A week had passed, and Gabriel still hadn't changed his phase. Crowley was sure that he should've by now, unless he went on for months, sometimes these seasons could take years! And surely that was one of the last things the demon and the Winchesters needed, aside the bloody Apocalypse of course.

Every morning, Crowley would wake to Gabriel sleeping, draped over his legs if he had them on the sofa, or curled up next to him, breathing deep and looking relaxed and content, and this was the only time he looked relaxed, never mind content!

He gave up the struggle to keep the Archangel away from him, after all he was just scared. He didn't know what kind of weird phase this was, but he needed protecting.

Oooooh.

That made sense, since he didn't have a mate, but he didn't know how all that worked! There weren't any other Angels around them, and wasn't it something to do with their wings? Or aren't they that bird-like? He didn't know…And he didn't want to if he was honest.

"Yo, Crowley, wake up." Crowley groaned as the sunlight flooded into the room, catching his blurry eyes off-guard. The Winchesters had been better with him, but they still didn't trust him. You never know, just as long as Sammy boy doesn't try to get in his pants like he did with that demon slut Ruby, boy she was a bitch. If they hadn't offed her when they did, then he would've taken great pleasure in doing so. Nevermind eh?

"Fine, fine; what time is it?" He groaned again as Gabriel shifted on his stomach.

Wait. Stomach?

"Gabriel? What are you doing?" A little mummur came from the Archangel and a sleepy smile, making Crowley raise an eyebrow. He sighed in defeat, "Y'know what? I don't know about this mating season anymore, it's weird." Dean frowned at the demon and walked off, the brothers were already dressed.

Huh. Time for breakfast then.

Crowley had taken up the job of cooking meals for everyone, it kept him busy anyway. Pancakes will do today.

"Oh, in the land of the living now are we Crowley?" The demon frowned at the looming younger brother behind him, but could sense the smile in his tone, even Sasquatch had loosened up on him!

"If that's what you call it, Moose."

"Certainly not the land of the dead is it?" Crowley raised a questioning eyebrow.

"That depends on your point of perspective." The taller Winchester shook his head, still smiling.

"Demons, so picky." Crowley just laughed in response and resumed his work on breakfast, the smell attracting the shy approach of Gabriel, standing next to the demon, almost clutching his T-Shirt.

"Something wrong?" Gabriel retracted, the demon just frowning at him, then leaving him to concentrate on not burning the food. Just as he set the breakfast down on the table, the Archangel piped up.

"Uh, I…I need to speak to you…" Crowley frowned, but tugged the Archangel aside to the spare bedroom, shutting the door.

"Whats wrong? You've been unusually quiet these past few days and I'm sure that it isn't your phase-"

"I'm ready to choose." Crowley froze as the words left Gabriels lips. Said Archangel was now blushing and looking down, arms wrapped around himself. The demon inched closer slowly, placing a wary hand on his shoulder, Gabriels head jerking up and his eyes snapping to the demons hand.

"Listen, I'm not the best at cheering pe- Angels up, but you shouldn't be ashamed."

"Crowley I-"

"You mustn't think of all this as a burden, even if it is as bad as you say." Gabriel stopped trying to talk, suddenly taking in what the demon was saying. "Like I said I'm not the best but you can't turn from your instinct, you should feel lucky! Demons can't have children, Angels can! And if I was an Angel I'd take that opportunity to have a family any day."

"Crowley…" The demons brain just registered what he'd told the Archangel, oh shit! He was woken from his thoughts as he felt warmth wrap around him, and he looked down, only for his nose to he shoved into Gabriel's hair. "Thank you Crowley, that means a lot to me."

"Uh. You're welcome…?" He tried to curse but couldn't, the smell of candy was too distracting. What? It is! You try having a sugar-addict hugging you and ignoring the smell, see how difficult it is. Go on, I dare you. Just as he was about to speak, the Archangel pulled away and smiled at him, walking out of the room.

Hey! Didn't he have something to say? Maybe he was after that, asking for the truth, and that's why I told him. Damn Angels.

