Hello lovelies! Here, finally, is a new chapter. Sorry for the wait-I've been working on my other Gundam Wing fic for a while, but now I'm back to Dean and Cas. And, wow, can I just say, these boys have a TON of baggage! Get ready for an emotional roller coaster. Sorry for any mistakes-I wanted to post this so much that I kind of skipped the proofreading part ^^

Sure enough, the next morning Dean woke to a faceful of loose feathers, with more covering the bed and floor. Upon further inspection of the wing that was carelessly draped over most of his torso, the man could see that in the semi-bare patch that was missing several secondary feathers, a few new ones were beginning to peek out. He noted with surprise that the fresh feathers were not grey like the old ones, but a soft matte white. He ran the end of his finger over the tips, entranced with this new color. It suited Cas, who was still so pure and innocent after everything he'd been through.

Taking one of the longer shed feathers, Dean carefully leaned over the angel and proceeded to wave it lightly under Castiel's nose. The angel snuffled a little, wrinkling his nose at the feeling. His human persisted, tickling the end of Cas' nose with his own feather. It took a couple of tries, but eventually Dean was rewarded with an adorable little sneeze from the angel who had been attempting to sleep despite Dean's best efforts.

"Payback for yesterday's wake-up call," Dean laughed, dumping a handful of feathers over Cas' already tousled hair. The angel's completely disheveled look when he sat up in confusion was priceless. His blue eyes blinked repeatedly in shock.

"I…don't understand…" he replied, looking around as if he could figure out what was going on and why he had been awakened so rudely.

"It's a prank," Dean explained, still chuckling to himself. "I used to pull that kind of thing on Sammy all the time. This one summer, he put Nair in my shampoo bottle, so to get him back I snuck into his room and put his hand in a bowl of warm water. It was classic!"

At Castiel's blank look, Dean sighed. "It made him pee himself," he elaborated dryly.

The angel frowned a little, canting his head curiously. "That seems mean…"

"It's all in good fun," Dean assured him. "We never took it too far and we never hurt each other or anything. It's just for laughs. We got cabin fever staying in the apartment a lot while Dad was out working, so we had to find ways to amuse ourselves. Aw, man, there was this one time when I got some itching powder at a joke shop. Dad had to finally ask Sammy if there was something wrong with his balls he kept scratching them so much!" Dean cracked up, remembering the good old days with his little brother.

Castiel was again confused. He reached out to gently trace his companion's lips, and Dean froze mid-laugh. "You do not make sense when you speak of your brother," he said, palming Dean's face. "Your voice is sad but you are smiling. I can feel that you are in pain, but you speak of amusement."

Dean took Cas' hand, pulling it down to hold it lightly in his lap. "It's complicated," he told the angel. "Sammy and me…" He started to say something more, but then he changed his mind. "I-I'm gonna go start breakfast," he said, pulling away abruptly and jumping out of bed. He hauled ass to the kitchen as though the hounds of hell were tailing him, leaving a light dusting of feathers on the floor in his wake.

As soon as he got there, Dean immediately felt bad about leaving Cas so suddenly. He hated that he had probably hurt the poor clueless angel's feelings, but he was having trouble keeping control of his own. He hadn't thought about it since he'd met Castiel, but he had just been reminded that Sam hadn't called in over a week. Usually they tried to talk at least every few days—Dean knew his kid brother was busy with school, but he needed to make sure Sam was ok like he needed oxygen to breathe. He knew his dependence on Sam was most definitely unhealthy, but he didn't care. And now, to think that he hadn't noticed Sammy's lack of communication—what kind of brother did that make him?

Dean shuffled some pots and pans around angrily, more for the soothing noise than because he was looking for any one particular cooking utensil. He started some pancakes, whipping the batter harder than strictly necessary and making a mess he'd be annoyed to find later. Finally, when he could stand it no longer, he grabbed his cell phone from the arm of the couch and dialed Sam's number.

To his surprise, Sam picked up on the second ring—usually he had to leave a number of increasingly snippy messages before he heard back from his brother.

"Hey Dean!" he said, much too chipper for this early in the morning.

