Title: Those We Call Family
Character(s)/Pairing(s): Adam Milligan, Castiel, Dean Winchester, Sam Winchester, Gabriel
Rating: PG-13
Notes:One of the fics written for a series called 'Five Times Castiel is Someone Else's Angel'. Standalone and not related to the other Times.
Summary:Wherein events play out differently, Adam has a guardian angel called Castiel and he's about to meet his brothers for the first time.
"Oh my god. What the fuck was I thinking? Ohgodohgodohgod –"
"Adam." Stern and severe. The tone is long-suffering and familiar, and it actually helps to ground him.
"I know, I know." He takes a deep breath. "Don't swear, and don't take the Lord's name in vain."
It's a conversation that occurs frequently because Adam swears when he's stressed. There's been a lot of stressful situations during the past couple of years, and he's not even referring to college; okay, maybe some, pre-med isn't exactly a piece of cake, but compared to other freaky crap, that's actually pretty low down on his List Of Things That Stress Adam Milligan Out.
For example, right now at the top of that list is Meeting Brothers That I Didn't Know Existed Until A Few Weeks Ago.
Key still in the ignition and hands tight on the steering wheel, Adam seriously considers just pulling back out of the parking lot.
The decision's taken out of his hands when the engine of his car abruptly dies, his seatbelt unsnaps itself, and the car door clicks open. He shoots a wordless anxious look at the other person occupying the passenger seat.
Castiel stares back calmly. "You're wasting time. Your brothers are waiting for you."
"Right. Brothers." He thinks about that, testing out the novelty of the idea. "Brothers."
He's had a few weeks to get used to the revelation of having two additional family members, and Cas had been very informative – apparently, the whole 'I was ordered not to inform you about the existence of Dean and Sam Winchester' thing didn't apply anymore once Adam had uncovered the truth through other means – but it didn't make this Meet-The-Family session any easier. Probably more difficult, in fact, because now he knows things about his brothers that he shouldn't, courtesy of Cas.
Before he can totally lose his nerve, he makes himself get out of the car. He's meeting his brothers in the diner around the corner, and he determinedly starts heading in that direction. He glances back in time to see Castiel vanish from the passenger seat of the car; a moment later, a familiar itch starts up at the back of his neck, and he's bolstered by it, knowing that Cas is nearby playing his invisible shadow, as always.
The angel isn't worried about the Winchesters themselves, since they're the good guys, but rather he's worried about anything that might be tracking the brothers, since a lot of creatures want to sink their claws into them for one reason or another. Castiel's main duty is to keep Adam unnoticed by anyone who may want to draft him as a player of the Apocalypse, and the angel takes his duty very seriously. He'd been against this meet-up from the very beginning, but after receiving Sam's phone call and the resulting bombshell, how can Adam not meet his brothers?
His feet take him several steps past the gleaming black Impala before his brain catches up, and he freezes. A vice squeezes around his heart, because this is the car that John – he hadn't been around enough for Adam to think of him as 'Dad' – taught him to drive in, spending several hours coaching him. John, who appeared sporadically in his life until a few years ago. John, who never mentioned he had two other sons. John, who is dead now.
With effort, he forces himself to continue moving. Now is not the time to think too hard about his deceased father. Later, after seeing his brothers, he can decide how he feels about it.
And because the world just hates him in general, the first surprise of the day presents itself in the fact that there are three people sitting inside the diner instead of the expected two. Given the presence of the Impala and the otherwise deserted diner – even the staff have disappeared somewhere – Adam's certain that two of those three individuals are the ones he's supposed to meet. He slows his footsteps as he pushes through the door, resisting the urge to glance back at where he can sense Cas is.
Cas had said that there were rumours of an angel who had joined up with the Winchesters and travelled around with them, but there hadn't been any concrete evidence. Guess those rumours weren't just rumours, then.
Crap.
He immediately identifies the two taller ones as his brothers just by the way their demeanour goes from relaxed to apprehensive as soon as the door opens. The third man, unremarkable with slicked-back brown hair, merely watches him with idle curiosity as he eats from a pack of Skittles.
The one with floppy hair swings himself out from the table and stands, the other following a belated second later. Huh, guess all of them get their height from John.
"Erm, hey," he says once he gets close enough. Calm and collected. He can totally do this. "I'm Adam. Adam Milligan."
"Hey." Floppy Hair smiles warmly at him and extends a hand. "I'm Sam. Sam Winchester."
