AN: This is a birthday present for my friend Bex. I've been working on it for a while so it's a bit late, I spent 6 hours solid typing it up. I do not own supernatural or its characters unfortunately. It will change points of view occasionally but it will mainly be in third person. This story is unbetad, all mistakes are my own. There are hints of Destiel at the start and jealous/ over protective Cas throughout. There is a bit of background to this story. It is set sometime in season 5, Sammy has gone dark side (said yes to Luci) and Gabe (Gabriel) has joined team free will. Oh and I've put Balthy (Balthazar) as an archangel. Gabe, Dean and Cas have gone to Detroit to confront Luci (Lucifer) in an abandoned warehouse.
Nobody's POV
The door creaked as Dean pushed it open. "Dean, why couldn't we just fly in there?" Gabe complained.
"That would draw attention to us, and we need the element of surprise." Dean hesitated putting his hand out to stop the two angels. "Shut up, there are things in there." Dean put his gun in the waist band of his jeans and pulled out the demon knife. "Go in, in 3... 2..." Dean didn't even get to one before he ran in. Sounds of a fight instantly broke the silence the minute Dean was out of sight.
"Dean!" Cas shouted running in after him. Gabe ran in just in time to see Dean get thrown across the room and hit the wall with a loud thump.
"Castiel, long time no see. Ah Gabe, how nice of you to join us." Sammy... Lucifer smirked and clicked his fingers. A ring of holy fire ignited around Gabe, trapping him. "I don't want to hurt you Gabe, so please stay in the circle." Gabe remained silent but kept glancing between a very angry Cas and an unconscious Dean; at least Gabe hoped Dean-o was only unconscious and not the alternative.
"Sam, I know you are in there somewhere. You have to fight him Sam." Cas also kept glancing worriedly at Dean.
"Sorry Cas, Sammy is long gone. And don't worry your precious little Dean isn't dead. I want to keep him as a pet, he's already hell trained." Lucifer smirked at his own joke. Cas growled at him before lunging at him. At first it was just a fist fight, each landing a few good hits. Then all of a sudden both had their angel swords and the fight started to turn deadly. Lucifer's sword cuts into Cas's stomach and he collapses back against the wall. Dean groaned, rolling away from the wall.
Dean's POV
Ugh . . . so tired. Just wanna sleep. Shouldn't sleep . . . tired.
"Dean? Dean, don't go to sleep! De- AHHHHH." Cas needs me. Can't go to sleep. Need to save Cas.
"Cas? You . . . 'kay?" I managed to push myself up from the floor. Cas was slumped against the wall; his hand clutching his bleeding stomach. Adrenaline flooded my body, my headache forgotten.
"Cas, look out!"Gabe shouted; still trapped in the holy fire circle. Sammy . . . Lucifer lunged for Cas; angel sword in hand. It was aimed straight at his heart. I have to save Cas. I jumped up and ran to Cas. I skidded to a stop in front of him. I glanced back at Cas to see that the angel sword was not imbedded in his chest. And all of a sudden it felt like my entire body was on fire.
Nobody's POV
Lucifer stabbed Dean straight in the heart. Dean's scream was cut off when he fell to his knees and the whole room filled with blinding light. Lucifer was thrown by the light and he hit the opposite wall. The light faded, Dean was standing in front of Cas again never taking his eyes off Lucifer, but this time a massive pair of pure green wings spread behind him. The knife from his chest on the floor covered in blood, both Dean's and Cas's. Lucifer lunged at Dean, tackling him to the floor. Lucifer reached for his angel sword and cut Dean's wing causing to yell in pain. Lucifer laughed "Angel wings make you vulnerable Dean." Dean lunged. Lucifer sidestepped out of the way easily and grabbed Dean's right wing.
And he pulled.
Dean fell to the floor. The wound in his back leaking blood and small amounts of grace. Lucifer hovered over the broke Dean. Dean thrust the sword into Lucifer's heart. Blinding light filled the room and Dean disappeared.
Michael's POV (In Heaven)
"Balthazar, I am worried for Gabriel. He has joined Winchester and Castiel in their little crusade." I like it out here in the garden, it is very peaceful.
