Title: If I Could Run Far or Fast Enough

Author: OpheliacAngel

Pairings & Characters: Dean/Gabriel, Castiel, Lucifer, Michael

Genres: Romance/Family

Rating: Teen

Summary: Maybe Gabriel's destined to be different. Or maybe Dean's just found too many things in him to enjoy.

A/N: Written for SPN Rare OTP Fic-a-Month Challenge for March's prompt of 'Reverse!verse.' My apologies since it's late, of course, but mostly because it was a hard prompt to condense.

Some things never change.

Dean has long become used to having charges.

In ages past each angel would have one to watch over for the rest of the human's existence. While not always assigned at birth, due to errors, the reassignments of many angels and other causes, the exact time makes the job no less important, and an angel still grows to know the human quite well through the course of their life.

Angels can never reveal themselves to these humans, but they are permitted to stay close to them if they so choose to, hidden from sight, ever watchful. Most angels take this job seriously but nonetheless care little about their charges; they are just one in a long list of many to come. If an angel cannot become involved in the human's life then what is truly the point? Of course, an angel can intervene if the human is in danger, thereby saving them from harm, but one can never save their life - which would place them in a fierce war with Death and lose - and that is the only action which would be worthwhile and almost vital to one's grace to commit.

It is true, angels have been pining after humans for millenia, that much hasn't changed, but more and more are realizing that their efforts will yield no fruit. Abandoning charges is not the word Dean would choose, but it is close enough. Angels will watch, but they will seldom involve themselves or gain any desire from watching their charge, knowing full well it will only bring about misery.

Dean is one of those angels.

After hundreds of charges he has given up long ago. Dean has been drawn to so many and has suffered much over the dozen or so he felt a foreign closeness to. He has watched them die slow, horrible deaths and meaningless ones. He has come close to revealing himself to several of those humans, but knew it would only wrought chaos upon their lives. He has withdrawn from them all, hiding in the shadows and tormenting himself by watching them but never daring to step closer than his high perch in heaven.

Then comes a human named Gabriel and his little brother Castiel.

Technically, Dean is not Castiel's charge - another angel named Annaeal has that privilege, one that Dean never sees much of - but he feels responsible for Castiel nonetheless. Feels responsible for the both of them, more than he has for any human in a long time. Gabriel is a hunter, not that Dean hasn't run across hunters before, but yet he has never had one as a charge. For Dean to call Gabriel his first would be selfish and entirely besides the point: Gabriel deserves to be protected for a reason, the reason being that he saves lives and helps keep the world in balance.

Dean's had his fair share of murderers as charges; his last charge, who was given what humans deem the electric chair, died a little over two years ago. Of course, Gabriel had no part in his life. Before him, Gabriel had a staggering amount of six charges at one time. An overabundance of humans and a shortage of angels, what with angels being lost to discovering humanity and falling, as well as by wars, has caused management to grant angels three, four, or even five charges, which only exacerbates the problem of angels ignoring their charges. Dean has had multiple charges several times in the last few hundred years, but those six caused him to stray from his most important job. When angels stray too far they are given bad souls: those who slaughter, those who force themselves on other humans, those who trick and spread lies and worship cruelty.

The angel has a lot to make up for. Gabriel is a way of doing just that.

Gabriel's been his charge since the human was sixteen, nearly a full twelve years. Not a terribly long time, considering most humans live long past the age of twenty-eight, but Dean knows it's nearly an eternity in the life of a hunter. Dean knows Gabriel's soul inside and out, the size and quality of his heart, how he wants to help the world but at the same time doubts himself even though he has already proved himself in the eyes of heaven.

And most importantly, in the eyes of Dean.

Gabriel's catching up on some much needed downtime after the last hunt, which he barely got out of unscathed, though it's clear that watching Dr. Sexy and throwing a baseball at the ceiling as he lies back on the bed - commercials annoying him - is anything but Cas' idea of relaxation. This goes on for at least half an episode before his little brother has to start complaining. Really, Cas has to criticize his shows, his music, his candy, everything in Gabriel's life as if they haven't lived together for all these years.

