LAWRENCE, KANSAS
"Dean, I just don't think it's a great idea. Granted we do know he's not a trickster. It's just…This idea sucks."
"Well thanks for your vote of confidence, Sammy." Dean griped back at his brother. Dean shifted, his eyes darting between the trickster, his brother, and Castiel.
"If you two chuckleheads are done bickering like an old married couple," Gabriel prompted, "the tree is still waiting."
"Dean, seriously think about this!" Sam nagged, "You can still decide not to do this."
"Sam, if there is any chance that this is true…" Dean threatened.
"And there is. Now get a move on before Zachariah comes out to play guard dog." Gabriel snapped.
"Dean…" Sam started.
"Sorry, Sammy." Dean intoned as he glanced at Castiel before he slapped his hand against the large oak tree. Immediately bright, earthreal, glowing blue-hot light surged forth from the oak, blinding the area where the four men stood.
EARLIER THAT WEEK
HELENA, MONTANA
The sign at the Budget Inn Express Helena blinked fuzzily as a black, 1967 Chevy Impala pulled into the parking lot at midnight. Two men climbed out of the vehicle and headed towards the office.
"We couldn't have stopped earlier? Two towns ago?" The taller one grumbled.
Dean Winchester glanced moodily at his little brother as he rang the service bell. "What happened to getting the hell away from that last job?"
"I didn't mean we had to pull an all-nighter doing so, and you know it Dean." Sam Winchester glared at Dean before pulling on a grin as the inn's nightshift manager clomped out to greet the Winchesters.
A portly man, aged about fifty, and with rather impressive jowls appeared and gave a sleazy grin, "How can I be of service to you…gentlemen?" The manager intoned in a heavy German accent.
"Ah, yes," Sam smiled charmingly at the man, "we'd like one room, two beds. Please."
"Two beds you say?" The man shifted as he spoke, revealing his name tag which read 'Kevin Vanaheim' and flashed in the light.
"Yes, two beds." Dean testily replied, "Are you deaf?"
As Vanaheim pulled an insulted face, Sam quickly stepped in, "I'm sorry, Mr. Vanaheim-"
"Vanaheim." The man scowled.
"Vanaheim." Sam conceded, "My brother and I have been on the road since five this morning and he's missing his wife something-"
"All right, all right. Two beds for the brothers." Vanaheim sneered as he pulled the registration out from under the desk.
"Thank you." Sam once again smiled charmingly at the man and studiously ignored Dean's grumbling.
Once safely in their room, Dean fumed, "Stupid bastard."
"Dean, it's not like this is the first time someone has assumed." Sam laughed as he threw off his flannel and tugged his v-neck over his head.
"Nah, it's not that." Dean dismissed.
"If not that, then what?"
"Don't worry 'bout it Sammy, s'not that big of a-"
"Well hello boys."
Dean and Sam snapped their heads towards the voice and seeing it was Gabriel, immediately drew their weapons. "Whoa, easy there tigers. You could hurt someone with those." He snapped and the weapons the Winchesters were holding flew to the room's kitchenette table.
"What do you want Gabriel?" Dean growled.
The archangel laughed bitterly, "Oh, the usual, you know, the damn Apocalypse not to happen!"
"Why are you here, honestly?" Sam asked.
Gabriel gave a smirk as he stood up from his place in one of the kitchen chairs, "What I want is for you trigger-happy hunters to listen before you decide to pump me full of bullets." Gabriel paused and his entire demeanor deflated, "Heaven is in tatters and unless Michael comes along soon, Hell is certain to win."
"I thought you knew where Michael was." Sam said.
"Yeah, isn't he in Heaven giving out orders to all the douche-bag angels?" Dean jabbed.
"No, you numskull, that would be Zachariah that's giving orders. Michael's been missing for at least three decades."
"Michael's missing?" Sam repeated, doubt coloring his voice.
"Isn't that what I just said?" Gabriel snapped, "Michael's AWOL and no one, not even Raphael knows where he or his grace is."
"He's fallen?" Sam asked the same time Dean said, "Except for you I suppose."