"Hey Sammy," Dean replied, struggling to remain calm. His brother was alive—take deep breaths. "How ya been?"

"Great! Sorry I haven't called in a while. I've got this paper that's kicking my ass and Jen's best friend has been staying over because of some family drama. It's been pretty intense."

"Oh, no worries," Dean said quickly, pretending that he hadn't been near a panic attack simply because they hadn't spoken in seven-plus days. "So, everything's good?"

"Yup. Just got an 'A' on my Philosophy test, so I'm set. How about you? Anything exciting back in Lawrence?" Sammy seemed truly interested, probably because he knew his brother was at a loss without him. He had known Dean all his life and he could tell when his brother was upset.

Dean realized that it really had been a while since they talked and, for once, he had some pretty big news to report. "Well, I uh, got a new housemate," he hedged. He honestly wasn't sure how to classify his relationship with Cas, but they were technically sharing living quarters, so that's all his brother needed to know.

"What? Dean, do you need help with the rent? Because I—"

"No, Sammy, Jesus!" Dean interrupted. The last thing he wanted was for his brother to feel bad taking all Dean's money. Sammy was the one with the bright future—he deserved everything Dean could give him. "As a matter of fact, I recently came into some money. I just…inherited an angel along with it." Sam's confused exclamation prompted Dean to give his brother an abbreviated version of the story. Predictably, Sam was over the moon about the fact that his brother knew an actual angel.

"Oh my God, Dean—uh, I mean, gosh—that is so awesome! I want to meet him! Do you know what an honor it is to be bound to an angel? Are you going to go through with the second stage? What's he like? What—?"

Dean laughed at his brother's enthusiasm, having forgotten a little what it felt like when his little brother geeked out over something. "Hit the breaks there, Sammy. He's not a new puppy, you know."

"Hey, wait," Sam was still talking, "Can't angels fly, like, anywhere? Maybe when he's better, you and Cas and fly out here to Stanford."

Dean shuddered and almost gagged—he hated air travel. He had only been on a plane once as a kid, when his Dad took him and Sammy to visit relatives in Florida, and he had…not travelled well. Three hours of him puking his guts up in a paper bag, with Sammy giggling about it the whole time, turned him off flying for life. Celestial being or not, no way was he letting Castiel fly him all the way to California.

Sam could clearly picture his brother's expression, even if he couldn't see it. "Dude, you know how hilarious this is, right? My non-religious, afraid-of-heights brother is bonded to a winged angel!" Dean grumbled as his brother had a nice laugh over this fact.

Finally, Dean cut in. "Don't you have a lecture to attend, Bitch?" he asked petulantly.

"Jerk," Sam replied automatically. "And, yes, I should probably get going. Look, I promise to call more often, ok? Say 'hi' to Castiel for me!"

"Yeah, yeah, go be smart," Dean said, and hung up.

He returned to the kitchen in much lighter spirits. He was greeted by the sight of Castiel hovering nervously over the stove, poking at the now-charred pancakes with a spoon. He turned when he heard Dean enter and gave him a pathetic look.

"I am sorry, Dean, but it appears as though this food is inedible. I tried to rescue it, but was unable to do so in a timely fashion, it seems."

Dean burst out laughing again at the expression of woe on his nerd angel's face. He flicked off the stove and slung an arm around Castiel's shoulders. "Forget pancakes, Cas, let's go out for breakfast," he said, and steered the angel towards the front door.

Castiel at a diner was a scene Dean never wanted to forget and he played it over and over in his head the rest of the morning after they had returned to the firehouse. He chuckled as he started a load of laundry, seeing Cas trying to decide between the needlessly huge amount of breakfast combos and specials. Even more amusing was the waitress who seemed to dote on the angel, especially after she discovered he was blind and liked to try new foods. Dean was pretty sure that, by the time they left, Cas had sampled half the menu and had doggie bags of the other half.