Cas looks up at him from where he's sprawled out on his stomach on the other bed, head stuck in a book, eyes narrowing together in a scowl. "Could you stop doing that over there?"

Gabriel throws the baseball at the ceiling harder, and bits of plaster dust rain down on him in mutual protest. He coughs, brushes himself off and resumes. "Bored here, Cas. What else am I supposed to do?"

His little brother scowls at him harder, if that's even physically possible. "Uh, I don't know. Something constructive for once."

Gabriel opens his mouth to respond, but the commercial cuts off suddenly and his show comes back on. His mouth closes of its own accord as he hones in on the irresistible Dr. Sexy sauntering down the hospital corridor. "Huh, that was a short commercial."

Castiel flips a few pages loudly before he turns toward Gabriel and proceeds to bother him again, who is trying to watch his show, thank you very much. "You ever wonder if you have your own guardian angel?"

Now that's something Gabriel has an opinion on. Castiel was always a gullible believer, that's half the reason alone why Gabriel had to get him away from their family, especially their parents. "Angels don't exist, Cassie, and even if they did they wouldn't be watching out for us. We're hunters, we kill and we don't think twice about it. What makes you think they'd give a damn about us?"

Cas is still young in Gabriel's eyes, barely twenty and fresh out of college, taking a break and on his way towards getting a degree. Gabriel couldn't be prouder of him, especially since the college life isn't Gabriel's and never will be. Face it, he's just not smart enough or focused enough. He's already hunted on his own for two years while Cas was at school and he's prepared to do it again; hell, he's not even gonna try to talk his brother into taking all his classes online so they can stick together, considering how much breath he wasted the last time.

Gabriel sighs at the disappointment on his baby brother's face. "Look, Cas. I know you've been taking all these classes on religion and everything, and I know you want to believe, but I'm telling you that there is nothing else out there but monsters. No heaven, no higher power and definitely no angels. Just don't want you to get your hopes up, kiddo."

He ruffles Cas' hair, despite Cas always telling him that he's not a little kid anymore and hasn't been since he was eight. Gabriel almost chuckles at the memory of Cas at that age. After running away from home when the kid was nine and Gabriel was seventeen, Gabriel did the best he could to raise him. Cas meant everything to him, certainly a lot more so than his other deadbeat brothers, Lucifer and Michael, and he finds it amazing how close he and Cas still are. Cas always spends the summers and breaks with him. Gabriel picks him up at his dorm and they hit the road and head out west, sometimes toward the Grand Canyon and sometimes to the California coast, and if they run into a hunt or two along the way then they take it. College kid still likes to hang out and hunt with his big brother, and it warms Gabriel's heart on the nights when he's convinced he's ruined Cas' life by taking him away from home.

"Forget it," Cas mumbles, turning away from Gabriel and sticking his head back in his book. "I'm gonna go get some of my required reading done."

Gabriel rolls his eyes and hopes Cas stops thinking about angels. The way Gabriel figures it, they don't need any of that crap in their lives; it was what pushed Gabriel to go on the run with Castiel in the first place. Angels don't exist which means there's no way in hell that guardian angels could exist. All they have is each other and they better get used to that fact.

Twelve years may be a long time for a human, but it is not meant to feel like such a long time to an angel. To Dean, it is much more than an eternity. He desires nothing more than for Gabriel's honey-brown eyes to look upon him in wonder. This is a selfish and entirely human need, but it is Dean's own and it can no longer be suppressed. Gabriel is grown up now, an adult in the eyes of humans, a human that Dean cannot play games with and then be forgotten about years later. Gabriel is no longer a child.

Dean does not make himself visible to human eyes when he pushes Castiel away from the striving hands of a ghoul, allowing Gabriel enough time to complete the hunt without worrying about his brother, but the next time the two humans are in danger he's not as fortunate at convincing himself to stay hidden.

Gabriel's brothers have found them once before, barely a year into Dean having Gabriel as a charge. Dean has rarely seen fear in the human's eyes, sometimes on hunts but never on this scale. Dean knows that if Gabriel loses Castiel then his entire existence means nothing. In reality this is the farthest thing from truth, but to Gabriel it is one of the only truths he knows.