Gabriel leveled Dean a considering look, "For a smart person you sure can be dumb sometimes." Gabriel barked at Sam, who gave an offended huff and glared at Dean for snorting at the comment.
"What? You know he's right." Dean said, a smirk plastered firmly on his face. Too soon though Dean sobered, "So you know where Michael's grace is?" he asked Gabriel.
"Yes."
"And do you know where Michael is?" Sam prodded.
Gabriel tried on one of Sam's bitchfaces as he responded, "Of course I do."
"Great! Where is he?" Sam asked Dean glanced uneasily between the two men.
Gabriel very dramatically moved so he was staring directly at Dean. "I'm looking at him."
Sam gaped at his brother. "Dean is Michael. Are you certain?"
"Of course I am you moron! I wouldn't come knocking if I wasn't certain."
Dean shifted nervously, wetting his lips before saying, "And why exactly are you here?"
"To take you to your grace, so you can regain it and stop this whole hellish ball from even beginning to roll." Gabriel snapped, "Why else would I be here?"
Dean scoffed, "You do seem to enjoy fucking with our lives."
"Oh cry me a river." The archangel snapped, "Now stand still so I can zap us to your grace."
"No." Dean growled.
"What?" Gabriel's eyes flashed dangerously.
"I said no you arrogant dick." Dean was practically spitting as he spoke to the angel. Before Dean could land a punch on Gabriel, Castiel appeared between the hunter and the archangel.
"This is not your place, Castiel." Gabriel snarled.
"My 'place' is wherever the Winchesters have need of me. And I believe that Dean could use my help." Castiel coolly responded.
"Cas, really, I'm good." Dean said, "Thanks for the concern, but I'm good."
"Dean, just let Cas-"
"Shut it Sammy." Dean snapped at his brother, causing the younger Winchester to glare at Dean.
"So skedaddle Castiel, Dean said he doesn't need a babysitter." Gabriel glowered.
"Zip it asshat." Castiel snarled, "Dean, I do not believe you understand what is at stake here." Castiel stared seriously at Dean, causing Dean's glare to soften as he replied.
"Whadda mean Cas?"
"Regaining grace is different than being taken as a vessel. You still remember your life. You will essentially still retain the part of you that is Dean Winchester."
Dean's eyes shone with uncertainty. The brothers shared a glance before turning once more to Castiel. After a long pause, Dean finally spoke, "Leave Gabriel."
"No."
Dean sighed, "We'll meet you at wherever Michael's grace is at, but we're driving there."
Gabriel reluctantly nodded in agreement, "Lawrence, Kansas. The park in your old neighborhood. That's where your tree is." With a snap of his fingers, Gabriel disappeared from the motel room.
"Well there goes my night's sleep." Sam groused.
"Sleep. You can start your journey later today." Castiel said, gently touching the forehead of both boys and sending them crashing onto the beds and into a deep sleep before leaving in a gentle rustling of wings.
Hours later found the Winchesters near Denver, Colorado pulling into a local motel parking lot. At the look on his brother's face, Dean explained, "If Gabriel is right, I want some more time to just be plain Dean Winchester, Sammy's big brother, not some hot-shot angel."
Sam grinned at Dean, "What, don't want to jump into unlimited powers?"
Dean rolled his eyes, "I think I could spend the rest of my life without unlimited powers and be happy."
He snorted, "You sure got that right. You gather up our stuff, I'll go get us a room." Sam climbed out of the Impala and headed towards the main building, disappearing inside. As soon as his brother was out of sight, Dean slumped against the seat in exhaustion and scrubbed at his face. He turned as he heard a soft rustling to look at Castiel.
Castiel stared resolutely ahead, waiting for Dean to break the silence. "Back at the last motel, you seemed to have something else you wanted to say about Michael. What was it?"
"Michael is not just a 'douche-bag', he is noble and brave. While I have never agreed with everything that Michael has done, I respect him greatly."
"You talk as if you personally knew him."
"I did. We grew rather close, despite our differences in age and rank."
