Hello :) I am so flattered and humbled by the lovely response on my last chapter! I'm glad that for my first Gabriel fic I am not doing too badly :)
I hope you like this new addition and that it draws out a few chuckles from you, dear reader. I'm still not very used to Gabriel's amazing mind so it's kinda hard to keep up with his likely schemes :D
DISCLAIMER: I do not own Supernatural or any of its affiliates. I only own the plot of my story.
Please don't forget to review- they are like candy-flavored vitamins :D besides, they help me know how I am doing too.
Enjoy!
Dean better not catch any sparrows for interrogation.
Castiel and Sam, with nothing else to do in their current state, decided to get themselves some coffee and breakfast at a nearby diner. Sam found his new found craving for red meat surprising and attributed it to the fact that since he was occupying his brother's body, he was being subjected to its inherent traits and tendencies.
Castiel made some interesting discoveries too. Not only was he hungry, he was dying to have some crispy garden-fresh salad and, owing to his angelic bearing, he couldn't have enough of the stuff even after chomping down four of the said platters. Sam suggested eating some candy to suppress his appetite, but he found the sweet taste repulsing. He pushed back the remaining to Sam, who was again surprised when he was smitten by the saccharine-rich juvenile delight. He finished all of them with gusto.
"Looks like both our older brothers have a predisposition towards sweets and junk food, huh Cas?" Sam stated in a bored manner as he wrestled his tongue around in the cavity of his mouth, trying to dislodge a chunk of the chewy toffee that had stubbornly wedged itself in his back molars. He looked a lot like the real Dean while doing that.
"They do indeed. Gabriel surely enjoys his avatar as Loki. He chose the perfect pagan deity for his second identity. They do share a notorious taste for sugary delicacies." Castiel replied half-absently as he eyed the leaves of the geranium blooms that were neatly arranged in a vase on their table to add a homely feel to the diner.
He felt like a rabbit whose appetite for munching on greens could go on all day. Add his new-found love for vegetables to the self-replenishing affinity of his celestial origin and he could happily sample the diverse vegetation around him for all time to come.
Sam was about to reply when he felt a light hand on his shoulder. He tipped his head to the side and saw that it was a well-manicured hand with nails that resembled talons brandishing a shade of eye-blinding electric pink.
He dared to raise his head and looked straight into the brown eyes of a young woman. She was neither pretty nor plain, but then he couldn't really tell because her actual face was hidden behind layers of heavy make-up. Her gaze was as hypnotizing as a python that was stalking its prey. About her attire, she could have done better if she had invested a bit more in a modest amount of concealing fabric rather than foundation and mascara.
Sam would've simply tried to ask her if she needed some help had the smile on her face not been so… scary. She looked like she could rip him apart with ease if she chose to. Sam gulped nervously and flinched like a terrified animal trapped in a cage when she grabbed his shoulder in a shocking amount of strength. He doubted if she was an Amazon in the guise of the petite figure.
"Hey Handsome… I thought you said yesterday that you were leaving early this morning." She purred and she traced one of her talons along his jaw-line.
Sam was coming down with a panic attack and he struggled not to turn a condemning shade of beetroot red. He tried scooting away from her but she shamelessly came after him and sat down in the booth that he and Castiel were sharing.
"Uh… e he he he… Miss, I think you have mistaken me for someone else…" Sam simpered at her, feeling like a complete fool. He was going to shoot his brother once they got back to normal… if they ever got back to normal.
"Aw… come now, don't be like that. We had already become well-acquainted last night."
"Eh?"
She frowned, making Sam's insides shrink in an uneasy foreboding. "Why are you shy all of a sudden? Are you with him?" she threw an acidic glare at Castiel who only sat stone-like, his current vessel's hazel eyes stayed unblinking as he silently observed the scene before him.
Sam was about to vehemently deny the atrocious accusation, but a tiny lantern of ideas sparked to life somewhere within the recesses of his brain and he reconsidered. Dean would face the consequences anyway, and he had a blessed opportunity of getting back at him for the uncountable pranks his older brother had played on him on earlier occasions. Well, he also played his own pranks but Dean always had the nastiest tricks up his sleeve… only the Trickster had the notoriety to out-prank Dean. Seemed justified.
Sam put on a sultry smile as he easily dislodged her grip from his shoulder and reached for Castiel's hand across the table (macho awkwardness, be damned!)
"As a matter of fact," he cooed back to the woman, "my boyfriend and I were just getting some breakfast."
"Oh? But last night you told me this guy is your brother." She shot back.
Sam's dropped Castiel's hand and he mentally slapped himself. Great. He'd forgotten that he was in Dean's body so even if it was Castiel that was with him, to the other woman they still were brothers.
A victorious grin came over Sam's countenance as he found a plausible solution.
