Sam stayed where Gabriel had put him. It seemed the safest and smartest way to go. He'd put Sam here to keep him safe and had told him that he could trust these two. It seemed strange to think about trusting, well, anyone. They weren't angels like Lucifer and Michael and Gabriel. They weren't real. Why should Sam trust them? Anyone that wasn't an actual angel in here had always been the one to hurt him. Was Gabriel confused and maybe thought that this was…was real?

Or…

Maybe Gabriel was in control of this dream. That had Sam sitting up just a little straighter. As best as he understood, torture-dreams were created by the Cage and played out in Sam's own mind. It would make sense that Gabriel could manipulate something like that. He was pretty damn talented at creating illusions and alternate realities. What if he'd stepped in here with Sam and taken over the torture-dream and turned it into something else? It would explain why no one was acting the way that Sam expected them to. And why Gabriel said that he could trust them.

But, if that were true, why had angels attacked them? Why had they tried to hurt Gabriel?

Sam chewed on his lip as he tried to figure it out. It came to him after a moment and he felt stupid for not realizing it sooner. Of course the Cage would try and take Sam's mind back. It made perfect sense that it would be fighting against him. And Gabriel was strong, of course he was strong, but the Cage was made to hold an archangel. Probably the only reason Gabriel was able to manipulate things as much as he did was because the Cage was meant to hold one archangel, not three, and that must grant him a bit of power. As an archangel/trickster, he'd be perfect at finding little loopholes and manipulating them.

A shudder ran down Sam and he wanted to sigh into the couch out of sheer relief. This…this was so much better than he'd ever thought! Gabriel would win – Sam had no doubt about that. And Sam would help him. He could help to keep him safe like he had before. Then maybe they could stay here in this little bit of fake reality that the trickster had made for him. Maybe, for a little while, Sam could enjoy the pretense that he was safe.

The only thing that would make it better would be for Michael and Lucifer to be here. Sam really wanted to be wrapped up in Lucifer's wings like Gabriel had just done for him before he left. Lucifer made him feel safe and cared for just the way that Dean had when he was a child.

Sam was caught up in those thoughts when Gabriel finally reappeared in the room – only, he wasn't alone.

Immediately Sam tensed. His eyes went wide as he looked at Castiel, who was staring right back at him. There was no hesitation on Gabriel's part to come straight for Sam. When it looked like Dean might stand in his way, which Sam didn't understand, the archangel just rolled his eyes and vanished, reappearing right at Sam's side. The young hunter didn't even jump. He reached out without hesitation and was more than happy when Gabriel caught his hand and held it tightly. "Everything is all right, Samuel." He murmured to Sam in Enochian. "My brother will not harm you."

Sam snuck a look over at him and then back to Gabriel, not quite able to keep from watching the seraph carefully. There was… there was grace in him, but it was, different. Different than what Sam remembered seeing the last time he saw Castiel. For a second Sam chewed on his lip. Then, not noticing the stunned way that everyone but Gabriel turned to look at him, he whispered "Is it really him?"

For some reason, his question made Gabriel beam at him. "It is."

"He is… not right."

This time surprise lit Gabriel's face. "What do you mean?" Now he was looking at Castiel as well, a little more cautiously than before. Castiel, for his part, hadn't moved once. He was watching them with a stunned feel coming off him.

"What's going on?" Dean asked, looking back and forth between them.

Sam flinched back from how annoyed Dean sounded before he remembered these were just constructs Gabriel had created. Dreams still, but not like in the torture-dreams. That let him relax a little. "I… remember. I think." The memories were hazy. Lots of things were hazy. "When he pulled my body out. His grace was brighter. Not like this."

"Your body was taken without your soul inside?" Gabriel sounded horrified by it.

Lucifer and Michael had been as well. They'd explained to Sam that it wasn't Castiel's fault, he couldn't be blamed for it, but they were horrified at the idea that Sam's body had been topside without a soul inside

"He truly is from your future." Castiel said suddenly. His voice was noise just as much as everyone else's, but the rough and deep sound of it was also familiar.

Bobby shifted himself so that he was a little closer to Sam, and between him and the angel. He looked at Gabriel, though. "What's Feathers doing here? I thought we were hiding from angels, not bringing em on in."

"Castiel won't harm us." Gabriel said. Whatever he was telling them, he sounded sure about it. His thumb started to stroke soothingly against the inside of Sam's wrist. "He's a little rebel at heart, aren't ya, Cassie? Can't risk anything happening to his precious little Deano over here. An I extracted a few promises before I brought him inside. Trust me, there's no way he'd break them. We're safe." Looking at Sam, he added in Enochian "You are safe."