"You have nothing to worry about Michael. Gabriel can look after himself. And if that fails Dean will look after him. Dean protects his friends with everything he has. He-" Balthazar was drowned out by the screams of our brothers and sisters. But after only a few seconds it was silent again except one scream. "Michael, what was that? Who would be stupid enough to attack heaven?" I started walking towards where the sound came from preparing for a fight. I rounded the corner and stopped in my tracks. At least a dozen of my brothers and sisters were dead, their wings burnt into the grass. In the middle of the bodies was the angel who was screaming. One of his wings was missing and I didn't recognise the remaining wing, it was the purest green I had ever seen. This is ridiculous; I know the wings of every angel that has ever existed. The injured angel curled into a ball and groaned; some of his grace burst out. It was powerful enough to make the both of us flinch. I took a step towards the injured angel but my path was blocked when Gabriel and Castiel appeared. Gabriel was holding a wing that matched that of the injured angel. Castiel rushed to the injured angel's side.
"Why on earth would he come here?" Gabriel demanded of Castiel.
"More importantly, how did he know how to get here?" Castiel replied. Had they both gone insane?
"Angels will always find their way back to heaven. Gabriel, why do you have this angel's wing? Did you do this to him?" I took a step towards Gabriel but Balthazar put a hand on my shoulder telling me to stop and let Gabriel explain.
"No, Luci did this. He's dead by the way. But that is not the point. You can't go back to a place you have never been to before." Gabriel must have spent too much time with the humans, he wasn't making sense.
"Gabriel, Luci cannot be dead. Michael hasn't got his true vessel yet. And what do you mean 'never been before' every angel was created in heaven." Balthazar asked while I was getting increasingly frustrated. The injured angel curled himself into a ball again. More of his grace was going to be released.
"Castiel, you must leave now, or this angel's grace will destroy you." I stated simply, gesturing around to our fallen brothers and sisters. There was a flutter of wings and Castiel had left. The room filled with the injured angel's grace for a second, making us all flinch against the power of this angel.
"Mikey, what would you say if I said your true vessel killed Luci without you?" Gabriel asked as he put the wing down and sat next to the injured angel; stroking the blond/ brown hair.
"I would say that a human wouldn't be powerful enough and no angel would be stupid enough to take my vessel as their own." I was curious as to what Gabriel's explanation was going to be.
"Well I don't know what happened exactly even though I saw it with my own eyes. One second Dean was unconscious, the next Luci's sword was in Dean's heart. The room filled with light then Dean was standing there without a scratch on him and a massive pair of wings. Lucifer attacked him and ripped one of his wings out and Dean stabbed Luci in the heart with his own sword. Then Dean just disappeared." Gabriel had tears streaming down his face by the end. "Luci was going to kill Cas and Dean sacrificed himself for him. And Dean was dead, but then he wasn't and now Luci is dead."
"So you are saying that Dean became an angel then killed Luci?" Balthazar inquired crouching down next to the injured angel. Balthazar gave the angel's shoulder a slight push to reveal the face of Dean Winchester. "Oh my. We need to get him to a healing room. Wait, his grace killed all the angels in this room except us. Does that mean he is an archangel?" I don't understand why Father turned my true vessel into an archangel. Gabriel grabbed the other wing and both Balthazar and I wrapped Dean's arms round our shoulders. My wing instinctively wrapped around Dean's injured back.
"Wait, we can't take him to the healing room, his grace will kill all of the healers. We need to fix him ourselves." I didn't want more angels dead.
"But we don't know how Mikey. We have to take him to a healer." Gabriel replied running off towards the healing rooms. Dean started to twitch as he started to regain consciousness.
Dean's POV
I felt a person pick me up and start to half carry, half drag me somewhere. My hunter senses quickly woke up. I'm not with friends; I'm with angels. I can here at least two babbling in Enochian; one was holding me up. I can't sense Cas; his intense stare. I can't hear Gabe munching on candy. No Cas. No Gabe. No Bobby. No Lucifer pretending to be Sammy. Just these two angels walking across wet grass. The arm holding me up shifted across my back and agony instantly smothered my senses.
