A/N: Welcome to the newest tale—one that begins with a hunt for a non-angelic trickster and ends, well, that's for you to find out, isn't it? Enjoy!

This is basically an AU set in early-to-mid season 3 with the slight issue of assuming the boys already know that angels needs vessels but not that they are vessels (or that killing Lilith lets Lucifer free), including the whole Dean-goes-to-the-theoretical-future deal (5.04 The End). We're assuming Sam got away from the Chosen Children Camp without dying and Dean's not headed to Hell. That's the main info bleed, but you may catch one or two more if you've, y'know, watched it all more recently than I have (also note that I've only seen up to 7.01 and I was inebriated when I saw that, so anything beyond that doesn't exist for me). And if you don't like OCs, don't worry—the non-angelic trickster won't be around long. (Helllllooo, female character, especially monster, in Supernatural? Definitely not going to last.) Our favorite trickster will definitely be sticking though. (Er, I should also mention that I never intended this to be Gabriel-centric or Sabriel but it somehow ended up as both with some Destiel just for kicks? Dunno, but I'm not gonna complain if you don't.)

Well, that was the longest author's note ever. Get on with the readin' if I haven't scared ya off, eh?

Summary: A hunt for a trickster goes awry and leads the Winchesters on an adventure they never thought they'd be taking. Now they've got a trickster and a god tagging along with every intention of driving them insane. At least some things never change: hunting was the name of the game and the Apocalypse needed to be stopped.

Disclaimer: Nothing Supernatural belongs to me.

Chapter 1: Crazy Babies

No use talkin 'bout if they'll last

Where they're goin' or about their past

They're just the result of our Society

So frustrated just like you and me, that's right

Nobody's gonna change them, change them

They've gone over the top

Nobody's gonna tame them, tame them

They're never gonna stop

It wasn't everyday that the boys ran into a trickster. Truth be told, they'd only run into one and hadn't even heard of any hunters in their extended network running into others. Bobby was of the wise theory that there simply weren't any others.

From the sting of yet more freezing cold drops of sugary rain, however, the boys new otherwise. Sam pushed his sashed hair back out of his face.

"Whatever damn deity made tricksters was a friggin' lunatic," Dean muttered behind him. He wanted to find the damned trickster and gank her before she did anything more harmful than the tricks she'd done so far, but they weren't having much luck. It had been four days since they'd first identified her and, although they were reasonably certain they were on her trail now, Dean had the sinking feeling that this wasn't going to end easily for them.

"The ritual should summon her easy enough and it'll keep her from going anywhere, but the barrier's two ways, son. You won't be able to touch her either," Bobby informed the brothers on speakerphone,

"That's more than we've managed so far," Dean grumbled, pulling open a bag of chips.

"Do you have any other books on the topic we can use, Bobby? There's got to be something," Sam asked.

"Nothing specific, but I'll be there in a few hours and you can take a look, okay? I'll leave the books with you before I head out. And you boys better damn well have coffee ready this time."

"We will, Bobby. See you soon."

A snap of small fingers and suddenly there was a glittery 20-layer cake worthy of the largest wedding. The trickster smiled and sat up in her seat before cutting a piece and beginning to eat. The monitor she was watching assured her that the foolish hunters that were after her were nowhere near the building. They'd been fun for a few days, but she was ready to send them off or, if she couldn't, move on herself.

She was just reaching for another piece when she vanished from her seat.

"Oh, hells," she exclaimed, looking out of the barrier that trapped her. "Now, boys, was this really necessary? If I'd known a simple, pretty thing like me could drive you to such extremes, I would've left."

"Right," Dean snorted, rolling his eyes. "Just like you'd never cause enough trouble to get us here in the first place."

"It isn't my fault that my tricks gain attention sometimes. I'm a trickster, we're flashy by nature," the trickster pointed out, small arms crossed over her chest. "Speaking of, newflash boys: I may not be able to do anything just now, but you can't either and these barriers aren't made to last long."

"Don't worry, sweetheart, we've got a surprise waiting for you once the barrier falls. You aren't getting out of here," Dean assured her, lazily examining a birch stake. Bobby said a different text indicated a victim's blood wasn't needed, so the stake was clean. The trickster's grin didn't falter.

"A surprise for little old me? And to think I didn't get you anything," she taunted back, sitting abruptly on the floor before pulling a candy bar out of her pocket. "The really unfortunate thing is that I didn't have more sweets on me when you summoned me. Oh, here's an idea! Why don't we not summon others unprepared? It's incredibly rude."