Of course he was. This was all of Gabriel's making, right? "I know."

He could see both pleasure and surprise at his words. Sam was just sort of pleased to be speaking again. It felt… good. Not as terrifying as he'd first believed. Enochian was safe. Though Sam sort of wished he could remember enough of English to at least understand this construct of his brother. Why didn't Gabriel make them speak Enochian as well? Then they could all talk. Sam could pretend, at least for a little while. Though maybe that right there was the reason they didn't. Maybe Gabriel didn't want him to forget too much. That could be dangerous.

"How is he functioning?" Castiel's voice sounded confused. "He is a mix of soul and grace that is only partially fused together. What bits of his soul that are still human are irrevocably damaged. He should not be awake, let alone capable of speech."

Gabriel scowled over at the angel. "Geeze, Cassie. Just throw it all right out there."

It looked like Dean was getting beyond fed up with everything. That was a look Sam remembered. Dean only wore it when he was beyond annoyed and was about to start demanding answers. "I don't know what the hell is going on here, but someone better start answering questions. You," He spun towards Gabriel and glared down at him, pointing with the blade in his hand. "Have a helluva lot of explaining to do!"

The sight of the blade Sam had used to stab the other angel now being pointed at Gabriel made the young hunter sick. He didn't want that. He didn't want to see his blade – My blade? Since when do I have a blade? – turned Gabriel's way. He was surprised a second later when it vanished from Dean's hand and reappeared in his own. Sam drew it in and tucked it close against his body. He ignored the weird looks he got and just turned his face in towards Gabriel. It wasn't hard to shift down the couch enough to rest his cheek against Gabriel's shoulder.

The archangel made one of his happy-sounds that shook through his chest. "I'm thinking someone doesn't like it when you point sharp things at me, sunshine." He lifted one arm, slipping it around Sam, and drew him in a little closer. "An I already told you what's going on. It's not my fault you're not listening. Everything's still the same as it was before. Sam's still broken, I'm still going to help him. The only differences now are that you know who I am and you know I'm a bit more equipped to help him than you realized. And we're in a bit more danger than before."

"Ya think?" Bobby asked, voice dry.

"Oh, it's worse than you realize, Singer." Gabriel said. He brought one hand up, soothingly stroking it over Sam's hair, and the gentle touch had the hunter sighing happily. "Cassie here may have come after us because of his special little link with Winchester One over here, but the other angels there most definitely went back home and told Mikey all about me. That means that Heaven knows I'm alive and I've got you guys under my protection, an they know that there's something different about Sam. They'll be hunting for you guys even more than they were before, cause we're messing up their apocalypse plans. They want Sam broken – they want him so broken he'll take down Lilith for them and break the final seal so Lucy can walk free. If they find Sam like this, there's every chance they could try and break him even more until there's nothing left but what they want. Or they could try and work some mojo to send him back to his time and bring back your Sammy."

Whatever Gabriel was saying had Dean standing up a little straighter. "Can they do that?"

Dean's words had Gabriel going very, very still against Sam. The young hunter froze, unsure. The emotions in the air became charged and he wished he understood what was going on. It felt important. It felt huge.

He watched as Gabriel lifted his eyes to Dean and they sparked with the grace and other power inside. "You really wanna send your brother back to a future in the Cage just so you can have your Sammy back, Winchester? You want to assign him to an eternity of torture so you can have your precious little unbroken Sammy?"

The room went quiet and Sam stared back and forth between everyone, wondering what was going on and what was going to happen. What was going on?

Gabriel was seething. He'd seen the hope in Dean the minute he'd heard of the possibility of getting his own Sam back. There was a part of Gabriel that couldn't really blame him for wanting back the brother that he knew. The one who wasn't broken – who was still human and free of torture. That part of Gabriel was overshadowed by the larger part that was absolutely furious at the idea that anyone would willingly send his Winchester back to that. He'd claimed Sam as his; not just to himself, but to the angels. He'd stood up and staked a claim and made damn sure there was no escaping this fight for him anymore. He wasn't going to let anyone or anything cause any harm to the man who was trembling in his arms.

It only cooled his temper a little when he saw the instant regret flash over Dean's face. The thought of getting his brother back had been a fleeting one. A hope to maybe have Sammy okay again. "Of course not." He said, voice firming a little. "I'm not gonna send my brother back to Hell. I just…"

"You just, what? Don't want to have to deal with how broken he is? Is it too much trouble for you?"

"I didn't say that!" Dean snapped.

Bobby reached out, putting a hand on Dean's arm and pulling him back a little. "Let's all cool our jets here. We're not switching out the new Sam for the old one an we're not giving up on him. We got bigger things to worry about than bitchin' at each other right now. First things first, we gotta make sure we're safe. Can they get to us here?"

