A/N: Hope you're all enjoying it so far, thanks for the lovely reviews. Next chapter will be up later today.
Gabriel let out a long, breathy sigh, slumping back down against the hard wooden bench. Castiel had just cruelly dismissed yet another of what - to him - seemed like a perfectly good idea for the second phase in their brilliant scheme.
"Fine." Gabriel spat at Castiel, who was sat cross-legged on the grassy floor, facing the bench, his trenchcoat pooling around him like beige cream. "But I really don't see why you're so against fire."
Castiel remained silent, but stood firm in the knowledge of being completely justified in his refusal to commit arson in order to romance the Winchester boys. "We can do better, Gabriel. We just need to think more broadly. Something that will work on both of them, and that will back up our actions in the first stage of the plan."
Gabriel pouted, shifting uncomfortably as the metal framework dug into his spine. He snapped his fingers suddenly, irritated that it hadn't already occurred to him that he could change this world around him for his own comfort whenever he chose. In a flash, two enormous palm trees twisted and coiled their way up from the soil beneath the Angels' feet, their green fronds rustling to and fro high above them. Gabriel grinned, standing up immediately, the bench vanishing as he did so. With another snap of his fingers, a billowing white hammock stretched itself between the two trees. Gabriel wasted no time, taking a running jump towards it after a customary wink in Cas's direction.
Reclined on the gently wafting hammock, it's soft fabric stroking against his skin like a loving blanket, Gabriel suddenly felt much more inspired. "Mmmm, come up here Cassy!" Gabriel called to his brother, who was still sat in the same position on the ground, now staring up at the towering trees. "We can concoct in comfort!"
"Won't all these sudden manifestations attract attention?" Castiel asked, unsure, but started to rise to his feet nonetheless. Gabriel didn't respond other than to beckon to Cas with one long finger, smiling cheekily. Castiel sighed, giving up, and went to join his brother, the two of them laying top-to-tail together as the hammock rocked them. "I may have another idea." Castiel said almost nervously once they were both settled.
Gabriel's eyebrows rose. "You been holdin' out on me? Shoot!"
Castiel stared upwards into the emerald leaves high above him. "The second way to court a Winchester: Keep a promise to them."
"Cas… I don't wanna hurt your feelings, but that's a sucky idea." Gabriel replied, all the hope he'd felt moments ago draining out of him. "Promise keeping? Are we preteen girls with 'BFF' bracelets?"
Castiel sat up, annoyed, causing the hammock to swing dramatically. Gabriel gripped the sides in a moment of panic.
"Keeping a promise to the Winchester's is no trivial matter, Gabriel." Castiel said angrily, staring down at his brother. "It is rare for them to find acquaintances truly worthy of their loyalty and trust. If we prove to them that we are on their side by keeping a promise of importance, they will certainly remember it for all of time."
Gabriel stared at his brother wide-eyed, taking in Castiel's mussed, unruly black hair, his wild, passion-filled eyes. He obviously had faith in what he was saying. Gabriel figured he owed the guy his trust on this one thing, especially as he'd decided that Cas was now his love guru in his on-going courtship of Sam Winchester.
"Alright. Promise-keeping it is." Gabriel conceded, and Castiel lay back down with a satisfied smirk. "God, I already feel like a douche."
Sam is lost in thought again. It's hardly his fault; there's literally nothing to do at Bobby's except trawl the web for the thousandth time, in search of a case neither he or Dean can work because their both still 'in remission'. He lies back, his broad shoulders sinking into the couch cushions. For the thousandth time he finds himself analysing the witch hunt, and more specifically, the Angels' involvement in it. Even more specifically Gabriel's involvement in it – because okay, Sam has just about made peace with the idea of Cas popping up periodically to vaporise a demon in the nick of time, or give some wise, centuries-old advice about some ancient creature Sam's researching, but what was Gabriel's playing at? What did he get out of saving them?
Hell, last time Sam had seen the guy, he'd been downright dickish, imprisoning them in his own cruel, twisted fantasy-land for his own amusement. Now he suddenly wants to help? Sam scrunches his nose in confusion.
Sam had briefly tried to talk it out with Dean, but his older brother had seemed remarkably nonplussed about Gabriel's sudden change of mentality. Dean seemed to think that Gabriel was just a scared, lost little runaway, on nobody's side, just doing whatever he wanted until someone dared to stand up to him. Which of course Dean did, wringing him out good and proper while he stood trapped in a holy fire.
"This isn't about some prize fight between your brothers, this is about you being too afraid to stand up to your family!"
