider that, just going at each other despite all of his protests and mediation efforts. Not even after having been separated for several years had they seemed able to even try.
So, yeah, Dean could understand where Gabriel was coming too much even if he'd never have chosen the path that the archangel took to say anything snide, let alone something that might make Gabriel reconsider his current desire to help them. Sam, however, seemed to have no such qualms.
"Oh, so now you grow a backbone. You couldn't have done that any sooner? Say before Lucifer got out of his cage?"
"And whose fault is that?" Gabriel shot right back.
His brother flinched visibly at the accusation but any hope that Dean might have had of it tempering Sam's response were quickly dashed.
"Sure, try and distract us. Regardless of what I did the fact remains that you could have done something sooner and you didn't. Dean was right, you really are a coward."
"Whoa, whoa, calm down guys!" Dean interjected, moving to stand between the two with his arms raised.
A moment later he felt heat at his back and he knew without looking that Castiel was there doing his whole invasion of personal space thing. The show of solidarity felt good even if he thought that it might be better if Castiel were to move closer to Sam. He wasn't the one in danger of being smited any second now.
"You have no idea how lucky you are that I'm not particularly fickle and that I now see saving the status quo from Heaven and Hell as more important than teaching you a lesson," Gabriel stated, darkly.
"Guys," Dean tried again, a sinking feeling in the pit of his stomach.
"Are you threatening me?" Sam demanded, eyes narrowed.
"Well you do fit my chosen target profile particularly well," Gabriel replied.
"Shut up! Both of you just shut up!" Dean shouted, earning himself two startled looks before he focused on his brother. "What the hell is wrong with you, Sam? This was your idea to begin with, remember?"
"That was before we learned who he really is," Sam answered. "I just thought that he was a regular trickster when I first suggested talking to him."
"So? What difference does it make? If anything this works in our favor as he's far more powerful than some random pagan demigod."
"He's an angel, Dean, an archangel, God's messenger or whatever. He's one of the really big ones. One of the few that seems to transcend dominion and whom almost everyone knows about, whether they're religious or not."
Ah, now Dean got it, this went back to Sammy's whole faith thing and the fact that his brother used to really believe and pray regularly. He would have thought that Sam would be over that by now but obviously not. Was it any wonder then that he'd always scoffed at religion and God? So, yeah, he'd obviously been wrong about the Big Guy's existence, he could easily admit that, but it was clear that he was handling this whole Apocalypse and God not giving a rat's ass thing better than someone who'd always believed and acted accordingly. At least in this he had no strong convictions to lose painfully.
"Come on, Sam, angels are dicks, dicks with wings, you already knew that," Dean responded before throwing a quick smile over his shoulder at Castiel who really was standing right behind him just as he'd known his friend would be. "Except for you, of course, Cas."
The angel's eyes shifted to meet his own and Dean was happy to discover that whatever had bothered him about meeting his friend's gaze before had vanished. Things seemed to be back to normal between him and Castiel and he felt his smile broaden as a result.
"Oh like you've never been a dick," Gabriel said and while the words themselves should have been harsh, the tone was anything but.
When Dean turned back around to face the archangel he found that his suspicion was correct given the slightly playful gleam in Gabriel's eyes. It was one he almost recognized from himself. Perhaps this just might work if he could only get Sam on board with what had initially been his brother's plan. And just how did he keep on getting himself into these kinds of situations anyway?
"Never claimed that I wasn't," Dean replied with a cheeky smile before turning to face Sam once more. "Come on, it's not like we've got a lot of options here and we really can use all of the help we can get. He's an archangel for Heaven's sake!"
The slight shifting behind him reminded Dean abruptly of all that Castiel had suffered at the hands of the archangels and what it was that his friend had once called them. Heaven's most fearsome weapon. It was just kinda easy to forget that last part when faced with Gabriel. Sure, the douche had more than proven that he was a powerful being during their previous encounters, but it was a long way from a demigod to an archangel, a long way up and they'd yet to truly see any of the power that Gabriel was really capable of wielding, what with his whole witness protection program thing and all.
Now that he'd thought about it, though, Dean realized that he shouldn't just take Castiel's silence for acceptance and actually ask the angel instead. This decision would affect all of them after all, especially with how Castiel seemed to be losing more and more of his power as of late.
"What do you think, Cas?" Dean asked.
The angel sent him a quick look before glancing away to observe his brother. "I believe we should accept Gabriel's offer to help. We could use his power and knowledge."
"And what if this is all a trap or some kind of elaborate ruse to string us along in an attempt to get us to say yes?" Sam demanded. "Have you thought of that?"
"Do you really think that my brothers or I am that subtle or have the patience for such a ploy?" Gabriel questioned.
Although the archangel sounded calm and collected, Dean could see the twitching of Gabriel's fingers and he knew that the guy was fighting the desire to just do something to Sam. That more than anything convinced him that his brother was wrong. Gabriel was right, neither Zachariah nor Raphael had either the patience or the inclination for something like this and that bastard Michael had seemed far too sure of his conviction that he'd cave on his own to use something like this. As far as Gabriel himself was concerned, well the archangel was far too flashy and blunt for this to be one of his tricks and he'd never seen Gabriel deny himself a pleasure when he wanted it and he was sure that the archangel would consider it a pleasure to do something to Sam. No, this was the real deal, he was sure of it. Now he just had to get his brother to go along with it, even if only reluctantly but he knew that would be far easier said than done if the stubborn tilt of Sam's chin was anything to go by, and that was to say nothing of the look in his eye. He was eerily reminded of Sam preparing to dig his heels in with Dad and he couldn't help but sigh in frustration and dread.
"How about a show of good faith?" Gabriel offered. "Would that help?"
"What did you have in mind?"
"Just a little something to help Cassie out."
In the blink of an eye the archangel stood beside them and it was all that Dean could do not to jump. He hadn't been expecting that particular move even if he could hear Gabriel coming now. Gabriel reached out with two fingers but stopped before he actually touched Castiel's forehead, raising a questioning eyebrow instead.
Castiel regarded his brother for a moment before turning to look at him and Dean shrugged, not at all sure what Gabriel had in mind.
"Cas, I don't think that's such a good idea," Sam warned when Castiel nodded at the archangel.
"Gabriel could have done whatever he so desired to me earlier," Castiel replied. "Instead he asked for permission."
"That doesn't mean that he isn't going to harm you."
"Let him make his own decision, Sam," Dean said, eyes glued to the two angels.
What Castiel had said was a hundred percent true, besides his gut seemed to be giving Gabriel the benefit of the doubt here and it was usually right. It also wasn't like they had much choice here and the mere possibility of getting an archangel on their side was more than worth a few risks. Not to mention the fact that it would be extremely hypocritical of him to try and deny Castiel his free will now after all that he'd said and done.
His friend's sharp intake of breath and the glow of Gabriel's fingers had Dean tensing, but he managed to contain his first reaction to step in and knock the archangel's hand away. It was a near thing though. Since when had he become so damn possessive of Castiel anyway? Sure the angel was his friend and the first real one that he'd ever had, but this felt different from that, deeper in a way that he didn't fully recognize. More like what he felt for Sam or Bobby when they were threatened and yet it wasn't quite the same either. He'd almost say it was deeper than that again, but that was just plain ridiculous and wasn't possible, was it?