"That's only for the world to hear, not know. Besides, I am into both." He flashed what he felt would look like his brother's haughty grin, and judging by the taken aback look on her face he knew he had nailed it. Pleased and ecstatic that he was getting a way to get back at his brother for all the tormenting pranks, he didn't have to feign his grin.
Without a word, she stood up and walked away. He had only sighed in relief when he saw Castiel's expression changing from his usual aloofness to sudden bewilderment. Before he could ask, a glass of chilled cola was splattered on his face.
The same woman had conveniently picked it up from a passing waitress's tray and had flung her disappointment at him. Sam hated the remnants of the drink that was already drying into his brother's cropped hair and the way it had soaked in to his shirt and jacket. Oh well, at least she left.
He grabbed a handful of napkins and tried to blot the excess of the annoying carbonated drink. Castiel quietly reached out, placing the tip of his forefinger on his forehead and restoring him to his former dry and comfy self. Sam looked at him incredulously and cautiously glanced around.
All the patrons, employees and the manager were looking at the two of them in dead silence.
Embarrassed out of his wits Sam threw some bills on the table and, grabbing Castiel's hand when the angel didn't budge, pulled him to his feet and dragged him to the exit.
The young woman wasn't far off.
"Have a great time in your clandestine indulgence, you perv!" she yelled after them.
Sam didn't know it was possible to turn any redder. Its amazing just how much the blood vessels under the skin around one's cheeks can dilate under the right kind of emotional trigger…
They were back at the motel in no time. There was still no sign of the Impala and it started to worry Sam. His brother better not has done anything stupid.
Castiel was preoccupied pressing his- actually Sam's- fingers to his- the giant's- forehead and healing the newest formed lumps that were a result from walking into low door beams and roofs due to his sudden height gain overnight. And that was speaking literally. He would need to get accustomed to it soon if he didn't want to be stuck clearing away the painful lumps on the gentle giant's forehead that were born every time he happened to strike his current vessel's face against low-hanging construction thriftiness.
"Sam, I want you to know how much I appreciate your patience with your abnormal height in a world where everything must appear scaled down to you." Castiel stated solemnly as Sam looked at him in flabbergasted surprise.
"Uh- yeah… Thanks Cas. You'll get used to it, don't worry."
"I certainly hope so."
The angel and the hunter spend time doing research and exchanged their extensive knowledge to discuss some unsolved mysteries of earlier periods. Sam wondered if Gabriel had something to do with those tales.
Castiel wanted to fly around the world and visit areas and people he were concerned about, the ones who had been entrusted under his responsibility for times other than looking out for his ward. Sam was dead against it.
He didn't want anyone to see the angel teleporting around in his shell. He'd have a hard time explaining if some poor unfortunate soul happened to barge in one of the times the angel would be 'zapping' around.
The angel, being the surprisingly soft-hearted soul he was, relented to his request and resorted to share some of his eons old wisdom with him. Castiel decided to stay in with him trying to come to terms with the situation and also plan on how to get back at the Trickster.
Besides, the angel noted with appreciation, Sam Winchester was a person who enjoyed a good talk. Perhaps he could make some enquiries about Dean's unworldly habits while he was still at it.
No sooner than he had decided on it, the distinct rumble of the engine of his current vessel's brother's beloved steed could be heard rumbling close by and he decided to refrain from asking for the time being. Sam sighed in relief to hear his brother coming back. He hoped that his brother's sanity would be still intact.
The door slammed open with such force that the entire room shook. Dean stood outside with the mother of all bitch-faces ever known to have been manifested. It was unnatural to see such a deep expression of hatred and remorse on Jimmy Novak's face. The brothers hadn't been with Jimmy for a long time and Castiel wasn't exactly the ideal model for displaying the wide variety of human emotions.
"You!" Dean pointed one of Jimmy's fair-colored fingers at the angel who was currently occupying his brother's body.
"Me?" Castiel echoed in his usual confused manner.
"Yeah, you!"the hunter barked angrily.
"What do you want of me, Dean?"
" 'What do you want of me, Dean?'' Dean mimicked with the petulance of a miffed toddler. "Thanks to you, I missed out on a really hot date!"
"I wish you wouldn't use my vessel for your iniquitous activities, Dean. Please let me hear that you haven't engaged in any unscrupulous acts while you were out."
"Iniquitous-shminiquitous! Thanks to your hallowed be thy man reputation, I was dragged into a church and was nearly forced to preach in today's evening service!"
"Dean, just calm down." Sam intervened on behalf of the befuddled angel. Castiel stared at his ward in a perplexed manner, his features nearly looking pained.
"I will not calm down! I don't want to be Jimmy goody-two shoes my whole life, you hear me?!"
"Alright, that's enough man! Tell us what happened." Sam pressed on with his unmovable persuasive powers and his seething brother finally relented.
After grabbing a beer and downing half of its contents at one go (much to Castiel's chagrin) the older hunter finally sat down on one of the beds and waited till his breathing evened out.
