Title: (Not So?) Temporary Setback

Author: OpheliacAngel

Pairing: Dean/Gabriel

Genres: Romance/Family

Rating: Teen

Summary: Dean's starting to get a handle on this whole god-like powers thing. Except for the wings.

A/N: Written for Debriel Exchange for letzi for their prompt 'Shit happens. Dean ends up with Gabriel's power (including wings). Gabriel ends up… well, human.' Also added in your 'One word: Pastries' prompt, just cause. I wanted this to be so much longer and fleshed out but oh well… life, I guess. Happy Holidays and I hope you like this!

If Gabriel tells him to relax and trust his instincts one more time then he is going to freaking lose it.

"I have no instincts when it comes to this, idiot. That's the whole point. I'm not even supposed to have wings."

"Now come on," Gabriel protests. "Since when did we start with the name calling?"

"Since I woke up with wings!"

"You're blowing this way out of proportion, sweetie. Besides, hello, archangel here? That means I can more than happily teach you how to use those wings, not to mention my pretty nifty powers. You're gonna start loving it in no time, kiddo."

"Former archangel," Dean corrects. He's so pissed off and weirded out about the whole wing thing that he can't help but not feel the slightest bit bad as Gabriel's once chipper mood sinks into one of regret and sadness. Even if that lack of sympathy, even empathy, makes Dean a terrible boyfriend. Dean would happily give him back his powers and his wings if he could, but he has no freaking clue why he's suddenly become Gabriel in the first place. "I need to go lay down."

It's Gabriel's turn to remind him now. "You don't need to lay down, remember? Not human."

Dean slams the door anyway with his own hand, just to prove his point.

Dean's been living with Gabriel's confusing powers and bulky, itchy wings, not to mention a very human Gabriel, for a little over three weeks now. Gabriel's told him that he needs to learn how to protect himself, and with Gabriel and his protective instincts there is no arguing with him there. Still, Dean sorta prides himself on finally starting to get used to his new god-like powers.

As long as he doesn't ever have to fly.

At least he's only fallen over once today. Hell, he can't help it if his new freaking wings are so uncomfortable and huge and awkward that he can hardly get around without toppling over. Not to mention how his shoulders and back still ache without reprieve and even bleed from time to time, as if his new set of limbs know that they're not supposed to be attached to him and are rebelling against him. Gabriel's a constant source of support that's more than a little annoying, but it's a feat for the guy considering Dean's irritable and angry all the time and pretty much leaves a newly human Gabriel to fend for himself. Which, since he's watched humans for so long, he should be able to do anyway.

Still, Dean feels bad sometimes. But it's easier to feel nothing when you can make your emotions go away pretty easily, and it's even easier when Dean's so caught up in his own side of the massive mess they're in.

Gabriel's running some salve on Dean's shoulder blades and upper back, around his wings. He's being so gentle about it that Dean almost forgets he's there. He sits further upright to give Gabriel better access, pleased that he's already feeling the near constant burn start to dissolve. It's been driving him near crazy enough to tear his hair out, that and what Dean suspects to be angel radio, which flickers in and out once in a while unexpectedly and entirely unwelcome. He can't quite understand Enochian yet, which Gabriel says will take time enough to sort out the chaos before the language comes to him naturally, at least he thinks so. For the time being, Dean gets this ringing in his ears that makes him want to stick in his head in a wall and he wants nothing more than to throttle Gabriel into getting him to admit that this is all some elaborate trick and he wants it to go away now.

Except he knows this isn't one of Gabriel's tricks. For one, Gabriel would never give him his powers even to prove a point. And second, Dean sees the look in Gabriel's eyes when he's anywhere near Dean's wings. There's intense longing and jealousy there, Gabriel scratching absentmindedly at his back as if something substantial is missing.

Dean knows he hates being human despite how well he tries to hide it. It isn't so much about the whole powerless thing as the sudden inability to filter out emotions and prevent your fragile body from going though mood-swings, headaches, nausea, stomach aches, lethargy, hunger. Dean misses all those things because he was used to them for so long; humanity isn't a thing to be traded. Those side effects of being human made him feel weak but that was the point, to feel human and alive. Gabriel can have those kick-ass powers of his back, Dean doesn't need them to feel stronger or better.

The grace is another thing. He's not quite sure how it's supposed to feel, or what it's supposed to make him into. He can cut himself and still bleed, yet Gabriel explains that it's grace that heals the cut within seconds, grace that makes him stronger and faster. All Dean knows is that he feels on edge all the damn time.

