"Just a simple witch case. Nothing much." Sam looked at Gabriel, trying to judge whether he was be up for the case or not.. Gabriel shrugged. He'd been spending a lot more time hanging around the Winchesters. It wasn't that he didn't have anything else to do, but… well he really didn't have anything better to do, but he did honestly like them. He was still REALLY glad that Sam wasn't mad at him. In fact, Sam and him were quite buddy-buddy now. Thank God though, that Sam hadn't asked him why he'd chosen THAT specific song. While that wasn't completely intentional at the time, the song took on it's own sort of meaning as time went on, he realized that the song held a little bit TOO much meaning.

Which was bad, because, if Sam ever asked him about it, Gabriel wouldn't know what to do. He wouldn't know whether to admit to why the song had so much meaning to him now. Would he even have the strength to do that?

Would he have the strength not to?

Sam snapped him back to reality, "Gabriel?" He asked, worriedly.

"What? No, I'm just thinking. but… uh, sure. I'll go along on the hunt. Why not. You might actually need me." Gabriel smirked, and tried to hide the fact that all he wanted to do was go with Sam. "So where are Cassie and Dean-o?"

Now it was Sam that smirked. "Probably making out in the hallway, hoping that no one barges in on them."

Ah, yes. Cas and Dean. They'd been together for about two weeks now, and they definitely weren't the kind of couple that commonly flaunted that in public. If you were to see them walking around, you'd know that they were a couple, but they wouldn't hold hands, and they wouldn't kiss. Gabriel hated it. He WANTED them to show the world that they were dating, even if the world could tell, simply by taking a look at their expressions when they looked at each other. But Gabriel would then digress.

Gabriel barged into the hallway. They were, in fact, doing just what Sam had predicted. Dean pulled away suddenly, turning a peculiar shade of red, and running his hand through his hair. Gabriel smirked, "You know that we all know that you two lovebirds are together, right? It's not really a mystery to us anymore. Not that it was any sort of mystery before. Anywho, Samsquatch's got a case. Down in Texas, I think. We're going, and- sorry, Dean-o- we're flying. Angel style." Dean started spluttering, "But- but- what about Baby- a- and- and witch hunting stuff!" Gabriel looked at Dean disdainfully, "Really? I'm an Archangel, and you don't think that I can just transport your entire car to Texas? Puh-lease." He shook his head. Dean really could be stupid. He went back into the other room to tell Sam the conclusion. As he walked in, Sam glanced up at him from packing one of his duffles. Gabriel nodded, "Reluctant, but yeah, Dean's going. And he's- well, he's not OKAY that we're flying, but he's not in any position to ARGUE."

"Cas is making him go?"

"Cas is making him go." Gabriel confirmed, helping Sam zip the stuffed duffel closed. Cas ducked his head in. "When should we expect to be leaving?"

"Just after you guys get all your stuff together." Sam looked to Gabriel to confirm this statement. Gabriel nodded.

*:*:*:*:*

They did get all of their stuff together, and into duffles. Dean complained all the while, but was soon silenced by a warning look and a kiss on the cheek by Cas. Gabriel rolled his eyes, and took a picture to post on the blog later. (He'd gotten an account since after he'd told the Winchester brothers that he was alive.

After, it didn't take too long to get to where the witch was.

It, as they soon found out, was immensely more powerful than they had originally thought. And it had found them, sneaking around in an abandoned warehouse looking for clues as to where it was.

It cackled.

It screeched.

There was a blinding dark purple light, and they all collapsed and passed out, Gabriel being the last, trying to shoot some sort of grace towards the witch to kill it. He wasn't sure if he killed it or not.

*:*:*:*:*

Sam groaned as he woke up, every single muscle in his body seemingly cramping at once. He lied there for a second before remembering the witch. He'd obviously passed out, and yet now he was in a bed of some sorts. Sam wasn't sure how. Perhaps he'd been the only one to pass out. He extended his arms out, stretching his sore and tired muscles. He hit something- no someone- with his left hand. He opened his eyes, and turned over to look at who it was.

Gabriel.

