Notes: Okay, a little bit of fun before I slap you all in the face with some plot. Enjoy!

ship. me: You picked out my favorite line in that whole chapter! Yay! Good golly gosh, you're awesome! =D

Rhiotre: I really do hope that you like this story! It's been one of my fave's to write so far. Lotsa drama n' such . And thank you for your comments on the last story. My goal was to make readers think and I'm so happy that it seemed to do so :) Hearts!

Thank you to my guest reviewer! I'm so happy that you are liking the series :)

Disclaimer: This haunts me to admit, but I don't own any of this.

CHAPTER 2

NIGHT BEFORE

"Gabriel, I seem to be having difficulties. Are you sure that this is…necessary?"

His older brother rolled his eyes dramatically, "It's a time honored tradition, Cassy-baby. And I'm sure he'll be appreciative to the effort you put in."

Castiel nodded and tried again at his project only to get even more tape stuck to his fingers. Frustrated he tried to wave it off his hand, but it held fast, "Why must we hide what we give someone? The whole procedure is ludicrous. I have to put in effort wrapping this gift, then the receiver has to go through the effort of opening it, which I might add includes ripping up the hard work I put in wrapping it in the first place, and then you end up with multitudes of dead trees and messy floors all for the sake of hiding something for a few moments longer. This entire tradition is an economic waste of time and resources."

He felt his brother's hand ruffled through his hair as he mumbled about how cute he got when he was frustrated. Castiel scowled and continued his attempts to fold a book into the outdated star map paper. His finished results looked like a big crumpled up sort of square shaped paper ball with tape covering every flap and crease. Glancing over to where Gabriel was taping up his own crudely wrapped present, Castiel scowl deepened.

Gabriel smirked as he looked over his brother's shoulder to see his progress, "Wow, Cassy-bear. Good job. He'll never know what it is. That takes skill when wrapping a book. Everyone knows what a book looks like wrapped, but you seem to have miraculously bypassed that issue."

"The purpose of this exercise is to hide the objects identity from the receiver, am I correct?" Cas asked darkly.

Merrily Gabriel chirped back, "Yuppers!"

"Then why does your gift still hold its shape?"

Gabriel looked down at the obvious bottle of alcohol wrapped up tightly in paper, "Huh…I guess it is kinda obvious….but who cares! It's the thought that counts, right?" he asked slapping Castiel's back with a laugh. The eldest Novak smiled fondly as he took another look over to Cas' spectacular wrapping job. There was a bitter sweet pang in his chest as he recalled how they went through this exact same conversation, exact same motions every year together when Balthazar's birthday rolled around. Neither of them ever got better at wrapping, and Castiel always grouched about the silliness of wrapping presents in the first place. He had played this whole song and dance in his head for the seven years he had been at the Host. He would lay down in his cell, staring at the ceiling picturing Castiel fumbling with the tape and getting a piece stuck in his hair that he didn't notice. He would imagine Balthazar's struggles to open the over-abundantly taped-up package while trying to not get too frustrated so that Castiel would feel bad. He tried every year to not think about what they were doing now the Gabriel wasn't there, but for seven years he failed.

Now here he was, after twelve long years away from his brothers, he was able to celebrate something as simple as a birthday again. He flinched when he thought of how the Castiel at his side at this moment reminded him more of his eight year old brother than the studious fifteen year old he had left behind so long ago. The passage of time was a natural thing, but there was nothing natural about how his little brother had come to be like this.

"Gabriel?"

Castiel's tentative voice broke him out of the dark memories and Gabriel's head snapped up and he offered a small smile.

"What's up, Cassy?"

"Is it time to light the already cooked food on fire?"

The oldest Novak chuckled and picked up his and Cas' packages, "Not yet, baby brother. Gotta have dinner first. Let's go hide these in the kitchen before everyone gathers. We want it to be a surprise, right?" And the pilot guided his brother out of the control room and moved them towards the dining area.

