A/N: Hey, everyone! JMK here. Please enjoy my first attempt at a multi-chapter story. Please tell me if you are interested in more!

Also, there will be Sam/Gabriel in here. 'Cause I like it. A lot.

P.S: Apologies in advance for all mistakes. With no beta, any and all fails are mine.

x Kingston

Episode 1: Wake up, it's the end of the world. Again.

A case had arrived early in the morning with a call from Bobby waking Sam, who then woke Dean, who then proceeded to grumble unintelligible words, annoyed and slurred. Sam only assumed these incoherent sounds were insults and swears directed to the unwanted wake up call. Maybe, Sam thought, it was a string of thankyous for waking Dean up and not simply taking the impala and driving off without him. But probably not.

"Fuck off."

"Get up," demanded Sam.

"No."

"Yes, Dean," Sam huffed and ripped away the bed covers completely, pulling his older brother out of his makeshift nest.

Dean was startled by the sudden cold air hitting his skin and thrashed his legs out in a wild attempt at finding warmth. He instead found Sam's shin, earning a strangled yelp from the young Winchester.

"If you don't get up now, I will hurt you," Sam threatened while scowling and rubbing his aching leg.

Dean snorted and rolled onto his back to yell at the ceiling, "Castiel! Cas, save me!"

He repeated his plea several times with an impish grin plastered to his face and Dean could tell the incessant screams for mercy were giving Sam a headache (if the bitch face of doom - Dean christened - was anything to go by) and if he had to get out of bed then at least it would be entertaining to get a rise out of Sam while doing so.

Because, dammit, he was just that kind of guy.

"Dean, shut up!" Sam yelled and lowered himself before pouncing, leaping from where he was standing to tackle Dean and attempt to wrestle him off the bed and stop him calling the angel.

A fluttering indicated Castiel's sudden appearance but neither Winchester made any notice.

"Dean-" Castiel began, but stopped short from seeing the two brothers lamely pushing at each other's face with the palm of their hands.

"Cas!" Dean exclaimed as Sam's hand squashed into his cheek. "Help me! Sam's trying to kill me!"

Castiel gazed at them stunned and just a little horrified before realising Dean wasn't actually serious about his brother's attempts at murder.

"Dean," the angel said quickly, seemingly irritated at being called unnecessarily. "I thought you were in trouble. I have other things to worry about."

Dean's eyebrows shot up, surprised by Cas' attitude.

"I'm not here to babysit you," he explained. "I shouldn't have to come every time you call."

"But you do anyway."

Castiel turned his head away while nodding and said, exasperated, "Of course I do, Dean."

"Yeah, alright," Sam interrupted, feeling suddenly forgotten and more than a little uncomfortable. "I feel like I'm in one of your moments, so I'm going to…" He trailed off as he pulled away from Dean, who was rumpled and still on the bed grinning, green eyes staring in amusement towards Castiel.

Sam brushed off his shirt, trying to smooth the obvious wrinkles and said, "Dean, we seriously need to go."

"Can't I at least get changed first? Or brush my teeth or something?"

"No."

"You suck."

Castiel shifted uncomfortably. "I should go," he said, and curled his hands into fists and flexed them back out while his arms dangled somewhat awkwardly at his sides.

Dean frowned. "What? Already?" he asked. "Why don't you come with us, man?"

"No," Castiel shook his head. "I must get back to heaven; I have someone I need to meet with."

"Is everything okay, Cas? Is there something we should know?" Sam asked, concerned.

The angel repressed a grimace and stared at Sam for a moment, contemplating.

"No," he finally answered and disappeared.

"What's with him?" Sam asked.

Dean just just buried his head under his pillow and shrugged.

"Ambriel."

The seated figure looked up from her desk and placed a large card on the table, face down to show the back ornamented with swirling patterns of gold.

Her grey eyes sparkled and her smooth, chocolate skin was surprisingly bright in the shadows.

"Castiel," she greeted, looking away from the card to smile at the angel.

Castiel smiled faintly back and knelt in front of the low table to level his face with Ambriel's. He reached an arm out onto the desk to clasp his hand around hers. She squeezed tight.

"I wish I could say it is nice to see you," he started, "but..."

"I understand, Castiel," she interrupted, soft smile dancing on her lips. "I've heard the rumours and I will help you all I can."

"Thank you."

Ambriel released his hand and picked up the tarot card she had previously placed on the table and turned it. She looked to Castiel for a small moment and smiled reassuringly and then moved her hand to hover a few centimeters over the small piece, mouthing long sentences in the dark.

Slowly, the shadows that filled the room became drowned out by a white glow of light being expelled from the card and the rays created eerie patterns over both Castiel's face and her own.

Ambriel's lips parted slightly and she let out a shaky breath as the light started to flicker and all too soon faded, leaving the room in shadows once again.

"He's...He's back. I-I don't," she stammered, and placed her hands in her lap, gripping her dark purple dress and tugging at it nervously.

Castiel titled his head, lips in a tight line. He had never seen Ambriel so lost for words. Slowly Ambriel's shocked expression faded and replaced by a wash of relief.

"The rumours were true. I'm not surprised. He always was our Father's favourite."

Castiel's brow furrowed. "God doesn't have favourites."

"That's naive, Castiel," she grinned. "Everyone has favourites."

Cas turned his head away in frustration and pushed himself to his feet. "Is there any way to know where he is?"

Ambriel shook her head. "I can't tell for sure," she paused briefly to stand. "But he is moving at an exceptional speed towards humanity."

"He is on Earth?" Castiel asked.

"He will be."

A moment of silent passed before Castiel spoke, "Thank you, Ambriel."

She smiled. "Of course, Cas."