Crowley walked out grumbling something, and was met with Sam and Dean eating while Gabriel prodded it with his fork. Okay that really is weird. Not hungry? Gabriel? Please!

"You feeling okay Gabriel? You don't look to well." The Archangel shrugged, then prodded his food again.

"Eat, it'll help you." Gabriel looked up as he spoke, then obediently started to coat his pancakes in syrup and shovel fork-full's into his mouth, a big grin plastered to his face. The other three just stared at him as he ate, making him give a little squeak of embarassment.

"Wh…How…What the hell?" Dean changed his view from the Archangel to him, Sam doing the same, his mouth hanging in shock, quite like Crowleys.

"I don't know!" He hissed, glancing at Gabriel who was sending looks his way every so often. There was something wrong with him, something about his Grace, and it'd only started recently- he must really be yearning for a mate by now, and that's to be expected! As an Archangel, who's to bet all the chicks threw 'emselves at him? Crowley thought it was reasonable.

"Well, anyway, Dean we have to concentrate on this case, I'm still stuck on what it actually is! Dude!" Sam waved a hand in front of his brother, who seemed to be daydreaming…Wait, that would imply he had a brain. How foolish would some-one be to think he had one of those? …What? He does? Bloody hell!

"Hey, Winchester, what you got so far?" Crowley walked over to the younger Winchester, the demon now noticing the laptop he had next to him on the table.

"Well, there's been two cases of deaths, one murder, one suicide. We don't know what's done it, but we think it's a Siren or something, but we're not quite sure." Crowley peered at the newspaper that had been handed to him.

"A witness claims to have seen Mr. Jackson leave the strip club with a-" His jaw dropped with astonishment.

"I know, weird huh?" The demon shook his head, re-reading one part of a sentence over and over.

"No, this is bad, and weird actually." Sam frowned, so he continued. "I know what you're dealing with, and the witness had basicly pointed it out. It's obvious, you've got a Kitsune on your hands mate." Gabriels head shot up with the name, the two looking at him; Dean however was still somewhere in dreamland or some place where he would FINALLY stop eye-sexing with that Angel and actually Get. It. On. Seriously! Sexual tension that a chainsaw couldn't cut.

"A Kitsune?" Sam frowned in confusion, and to be honest? Crowley wasn't surprised.

"They're in Japan aren't they? So what's it doing here?" Gabriel gave the demon a cold look, Crowley snarling at him in response.

"I don't know, but what I do know is that you're in trouble if she gets some-one, not only is she a Succubus like creature, but also a fierce Trickster, so you'll have to watch yourselves." Sam nodded and spared a glance at Gabriel, who shrunk back slightly as he slouched in his chair, to nudging his brother.

"Dude, come-on, what's up with you?"

"Sammy, did you see that Stripper? I mean seriously."

"…"

"What? She was damn well hot! I'm gonna go get somma' that ass Sammy, and you're gonna get laid by a woman for once."

"Dean!"

"No arguing! We're going, now come-on, lets go hunt this sonofabitch." He jumped up and grabbed his jacket, then threw Sam his, who got up reluctantly, following his brother with a shrug in Crowleys direction.

The door closed and Crowley saw Gabriel bite his lip as the lock clicked. They were alone. Together. Again.

"Well, now what?" Gabriel tilted his head to the side, then gave a slight shrug. Crowley walked over to the DVD cupboard and crouched down, opening the wooden doors and peering inside. "Nothing in here you wanna see?" He looked back over his shoulder to see the Archangel shake his head, he was sat on the sofa and wrapped in Crowleys duvet. He did that too.

The demon found himself getting quite used to the Archangels' company, and that was a first that he could even stand anyone around him, demons aren't hugely sociable.

"Alright then." Crowley grabbed a book from somewhere in the cupboard, closed it, and walked over to the sofa, Gabriel moving over so he could sit down. He waved his hand and the radio flickered to life, 'Gives You Hell' filling the room and bringing a smile to the Archangels lips.