Dean had pulled a chair out from underneath Lucifer as he was sitting in it, and he had made a door appear where there was none before, so that Michael would walk into it. Both little things that would not betray his presence on a large scale. Dean had been afraid to get involved more than that then, despite his loathing for both of Gabriel's brothers. Now, it's a different story.

Michael has Castiel held tight, one hand holding him by the scruff of his neck and the other wrapped tightly around his waist, preventing the younger brother from moving much. Lucifer has Gabriel tied to a chair and it's clear that he's done quite a number on Dean's charge. Gabriel has a split lip, a black eye and a broken nose, judging by the blood gushing out of the orifice. He is radiating defeat, dread and misery, the bruises covering his face and neck purple and blue and red and all Dean feels is rage. Rage that these two puny humans have dared to lay a hand on his charge. But there is nothing worse than the fear in Gabriel's eyes as he locks gazes with Castiel.

Those two cannot be separated, Dean knows that much.

He thinks about playing tricks on Lucifer and Michael again, anything to prevent him from getting too involved, but Gabriel's and Castiel's bond as brothers is on the line and he'd do anything to keep them together. Before he forces himself to leave the scene, Dean makes himself visible before Michael and Lucifer can do anymore damage.

"What the hell?" Michael glances up at Dean in shock and almost lets go of Castiel. Unfortunate for Michael, Castiel takes care of himself, biting Michael's hand and then moving himself into a corner.

Michael starts after him but Dean takes a step forward and shakes his head. "I wouldn't do that if I were you."

"Oh yeah?" Lucifer sneers, and Dean realizes he almost forgot about him. He glances over at Gabriel to reassure him, but his charge looks just as scared and mistrusting of Dean as he does his brothers. Dean's face may fall slightly before he looks over Lucifer, who is trying to make himself look intimidating, despite Dean's training it not to. With a snap of his fingers Dean could make him fall into a volcano, or send him to the bottom of an ocean; the anger over a hurt Gabriel dissipates as he imagines these scenarios. "And who are you?"

Dean shakes his head again, this time in distaste. Puny, pathetic humans who imagine they stand a chance against him. "That is of no concern to you." He steps forward and grabs Lucifer's throat, lifting him up off the ground, shaking him hard. Lucifer's hand claws at Dean's as he grips his throat, but Dean can feel the grace surging within him, telling him to squeeze the life out of the human so Gabriel and Castiel will never be threatened again. His grip doesn't tighten but it doesn't loosen either. "You and your brother will leave now, and you will never come back. Or mark my words, I will come knocking onto your door and there will be no reprieve."

Lucifer's eyes widen as he continues to try to break free, but he has the good sense to nod and Dean drops him. Gabriel laughs as Lucifer loses balance and sprawls out on the floor, staring up at Dean even though he's no longer looking at him, but the laugh is short and dies down into silence nearly as abruptly as it begun. Michael and Lucifer rush out the door and speed off into the night, and the hands of Dean's vessel finally unclench.

When he turns back towards his charge he's no longer in the chair, but crouched on the floor, one hand holding a baseball bat and the other on his brother's shoulder, holding him in place. "Who are you?"

Dean wonders if he should answer such a question so soon, but the waiting is becoming too much to bear. "My name is too complex to be understood by human ears. You may call me Dean, however. A human many centuries ago gave his visions such a name."

Gabriel nods slightly but his grip on the bat tightens, much to Dean's dismay. "Dean then. I assume you know who we are, otherwise why would you be here?" Dean wants to tell him that he knows everything about them but that he wants to know more. He wants to tell Gabriel that he knows what he's scared of, that he knows he can't lose Castiel after what he did for him so long ago, after all they've been through. He needs to tell the human that he understands, his fear, his confusion, his needing to lash out at anything and everyone. But Gabriel is looking at him like he's a threat, and that is not helping matters any.

"I feel I should take my leave."

He's about to vanish from the room when Castiel rushes forward and grabs his hand. Gabriel hisses immediately, "Castiel!" Just as Dean expected he follows his brother and tries to drag him away, but Castiel shoves him back.