Michael's POV
I felt Dean twitch beneath my arm. I knew what this particular human was capable of so I warned Balthazar in Enochian. Dean shifted slightly, moving my arm across the gaping wound. Dean tensed before collapsing. I barely caught him before he hit the ground.
Dean's POV
I'm conscious but I don't have any control over my own body. Is this what it is like to be possessed? All I can do is claw at this wall of white burning agony.
Nobody's POV
When Michael and Balthazar finally got Dean to the healing room Gabriel almost sighed in relief whereas the healer gasped in horror at the sight of Dean's back.
"I'm sorry but I cannot fix that. If there has been some of his wing left in then I would have been able to. But his wing has been ripped out. There is nothing for me to reattach it to." The healer looked around apologetically. This time it was Michael who sighed.
Dean's POV
I was just barely hanging on to consciousness when I started hearing the snippets of conversation.
"Then who can help Dean?" Wait, the strange voices want to help me? Bobby can help me!
"B... Bob..." Damn that Lucifer bitch to hell. My back hurts like when Alistair tortured me in hell.
"Dean-o? You awake man?" Was that Gabe? Gabe can get me to Bobby.
"G'b'? Bo...B'bby 'elp." No, that's it. I give up. This hurts way too frikking much.
Nobody's POV (On Earth)
"Did he just call you Gabe? And what is this Bobby thing?" Michael asked as he laid Dean on the bed.
"Yes, he called me Gabe. He calls Castiel, Cas. If he likes you he gives you a nickname. Bobby is not a thing, he is a person. One of Dean's friends. If anyone can help Dean, it will be Bobby Singer. Cas will probably be there waiting anyway. Come on Dean-o." The archangels disappeared with a flutter of wings only to appear in a small kitchen. Cas jumped out of his seat in Bobby's study.
"Calm down you idjit, its only Dean and Gabriel." Bobby said not even looking up from his book.
"No Bobby, it's not just them." Cas's voice was dangerously low.
"Hey Cassie calm down. It's only the cavalry." Gabriel called out from the kitchen.
"Since when did the cavalry involve Michael and Balthazar?" Cas growled from the doorway.
"Since Dean magically became an archangel." Gabriel was standing in front of Michael and Balthazar, who were holding Dean up.
"The boy did what?" Bobby appeared at the door in an instant. "What's that you got there Gabriel?" Bobby asked as he walked round Gabriel to the unconscious Dean.
"Um... well the thing is Bobby... its Dean's wings, well one of Dean's wings. His right wing." Gabriel stumbled over his words like he was a child caught doing something naughty and trying to get out his excuse.
"Stop rambling boy and tell me what happened to Dean. You two-" Bobby pointed to Michael and Balthazar, "follow me with Dean. Cas I need the sewing kit, antiseptic and some towels, a few wet a few dry. We'll be in the second bedroom on the left. Gabriel don't forget Dean's wing, and follow me." The three conscious archangels followed Bobby upstairs. Michael gently laid Dean down on his stomach so that Bobby could work on his back. Once that was done the three archangels didn't know what to do so they leaned against the wall by the door, watching and waiting. Cas came in and handed Bobby a towel and a bowl of water. Cas then put the rest of the requested items on the bedside table. Bobby started to wipe the blood off of Dean's back when Dean's wing twitched and sent Bobby flying across the room. "Bloody idjit. He always hated getting stitches unless he was stitching himself up. Can one of you stop that wing from throwing me across the room? Gabriel, are you ever going to put that wing down, it is not of much use at the moment? Never mind, I'll need someone to hold it in place while I reattach it so that it is at the right angle. Cas I'm gonna need more towels." Bobby was very good at taking control of the situation even though everyone except Dean was thousands of years older than him. Michael walked up to the flapping wing and gently stroked the velvety feathers. The wing slowed its flapping before eventually stopping its movement completely. Bobby wiped the wet towel across the skin around the wound to clean the blood off. This time the wing did not attack him. "You boys are going to have to hold him down when he wakes up 'cause this is gonna hurt and he's going to throw punches. Cas I'm gonna need your help with the stitching okay?" Everyone nodded and moved closer to Dean but nobody touched him other than Michael stroking his wing. Bobby poured a foul smelling liquid; antiseptic according to the bottle, onto a clean towel. He leaned forward and paused. "Are you boys ready? As soon as this touches the wound he will be up and fighting." Cas held Dean's shoulders down so that his back didn't move. Gabriel and Balthazar each had an arm. Michael carried on stroking the silk like feathers. Dean flinched the moment the towel touched him, just as Bobby had said. Dean tried to escape the hands and get off the bed. Michael was having a hard time keeping hold of the flapping wing. "I'm sorry boy, I've gotta make sure it's clean. If a wound like this got infected, it'd kill ya." Bobby kept wiping the wound with the towel and each time Dean yelled in pain. "it's almost over boy, well the cleaning anyway." Gabriel decided that now would be a good time to distract Dean.