No, it couldn't be as that would mean... No, it was something else, he was just misinterpreting all of this emotional bullshit again, just like Sam so often said that he did.
"Gabriel?" Dean questioned, having to squint as the light grew brighter.
"You'll want to close your eyes for this next bit, boys," Gabriel stated as the light continued to brighten in intensity.
Dean's eyes nearly widened in shock as he realized what the archangel meant but he managed to overcome his instinctive impulse and slammed his eyes shut instead. A few seconds later the room brightened so it was close to unbearable even with his eyes closed. He'd just raised his arm to shield his eyes even further when the light show stopped.
"Gabriel?" Dean asked. "Is it safe for us to open our eyes now?"
"Yes," Castiel replied.
His eyes snapped open at the sheer wonder and shock in his friend's voice and Dean could hardly believe what he saw. Castiel looked different, brighter, stronger, more relaxed and at ease. More like he used to. Because the angel's fall had been so gradual, he hadn't been able to fully realize all of the changes that had happened but now, going from one extreme to the other in the space of a few seconds, the change was horrifying and he couldn't believe that he'd missed it all as it had happened. What kind of friend did that make him regardless of what had been going on at the time?
"Wow, Cas, you look different!" Sam exclaimed in surprise.
"I have been restored," Castiel stated, still looking as if he couldn't quite believe it himself. "My Grace, it has been fully restored to what it used to be."
Dean wanted to say something as well, to tell his friend how much better he looked or how pleased he was for him, but he couldn't. The words seemed to be frozen in his throat and all he could do was stare. If Castiel had been a chick, he would have said that he was mesmerizing but as his friend most definitely wasn't a chick he didn't know quite what to make of it all. His angel, however, didn't seem to need words and was matching his stare with one of his own that told him exactly how ecstatic and stunned Castiel was about this sudden change in fortune. It was simply amazing and if nothing else came out of this potential alliance with Gabriel then he'd be more than fine and happy with that. His friend hadn't deserved what had happened to him and he was so very pleased that it now seemed to have been reversed.
"Do they do that a lot?" Gabriel asked, though Dean was only dimly aware of him.
"Yeah, it's a thing they do," Sam replied wearily and that caught his attention.
He probably knew damn near every inflection that his brother could give his voice and this one signaled reluctant admission or defeat. It allowed Dean to finally tear his gaze from Castiel's and give Sam a huge smile.
"Dude, Gabriel gave Cas his Grace back! How is that not awesome?" Dean demanded.
"I can see that."
There was still enough of an edge to Sam's voice that Dean knew that his brother hadn't fully accepted this yet but he didn't think that Sam would be enough of a little bitch to deny that Gabriel had just done a wonderful thing.
"Is it permanent?" Sam inquired.
"Huh?"
"Yes," Castiel stated. "Gabriel has not only restored my Grace to its former state, but he has also shown me how to maintain and replenish it myself as opposed to how it used to happen via my connection with the Host itself."
"How does that work?" Dean asked.
"Let's just say that Heaven is a large place and the Host can't cut off all access to it no matter how much they might like to do so," Gabriel replied. "I've simply shown my little bro here how to get around the protections in place and connect himself directly with the power of Heaven instead of doing so through the Host."
"And this will keep him from... fading like before?"
"Yes."
"Awesome."
Now that his tongue no longer seemed tied, Dean turned back to face Castiel to add his own congratulations to the lot but found that he was rendered speechless almost as soon as he caught sight of his angel once more. Damn but if Castiel didn't almost glow just now. For a moment he thought that his friend had shifted in place, an oddly human gesture for someone with as rigid a posture as Castiel's, but then he realized that it wasn't his friend that was moving in place, but rather his wings. They were shifting subtly against his angel's back almost like little stretching maneuvers designed to work any kinks or cramps out of a sore or underused muscle. The thought abruptly made him wonder if Castiel's wings themselves had suffered from his decline in power and it pained him on a level he didn't really want to think too closely about. He just knew that such magnificent wings as those he saw just now deserved nothing less than being strong and well groomed.
And if Dean had the strange desire to reach out and touch those glossy black feathers then that was all a perfectly normal reaction to finding out that he could see an angel's wings. After all, who wouldn't want to do so?
"Well?" Gabriel demanded. "Has that proven my good intentions?"
The question had Dean looking back at Sam expectantly to find his brother wearing one of his classic bitch faces, the one that Sam usually got when he was forced to admit that he'd been in the wrong.
"It shows that you're willing to help us," Sam finally said. "But helping Cas is a long way from actively helping us do anything to stop the Apocalypse and your brothers."
Sam did have a point there, but Dean was still far too happy with what had just happened to let that bring him down any. They were talking about Gabriel going against his family here after all, so he more than understood that it might take some time for the archangel to get used to the idea but that was okay as Gabriel had already taken the first and biggest step in the right direction. Besides it wasn't like they even remotely had a game plan yet so if it took their newest ally some time to get into the swing of things then that was fine. In the meantime they had two more horsemen to go after which would give the archangel something to cut his teeth on first before they focused in on Michael and Lucifer themselves.
"So, are you ready to do that?" Sam pushed.
"Do what exactly?" Gabriel inquired.
"Stand up to Lucifer, of course."
"No."
"Why not?"
"Because he's far more powerful than me and will most likely kill me."
The straightforwardness of the answer and the bluntness of it left Dean in no doubt of how convinced Gabriel was that this would be the outcome of any confrontation between himself and the devil.
"Really?" Dean couldn't help but ask regardless. "Even if we try and level the playing field a little somehow?"
"Even then. Lucifer is far more powerful than me."
"But you're both archangels," Sam argued.
"Not all archangels are equally powerful," Castiel explained. "Most of the time it isn't worth mentioning as the difference between them is insignificant when it comes to anything else, including other angels, but when you're just looking at the archangels themselves then the difference becomes quite important."
"Exactly," Gabriel nodded. "The only one who can stand up against Lucifer is Michael. Well, him or Father, but He doesn't seem to be showing His face at the moment."
"Nor will He," Dean muttered darkly before he shot a worried glance at Castiel, afraid the angel might take off again at the reminder of his Father's callous words.
"What happened?" Gabriel demanded darkly, sensing that there was more to his words than mere resentment.
"I'll tell you later. So you really can't face Lucifer? What about Raphael?"
"Really and Raphael is in the same boat though he does seem to have outgrown his breeches as of late, or at least thinks he has from what I've heard. Though I have to admit that I haven't heard as much of him lately."
"That's 'cause he's a little stuck at the moment," Dean stated, a wicked grin crossing his face.
"Stuck?"
"Why do you think I happened to have Holy oil in the trunk of the Impala?"
Gabriel's eyes were wide in disbelief and Dean couldn't help but laugh at the sight. The look quickly morphed to shock and then to a grudging respect at Castiel's nod when his brother looked to him for confirmation.
"How?" Gabriel questioned.
"Dean and I lured him into a trap by contacting him through his vessel and letting him think that he had outwitted our plans to trap him," Castiel explained.
"And you left him in the Holy fire?"
"Yep," Dean confirmed. "Like I said, you can't say that I never did anything for you."
"So I'm beginning to see."
"Would he really still be there?" Sam asked. "I mean wouldn't Raphael be able to get himself out of the Holy oil, fire, whatever? You were still able to do some stuff when we had you trapped."