They might have stayed longer so the angel could just start on lunch, but Dean had begun to feel strangely antsy after witnessing the large amount of attention the waitress paid his angel. At first it was cute, but then he started to feel a little annoyed. Even knowing that Castiel couldn't see, the woman had sure been flashing a lot of cleavage and leaned over the angel more than was necessary. Normally, he was the one the ladies paid attention to. Towards the end of the meal, Dean realized that what he was feeling was jealousy. And, was if that wasn't confusing enough, it wasn't directed at Cas, but at the waitress who was trying to tempt his angel. Dean knew the feeling was irrational because, it wasn't like he and Cas were lovers or anything…

With a violent shove to get the last of the towels in the washer, Dean cut off the line of thought. He went back towards the living room where Castiel was napping on the couch. They had started watching a movie an hour ago, but five minutes in, Cas was out like a light. Dean had been hesitant to suggest the pastime at first, but the angel assured him that he would enjoy listening to the dialogue and Dean could fill in the gaps. Dean knew it wasn't The Mummy that had put the angel to sleep, so he assumed it was from the loss of energy due to regenerating his feathers.

When he heard the doorbell ring, Dean deviated from his course to the couch and veered in the direction of the front door instead. He assumed that it was Bobby, whom he hadn't heard much from after telling him about Cas. Maybe the man had dug up some more info on angels.

After expecting his uncle, Dean was very surprised to see his neighbor, Gabriel, lounging against the doorjamb. The short man was wearing a smug expression and held a plateful of brownies.

"Hey, there, Dean-o!" he greeted the man. "I heard through the grapevine you had a new flat mate and I just couldn't wait to meet him!" He pressed the plate of brownies into Dean's hand. "Consider this a welcome gift."

Dean took the plate on impulse, but looked down at the little man in alarm. "Uh, I don't—"

"You don't like brownies?" Gabriel asked, intentionally misinterpreting what his neighbor was trying to say. "How sad for you. Well, how about some chocolate chip cookies, then?" he asked and waved his hand at the food. To Dean's astonishment, the baked goods he held actually changed from one to the other, leaving him with a dozen cookies. The man almost dropped them in shock.

"What the hell is going on?" he demanded. Dean had thought Gabriel was an ok guy—a little weird and even more hedonistic than himself, but fairly stable. This rambunctious, fast-talking man was unexpected and a little bit scary. That, and how did he know about Castiel? He had only just moved in a couple of days ago…

"Oh, don't trouble yourself," Gabriel was saying, "I'll just make myself at home." He slid past Dean and into the apartment. It was a step too far and Dean immediately maneuvered around so that he was between Gabriel and the entrance to the living room where Cas slept. He growled a little, eyeing the man suspiciously. No one, not even the man had had thought of as a friend, was going near Cas without his approval. He'd already had to defend his angel against Raphael, and the encounter had put him on edge, waiting for the next attack.

Gabriel merely laughed at Dean's display. "Oh, calm down, you big lug. It's so cute that you're all protective and everything, but I would never hurt my baby brother."

"Baby…?" Dean repeated, thoroughly confused. Then he heard soft footsteps behind him, signaling that Cas had woken up. He was about to order the angel back into the living room, when Castiel spoke.

"Gabriel? I-Is that you?"

Dean glanced between Cas and his neighbor. Wait, they knew each other? Cas took a tentative step forward, his wings lifted hopefully, trailing loose feathers. Dean shifted, still keeping himself between him and Gabriel.

"Yup, it's me little bro. I was in Morocco when I heard that Raphy got into it with another angel. Word on the street was it was you, so I came back to see. Imagine my surprise when I found you right upstairs." Gabriel's smile was genuine at seeing Castiel, and Dean relaxed a fraction. Then it hit him. How would this guy have heard about an angel show-down halfway across the world. Wait, Gabriel…it was popular on Earth, but hadn't it started as an angel name…?

"Back off, Dean," Gabriel said, shooing the human back with a dismissive wave of his hand. Dean stumbled away to stand next to Castiel, giving the archangel the space to release his wings. Six huge light brown wings sprouted from his back, casting the apartment in a faint glow until they were fully materialized. He stretched them out, taking up most of the space in the foyer.

Dean's reaction surprised them both. Rather than surprise or even anger, he went with sarcastic exasperation. "What is it with friggin angels all of a sudden? I take in one and now it's all Angel-palozza in Lawrence!"