"How close is close?"
"Close enough." Castiel replied shortly. The two fell into a short silence before Castiel broke it by sighing, "We are grace-mates."
"Grace-mates?"
Castiel hummed, "Yes. It means that our graces are bound together for the rest of eternity in the form of lovers." He drew in a ragged breath, "It has been hard without feeling his presence near me for such a long time. When I found your soul, I was immediately drawn to it and I felt as if it was not just the soul of a simple human. Your soul is bright, unnaturally so and it draws me as a moth is drawn to light. I do not doubt Gabriel as much as I would appear to, I am just afraid."
"Afraid of me not being Michael."
"Yes."
"Cas, if I'm not who you wish me to be, I'll do everything in my power to help you find him."
"You would do that for me?" Castiel asked in awe.
"Of course, you're family." Dean said, throwing a warm smile at Castiel, who eagerly returned it. "Well, enough of a chick-flick moment, I'm gonna go grab our bags. Long drive yet to Lawrence."
"I could simply take you and your brother-"
"Nah, we're good. We can continue driving there." Dean dismissed before pulling the keys from the ignition and climbing out of the car. Just as Dean was popping the trunk, Sam appeared and loped over towards his brother.
"You good?" Sam asked.
"As I could ever be, Sammy."
The next day dawned bright and early and found the Winchesters once again on the road towards Lawrence. The day was spent in anxious anticipation that grew thicker in the air as each hour passed. The boys pulled into Lawrence late that evening where they spent a rather sleepless night and woke once again before the sun was in the sky. All too soon they pulled into the park's parking lot and were climbing out of the Impala. As the sun was peaking in the sky, Dean and Sam headed across the park's lawn and towards the massive tree that grew in the middle of the park, dominating the area.
As they drew near the tree, they could see that both Gabriel and Castiel were waiting for them, the former shifting in impatience.
"Took you two boneheads long enough." Gabriel snapped as he gestured empathetically for Dean to go ahead and touch the magnificent oak tree. As Dean took a deep breath, preparing for what was ahead, Sam spoke.
"Dean, I just don't think it's a great idea. Granted we do know he's not a trickster. It's just…This idea sucks."
"Well thanks for your vote of confidence, Sammy." Dean griped back at his brother. Dean shifted, his eyes darting between the trickster, his brother, and Castiel.
"If you two chuckleheads are done bickering like an old married couple," Gabriel prompted, "the tree is still waiting."
"Dean, seriously think about this!" Sam nagged, "You can still decide not to do this."
"Sam, if there is any chance that this is true…" Dean threatened.
"And there is. Now get a move on before Zachariah comes out to play guard dog." Gabriel snapped.
"Dean…" Sam started.
"Sorry, Sammy." Dean intoned as he glanced at Castiel before he slapped his hand against the large oak tree. Immediately bright, earthreal, glowing blue-hot light surged forth from the oak, blinding the area where the four men stood.
Once the light faded, Dean opened his eyes as he stood there panting, waiting for the noise in his head to die down. Dean's eyes immediately sought out Castiel's and once their eyes met, Dean's melted with warmth. "Castiel."
"Michael." Castiel breathed before he threw himself at Dean, wings and limbs wrapping around the other man. Dean's wings fluttered to encase Castiel and entangle with his grace-mate's wings in an intimate embrace that had Gabriel looking away in embarrassment. "I've missed you."
"And I you, beloved." Dean murmured back as he burrowed his nose into Castiel's neck, "You are stronger than you believe yourself to be."
"Mmmh, stronger with you by my side."
Dean chuckled, "Why the doubt?"
Castiel rolled his eyes at his grace-mate, "You know why I carry doubt."
"You still have that with you?"
"Oh shut up." Castiel muttered, causing Dean to laugh once more.
"You're ridiculous, you know that right? But I love you anyways."
Castiel smiled dopily before he stole a chaste kiss, "I love you."
"Dean?" Sam asked, breaking the moment between the lovers.
Dean groaned, causing Castiel to chuckle in amusement, "Sammy, it's still me. Just…more of me."