"We still have access to some, limited, powers, but we cannot do anything to the Holy oil or any resulting fire," Gabriel replied. "That's the whole point of the Holy oil, to keep us trapped."
"Not even something as simple as turning on the sprinklers?"
"No, N and O, what's so difficult to get about that?"
"So how did you managed to escape, Cas?" Sam asked, turning to face their friend.
"You were trapped in Holy fire, Bro?"
"Yeah, Lucifer had him," Dean added with more than a little pride. "But he got out."
"I was able to loosen the screw of a pipe in the ceiling and used it to knock the demon Meg into the circle with me," Castiel explained.
"Which then gave you something to use as a bridge over the flames," Gabriel concluded, nodding. "Smart."
"No, no, it's better than that," Sam countered excitedly. "Don't you see, we could use this against Lucifer and Michael, this could be the answer we've been looking for!"
"Nope, no can do, at least not long term anyway."
"Why not?"
Boy, if Dean had thought he'd been having flashbacks to Sam and Dad's old fights before then they were nothing compared to all of the memories those two short little words managed to conjure when spoken in that particular tone of voice. Though, honestly, if this turned out to be the biggest drawback to this new alliance, then he could live with it; easily.
"Because while neither Michael nor Lucifer would be able to free themselves from the Holy fire, there would be more than enough willing volunteers on both sides to do it for them," Gabriel replied slowly, as if speaking to a small child and it made his brother's hackles rise, he could easily see that from here. "The only reason that they haven't freed Raphael yet is because they haven't sent anyone looking for him, probably because they don't want to spare anyone from the hunt for you two."
"Great, so there goes another idea," Dean sighed dropping unceremoniously on the bed he'd been sitting on earlier.
"Yes, however I do know of another way to at least stop this Apocalypse in its tracks even if it might not be as permanent a solution as you'd like."
"What?" Sam exclaimed.
"How?" Castiel demanded urgently.
"By locking Lucifer back up in his cage," Gabriel stated. "The catch is that it requires us having all four of the horsemen rings and there are some pretty serious caveats as well."
Part 2
Pairings: Dean/Castiel
Rating: NC-17
Spoilers: let's just say all of season 5 though the fic goes AU before the end of 99 Problems (the bit where Dean drives away at the end never happened, he really just went to get bandages from the Impala)
Warnings: AU, slash, dom!Cas, sub!Dean, first time, wing!fic, bare backing, oral
Word Count: 34,652
Note: This fic was written for the deancasbigbang 2011.
Summary: When Gabriel shows up to join Team Free Will and offers them a potential solution to the Apocalypse, none of them could have imagined what was going to happen or how it would changes things forever.
Beta: aerilex
Artist: fargone1789
Art Masterlist: BEWARE, the art will spoil the fic if viewed first!
"Oh you've got to be kidding me, Dean!" Sam exclaimed.
"What?" Dean asked, dragging his eyes from the TV long enough to look at his irate brother standing in the doorway. "Dude, close the door before someone sees and calls the cops!"
With that Dean refocused most of his attention on the TV even as his hands continued cleaning their weapons. So what if he was watching Doctor Sexy, he was doing something useful at the same time. Besides, this was one of the best episodes there was as Doctor Sexy finally got to bang the really hot nurse that had joined the show this season. God how he wished that he could do her!
"You're actually polishing your sword?" Sam demanded and Dean's eyes snapped from the TV to stare at his brother in disbelief, hands freezing on the angel blade he held. "Shit, I didn't mean it like that! That just sounded wrong."
"Ya think?"
Dean couldn't believe that his brother had actually said that and, to think, Sam said that he spoke without thinking! He never said stuff like that before realizing the sexual connotations of it, but then he wasn't as much in need of a good lay as his brother. Though he could do with one himself come to think of it. How long had it been now and why exactly had he let it go so long that he actually had to think about it? That just wasn't normal.
"What I meant is why are you cleaning that thing? It wasn't exactly dirty," Sam said, placing his laptop bag on the table and taking a seat.
"Hunting rule number one, Sammy, always take care of your weapons as you never know when you might need them or how," Dean replied, putting the blade down and picking up a shotgun as he turned back to the TV. "You know that."
"You cleaned everything last week!"
"Yeah and they've been used since then."
"Not all of them and that hunt was hardly an effort."
"After every hunt, you know that."
"I know Dad used to say that," Sam retorted. "I thought you were done following his orders so blindly."
"Hey! Leave Dad out of this. Yeah, he might have been the one who taught me this, but it's just good practice as well."
"Dean-"
"No, I'm serious, you weren't there when Darian died, you didn't see it."
"Darian? Darian Pullman? The one Dad attacked for no reason?"
Dean snorted. "He was trying to get you to do stupid shit, but yeah, he's the one."
"Darian's dead? Why didn't you tell me?"
"It happened while you were at Stanford, not long after you left actually."
"You could have told me!"
"You left us, remember? Wanted nothing to do with Dad and me or hunting, besides, it was a long time ago and I forgot that you didn't know."
Though he was the one who spat the words, Dean was sure that they hurt him far more than they did his brother. Not only had the whole ordeal never really seemed to touch Sam- hell, his brother had only come back because of Jess's death!- but he now knew that for Sam the actual leaving bit had been among the happiest memories of his brother's life. It hurt like nothing he'd ever known could and that was with thirty years on the rack in Hell under his belt. Who'd have thought that the one to hurt him worse than anyone else would be his own brother? Even he hadn't seen that coming despite the whole Ruby fiasco. He did his best to shove it all aside, to lock it up in a dark corner of his mind and forget that it had ever happened just like he usually did, but for some reason it just didn't seem to work this time.
Instead the pain still tore through him each and every time that Dean thought about that little trip to Heaven. And wasn't that just the biggest joke ever? That was Heaven? He'd never thought it possible but he was pretty sure that he'd found a place worse than Hell and if he ever went back there it would be too soon. Gone were any of the thoughts that he might have entertained of just ending it all. Not that he'd seriously contemplated them, but they had been there at the very back of his mind insidiously creeping in whenever things were at their bleakest. Which had pretty much been all of the time lately. But at least they were better than the other thoughts that he'd had recently, like the one that he'd been forced to fight off just a few days ago and even then it had taken all of his efforts not to succumb to it. He still wasn't sure how long he'd stood next to the Impala just outside the Green Valley Motel in Blue Earth, Minnesota, but it had been long enough to make Sam come out in a rush, sure that he'd given in and called Michael to say yes.
He hadn't, but damn had Dean been close to doing so, still was on some levels. It just seemed to make so much sense right now and he wasn't sure how many more innocents he could simply stand by for and watch die, not while knowing that there was something he could do to end all of this. But there was something holding him back and he just couldn't figure out what it was. After all, it wasn't like his brother truly cared about him, Heaven had proven that irrevocably confirming all of his worst fears when it came to where he stood with Sam. How was it that his brother had put it? Oh right, family just didn't mean the same to Sam as it did to him.
Seemed like no one wanted him enough to want to stay with him. And why would they want to? Dean was no longer under any illusions as to his worth to those he held most dear.
"How did he die?" Sam demanded.
"Gun backfired on a hunt, injured him so bad that by the time Dad and I had dealt with the wraith nest it was too late."