"No." Gabriel said confidently. He gestured lazily with one hand towards Castiel. "The only reason he did is cause he's the one that pulled Deano here out of Hell and rebuilt him. That little handprint you've got gives you guys a nice, neat little connection." He'd been amused as hell to see that. It wasn't a full-fledged bond, not yet, but it definitely marked Dean and connected them, and Gabriel bet Michael hadn't been happy about that one. Winking at Castiel, he added "Way to get a little grabby there, bro."

Dean looked flustered, but Bobby still had his serious face on, and his questions weren't done. "You're sure we can trust him? Cause before, it sure sounded like you were saying we couldn't trust any angels."

Sighing, Gabriel tried to think about how to put this. He played absently with Sam's hand, thumb stroking over his pulse point. The poor kid was probably so lost right now. Gabriel couldn't take the time to run two conversations, though. He needed to get one group under control. Then he'd deal with Sam. Hopefully he could handle waiting. "Cassie was manipulated almost as much as you bozos were. Trust me, we'll be having a talk about it once you guys go down for the night. But like I told you before, I didn't let him in without extracting some promises – and promises to an archangel hold a hell of a lot of power. He won't be betraying us. And he won't be leaving until I'm absolutely sure he's on our side." He added a sharp look to the silent Castiel at that, making absolutely clear of his words. Castiel just nodded. He was still quiet, unsure and maybe just a bit too much in awe over a brother he hadn't expected to see and one who he'd been trained his entire existence to listen to. Lesser angels were almost programmed to listen to archangels.

Bobby apparently took him at his word, which was a nice change from Dean's skepticism. Of course, Gabriel hadn't figured out why Bobby was trusting him so much, but he wasn't going to look a gift horse in the mouth. "Well if we're safe and hidden, it don't seem like our plans have changed all that much." The older hunter said simply. "We work on getting Sam back towards normal again an we try an figure out how to stop all this shit from happening just like we were doing before."

The resilience of humans never failed to amaze Gabriel. He'd expected a lot more fighting. A lot more swearing and arguments and all around trouble. Yet here Bobby was just rolling with the punches and adapting to their circumstances with a whole lot more grace than Gabriel had expected. He would've understood more fighting, even if he'd been annoyed by it. He'd been prepared for it. This easy acquiescence was good even if it set him on edge a little. Nothing was ever this simple.

Sam made some soft sound against his shoulder and pressed in a little closer, seeking out safety, and Gabriel tightened his hold just the slightest bit. No, nothing was ever simple. But he was beginning to think that sometimes there were things that were very much worth it.

Until they were all sure of Castiel, there wasn't a lot they could talk about in front of him. Gabriel was only going to trust him with so much information for now. He wasn't going to put these people at risk if he ended up being wrong about Castiel's trustworthiness. But he had a feeling he wasn't wrong. The way that Castiel looked at Dean, and the way that Dean looked back at him, showed more than just a little connection between them. More than once the two ended up staring at one another in a way that made Gabriel roll his eyes. Dad above, was he really going to have to deal with ridiculous sexual tension between these two on top of everything else? At one point he couldn't help switching to Enochian to murmur to Sam, keeping his voice low so Castiel wouldn't hear. "Please tell me these two go their act together and finally admitted their feelings for one another."

The smile he'd gotten in response to that question had been the brightest one that he'd seen so far. Not large, still just barely there, yet compared to the fear that usually sat on Sam's face it just made it seem all the brighter. Sam had shaken his head. Gabriel resolved to do something about that. He wasn't going to sit around and watch them pine for one another. Once he dealt with Castiel and helped him get his head screwed on straight, he'd see what he could do about giving him a nudge towards his hunter.

Eventually, Sam's exhaustion won out and he felt asleep yet again with his head in Gabriel's lap. He slept better when they were touching. After that, it wasn't hard to nudge the other hunters off towards the rooms he snapped up for them. Only when they were finally shut away did the archangel turn his attention to the last remaining member of the room. "Sit down, Castiel."

Castiel took a seat in a nearby chair. Seeing him perched so awkwardly there had Gabriel snorting and shaking his head. Kid wasn't used to being in his vessel, that was obvious.

Bright blue eyes moved down to look where Sam was resting and there was something in that look that had Gabriel wanting to pull his wings out. He resisted, but he couldn't stop how his voice sharpened a little. "Remember your promises, bro. I won't let you hurt anyone here."

Those eyes snapped up to Gabriel's face. "I will not hurt anyone, brother."

"But…?"