Sam let out a high pitched screech of terror, and scrambled backwards. Gabriel bolted upright in time to see Sam fall out of the bed, dragging half of the sheets with him. He screamed too. Dean came running in with gun in hand, ready to shoot anything and everything. Cas was at his tail.

Dean groaned from the pain of running. "Sam, why the hell does it look like you just had sex with Gabriel?" He was too tired to word it any way that wasn't so blunt. Sam turned a bright of red, and both him and Gabriel started stuttering and spluttering at once about how 'nothing happened' and 'we just woke up like this' and 'where the hell is the witch anyway' and 'Aaaahhhh!'

Bobby wandered up the stairs shouting at them for not being dressed yet, people were going to arrive soon enough, and Garth was literally just entering Sioux Falls. "Also, what the hell are you two doing on the floor?" Sam and Gabriel started spluttering again.

"Don't..." He trailed off vaguely, waving his hand. He headed out of the room, leaving the Winchesters and Co. standing in confusion.
"What?" San thought that Dean summed it up quite well

*:*:*:*:*

They got dressed, and wandered downstairs, all huddled together like a pack of penguins sheltering themselves from the cold. Bobby looked at them oddly, but made no comment. "Right." He started eventually, "They'll be coming soon, Garth'll obviously be here first. Then Raina, Cecil, and Steve. They'll be carpooling. Not sure how it'll work with Cecil and Steve, but with Rai in the car, they'll probably be fine. Though we should probably split them up on the way to New York. Rufus should be getting here soon, hopefully. Cas, you said that the angel crew'll be getting here soon as well?" Cas nodded meekly, because he wasn't sure what else to say. Bobby nodded, "Oh, Carlos can't come, he just said something about science and hung up. Christine should be here… at some point, she'll probably be late. Ellen and Jo will be here in an hour. Jeff will meet us in New York, as will Frank, then Matt. Sophie and David live near, and should be coming in a half an hour or so."

Garth did come soon, enveloping them all in tight hugs. "I saw David's car on the road behind mine at one point, but it looked like they got caught that one really long stoplight." They all nodded understandingly. They all knew, and hated, that stoplight. And sure enough there was soon a knock on the door and the married hunting couple stepped in, apologizing, and cursing that damnable stoplight. Dean wondered how hey we're able to keep themselves together, married, and yet hunt at the same time. He and Sam barely were able to keep themselves together half of the time. He wondered if he and Cas would have anything like that. He shook the thought off immediately. Or he told himself that he did, but to be totally honest, he just stored it away, and unconsciously decided to think about it later. He also refused to think about what he meant by 'anything like that' because that sure as hell sounded like he was implying marriage there. Sophie and David snuggled on the couch, and he and Cas were squeezed onto a squashy chair. Sophie looked to Sam and Gabriel, who were sitting on separate chairs. "Is anything wrong with you two? By now I was sure that I would've seen you two snogging in the corner." She laughed, as if it were a joke. Sam and Gabriel blanched. "Wh- what?"

"Come on," she chastised, "Don't act as though the entire hunter community doesn't know about you and Gabriel- probably the most open couple on the history of this planet." They balked. "Th- there's nothing-"

"Wrong." Sam covered the rest of Gabriel's sentence, praying that the theory that he was coming to was right. "I was up late researching." What Sam didn't know was that the only reason that everyone believed that research was research, and not a euphemism for sex was that if it were sex, he and Gabriel would've just said it. They, apparently, were a very open couple.
Cecil, Steve and Raina were the next to arrive. Steve and Cecil were bickering about Janice. Raina just looked pissed. "I'm not dealing with them the entire way to New York. I love my husband, and I love my baby brother, but I'm done with them both I need some peace and quiet. Cecil! Stop arguing with Steve! Please! It's fine in private, but in front of people just don't." She scowled at them. Cecil looked sheepish. "So- uh- is Carlos coming?" He looked hopeful. Bobby shook his head. Cecil was disappointed, but was interrupted by Rufus barging in without knocking. Bobby stood up angrily, "Rufus 'ya damn idjit, yer trackin' mud on the carpet!" Rufus looked down at the trail he was leaving on the carpet. "It's just mud, Bobby, I'm sure you've had worse than just mud on your carpets. You're a hunter." Bobby scowled. "That doesn't mean that you have to track mud on the damn carpet. And knock, would'ja?" Rufus looked sheepish, but not for long, and soon he'd joined in with the huge planning session that was happening in the living room. Right now, it was mostly consisting of who was going to be in whose car." Bobby's phone rang. "Oh hell." He answered, walking into the next room, and the living room seemed quiet.

