Dean was half asleep on the couch when a noise like a key turning in the front door put him on alert. It was hours before he expected Cas home. And in the weeks since Dean had changed his living space and basically asked Cas to move in with him, Cas had never once used the front door. Dean had grown accustomed to turning around and finding Castiel just inches behind him, usually with food or a small trinket he thought Dean would find amusing.

Dean got up quickly and scanned the room for anything he could use as a weapon. It would, of course, likely be completely ineffective against anything that had managed to get past Cas's defenses. There was also a chance that the intruder was a friend of Cas's, but Dean had yet to meet a single person in Heaven who wasn't a complete dick. Except Cas of course.

"Cassie," a strange, British accented voice called. "Are you at home? Come out, come out, wherever you are."

Dean grabbed a lamp and risked a look into the hallway. A stranger was poking his head into the room Dean thought of as Castiel's private office. Even Dean never went into that room, and the sight of this asshole blithely violating Cas's privacy spurred Dean into action.

"He's out," Dean said, stepping out of his room to confront the stranger, lamp held aloft.

"Hello," British Dick said, "you must be the new piece of eye candy Castiel's been gushing about all around Heaven." Dean couldn't imagine Cas gushing about anything, but he didn't rise to the obvious bait. "Nice…" British Dick paused to give Dean a very deliberate once-over "…lamp." He waved a hand and the lamp disappeared.

Dean's hand reached instinctively, uselessly for his gun before he forced himself to relax. "I prefer Dean," he said with an easy 'you know you love me' smile.

"Do you?" British Dick asked.

"And you are?" Dean said pointedly.

"I'm Balthazar, darling. I know, I know, you've heard all about me from Cassie. But try not to be overwhelmed, I'm only human after all. Or well, no I'm an angel, but mostly harmless." A feral grin. "When I want to be."

Dean was less than impressed. Cas could quell a room with a stern look. This guy looked like he ought to be having high tea or something. "Never heard of you, but I can try to remember your name long enough to tell Cas you stopped by."

Dean didn't miss the way Balthazar's eyes narrowed at Dean's nickname or the smirk that quickly covered it. "No need to trouble yourself, pretty little concubine. I just wanted to fill Cassie in on some juicy gossip about our dear big brother Gabriel. I'll just let myself in later and tell him myself."

Dean's objections and angry displeasure fled at the sound of Gabriel's name. "Gabriel's here?" he asked, all pretense of disinterest gone.

"Not for long, I imagine. He never was a big fan of Heaven. Tell my darling Cassie that I'll see him soon." This time Balthazar left in typical angel fashion, by disappearing between one breath and the next.

"Over my dead body," Dean growled at nothing, irrationally angry a Balthazar's causal and probably one-sided intimacy with Cas. "Gabriel."

Without stopping to think of the consequences, Dean rushed out the front door and into the streets of Heaven. He had no idea where to start looking for Gabriel, but how difficult could it possibly be to find one archangel of the Lord - even in Heaven.

Very difficult as it turned out. Especially when two hours of wandering found him lost on an only vaguely familiar street, this time drawing all kinds of unwanted attention to himself by being unaccompanied. Apparently word of his earlier run-in with Michael had spread. Which only served to remind Dean that he'd all but promised not to run away again. Not that he was running away this time - he was gathering intel. Badly.

Dean tried asking a few angels about Gabriel but they all stared at him the way a human might stare at a strange dog. Like he was kind of cute but they were afraid he might bite. It kind of made him want to growl and pee on fire hydrants just on principle.

He was more than ready to go home to wait for Cas, but he was no longer sure he could find his way back without help. Dean turned down another random street, trying to remember if the book shop on the end was the same one he'd passed an hour ago when he finally ran into a familiar face.

Unfortunately that familiar face was "Uriel," he said, struggling to keep his voice neutral for Cas's sake.

Uriel sneered at him before recognition set in. "Aren't you Castiel's pet mud monkey?"

Dean rolled his eyes. He'd never thought he had a particularly hard name to remember. It was only four letters. "Dean," he said.

"What are you doing wandering the streets on your own?" Uriel asked, as if Dean were a small child who'd wandered off from his parents.

"Are you lost?" a new voice asked, and Dean leaned to one side to look beyond Uriel. A petite, pale red headed woman was with him, smiling up at Dean with the first truly friendly expression Dean could ever remember seeing in Heaven. Other than on Cas, of course, but even he'd taken awhile to warm up.

Dean grinned at her, almost unconsciously going into flirtatious mode: he'd always had a bit of a weakness for a pretty face. "Oh, I may have gotten myself a bit turned around." Dean slid around Uriel to talk to the pretty redhead face to face. "Wanna walk me home?" Dean offered his arm.

The redhead smiled wider and took the proffered arm. "I'll see you home safely," she promised.