Sam pulled one of his bitchfaces as he glanced between his brother and Castiel. "So, you and Cas, huh?"
Dean laughed warmly, "Yes, Cas and I. We are grace-mates."
"Friggin' disgusting grace-mates at that." Gabriel muttered, "Make a person go blind with what their wings are doing to each other." He continued bitterly.
Castiel patiently ignored Gabriel while Dean just hit his brother with one of his wings, causing Gabriel to yelp. "Was that necessary you bastard?"
"I love you too, baby brother."
"I'm not that much younger than you, you fathead."
Dean sent a smile towards Gabriel while rolling his eyes in fond exasperation, "You're just as ridiculous as I remember you to be, brother."
"Shut up." Gabriel muttered, "Just because you got all your cosmic powers back doesn't give you the right to act like a righteous bastard."
"I thought you were always wanting Dean to act with more faith."
Gabriel snorted, "Oh, go fuck off."
Sam smiled at the three angels indulgently before breaking in and saying, "It might be best if we move this love-fest to Bobby's or somewhere else before we gather an audience."
Dean rolled his eyes once more before snapping his fingers and along with himself, he carted Gabriel, Sam, Castiel, and the Impala right outside of Bobby's place. "Happy, Sammy?"
"I hate angel travel." Sam muttered as he got his bags from the Impala's trunk and stomped inside, the three angels following close behind.
"What ya idjits don't know how to phone ahead? What if I had important company?" Bobby snapped as he saw Gabriel and Castiel tramp in after the Winchesters, "And who's this one?" He gestured towards Gabriel.
"Gabriel, one of my brothers." Dean responded.
"You high boy? You've got one brother and that's Sam."
"Uh, Bobby, as it turns out, Dean is actually Michael." Sam started to explain.
"He said yes to Michael?" Bobby's opinion shone clear in his words.
"No, I simply regained my grace. I had fallen and was born to Mary and John Winchester, older brother to Sam. Sam was supposed to be an only child, but I felt some divine intervention was necessary for this plan to not destroy the world. Don't worry Bobby, I'm still Dean Winchester, just with a bit of extra special angel powers on top." Dean smiled at Bobby hopefully.
"Ah, I still think yer an idjit." Bobby dismissed as he rolled towards his desk.
"Wait, Bobby, I ah…" Instead of trying to explain more, Dean simply walked up to Bobby and touched his forehead, "You should be able to walk again." Dean gestured for Bobby to try and stand up.
Bobby and Sam's jaws dropped in amazement as Bobby took his first steps since being paralyzed and Sam whooped in excitement before he swooped Bobby and Dean into a gigantic hug. Once Sam let the two of them go, Bobby gave Dean a grateful smile, "Guess some good comes outta you finding your powers." He said gruffly.
"See my mojo's not all bad." Dean teased as he pulled Castiel into his side, "Now Cas' on the other hand…"
Castiel smacked Dean's chest as he pulled away, throwing his grace-mate one of Sam's bitchfaces, "Do you want me to show you how I can misuse my 'mojo'?" Castiel mocked.
Gabriel snorted, "Baby brother, I really don't think you have that bad of a bone in your body to misuse."
Dean sent Gabriel a wicked look, "You really want to start this Gabe?"
"Start what, Mikey?" Gabriel asked innocently, "Why on earth would I want to start a prank war against you and your 'beloved'?" Gabriel snapped and buckets of confetti and some sticky substance appeared, showering the other two angels in a mess of sticky, brightly colored confetti. Before Dean or Castiel had much of a chance to respond, Gabriel whooshed himself out of Bobby's house.
Dean stole one of Sam's bitchfaces and glared at the spot that had previously held Gabriel, "Oh he is so on."
"So you and Castiel…" Bobby started later that evening when it was just the two of them in the kitchen, Sam in the library reading and Castiel gone to Heaven to see if anyone noticed Michael's return.
Dean blushed lightly at Bobby's implications but continued to chop up the vegetables as he replied, "Yeah, Cas and I. We're grace-mates."
