A/N: This chapter has some strong language.
Session 2. Season 1, episode 2: Wendigo
Dean was mildly surprised to find himself in the vaguely familiar meeting room with Sammy and the three strangers. The older man who was called the Mediator and the gentlemen called Gabriel and Castiel. After the last weird dream, Dean had done some research on the names Gabriel and Castiel to see if he could find out who these freaks are.
"You're angels," Dean stated, taking a seat in one of the chairs, wasting no time getting down to business. "The Archangel Gabriel, and the angel Castiel."
Gabriel laughed. "Oh, we are a clever boy, aren't we? And have we figured out who our host is?"
Sam turned to stare at his brother during his little speech. Dean, actually doing his own research? Sure, he could if he had to, but he generally foisted it off on Sam if he could. This had to be a dream. "When the hell did you find time to figure that out? We've been in the woods, in the middle of nowhere for days. And why the fuck didn't you tell me anything? since when do we keep secrets from each other?"
What, you didn't immediately try and figure out the latest in our fucked up lives? Oh, that's right. You just want to go back to school and forget about everything and just be 'normal.'" Dean's tone of voice made normal sound like the worst thing in the world. "Well guess what, Sammy? You're never going to be normal. We" – he gestured between himself and his brother – "can never be normal. Not with the shit we've done, the shit we've seen. Or did you avoid the news like the plague while you were playing house with your girlfriend? Cause you sure as hell wouldn't have just ignored the signs if you saw them."
When Sam didn't react, Dean kept pushing. "Or did you? Sam, tell me you didn't just ignore the weird shit that you saw in the papers."
"Dean, I had a hard enough time focusing on school. When would I have had time to look at a paper?"
Gabriel chuckled as he shoveled a handful of popcorn into his mouth. He held out the bag to Castiel, commenting, "This is better than Jerry Springer."
Castiel replied, "I still don't understand why we are here. What is the purpose of this assignment?"
"You haven't had much experience with humans, so I'll break it down for you, young Padawan." Gabriel turned from watching the Winchester brothers to talk with Castiel, seemingly ignoring the humans. "These boys have probably grown up in the life, and Sam, the younger brother, went off to school while Dean, the older brother, stayed and did his duty. Now they've reconnected, but Dean's still upset about Sam wanting to walk away from the family. I'm going to say codependence paired with abandonment issues." He turned to find the brothers glaring at him. "Am I on the right track?"
"How the fuck is that any of your business?" Dean yelled, seconds away from lunging at the annoying angel.
"Actually, I think it might be," Castiel interrupted. "We're forced to be here for a reason. Might it be to give you a place to air your grievances?"
"What? Somebody translate." Dean looked from Castiel to Gabriel to Sam and back.
"I think – and please, jump in if I'm not making sense – that he means that we-" Sam gestured to the room at large, "all have some unresolved issues, unless you want to say that you angels are perfect. Someone," he looked meaningfully at the Mediator, "thought that the only way to get us to deal with our issues would be to force us. So, he's forcing. But why?"
"So, a couple of dysfunctional human brothers who seek out and kill anything unnatural and a couple of angels. Why the fuck does anyone care enough to try and 'fix' us? Or make us 'fix' ourselves?" Dean asked, looking from one face to another, seeing the puzzlement in his companions' faces. He turned to the Mediator, asking, "Are you God? Cause I'm starting to think you're God."
Gabriel burst out laughing. "You really think the big guy would show his face to a couple of measly humans? Get real."
"Well, who else has the power to order angels around? And why would angels deign to interact with a couple of 'measly humans' other than at God's word?" Sam sniped back. "I don't see you throwing out any answers, just shooting ours down. At least we're trying to get something accomplished instead of sitting on our asses like you seem to be doing."
"Wait a second." Dean glared at Gabriel, looking from him to Castiel. "Do you know who he is? That's not fair."
"see, I knew the twelve-year-old hiding under the façade would come out. Are you going to hit me and call 'no backsies' too?"
To diffuse the situation, Sam said, "You know, I actually have a question for our host, here. If this is a dream, then does that mean that we're getting rest while we're here? Or are we losing sleep for this farce?"
"Shared dreaming. The bodies are unconscious or sleeping, but the minds are linked, allowing for a shared dreamspace. It's a fairly standard set-up for visions," Gabriel said in a bored tone.
"How do you know that?"
Gabriel spread his hands out wide and said, "Archangel Gabriel? The Messenger? Heaven's errand boy? Prophecies, visions, dreams – this stuff is what I do. You don't always want to appear in a column of light, you know?"
Sam glanced at the Mediator, who seemed perfectly content to let the group talk amongst themselves. "Can we wrap this up? If this is supposed to be some sort of therapy, I think this is all that you're going to get out of us tonight."
TBC in 1.3 Dead in the Water
A/N: Thank you for those who have read/reviewed. Much thanks to my roommate and beta who got my butt into gear. I also have this story up on tumblr at the address .com, and generally update there first. I hope to get chapters out at a rate of one per week, depending on whether I get a chance to rewatch the episode in question or not. If you have any suggestions about what the boys should talk about, message me, and I may incorporate it. I have some idea of where this is going to go, but it could change.