"His gun backfired?" Sam repeated, stunned.
"It was dirty as hell. I'm sure you remember how he'd always say we were crazy for cleaning the weapons so much, right? Well if he'd only cleaned his a bit more then he'd still be alive so don't try and tell me that I shouldn't ensure that the same thing doesn't happen to us."
The stricken look on his brother's face made Dean curse and get up to start pacing around the room. Shit, he hadn't meant to take out his frustrations on Sam, but damn if his brother didn't make it easy to do so at times. But annoying or not, Sam wasn't the one who deserved his ire. Problem was that the ones who did weren't around. Douches like God, Zachariah, Raphael or Michael. Man but would he just love to get his hands on any one of them on even ground without any of their unimaginable power to protect them. He'd teach them a thing or two about messing with humans like they were nothing more than pawns on a chess board and just as disposable.
"Look, Sam, I-"
"No, it's okay," Sam interrupted. "I get that after witnessing something like that you'd take the whole gun maintenance thing quite seriously. But, shit, he was really killed by just that?"
"Yeah, Dad and I managed to keep the wraiths away from him, hoping we'd be able to get him to the hospital on time, but he bled out before we could get rid of them all. It was a large nest and really a three man job, hence the reason Dad had agreed to have Darian there in the first place as there was no one else available."
His brother ran a hand over his face before he sat down and Dean felt bad at having broken the news of the other hunter's death so callously. He'd forgotten how much Sam had liked the guy though if that had been because of Darian himself or because the man had always been arguing with Dad he didn't know, but he figured that it wasn't really relevant anymore.
"So, any luck at the library?" Dean asked.
"No, the only books they had that I've not seen before hardly even mentioned the Apocalypse itself and instead focused more on who would get into Heaven and who'd go straight to Hell."
"Oh, nothing of interest there then?"
"Beyond the fact that according to the author Heaven will be deserted and Hell quite crowded, no, nothing of note."
"How's Heaven supposed to be a good place if no one's there?"
Sam blinked at him. "That's what you'd miss about that kind of Heaven?"
"Well, yeah," Dean frowned. "Wouldn't you?"
"No, of course no-"
The subtle shift of air in the room had Dean diving for the angel blade on the bed even before the flutter of wings could be heard. Only one type of being made that kind of disturbance and Castiel had said he'd be busy for a few days so it probably wasn't their friend which left only angels that they didn't want around.
"Dean, what?" Sam demanded, leaping to his feet.
Dean ignored his brother and had the sword up and ready by the time Gabriel had appeared in the room with them.
"Shit!" Sam cried out, jumping backwards.
The archangel didn't even spare a glance at his brother, focusing instead on him and the angel blade Gabriel probably thought far too close to him for comfort. The thought made Dean smile grimly even as his mind raced desperately for a way out of this mess. The last time they'd seen the archangel had been in that abandoned warehouse where he'd first trapped Gabriel in Holy fire and then basically called him a spineless coward to his face. Somehow he didn't think that the archangel was here to serenade them with praise.
"Well lookie who decided to show up," Dean sneered. "Come back to moan about your woes some more?"
"Dean!" Sam hissed.
"What? That's what it was all about the last time. Bitch, bitch, bitch, moan, moan, moan and all of it excuses for why he ran away and buried his head in the sand instead of-"
"Dean, for once in your life shut up!"
"I'd listen to your brother if I were you," Gabriel added, voice low and eyes narrowed.
"Or else what? You'll shove me into TV land some more? Or perhaps you'll take me right to Michael? Oh, no, wait, that would require you to actually meet with your brother."
"There are other things that I could do," Gabriel stated, tone low and dangerous.
"Like what?" Dean challenged. "Killing me over and over? Oh, that's right, been there, done that and we both know you can't actually kill me permanently as Zach or one of your other douche brothers will just bring me back again like they did before."
Okay so plan distract the archangel seemed to be working but all it did was serve to piss Gabriel off while Dean was still coming up blank on other options. Given that Sam had yet to try and catch his eye he could only assume that his brother had nothing as well.
"There are other things that I could do," Gabriel repeated threateningly. "You forget that I spent the past few millennia as a trickster."
"Oh, I've not forgotten," Dean began but then there was another shift in the air. "Sam, behind you!"
What happened next occurred so fast that it gave Dean a head rush. He knew his brother had managed to turn around in time as Sam's startled "Cas" overlapped with Castiel's growled "Gabriel" but then things became a bit of a blur. All he knew for sure was that the archangel had managed to disarm him and send Castiel flying into one of the of walls because the next thing he knew, he was pinned to one wall, swordless, with Gabriel in his face while his friend was pinned to another wall.
"Son of a bitch!" Dean exclaimed, trying to twist free even as he scrambled to sort everything out in his head.
His thoughts froze and his breath caught in his throat as Dean realized just how close the archangel was. Definitely close enough for him to feel the crackle of Gabriel's power in the air around them. It had been a while since he'd felt anything even remotely like that from Castiel and the thought nearly made him flinch, knowing that was all his fault. He'd been the one to convince his friend to turn his back on Heaven which had led to the slow and tortured descent into Castiel's current state, whatever that was.
His deer in the headlights look continued on as Dean's gaze was caught and captured by that of the archangel and he found that he couldn't tear his eyes away. Like Castiel did so often, Gabriel's intense gaze now seemed to be boring into him through all that he was right down to his very soul. Whereas he'd come to accept (and perhaps even enjoy, if he were being completely honest with himself) those same penetrating stares from his friend, getting them now from the archangel made him feel nothing short of vulnerable and exposed as if everything that he was and thought were laid bare before Gabriel's judging eyes.
Dean was only partially aware of the strangled whimper that escaped him but it seemed to spur the others into action.
"Leave him alone, Gabriel!" Castiel called out, struggling against the archangel's powerful hold.
It was hard to tell what Sam was up to as Dean still couldn't seem to tear his eyes away from Gabriel, almost as if he were being hypnotized, but he did catch some movement out of the corner of his eye.
"Try and pick up that sword, Sam, and you'll find yourself pinned to a wall just like big brother here or little Castiel," Gabriel stated, his eyes never leaving Dean's.
Though a part of him wanted to try and send his brother a signal, Dean resisted, not sure if the archangel could read his mind right now or not and definitely not wanting to take the risk if Gabriel could. They stood little chance of success in overcoming him as it was, there was no need to stack the odds against them even further.
"Gabriel!" Castiel cried out again, tone full of anger. "Let them go."
"Oh don't get your panties in a twist, Bro," Gabriel replied flippantly though he still maintained eye contact with Dean and it was all that Dean could do not to squirm and make more embarrassing little noises. "I'm not here to harm your little pets."
"We're not pets!" Sam exclaimed, voice an odd mix of fury and fear.
It took Dean's fried mind a few moments to realize exactly what it was that was scaring his brother so much. Him. Or rather whatever the holy fuck Gabriel was doing to him just now. He could only imagine what he'd feel if he were to see Sam at the mercy of an archangel like this. As it was his brother had already outperformed him as he knew that he'd not have been able to resist attacking the archangel, no matter how futile that particular gesture might have been. It just wasn't in him to not at the very least try, even if doing so was probably going to get him killed one of these days. Well killed in the sense of never coming back killed, none of this bouncing back and forth crap that he was doing so much of as of late.