Gabriel rolled his eyes. "Stop being such a Drama-Dean. You're gonna realize this fast, but when you bond with an angel, you inherit a huge, seriously messed up family as well." He sighed when Dean just gave him an annoyed look. "Humans' sibling rivalry and daddy issues have got nothing on angels'. Raphael is a great big bag of dicks with a superiority complex and when I heard that he was out for our Castiel, I came to make sure he was ok. Now, would you kindly move aside so I can say 'hello' to my little brother?"

Dean gritted his teeth. The last time they met an archangel, it hadn't gone so well, but Gabriel did seem nice enough if kind of irritating. He looked to the black-haired angel at his side. "Cas?" he asked, leaving it up to him whether or not he attempted to evict Gabriel from his apartment.

Castiel nodded. "His intentions are true, Dean. Gabriel always looked out for me in Heaven, even though we weren't in the same garrison. It is good to see him again." He went to go greet his big brother with a hug, which Gabriel spoiled by sticking out his tongue at Dean over Cas' shoulder. Dean glared at the archangel, but didn't try to stop him and risk upsetting Castiel.

When Cas excused himself to go get everyone some coffee to go with Gabriel's cookies, the bigger angel turned to Dean with an unusually serious look. "As much as I hate to admit it, I must thank you for taking care of my baby brother," he said. "I should have been watching out for him, but I got distracted and lost track of him after the Fall."

Dean frowned. "Damn right you should have. Do you know what happened to him? What he's had to go through?"

Gabriel looked away. "I heard. I never meant for that to happen. But you have to know, once an angel bonds with a human, another angel can't break that bond. We don't have much power left, but that one is still strong."

That made Dean think of something. "But, he's not with Mikey any more, so can't you just heal him?"

"No-can-dos-ville, Babydoll," the archangel said. "His power is linked to you now—I can't get in the middle of that." With the next beat, the archangel brightened and smiled over at his human neighbor. "Besides, that's all water under the bridge now. He's got you and, I have to say, you've been going a pretty good job taking care of him; your pissing contest with Raphael none withstanding."

"Well, what the hell was I supposed to do?" Dean demanded. "He was gonna kill Cas!"

"You do whatever you have to." Gabriel lowered his tone and motioned for Dean to step closer. Dean did, warily. He watched at Gabriel twitched his wrist, producing a gleaming silver weapon from under his sleeve. "I shouldn't be doing this, but with our Father out of the picture for the moment, I guess there's no one to put me in a corner for bad behavior." The archangel handed it to Dean, and he realized it was the same kind of knife-thing that Raphael had threatened he and Castiel with the night before. "This is my angel blade. It can kill just about anything, including archangels. You keep this one and defend yourselves with it until Cas is strong enough to make his own. If anything, it should deter any of the others from following Raphy's footsteps."

A little in awe at the loner angel sword, Dean thanked Gabriel and slid the sword through his belt at the small of his back. Castiel's safety handled, he went on to more pressing matters. "What's up with all the angels coming around anyways? There aren't that many of you guys, so what are you all doing here? And how did I not know you were one of them?"

Gabriel accepted a warm mug of coffee from Castiel when the other angel returned from the kitchen, and made himself comfy on the sofa. "If you must know, Lawrence is built upon the center of a mystical convergence point. There are several all over the world. It's nothing that humans can sense, but it lends a big power boost to supernatural beings. Since we all lost a lot of power after the Fall, angels like to live in places like this, where they can use the natural power around them like a battery."

Dean gave Castiel the corner of the couch to curl up in, seating himself between the two angels. Cas sat up with his knees to his chin, his wings over the armrest. He wriggled his toes under Dean's warm thigh to keep them toasty and the man pretended not to notice.

"So, that explains Cas and Raphael, but you've been here more than 10 years—you were here when we moved in when I was 5."

The archangel shrugged. "I was down here long before the Fall. Unlike most angels—other than Cas—I enjoy the company of humans and all the…pleasures they provide." He said the last with a lusty smile that Dean figured it was probably better that Cas not see. "It's must more fun down here than it was up there, so I left and took up permanent residence on Earth. I've been here for hundreds of years. Just came to Lawrence for the burgers. And the hippies. Have you ever had an orgy with twelve girls at once?"