"Meaning?" The older man prodded.
"Meaning that our graces are bound together for eternity. Like soul mates, just for angels." Dean explained as simply as possible.
"Profound bond my ass." Bobby muttered, causing Dean to smile, "So did feathers know that the two of you were this grace-mate before you gained your grace?"
"He had a feeling that there was something between the two of us, he was just trying to not get his hopes up too high. I don't blame him, if it had been the other way around…" Dean trailed off, falling into a pensive silence. "Anyways. It feels amazing to be reunited with my grace-mate and be able to hear the Host. It has been far too long."
"You seem…different than I thought you were going to be."
"What?" Dean laughed, "How did you think Michael was going to act? Even if I, as Dean, had just been a vessel, Michael would have been much the same. For an angel to take a vessel, the vessel must contain some part of the angel's personality. For instance Jimmy Novak. Jimmy contains the same seriousness and faithfulness that Cas possesses as well as to a certain degree, Cas' mannerisms. If Cas was a human or Jimmy an angel, they would be the equivalent of twins. Cas was lucky to find a human much like him. Comparatively." Dean added the last part as an afterthought.
"Do angels not find vessels like them much?" Sam asked as he walked into the kitchen.
Dean hummed, "It is rare to find such a close match as Cas did, but partial matches are common as with Zachariah or with Raphael."
"You mean to say that the poor bastard Zachariah is wearing is a lot like him?" Bobby asked.
"Oh I'm sure that the man Zachariah is wearing is a much nicer person than my brother." Dean stated, pausing in his chopping, "That reminds me…"
"You called for me, brother?" A voice asked from behind Sam and Bobby, causing the two men to jump in surprise and draw weapons as they turned to face the newcomer, "Tsk, such manners for an angel of the Lord." The man said, viewing the weapons in distaste.
"Raphael."
"Michael." Raphael inclined his head.
"Ah, what's this dickwad doing here?" Gabriel asked as he appeared next to Sam.
"Hush, Gabe." Dean scolded, "Raphael is no saint, but he did at least stay with Heaven and the Host which is more than either of us can say."
At Dean's words, Gabriel looked rightly chastised and quieted down, though his wings still held a hostile tilt. Dean's wings flickered in agitation, calming marginally when Castiel appeared next to him and threaded his own wings through Dean's. Unaware of what was going on with the wings, Bobby and Sam warily watched the four angels.
"Michael, you called me to you for a reason." Raphael stated, chosing to ignore Gabriel for the moment.
"I would like for you to escort Zachariah to one of the holding cells until I can deal with him properly."
"And how do you think the Host will take to me-"
"Take this." Dean said as he plucked a feather out of him plumage, "This should be enough to convince the Host of who sent you."
Raphael nodded his head in agreement, "As you wish. Is there anything more?"
"No."
"It is good to see you again brother."
"Indeed." Dean smiled warmly at Raphael, "It has been much too long, Ralf."
Raphael gave Dean a long-suffering glare, "How many times have I told you not to call me that, Michael?"
Smiling wickedly, Dean responded, "Apparently not enough, little brother."
"And do not think I have forgotten you Gabriel." Raphael said, turning to face his other brother.
"I'd rather hoped you had." Dean and Raphael rolled their eyes at Gabriel who was fidgeting nervously under the stares of his brothers. "I'm perfectly fine if you forget that I was here at all."
Raphael sighed, "As you wish, brother, but the Host would welcome you back with welcome arms when you decided to return. The younger ones miss having their older brother come play with them."
"Don't try to guilt trip me." Gabriel snapped.
"I was only stating facts." Raphael dryly said before he disappeared, Gabriel shortly following in his disappearing act.
"Idjits." Bobby muttered as he stalked out of the kitchen, leaving Sam and the two angels.
As Sam was gathering up his breath, Dean broke in and said, "Sam. Don't. We'll worry more about moving forward with stopping the Apocalypse tomorrow." Sam threw Dean a dirty look and stomped out of the kitchen towards the library to supposedly do more research.