"Hmm, you're probably right," Gabriel agreed easily, his whole demeanor suddenly changing as the archangel finally looked away. "You're not nearly obedient enough to be proper pets."
With that Dean was suddenly let go and he slumped to the ground with a gasp like a marionette whose strings had been cut. Distantly he was aware of his brother calling his name but all he could do was gasp for air as it felt like he hadn't been breathing for the entire time Gabriel that had been staring him down. Then Sam was there beside him, tugging him upright into a proper seated position so that he could be inspected and that was when he realized that Castiel was also free. Free and standing boldly between the two of them and Gabriel. It must take a lot of courage, he thought dimly, for his friend to willingly stand up to the brother that had thumped his ass before, not to mention the fact that Gabriel was an archangel just like Raphael and-
And Dean would really rather not think too much about what had happened to Castiel when his friend had gone up against that particular archangel without any backup or the aid of Holy oil. Just the mere thought alone was enough to make him feel sick and infinitely grateful that he hadn't been around to witness that. It also sent a vicious stab of satisfaction through him to think of exactly how the two of them had left the douche bag in question and he couldn't help but wonder if Raphael was still there in that abandoned house, trapped in a ring of Holy fire. If they won this Apocalypse he'd have to go back and see if he could gloat, that ought to teach the self-righteous bastard a thing or two.
"If you're not here to harm them then why have you come?" Castiel demanded.
If he didn't know his friend as well as he did, Dean was sure that he'd never have detected the undercurrent of fear in that hard voice. However he did know Castiel well enough to detect it and it made him even more thankful to the angel though it also kept the flame of fear alive within him. Wise cracks and sass aside, he was well aware of how incredibly powerful Gabriel was and how hopelessly outmatched they were despite the angel blade that Castiel now wielded and the discarded one lying just a few feet away on the carpet though, considering the circumstances, it might as well have been several miles away. There was no way either himself or Sam could hope to get to it even with Castiel running interference.
"I had been planning to see if their offer from before still stood," Gabriel replied nonchalantly, his entire stance relaxed and at ease as if he wasn't facing one of his brothers who had his weapon drawn.
"Offer?" Sam questioned.
"Yeah, you remember, the one you made before you learned who I really was."
"The talk. You want to talk about stopping the Apocalypse now?"
Dean could understand his brother's incredulity- it really did seem completely unbelievable- but not quite Sam's anger. Couldn't his brother see that this was a good thing? It had taken him a while to see it, but their experience in TV land had proven Gabriel's power if nothing else. Sam had been right when he'd pointed out that they could use someone on their side with the archangel's power, even if his brother had thought that Gabriel was just a demigod at the time.
"Well, duh," Gabriel replied. "What? Did you think I'd come here just for kicks? You two may be fun to play with, but not that fun. You realize how big of a risk I've taken just coming here?"
"Oh poor you," Sam snapped right back.
And okay, whoa, where was all of this venom coming from? If Dean didn't know any better he'd say that his brother was totally against this idea which was just plain ridiculous seeing as it was Sam's idea to begin with. He'd definitely not come up with it, being far too used to just going after whatever they were hunting without any thoughts as to not killing it or, Heaven forbid, talking to it. No siree, he was very much a shoot first and ask questions later kind of guy and damn proud of it too. It meant that he was far less likely to get himself killed pulling some stupid stunt, unlike his idiot brother who'd gotten into more than one mess because of his insistence that things might not always be quite so black and white. The whole Ruby debacle was just the tip of the iceberg even if it was by far the biggest and worst incident of that nature.
"Sam," Castiel warned, turning his head slightly towards them but never taking his eyes off of his brother. "If you're here to speak with them, then why did you attack, Gabriel?"
"Dean drew a weapon first," Gabriel countered, face going sullen. "He started it."
"You can't be serious!" Sam exploded. "What are you, five?"
"Hey," Dean protested, finally confident that his voice wouldn't either abandon or embarrass him. "That's my line."
"It seemed appropriate."
The only reason that Dean didn't feel tempted to throw out a 'Christo' to see if his brother had managed to get himself possessed- again!- when he hadn't been looking was because although he could hardly believe the words coming out of Sam's mouth, he easily recognized the anger burning oh so very brightly in his eyes. Much as he hated to admit it, his brother had been right about what he'd said after they'd killed that wraith in the psychiatric hospital. Sam did carry a lot of rage with him these days and his little brother had always been prone to anger with a flaring temper, especially around their father.
"Why did you attack Dean, Gabriel?" Castiel reiterated. "You could easily have disarmed him but you chose to restrain both him and me."
"Well I wasn't going to give you the opportunity to attack me and I already know how relentless you can be when trying to protect tweedly-dum and tweedly-dee here."
"Bite me," Dean stated.
A wicked grin crossed the archangel's face as he looked down at Dean once more. "Maybe later, big boy."
"Gabriel," Castiel growled, voice low and Dean shuddered inexplicably at the sound of it.
"Alright, alright, keep your shirt on, Bro. I wanted to see if I could figure out how he was able to do it."
"Do what?"
"Detect our arrivals, 'cause there is no way human reflexes are fast enough for him to have gotten the jump on me like he did when I arrived. Nor should he have been able to sense your arrival as early as he did."
"Excuse me," Dean interrupted. "He is right here and he isn't stupid. I mean, come on, I know I'm not the brightest crayon in the box but even I can put two and two together to come up with four."
"Dean, what are you talking about?" Sam asked, a frown on his face as he helped him to his feet.
"The slight displacement of air and the sound of wings flapping before one of them arrives. It took me a while and I'm not sure why I didn't click to it sooner, but they're kinda a dead giveaway that an angel's about to appear. And since Cas had said he wouldn't be around for a while, I knew it had to be someone else," Dean explained before he frowned himself and looked at his friend. "Wait, why are you here now anyway? Not that I'm not thankful you showed up but you'd said you'd be a few days."
Even before he finished speaking, Dean knew that something wasn't right. Not only was Gabriel staring at him, but Castiel had turned around to do so too and Sam was looking at him like he'd grown a second head.
"What?" Dean demanded.
"I broke one of his wards coming here," Gabriel said absently. "Castiel would have been alerted to my presence as a result."
"Wards?" Sam repeated.
"Yes, after what happened with Dean and Zachariah and with you both with those other hunters recently, I felt it prudent to add some additional protections to your motel room," Castiel explained.
"What?" Dean questioned again, having to forcibly prevent himself from squirming under the intense gazes of the two angels.
Damn but that was unnerving. If it had been just Castiel then Dean was sure he'd be fine with it, perhaps a little worried given the circumstances, but pretty much okay with it. After all, it wasn't like his friend didn't stare all of the time and he'd pretty much gotten used to it. Now, however, with Gabriel there and Sam watching him as well he just felt stripped bare and he hated it. Why would anyone want to be the center of attention like this all of the time?
"Dean, I'm not able to do that," Sam said.
"Do what?"
"Sense any kind of disturbance in the air or hear the flutter of wings before an angel arrives. It's like they just pop out of thin air with no warning whatsoever to me."