Sam's head was spinning. He hadn't been able to process what was happening. He slid out of his chair, and grabbed Dean by the arm, "Just a sec," He offered to the group. "I gotta, uh, talk to my brother for minute." He dragged him into the kitchen. "Okay, what the hell is going on, Dean?"

"From what I can tell… we're not in Kansas anymore."

"You're saying the witch knocked us into another universe?" Sam honestly wasn't sure. Dean shrugged. "It's a possibility that we should probably consider. Cause I'm fairly sure that nothing's going on with you and Gabriel. And that neither of you are all… into the other." He finished off uncomfortably. Sam flushed. "Yeah, totally." Dean's eyes widened and Sam darkened. "Dean, there's nothing. It's… this whole thing is a wreck!" He shouted this last part, and stormed out back into the living room.

Bobby looked up to see a deeply blushing (and angry) Sam running up the stairs to his room. Dean looked sheepish, but he was blushing lightly and staring at Gabriel. Gabriel wasn't paying attention, and he stood up to follow Sam, he looked back and glared at Dean, figuring that it was something that he had done to make Sam so angry and embarrassed. Bobby mentioned something about Jeff, Frank and Matt not going to there because Matt just went blind. Dean muttered something to Cas, and squished back into their chair. Cas nodded, "I already knew." Dean turned to Cas, surprised.

"It was kind of obvious, Dean, I'm surprised that you haven't noticed." Dean stared, "But… Sammy… and… Gabriel?"

"You really hadn't noticed? It's rather obvious, do you ever watch them around each other?" Dean struggled, but he did think back to a couple times he had seen Gabriel and Sam's interactions.

Gabriel had been lounging on a couch, humming to himself, while Sam was trying to watch television, sitting on a chair close. Sam hadn't liked that Gabriel was humming. He had put his feet up on Gabriel's chest, who'd immediately stopped humming and looked up, surprised. Sam had laughed at him. Gabriel had then tried to grab Sam's feet, and pull him off of the chair. It hadn't worked. Gabriel just scowled at him, but he hadn't been really mad. They'd spent the rest of the movie with Sam's feet on Gabriel's chest.

At the time, Dean had just thought that they were being stubborn (which they had) but…. Was there something else? Was that not it? Dean was battling himself in his head. He didn't know which side was the voice of reason. They were both the voice of reason, really. They both had some reason. On one hand, it was Sam and Gabriel, on the other they had gotten closer recently. On the first hand, he honestly did think that Sam was straight, on the other, he'd also honestly thought that he was straight. On the first hand, he didn't really like the idea of Gabriel and Sam dating. On the other hand, Cas thought that they liked each other. Dean scowled. He didn't want to say that Cas wasn't right, but he didn't really want to say that he was either. He sighed, and looked up towards the stairs, and wondered what Gabriel was saying to his little brother.

"Do you really think they're gonna… you know, get together or something?" Dean said it quietly, as to not have the rest of the group hear, because it would probably sound suspicious Cas looked at him sympathetically.

"And Gabriel, do you think that he…. Likes…. Sam?" Cas just kept looking at him with sympathy. Dean just shook his head, and looked back up to realize that everyone was staring at him and Cas. "…What?" He glanced around. Shit. He thought. They know what we were talking about, they're going to call us out on it. Bobby raised an eyebrow. "What? I think what we're wonderin' is why you've decided to squeeze yourself into that tiny chair with Cas." There were nods from pretty much everyone (except Cecil, who was too busy texting Dana, to make sure that the station cat was okay, and they were giving her enough food and water. Dean blinked, and mentally cursed himself for not realizing the possibility of he and Cas not being a couple in this universe. "Uhh…" He ran his hand through his hair nervously. He looked down at Cas for answers. Cas shrugged. Cecil suddenly laughed maniacally. Raina sighed, "Already?" She proceeded to fish out a ten from her pocket, handing it to her brother.