Sam considers Deans words thoughtfully, remembering Dean's anger, his unblinking gaze as he stared Gabriel right in the eyes. Dean knew what he was talking about, because hell, he was the world's expert on sons unable to deal with family feuds. Sam remembers how convincing he'd seemed back in that warehouse. He supposes it wouldn't be too surprising if Gabriel decided to jump ship after seeing that. Lining up behind Dean after that little speech would probably seem like a hell of a good idea to an Archangel undecided on which side to choose in the first place.
Sam lets out another sigh, his brain complaining at him for overthinking the situation. Regardless of Gabriel's motives, Sam was undyingly grateful to him for rescuing Dean from – what he suspects – was the brink of death, no thanks to a demon-worshipping witch. Hell, maybe Dean did actually die, Sam has no idea, Gabriel could surely bring him back to life if that were the case, and Sam was certain from the one fierce look in his eyes a split second before he'd disappeared with his brother, that he would have done just that.
"Yo! Sammeh!" A voice yells, startling Sam out of his reverie. He opens his eyes to see Gabriel himself standing before him, hands on his hips, an extremely weary looking Castiel by his side. All thoughts of Gabriel's brave, lifesaving qualities immediately fly out of the window.
"Oh, good. You're back." Sam says, struggling to sit up a little despite his aching muscles. Bobby's couch was not really designed for optimum recovery.
"Yes. We thought we should check on your injuries." Castiel says, cutting Gabriel off before he could respond with something undoubtedly inappropriate. "Where is Dean?"
Sam raises an eyebrow at the badly disguised urgency in Castiel's tone. Gabriel smirks at Sam as if exchanging a wordless acknowledgement of Cas's strangeness. "Outside. Me and Bobby told him he should be laid up somewhere but he's having none of it. Says the road to recovery is in the hood of his car …or something."
Castiel nods once towards Sam and promptly vanishes, presumably to go and search for Dean. Sam immediately misses his calm, sensible presence. Especially as Gabriel is now eyeing him up like a vulture would his prey.
Seriously, what does this guy want? More importantly, do I want to find out?
"Dean."
Dean promptly smacks his head on the propped open bonnet of the Impala. He ducks out, annoyed, rubbing the back of his skull – like he needed another bruise after that damn witch/demon fiasco.
"Cas." He manages to spit out in response, and then chastises himself for being so cold with the guy who'd saved his ass just yesterday. Dean looks over at where the Angel is standing, looking unbearably forlorn in the clearing of Bobby's scrapyard where Dean has rolled out his baby to do some well-needed tinkering. "I mean- good to see you Cas. You're looking…" Dean lets his eyes travel briefly down the same tan trenchcoat, hiding a nondescript suit and tie, his unruly black hair, his same soulful eyes. "…nice. I mean, fine. Good. Uh... you okay?"
Great, Dean thinks, grabbing the oily rag out of his back pocket to try and wipe the grease off his fingers, make it sound like you're flirting with him instead. Much better.
"I'm fine, Dean. Thankyou for asking. Again." Castiel says awkwardly, and Dean busies himself with putting his tools back in his box so he can avoid that lingering gaze. "I came with Gabriel. We're here to check on you."
"Oh? And where's he?" Dean asks, though he doesn't particularly miss the guy.
"He's with your brother." Castiel says, and his strange tone makes Dean look up at last.
"Well, I'm good, Cas." Dean says, and he slams the bonnet closed, starting to make his way back inside. Heat flushes through him when he remembers why exactly he's 'good', and adds the witch/demon fiasco (which is what he's decided to call it) to the long list of preposterously reckless and brilliant things Cas has done for him for no apparent reason, other than they're sorta kinda friends. As he brushes past Cas, he slaps a hand down on the Angel's shoulder. "Thanks to you, right man?"
He pretends not to notice Castiel's blush. The two walk inside together, and Dean finds it weirdly not-weird that Castiel asks about what he was doing with the car, and that they get into a discussion about basic mechanics, and that Dean teases Cas mercilessly for not knowing the first thing about it.
They enter Bobby's living room, and Dean's grin falls off his face. Castiel stiffens a little beside him, and Dean just stares, open-mouthed. Gabriel is sat on the couch with Sam – well, more like draped over Sam, who is sitting innocently in the same position Dean left him, looking a little confused, very amused and a lot weirded out.
"…so it's not that I have a fixation with your genitals exactly, it's more of a general interest- Oh, hey guys!" Gabriel's original sentence trailed off mid flow, and despite it clearly not having been intended for Dean or Cas's ears, the Archangel seems remarkably nonplussed by their eavesdropping. Gabriel has his arm slung around Sam's shoulders, his face disconcertingly near to the other man's, his fingers idly flicking tendrils of Sam's hair. "Back so soon?" Gabriel winks at Dean, who is trying to think of a reasonable explanation as to why Gabriel's legs are currently intertwined with Sam's.
"Um… Sam?" Dean asks, feeling so far out of his comfort zone he's considering asking for a lifeboat. "W-what's going on?"