The feeling of ice that flooded through Dean was starting to become far too familiar for his comfort. It was exactly the same one he'd had when Alastair had first told him about the seal that he'd broken or when Zachariah had informed him that he was actually Michael's vessel or when he'd faced Michael or when he'd killed the Whore of Babylon or any number of other similar situations recently. Yet, despite all of that, this was one sensation where repetition didn't seem to breed familiarity as it was still as intrusive and unpleasant as always and for that he was absurdly grateful. At the very least it proved to him that he hadn't lost it completely if things could still affect him like that.
Almost without his permission, Dean's eyes darted to Castiel, all but begging his friend to contradict the implications of his brother's words but he didn't need to hear Castiel say anything to know that he wouldn't get it. The look on the angel's face alone spoke volumes- well for him it did, knowing Castiel as well as he did though he could easily imagine that for someone not as accustomed to the angel that it would probably still look pretty inscrutable- and he felt his heart sink.
Why him? Why did everything lately seem to come down to him? Dean was already heartily sick of it all and more than ready for it all to just stop. He was perfectly happy being nothing more than a regular old human without any kind of special powers or destiny so why couldn't it happen to someone who felt too ordinary and wanted to be special and different?
"Great, just what I needed, another Whore of Babylon thing," Dean spat out darkly. "As if that wasn't already enough for this week."
Just what was he supposed to do with this new knowledge anyway? Was it yet another indication that he really was destined to say yes to Michael and let the archangel inside of himself? Everything definitely seemed to be indicating that way and Dean couldn't help but wonder if he was just being incredibly selfish and pigheaded here by not giving in and playing his role. How many more people had to die before he got his head out of his ass and put a stop to it all? Yes, he knew that saying yes to Michael and letting the archangel ride him would result in the deaths of millions of innocent people but if he was going to cave then surely it was better for everyone that he did so sooner rather than later. At the very least he'd be able to save all of those people that Lucifer would kill between now and his inevitable acquiescence later on. Besides, if it was only him who said yes then perhaps not as many people would die? If he gave Michael his rightful vessel while Lucifer was forced to make do with a less than suitable one then surely Michael would be able to win that much faster and thus cause less damage to Earth and everyone on it.
"You've faced the Whore?" Gabriel questioned. "I assume that she's no longer alive with you two muttonheads relaxing here."
"Who says we were relaxing?" Sam demanded but then look away in shame as the archangel glanced pointedly at the TV.
"Ah, man!" Dean complained as he saw the end credits scrolling on screen. "I missed the best part!"
"Dean!"
"Well I did."
"Just forget about your stupid show for once," Sam responded in exasperation. "We have more important things to talk about here."
"There's nothing to talk about," Dean countered stepping away to grab the discarded angel blade on the floor and toss it on the bed along with the other weapons.
"Your brother is right, Dean," Castiel stated. "We should discuss this."
"And what do you wanna talk about, huh, Cas? You have an explanation up your sleeve for why I can sense you guys coming when I shouldn't? Or why I was able to kill the Whore of Babylon despite not being a servant of Heaven? 'Cause if you do, I'd really love to hear it, but otherwise there's no point speculating about it as we can do that till we're blue in the face and we still won't be any further."
The look Castiel was giving him, head tilted to one side as the angel so often did, just served to unnerve Dean now and he silently cursed Gabriel for making him so self-conscious of the whole staring thing again. He'd fallen into a quite happy routine with his friend where he'd become used to most of Castiel's quirks and had even come to expect them. To have that routine disrupted now, especially in such a way as to have him wonder exactly how he could have become used to this and to actually have to wonder as to what it meant angered him in a way he didn't quite understand. Why hadn't the archangel just been able to leave everything alone?
"You killed the Whore?" Gabriel demanded, eyes sharpening and locking onto Dean once more.
"Yeah," Dean replied defiantly.
"Well, aren't you just full of surprises, Dean."
"I'm a regular piñata."
Sam sighed and Dean knew that his brother had to be biting his tongue, but really, what did Sam expect? It's not like he had any answers here and, frankly, the whole thing just creeped him out, what with the freaking prophecy and strange coincidences lately. It was enough to make him start really believing in God's existence independently of Castiel's or Sam's belief in the Guy. After all, who else could be such a big douche but some neigh on all powerful being that demanded that people kneel before Him and worship Him or they'd get a one way ticket straight to Hell?
"So what made you change your mind, Gabriel?" Dean asked, changing to subject. "You seemed pretty pro-Apocalypse the last time we saw you."
"What can I say?" Gabriel shrugged nonchalantly as if it wasn't a huge deal. "I gave it some thought and realized that you two Hardy boys are right, I really do like the status quo down here too much to see it change. And why should I anyway, if Michael and Lucifer need to squabble then let them do it elsewhere, I'm tired of just standing by and watching them wreck and ruin everything that I love."
Dean opened his mouth to say something to that but for once he found that absolutely nothing came to mind. For all of his posturing, it seemed to him that the archangel was sincere in his desire to help now and he didn't want to risk upsetting that. Besides, he'd given Gabriel's words from their last meeting some thought and he could understand how difficult it was to stand by and watch your family tear at each other's throats, seemingly unable to stop it or do anything about it. He'd tried everything he could think of to keep Dad and Sam from fighting, but it had never been enough. He'd never been enough. Surely if they'd really cared for him then they'd have been able to at least tone it down or find a way to make it work. But no, they hadn't even seemed willing to consider that, just going at each other despite all of his protests and mediation efforts. Not even after having been separated for several years had they seemed able to even try.
So, yeah, Dean could understand where Gabriel was coming too much even if he'd never have chosen the path that the archangel took to say anything snide, let alone something that might make Gabriel reconsider his current desire to help them. Sam, however, seemed to have no such qualms.
"Oh, so now you grow a backbone. You couldn't have done that any sooner? Say before Lucifer got out of his cage?"
"And whose fault is that?" Gabriel shot right back.
His brother flinched visibly at the accusation but any hope that Dean might have had of it tempering Sam's response were quickly dashed.
"Sure, try and distract us. Regardless of what I did the fact remains that you could have done something sooner and you didn't. Dean was right, you really are a coward."
"Whoa, whoa, calm down guys!" Dean interjected, moving to stand between the two with his arms raised.
A moment later he felt heat at his back and he knew without looking that Castiel was there doing his whole invasion of personal space thing. The show of solidarity felt good even if he thought that it might be better if Castiel were to move closer to Sam. He wasn't the one in danger of being smited any second now.
"You have no idea how lucky you are that I'm not particularly fickle and that I now see saving the status quo from Heaven and Hell as more important than teaching you a lesson," Gabriel stated, darkly.
"Guys," Dean tried again, a sinking feeling in the pit of his stomach.
"Are you threatening me?" Sam demanded, eyes narrowed.
"Well you do fit my chosen target profile particularly well," Gabriel replied.
"Shut up! Both of you just shut up!" Dean shouted, earning himself two startled looks before he focused on his brother. "What the hell is wrong with you, Sam? This was your idea to begin with, remember?"
"That was before we learned who he really is," Sam answered. "I just thought that he was a regular trickster when I first suggested talking to him."
"So? What difference does it make? If anything this works in our favor as he's far more powerful than some random pagan demigod."
"He's an angel, Dean, an archangel, God's messenger or whatever. He's one of the really big ones. One of the few that seems to transcend dominion and whom almost everyone knows about, whether they're religious or not."