Crowley found himself distracted as he watched Gabriel close his eyes and rest the duvet over them both, snuggling into the demons side hesitantly, his eyes not leaving him as he moved. A few moment passed, before the other looked up at him, making Crowley snap his head back to the book and open it, a side glance caught the Archangel moving over him slightly so he could read also.

He sighed, a smile of his own on his dark face as he felt Gabriel relax. One part of his mind shouted at him, yelling questions at him as to why he was comfortable like this.

Why he didn't push Gabriel away.

Why he wanted said Archangel to stay where he was.

Why he felt more relaxed in this moment than ever before.

It was all too confusing, so he pushed the thoughts aside and ignored them, locking them in a mental cage and cutting out their voices. Listening to the radio was enough voices at the moment.

"What's the book about?" Crowley was snapped from torturing his inner voices to the soft voice of his companion, who was looking up at him expectantly.

"Oh, uh…It's…" For some unknown reason- to himself anyway- he couldn't seem to construct a sentence. He didn't even know what he was reading, he'd just chosen something at random. He looked at the cover, and was met with the familiar green coloured cover of 'Without Fail'. Ah, one of his favourites. "It's about a character called Jack Reacher, and in this one he has to help a woman stop the assassination of the president."

"That does sound pretty good." Crowley smiled, he had taste.

"Oh, it is, I've read this one before, want to read it?"

"Oh, uh, if you…wouldn't mind of course…"

"Why would I? S'only reading."

Nu-uh.

Yeah!

No!

Yesssssssssssssssss.

Noooooooooooooo.

It is, reading is harmless, just looking at words and remembering them. Simple.

Buuuuuuuuuuuuuut, then again, it's reading with some-one else. Demons don't share things, so why is he sharing this book like it was an everyday thing? And it really wasn't, seriously.

Come-on, it's not like-

It really is war in here isn't it?

"What are you doing in my head?" Gabriel yelped in surprise and jumped away from the demon who had just shouted at him.

"I just- I- Crowley I'm…" Gabriel grabbed the covers and pulled them over his head, wrapping it around himself tightly, his figure clearly visible and…shuddering? Crowley frowned and leant over near him, placing a hand on where the Archangels shoulder was.

"Angel?" He pulled the cover back from Gabriel's face to find a few soft tears falling from his eyes, and Crowley instantly hated himself for snapping at him. Then hated the fact he was hating himself for snapping at the other.

"L-leave…leave me alone!" Crowley felt like dying, the usually joking Trickster/Archangel was reduced to a broken heap, and he'd just made him worse.

Usually, under simple and normal circumstances, he wouldn't care. He'd be happy and feel fulfilled that he'd just broken an Archangel down, but this was different. Gabriel had made it different. In his disguise as Loki, he'd met him a few times, and been welcomed and entertained by his tricks and sense of wicked humour.

Those meetings he'd enjoyed, it was the highlight of working near the Norse Gods; even if it was just to check they hadn't done anything they shouldn't have and where exactly they were. Loki was always there, and even with his children the odd time. His son Fenrir would play with his Hellhound, while Sleipnir would coax a treat out of him, smelling the apples every time.

And now, Loki was broken. He was the one who should be helped to feel at home; he should be the one to be accepted as a brother, because now it was his turn.

It wasn't a demons nature to care, to have these thoughts, to even consider them would make any other demon laugh, but Crowley wasn't in any other demons position.

"Gabriel…I didn't mean to shout at you…I'm serious, I take it back, I…" Gabriel looked up at him, their eyes meeting and not moving, not even blinking as he said it. He said one thing he'd never think he'd hear himself say. "I'm sorry." He didn't say anything else, even if he wanted to he couldn't, what else could he say?

Gabriel wrapped his arms around Crowley, and he shifted down so he was lay next to the Archangel, whose head was tucked under his own, the demons chin resting on his head. Yes, there was definitely something different about Gabriel, something that had caught his attention all those years ago; something unique.

Something he loved.