Everyone Has Choices
Crowley wasn't stupid and he knew when he wanted to be found. He had connections everywhere and in all planes of existence. Nobody understood though exactly how well connected, smart, and prepared he was which is why they were always caught off guard when he started showing his hand. The Winchesters were getting cocky and actually thought that if they sent their angel pet to follow him that he would easily lead Castiel to his place without him knowing. It was funny how people were so easily manipulated when he pretended that he had no idea he was being followed.
This was going to be one of the bigger decisions in his life because there was only one other decision made that was bigger than this and that's the one that landed him here in the first place. It kept him safe, got rid of old alias' and no paper trail to follow. Crowley knew that if he didn't step in now then things might not go as planned. He had his own agenda and as much as he hated the idea of increasing his chances of being found out, he had to do it. This was the only way he would assure his top goal. He poured a new glass of Craig as he watched a video from World War II and when his power went out he only smiled. About time boys.
Gabriel knew they were currently getting ready to go after the devil and try killing him with the colt and he wanted to make sure he got to talk to Castiel before he left with the Winchester's so he snapped himself to the motel room. Castiel was still in there and he turned to look at Gabriel surprised that he had found them. "Don't worry the sigils on their ribs are still working. I've just made sure to keep close by."
Castiel still wasn't that impressed and felt his grace twitch to materialize his angel blade but knew better. He couldn't fight Gabriel and knew the other would win the battle. "The Winchesters won't say yes Gabriel." he glared at him hoping that the archangel wasn't here so he could set a trap or anything to get the boys to give into their destiny.
"I'm not here for that. I just want to talk with you Castiel. I didn't regret leaving Heaven over all these years, I regretted leaving you behind." he started waiting to see if it would provoke any other kind of reaction other than glaring. It didn't but at least he gave it a try. "It's true Castiel, I've missed you above all the other angels. You were my favorite fledgling because you were always curious and open to having fun. I hated to see you turn into a soldier but recently…" he paused glancing over at the Winchester's duffel bags. "You've been coming back. You're curious again and coming out of that soldier Raphael and Michael forced you to be."
"It is because of Dean and Sam." he nodded because it was taking care of Dean, saving Dean, and being around them that was helping him realize what Heaven was doing was wrong. "It doesn't change if you missed me Gabriel, you still left."
Gabriel nodded not going to deny it even if it seemed like he was trying. "I still love you Cassy and I'm here to help them, help you."
Castiel tilted his head and narrowed his eyes. "Why would you suddenly change your mind?" he asked.
"It's not sudden it's been a few weeks since we've talked."
"It's still sudden and I do not wish the brothers to be harmed by our family anymore."
"I know that Castiel but please listen to me and trust me again." pleaded Gabriel hating to see how much the angel had come to hate him. Gabriel knew that he had all reason too but that didn't stop the pain it caused him. He had learned about emotions over his years being here which is why he was more in tune with how this situation was affecting the both of them. Castiel crossed his arms not sure if he should trust him again but he could still feel that urge to stay close to Gabriel and hug him tightly. Gabriel was really the one who helped him grow up from a fledgling. He took it as a good sign that he hadn't left yet or tried banishing him and took a deep breath. "This will be hard to believe but I want to help you. I don't want to keep leaving you and abandoning you like I have before. I also have…a thing for Sam and we were developing it before I did the wrong thing. I really thought that taking the easy way out and letting the world go to hell would be the best way but maybe there is a chance to beat our brother in another way." he explained his thoughts and two of the main reasons he was really here. Here for Castiel, needing to be here for him since he had abandoned him all these years already and for Sam who was having the worst end of the deal.
Castiel shifted slightly and finally took his gaze off of him looking to the side. His arms slowly unfolded and he wasn't sure of what to believe. He truly wanted his brother to help them and he was missing his family. He couldn't go to Heaven anymore since he was considered a traitor and just knowing Gabriel was alive helped him out immensely over the past few months. "I want to believe you Gabriel but how will I know you're telling the truth? I can't read your thoughts and sense a lie…you're higher ranked."
Gabriel knew he would want to make sure that he covered his basics especially because of how attached he had become of Dean and Sam, specifically Dean. "I'm not sure of how I can get you to trust me right now but I need it. I need your trust again Castiel. You were my favorite fledgling which is why I never complained about them continuing to add on years to watch you as you grew. Just trust me now and I promise that if this plan of the colt goes wrong, I will find another way to stop this without having the apocalypse happen." he said putting his hand out for Castiel to take.
Castiel's eyes finally went back to Gabriel's face and they weren't trying to set him ablaze. They were sad, slightly relieved, and a little happy because he really thought that deep down Gabriel couldn't have died and here he was. He was happy even if he looked mad the whole time since it was more reassuring that the archangel that had watched over him was as much of a traitor as he was. He was even willing to be back on the radar to help him and his charge. "I will." he agreed taking his hand for a few seconds before pulling away.
