Gabriel, My Trusted Angel

Gabriel tried to seem confident in the face of his older brother. He didn't want it to come to this. Damn that sexy moose-man. He just had to be so enticing with his long, long…legs. But that was neither here nor there. "You can't believe that crap about it being your right? That was just a contingency plan. You know? In case Hunters failed and Humanity were on the verge of going extinct?"

"You have no-" Lucifer's words were cut by the banging of the doors behind him. The Archangels turned to see the very men that had fled, walking back in accompanied by a fairly familiar face. "What's this? Decided to come give me an answer, Sam?"

"Answer's still no, Satan. I'm here for a different Angel of the Lord." With his femme companion's silent encouragement, Sam marched past Lucifer and his deteriorating vessel towards the considerably shorter angel. "Gabe, you enormous idiot. The hell were you thinking?"

Gabriel looked affronted, as the younger Winchester approached, glaring at him. "I was thinking that you damn Winchesters had a better sense of self-preservation. Guess I was wrong, considering what you picked up. Can't leave you alone without you finding trouble, can I?"

Sam smirked, a cocky little quirk of his lips, and leaned down just a little to whisper to the golden-eyed angel. The hurt undercurrent in his tone betrayed his assured countenance. "And just how were you going to make sure that the only trouble I get into is you when you're dead, hm?"

To Gabriel, it was as if the world had melted, like confectioner's chocolate in a melting pot, leaving the Archangel and the younger Winchester. As if in their own little bubble, they were unaware of the goings around them. "I would have found a way, Mon chasseur de coeur."

Lucifer turned to the remaining two people in the room, knowing it would have been futile to approach his True Vessel with his younger Brother, His Messenger. Not with her in the way. "For what reason, do you intervene, Trickster?"

Pandora ignored Dean's sputtering and focused on the Morningstar, smiling with a 0 degree Kelvin chill. "You tell me, Birdbrain? What reason do I have?"

"You meddlesome little-" Lucifer tried advancing on the Hunter and the supposed Trickster, only to be stopped by an invisible force. Pandora's eyes glowed with laughter, her smile growing cruel. "What have you done, you bitch?"

"Take a wild guess, Morningstar." Dean could feel the tension crackle between the two and immediately wished that he wasn't there. He looked away so as not to get his ass hexed, noticing that the his brother and the Trickster Archangel were gone. He crept closer to Pandora and tugged on her cloak, fearful to be alone with the two opposing forces. Pandora's rainbow curls fell in her face, as she tilted her head to see around Lucifer. "Ha! Duped again! Come along Dean-bean."

Dean followed along as she turned and left, flinching at the Morningstar's cry of outrage. The emerald-eyed Winchester took this time to really look at the new ally(?). She was tall, but he figured that was due to the heeled boots that he could only glimpse flashes of. Her cloak actually had a faint embroidered design on it, nearly blending in with the dark colour. As they approached the front of the Motel of Horrors, Dean noted that the curled rainbow mess went just past her shoulders. "Soooo-"

"Hush, Dean-bean. You can ask your questions later." Pandora cut in as they walked out to Baby. Miraculous, really, that nothing happened to the old gal. Sam and Gabriel sat suspiciously close together in the backseat, waiting for them. The lady got in the passenger side as she continued, "First we need to get somewhere safe."

"Trixie! What made you leave your void pocket?" Gabriel asked as Dean got situated in the driver's seat, leaning forward to better talk. Great, the stranger is friend's with the annoyance.

"Your dumb ass. The hell were you thinking?" She turned to level the Archangel with a glare. Through the corner of his eye, Dean noticed that she was flat-chested. What he initially thought was feminine definition was actually muscle definition. Feeling his stare, Pandora gestured to the windshield. "Dean, get your eyes on the road and off my chest. Shocking as it is, now is not the time."

