AN: Ah blah blah. Of course I only finished actually writing this chapter Saturday night (the night before my 2 week deadline) and of course I didn't finish typing it up till today (2 days after the deadline). But it was bound to happen since I did give myself a deadline. Really though, only being 2 days late is really good for me, seeing as I'm rubbish with keeping to a schedule.
Lots of brotherly schmoop with Cas and his bros this chapter as well lullaby singing Dean and mischievous Gabriel. Couldn't stop writing once it got going, again, lol. Anywho, here you go!
Thinking back, a warning about how hard the landing was would have been nice. When Castiel's feet reconnected with the ground, he ended up lurching forward onto his hands and knees. Vertigo hit him hard and he gagged, fighting not to throw-up. Finally, after several minutes, the feeling passed and he sat back on his heels as he spat on the ground a swiped a hand over his face.
Looking over at Gabriel, he saw that his brother hadn't faired so well. He was curled up on his side, moaning pathetically. Dean was standing over him and looking down on the older Novak, trying not to laugh. Getting up, Castiel walked over to stand beside the angel.
"Are you alright, Gabriel?" He asked, tilting his head.
"Oh I'm just awesome." Gabriel groaned as he rolled onto his other side.
"Oh quit being such a pussy." Dean told him, nudging his shoulder with the toe of his boot. At that, Gabriel rolled further away and scrambled to his feet, glaring at him.
"What the hell dude?" He demanded.
"Hey, look at that, you're perfectly fine." Dean sneered at him, then turned to Castiel, "Is he usually such a drama queen?"
"He's always had a flair for theatrics." Castiel supplied, joining in on the rare opportunity to poke fun at his older brother.
"Hey! You're my brother; you're supposed to be on my side! Don't agree with him!"
"Hm, while you do have a point, I recall someone saying 'That reason isn't reason enough'."
Gabriel stared in shock at Castiel, who stared back blankly.
"You told me that once while we were in school." He continued flatly.
"Wow. What are you, an elephant? 'Never forget, never forgive'?" Gabriel tried joking.
"I don't understand that reference."
"Oh course you don't. You never use the internet for anything other than research or ordering equipment." Bending over, Gabriel started brushing dirt from his clothes. Standing up, he glanced around. Confusion, then shock, and finally panic flashed across his face, "Dude! Where's my car?"
"That movie was horrible." Castiel stated.
"Not the movie you twit, I mean literally, where is my car?"
"Oh yeah! My bad." Dean exclaimed before snapping his fingers. The Charger and Prius appeared and Gabriel rushed over to his car and started caressing his car lovingly. He planted a big, wet kiss on the hood.
"That is just an unhealthy relationship." Castiel commented, earning a glare from his brother.
"I'm not the one who cried when their car got hit by a deer." The older man shot back.
"I killed an innocent animal that night, who said I was crying about the Impala?" Castiel demanded, his hands clenched into fists as he stomped one of his feet.
"You did! Sure, you were teary eyed over the deer, but when you turned around to look at the damage it did to the Impala, you started bawling!" Gabriel retorted, waving his hands around as he spoke.
Castiel's face turned red, from both anger and embarrassment. He was about to retort with the story of Gabriel and the motorcycle when he noticed a crunching noise coming from somewhere to his left. Turning, he saw Dean standing there with a large tub of popcorn. The angel paused half-way through shoving a handful of the white puffs into his mouth.
"Wha?" He asked with a full mouth. He finished chewing and swallowed before continuing, "You two are extremely entertaining, don't stop on my account."
Before either brother could respond, the sound of a shotgun being cocked came from behind them followed by a gruff voice asking, "The hell you dirt bags doin' on my property?"
Slowly, Castiel and Gabriel raised their hands and turned to face the newcomer. Dean continued to stuff his face and watch events unfold with amusement.
"Gave? Castiel? What the hell you boys doing here? I thought you were in Memphis." The man questioned, eyes narrowing in suspicion.
"Oh I love it when you come out and say hello with the shoty, Uncle Bobby." Gabriel chirped, lowering his hands, "We were in Memphis when we got your message. Long story short though, Cas has a pet angel now and damn is he handy."
"I ain't nobody's pet!" Protested Dean, glaring at the short man while Bobby looked at the "angel" with disbelief.
"Would you rather be his bitch?" Gabriel teased, his eyebrows waggling.