Ah, now Dean got it, this went back to Sammy's whole faith thing and the fact that his brother used to really believe and pray regularly. He would have thought that Sam would be over that by now but obviously not. Was it any wonder then that he'd always scoffed at religion and God? So, yeah, he'd obviously been wrong about the Big Guy's existence, he could easily admit that, but it was clear that he was handling this whole Apocalypse and God not giving a rat's ass thing better than someone who'd always believed and acted accordingly. At least in this he had no strong convictions to lose painfully.
"Come on, Sam, angels are dicks, dicks with wings, you already knew that," Dean responded before throwing a quick smile over his shoulder at Castiel who really was standing right behind him just as he'd known his friend would be. "Except for you, of course, Cas."
The angel's eyes shifted to meet his own and Dean was happy to discover that whatever had bothered him about meeting his friend's gaze before had vanished. Things seemed to be back to normal between him and Castiel and he felt his smile broaden as a result.
"Oh like you've never been a dick," Gabriel said and while the words themselves should have been harsh, the tone was anything but.
When Dean turned back around to face the archangel he found that his suspicion was correct given the slightly playful gleam in Gabriel's eyes. It was one he almost recognized from himself. Perhaps this just might work if he could only get Sam on board with what had initially been his brother's plan. And just how did he keep on getting himself into these kinds of situations anyway?
"Never claimed that I wasn't," Dean replied with a cheeky smile before turning to face Sam once more. "Come on, it's not like we've got a lot of options here and we really can use all of the help we can get. He's an archangel for Heaven's sake!"
The slight shifting behind him reminded Dean abruptly of all that Castiel had suffered at the hands of the archangels and what it was that his friend had once called them. Heaven's most fearsome weapon. It was just kinda easy to forget that last part when faced with Gabriel. Sure, the douche had more than proven that he was a powerful being during their previous encounters, but it was a long way from a demigod to an archangel, a long way up and they'd yet to truly see any of the power that Gabriel was really capable of wielding, what with his whole witness protection program thing and all.
Now that he'd thought about it, though, Dean realized that he shouldn't just take Castiel's silence for acceptance and actually ask the angel instead. This decision would affect all of them after all, especially with how Castiel seemed to be losing more and more of his power as of late.
"What do you think, Cas?" Dean asked.
The angel sent him a quick look before glancing away to observe his brother. "I believe we should accept Gabriel's offer to help. We could use his power and knowledge."
"And what if this is all a trap or some kind of elaborate ruse to string us along in an attempt to get us to say yes?" Sam demanded. "Have you thought of that?"
"Do you really think that my brothers or I am that subtle or have the patience for such a ploy?" Gabriel questioned.
Although the archangel sounded calm and collected, Dean could see the twitching of Gabriel's fingers and he knew that the guy was fighting the desire to just do something to Sam. That more than anything convinced him that his brother was wrong. Gabriel was right, neither Zachariah nor Raphael had either the patience or the inclination for something like this and that bastard Michael had seemed far too sure of his conviction that he'd cave on his own to use something like this. As far as Gabriel himself was concerned, well the archangel was far too flashy and blunt for this to be one of his tricks and he'd never seen Gabriel deny himself a pleasure when he wanted it and he was sure that the archangel would consider it a pleasure to do something to Sam. No, this was the real deal, he was sure of it. Now he just had to get his brother to go along with it, even if only reluctantly but he knew that would be far easier said than done if the stubborn tilt of Sam's chin was anything to go by, and that was to say nothing of the look in his eye. He was eerily reminded of Sam preparing to dig his heels in with Dad and he couldn't help but sigh in frustration and dread.
"How about a show of good faith?" Gabriel offered. "Would that help?"
"What did you have in mind?"
"Just a little something to help Cassie out."
In the blink of an eye the archangel stood beside them and it was all that Dean could do not to jump. He hadn't been expecting that particular move even if he could hear Gabriel coming now. Gabriel reached out with two fingers but stopped before he actually touched Castiel's forehead, raising a questioning eyebrow instead.
Castiel regarded his brother for a moment before turning to look at him and Dean shrugged, not at all sure what Gabriel had in mind.
"Cas, I don't think that's such a good idea," Sam warned when Castiel nodded at the archangel.
"Gabriel could have done whatever he so desired to me earlier," Castiel replied. "Instead he asked for permission."
"That doesn't mean that he isn't going to harm you."
"Let him make his own decision, Sam," Dean said, eyes glued to the two angels.
What Castiel had said was a hundred percent true, besides his gut seemed to be giving Gabriel the benefit of the doubt here and it was usually right. It also wasn't like they had much choice here and the mere possibility of getting an archangel on their side was more than worth a few risks. Not to mention the fact that it would be extremely hypocritical of him to try and deny Castiel his free will now after all that he'd said and done.
His friend's sharp intake of breath and the glow of Gabriel's fingers had Dean tensing, but he managed to contain his first reaction to step in and knock the archangel's hand away. It was a near thing though. Since when had he become so damn possessive of Castiel anyway? Sure the angel was his friend and the first real one that he'd ever had, but this felt different from that, deeper in a way that he didn't fully recognize. More like what he felt for Sam or Bobby when they were threatened and yet it wasn't quite the same either. He'd almost say it was deeper than that again, but that was just plain ridiculous and wasn't possible, was it?
No, it couldn't be as that would mean... No, it was something else, he was just misinterpreting all of this emotional bullshit again, just like Sam so often said that he did.
"Gabriel?" Dean questioned, having to squint as the light grew brighter.
"You'll want to close your eyes for this next bit, boys," Gabriel stated as the light continued to brighten in intensity.
Dean's eyes nearly widened in shock as he realized what the archangel meant but he managed to overcome his instinctive impulse and slammed his eyes shut instead. A few seconds later the room brightened so it was close to unbearable even with his eyes closed. He'd just raised his arm to shield his eyes even further when the light show stopped.
"Gabriel?" Dean asked. "Is it safe for us to open our eyes now?"
"Yes," Castiel replied.
His eyes snapped open at the sheer wonder and shock in his friend's voice and Dean could hardly believe what he saw. Castiel looked different, brighter, stronger, more relaxed and at ease. More like he used to. Because the angel's fall had been so gradual, he hadn't been able to fully realize all of the changes that had happened but now, going from one extreme to the other in the space of a few seconds, the change was horrifying and he couldn't believe that he'd missed it all as it had happened. What kind of friend did that make him regardless of what had been going on at the time?
"Wow, Cas, you look different!" Sam exclaimed in surprise.
"I have been restored," Castiel stated, still looking as if he couldn't quite believe it himself. "My Grace, it has been fully restored to what it used to be."
Dean wanted to say something as well, to tell his friend how much better he looked or how pleased he was for him, but he couldn't. The words seemed to be frozen in his throat and all he could do was stare. If Castiel had been a chick, he would have said that he was mesmerizing but as his friend most definitely wasn't a chick he didn't know quite what to make of it all. His angel, however, didn't seem to need words and was matching his stare with one of his own that told him exactly how ecstatic and stunned Castiel was about this sudden change in fortune. It was simply amazing and if nothing else came out of this potential alliance with Gabriel then he'd be more than fine and happy with that. His friend hadn't deserved what had happened to him and he was so very pleased that it now seemed to have been reversed.
"Do they do that a lot?" Gabriel asked, though Dean was only dimly aware of him.