Even though he didn't say anything, Gabriel could feel Castiel hesitantly brushing through his mind, probably sensing his distressed memories. Gabriel offered a small smile, trying to assure his little brother that he was fine, but damn him and his searching all knowing gaze, Cas didn't look the least bit convinced.

He did however subtly slip his slender hand into Gabriel's calloused one as they walked together, squeezing gently as if offering his own assurance that they were here and they were still together.

The wrapping must have taken a bit longer that Gabriel had initially thought when they made it to the dining area only to have everyone already gathered and dinner almost all but done. The crew members were all in the throes of laughter as Bobby was gasping out a story in between his own bellowing laughs.

Nobody noticed as Gabriel and Cas snuck in and quickly hid their held objects behind the counter. Once the parcels were hidden they moved over to the table.

Sam's entire face was aglow with happiness as he shook his head at Bobby, "No way! That can't be true!"

The preacher's whole body was shaking along with his chuckles, "I swear that it is!"

"Surely one of you must have told him!" giggle Anna. Her normal perfect posture was destroyed as she was practically doubled over in light and lovely laughter.

Bobby threw his hands up in the air, "No! Not one among the brethren had the heart to say anything. He was so proud."

The crew burst out in laughter anew, Balthazar going red faced and slapping the table enthusiastically. Gabriel and Cas exchanged confused looks. The pilot surged towards the table, eager to get in on the story.

"What? What was he proud of? Who he?" he asked eagerly.

The crew seemed to ignore him and Bobby continued to narrate, "I'll tell you, truth is it looked rather natty."

Another explosion of laughter. Subtly Castiel slithered into his seat next to Dean, completely transfixed with the sight of the Captain so happy. Sure he had seen Dean happy many times, and had even had the pleasure of causing a few laughs, but seeing the Captain this relaxed, this content…it never got old. Gabriel was far too anxious to get in on the joke to even notice.

"What was natty? I want to hear about the natty thing." As he sat down next to Sam he reached for one of the serving bowls…only to find it empty. The crew around him were starting to gain control of themselves again and the laughter had been reduced to sporadic chuckles.

Chuck seemed to take pity on the pilot, "Bobby was just telling us funny stories about his life at the monastery." He still had a bright smile on his face, Castiel noticed with surprise. The mechanic had felt…gray for the last few weeks. This smile was like a speck of sun peeking out from the dark clouds that had surrounded his being. Castiel closed his eyes and basked in it.

Gabriel snorted softly, "Monastic humor. I miss out on all the fun…and all the food too, apparently. That's just shiny," he added bitterly spotting yet another empty serving bowl.

Next to him Sam dramatically rolled his eyes and reached for a plate on the counter, covered daintily with a napkin, "Just what kind of monster do you take me for?...Voila!" With a flourish he ripped away the napkin to reveal a plate piled high with all of the dinner fixings. It was still warm too. Gabriel dreamily looked up at Sam and gently placed a kiss on his lips.

"I love my Sasquatch," he said fondly and tore into the food. Meg made puking noises off to the side.

Castiel watched the scene with a happy smile from across the table until a similarly stacked plate blocked his view as Dean presented it to him with the same flourish and smile, "Don't think that we would forget you. Eat up, dude."

Turning back to his now regularly breathing crew, Dean got back to business, "So, Gabe. We got a course set yet?"

Between giant scoopfuls of powdered potatoes and protein mush, Gabriel nodded and answered, "We do indeedaroo! It took a little creative navigating, but we should make it all the way to Greenleaf without running afoul of any Garrison patrols…Or a single living soul, for that matter," he added as an after thought.

Satisfied, Dean leaned back and nodded in appreciation, "Good. That's the way it should be."

Gabriel half scrunched up his face in mild disagreement, "I suppose, but of course what should have been an 18 hour trip is now going to take us the better part of a week by this route."

But the Captain waved it off lazily with his hand like batting away a moderately bothersome bug, "We're in no rush. I like an easy languorous journey." The whole crew internally agreed wholeheartedly. They were beginning to wonder if it was even possible for this crew to not fall into trouble on a trip.