"I'll show you who the bitch is, funny boy." Dean growled, his popcorn suddenly gone as he started pushing his shirt sleeves up. Castiel hurriedly stepped in front of Dean to stop his from advancing on Gabriel. Taking his shoulders, he turned him to face Bobby instead.
"Bobby, this is Deaniel and he really is an angel of the Lord." Castiel introduced him to the gruff hunter.
"And I'm Paris Hilton." Grumbled Bobby, still not convinced.
Dean turned to face his charge, a smile on his face, "Should I break out the wings?"
Castiel thought for a moment then nodded, "I think you might have to."
"Meh, I'll do it later. It's going to start losing its flair if I have to keep doing it every time you introduce me to someone." Dean shrugged, making a burger appear out of thing air and taking a bite from it.
"Where the hell did you pull that out from boy?" Bobby asked in disbelief.
"Like Cas said," Dean pointed to himself with one hand, "Angel."
"And you said your name was Deaniel, right?" Bobby questioned further.
"Well, Cas said that, but yes. Call me Dean though." The angel said around a mouthful of burger.
Bobby's forehead wrinkled as though he was trying to remember something. Finally he spoke up, "Deaniel, as in the Angel of Protection?"
Dean paused as he was about to take a big bite of burger and looked up at him, cocking an eyebrow at the oldest hunter, "Yeah. Well an angel of protection. There are a few of us, it's kinda like an order."
"Bobby, why do you know that? I didn't even know Dean was an angel of protection." Castiel asked, something about all this didn't feel right.
"Uriel contacted me a few weeks back about finding some stuff out about angels. Thought he was crazy for asking, but did some research anyways. Not that I did a whole lot until a couple other hunters started asking for stuff on angels too. Something big is coming, and I have a feeling these "angels" have something to do with it." Bobby informed them.
"Wait, Uriel contacted you? Did you talk to him?" Castiel's voice was eager as he spoke. Bobby smiled at him sadly.
"No, I didn't talk to him. He left me a message. Said he'd contact me again when he needed the info."
Castiel nodded slowly, his frame drooping slightly. Gabriel came up to him and wrapped a comforting arm around his shoulders.
"He'll get in touch when he finished this mysterious crusade of his." He reassured his little brother soothingly. Castiel leaned into his touch, appreciating the sentiment.
The moment was ruined however when Dean snorted loudly. The brothers and Bobby glared at him. Dean didn't seem fazed by the combined looks.
"What?" The angel asked incuriously.
"Care to explain that attitude?" Bobby growled. Even though the Novak brothers called him 'Uncle', the seasoned hunter had always considered them his surrogate sons.
"Don't worry, I will. But only once everyone is here. I'm not a fan of repeating myself. Besides, what I have to say is something that should only be told once." Dean foreshadowed a serious look in his eyes for once. But just like that it was gone, replaced with a mischievous gleam, "Anyways, I'm bored. Let's do something fun while we wait for that brother of yours to get here!"
He spun around and literally skipped away from the humans. They stood watching, trying not to laugh at the sight of a skipping angel.
"You're going to have to have a talk with him about how a man his age should act." Bobby stated flatly while Gabriel finally burst out laughing.
"Yeah, I've been meaning to do that." Responded Castiel, a small smile on his lips, "So you believe it then, that he's actually an angel?"
"Well, I'm not exactly convinced, especially with that kind of behavior of his, but you two idjits seem to believe it so that's good enough for me."
"Thanks Bobby."
"Don't thank me yet boy." Bobby told him, "You think someone should tell that angel my house is in the other direction?"
"Give it a minute." Gabriel managed to gasp as he slowly calmed down from his laughing fit.
"Anyways, back to business. Who'd you all get a hold of to come?" Bobby asked them.
"Just Balthazar. He's flying in from Ireland so he won't be here till tomorrow sometime." Castiel informed him.
"Hm. Guess that's better than just the two of you." Grumbled the old hunter, "Either of you two geniuses got any bright ideas on how to entertain an angel all night?"
HOPEFULLYTHISBREAKSHOWSUP,UNLIKETHELASTONE
Somehow they had ended up playing a bunch of board games that Bobby found lying around from when the Novak's father would leave them with him when they were kids. At first Dean had been confused and agitated with all the different rules for the games, but as soon as he got them down, he ended up enjoying himself. He was even able to give Castiel, the 'King of Words' as declared by Gabriel, a run for his money when it came to Scrabble.