For a second Castiel was quiet. His eyes drifted back down to Sam and, though his vessel didn't show it, his wings showed his confusion. "I do not understand why you protect him so. What he is… he is not human. Even more so than he was before. The stain of demon blood may be gone somehow, but the mix of grace and soul marks him as even more of an abomination. Is he truly even Sam Winchester anymore, or is he something sent back to destroy us?"

Gabriel couldn't stop the bitter sounding laugh that bubbled up. "Destroy us?" He smoothed his hand over Sam's hair and brushed it back from his face. Even in sleep, the kid didn't lose his tension, the fear stamped on his face. "Look at him, Cas. Really look at him. Does he look like he could hurt anyone?"

"He killed Uriel."

"Because Uriel was going to hurt me. Sam protected the one person he feels safest around right now. That doesn't exactly mark him as bad, kiddo." Hardening his voice once more, Gabriel added on, "And if you call him an abomination again, you'll find yourself living here without a voice. Whatever's wrong with him, whatever's been done, it hasn't been his fault. Not even the demon blood was his fault."

"He drank it willingly with Ruby." Castiel pointed out.

"Yeah, cause you guys had nothing to do with that." Snorting, Gabriel shook his head again. "You guys have been trying to push them apart and get Sammy closer to breaking that last seal. I know you're not stupid, Cas. I know you can see what's going on. Michael wants this fight. No one's actually trying to stop it. They're pushing and pushing these boys until they break apart. And you're helping them along like a good little seraph. But I know you, I remember you. You always had questions. I doubt that's changed now. You had to have questioned what they were doing or why." When Castiel said nothing, simply sat there, it was as clear of an answer as any words would've been. Gabriel's lips quirked up. "You've already begun rebelling. Because of that human back there, you've been questioning, and they aren't happy about it, are they?"

"I have been… reminded of my place." Castiel said slowly.

Yeah, he could imagine that. Gabriel knew how they did things like that. "I know there's a part of you that knows this isn't right. Even with their 'retraining', there's a part of you that's connected to Dean, an that part of you knows that this whole thing is wrong. Dad doesn't want the apocalypse right now."

Castiel sat up straighter and his wings lifted up in open shock. "You've spoken with Him?"

"No." That almost made him snort again. "No one's spoken with Daddy in a long, long time, kiddo. But don't you think if He wanted this, He would've had me sounding my Horn? Don't you think He would've had His messenger out spreading the word? Kind of my job. Just because none of you knew where I was doesn't mean that He didn't. He would've told me. Telling stuff like that, it's kind of in the job description." He lifted one hand and swirled it around his face. "Dad's Messenger."

He could tell that he'd given Castiel a lot to think about. Between the fight at Bobby's place, his warnings and such when Castiel had followed his bond here, and then all of this. It was a lot and it needed a chance to sink in. Some things only started to make sense when give the time to process, even for angels. Shifting himself a little on the couch, Gabriel very carefully began to shift Sam and gather him up in his arms. Carrying the moose was nothing for him. "I'll give you time to think about what I said. Relax, meditate, whatever it is you need to do to get this all figured out. Just, don't try and leave, kid. No one's getting in or out right now and I don't wanna have to come ground you if you make any attempts. I'm gonna take my Winchester back to bed so he can try and get some kind of rest."

"Do they realize what it means for you to have claimed him?"

The question was surprising, though it really shouldn't have been. Gabriel stopped with Sam cradled in his arms, standing at the edge of the couch. He looked to Castiel, who was watching him with an unreadable expression. "No." He finally said. "The other two would probably freak if they did, and there's no telling how much Sam understands of things right now. Until today, he hasn't exactly been talking."

Castiel's eyes ran over Sam and it warmed Gabriel and reassured him a little to see how the seraph softened. There was hope if he was feeling bad for Sam. "Our brothers did great damage to him in his timeline."

"Yeah." And Gabriel would be damned before he allowed it to happen all over again.

The house was quiet as he carried Sam back to the bedroom. He laid Sam down in the bed, running a hand over his forehead to try and smooth away the lines there. Already, the kid was starting to twitch, his dreams seeping in past whatever wards Gabriel tried to put up. He let himself get pulled down into the bed without any protest and curled himself around his human. A second later, he wrapped his wings around Sam. "The things you do to me, kid." He murmured.

Curling tighter around him, arms, body and wings, he held Sam close and tried to figure out what they were going to do now. Heaven knew Gabriel was back – and they knew he had Sam. Their time to heal him wasn't going to be as long as they'd hoped. Tomorrow, he was going to have to start pushing, maybe even reach down into the chaos that was the kid's mind.

Closing his eyes, Gabriel did something that he hadn't done in a long time, and he prayed to his Father to help make sure he didn't break the boy who'd come to mean way too much to him.