A look from Sam prevented Dean from replying. With Bobby's help, they'd set a trap that would last exactly 50 minutes and he didn't intend to listen to them bickering that whole time. Instead of arguing, Dean passive-aggressively extracted an extra large bag of peanut M&Ms from his pocket and began munching on them as he went to help finalize the plan. They were reasonably certain based on Sam's translation of the text that there would be a ten second interval in which they could cross the barrier but she could not. Ten seconds would be more than enough for them to finish her.

Seeing the look the younger one shot toward her, the trickster knew she was probably in a good deal of trouble. She was familiar with the spell and she knew she would have to be fast enough to avoid their stake until she could escape. She thought, for once, that her size was an advantage—at almost five feet tall and thin as a reed, they would have difficulty getting her if she condensed herself enough. She worried, nonetheless. These spells tended to act oddly and it was possible that instead of the physical borders weakening, the whole field would instead and they would be able to go after her without restriction. She restrained her shudder and pulled out her last candy bar.

"It really sucks that my last sweet is dark chocolate. It isn't even worth calling a sweet," she complained with a sigh. Sam and Dean both looked up before sharing a look and returning to their work. They both knew she was just trying to get enough pity to save herself. She noticed that her try didn't work and laid down, staring at the ceiling in thought.

Half an hour after, she sat up and looked at the brothers again.

"Say, you ruggedly handsome boys, why don't you let me go and I'll whip up a treat for you and then leave? I'll tone my pranks down a bit, even if they're already the laughingstock of the trickster community. Scout's honor," she offered.

"We aren't making a deal, bitch," Dean informed her, picking his nails with the point of the birch stake. Her expression soured.

"So very rude. You could've just said no," she muttered, arms crossed over her chest again. "I take it the 'night of your dreams' offer won't work either? Fine. Can I have some of your candy before you off me?"

"We aren't going to have time to do that," Sam pointed out, beginning to feel a bit bad. For all that she was a trickster, she hadn't killed anyone as far as they could tell and she was so small and harmless looking he could hardly help the pang of pity her coming demise caused.

"You're right. Thanks anyway," she sighed, laying back down. Sniffling noises made San glance up again, but he returned his attention to his book as quickly as he could. Pitying the monster they were about to kill wouldn't do anyone any good. A sudden gasp five minutes before the barrier was scheduled to break, however, made him look up. The trickster had her phone out. After looking at it for a minute, she met Sam's eye with a smile. "Now you're in trouble."

"You're the one about to be ganked, sister," Dean muttered, hardly looking up. The trickster laughed freely enough that Dean began to feel concerned. "Why do you think we're going to be in trouble, anyway?"

"Because she knew I wouldn't leave her to the mercy of two chuckle-heads like you. It would be bad for the name of the trickster community," a male voice answered, making everyone look up. Sitting in the rafters was the trickster the boys had met before, smiling smugly down at them. "Doing okay down there, Ase?"

"As well as could be expected, sweetums. They weren't even going to give me a last meal," she answered before turning her attention back to the brothers. "You thought I was trouble. Try handling an irritated Loki."

"Loki? The trickster that gave us so much trouble before was friggin' Loki?" Dean ground out in surprise.

"That would explain why he was so hard to kill. He's around the top of the trickster hierarchy while also having the skills and privileges of a Norse deity," Sam reasoned, his fingers tightening around his birch stake, hidden under the table. A good shot once the trickster was distracted would do it.

"Oh, no, none of that, bucko," Loki said before the birch stake was suddenly gone, replaced by a giant candy cane. Another snap and Loki was standing just beside the other trickster inside the barrier. "I've missed you, cutie pie."

"Not as much as I've missed you, sugar plum," Ase replied, looking up in Loki's arms to accept his kiss. "Can you get us back out or do we have to wait? We've got ten minutes or so if the second and forever if the first."

"Gross," Dean muttered from the other side of the barrier, his gaze entirely too sharp to make it seem like he was really distracted.

"We'll make quick work of getting out of here. There are better audiences if we want one," Loki replied after a moment's deliberation. When he snapped his fingers, however, nothing occurred. Another attempt produced the same lack of results.

"Ha! Looks like we've got both of you now. Sammy, go get another stake and you can gank Loki," Dean exclaimed. Sam nodded and left the room eagerly and quickly.

"What's the problem, honeybun? I thought this magic didn't work on you," Ase asked concernedly, frowning up at the man beside her.

"The barrier's stronger than usual. I'll try again once it weakens a bit and we'll be out of here. Don't worry your sweet little head," Loki assured her, drawing her into an embrace again. She looked up at him with big whiskey-colored eyes and nodded. Dean watched for Sam's return, ignoring the increasingly questionable sounds coming from their prisoners. When he looked back, Ase was removing chocolate syrup from one of Loki's fingers in a fashion that made Dean cringe, especially given the god's expression and the fact that the woman's hands couldn't be seen from his vantage point.