"I'm Castiel," he introduces himself. His voice is deep and gravely but strangely bright, and Dean feels he grew up with him, which he did, in a manner of speaking. "And this is my brother Gabriel, who can be a real asshole sometimes." Gabriel shoves him and Castiel shoves him in return, and Dean finds himself awestruck by these two human brothers, who he has never seen so up close, who he now feels he is seeing together for the very first time. "Thanks for the help."

"It was my pleasure," Dean says assuredly before taking his leave. He assumes he should give Gabriel time, even though he has a feeling, as humans call them, that that will not be enough.

Dean has followed Gabriel's movements closely for a long time, but while Dean refers to it as protection, Gabriel inevitably deems it as one ominous word: stalking.

"You can come out now, hunt's done! I can hear you skulking behind the trees back there!"

Dean makes himself visible and stops 'skulking' behind the trees. Gabriel is leaning against the car, watching him intently. As Dean walks closer he doesn't tense or move a muscle, he just stares as if he was never threatened by Dean in the slightest. Dean feels somewhat odd, standing in one place while a human stares him down, so he thrusts his hands in the pockets of his vessel's jacket, despite knowing it's an entirely human thing to do. Gabriel continues to stare at him, part unamused and part curious.

"So what are you anyway? Didn't see you coming through any doors the first time we met."

"I am an angel of the lord, and you are my charge."

"Whoa there," Gabriel holds up his hands and backs away from Dean. He opens the door of his navy blue Mustang and retreats to the driver's seat, where he then shuts the door and blocks Dean out of hearing. Disregarding asking, Dean opens the passenger door and takes the seat next to him, sitting as close to Gabriel as he dares, but Gabriel still will not look at him again. "I don't wanna be hearing any of this. First of all, there's no way you're an angel because angels don't exist. Second of all," he reaches past Dean and rummages around in the glove compartment, pulling out an unwrapped lollipop and sticking it in his mouth. Whenever Dean sees him he's always eating one of those sugary, entirely human creations. He wonders for a moment what they taste like. "Even if angels did exist, there's no way in hell I would ever be running into them. Not with my rep."

Dean smiles. "I overheard you telling your brother as much. I was surprised by how much it hurt, even though you must think that angels cannot hurt."

"I told you. Angels don't exist," Gabriel snaps. "So of course I don't assume anything. What are you doing hanging around me anyway? You're like the plague or something," Gabriel mumbles. "Can't freaking shake you."

Dean glimpses at the dashboard, watches as Castiel walks up to the car. Castiel is fine with trusting Dean, despite not yet knowing that his savior several nights prior is an angel. It seems impossible that Gabriel should ever reach that point. Expectations. Dean should know better than to give into them. "I have told you. You are my charge. It is my duty to watch over you, and I have for twelve ye..."

Gabriel doesn't let him finish. He seems hurt, more so than usual. Maybe it's because he failed to protect Castiel without Dean's help. Then again, maybe Gabriel should stop putting himself up on a high pedestal. "Fine. Then the next time we see each other you can prove it to me. But right now, I'm busy."

Dean feels a sharp pang in his vessel's chest at his words, but he leaves regardless.

The following week he appears in the motel room while Gabriel is apparently preoccupied watching television, and immediately Dean can tell the human is not in a good mood. Also, Castiel is not around to lessen the tension. "Well well well, come in, come in. Never stopped you before. Didn't think you'd come back."

Dean nods, irritated at Gabriel's ignorance even though he knows he's merely attempting to mask his vulnerability. "You asked me to prove to you that I am an angel?"

"Sure whatever." No more words need to be said. Dean makes the lights go out in the room, mostly so that Gabriel will stop watching the small, square screen and start focusing on him. He can see Gabriel perfectly in the dark but he knows the human can't see him; this makes Dean feel a lot better, even though Gabriel snorts and tries to act unimpressed. "Gonna need more than a power out..."

This time, Dean refuses to let Gabriel finish. He turns the lights back on but a moment later the room is on fire, flames dancing dangerously close to Gabriel's bed and successfully scaring the human. Gabriel jumps up, eyes wild and terrified. "What the hell are you trying to do? Kill me?"