Dean laughed, delighted by the mischievous glint in her eye. "I'm Dean. I'm…staying with Castiel."

"You may call me Anna," she answered, "And I know."

Dean wanted to flirt some more, ask her exactly what she knew, but Uriel planted a hand on each of them and they landed on a familiar front porch.

The door swung open at once, revealing Cas. His eyes slid over the three of them without showing interest in Dean's position between them, but the bond told a much different story. Worry and disappointment and even a touch of hurt was pouring off of Cas in waves he wasn't even trying to dampen.

Uriel dropped his hands and turned to address Cas. "Brother," he growled, shoulders twitching rhythmically. "I believe this belongs to you." He reached behind him and, with a grip guaranteed to bruise, shook Dean by the back of his neck as though he were a misbehaving dog. That was probably exactly how Uriel saw him, Dean mused.

Cas sighed heavily. "Yes, Uriel, Dean belongs with me. Please release him."

Uriel did and Anna laid a cool hand on the back of Dean's neck, soothing the ache there. Dean leaned into the gentle touch slightly, and then gasped at the force of rage and pain that came through the bond in the split second before it slammed shut. Dean moved away from Anna at once, concern driving him to Cas's side. He tried to push a questioning feeling toward the angel, but the bond remained closed tight.

"You seem unconcerned at your pet's attempt at escape," Uriel accused coldly. "Didn't the bond tell you he was missing?"

No, Dean thought it probably wouldn't have, since he wasn't missing. He wasn't even trying to get away this time. He'd acted rashly and without thought, but he knew he hadn't intended to leave Cas.

"I wasn't escaping!" Dean protested. Three pairs of heavenly eyes turned to him. He crossed his arms over his chest, and then immediately dropped them. He shrugged instead. "I heard there was a trickster-slash-archangel running around. I wanted to get a peek."

Uriel turned to Anna in disgust, but Cas remained looking at Dean for a moment longer. He nodded and his stance relaxed minutely, and Dean knew that Cas understood what had happened - in general if not the specifics. Cas turned back to his brothers.

"As you see, Dean was not missing. He is not confined to our Heaven. I trust Dean," Cas answered. Dean tried to probe the bond, to see if it was true even after the incident with Michael. This time Cas let him in, and Dean swelled with pride at the trust he found there.

"That's a dangerous game, Castiel," Uriel warned. "It could be seen as weakness. You should get rid of him before that weakness is used against you." With that dire sounding warning, Uriel was gone.

Anna who'd been silently watching Dean and Cas the whole time spoke up finally. "I'd be happy to take him if he's proving too much trouble." She smiled, that hint of mischief still very much evident. "You know that I'm fond of humans, and Dean is very… amusing."

Dean grinned and winked at her again. "You're very amusing too."

Something bright and intense flashed across the bond, too quickly for Dean to identify and Dean nearly stumbled under the weight of it. Cas steadied him automatically, his hand falling on his mark and the emotion poured through again before Cas wrenched his hand back off and sealed their connection off tight.

Dean pushed against it with all his might, trying to figure out what was going on with Cas, but Cas did nothing more than send him a stern look.

"That won't be necessary," Cas said, still calm, but slightly breathless. "I have it under control."

Anna's smile widen. "Of course, brother. I shall just have to be entertained from afar then."

"You should join us for dinner sometime," Dean blurted without thinking, still mostly distracted by trying to get past Cas's defenses. They slipped for a moment at his words, hurt stinging Dean across the bond before it cut off again. This time Dean withdrew, confused.

"Dinner?" Anna asked.

"Yeah, you know, food and conversation - usually served up sometime in the evening?" Dean pressed on, ignoring the way Cas had gone quiet and still beside him.

"I'd enjoy that," Anna said.

"Great, show up anytime."

"Castiel?" Anna asked, turning her attention to Dean's right.

"Of course, Anael," Cas answered at once, strangely deferential, "I would be honored."

"Very well. I will see you then," Anna said before disappearing.

Dean turned to Cas, catching his eye. Turmoil stared back at him for an endless moment before Cas said, "I will see if Gabriel is still in Heaven. Dinner is in the kitchen," and disappeared as well.

Dean looked around at the now empty stoop. "Something I said?"


"Honey, I'm home." Despite the words, Gabriel looked as serious as Sam had ever seen him: there wasn't a sweet in sight. "So, I went upstairs to talk to my dear brethren. In person and everything. There was quite a scene let me tell you."

"You found out something about Dean?" Sam asked, equal parts hopeful and nervous.

"I'm getting there sweet stuff, calm down," Gabriel said, "I made some noise about your brother. Asked around about getting the complete set..."

Sam crossed his arms over his chest and glared down at his tiny captor.

Gabriel smiled a real smile for the first time since getting back. "No need to be jealous big boy, you're all the Winchester I need."