They shake hands, something loosening inside Adam at Sam's friendly greeting. Dean is more reserved, but copies Sam's greeting nonetheless.
Adam's eyes slide automatically to the third man still seated at the table, watching the proceedings with intent brown eyes. As their eyes meet, the man smiles widely. "Heya, kiddo."
"Hi, nice to meet you." The phrase tumbles of his mouth without conscious thought, because his mom raised him to be polite, even as he avoids the man's eyes. Is the guy an angel? If so, it's probably not a good idea for Cas to be anywhere nearby, because there're some misunderstandings about Castiel that makes him not very popular with certain factions of Heaven's forces.
"This is Gabriel," Sam explains awkwardly. "He's a friend of ours. I know it's weird to have someone else with us for this kind of meeting, but he insisted on being here."
"Gabe's just being a mother hen," Dean says fondly, his wary mask cracking to reveal genuine warmth.
"Can you blame me?" Gabriel rolls his eyes, chewing noisily. "With all the trouble you get into on a weekly basis, someone has to watch out for you munchkins."
"Coming from you, that's rich," Dean shoots back, smirking.
Adam barely hears the snarky back-and-forth going on, his blood curdling in his veins. Gabriel? As in Gabriel the archangel?
Sam breaks through his sheer panic, clapping a giant hand down on his shoulder. Adam absolutely does not jump.
"So, hey, this diner serves pretty good steak, we've been here before." He gestures back to the table, smiling hopefully like an enormous puppy. "We can have lunch while we talk?"
"Yeah, okay, sure." Adam bites down on the inside of his cheeks to stop himself from babbling even more. Cas is great at hiding himself by now after years of being hunted. He just has to stay out of the archangel's radar for a while. Everything is going to be fine.
Sam beams. "Great!"
His brothers start returning to their seats. Adam is going around the table to sit beside Sam when Gabriel breaks off mid-conversation with Dean to look directly at him.
"Your friend not joining us, Adam?" His tone is deceptively light-hearted.
See, another confirmation that the world hates him.
"What friend?" Even he can hear how weak his voice is. Sam looks confused, Dean is going back to suspicious, and Gabriel, for all that he's still smiling, looks terrifying.
"Oh, I mean that friend –" Gabriel raises a hand and snaps his fingers, "– lurking right there."
Standing by the counter a short distance away, Castiel pops into sight.
There's a blur of movement as Dean and Sam scramble out of their seats, hands going for weapons. Gabriel doesn't even bother; from one eye blink to the next, he's suddenly standing right in front of Adam, who backs away with hands raised.
"Whoa, whoa!"
Cas appears in front of Adam, posture defensive. He tries to shove the smaller man behind him, but of course the angel doesn't budge, so he ends up grabbing a fistful of the back of his trench coat. Some fancy footwork goes on when Dean and Sam try to surround them, and Cas manoeuvres backwards to counter them.
They end up in a stalemate, with Gabriel directly opposite them and the brothers on either side of him, guns drawn but not aimed at anyone.
"Who the hell are the two of you?" Dean demands.
"I told you already, I'm Adam Milligan, son of John Winchester and Kate Milligan." He gets that they're in the middle of a war and paranoia has probably saved their lives before, but he really wants to get out of this situation intact. "Look, guys, can we put away the weapons and just talk?"
"How do we know you're not yanking our chain?" Dean snaps. "And I notice your buddy hasn't introduced himself."
"Oh, that's definitely your brother in the flesh, Deano, the bloodline is pretty obvious," Gabriel drawls. "And the other one is my little bro."
Gabriel's revelation doesn't help at all, because Dean and Sam get even tenser, faces going grim and determined.
Cas, Adam thinks, knowing that if he concentrates the angel can hear him. Let's just get the heck out of here.
They are your brothers. They will not harm you.
Yeah, don't think that goes for you, though. C'mon, forget it, fly us out of here.
"What's an angel doing with our brother?" Sam asks, low and serious.
"If you're holding him hostage –" Dean starts angrily.
"I have not harmed Adam," Castiel responds curtly. At the same time, Adam asks incredulously, "Does it look like he's holding me hostage?"
Leaving now would lose you your only opportunity to connect with your brothers.
If that means you get killed, then I don't give a fuck!
Gabriel's masked hostility has faded into something resembling puzzlement as he watches them, eyes flicking from Adam to Cas and back. It's almost like –
"Hey!" Adam glares, the coin dropping. "Anyone ever told you that it's rude to eavesdrop?"
Gabriel ignores him, eyes on his fellow angel. "Cas, as in Castiel?"