"I'm confused, what's going on here?" Dean asked, but had a sinking feeling he knew what she was going to say. Cecil beamed, "I bet Raina that you two would get together by the end of this trip."

"And I thought it was a safe bet, cause this hunt isn't gonna last that long." She mock glared at the 'new' couple. Dean had turned red. Gabriel and Sam finally came down from upstairs, and no one really paid attention. Sam was still blushing slightly. Gabriel still looked mad at Dean (he and Sam hadn't said word about what had happened in the kitchen, Gabriel had simply walked in, sat on a chair, and sat in silence. Therefore, Gabriel kept all assumptions, and was still mad at Dean.) Dean was about to say something that held a semblance of an apology to Sam, until the sound of knocking came to the door.

"It's Mels and Balthazar." Cas announced as Bobby stood to open the door. Balthazar bounced in, "Hello ladies, hello govs."

"Govs?" Gabriel asked skeptically.

"Govs. Gov'ners?" Gabriel still looked confused. Balthazar just rolled his eyes, "Of course you wouldn't understand." Gabriel just scoffed at how annoying Balthazar was.

"Now we're just waiting for Chrissie, right?" Sophie asked. Balthazar sighed, "Thank you, another person that can speak English properly." Sophie laughed. David snorted, "I brought her over to England for a couple years, and I had her pick up on that."

"Then you did a good job."

"Yeah," Bobby finally answered, "No, we've got Ellen and Jo that we're looking out for too." Sophie nodded.

*:*:*:*:*

It was another twenty minutes before Ellen and Jo arrived. They got to the door where everyone welcomed them with open arms. They sat down, and Jo immediately noticed Dean and Cas. She squealed loudly, "YEEEESSS! FINALLY YOU TWO GOT OVER YOURSELVES AND JUST KISSED!" She ran over and hugged Dean. She, apparently, had gotten over her massive crush on Dean. "Come on, kiss, I want a picture!" She pulled out her camera. Dean blushed, but kissed Cas anyway, still not totally comfortable with PDA and such. He wasn't uncomfortable, per se, but he really didn't want Cas exposed to homophobic society. He was too precious for that. Ellen rolled her eyes, but looked amused at her daughter's reaction.

There was a second knock at the door. Chrissie.

"Finally." Bobby muttered, "What took you so long?" She rolled her eyes, "You know Bobby, there's this thing called traffic. It really slows a girl down."

"I'm Mels." Mels held out her hand for Chrissie to shake it. Chrissie shook it, bemused, "Christine. Most people just call me Chrissie though." She turned to the rest of the group, "So! When are we hittin' the road?" She grinned, before turning to Cecil, "And I expect pictures of that cat you keep trying to tell me about." Cecil nodded, grinning back. Everyone seemed to be in a much better mood with Chrissie around. She seemed to exude that happiness. Bobby motioned for everyone to come into the front, where everyone's cars were parked.

"From what it looks like, we should have enough cars to be comfortable, but we do want to condense ourselves into less cars. The Angels have decided to trek with us, as to not spilt up the group, and so that if there happens to be any problems on the way, we can fix 'em quickly. We do not want to get there too much later than we already are. Now." He rubbed his hands together, glancing around at everyone there. We have Ellen and Jo's car, Chrissie's car- but we can't use that because it's tiny, Rai and Steve and Cecil's car, the Winchester's car, Sophie and David's car, Garth's car-"

"Actually…" Garth spoke up, "My car broke down."

"Not surprised," Dean whispered to Cas.

"Not Garth's car then," Bobby continued. "We don't have a car for Rufus, because he crashed his last week escaping from the police, being the idiot that he is. Alright, we want to split up Cecil and Steve. So, Sophie and David can take Steve and… Rufus how bout. Chrissie can go with Ellen and Jo along with…"

"I'll go with Chrissie." Mels offered herself, maybe a bit hopefully. Cas squinted at her.