Dean crosses his arms and smiles. "Are you satisfied?" Upon Gabriel's uneasy nod, Dean douses the flames as if they were never there in the first place and the room is back to its original state, wallpaper no longer peeling off the walls, flames no longer mirrored in Gabriel's eyes, a lack of heat to make the human sweat.

He should have realized the feeling of satisfaction would not last.

"What else can you do?" Dean merely blinks his eyes to turn the television on. There are commercials, Gabriel's least favorite things in the world, so Dean blinks again and changes them to what Gabriel had been watching prior to Dean's arrival. "Oh my god," Gabriel's eyes go wide. "You skipped the commercials that night. Guess you weren't lying when you said you've been watching over us." Gabriel frowns and Dean wishes he had not told him this. He knows he should be grateful that the human is failing to throw things at him in his rage, considering the violation of his privacy. But he's Dean's responsibility and Dean has been protecting him for all this time. Surely that's enough.

"Can you, say, whip me up a vanilla cake? Vanilla butter cream frosting?" Dean seems to be at Gabriel's beck and call now, but he relents. The immaculately decorated cake appears on the table and Gabriel immediately rushes over to taste it, finger running along the side of the cake to collect frosting. "Mmm. Not bad. You need a few pointers but other than that..."

Dean snaps his fingers and another cake appears, this one out of thin air above Gabriel's head. Another snap of his fingers and the dessert gives into gravity, falling on top of the human's head, smothering his face and hair with cake and frosting. Gabriel stands stock still for a few moments before he hesitantly wipes the food off his face and brushes the globs of cake out of his hair. Dean doesn't give him much time to recover. "You need to respect me, Gabriel. I am not your servant."

"You're right. Got carried away there." Gabriel laughs shakily, but he licks his fingers and moans. "Good cake, by the way."

A month goes by before Dean sees Gabriel again. He's grown tired of the way Gabriel acts toward him, and he supposes that if he stays away long enough then Gabriel might even pray to him to come back. While Gabriel doesn't necessarily pray, being adverse to it, he does think about Dean rather loudly and that's enough for the angel.

"You want some pie?" Gabriel holds a forkful of something warm and gooey out towards him. "Told Cas to bring me back some cake since he won't get me anymore Snickers. Apparently he hates when I throw the wrappers under his covers."

Dean takes a seat across the table and takes the fork from Gabriel's hand, but rather than place the utensil in his own mouth, since he can eat food but can't taste it, he places it in Gabriel's. "I'm more into cake myself," Gabriel remarks, chewing while he's talking. "But pie is good too."

They sit there for a good ten minutes, Gabriel devouring the rest of the pie, and Dean is merely content to sit there and watch him. The human loves food and lots of it, even though his frame is slender and it seems like he cannot gain weight. There is so much about Gabriel that is a mystery, Dean ponders with a small smile. He's comfortable around Gabriel and he wants Gabriel to feel comfortable around him. If only he would watch his tongue. "You know," Gabriel clears his throat. "You can come around sometimes if you want to. Promise I won't bite."

Dean intends to make good on that offer, and hopes Gabriel will make good on his promise.

Castiel's been thoroughly boring for the whole two months he's been on his summer vacation. Gabriel expected him to at least let loose a little and have fun, but no, his little brother's reading and studying and stuffing his face into a book at every moment Gabriel has his eyes open and he's sick to death of it. Worse than that? Every time he tries to get Dean and Cas alone in a room together it somehow ends up as Dean and Gabriel in a room together.

This has Gabriel thinking that Cas is up to something, even though they haven't pranked each other since they were kids.

He watches Castiel for a good few minutes or so before he throws an empty bag of potato chips at him. The bag hits Cas smack dab in the face and causes his brother to practically jump out of his seat. "Hey! Cut it out, you!"

"I'm bored," Gabriel smirks and then puts on his best pouting face. "Tell me something interesting, college boy."