After being beat at Battleship for the tenth time, Gabriel went off pouting, declaring he was going to bed. Bobby followed shortly after, uttering a mumbled farewell. While he himself was starting to feel a little tired, Castiel decided to stay up and keep Dean company for a bit longer.
After failing to explain how to play Mouse Trap, he pulled out a couple puzzles instead. Dean inspected one of the boxes with interest before dumping the pieces on the coffee table. Sitting side-by-side on the couch, the two of them worked diligently on them till the wee hours of the morning. Castiel ended up dropping off to sleep sometime after 2AM, his head resting on Dean's shoulder.
Not wanting to wake the hunter by leaving, Dean carefully maneuvered Cas so he was lying across the couch with his upper body resting against his chest. Thinking back to the times he's watched Cas as a child, the angel started running his fingers gently through his dark, unruly locks like his mother used to. Castiel relaxed further in his sleep as he turned and pressed his face into the crook of Dean's neck. Smiling gently, the angel began to hum a lullaby he'd heard a young mother singing to her child the night before.
"Hush-a-by, don't you cry. Go to sleep my little baby. When you wake, you shall have, all the pretty little ponies." He sang aloud softly, hoping none of his angelic brethren were look down on him. He wasn't quite sure how he'd be able to explain his actions without sounding overly girly, but it just felt right.
TRANSITIONALBREAK!(CAUSEI'MLAZY)
A loud clanging noise startled Castile out of the rare pleasant dream he was having. His arms and legs flailed briefly before he unceremoniously fell to the floor. Looking around dazed, he surmised that he had fallen asleep on the couch. The clanging noise resumed briefly and he was able to discern that it was pots and pans. Grumbling, he got up and directed his feet to drag him into the kitchen.
Entering the room, he saw Bobby busy preparing breakfast. They exchanged grunted greeting as Castiel made his way to the coffee pot, where the fresh brew awaited him. Fixing a cup to his liking and pouring one out for the other man, he stiffly slid into a chair at the small table against the wall.
"Getting too old to spend the night on the couch." He muttered before sipping at his drink.
"Don't talk about being too old around me boy." Bobby grunted as he joined him at the table, "Balthazar called before, said he'd be here around ten-ish."
"What time is it now?" Castiel asked, trying to push through his grogginess and actually wake up.
"'Bout 9:30. Why don't you go snag a shower quick before that jokester brother of yours gets there first and uses all the hot water. I'm in no mood to listen to anyone's bitching yet this morning."
Gulping the rest of his coffee, Castiel stood up and stretched. Grabbing his cup he set it on the counter for use after he got cleaned up. Heading upstairs, he stopped in his unused room to grab fresh clothes and his toiletries. Making his way to the bathroom, he stumbled on something in the hallway. Looking down, he saw a trail of discarded clothes leading to Gabriel's room, including the pants he'd just tripped on. Castiel shook his head before kicking the offending material towards the wall. Trust Gabriel to make a mess even when he's asleep on his feet. Entering the small bathroom and shutting the door behind him, he locked it in accordance to Rule #1 of dealing with Gabriel: It's only a matter of when and where Gabriel will pull a prank, not if, so always take precautions.
After relieving himself, he turned the water on and jumped in the shower. He let the gloriously warm water sooth his aching back after he cleaned himself. Turning the water, he got out and dried himself off with a waiting towel and wrapped it around his hips. He wiped a hand across the fogged up glass of the mirror and looked at himself.
The dark bags that were usually under his eyes were hardly visible and the creases that line his face seemed smoother and shallower than normal. He wondered if two straight nights of decent sleep was to blame of if Dean had done something with his angel powers. Rubbing his fingers through three days worth of stubble on his chin, he reached into his toiletry bag for his razor and shaving cream.
There was a flutter of wings from behind him before Dean's voice greeted him cheerily.
"Hey Cas, what's up?"
Castiel jumped and spun around. Hurriedly, he reached down and grabbed the towel just before it slipped off his hips completely after his sudden movements.
"Whoa, dude! Put some pants on!" The angel exclaimed before disappearing.
"Dean!" Castiel shouted angrily even though he wasn't there anymore, "Bathrooms have doors for a reason, try knocking when it's closed!"
Leaning against the sink, Castiel took a moment to calm his racing heartbeat. He was definitely going to have to discuss personal space and the meaning of privacy to the angel.
