Chapter 1

Nine Years To Go

"Tell your sister to hurry the hell up," Truman Browning murmured to his youngest daughter, Serendipity. He stuffed his change into his pocket as he grabbed the bag of snacks from the counter top. "What is taking so long?"

"Dude, Dad," Serra began. "She's female. Things take longer in the bathroom."

Truman clicked his tongue and shook his head. "I'm waiting in the car," he said, turning on a booted heel and walking through the shop, sidestepping the small man that stood in the aisle, gazing at porno magazines. The man glanced up, smiling coyly at the floor and revealing deep dimples in his both his cheeks as Truman walked by and then turned to watch the younger sister head towards the gas station bathroom.

Serra banged on the closed door of the bathroom and raised her voice enough to be heard, "You'd better hurry up. Dad's about to leave you here."

Grace's voice strained in response, "Yeah," she grunted. "I'm coming."

"Yeah, you are," a voice whispered, inaudible to Serendipity.

Standing outside, Serra leaned her head closer towards the door of the bathroom, listening. "Dude, you okay?"

She was out of breath when she answered, "Yeah, Lucky," Grace replied. "Go away."

Shrugging to herself and making a face, Serra turned to follow her father out of the convenient store, the small man watching her walk by once more. He shoved his hands in his pockets after running a hand through his light, whiskey-colored hair, and grinned as he approached the bathroom, leaning his head to listen.

Her voice was a strained whisper, "You need to hurry this up," she said, laughing slightly. "My family is going to leave my ass here and then you'll be stuck with me."

A young man's voice answered; his voice just as tight. "You're not convincing me," he replied. There was a thud from the door of the bathroom as the couple landed against it and the dimpled man grinned, staring at the door. "We'll just run away together and start a new friggin' life." The young man's voice was strained and he exhaled hard, trying to catch his breath. "Oh, sweet Jesus," he gasped.

Grace giggled and panted along with him. "Tell me about it," she whispered.

"Gabriel," a scolding voice startled the small, grinning man out of his concentration. "What is going on here?"

The man called Gabriel turned slowly at the taller woman, wearing a professional looking suit and black heels. He was still smiling, his dimples creasing his cheeks with a mischievous grin. "I'm helping, Pahaliah," he replied as he shrugged nonchalantly. "The world could use a bit more star-crossed loving."

Pahaliah shook her head curtly. "You know it is not time for them yet," she replied, leaning forward a bit, lowering her voice. "How could you do this? You upset the balance! The Elder Winchester must fulfill his destiny before they unite."

"Oh, come on," Gabriel answered, rolling his eyes. "You know he could still be the Vessel while he is falling in love." Gabriel ran a hand through his long hair again, grinning up at Pahaliah. "He can multitask! Let the kids have a little fun."

"You need to cease and desist this very instant," Pahaliah argued. "We know he will fall in love with her if he hasn't already, he will follow her to the ends of the Earth, and we will end up losing this war." She glanced at the bathroom door as the couple's voices began speaking again, smiles obviously plastered across their faces, just by their tone. "It is not time for them to unite. They both have a job to do." She pointed with a manicured finger towards the door, "As soon as they emerge, you need to wipe their memories or I will."

Gabriel looked annoyed, rolling his eyes and shrugging off-handedly. "Whatever," he said. "Just remember that I outrank you."

Sighing heavily, Pahaliah closed her eyes, begging patience. "That might be, Gabriel," she answered. "I think you need to remember that just because you are an Archangel, you do not get to change Destinies."

His sun-kissed whiskey eyes met hers and he smiled roguishly. "I thought getting to do what I wanted came with the whole 'Archangel' territory."

"And keep Eros out of it too," she continued, completely ignoring his sentiment. "He has a job to do that does not involve interrupting the future of the planet."

With a blink of his eyes, Pahaliah was gone and Gabriel turned towards the sound of the bathroom door being unlocked. A young man with flushed pink cheeks and haphazard light brown hair tumbled out of the bathroom closely followed by a girl with long blonde, wavy hair. Her blue eyes found his green gaze lustily and they kissed again as he stumbled backwards, trying to find his footing. Gabriel couldn't help but stare: they were so perfect for each other. He sighed heavily, watching them part ways at the end of the aisle, reaching one last time for each other's fingertips. She adjusted the white deep v-neck shirt she wore, pulling long necklaces out of it and running her hands through her hair. He pulled his dark blue flannel back on, glancing back at her once more as she used her back to push the glass door open. Winking at her, he grinned and mouthed, "I'll call you."

She pressed her lips into a silent giggle and looked away, licking her lips. Gabriel followed her to the rust bucket, primer gray Chevy Chevelle where her father and sister sat, waiting for her to return. She was so happy…happier than Gabriel had ever seen her and it pained him to know that Pahaliah was right…for now at least.

"Grace, what took you so long?" Serra asked, annoyed. "You've been in there like, fifteen minutes."

The young woman smiled and blushed before regaining her composure as she ducked her head to collapse into the Chevelle next to her father. "Nothing," she lied, glancing in the rear view mirror as the young man she had been with in the bathroom came out of the convenient store, holding a bag full of snacks. They held each other's gaze in the mirror for longer than was necessary and finally, Grace sighed and looked away, still smiling.

Gabriel sighed heavily again and snapped his fingers as the Chevelle drove away. Grace took a deep breath and sighed, leaning her head back on the headrest and closing her eyes, the smile falling slowly off her face. He turned to watch the young man dip his head and sit in the passenger seat of a black Chevy Impala as the engine started. Gabriel snapped his fingers again, staring at the young man.

"Sorry, Deano," he whispered and watched as Dean's grin faded as well, reaching into the plastic bag and handing a soda behind him to his floppy-haired little brother.

The Impala pulled away from the curb, heading in the opposite direction of the Chevelle and Gabriel shook his head in disappointment. "You said that would work," he muttered, seemingly to himself, but a chubby, innocent looking man appeared next to him, wearing nothing but red underwear.

"Well, to be fair, it did work. They screwed in the bathroom. They couldn't keep their hands off of each other," he answered, grinning. "But it's too soon, Gabe! We know they'll fall in love. That's easy…I don't even have to get involved," the naked man answered, grinning. "That was fun though. I want them to do it again."

Gabriel nodded, his dimples showing slightly. "Yeah, we will for sure. They're fun to listen to." He turned towards the taller man and grinned. "Don't worry, Eros, man. We'll wait awhile and do it again. Pahaliah can't boss us around forever."

Eros smiled and clapped his hands childishly. "I've always wanted to put them together. Everyone keeps saying, 'Let it happen, let it happen.' 'They have a destiny!'" He clicked his tongue disapprovingly. "Everyone is so bossy about them! True love lives on! Dean and Grace forever!"

Turning and furrowing his eyebrows, Gabriel chuckled. "What are you, their groupie?"

"Oh, posh," Eros said, flaring his hand dismissively. "You're just as bad as me."

Laughing, Gabriel nodded. "Yeah, I've got a soft spot for the Winchesters. Someday, I'd like to see him as happy as he was in that bathroom."