Cas hesitates, then shifts his stance into something less confrontational. "Yes. I do not believe we have ever met, Messenger."
"Nope, but I sure have heard all about you." Gabriel grins, amused, and just like that, the tense atmosphere evaporates.
"Gabe," Dean growls. "The fuck's going on?"
"Boys," Gabriel claps his hands together gleefully. "Let me introduce you to the angel who followed in my footsteps!"
Cas twitches, and Adam realises he's still holding onto the trench coat in a white-knuckled grip. He carefully relaxes his grasp, but doesn't quite let go completely.
"What, he fell to Earth and decided to go pagan, playing pranks on frat boys for kicks?" Sam asks skeptically.
Dean huffs with amusement, his aggression falling away as he takes his cue from Gabriel. "Had some fun with slow-dancing aliens? Alligators in sewers?"
"Hey, you liked those pranks," Gabriel reminds Dean. "And no, Castiel here is still all pure angel."
"Okay, so if no one is going to be shooting anyone, we should just sit down, have lunch, and clear the air," suggests Sam.
There's a little more wavering, but eventually they all settle down in a booth. A waitress appears from the backroom, and there's definitely some mojo going on, because she doesn't seem perturbed at all by the knocked-over chairs from their earlier stand-off or the empty diner during what should be a crowded lunch hour.
After they order and the waitress is gone, Dean declares, "Explanations, now. What's an angel doing with our little brother, and what have you heard about him?" He directs the first question to Cas and the second to Gabriel.
Castiel is silent, no surprise there, because Adam knows this is a sore topic for him. Fortunately, Gabriel is more than happy to share as he starts in on another bag of candy.
"Castiel here is on the equivalent of Heaven's 'Wanted Dead or Alive' memos. The commotion's died down now, but I heard that a couple of years back, Zachariah had a real hard-on for hunting you down. Told everyone who would listen that you were a traitor, spy, yada yada yada." Gabriel shrugs, and the expression on his face makes it clear that he doesn't believe a single word that Zachariah said.
"Zachariah? That dickhead we met?" Dean says, eyes narrowed.
"The one and only. Middle management and a smarmy bastard. What did you do to piss him off, bro?"
Cas frowns, and Adam nudges him companionably. After a pause, the angel admits in a low voice, "While I was still in Heaven, I was approached by Joshua."
Gabriel's attention sharpens. "He hasn't left the Gardens for eons."
"Who's Joshua?" Sam interrupts.
"The last angel in creation who spoke to Dad before he did his disappearing act. Last at that point in time, of course. Not true now." Gabriel smirks, smug, and Adam reels a little at the implications.
"Yeah, yeah, we got it, you're Daddy's favourite. Can we get on with the explanation?" Dean asks impatiently, ignoring Gabriel's mock wounded expression.
"Joshua revealed to me my superiors' plans for the Apocalypse. Specifically, that they didn't intend to stop it, but to aid in its progress instead."
Everyone's in the loop, because no one looks surprised by the information.
"He said that our Father had put in place contingencies for such a circumstance, but that it was best to cover all the exits, so to speak. My assignment is to guard the youngest Winchester and ensure that he is not used as a vessel to engineer the Apocalypse."
It would have irked him to hear that statement, three years ago, because it implies that the only reason Castiel had bothered saving his and Mom's hides from the ghouls was because it was an order. But now… now every time Adam makes it back home during the weekend, they automatically set a place at the table during mealtimes for the angel; Castiel doesn't always show up, but more often than not he does. The point is that he has a place in their small family and always will.
"Contingencies," snorted Gabriel. "Meaning me. Joshua really has a way with words. That still doesn't explain Zachariah's vendetta against you."
"I confronted him about his plans." Castiel looks faintly embarrassed. "Looking back now, I should have been more discrete, but at that time I was bewildered and upset with what Joshua had told me, and wanted to understand his motivations. It was not my best decision."
"Ah, I get it. After that Zachariah wanted to get rid of you so that the information wouldn't get out to the masses and cause a revolt. But seeing as you're here, I'm guessing you managed to escape." Gabriel looks… well, proud. "Great job, little brother!"
"Hey, anyone who manages to make life difficult for Zachariah is in my good books," Dean shrugs.
"Thanks for looking out for Adam, Castiel," adds Sam.
Cas only blinks, not quite knowing what to do with the trio's blatant approval of him.
Adam comes to the dawning realisation that maybe he's not the only one gaining new family members today.
Maybe the world doesn't hate him that much after all.