Forgoing shaving once again (since it probably wasn't a good idea to keep Dean waiting long if he didn't want another disruption), he pulled on a pair of clean underwear and a pair of pants that looked fairly clean and didn't smell horribly of grave dirt and death. Throwing on his only remaining clean shirt, a white button up, he looked at himself in the mirror one more time before hanging up his towel and leaving the bathroom.
Opening the door he came face-to-face with a waiting Dean. The angel's eyes glanced down briefly before returning to his.
"Much better." He said pleasantly. Castiel just pushed past him without saying anything and headed towards the stairs with Dean following closely.
At the bottom of the stairs, Castiel heard a familiar voice talking with Bobby in the kitchen. Entering, he smiled broadly when he saw the figure of his brother.
"So you are alive. I was beginning to think something ate you." He joked lightly, getting the other man's attention. The older brother's white teeth flashed as he smiled broadly and held his arms out. Bobby slipped silently out of the kitchen, nodding stiffly at Dean as he passed him on his way out.
"Cassie, you should know better. I'm you big brother, nothing can take me down." Balthazar chided as he embraced Castiel and patted him roughly on the back before releasing him.
"Except little Molly Shepard's ghost, that drunk vampire, oh, that succubus in Atlanta-" Castiel listed off the things that had gotten the better of his older brother over the years.
"Ok, ok. Point taken. Now, who is your new friend here?" The hunter asked curiously as Dean came to stand next to his charge.
"Balthazar, this is Deaniel, though he prefers to be called Dean. He's an-"
"He's a fucking angel of the Lord." Gabriel announced groggily as he shuffled past everyone to the coffee.
"Oh? A fucking angel of the Lord?" Amusement was clearly displayed on Balthazar's face, "Just curious, how does that work? I though angels were supposed to be genderless."
"No, most of your preconceptions about angels are wrong. We all have gender, but we can take either male or female vessels regardless of our own sex." Dean explained calmly to him.
"Huh, very interesting. Very nice to meet you then Dean."
Castiel stared at his brother in shock, "So you accept the fact that he really is an angel? Just like that?"
"Well of course. If you say he's an angel, I'm going to trust that he's the real thing. You're the most devoted to God in this family; you wouldn't dare lie about having an actual guardian angel." Balthazar said casually. Castiel bobbed his head in thanks and smiled slightly.
"Shut it the fuck up! Seriously?" Dean's elevated voice drew their attention towards where the angel had moved net to Gabriel, who was looking more alive than when he'd first wandered in.
"There is something wrong in that sentence, but I can't figure out what exactly. Anyways, grammar aside, yeah I'm serious! Right after I finish this cup of coffee."
"What are you two planning?" Castiel questioned suspiciously, not liking the sound of how excited they seemed.
Dean grinned at him widely, "Nooooooothing."
"Gabriel…" Castiel ground out, nailing his brother with a piercing glare that demanded answers. The smaller man just smiled back mischievously as he drank his drink. Throwing back the last mouthful, he set the cup in the sink and wiped the back of his hand across his mouth.
"Dean and I are just let you two catch up a little. In the meantime, I'm going to be teaching Dean how to drive the Impala."
"Gabriel no!" Castiel shouted, "If you want to teach him to drive use your own darn car. Or better yet, the Prius! Just don't use my baby!" He pleaded, knowing it was all but pointless to try and talk Gabriel out of this. Switching tactics, he turned to Dean a pointed at him, "You do NOT have my permission to dive the Impala. I will not be happy with you if you do."
His threats were of no use though and he knew it. The two men continued to smirk in a way that said "Na-na-you-can't-stop-us". Dean draped an arm over Gabriel's shoulder in preparation to leave.
"Dean, don't you dare! St-"
With an exaggerated wink from the angel he and Gabriel vanished, leaving Castiel and Balthazar alone in the kitchen.
"-Op…" he finished lamely. Growling with frustration, he walked over to the coffee pot and poured the remaining liquid into his cup from earlier.
"Well he seems lovely. Wonderful listening skills by the looks of it." Balthazar teased.
Huffing, Castiel turned back to face him, "You like him so much you can have him."
"Are you joking? A control freak like you with something you can't control? This is going to be more fun than watching Shark Week!"
"Thanks for the support, brother." Castiel sneered, putting his now empty cup in the sink next to Gabriel's before walking to the table and snagging a piece of untouched bacon from one of the plates sitting there.
"So what's going on that Bobby wanted us all here pronto?" Balthazar broached the subject as he sat down on the edge of the countertop.