"Alright. We can just put Balthazar and I in with Cecil and Raina. And since the Winchester's have the most room, Garth can go with them. Any complaints?" He didn't pause, "Good, go get in your respective cars." No one complained, and they headed straight to their respective cars. Dean didn't really like the idea of having Garth of all people in the Impala, but he also knew that it would be dangerous to argue with Bobby.

Sam and Gabriel shunted Garth into the middle as he was definitely the skinniest of the three. (Sam definitely wasn't with his moose-like bulk, and while Gabe wasn't the tallest of them, he wasn't that skinny either- and his body definitely portrayed his love for candy and all things sweet). Garth, however, did argue. "But guys," He said to Sam and Gabriel, "Don't you two want to sit together?" Sam turned a bright red. "Um…" He wanted to keep up their image of belonging here, but he didn't want to have to act as though he was with Gabriel the entire car ride to New York. He'd much rather just sit back in his seat, and read a book, maybe put his headphones in. Probably put his headphones in, to drown out whatever Garth would be saying. "No," He eventually told Garth. "We'll all probably be more comfortable." Garth looked worried, thinking that here was something wrong with their relationship (not that there wasn't), but didn't say anything. Perhaps he would try to help on the road. Garth smiled at the prospect of renewing a possibly broken relationship.

Ellen and Jo ended up in the front as Chrissie insisting that she preferred the back because she could spread out more (despite her own car being absolutely tiny), while Mels was in the back because she was an angel, and it didn't really bother her being uncomfortable

Balthazar looked less than thrilled with sharing a car with Cecil, but as Bobby was also in the car, he wasn't going to complain. He just sat scowling in the backseat, while listening to Cecil prattle on (in his, admittedly soothing voice) about his job, cat, and boyfriend.

Steve didn't appear happy with being split up from his wife, and would rather be with Cecil than Rufus to be honest. He didn't say anything, however, because he and Cecil in the same car would annoy Rai, and that was definitely the last thing that he wanted to do. Sophie and David weren't excited about having people who were generally annoyed (Steve) or talked to much (Rufus) in their car, but they put up with it for fear of Bobby.

*:*:*:*:*

As soon as they got on the road, Garth made them regret allowing him in the Impala in the first place.

"So, are you two fighting, or like, splitting up for good…?" Sam went (for what felt like the thousandth time that day) deep red. Gabriel was blushing too but it wasn't anywhere near as red as Sam's was. They didn't answer. Garth wasn't going to have that. "You know, talking it out should probably help."

"Garth, we don't really want to talk. Okay?" Sam told him, trying to sound nice, but inside he was seething. He really didn't want to talk about any of this, especially with Garth. But he kept his cool. He didn't want to get mad at Garth though.

"It really helps a failing relationship."

"No." Sam emphasized.

"But-"

"Stop getting into our shit, Garth." Sam regretted it as soon as he said it, but didn't show it. He turned to face the window and put his earphones in. He blinked back tears of frustration. He just wanted to get home. He just- well, he just wanted it to be over.

*:*:*:*:*

Three hours later found the entire group pulling into a Buckee's, stretching, getting snacks, filling the gas tank, and peeing. Dean walked over to Bobby, and started to talk to him quietly. "Hey. I don't think that Garth being in our car is going to work." Bobby looked skeptical, but he nodded, turned around to find a replacement. He nearly ran straight into David.

"What is it with you?" Bobby growled.

"I don't want to cause any trouble, but, well, we're trying to keep this a little hush-hush, but we wanted to come because we'd heard that there were cancelations, and we wanted this to be as easy as possible, but we're looking into the possibility that Sophie might be pregnant, and she's been sleeping more, so if you could… maybe… replace Rufus with someone with a little bit more… control over their mouth. I mean, he talks a lot, and with Sophie trying to sleep… it's just not really working."