Everyone remained at the table as the two latecomers finished their meals, continuing the conversation around them. When they had finally finished Sam rose from his chair to collect the plates, knowing that it was his turn to wash the dishes that week. Seemingly in a giving mood, Gabriel popped up to assist while speaking over his shoulder to Balthazar.

"It's your turn, brother. Sheppard told a funny story about being a preacher. Now you get to tell a funny story from your party days. I'll tell you guys, he has met some really interesting characters." Truthfully, for all of his brother's social skill, Balthazar was not always the best at telling stories. Gabriel was just trying to find a way to distract him as he snuck into the kitchen under the guise of helping Sam to see about the "cake".

Meg snorted, "Yeah, 'cause rich snobs are just hi-larious."

Balthazar ignored her and only seemed mildly surprised at the request, but he brushed it off and instead turned to Anna, "Now, Anna, my dear. I wager you have some bloody funny stories to tell."

Anna's smile lit up and she smiled sweetly, "Oh! Do I ever! Funny and sexy. You have no idea…and you never will."

Meg snorts again.

Placing a heartbroken expression upon his face, Balthazar let out a pitiful whine, "Of course I become friends with the classiest Companion in the 'verse and she doesn't even want to share her juicy stories. The ones from back home offered such gossip…" he trailed off wistfully.

Said Companion shrugged helplessly, "I don't discuss my clients."

From the kitchen Gabriel called out, "Oh, come on! We're family here. What's wrong with some curiosities to our sister's sexual activities? And who would even know?"

She smirked, "Well, first of you would know. And a Companion doesn't kiss and tell," she teased.

Dean feigned surprise, "So there is kissing, then?" Anna shrugged, failing at hiding the smirk on her face. Awkwardly Bobby cleared his throat.

Beside him, Dean noticed as Cas started to fidget in his seat, seemingly impatient about something. He placed his hand on Cas' bouncing leg to still him and raised a questioning eyebrow, "Everything okay, buddy?"

Turning his head slowly, Cas sighed dramatically, "I was wondering if the unnecessary fire had been lit yet. I want to see Balthazar be surprised when he tears apart the paper that took me an hour to wrap. Apparently you have to blow out the fire before you get the surprise," he said loudly enough for the whole table to hear. In the kitchen Dean could hear Gabriel facepalm. Then the pilot came out of the kitchen carrying aloft a ship-made birthday cake lit up with several mismatched candles that had been borrowed from Anna's shuttle. Across the top of it were the words "It Is Your Birthday" written in Cas' handwriting. The candles were a bit on the thick side, so they could only fit about four of them, and the cake may have been slowly collapsing on one side, but the sight lit up Balthazar's face…even if Cas had sort of spoiled the surprise innocently.

Gabriel chuckled as he moved up to the table, "Here ya go, bro! Cassy and I must have forgotten to practice the art of stealth before dinner, but whatever. Happy birthday." And he set the "cake" in front of the beaming Novak. All around the table were more enthusiastic and varied shouts of congratulations.

A deadpan Cas added his own version, "Yes. It is your special day…along with approximately 180,000,000,000 people in the known occupied planets."

For once, Balthazar seemed at a loss for words, "Well this is…how…what the hell is this made of?" He asked finally, getting a good look at the consistency of the offered confectionary.

Gabriel bit his lip and glanced over to Castiel, "Um, I know that you'll like it. Cassy-bear made it for you with a little help from Bobby." Actually Bobby had mostly just come in and tried to rescue the monstrosity of a cake batter that Castiel had somehow concocted. It wasn't pretty, but they managed to not burn down the kitchen, and as an extra plus the mixture actually rose in the oven to appear somewhat cake-like.

