Gabriel was waiting for her at the bottom of the porch steps, staring up at the few white clouds that dotted the sky. "I missed the sky more than I thought I would," he said as she came to stand beside him. "It's the simple things you take for granted, like…never mind," he bit back the rest of his thought, instead turning his gaze to her.

She hesitated, unsure of how to respond to that. "Where have you been? You know, where you couldn't see the sky?"

"Heaven." He began to walk parallel to the house, and she immediately followed, quickly falling into step beside him. "In the video, I told you about that deal I made with Dad after Lucifer…well, anyway, apparently, growing back grace is a very slow process. Slower than I had thought. I was getting pissed at Dad, and Dad was..." Gabriel sighed, glancing up at the sky. "Dad was just being his usual self. Hasn't changed a bit after all these years. How are you feeling?" he asked suddenly, looking down at her.

"I'm fine," was her automatic reply. "But…" she hesitated, "you don't have all your grace. Otherwise, when you healed me…"

"I know. I strong-armed Dad into letting me go early."

"Why?" she frowned, staring up at him.

"I couldn't lose you, kiddo."

They were both silent for a while as she attempted to processes what he had said. "So…so even when you weren't here…you were still watching?"

"Of course. Of course, sweetheart. I-I know what you had to go through without me, and…I'm so sorry. I know how hard it must've been, loosing Balthazar." She set her jaw at the sudden sting in her eyes, and avoided his gaze. "I spoke with him before…he had an idea that Castiel suspected him."

"Wait. The morning Sam came home after Castile had broken the barrier in head…was that you, talking to Balthazar in the kitchen?"

He took a breath. "Yeah, that was me."

"Why…why could you see him but not me?" she asked, voice thick with emotion.

"'Cause Dad's a dick!" He sighed, running a hand through his hair. "He's got His reasons for everything…most of which I either don't agree with or don't understand. Dad wanted me in heaven as much as possible, but, when I had information on Castiel or Crowley, I was able to sneak out and get it to Balthazar. It's how he got the address so quickly to rescue you and prevent Castile from cracking Purgatory."

"So…so if your original agreement was to not see me until your grace had fully healed, how…I mean, why did…" she bit her lip, attempting to word the question properly.

"After Dad saw you weren't going to make it, he let me go. I…" Gabriel sounded close to tears. Emily quickly slipped her hand into his, and his fingers immediately closed around hers. "I'm just glad I got here in time."

"Me too." She let herself enjoy the warmth of his hand against hers before she asked, "How have you been doing?"

"Good." Much like her "I'm fine," it was a conditioned response. "My grace is – was – a little more than half restored, making me less powerful than the average angel, but still strong than a human."

"Was?" she asked.

"It, uh…it tends to be difficult to heal a mortally wounded guardian, as they're already so difficult to kill. Even at full power it would've taken a bit out of me."

"I'm sorry," the words immediately came out of her mouth as the guilt pooled in her stomach.

"Don't apologize, Em," he said. "I would do so much more a thousand times over if it meant you were safe."

She stared down at her toes. "I don't want you to."

Gabriel halted in his tracks, his hand pulling at hers to stop. "What?"

"I don't want you to," she repeated, staring up at him. "As much as you care for me, I feel that, too. If you ended up sacrificing yourself for me, I wouldn't be able to cope. I already know that. When I felt Balthazar leave, Sam was the only thing that kept me sane. I know I have a stronger bond with you, a-and I'm afraid that if you go…" She took a breath, staring back at the ranch that had grown to the size of a quarter in the distance. "Death told me how to finally end it. And he was proven right after the bounty hunter attack."

She could hear him take a breath to speak, but she immediately cut him off, "Look, I'm not saying I'm gonna to anything irrational. I just mean that sacrificing yourself for me won't do you any good, 'cause I'll just end up going with you. After Balthazar…I've figured out that you're my charge, too."

Mixed emotions pulled at his features as he started down at her. "Okay. Okay, Em, I won't. You have my word."

"Good," she turned around, pulling back to their original path away from the ranch.

It took a while for Gabriel to speak again. "I've missed you."

"Me too." She smiled to herself. "Me too."

They walked another quarter mile before Gabriel decided that the exercise was too much for her recovery and turned them around. The walk back was spent cracking jokes and becoming comfortable with each other again, until eventually the conversation turned toward her brothers.

"How's Sam's shoulder, really?" she asked. "I know they both say they're fine, but that night…they looked pretty bad."

"Tougher than they look, surprisingly," Gabriel chuckled, comfortingly rubbing his thumb over the back of her hand. "Sam's still favoring his shoulder a bit, just to be safe. Dean's been nursing a headache, but to be fair he's barely slept. And Bobby's fine. He'll have one hellava scar, but it'll heal in time. They're all going to be fine, I promise, sweetheart."

"Good. I…" she hesitated. "I'm worried about them…getting used to you. I mean, Dean only found out less than a month ago that you were the one I lived with when he wasn't there. And I know you three have your history."

"The dickbags are just gonna have to get used to it."

"Gabriel!" she exclaimed, looking up at him.

"What?" he shrugged. "If they don't like it, then too bad. I'm not going anywhere."

"Just…All I'm asking is that you try. At least make an effort?" she pleaded.

He was ready with another snide remark, but a quick glance at her expression had him melting like putty. "Fine," he groaned, rolling his eyes. "I really hate it when you do that," he laughed.

"I know," she smirked, squeezing his hand a little tighter.

He held the screen door open for her as she climbed the porch, and she was immediately greeted by the cool AC and Sam's voice. "I can't do this anymore, and it hasn't even been a week. Dean, you of all people know–"

"Sam," Dean immediately cut him off, catching Emily's eye in the doorway. He was sprawled out across the couch, nursing a beer in one hand and pressing an ice pack to his head with the other. Sam was standing above him, shoulders tensed in anger. As Dean voiced the warning, he spun around, features immediately relaxing as he saw her.

"You okay, Sammy?" she asked as Gabriel shut the door behind them.

The younger Winchester opened his mouth as though he was going to say something, only to close it again. He foundered for a few more seconds until Bobby spoke up, "Sam's been getting a bit stir crazy, and he wants to go on a case."

"Oh," she turned to look at Bobby, missing the surprised expression on both her brother's faces. "Where is it?"

"Not too far, only a couple hours south. It seemed simple at first. Thought it might be a ghost. Then something else popped up in the same town, and it's starting to look more and more like a witch. Sam wants to check it out to be safe, and I don't have any other contacts in the area that can get here as fast," Bobby told her.

"That sounds good. I think we could use something like that. What's the issue?" she asked.

Bobby stood up from his seat by the window, making his way toward the group. "Dean just wasn't sure about leaving you, considering everything that's gone down in the last few days."

"L-leaving me? I can hunt."

A chorus of voices immediately rose in protest, and she raised her hands in surrender. "Okay, okay, fine. But I can at least do some research while you're hunting the thing."

"No," Gabriel interceded immediately. "Here is the safest place for you until you're healed."

She frowned. "When are you leaving?"

"Sam was thinking tonight. He's got a really bad case of cabin fever," Bobby said.

"Tonight?"

"Look, Em," Dean said from the couch. He was sitting up now, the icepack forgotten on a pillow. "There could be more people dying right now, and we just wanna get back into the job for a bit, see how it goes. Promise we'll be back soon."

Sam had an incredibly guilty expression, but she attributed that to the idea of leaving her. "I'd be going with, as I've had more witch experience than the two of them combined," Bobby said, taking a swig of his beer.

She hesitated. "Alright. Just be careful."