"Shut up, Gabe." He throws his gnawed number two pencil at Gabriel and then pulls out another from behind his ear. Gabriel's half-tempted to see what Castiel's writing, he has caught him writing love poems once, but it's never as funny as he thinks it's going to be. "Honestly can't understand what Dean sees in you."

Gabriel's heart stops. "What?"

"You heard me," Cas says, scowling over at him.

Now he's trying to play tricks on Gabriel and he doesn't like it one bit. "You're being stupid, Cas." He goes back to his research, pretending not to care when he knows his heart is thundering and finds it hard to believe that Cas can't hear it. "There's no way that feather-up-his-but archangel is into me." It'd be too good to be true, not when he's into Dean. Not when there's no way in hell a human can be in a relationship with something far more than just human. Dean has obligations, priorities, freaking responsibilities other than him, other than just a measly charge who doesn't mean anything. Shit. He's losing it. Losing it in front of his little brother who's smirking at him, looking at him like Dean's about to propose or something.

"Yeah well, he's definitely not into me." Gabriel leans closer to the computer screen, trying to unsuccessfully hide even though Cas has stopped staring at him and is now back to staring at one of his ridiculously thick volumes. "Even though we both know you tried. Dean knows too. We talked about it."

"Cas," Gabriel warns. He's visibly shaking now; hell, is he gonna have to hide in the bathroom? Dean isn't even in the freaking room.

Castiel continues even though Gabriel wants to rush over to him and duct tape his mouth shut for both of their own goods. "We're friends and all, but just that. Why do you think he always shows up when I'm not in the room? You thought it was just coincidence? Gabe, he knows what you're doing every second of every day. He likes you."

"Don't put that thought in my head, little brother." Or rather, don't put any thoughts in my head, at all.

"Face it, Gabriel. You're smitten too."

Face it, Gabriel. You're more than just smitten.

Accepting Gabriel's offer, Dean comes around more often, as often as he can risk it, and he suspects Gabriel enjoys their time together as much as Dean does. Gabriel shares much of his interests with Dean, including his far from nutritional food habits, his love for "good music," and his penchant for trouble making and plotting pranks to use on his oblivious brother. Dean takes in everything, not knowing how long his relationship with Gabriel and Castiel will last and wanting to savor every moment. Dean knows he's playing a dangerous game: growing attached to one's charge, but there's something about Gabriel that pushes him closer and makes Dean want to hold onto the beauty of humanity so tightly.

Today, Gabriel has shoved Dean onto his bed and subjected him to his music.

"I enjoy this," Dean says. His head moves slightly back and forth to what is deemed Motorhead, which he had read on the thin, round disk before Gabriel slipped it into a thicker, round, plastic object and pressed a button. A small smile graces Gabriel's lips and Dean takes in his amused expression. Gabriel gets overexcited when Dean approves of something he likes, and Dean knows this is typical for humans but not necessarily normal for a usually guarded Gabriel.

Dean remembers the first time he smiled since meeting Gabriel in person, especially that it had been the first time in a long time. Gabriel had tried to lean closer to Dean discreetly and then proceeded to tickle the stomach of his vessel while they were watching television on the couch. It was an uncomfortable sensation that made him nearly lose control of his vessel for those few minutes, but afterward he was laughing and his eyes were leaking tears. He had been moderately angry and disappointed in himself for letting Gabriel do something so childish, but there was a part of him that couldn't care either. Gabriel had no bounds and he was attempting very hard to break Dean's resolve down, but Gabriel had remarked upon the crinkles along his vessel's eyes, and Dean had felt joy upon seeing Gabriel's own.

"I enjoy you," he corrects himself, coming to a startling conclusion. His new life has started with Gabriel and he wants the end of it to be Gabriel. More than that, he wants his entire existence to end with Gabriel.

Gabriel freezes and Dean quickly deciphers his look as shock but not as self-denial. Gabriel had pushed Castiel toward him for more than one reason: Dean can protect Gabriel's little brother, and in Gabriel's eyes Castiel deserves far more than he. Not that Dean doesn't enjoy Castiel's company as well, but Gabriel is life and light itself. Gabriel is warm, bustling yet sensitive energy. He is the last remains of sunrise before the start of a new day. He is always ready for a new challenge and never allows anything to bring him down. Dean finds Gabriel's small life to be more important than his duties in heaven, more important than the necessity of keeping one's charge at a distance. When Gabriel is happy Dean can feel it in his very grace, and his entire being sings out in reciprocated joy.