It's like someone completely switched them. Dean has Gabriel's annoying sweet tooth but he has an exact copy of his wings too, or at least according to Gabriel. Dark amber wings that look molten in the sun. Feathers missing on the right wing. It's surreal because it's like Dean's become Gabriel but he hasn't either. He doesn't have the urges to do the dick-like things that Gabriel's prone to do. He's not in the mood to smite or disappear without a trace or whip up a cake right out of thin air with a bottle of champagne. Well, that last one would be switched for pie and beer, but it's beside the point. He's not Gabriel, not by a long shot.

But somebody's probably laughing at them right now.

There's a sharp twinge in his back and Dean curses under his breath. Gabriel smooths a palm over the skin, massaging the small area between his two wings. His fingers straighten out a few feathers and and Dean moans out loud in response. This wing grooming thing is kinda awesome.

"It'll get easier when you can retract them," Gabriel explains, planting a kiss on Dean's shoulder. "It hurts more because they're in the same position all day, because you're not stretching enough."

Dean really wants to be done with the whole stretching thing already. "How about no? How about I don't want these stupid wings or your stupid powers? I just want my own body back. No extra limbs."

Gabriel's eyes snap up to glare at him. Dean thinks he might prefer the physical burn to this; even without powers Gabriel can be pretty damn scary. He has little doubt Gabriel could still kick his ass if he put him to it. "You mean your alcohol soaked liver? Or your insomnia and nightmares? How about those pesky little self-worth issues? That lifetime of abuse and daddy issues and self-loathing to boot? Huh? Come to think of it, I used to be able to just will all that crap away and I did. Important lesson here or what?"

"Come on, Gabe, it's not like I'm gonna be like this forever." This is already bizarre enough, which is why Dean can't think about the alternative to this only being temporary. Really he just wants Gabriel to stop, stop poking at all those parts of his soul and those deep dark places in his head that he knows Gabriel knows about, obviously, but would still rather pretend he doesn't know about. Just cause, yes, archangels can still feel pain even if they can just compartmentalize it away. Pretend it doesn't exist. Which is a really useful fucking trick if you come to think of it. But Gabriel's pissed and even with Gabriel's powers, Gabriel pissed at him is never a good sign.

I'm just seeing how the other half lives. Half? are only four archangels right? Or six. Maybe eight. He's lost count after all the apocalypse bullshit.

"You don't know that, Dean. We don't even know what's causing this." Gabriel leaves the room then and Dean forgets how Gabriel's never used to being drained or emotionally compromised or just generally powerless. Then again, he wishes Gabe would just get off his high horse and realize how completely and utterly freaked out Dean is and how he doesn't want any of this stuff that the former archangel must think is a plus. He doesn't need to make things appear whenever he wants them, or be able to transport himself to another place halfway across the world.

Dean just wants to feel grounded again. He wants Gabriel to stop moping and he wants to just not have these high maintenance wings.

Looks like Dean's not getting what he wants anytime soon.

"Shoot me," Dean protests for the third time since entering the kitchen. It's not lost on Dean that being an archangel means shooting him would probably equal less than the pain of a bee sting. Give him another week of this and he's seriously going to start worrying about Gabriel, who now can be hurt by a bullet.

"Yeah well, until we figure this thing out, kiddo, there's gonna be more practice for you and less cheesecake for me." Gabriel rubs his no doubt upset stomach and Dean can't help but wince. Gabriel's always hungry lately but Dean can't honestly blame him. It's just that he's constantly eating all the wrong foods and definitely knows he is but doesn't care. When he's not eating he's watching obscene amounts of Dr. Sexy or sleeping, about sixteen hours a day too. Dean doesn't blame him for that either. Part of adjusting to being human is no doubt a refusal to adjust and a need to just sleep it all away.

Dean can sleep but it's annoying as hell. He actually has to concentrate when he wants to and more often than not Dean ends up giving up and trying out his new powers, or at least how to get around with his new wings. Sometimes he watches Gabriel sleep too, okay, most of the time. He figures it's total payback for all the hours Gabriel must have spent watching him, claiming Dean was adorable - his word, not Dean's - and that his chronic drooling didn't bother the former archangel one bit.