"Hey Dean-o, wanna lollipop?" Gabriel popped one out of thin air and held it out for Dean, who went to take it and instead punched Gabriel in the face. "Dude, I was only trying to be nice. No need to punch me!" Gabriel sulked.
"Idjit. Dean doesn't even like lollipops, he likes-" Bobby started.
"Dean love pie!" Cas shouted moving his hands slightly. Then all of a sudden Dean was out of everyone's grip and shoved himself off of the bed. He made it three feet before collapsing onto the floor and curling up into a ball.
"Castiel, Bobby out now!" Michael shouted, Cas grabbed Bobby and disappeared with a flutter of wings. Two seconds after they vanished more of Dean's grace escaped leaving him unconscious on the floor. Balthazar and Michael got Dean back on the bed and Gabriel went to get Cas and Bobby.
"One of you idjit better tell me what the hell just happened." Bobby demanded as he walked over to Dean.
"I believe that was some of Dean's grace being released." Cas answered looking worriedly at Dean.
"So why did we have to leave?" Bobby asked still confused.
"When an angels grace is released it kills lesser beings to protect its self because grace is only released when the angel is seriously injured. If my grace was released now, you would die. But if any of the other angels in this room graces were released then I would also die. Dean's grace has already killed at least a dozen angels. I'm worried about how much grace Dean actually has left. We need to fix him Bobby and quickly." Cas explained. Bobby moved to the sewing kit and got the needle and thread out. He threaded the needle while telling everyone their jobs.
"Okay boys. Cas I need you to make sure his back stays completely still. Gabriel I need you to hold the wing in the exact position it should be and make sure it stays that way. Michael, make sure that wing doesn't hit anyone. Balthazar, if you see he is even slightly conscious make sure he doesn't stay that way for long. Everyone clear? Good." Cas moved and sat on the bed next to Dean's head holding his shoulders down. Balthazar sat on the other side of Dean's head, studying all of Dean's movements. Gabriel lifted the wing into place and rested it on his shoulder once it was lined up with the wound. Michael just carried on stroking the luxurious feathers. Bobby took a steadying breath and put the needle through the skin near Dean's shoulder blade. He tugged the thread through and Dean moaned in pain but didn't move. Balthazar visibly straightened and scrunched his face in concentration. Thank God for angels, literally. Bobby took another steadying breath before putting the needle through the wing. Dean still didn't move, but Balthazar was struggling. Bobby pulled the thread through the wing and Dean's healthy wing twitched. "Sure you can deal Balthazar? This isn't going to be a few stitches; it's going to 30 to 40." Bobby asked glancing between a struggling Balthazar and the sleeping Dean.
"Yeah but the quicker the better." Bobby immediately stuck the needle through Dean's skin again. The wing fluttered again, so Michael stroked more of the feathers. Gabriel saw what Michael was doing and did the same with the damaged wing.
"Damn these feathers are soft Dean-o. I'm jealous!" Gabriel hummed in appreciation of the velvet feathers under his fingertips.