"Perfect, we'll exchange Garth for Rufus. Is that fine with both of you? Great." Bobby once again didn't allow for any complaints. Dean figured it had to be better than Garth, who had continued trying to mediate between Sam and Gabriel, to no avail- because there was no relationship in the first place. David went over to talk to Rufus. "Listen, uh, it looks like the Winchesters are having a few problems with Garth in their car, and Bobby was- er- wondering if you'd be so kind as to switch places with him."

And Dean went over to talk to Garth. "Listen, uh, it looks like Rufus is causing some issues with Sophie and David, and Bobby wanted you to switch places with him because- uh- you can shut up and not talk while Sophie's trying to sleep."

Both parties agreed, and soon they were back on the road, after a quick word from Bobby about how they'd be spending the next four hours in car, and that's when they'd check into their hotel.

Besides Rufus being in the car, they'd made the adjustments so that Gabriel was in the middle because now that Garth was gone, he was now the least-wide of the group.

"You know," Rufus begun, as they were just pulling out of the gas station, "For some reason I could never really picture you and Cas together. I always kinda thought that you were like, asexual and aromantic, and stuff like that."

"Well," Cas tried to explain (rather awkwardly), "Uh," His argument about angels being creatures of love fell apart in his mouth as he remembered that in this place, Gabriel and Sam were supposed to be an item. "Uh… I guess it just kinda… worked out?" Dean rolled his eyes.

"That reminds me, what's up with you two? I don't think I've ever seen you two going this long without having each other's tongues in your mouths." Apparently, Rufus though he was quite clever. Sam tried not to get mad at Rufus, because he didn't know what was really going on.

"Could you just shut your pie hole, Rufus?" Gabriel asked, somewhat annoyed and angry, but also tired and with general submission. Rufus just shrugged, "I'm just sayin' if you two are arguin' then it's none of my business, but-"

"You're goddamn right, it's none of your business!" Sam interjected before he could say anything more.

"So you are fighting?"

"That's not what I'm saying…" He growled.

"I'm just sayin'" Rufus (stupidly) continued, "That I haven't seen you guys do anything couple-y since I got here and that's been four hours at least, and usually by now Gabe'd be asleep on your shoulder and you'd've made out too many times to count. I mean, if you just kissed or something, I wouldn't bother ya, but I'm just tryin' ta help, ya know?"

"That's not what you're doing." Sam told him, completely deadpanned, trying to make sure he didn't explode.

"Just one kiss is all I'm saying-"

"GODDAMN IT RUFUS, JUST SHUT THE HELL UP WON'T YOU? CAN'T YOU SEE WHEN YOU'RE NOT WANTED?" Sam roared, finally losing whatever cool he had left, causing everyone else in the car to jump, and Dean to swerve dangerously into the middle of the road. Ellen honked angrily from behind them.

Rufus, somehow, could not see when he wasn't wanted, and very idiotically started talking again. "I was just trying to help. I thought that maybe a kiss might-"

"You're really going to do this?" Sam asked him, voice borderline murderous.

"I'm just tryin' to help, Sam! You don't have to go bat shit!"

"Am I really the bat shit one here?!" Sam was raising his voice again.

"I'm not trying to sound crazy, I'm just saying that it looks like somethin' is wrong! I thought I could fix it!"

Sam borrowed some words from Dean, "YOU CAN'T FIX SOMETHING THAT'S NOT BROKEN!" Dean swerved into the middle of the road again, but neither one in the backseat seemed to notice. Cas clutched onto Dean's arm in warning.

"IF IT'S NOT BROKEN THEN WHY WON'T YOU JUST KISS?!"

"WHY DO YOU CARE?"

"BECAUSE I LIKE YOU GUYS!"

"WE. DO. NOT. WANT. YOUR. HELP."

"THEN JUST KISS HIM."

"THEN JUST SHUT UP!" Sam knew the argument didn't make much sense, but he was in more of a blind rage now, and didn't really care, just so long as Rufus actually would shut up. Dean was regretting saying anything to Bobby. The tense silence was better than this. Gabriel was cowering between the shouting.

"WHY DON'T YOU TRUST ME?"

"JUST SHUT UP!" Sam's arguments weren't changing much at this point.