Sam shrugs, shifting a little in an attempt to lean away from Gabriel's unnerving proximity, but it's clear the Archangel has no intention of letting him. "Gabe said…" Sam sighs, giving Dean a look that clearly says 'I have no idea what's happening but let's just go along with It for now', "…he and Cas came to check on us."
Dean shoots a look at Castiel, as if concerned he might start trying to curl up beside him and play with his hair. "Yeah, I got that much." Dean says, his eyes flicking back to Sam and Gabriel after a long moment. "So why's 'Gabe' draped around you like you're friggin Hugh Hefner?"
"Hey!" Gabriel says, sitting up at long last, and Dean shudders in sympathy for Sam, though if he's honest, his brother doesn't even look that fussed. Sam just smiles at Gabriel as he stalks over to Dean, clearly finding the entire situation hilarious, which Dean supposes he would too if it weren't so friggin weird. "Did you just liken me to a playboy bunny?!" Gabriel demands.
Dean's mouth falls open, ready to tell him to sit the fuck down and explain what the hell is happening here, when two furry mounds start to push up from the top of Gabriel's head, distracting him. Dean watches, mouth agape, as two plush, silvery bunny ears burst forth from between the slicked coiffure of Gabriel's hair, drooping down by his temples as he stares at Dean, his expression never faltering.
"Oh for Heaven's sake." Castiel mutters, and Dean is almost certain he's dreaming by this point. If the bunny ears weren't proof enough – Castiel blaspheming?!
Sam's chuckle is what breaks Dean, and he looks up, shocked, to see Sam bent over his knees on the sofa, his laughter shaking his whole body.
"What?! Ears – playboy bunny, I get it. Friggin hilarious." Dean says loudly, brimming with sarcasm. Sam shakes his head through his giggles and for the first time, Dean sees that Gabriel is grinning triumphantly.
"No, man. The ears are cliché, I know." Sam replies to Dean, gulping down his laughter at last. "But the tail? Come on, that's classic. Cute, Gabe."
Dean stares in horror as Gabriel turns back to Sam to wink cheekily, sending him into giggles once more, and Dean gets a full view of the perky, white rabbit tail that had obviously been the last straw in Sam's sanity.
"Okay, that's enough." Dean practically yelled, succeeding in getting everyone's attention, although Cas had pretty much been staring at him the whole time anyway. "Someone, not Sam, is going to tell me why I've got two Angels on my hands. And none of this 'to check on you' crap; we're fine, we're hunters, we're used to getting into scrapes."
Gabriel sighs, and in a snap of his fingers, the ears and tail vanish. Sam pouts a little.
"We're here to make you a promise." Castiel says evenly and Gabriel immediately facepalms.
"Nice, Cassy. Have you ever considered writing for Cosmo?" Gabriel asks, remembering with growing fondness the days when he would screw people over for saying lame crap like that. "Just imagine Cas said that in a much less girly way, but yeah. Promise time."
Dean walks away from Gabriel, getting right up into Cas's face. "Promises?" He says quietly, staring deeply into Castiel's endlessly blue eyes, making sure he doesn't look away. "Deals, you mean?"
Castiel visibly balks at Dean's assumption. "No. This is not like a deal. We are not expecting anything from you in return."
Dean stares for a few seconds longer, his eyes flicking between Cas's, checking for any reason he shouldn't trust them. "Fine. What promise?" Dean asks, backing away a little from Cas and suddenly finding it much easier to breathe.
Gabriel goes over to Sam and falls back onto his lap, much to the protest of the younger Winchester of course, but apparently Archangels are heavy, because Sam doesn't seem to be able to shift him off. Dean watches with a horrific fascination as Gabriel gets comfy before speaking.
"We, Castiel and Gabriel, or as we're better known, 'Heaven's coolest rebels'…" Sam splutters, batting Gabriel's hands away from his hair for the third time. Dean looks over at Castiel, and the poor guy looks like he's more than sick of Gabriel's idiocy. Dean gives him a sympathetic wince. "…do hereby solemnly swear that we will fight by the side of the Winchester brothers until the apocalypse ends, the universe implodes, we all die when alien octopi invade –whatever. We'll stick by ya."
Sam stills underneath Gabriel, one hand still wrapped around the Archangel's wrist from where he was attempting to restrain his wandering fingers. Dean exchanges a look with Sam that says more than a thousand words ever could.
Dean wants to shout 'bullshit', but one look over in Cas's direction and he's immediately speechless.
"I also… solemnly swear that." Castiel says, and though Dean's pretty sure he knew Cas felt like that anyway, it's different to hear it out loud.
"Well." Dean says after a couple of moments of awkward silence. He clears his throat, giving Sam another look. "We'll see won't we?"