"Sammy! Hurry up and come see if you can make this spell speed up some. I'm not watching this for two minutes, let alone however the hell long we have left," Dean shouted out the door.

"You could've had the same treatment and avoided Loki's wrath if you'd just listened to me," Ase cooed from behind the barrier, batting her eyelashes at the hunter over Loki's hand. Dean shuddered and kept as close as possible to the doorway, saying one of his rare silent prayers in gratitude for his brother's return.

"Oh, God, what are they—never mind. We've got to get into position. The barrier drops in less than two minutes and then we've got about 10 seconds to kill them both," Sam recited, his stake at ready.

"I know that, dude. Let's just kill them before they have any more ideas," Dean groaned in reply. Loki wiggled his eyebrows at the brothers suggestively and they shuddered. The quicker they offed these lunatics, the quicker they could find another hunt to try to get the image of these two out of their minds. The two tricksters, feeling the barrier begin to alter, stopped their antics. Loki kept the smaller trickster in his arms when she turned to face the hunters nonetheless, watching them closely. He could feel the fear radiating from Ase and he didn't like that—not when he'd arrived to save her.

The only movement in the room was Loki's thumb tracing circles on Ase's arm as everyone counted down. Breaths came quietly, eyes hardly blinked. They all waited for the moment of truth and, when it came, chaos ensued.

Ten seconds. The Winchester brothers leapt forward.

Nine seconds. They reached the edge of the barrier.

Seven seconds. Stake-arms began to raise and Loki tightened his grip on Ase.

Five seconds. Magic wasn't working yet, but at least the first stabs had been avoided.

Three seconds. Sam's attack was going to hit its mark.

Two seconds. Loki drew his strength and threw Ase to the farthest edge of the barrier.

One second. The birch stake entered Loki's chest and a cry flew from Ase's throat.

Zero. Nobody moved until the barrier tangibly vanished. When it did, Ase broke Loki's fall with her small body and ripped out the stake.

"Loki, please be okay," she pleaded, little hands guiding his face so he could look at her. He glanced to the side, reminding her of the hunters, and she looked up with a ruthless expression. "I may not have the power to save him, but take a step and you'll be glad of the time I send you to Hell," she growled before turning back to the dying god, hardly observing that the Winchesters were obeying her plea. "I don't know what to do. You should've thrown me in their path. You have the strength to heal me, but I don't have enough to heal you."

Loki's eyes began to flutter closed and Ase continued pleading for a moment before the dying one stilled completely. Once he was motionless, she closed his eyelids, gently laid him on the ground, and struck at Sam Winchester faster than a snake.

"You've killed him. You killed Loki, brother of Thor, god of Asgard and tricksters, the strongest and oldest of us all. Are you proud of yourself?" she cried angrily, hitting him with small fists. Whirling, she saw the stake and ran for it wildly. "A sacrifice may save him. May whatever gods are left help me."

"Whoa, there," Sam said, pulling her away from the stake in a vice of a bear hug. He wasn't sure if her sacrifice could resurrect the other, but he wasn't willing to find out. Ase fought like mad until she realized it was helpless, at which she became a limp featherlight mass in the hunter's arms.

"I lent my power to Loki to help us escape and now he's dead and I don't have enough left. He'll have died in vain and it'll be all my fault," Ase whimpered, tears beginning to trace paths down her cheeks. "All I was doing was spreading happiness and you did all of this because of that."

"Here, Sammy, I've got the other stake," Dean announced, taking a step toward them. The grief-stricken trickster didn't react. When he got close enough to strike, however, he noticed that she was smiling. "Uh, Sammy, d'you think she was serious about a sacrifice?"

"Of course," Ase replied, grabbing the stake and stabbing it through her chest so fast neither brother could stop her. Sam dropped her in surprise and both brothers watched as she appeared at Loki's side. "My life for yours, Loki god of mischief. May it honor you."

She whimpered and her bloodstained hand landed on the deceased trickster's chest. Ase kissed the man's closest arm and then collapsed. After a moment, Sam and Dean looked at each other. The lack of movement seemed to indicate that the attempted sacrifice had failed.

"Well, that wasn't like a normal hunt," Dean remarked.

"No, it wasn't," Sam agreed, still watching the two bodies out of the corner of his eye. "Are we done here, then?"

"Yeah, sure are. Let's go get something to eat—how about pizza?" Dean answered. Sam nodded and they both turned toward the door to get supplies for burning the bodies, facing away from the two bodies. As soon as they did, a dark glow in Loki's chest began building. Before they reached the door, a crack of sound made their ears ring and vision swim with the pain. Once they began to recover, they glanced back to see an unharmed Loki standing with the bloodied Ase in his arms.

"You two clearly haven't learned anything about tricksters. That's about to change," he informed the brothers. They heard a snap and all went blank.