Dean decided that he would never understand angels, much less one like Gabriel. After another half hour of conversation, he gave up and went to start an early dinner, leaving Castiel and his brother to catch up. After stuffing his face with a full two helpings of lasagna and most of the cookies, Gabriel finally went back to his own place—or, wherever he'd come from.

"I guess Gabriel doesn't seem like as much of a douchbag as your other brother," Dean confessed as he and Castiel stood side by side brushing their teeth in the bathroom before bed.

The angel spat daintily into the sink and smiled up at Dean. "It was good to see him. I feared that after Raphael, my entire family despised me. It is nice to know that is not the case."

Dean laughed, amused as usual by his nerd angel's take on things. "Well, even if they did all hate you, you'd always have me," he said, without really thinking about it. It took his brain a moment to catch up with his mouth, then he gulped nervously. What had gotten into him?

Castiel paused in wiping his mouth and turned his bright blue eyes on Dean. "Do you really mean that?" he asked softly, biting his full bottom lip. Dean found himself wetting his own lips with his tongue as he stared at Cas'. All the breath seemed to have left his body when Cas spoke and he found himself unable to move.

"Yeah, I do," he whispered. And he did. Even though he hadn't had a choice when Castiel put the first bond on him, Dean didn't regret it. If he was honest with himself, he would have acted no differently, bond or no. Cas was his responsibility and he liked taking care of the angel. Castiel had filled the hole Sammy left in his life and Dean wasn't going to give him up easily. It may have been selfish, but he never wanted to let the angel go not that he had him.

Castiel leaned the slightest bit closer, gravitating to his human's warm body. "Thank you, Dean. You are more than I could ever have asked for."

"Cas," Dean breathed, then before he could stop himself, he closed the last bit of distance between them, pressing his lips to Castiel's in a gentle but passionate kiss. His hands went up around the smaller figure, burying the tips of his fingers in the downy feathers on Cas's back.

The angel struggled for a moment, frightened by the sudden rush of motion and sensation, but then he surrendered to Dean with a little moan, letting his body go limp against the larger man. Dean let his emotions drive him, kissing Castiel with gusto and trying not to think too much about small details, like the fact that he wasn't gay and only cared for Cas as a friend. The sound that the angel made only spurred him on. He grabbed Cas' thighs and heaved him up onto the countertop, thrusting himself in-between the angel's open legs. Cas grabbed at his short hair to steady himself and mewled at the feeling of Dean so close.

It wasn't until the man lunged forward, mashing their lower regions together that Castiel was suddenly reminded of his time with Mikey. His blue eyes flew open in panic and he pushed at Dean's shoulders to make him break their kiss. "Stop, please," he said brokenly. His wings fluttered behind him, making a useless attempt at flight and instead sweeping everything from the counter off onto the floor.

The sound of clattering bathroom supplies brought Dean back to his senses more than anything else. He gasped in shock, realizing what he'd done. He stumbled back, putting yards of space between himself and the frightened angel. "Oh, God, Cas, I'm sorry!" he said, running a hand over his jaw. "I didn't mean to—!"

Castiel put his head into his hands, sobbing. "It's not you, Dean," he cried. "I'm just so…defective. Raphael was right…"

Dean couldn't bear to see his angel hurt, and went back to stand near him, putting a hesitant hand on his knee. "Of course you're not defective. Don't listen to anything that dickwad said. It's only been a few days—it's gonna take time to deal with everything that happened with Michael. It's my fault for pushing you. I don't even know what I…" Dean trailed off, out of words to say. He couldn't even explain it to himself what had just transpired between them. He, too, was going to need time to work out this new development.

Castiel just continued to sob, short little breaths wracking his already too-thin body. Dean put aside his personal issues and just hugged the angel to him, letting Cas blubber against his chest. He picked his angel up carefully and carried him to their room, lying Cas down and getting in beside him, holding the angel until he eventually lapsed into sleep.