Gabriel fell back laughing as Dean grumbled about troublesome Supes and started the car, putting her in reverse and getting the hell away from the Motel of Horrors.

~~~~~Later~~~~~

Once on a highway leading north, everything was calm. Gabriel insisted that Sam sleep, saying that he was no use to anyone if he collapsed from exhaustion. Dean reluctantly agreed when he saw Sam about to protest, Pandora remaining silent since not having received an answer from Gabriel. It was quiet, thankfully for Dean, because the golden-eyed Archangel decided to nap with Sam, the moose-man using said Archangel as a pillow. (Much to Dean's ire.) It was rather relaxing.

"Don't relax yet, Dean-bean. You need to take the next exit." Dean did as told, but glanced questioningly at, what's to be assumed, the trickster. He continued driving until Pandora motioned for him to pull over near Eagle Marsh Nature Preserve. "I have a safe house that'll be great for regrouping."

The road was deserted this time of night. "Great. But we're not going to get there if we're not driving."

"Actually, Dean-o, you would not be able to stand the 33 hour drive to the safe house. That's if I'm thinking of the safe house Trixie is talking about." Gabriel piped from the back, startling Dean. Pandora laughed and nodded.

"Spot on, Gabe! You practically read my mind." Dean turned Baby off, just to turn and glare at the two Tricksters. If he wasn't convinced that the tall lady next to him was a Trickster, he was sure as hell convinced now. Pandora's giggles died down as she turned to Gabe. "You wanna provide a little help, Sunrise?"

"The Parking Garage or the Underground Parking?" he asked, bracing his hands against the door and front seat. "And are we using Pagan magic?"

"Do I use anything else? And I think Dean-bean would throw a fit if his Baby were underground." Dean nodded in agreement, but didn't show his puzzlement at Gabe's question about magic. Pandora braced against the passenger door and dashboard. "Parking Garage it is! Hey, Dean-bean. Why don't you take a nap as well."

Dean felt sleepy as she made her comment. As his eyes closed, he caught a few snippets of words from her and a blue glow enveloped her. "Br- grab Cassie-boo- there?"

Dean bolted upright, his dream vivid and crazy. There was no way he and Sam went back for that suicidal Archangel at some stranger's orders. That was lunacy. He looked at his surroundings. Huh. Did they get a nicer motel than usual? It was like Christmas threw up everywhere in the room. Cozy but overtly decorated. As he looked around, he noticed that he wasn't uncomfortable. And it was in this moment, he realized, he was not in a motel. Before he could start panicking, the emerald-eyed man heard voices beyond the gaudy candy cane coloured door. "-ter? Why not Gabriel or yourself?"

"Cassie-boo. I'm busy making breakfast, you know that. And I'd rather not disturb Gabriel. He's with Sam." A pause and a sigh. "You know I love it when you refer to me in such an affectionate way, but now isn't a good time. They know me by my Pagan name."

"How did you even obtain that name?" Dean could hear them right out the door. He quickly laid back and feigned sleep. The door opened.

"That's a story for another day. Now go," Pandora whispered and shoved Castiel in the room, quickly shutting the door behind him. He stumbled only slightly, from the force of her shove, and turned to the bed. It seemed that Dean was still asleep. Good. He slowly approached the left side of the bed, reaching out and gently grasping the Hunter's shoulder. Shaking slightly, the weakened angel softly called Dean to consciousness. "Dean. It's time to awaken."

Dean's face scrunched as he "woke" up, peeking an eye at his friend. "Cas? Did someone kill me and Sammy again? We in Heaven?" Castiel tilted his head, eyes crystalline with confusion. He slowly shook his head as Dean grinned at him.

"No. You are very much alive and on Earth. Why would you think such a thing?" Dean's grin took a more cheeky turn, inciting more bewilderment in the ultramarine-eyed man.

"Because this bed feels Heavenly." Castiel stoically stared into Dean's laughing verdurous orbs with chilly cobalt. "Joking aside, what's up?"

Unable to pass up the opportunity for revenge, Castiel's lips quirked into the reminiscences of a smile; his gaze still chilled. "I would suppose the ceiling is what's up."

Dean sat up quickly- ignoring the verde cascade and bright rouge flannel on his chest- as his friend turned on his heel and walked out the door. He looked back, warmth and amusement filling his face. "Better hurry before my brother consumes a good portion of breakfast."

Dean scrambled after Castiel, unable to handle the fact that his friend was able to make a joke as such. The chase began and ended quickly as they wound up at the dining room table, like Castiel initially wanted before Dean distracted him. It was a fairly large rectangle and Cas ended at one end of it, causing Dean to stop at his left. "How long was I out for that to happen? The Castiel that I knew last, didn't give cheeky responses to my questions."

"I may have planted an idea or two in his pretty little head, Dean-bean." Dean Winchester does not scream like a little girl. It was a very manly scream, fuck you very much. Oh, how he hoped Pandora was just a figment of his mind. The Trickster went about ushering him into the chair in front of him and setting the table. "Hah. Well, the least you could have done was let the man get dressed, Cassie-boo. I had this wonderful Elf outfit for him to wear. Oh, well."

"Let me help with that, Trixie!" A snap and the Christmas flannel pajamas were replaced by essentially a Legolas cosplay, accurate down to the stitch. A Hobbit-dressed Gabriel dragged an Ent-dressed Sam- his expression disgruntled- to the opposite side of the table, setting the taller Winchester across from his brother. It was then Dean noticed that the open-concept Living-dining-kitchen space was Halloween themed. Their host was dressed in a form-fitting, sleeveless turtleneck and loose black jeans. House slippers made to look like ballet flats covered her feet. "Something like that?"

Pandora shrugged, her shoulders bumping large silver hoop earrings. Her hair was pinned up tastefully, a few curls falling in her face. "I was thinking more Santa's Elf and then seeing if we could dress Cassie-boo as Santa, but this works."

"Alright! What is up with you and your 'Safe House'? Why the dress up?" Dean had enough. This was getting too ridiculous. Pandora and Gabe shared a look before laughing. Gabe snapped his fingers again and the Winchester brothers were dressed much like usual, but house slippers replaced their boots. As the laughter died down, Pandora sat at the head of the table and waved a hand. Breakfast of eggs, bacon, toast, and various fruit filled each plate.

"The dress up was just to mess with the both of you, but I think a certain Loki squealed to Sam. Hence why he didn't blow up in the same manner." Pandora smiled and gestured for everyone to eat. "The decor, well. That's for me to know. As for myself. I know many things. Do not test me, unless you don't mind me letting slip secrets you wish to keep."

"Secretive secrets, Trixie?" Gabe, still dressed as a hobbit- comical because 5'8" is a respectable height- smirked in such a manner that Dean wished to run the Archangel through with a wooden stake once more. Pandora's smirk didn't help.

"But of course, my partner in Tricksterism. Only the finest that would make tall-and-hunky cringe at the unwanted knowledge. Or might find relief in knowing he isn't alone in kink-dom." The Winchester brothers cringed at the implications, though it made Gabe a tad curious as to what they might have in common. Castiel was silent in all this, poking at his food. "Oh, for the love of-! Castiel, your vessel is weak! Eat your food, for fuck's sake!"

The table fell silent at the seemingly random outburst, waiting to see what would happen. Finally, after what seemed hours of an intense staring contest, Castiel took a bite of the food. The brothers were astonished at the Seraph's compliance. Pandora gave a hard nod of approval, turning to her own food.

"We'll talk strategy after breakfast. In the living room of course," she stated, pointedly staring at each of them. "And we won't leave the table until everyone has ate at least two servings."