He couldn't even last five minutes as he angrily pulled his arms out of the trench-coat's sleeves and tossed the blanketing piece of attire away. Still not satisfied, he more or less ripped off the tie and nearly tore off the jacket he was wearing underneath the overcoat in a nearly singular, indiscernible motion and proceeded to toss them on the bed.
"I don't get how you wear all this crap all the time" he muttered as he stretched his legs and sat down again.
Sam (still in Dean's body) and Castiel (still in Sam's body) quietly sat down on the other bed so that they were facing Dean (still in Jimmy's body).
"What happened?" Sam egged him again.
Dean took a long breath as he arranged all the protests and grievances in a neat flowchart in his mind.
"After I left the motel, I kept on driving till I came across a diner on the border between the next town and this one. I found the menu to my liking and ordered my usual breakfast favorites with black coffee. The waitress was pretty and polite. Not that I was looking for anything from her… she was the kind and respectable type and I don't normally bother to go after them since they usually have a picket-fence life already.
"I was digging into my breakfast and wondering why I was particularly enjoying the burger patty when someone slid into the seat beside me. I looked up and saw striking blue eyes which spoke volumes without their owner actually uttering a word.
"I couldn't believe my luck. A busty blonde chick first thing in the morning. Perhaps Jimmy was a pretty experienced brunette before or it was my own talents seeping through the confines of his body… either way, I had found what I wanted without having to go through any trouble at all. Not every day that this happens…
"She was not dressed like one of those typical scary churchy orthodox dames, so I never knew to expect what happened next. She tentatively reached for my hand and after lifting it up to her lips, placed a kiss on it. I swear it was tears that I saw brimming over her mascara-drenched eye-lashes as her lips began to quiver and in the next moment, she scared the living daylights out of me by bawling like a banshee!
"I panicked, thinking where I'd met her earlier and tried to recollect what must have happened between us, when I suddenly remembered I was not myself, literally. So there was no way she could have been a rerun of my earlier episodes. I sighed in relief but that was not to last long either.
"She suddenly fell on her knees and, with my hand still held firmly in hers, she pressed in to her forehead and cried in a ear-piercing pitch saying she was a sinner and that she deserved eternal punishment for all her previous escapades. She begged for my mercy and wept hysterically, all while giving a pretty clear view of her ample bosom.
"I was dumbfounded. Before I could tell her it was all a misunderstanding, her cell phone beeped and she answered, never letting go of my hand, saying that she had found the prophet and they could all be saved.
"In less than five minutes, a dozen or so chicks and dudes barged into the diner crying out to the heavens for salvation and mercy. They seemed ecstatic to have found me and didn't even let me finish my breakfast as they hoisted me on their shoulders and walked out of the diner. I had to snatch my half-eaten burger from the plate otherwise those nutcases would have surely let me remain starving!
"They continued chanting and shouting repenting phrases in Latin as we presently arrived at a small community hall just a few yards away from the diner across the road. I had thankfully finished my burger during the trip and when they finally set me down on a throne-like chair, I had the freedom and mobility of both hands.
"It turned out that the provocatively dressed girl from earlier who had slid into my booth had witnessed Cas appearing out of nowhere while she was in a heroin-induced haze in a dark alley. She was all praises for the prophet who had "bestowed her with wisdom and strength" before vanishing again.
"She blamed it all on her drugged state but after she dreamt of this 'prophet' a couple of times, she was unnerved and decided that if she ever chanced upon him again, she'd give up all her old ways and get her friends and extended family saved too.
"You have no idea how I saved my ass from being forcibly made to preach to a group of stoned and happily smashed hippies."
Dean fell quiet at the end of his recounting. He looked a little sad, like a puppy deprived of a meaty bone. It soon vanished as he threw an accusing glare at the stoic-faced of his brother's physical body which currently housed a different soul.
"You got anything to say about this?"
Castiel took on a serious bearing as Sam's countenance changed. The younger Winchester's body seemed a good substitute for the angel's original vessel as Sam's and Castiel's expressions went hand in hand.
"I believe you are talking about Magdalene. She is the only one who fits your description about our first meeting." Castiel answered solemnly before he broke into a soft smile.
Dean grew even angrier at the merry response of the angel.
"Thank you Dean. Father will be pleased that you took on my duties while I am unfit for the responsibilities he entrusted me with."
"Just go to hell, Cas."
"Even though I already have, for you, those words uttered are still blasphemy Dean."
Dean couldn't decide what was making him even more monstrously pissed than before- the angel's insistence on correcting his usage of the English language, or the silly simpering his brother was subjecting to his handsome (not delicate, mind you!) features.
"Gabriel, you son of a bitch…" He muttered indiscernibly lest the angel start on another grammar crusade, "… wait till I get my hands on you."
He decided he was going to roast the annoying Trickster's elusive butt on a spit in a bonfire made from holy oil.
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