Sam rolled his eyes, but something stupid inside him was warmed and relieved. "You learned something?" he prompted again.

"Not as much as I'd hoped. No less an angel than Zachariah showed up to order me to leave it be if I want to keep the brother I've got," Gabriel sounded amused, as if Zachariah ordering him to do anything at all was faintly hilarious. "Zach's a slimy worm - I could and have smacked him around on more than one occasion, but that wouldn't get us closer to Dean."

All the air seemed to go out of the room and Sam slumped forward. Gabriel stepped in closer as if to catch Sam if he fell. "It's not all bad," Gabriel promised. "He did let slip who has Dean. Castiel. One of my very youngest brothers."

"That's good news?" Sam asked.

"Castiel is very young - a solider. He's loyal and hasn't met an order that he hasn't followed to the letter, but he's not cruel and he has zero interest in sex or so the rumors go - and trust me, Balthazar has tried many times - so Dean is safe on that front. Although he may be in danger of being bored to death by my nerdy little brother."

Sam shook his head. It didn't sound like all the horrors he'd been afraid to imagine, but safe was not the word he'd use. Gabriel seemed to sense it, because suddenly Sam found himself pushed down into his favorite armchair with an archangel in his lap. Sam's arms came up automatically to circle around Gabriel. He immediately felt awkward about it, but Gabriel was beaming at him and satisfaction was pouring out through their bond so Sam left his arms there.

"After Zach swooped down like an overgrown buzzard, Uriel told me that Castiel tried to refuse his slave..." Sam flinched at the word and Gabriel stroked his arm in apology "...but they threatened to give him to Michael. That would be very bad. Your brother probably wouldn't have even survived this long if that had happened, or at least anything that came away from Michael would not be the brother you remember. Castiel stepped up to spare Dean that - so we know he's protecting Dean."

"And if he's ordered to kill my brother or turn him over to Michael? You said he's obedient." Sam pressed.

"Castiel is a good angel - but more than that, he's just good. He is obedient, but he's not mindless - unlike most of my siblings. He doesn't play politics, and he doesn't kiss up. He believes in our dear absent Father wholly. He won't follow an order if he doesn't think Father would approve. And I get the impression he doesn't think Daddy would approve of what Heaven's done to the Winchester brothers. Besides," Gabriel added with a smirk, "Uriel seems to think Castiel is too fond of our little Dean."

"We have to make sure," Sam said, feeling hopeful again.

Gabriel sighed and leaned against Sam's chest. "With Zach's feathers all ruffled, I can't approach Dean or even Castiel directly until things die down or the situation changes. Castiel and I…are not on the best of terms. For now we'll just keep our ears open. I've persuaded Balthazar to renew his suit for Castiel." Sam could heard the mischief in Gabriel's voice when he added, "It didn't take much convincing."

Sam refused to be distracted. "Good. That's good, I guess."

"It is," Gabriel assured him, "We'll have a good idea about how Dean fares - maybe even get a message to him in a week or two. If he's half as smart as you are, he can take care of himself till then." Sam could feel Gabriel's sincerity and hope and a touch of sympathy in him. For the first time Sam tried to push something back through the bond - gratitude.

"In some ways he's even smarter," Sam said, thinking of all the ways his brother had kept them both alive over the years. Then his arms tightened around Gabriel. "Tell him that and I'll put you in a ring of holy oil."

Gabriel pulled back to look around the library thoughtfully. "What kind of things have you been reading Sasquatch?"

"Know thy enemy," Sam answered with a smile.

Gabriel laughed. "And thyself," he retorted before turning serious. "You okay?"

Sam nodded. He was still worried for his brother of course, but he found that he actually trusted Gabriel and his assessment of the situation. "Yeah," he said, arms tightening around Gabriel again, "Thanks."

"Hey kiddo, I keep my promises. And you have been a ray of sunshine as promised." Gabriel frowned. "Except for right now." A snap, and a bottle of chocolate syrup appeared in Gabriel's' hand. "Wanna take me to bed and let me comfort you?"

Although Gabriel was forever making those kind of offers, Sam was finding it harder and harder to refuse. Gabriel was… he was something different and amazing. And easy on the eyes. Every encounter with the archangel, Sam found himself drawn to his quick wit and easy smile. With Gabriel in his lap... hell, he probably couldn't disguise it with the bond anyway - Sam couldn't hide his body's interest in the offer, but he pushed Gabriel away and stood up. "No."

Something like disappointment flickered across Gabriel's face, and Sam had to stop himself from reaching out to touch - to use the bond to see what Gabriel was playing at, but then Gabriel shrugged and dismissed the chocolate sauce with another snap of the fingers. "Your loss. Let's go find me a Sammy substitute for the night then." And Gabriel whisked them away to the once again crowded foyer.