"Gabriel, those feathers are tangled and scruffy. I'm jealous of Dean's wings." Michael laughed at Gabriel's shocked expression. Cas carefully watched Balthazar through the whole conversation, Balthazar had started to relax. Dean wasn't hurting as much. Cas slowly reached out to the feathers at the base of Dean's healthy wing and started stroking them. Bobby glared at Cas but after Cas tilted his head in Balthazar's direction Bobby understood. By stroking Dean's wings and untangling the feathers, they were sending Dean comfort; calming him and making him relax. Therefore he wouldn't move. After a while Balthazar didn't even seem to be concentrating and started stroking the feathers near the base of the half attached wing. Balthazar laughed as he straightened the crumpled feathers.
"Bobby, I don't suppose you can pass me a clean towel and the bowl of water could you?" Balthazar asked.
"Balthy, why don't you just magic one up?" Gabriel asked.
"Because it took a lot to keep Dean down before you all started grooming him." Balthazar said, sticking his tongue out afterwards at his younger sibling.
"Hey, you can't say anything, you're doing it too! Here, I can still use my mojo." Gabriel handed Balthazar a towel and a bowl of water.
"Mojo?" Balthazar asked as he started to clean the blood soaked feathers.
"That is what Dean calls our angel powers." Cas replied because Gabriel got distracted by Dean's feathers again. Everyone went back to giving Dean's wings their full attention. Slowly but surely Dean's wings were cleaned and untangled. Seriously how did he get them in that state after having then for an hour?
Both brilliant green, softer than silk and not a single tangle.
"Done. One wing successfully reattached and not a feather out of place." Bobby sighed in relief as he cut the end of the thread. He taped gauze over the stitches so Dean couldn't scratch them.
"Bobby, you did say Dean likes pie right?" Gabriel jumped up, a pie in each hand and a lollipop in his mouth.
"You better have said pie and not lollipop." Dean's threat was muffled by a face full of pillows.
"Yeah Dean-o. I learnt my lesson when you punched me in the face." Gabriel smiled and waved a pie in Dean's face.
"Damn that cherry pie smells good." Dean murmured while yawning. He stretched his arms out above his head and arched his back, his wings, both of them, spread out and filled the entire room. Dean frowned and looked at his wings. "Dude, where the hell did they appear from? Are they wings? Oh God, they are soft." Dean started to stroke the inside of his wing and everyone in the room had either fallen on the floor laughing too much or was crying they were laughing so hard. "What? Have I made some of the feathers go wonky? What's wrong? What did I do?" Dean frowned as he looked for any imperfections on his wings. Michael was the first to regain his composure.
"You didn't do anything wrong Dean. It's just that we all said that your wings are the softest angel wings we have ever seen. And then you start stroking them and saying how soft they are." Michael explained.
"Wow, a compliment from angel overlord. Have I woken up in an alternative reality again?" Dean asked as he started munching on his pie.
"Again?" Michael asked.
"Yeah, Zachariah sent me five years into the future in a different reality to show me what would happen if I didn't say yes. Oh damn this is good pie. Thanks Gabe." Dean hummed in appreciation, his wings twitching slightly. Dean began to fidget and tried to scratch his back but Bobby swatted his hand away.
"Don't play with your stitches boy! You should know that by now you idjit." Bobby scolded when Dean tried again.
"Wait, what stitches? When did I get stitches? What the hell Bobby?" Dean started to panic and his wings flapped everywhere as he tried to look at his back.
"Dean, what do you remember?" Cas asked slowly sitting down on the bed next to Dean. Michael cautiously took a few steps closer to Dean's wings and when he didn't get hit he started stroking them again. Dean immediately relaxed.
"Ugh, well we were in the warehouse. Um... I hit my head and-" Dean started.
"He hit his head, why did nobody tell me this?" Bobby interrupted, shining a light in dean's eyes.
"To be fair Bobby, he did get stabbed in the heart and his wing ripped off. Priorities!" Balthazar replied, and then glared at Dean. "Dean, you crumpled your feathers. We spent ages on those!" Balthazar walked over to Dean's wings and started straightening the crumpled feathers. Cas and Gabriel moved to do the same, Michael just continued.