"You should inform them of-"
"Cas, I don't think that it would help Sam to hear what I have to tell him right now. Let's give it a few days before we go blabbing more state-secrets to Bobby and Sam, because I think that we've shaken them enough for one day."
"They are grown men, they deserve to know the truth as soon as possible and I believe that they could handle it." Castiel said resolutely.
"Cas…" Dean sighed wearily, "I'll tell them first thing tomorrow, alright? Please don't ask more of me."
Castiel gathered Dean closer to himself as he murmured, "Of course. I should have thought more of what this was doing to you. I know that this is hard on you, knowing that this new truth might damage what you have with Sam."
Dean burrowed his nose into Castiel's chest and drew in a deep breath, allowing himself to block out everything that wasn't the hum of their combined graces and the feeling of Castiel running his hands through Dean's hair and wings in soothing strokes.
The next day Sam and Bobby sat at the kitchen table sipping coffee and reading, waiting for Dean and Castiel to make an appearance. Right after supper the night before the boys had disappeared into Dean's room and shut themselves in, not a peep emitting from the room. They looked up as they heard a rustling of wings and Bobby pulled a disgusted face as he saw that their visitor was Gabriel.
"Well good morning to you to." Gabriel sassed.
"Gabriel." Sam said, before returning to his book.
"Well aren't you two just buckets full of sunshine?" Gabriel said as he pulled candy out of thin air and started to make a mess of wrappers on the table, causing Bobby to grunt in annoyance.
"Can't you clean up your damn mess?" He snapped at the trickster.
Gabriel rolled his eyes and made the wrappers disappear as he opened them. Shortly after, Dean and Castiel made their appearance in the kitchen. "Morning." Dean rumbled as he went straight towards the coffee machine and poured himself a cup. Dean meandered back to the table and plopped himself in the chair between Sam and Castiel. Barely having taken a sip, Castiel stole the cup and added sugar to it, claiming it as his own. Sam and Bobby watched in open amazement the scene play out, impressed that Castiel was able to get away with stealing Dean's coffee. Dean, for his part, simply got up and made himself another cup and sat back down next to Castiel. Once Dean had settled in, Castiel placed a kiss on Dean's neck and went back to nursing his coffee.
"Aw, with the wings again." Gabriel complained, "You know some people can see you lovebirds practically making out with your wings." Sam shuddered at the implications that Gabriel was making and Bobby just violently shook his head as if to rid the thoughts. Castiel furiously blushed while Dean smugly smiled and twined his wings even more with his grace-mate's. Gabriel glared at Dean and muttered, "Bastard."
"Only for you Gabe." Dean quipped. The group fell into a rather comfortable silence while they finished up their coffee and Dean was loathe to break it. Dean cleared his throat and started, "Sam, we…" Dean hurriedly corrected himself at the glare that both Gabriel and Castiel sent him, "I mean, I have something rather important to discuss with you."
Sam looked duly concerned as he turned to better face his brother, "Yeah?"
"I wasn't the only of my brothers that fell. I was even the first one to fall." Dean took a deep breath, "Lucifer wasn't actually shoved into the cage like humanity and most angels would be led, but he was stripped of his grace and sent down to earth to be reincarnated until such time where I felt that he had learned his lesson and at a time that I could join him on earth for his last reincarnation. I hope that he has learned humanity and kindness, among other things."
"And how does this apply to mean." Sam said, trying to maintain his blindness in the matter.
"If Gabriel and Castiel's research is correct, you are Lucifer. We wish to take you to his grace." Dean calmly stated.
Sam took in a shuddering breath, "Alright. Let's go then." Bobby sent Sam a concerned look as the men got up and started to prepare for the trip. Once they had gotten settled, Dean directed them all to link arms and in a shushing of multiple wings, Dean and Gabriel whisked the group away.
They landed in a large meadow in the far reaches of Ireland where a gigantic maple tree stood boldly in the middle. "This is the place?" Sam asked, incredulous.
Dean's lips twitched in amusement, "Yes."