Perhaps what Dean likes most is Gabriel's unpredictability, as grating as it may come across at times. His outspoken nature lends him to say the strangest things, to gravitate from one temperature to the next so Dean does not know if Gabriel means his words to get under Dean's skin, or if he is just 'playing around' as he deems his often astonishing behavior. Gabriel knows Dean can crush him down into nothing more than the memory of energy and life, but he doesn't seem to care.

And why must this feel exhilarating?

Gabriel's eyebrows raise dramatically and he shifts in discomfort from where he's sprawled out next to Dean. "I think the word is like."

Dean slips the small round devices out of his ears and vacates the bed. Like. Dean has heard the word many a time before, but what exactly does it mean? Is it supposed to mean something vast or something small? Why would Gabriel care about such a simple word that leaves virtually no imprint in Dean's mind? "I discern that I have made you uncomfortable." Dean is more than prepared to leave him be for as long as his mistake costs him, knowing Gabriel rattles over very little.

Gabriel snorts and crawls off the bed to follow Dean, who is torn between trusting Gabriel's initial response and his more recent unpredictability. "Used to that. Human, have a little brother, remember?" Dean does not respond, he's not quite sure what Gabriel expects of him or why Dean should care about his charge's expectations in the first place. Gabriel is not even meant to know him and yet he does. He seems to know Dean far better than Dean knows himself, which is dangerous in more than one regard. Gabriel crosses his arms and blocks Dean's path, not that Dean needs one. "You look lost, Dean."

"I should take my leave, Gabriel," he almost warns.

Dean takes a step forward but the human sidesteps him, and Dean does not know whether to feel infuriated or impressed. "Stay."

He decides that this could be the moment, even if it will drive Gabriel away when he clearly does not want to be driven away. "I have not been completely honest with you."

Gabriel uncrosses his arms but does not move out of Dean's way. "What are you talking about?"

"I am not just an angel, Gabriel. I am an archangel." Archangels were never meant to have charges, they were only meant for the lower ranked angels. Yet Dean ran away from heaven when he was very young and has paid the price for it ever since. Having his first charge changed Dean forever, it made him more responsible, made him appreciate humans as time went on and primarily made him see the error of his selfishness. Dean is still an archangel, still knows things the other angels could not even dream of, yet this also means his bond with charges - now his bond with Gabriel - is made all the more fragile and essential to protect.

Gabriel didn't say anything, but his thoughts were so loud that Dean couldn't stop himself from responding.

"Do not be coy with me, Gabriel. You know the difference. And since you're wondering what it means," he almost smiles at Gabriel's offended look when he realizes the archangel is reading his mind. "It means that I am one of the most powerful beings in the universe. But beyond that," he adds, noticing the slight hint of fear emanating from Gabriel. "It means practically nothing. I have been threatened with exile for a long time, and taking charges has been my method of payment to my father."

Gabriel appears shocked now. "Exile?"

"I did not always play by the rules, Gabriel. I was once like you, rebellious, selfish, but then I learned the error of my ways. You will too, in time." Not that Dean necessarily wants Gabriel to. His charge is fun, in a way, amusing when he isn't blatantly disrespecting Dean. If he was subdued then he would not be the same.

"So an archangel, huh?"

Dean practically rolls his eyes, one of the less than professional traits he has learned from the human. There is no fear here anymore, merely a mix of awe and suspicion that Dean is coming to appreciate.

Dean's definitely growing on him, even when he drops a brand new bomb on Gabriel. Because an archangel, seriously? As if Gabriel weren't shitting his pants the first time Dean mentioned the word angel to him. Archangel? And sure, Gabriel knows plenty about archangels, courtesy of his wacko religious family and Castiel's less than healthy interest in anything with wings and powers beyond the capabilities of humans. So Gabriel's not just a charge, but he's an archangel's charge.