Castiel shrugged as he swallowed the food in his mouth before speaking, "I don't know, neither does he. But whatever it is, it's big and something to do with the angels. He probably wanted us to help him do research to find out what exactly is going on and then stop it, if need be."
The older sibling eyed him oddly before responding, "What do you mean 'probably wanted'? Did that remarkable brain of your's figure it out almost instantaneously with one look at the information while everyone else toiled over it, like usual?"
"No. We haven't even started any research or even looked through what Bobby has already. But I don't think we're going to have to do any to find out what's going on, however."
"And why's that?"
"Dean said that he was sent here to watch over me and that Heaven had important work for me, that is was part of my Destiny. I'm starting to think that whatever is coming has something to do with that and that Uriel might be mixed up in this somehow. I'm worried about him. Dean said something about it being a good thing that none of us have been able to stay in touch with him." Castiel confided, looking up at Balthazar with a concerned look.
"Cassie, you do realize that none of us have had any verbal communication with him since he left us, right? He was so angry after dad died, who knows what kind of choices he's made since then."
"No." Castiel bit out, shaking his head to dislodge the idea of what Balthazar was implying, "Uriel always abided by God, the Bible and the Greater Good. He wouldn't just stop because father died. He wouldn't…" He said adamantly as he paced across the floor.
Balthazar watched him sympathetically. Sliding off the counter, he positioned himself in front of Castiel's path. He grabbed him by the shoulders, giving him a gentle shake when he tried to walk through him. Looking up, Castiel's watery blue eyes met his brother's.
"I'm not saying that Uriel has gone dark side on us just to say it, I'm trying to be realistic by considering all possibilities here." He reassured, "He's my brother too and I'm praying that he has no hand in what's coming, but you need to keep in mind that people change, little brother. And it's not always in ways we imagine or expect of them."
They stood solemnly in the middle of the kitchen looking at each other before the older sibling moved one of his hands from Castiel's shoulder to the top of his head and ruffled his hair. Knocking the hand away, Castiel scowled at his brother briefly.
"Lighten up Cas; we'll cross that bridge when we come to it. So for now, let's deal with the things that are at hand." Balthazar put his hands together and rubbed them energetically, "Tell me a little more about your angel. When and where did you meet him? Do you like him? Do you think he's the one?"
"Balthazar!" Castiel exclaimed when he realized what his brother was implying.
"Oh come off it, I'm joking. But seriously, where'd you find him?"
Castiel made a point to roll his eyes, but appreciated the subject change. Before he could regale his brother with how Dean had saved him, the rumble of a car engine coming to life outside had him groaning loudly in unwarranted disbelief instead.
Of course Gabriel and Dean hadn't listened to him, what else should he have expected. Dean was an angel after all, and could do pretty much anything he wanted with no one to stop him. And Gabriel, well, Gabriel was Gabriel; he always did whatever he wanted whenever he wanted unless their father of Michael had said otherwise.
"Nooooo." He whined softly, bringing his hands up and burying his face in them.
He listened as the engine revved a few times before roaring loudly as the car took off. The sound of kicked up gravel reached his ears through the purr of his beloved baby as she was driven away. He prayed silently for her safe return and some form of punishment for Gabriel for putting him through this. Letting his shoulders slump, he scrubbed vigorously at his face before dropping his hands. Glancing over at Balthazar, he saw his brother unsuccessfully attempt to school his face into a blank mask as the corners of his mouth kept twitching upwards.
"Don't even say it." He threatened half-heartedly when Balthazar opened his mouth.
"What? I was just going to say that you have a strange, unhealthy relationship with that car."
"Which is exactly what I figured you'd say. Ugh, I need whiskey." He groaned, running a hand through his still damn hair as he went to go raid Bobby's stash of the amber liquid.
"It's not even noon." Balthazar pointed out as he went about picking up the dirty dishes and put them in the sink.
"Hm, you're right. It's far too early for that." Castiel agreed as he turned and headed towards the cupboards instead. Opening one, he reached in a pulled a bottle and glass out, "Tequila it is then."
AN: And there we have it! Hope this whole thing is still holding up to everyone's expectations and such and you're enjoying it.
On that note, I'm just going to let you all know that I probably won't be posting again for about 3-4 weeks from now. My big horse show of the year is coming up so between work and all the hours I'm going to be spending in the barn to get ready, there really won't be much time left over for me to write. There's always the small chance I might get something up, but I wouldn't hold your breath. We'll just have to see how crazy things get. Till then, lots of love for you all!