The group stood staring at the tree for several more moments before Gabriel poked Sam and barked, "Well get a move on then, you can have a crisis later when you actually gain your grace."
"There is the slight chance that Sam is not Lucifer." Castiel said.
Gabriel brushed off Castiel's comment and pushed Sam towards the tree. "C'mon Princess Samantha!"
Sam stumbled up the slight slope and paused to just stare at the massive tree before he hesitantly placed his hand against the trunk of the maple tree. Like what happened with Dean's returning grace, bright light filled the area and engulfed Sam in it.
Sam stood panting in the aftermath and once he had sufficient breath in his body, he hesitantly looked towards his brother and immediately drew a disgusted look on his face, "Guys, with the wings, really?"
Castiel turned a bright scarlet, Gabriel snickered, and Dean appeared right before his lost brother and drew him into an enthusiastic embrace, huge wings enveloping his younger brother and seeking out Sam's to embrace, who gladly complied. "I take it this means you're not going to want to destroy the world?"
Sam laughed and pushed at his brother, "It's good to see you again too, brother."
Dean's grin grew as he gestured for Gabriel to come join them and once he did so, Dean wrapped them both once again in his wings and drew them closer to himself. "The three of us, united once more, we are going to be unstoppable. There is no possible way that this damned Apocalypse could yet happen." Dean let go of his brothers and drew Castiel near him and snuggled up under his grace-mate's wing.
"You two are going to be the death of me." Sam groused with a huge smile plastered on his face.
Gabriel threw open his arms in a grand gesture, "I feel this calls for a celebration and I hear that Ireland has wonderful pubs! Let's celebrate!" Gabriel appeared next to Bobby and took him to flight with him, knowing that his brothers would follow closely behind.
The group spent an enthusiastic night in an Irish pub and Bobby ended up being the only one not to get so plastered he could hardly stand up. Being the responsible one of the group, Bobby did not let any of the angels try to fly them back to his house, but instead rented them rooms in the pub for the night, figuring that in the morning they could return to America, not even wanting to think about how much alcohol it had taken to intoxicate the angels to the point of drunkenness.
The next morning found Bobby serenely sitting at the pub's bar, eating a simple breakfast and waiting for his four angels to get their asses out of bed. He didn't have to wait too long for the four to stumble their way down their stairs and into the benches around him where the bartender's wife shoved platters of food under their noses and a strong cup of coffee. Castiel, being the politest of the angels, mumbled a grateful greeting to the woman and sending her a slightly drowsy smile which she returned with her own.
The serenity was broken by Raphael appearing before Dean, "Michael."
"Oh, what now?" Dean grumbled at his brother.
Raphael politely ignored Dean's grumbling and continued on with his report, "Michael, I have found that several problems occurred over the past several hours. Lucifer's grace has gone missing."
Dean snorted, "That's hardly a problem."
"I do not believe you understand the severity of this-"
"Chill. It's part of my plan. And my plan has worked out splendidly." Dean paused to seriously consider Raphael, "Look, Lucy's taken care of; he's not out to destroy the world."
"How are you sure of this?"
"Do you really need to know more than that I believe the situation is taken care of? I'm actually starting to feel a bit insulted with the way-"
"Michael, no need to hide from Raphael, you said yourself we can trust him." Sam cut into Dean's ranting.
Raphael took one look at Sam and staggered back in shock, "You!"
Sam chuckled, "Hello, brother, how nice to see you again." Sam's wings curled towards his brother's in a hesitant hoping manner.
Raphael's inclined respectfully towards his brother with some hesitation, "You….you mean you're not searching to destroy the world?"
Sam smiled warmly at his younger brother, "That is exactly what we're saying, little brother."
Raphael, breaking his coldhearted mannerism threw himself at his older brother and embraced him in relief, "It is good to have you back, Lucifer."
Sam squeezed Raphael closer for a brief moment before releasing him, "It is good to be back with my brothers."
Raphael took a moment to compose himself before allowing himself to address the next problem, "Brothers, we then have a bigger problem than a missing grace."