Bobby looked a little sheepish, "We couldn't get a hold of any flour, so it's mostly protein…Actually, it's pretty much what we just had for supper. But Gabriel donated some of this chocolate stash to try and get the "frosting" as chocolatey tasting as possible, so…" He glanced at Balthazar, as if daring him to say anything poorly about his and Castiel's efforts. But the middle Novak was anything but repulsed by the description. Instead he looked close to tears, truly moved by the whole thing.

Castiel perked up when Gabriel then brought forward the two wrapped parcels, and then the pilot moved to stand behind his two brothers, a hand on one of each of their shoulders. Sam and Dean both warmed at the sight of the three united brothers just happy to be together. Then they watched as Cas eagerly he moved his chair closer to his brothers so that he could get a good look at Balthazar's expression as he desecrated his wrapping to find the present inside. Balthazar had seen this behavior many times when they were younger. Castiel hated waiting for the cake and candle bit to finally get to the presents part. Feeling indulgent to his little brother, he reached for the present he knew to be from Castiel judging by the degree of difficulty it would be to open it. He knew it was worth it to open the gift first going by how Castiel practically bounced out of his seat in excitement.

It took several minutes, and borrowing a knife from Dean to finally open the wrappings to see that it was a book, probably one of the ones that Cassy had acquired in the last few months on their little adventures. The very second that the wrapping opened to reveal the contents, Castiel dove into a description.

"It's a book. I chose it because there were some chapters in it that had very descriptive sex scenes. I know that you enjoy those. Then I ripped out the last page of it, so that it will never end. I hate it when books end, so I thought you might like a never ending book," he rushed out in one breath. All around the table the crew eyes widened at the summary of the gift before shaking their heads, amused that Castiel could still excel at awkward after all this time.

"Thank you. I'm really…I'm really deeply moved. Thank you, Cassy," there was no placating tone to his voice. It sounded so genuine that Dean for whatever reason felt it necessary to look over to his own brother and smile at him. Apparently Sam felt the same and had also turned to smile back.

Seemingly fed up with the family happy gussy moment, Meg grunted, "Yes, yes. Well just deeply move yourself back to the cake and blow out the candles so I can have a slice before it gets coated in wax."

Balthazar smiled, not at all affected by Meg's sour personality and leaned forward to blow out the candles. Just as he puffed up his cheeks, a deep and loud resounding noise erupts from somewhere in the ship. It was followed by a terrible grinding sound from back near the engine room. The lights in the room dimmed and flickered. Then they all listened as the constant rumble of the engine stopped….

They all held their breath in silence until another loud crank is heard and the familiar rumble returned.

"What the hell was that?" Asked a startled Meg.

A wide eyed Chuck moved to get up, "Um, maybe just a hiccup. I'll go check it out."

But Sam was already by the door leading out, "I'll check it out on my way up to the control room. I'll call down if something looks wonky," he offered and turned to walk out the door.

"I'll come with. I wanna see what's up," added Gabriel and also turned to the door.

Meanwhile Castiel was staring at the cake, a deepening crease forming between his eyes.

"Fire…"he whispered.

Balthazar and Dean glanced at him and then at each other and then back to the cake, noting the still burning candles.

"Oh, right," mumbled Balthazar and leaned in again to blow out the candles just as Sam stepped up to the door.

They all felt it more than heard it happen. Suddenly the ship vibrated like it was suffering from its own planet-quake and all around them plates and cups shook on the table. The vibration grew worse and felt as if it was coming closer to them like a looming storm.

Then Sam saw a giant fireball coming straight at him from the hallway that led to the engine room. Like a deer stunned into a frozen state he could only watch as the flame flew right at him, but Gabriel's Host induced instincts kicked in and flew forward in an instant and lunged at Sam as the giant ball of fire roils into the corridor, shoving Sam clear of the doorway. But the fireball had come too fast and Gabriel was knocked back hard by the concussion of the blast, his whole body slamming into the hard counter and then rebounding into the wall with a sickening crunch of bone heard even over the blast.

The pilot lay there, completely still.

Gah, my apologies! Looks like I'm back to those horrendous cliffies . Next chapter up tomorrow whenever my classes finish!