Tricky. Tricky because Gabriel doesn't believe in angels and heaven and a god higher than him. Tricky because Gabriel is starting to feel something towards Dean that could be considered less than ideal. It certainly doesn't help matters any that he shows up nearly every time Castiel isn't around. Gabriel can't help it if he's starting to feel something, not when Dean looks at him like he's the most interesting person in existence. Damn those full lips of his and his freckles and those big hazel eyes that seem to soak in any source of light.

But Dean's different than Gabriel expected an angel to be. He's sorta shy and quiet, likes to watch Gabriel instead of engaging in a conversation with him - which is reasonable because who knows what angels like to talk about? - and honestly doesn't seem threatening at all. Maybe it's this last part that pushes Gabriel into a place he really doesn't want to be in the next time Dean decides to pop up out of freaking nowhere.

Because Dean's suddenly right there, staring at him, waiting for him to get his tongue untied and say what's been on his mind for days. Suddenly, when Gabriel opens his mouth, there's nothing else he could physically say. "I'm gay."

The neutral expression on Dean's face doesn't change. "The sexual preferences of humans do not concern me, Gabriel." Gabriel doesn't know what he expected, probably for Dean to smite him or at least be repulsed by him. The Holy Bible does state after all that thou shalt not be gay. Or maybe it's just that Dean doesn't care.

"Yeah but what I mean is that I'm into you, or rather, your vessel. I mean, you're kinda really freaking hot, Dean." He takes a long, deep breath after that. Several long and deep breaths.

Dean blushes and Gabriel comes back to himself, laughing awkwardly, tripping over his feet and nearly face-planting on the floor, spilling the lollipops that were once tucked safely away in their bag all over the carpet. Dean bends down to pick them up, head bent low as if trying to hide his blush, which makes Gabriel think that Dean must have watched humans for a good long while to even know what it is and what it means. Gabriel bends down with him, but when Dean lifts his head up again, wrappers crinkling as he closes his hand, Gabriel takes the sticky, cherry lollipop that had once been in his mouth and thrusts it into Dean's.

The angel - archangel - makes a small sound that nearly sounds like a moan and Gabriel is instantly aroused. Before Dean can be bothered with taking the candy out of his mouth, Gabriel flicks the stick to the corner of Dean's mouth and kisses him. Dean tastes like cherry, of course, but there's something else there that the human can't quite pinpoint. Something dark and delicious, something appetizing yet ancient. Gabriel's the one who eventually pulls away for air, but he's more than determined to start making out with Dean. He's been wanting to do this for weeks.

Dean places the palm of his hand over Gabriel's mouth, stopping him from moving closer again. "Gabe, I..."

Gabriel smiles and Dean's hand drops, as if all the fight has left him. The human finds that he really likes Dean like this, giving into him, as if he knows it's the right thing. Which it is, it totally is. "Say it again."

"Say what?" There are adorable creases in Dean's forehead, and it reminds Gabriel of the crinkles in the skin around Dean's eyes when he smiles, of the way his hair will catch the light perfectly, of Dean's beautiful hazel eyes that glow in the dark, lighting Gabriel's way on a hunt, and how human and fragile Dean seems sometimes, lost, waiting for Gabriel to do something despite the power Gabriel knows is thrumming just below the surface, power that Gabriel can only imagine.

"Say my name." Gabriel kisses the corner of his soft mouth, licks away the stickiness left behind by the lollipop. "What you just said." Gabriel kisses Dean's ear, licks it playfully. He kisses the inside of Dean's hand, brings each of Dean's fingers into his mouth like they're candy. The way Dean tastes is making him crazy. What's making him even crazier is that he's doing all this to an archangel. "I like it when you say it." Dean's mouth locks with his own while Gabriel is busy kissing each and every one of his freckles that span the width of his nose and spread across his cheeks like fairy kisses.

"Gabe." Dean says each time that Gabriel kisses him. "Gabe Gabe Gabe."

And if Gabriel previously worried about dating an archangel... well, he certainly isn't thinking about it anymore.

FIN