"I WILL IF YOU PROVE THAT NOTHING'S WRONG AND JUST KISS!" Neither side really cared about what would happen if they won, they just wanted to win and get the last word in.

"NO!"

"WHY NOT?"

"BECAUSE I DON'T CARE WHAT YOU TRY TO TELL ME! THERE IS NOTHING WRONG!"

"THEN WHY DON'T YOU KISS HIM?" It was at this, that Gabriel broke. It was at this, that Gabriel didn't care anymore. It was at this, that Gabriel- well, he just wanted it to be over.

It was at this, that Gabriel just leaned over, grabbed the back of Sam's head, and kissed him. Not for very long, not with much meaning, but he kissed him. "There." He mumbled, "Are you happy now?"

The whole car was silent, and Sam just sat there, shocked, not moving. Dean barely caught himself before he swerved into the middle of the road again while Cas was still clutching his arm from the last time, now seemingly unable to let go. Gabriel stayed slumped in his seat, staring down at his shoes. And Rufus didn't say a word. He didn't say anything about how he was right, or that he realized that everything was fine (it obviously wasn't), or even that it wasn't fine. He just sat there, looking like he had been about to argue again, but had lost all gusto.

Sam didn't move again the entire car ride, save just once to just turn to stare out the window at the world passing around him. Gabriel stayed slumped in his seat, and really didn't move again through the car ride. Rufus now seemed to look slightly ashamed, realizing now- a bit too late- that he'd probably done more harm than help. Dean drove quietly, trying to process what had happened. Cas had gotten confirmation that there was definitely something up with Gabriel and Sam, whether they chose to admit it to their selves even. He was sure that they were working it out just then, in the rest of the car trip. He was knew that Gabriel was sure to vanish as soon as they got to the hotel, and not appear until… probably until Cas himself went to go find him in whatever tiny restaurant/coffee shop that he'd decided to hole himself up in. He felt slightly guilty for not intervening before Gabriel had gone to such lengths to end the screaming. Cas wished he could put in some music to lighten the mood, but he knew that that was a definite bad idea. That the cassette tape was sure to be violently ejected and crushed. Then Dean would be mad. And the last thing that he wanted was for Dean to be mad at him. He only spared glances back at the backseat through the mirror, not wanting any of them to catch him looking, even though he knew that they were probably all wrapped up too deep in their thoughts to notice.

They pulled into the hotel parking lot just a bit early (thank god), and as everyone got out, Gabriel, just as Cas had predicted, flew off on the spot. Dean glared half-heartedly at Rufus, and while he was mad at him, he didn't want Rufus mad at him now, and he really did want him to know that if he really did hurt his little brother then he would have hell to pay. Nobody questioned why Sam was so quiet and why Gabriel was gone. The entire group all looked guilty enough (and blank in the case of Sam) that they knew not to ask.

They all went in separately, as if they didn't know each other, although that story didn't even hold till morning. Chrissie and Mels seemed to be inseparable now, talking and laughing all the way to their rooms. Steve was glad to see his wife again, and he and she headed off to their room. Cecil had a room by himself that he had been supposed to be sharing with Carlos, except that he had said 'science' and hung up. Gabriel wasn't there, so Sam had the room to himself.

Dean went over to talk to Bobby for a second time that trip. "Listen, Bobby, uh… Rufus isn't gonna work. You mighta noticed, but Gabriel isn't… isn't really here. Rufus and Sam were arguing and stuff came up… Let's just say that things didn't end well and Gabriel ended up just leaving. So… tomorrow, we'd appreciate if you replaced Rufus with someone a little more… not talkative." Bobby rolled his eyes. "The hell did Rufus do this time?" Dean looked sheepish, "It's none of your business. But it wasn't good, and I don't want to spill Sammy and Gabriel's secrets. Not unless they want to." Bobby sighed. "Well, we'll work it out in the morning. We all need sleep now, after driving for hours, and apparently screaming at each other for hours."

Dean agreed. He seriously agreed. He needed sleep bad. He met back up with Cas, and they walked to their room, snuggling up to Cas, and went to sleep as soon as his head hit his pillow.