So Dean watches Gabriel - who's surprisingly kinda cute - shift and twitch in his sleep, clutching his pillow like it's the only comfort he has in the world now. Dean screwed up once when he tried to take Gabriel's nightmares away, screwed up meaning that he lit the bedroom on fire, but now he's figured out the trick of it and presses two fingers to Gabriel's forehead and puts him on a cloud somewhere eating candy bars. He always takes immediate satisfaction when Gabriel's features become slack and his hands loosen their grip on the pillow. Being able to do something for Gabe is nice for a change.

He's been meaning to take a picture of a sleeping Gabriel for a while now, but it's always too good to tear his eyes away from.

Dean likes seeing his boyfriend when he hasn't got his barriers up, when he can openly watch him without fearing that Gabe's watching him back. He likes this sensitive, innocent side of Gabriel sometimes, but he also can't fool himself into believing that this softened down version of the former archangel is Gabriel. He's so much bigger and larger than life than this version.

He knows it's partly due to him, for making this all about him, but he can't care. His wings are aching again and there's no part of it that Dean can tolerate, except for when sometimes he catches Gabriel snapping his fingers and nothing happens and he can't help but crack up because Gabriel can't do anything. At times like these the whole god-like powers thing is beginning to grow on him. Sometimes when he snaps his fingers something happens and sometimes not. Once or twice he's dropped a pie out of thin air on Gabriel's head, payback for all the times Gabe's done it to him, and if he's too lazy to reach the remote he can blink to change the channels, pretty nifty until Gabriel elbows him in his side, which doesn't hurt anymore, and tells Dean to cut it out.

Gabriel's annoyed and jealous and irritated most of the time. He takes some secret pleasure out of teaching Dean though; he couldn't hide the anticipation from Dean even if he put his mind to it and actually tried. So for a few hours a day, with prolonged breaks in between, Dean lets Gabriel teach him how to move and stretch his wings, and he teaches Gabriel how to shoot a gun and how to make his own sandwich. Gabriel's doing so much better on the first one than the latter.

He's doing so much better on a lot of things now that Dean's given him room to grow.

Dean watches Gabriel as he pours a can of soup into a pan and turns the stove on. He eyes it carefully, half-expecting Gabriel to light the place on fire because how in hell does he know how to use a stove? "You ever stop to think how this might be a harder adjustment for me than it is for you?" Gabriel asks him without turning, sprinkling something into the pan. Since when did he start seasoning?

Uh, human with wings? Dean doesn't think so.

Gabriel turns and Dean can't help noticing that he doesn't look good at all. "Dude, you need to lay down for a while? Take a nap?" Gabriel glares at him and Dean holds his hands up. "Hey, it's not a sign of weakness or anything. That pesky little thing called sleep? I sure don't miss it." He kinda does though. Sure, it was annoying, the nightmares that were mostly memories and how the occasional few days of insomnia would have him hating everything, but waking up to Gabriel in his bed curled around him was kinda like his own little slice of heaven. And opening his eyes to find Gabriel watching him didn't always freak him out. Gabriel's eyes were kinda nice to look at anyway.

Now Dean has to act all almighty and powerful, like nothing could even ruffle one of his feathers even though the wind does when Gabriel forces him to go outside and it takes every ounce of Dean's energy not to fall over on his ass and crush Gabriel's nice wings while they're on loan to him.

That's the way he has to look at it: Gabriel loaning him his powers and his wings. Temporary and not permanent. Another week. Yet as one week bleeds into another it's harder to keep up with that mantra.

"Any leads or anything?" Gabriel shoots him a beat it look and Dean backs down because he might be able to take Gabriel in a fight but he never wants to find out.

The way this is going there's gonna be a fight pretty damn soon as it is.

They don't ever figure it out.

Dean's sitting on the bed again while Gabriel massages his feathers. He takes his time and runs his fingers through each and every one, taking extra care to make Dean's not too overwhelmed or too turned on. Dean can't help it, these wings are damn sensitive and Gabriel knows exactly where to put those sticky yet skilled fingers of his. Sticky as in Gabriel's drooling over his third danish, which Dean has provided out of the goodness of his heart by the way, and he's lucky Dean doesn't swipe it away from him.

He can't live like this. Then again, whipping pies up anytime he wants and never having to limit himself, and getting to take care of Gabriel when he has a stomach ache, and kissing the once archangel until he's actually breathless and Dean can only remember the feeling but doesn't mind because Gabriel is so beautiful and hot and sexy panting and with his cheeks flushed red, mouth pink and wet and sticky at the edges with those damn cherry danishes….

Maybe he can.

FIN