Sam and Gabriel snickered at Raphael's dramatics, "What is it, Raph?" Dean asked, slightly snappish as he nursed his coffee.
Raphael glared at Dean as he started to explain the problem, "It would appear that some of the pagan gods and goddesses are upset about the upcoming Apocalypse-"
"Which has been successfully diverted, thanks to moi." Gabriel muttered.
"and they are duly upset about it. They are worried that they are going to be targeted and have decided to stage their own war against Heaven before we could get to them."
"Great." Dean grumbled, "Just what we need, demons and pagan gods attacking us because they're having a bitch-fit." Castiel wrapped his wings around his grace-mate in a soothing gesture and surprisingly Dean let himself be coddled, still a little tipsy from their late night.
"Hellllllooooooo!" Gabriel sang, "Bona fide pagan god sitting right here, I have a direct in!"
Sam snapped his fingers in excitement, "That's perfect! I can get the demons to cease fire and you can somehow convince the pagan gods to stop!"
"How do you plan to stop a hoard of demons?" Raphael asked in confusion.
"Please." Sam sassed, "I'm the Devil, scaring demons into compliance is in my job description apparently. And since all of them think that I'm in the darkest pits of Hell, me appearing will easily scare them into submission, child's play."
"I'd forgotten how sassy you can be." Dean sighed in amusement. "So what's your plan, Gabe?"
"Oh, shut up Mikey." Gabriel grumbled, "I'll figure it out."
"I'm sure whatever you think of will be sufficient." Castiel said soothingly.
"Thanks, Cas." Gabriel smiled warmly at Castiel while Dean simply rolled his eyes at his grace-mate and mocking Gabriel behind his back.
Sam snickered, "Well I'll be back in a bit." He said before disappearing, totally ignoring what must be a freaked out bar tender and his wife.
"Well c'mon Cas, we have some leg work to do for Gabriel I'm sure." Dean said as he and his grace-mate took flight, Gabriel quickly following on their heels, grumbling along the way and leaving Bobby and Raphael alone in the pub.
"Idjits." Bobby angrily muttered, "Could I bother you for-"
"It would be my pleasure." Raphael gripped Bobby's arm and took him back to his house, leaving a pile of money on the bar counter in his wake.
Hours later the group found themselves sitting at Bobby's kitchen table all looking at each other in disbelief. "Run that by me again." Bobby demanded.
"Well, I went down to Hell to do my thing and at one word from me, all the demons decided that it would be best if they just stayed in Hell for an indefinite amount of time." Sam said, "Not even to cause some havoc or even to appear for any summons. None." Sam said with some disbelief covering his words, but mostly relief and happiness settled over what he said.
"And when I went to talk to the council of pagan gods, they had all decided to take a hike and weren't even making plans to take over Europe, let alone the world." Gabriel said.
"I would say that Heaven is almost totally on my side and that even the slightest rebellion will be easily met." Dean concluded, "All seems well for the moment, ya know, besides the regular monsters that seem to plague us."
Bobby stared silently at the assembled angels for a few minutes before he finally spoke, "I'll be damned."
The angels all burst out laughing, "I sure hope you're not." Dean chuckled.
"I'll get you out if you're not." Sam added, snickering, "Send you upstairs angel express."
The group basked in the companionship that they all offered each other, the most unlikely group: the Devil, Heaven's Sword, a faithful angel, a Trickster, and a human. The group knew that the peace wouldn't last forever, it wasn't even guaranteed to last the evening, but they spent the moment laughing and rejoicing in the love that they held for each other and the odds that they had somehow overcome and even made it out better than when they started. They had somehow rose above what was expected of them and made a complete angel rising.
When faced with challenge, happy families, like happy people, just add a new chapter to their life story that shows them overcoming the hardship. – Bruce Feiler
Ange Hausse means Angel Rising in French. So I hope you guys liked this! I was going to post this as chapters but decided that since I've got the whole thing written, I'll just post it as one long one-shot! Please tell me what you thought of this because I'm kinda nervous because it's my first Supernatural fanfiction, but more importantly it's the first completed thing I've done for a while.