Ambriel stared down and flattened her hands over her dress, fixing up the creases she had caused.

"Oh," she exclaimed, looking quickly up. She stepped around her desk to stop in front of Castiel and held out a ring made of some sort of dark wood.

"What is it?" Castiel asked.

"It's a ring," she answered while biting her lip to suppress a grin.

Castiel raised an eyebrow. "I mean what it does, Ambriel. What's its purpose?"

"I'm an angel of protection. What do you think it does?"

"Does it cause the wearer to sing and dance non-stop for all eternity?" Castiel asked.

Ambriel let out a startled laugh. "You are spending too much time with those humans of yours, Castiel."

Castiel spluttered. "They aren't my humans."

"Right," she said and took the angel's hand, placing the ring onto his open palm. "This will protect the wearer from most harm. Of course it can't protect them from everything, but it should be enough." She lingered before smiling up at him. "I hope it's enough."

Cas looked at the woman with gratitude and nodded. "I will find our brother," he assured her and swiftly left.

She returned behind her desk and stared at the empty room, forlorn.

"That's not what concerns me most, Castiel."

The impala's radio vibrated with a blast of classic rock and Dean at the driver's seat smiled while he bobbed his head along every now and then, slapping his hands against the steering wheel in time with the music. Sam leant his own head against the window completely exhausted, his shaggy hair falling over his face as he tried to ignore the blast of sound striking through his brain at every beat.

Getting out the door and on the road took longer than Sam had hoped. Dean had gotten straight back into bed once Cas had left, causing another round of brotherly screaming, yelling, and hitting. Finally after almost three hours Dean was ready to leave and now Sam's headache from this morning's little exercise had turned into a full-blown migraine.

"Turn it down!" Sam begged and cringed as he instantly regretted the volume of his plea.

Dean was thankfully feeling some kind of compassion and mercifully turned the music off.

"Christ, Sam. You look like crap."

"Yeah?" Sam said, "I wonder why."

Dean snorted. "Sorry."

"No you're not." Sam closed his eyes and sharply exhaled.

"Nope, I'm not." Dean grinned, but the smile quickly faded.

"Hey," he asked "What do you think was going on with Cas? Who'd you think he was seeing?"

Sam shrugged. "I'm not sure, man, but if he was in trouble he would let us know, right? And it's not like he has to tell us everything. Don't worry about it."

"Yeah, I guess," Dean said unsurely.

"Why are you so concerned about him, anyway?" Sam asked. "He's a big boy. He can take care of himself, y'know."

Dean didn't reply and instead glared ahead at the road.

The rest of the trip was silent.

Night finally fell and the two hunters had almost arrived at the location Bobby had sent them to. The place was incredibly isolated and they hadn't seen anyone on the road for the past two hours.

They made a sharp turn off the highway and drove up a thin, dusty road leading to an abandoned farmhouse. They stopped the impala at the front edge of the trees that surrounded the area and quickly got out, slamming the doors and breaking the creeping silence if only for a moment.

Dean opened the trunk and slid away the false bottom to collect their weapons and equipment. He passed Sam a torch and one of their many guns and began walking up the rest of the lonely driveway with Sam at the lead.

The old farmhouse had not so many years left. It was old, decrepit, infested. Generally gross. The porch out front extended right around the building, bordered by banisters detailed in rotting wood and broken off chips decorating the floor panelling. Sam made sure to step over the stray block of timber broken off from the door before he entered the darkness. Dean trailed slightly behind, turning occasionally to check behind them, his torch shining over the long dirt driveway that travelled off into the mass of shadowed trees.

As Dean shone the torch over the trees the third time, the top of the forest had become suspiciously flat, the tree tips caving in on themselves, bending back up one after another, like an invisible force passing close overhead. Dean stared, quietly hoping it was just the wind.

"Dean, come on," Sam's voice echoed from inside.

Dean squinted curiously across the area in front of the house, waving the light to try and see anything they really didn't want to have to deal with. After a moment of searching and finding nothing he turned away, walking up the small brick steps towards Sam.

"Yeah, Sammy, I'm coming."

"Ouch."

The figure sat up and rubbed his back, face contorting in exaggerated pain as he took a fleeting glance at the dark sky. The stars were barely visible through the thick grey cloud.

"What a drop," he smirked and looked back down, scanning the area. Trees were charred black and stacked over each other like dominos, completely cracked through the middle with the figure lying in the centre of a sizable crater surrounded by the destroyed woodland. It was a disaster zone.

"Okay, this makes me look like I weigh much more than I really do, I swear," he joked, before realising nobody was there to hear him. He sighed and rolled his eyes.

Well, this was so not what he had planned for the day. Not at all. Not even for the next century, give or take. He had simply wanted to avoid the conflict but if he was seriously needed, then fine. So freaking be it. If only he knew what he was needed for.

The figure pushed himself from the ground and brushed the dirt and random filth from his pants. His hands hovered over the stains for less than a second and the material became completely clean quickly after.

He grinned and with a motion of his fingers he appeared standing at the very edge of the massive ditch. He peered down for a passing moment then proceeded to turn towards the burnt forest.

"That's just unsightly, that is." He made the same motion as before and the trees slowly creaked back upright, luscious green leaves forming where they were once crisp and decayed.

"Oh, yeah, I'm good," he said and winced. He froze for a moment in confusion at the pain shooting through his back and shoulders but it faded as fast as it had come so he ignored it and started walking into the forest, leaving the slightly smoking crater behind.

"I found you," a tired voice said, stopping the figure in his tracks. He turned around with a marvellous grin to find Castiel standing straight in front of him.

"Hey, little brother," the figure said cheerfully.

"Hello, Gabriel."