"Um... Sorry. They were really soft. Wait, what do you mean ripped my wing off?" Dean asked panicked again, he looked at both wings as if to check that they were still there. Bobby glared at Balthazar before turning back to Dean.
"Doesn't matter, just tell us what you remember then we will fill you in. Just ignore them; they've been doing it for hours. At one point they started disappearing then re-appearing right next to you so that your feathers would get ruffled and they could fix them. They had your wings feather perfect before you freaked out about your stitches. Anyway, stop getting off topic boy. What do you remember?" Bobby asked again.
"Well I hit my head and was unconscious for a bit. I heard Cas shouting, he and Lucifer were fighting and Cas was hurt pretty badly." Dean gave Cas an once-over checking for injuries. "Gabe was trapped in holy fire. Lucifer was going to kill Cas, so I stopped him. Then it hurt and it felt like I was on fire. And then I was completely fine, well I was better than fine I felt absolutely amazing. Then me and Lucifer were fighting and he caught my... um... wing I think. I tried to stab him. After that all I remember is pain and a lollipop. So what did I miss?" Dean asked while cracking his neck.
"Well good news, you killed Lucifer. Bad news, you killed at least a dozen angels and got your wing ripped out. But good news, we fixed it." Gabriel answered.
"I did WHAT?" Dean's wings flapped once before all the angels grabbed then and started straightening them out again.
"Sorry about Gabe, he's still pissed at you for punching him in the face when he offered you a lollipop." Michael explained as he straightened out a few more feathers.
"I did what? When? Sorry Gabe. All I remember is that there was a lollipop and loads of pain." Gabriel nodded once before sticking another lollipop in his mouth and making another pie appear in front of Dean.
"Well Dean, Lucifer cut part of your wing and you were hurt so he ripped out your wing. But you did stab him in the heart with his own sword. Then you disappeared, so I got Gabe out of the holy fire and he grabbed your wing and we followed you." Cas explained.
"You appeared in Heaven Dean. Screaming and bleeding. Some of your grace was released and it killed all of the angels in the room except Balthy and I. Gabe-" Michael started to explain but Dean interrupted.
"But I thought grace only killed lesser beings."
"That is true Dean. And you are an archangel. An archangel dies when one is born. Balthazar interrupted. Michael carried on like neither had spoken a word.
"Gabe and Cas turned up, muttering gibberish about the unconscious angel on the floor that had never been to Heaven. You must understand, Dean, all angels were created in Heaven. You are the first ever angel to be created out of Heaven and we didn't know it was you. We had to make Cas leave so that your grace didn't kill him. Gabe also said that you killed Luci, which I found hard to believe because that isn't the way it was written in the prophecy. We took you to one of our healers, but they said they couldn't do anything because your wing wasn't damaged, it was gone. But you chose that moment to half become conscious and you told Gabe to take you to Bobby's. So Bobby fixed you up and it took a long time, a lot of feather stroking and a lot of pain on your part." Michael looked pleased with the fact that he had been able to explain it.
"But how come I didn't kill Bobby and Cas while you were fixing me up? And why was there a lot of feather stroking? How many stitches did it take?" Dean was about to ask loads more questions but Balthazar interrupted.
"While Bobby was putting 47 stitches into your back, we were containing your grace and your pain by stroking your feathers." Balthazar stuck his tongue out at Gabriel before taking his lollipop. Michael decided to add more detail.
"Your wings were very tangled and covered in blood so we fixed them and cleaned them. We noticed that it actually calmed you and made your muscles relax, which made Bobby's job easier. And your wings are really soft." Michael smiled at Dean as he continued straightening Dean's feathers.
AN: I love reviews, they make every write smile. So share the love. I will be posting more, just not today. And if anyone is interested, when I was writing the bit where everyone is stroking Dean's feathers I was listening to Hot Mess- Cobra Starship. When Gabe offered Dean a lollipop I was listening to Lollipop by Mika and the pie bit I was listening to Cherry Pie by Warrant. Anyway Happy Birthday Bex, sorry for being a bitch on your birthday.