"Yeah, it's a thing they do," Sam replied wearily and that caught his attention.
He probably knew damn near every inflection that his brother could give his voice and this one signaled reluctant admission or defeat. It allowed Dean to finally tear his gaze from Castiel's and give Sam a huge smile.
"Dude, Gabriel gave Cas his Grace back! How is that not awesome?" Dean demanded.
"I can see that."
There was still enough of an edge to Sam's voice that Dean knew that his brother hadn't fully accepted this yet but he didn't think that Sam would be enough of a little bitch to deny that Gabriel had just done a wonderful thing.
"Is it permanent?" Sam inquired.
"Huh?"
"Yes," Castiel stated. "Gabriel has not only restored my Grace to its former state, but he has also shown me how to maintain and replenish it myself as opposed to how it used to happen via my connection with the Host itself."
"How does that work?" Dean asked.
"Let's just say that Heaven is a large place and the Host can't cut off all access to it no matter how much they might like to do so," Gabriel replied. "I've simply shown my little bro here how to get around the protections in place and connect himself directly with the power of Heaven instead of doing so through the Host."
"And this will keep him from... fading like before?"
"Yes."
"Awesome."
Now that his tongue no longer seemed tied, Dean turned back to face Castiel to add his own congratulations to the lot but found that he was rendered speechless almost as soon as he caught sight of his angel once more. Damn but if Castiel didn't almost glow just now. For a moment he thought that his friend had shifted in place, an oddly human gesture for someone with as rigid a posture as Castiel's, but then he realized that it wasn't his friend that was moving in place, but rather his wings. They were shifting subtly against his angel's back almost like little stretching maneuvers designed to work any kinks or cramps out of a sore or underused muscle. The thought abruptly made him wonder if Castiel's wings themselves had suffered from his decline in power and it pained him on a level he didn't really want to think too closely about. He just knew that such magnificent wings as those he saw just now deserved nothing less than being strong and well groomed.
And if Dean had the strange desire to reach out and touch those glossy black feathers then that was all a perfectly normal reaction to finding out that he could see an angel's wings. After all, who wouldn't want to do so?
"Well?" Gabriel demanded. "Has that proven my good intentions?"
The question had Dean looking back at Sam expectantly to find his brother wearing one of his classic bitch faces, the one that Sam usually got when he was forced to admit that he'd been in the wrong.
"It shows that you're willing to help us," Sam finally said. "But helping Cas is a long way from actively helping us do anything to stop the Apocalypse and your brothers."
Sam did have a point there, but Dean was still far too happy with what had just happened to let that bring him down any. They were talking about Gabriel going against his family here after all, so he more than understood that it might take some time for the archangel to get used to the idea but that was okay as Gabriel had already taken the first and biggest step in the right direction. Besides it wasn't like they even remotely had a game plan yet so if it took their newest ally some time to get into the swing of things then that was fine. In the meantime they had two more horsemen to go after which would give the archangel something to cut his teeth on first before they focused in on Michael and Lucifer themselves.
"So, are you ready to do that?" Sam pushed.
"Do what exactly?" Gabriel inquired.
"Stand up to Lucifer, of course."
"No."
"Why not?"
"Because he's far more powerful than me and will most likely kill me."
The straightforwardness of the answer and the bluntness of it left Dean in no doubt of how convinced Gabriel was that this would be the outcome of any confrontation between himself and the devil.
"Really?" Dean couldn't help but ask regardless. "Even if we try and level the playing field a little somehow?"
"Even then. Lucifer is far more powerful than me."
"But you're both archangels," Sam argued.
"Not all archangels are equally powerful," Castiel explained. "Most of the time it isn't worth mentioning as the difference between them is insignificant when it comes to anything else, including other angels, but when you're just looking at the archangels themselves then the difference becomes quite important."
"Exactly," Gabriel nodded. "The only one who can stand up against Lucifer is Michael. Well, him or Father, but He doesn't seem to be showing His face at the moment."
"Nor will He," Dean muttered darkly before he shot a worried glance at Castiel, afraid the angel might take off again at the reminder of his Father's callous words.
"What happened?" Gabriel demanded darkly, sensing that there was more to his words than mere resentment.
"I'll tell you later. So you really can't face Lucifer? What about Raphael?"
"Really and Raphael is in the same boat though he does seem to have outgrown his breeches as of late, or at least thinks he has from what I've heard. Though I have to admit that I haven't heard as much of him lately."
"That's 'cause he's a little stuck at the moment," Dean stated, a wicked grin crossing his face.
"Stuck?"
"Why do you think I happened to have Holy oil in the trunk of the Impala?"
Gabriel's eyes were wide in disbelief and Dean couldn't help but laugh at the sight. The look quickly morphed to shock and then to a grudging respect at Castiel's nod when his brother looked to him for confirmation.
"How?" Gabriel questioned.
"Dean and I lured him into a trap by contacting him through his vessel and letting him think that he had outwitted our plans to trap him," Castiel explained.
"And you left him in the Holy fire?"
"Yep," Dean confirmed. "Like I said, you can't say that I never did anything for you."
"So I'm beginning to see."
"Would he really still be there?" Sam asked. "I mean wouldn't Raphael be able to get himself out of the Holy oil, fire, whatever? You were still able to do some stuff when we had you trapped."
"We still have access to some, limited, powers, but we cannot do anything to the Holy oil or any resulting fire," Gabriel replied. "That's the whole point of the Holy oil, to keep us trapped."
"Not even something as simple as turning on the sprinklers?"
"No, N and O, what's so difficult to get about that?"
"So how did you managed to escape, Cas?" Sam asked, turning to face their friend.
"You were trapped in Holy fire, Bro?"
"Yeah, Lucifer had him," Dean added with more than a little pride. "But he got out."
"I was able to loosen the screw of a pipe in the ceiling and used it to knock the demon Meg into the circle with me," Castiel explained.
"Which then gave you something to use as a bridge over the flames," Gabriel concluded, nodding. "Smart."
"No, no, it's better than that," Sam countered excitedly. "Don't you see, we could use this against Lucifer and Michael, this could be the answer we've been looking for!"
"Nope, no can do, at least not long term anyway."
"Why not?"
Boy, if Dean had thought he'd been having flashbacks to Sam and Dad's old fights before then they were nothing compared to all of the memories those two short little words managed to conjure when spoken in that particular tone of voice. Though, honestly, if this turned out to be the biggest drawback to this new alliance, then he could live with it; easily.
"Because while neither Michael nor Lucifer would be able to free themselves from the Holy fire, there would be more than enough willing volunteers on both sides to do it for them," Gabriel replied slowly, as if speaking to a small child and it made his brother's hackles rise, he could easily see that from here. "The only reason that they haven't freed Raphael yet is because they haven't sent anyone looking for him, probably because they don't want to spare anyone from the hunt for you two."
"Great, so there goes another idea," Dean sighed dropping unceremoniously on the bed he'd been sitting on earlier.
"Yes, however I do know of another way to at least stop this Apocalypse in its tracks even if it might not be as permanent a solution as you'd like."
"What?" Sam exclaimed.
"How?" Castiel demanded urgently.
"By locking Lucifer back up in his cage," Gabriel stated. "The catch is that it requires us having all four of the horsemen rings and there are some pretty serious caveats as well."
Part 2