Gabriel would have none of that though as he quickly wrapped his arms around the angel before he could get too far. "Thank you Castiel." he said feeling Castiel tense but instantly relax. Their wings weren't taken out but the wisps of what the humans usually heard when they arrived and left brushed against each other relaxing Castiel even further.
"Do not make me regret this Gabriel."
"Aw come on! I'm on your side now Mr. Serious Face." he smirked and walked around to look at him. "Keep me updated and call me at any time you need help, you don't have to go this alone anymore." he reassured Castiel placing his hand on his shoulder smiling.
Castiel wished he would have stayed as soon as Gabriel left again and looked up toward the sky. "Please Father, if you are still listening to me, let this plan work." he prayed even though none of his prayers had ever been answered by God.
"He just gave you the colt?" asked Castiel with a small tilt of his head. He was completely ignoring the obvious stares and questions hidden behind the Winchester's eyes since Gabriel had decided to show up when they returned. The archangel was currently eating candy and watching Dr. Sexy but he was paying attention to the conversation.
"Yeah he did." answered Dean as he continued to glare at the back of Gabriel's head.
"Apparently he wants the devil dead just as badly as we do. He wants to stay in 'sales' and that will be impossible if the apocalypse happens." further explained Sam still trying to figure it out himself. There was no absolute way to guarantee this would even work which is why it surprised him the most since Crowley could easily be hunted down if it goes wrong.
Castiel furrowed his eyebrows as if he was trying to think of why a demon would stick his neck out so much for them as well when Dean walked past him. He watched Dean and he realized where he was heading. "Dean…" he started.
"What the fuck are you doing here?" he asked standing directly in Gabriel's way of the television. Dean needed answers now as to why they were suddenly housing an archangel that wanted them dead.
Gabriel smirked up at him and wiggled his eyebrows. "Eating gummi worms." he stated taking a few more out of the bag to eat them.
Dean's eye twitched and grabbed the remote to turn off the television. "Last I knew you wanted us dead and we don't house enemies."
"I'm not the enemy anymore." he sighed rolling his eyes and snapped his fingers so the television was back on even if he couldn't see through the human wall currently in his way.
Before Dean could try to punch him Castiel spoke up. "Dean, he wants to help us. I believe that your pep talk to him when he was trapped got to him and he is now our ally."
Sam was a little anxious about this revelation only because he had fallen for Gabriel's lies once before and he wasn't about to let that happen again. "How do you know for sure?"
"Yeah Cas because last I knew he was trying to get the apocalypse going." reminded Dean crossing his arms. Gabriel was staying quiet since he figured not speaking would be one of the better options while the three of them talked it over.
Castiel stared at Dean daring him to not trust him until even Dean had to look away. Dean was good at facing the stare but he wasn't that good when Castiel was making a point and showing the raw strength he had in just words. He then turned around to face Sam. "I don't know for sure but he is my brother and I will put trust into him again."
That is when it hit home to the Winchester's because even if Castiel's family was very fucked up right now here was the first angel who was on their side. He was the first family member to really talk to Castiel without the intent to kill. Sure he threatened Castiel but in reality he could have done a lot worse than a broken nose or bruises that easily healed once he was out of television land. Dean was the first to give up and walked into the bathroom. Sam looked at the back of Gabriel's head surprised that he wasn't saying anything snarky or witty about how easily Dean had given up. "If you trust him then we will too Castiel." he stated.
Castiel really did try not to look too relieved when the brothers agreed to trust Gabriel since he was happy there was someone in his family who didn't consider him a traitor. He was still hard on the outside but to have Gabriel by his side again made him feel more relaxed then he has in centuries. "Thank you Sam." he said before going after Dean to make sure he was truly alright with the situation.
Gabriel got up from the couch leaving the bag of gummi worms on the coffee table since he wanted to check out this demon Crowley. He needed to make sure he didn't have something else planned that would harm Castiel or the boys. He wasn't planning on going on any suicide missions just yet but he would help with information and fact checking. What he didn't expect was Sam to be still looking over at him and startled a little. "Do you see something you like?" he winked.
Sam averted his eyes right away shaking his head. "Nothing like that Gabriel." he quickly assured him not wanting to stay on that subject. "I just can't bring myself to put full trust in you."
"Neither can Castiel, trust me. I'm not out of the woods even with him yet." he explained and moved around the couch so he could lean on the back of it.
"Why are you doing this? Why are you helping us when you are tired of the fighting?" he asked needing to hear the reasons himself.
Gabriel grumbled in a language Sam didn't understand and he quickly filed under the assumption it was Enochian. "Do you want me to be completely honest and bare my non-existent heart out to you?" he asked with a bit of bitterness. He really had no reason to be so upset about Sam not trusting him since he screwed it up himself yet he couldn't help it. He liked Sam and to see that what trust he had built up before was already gone annoyed him.
Sam gave him a bitch face hating to see Gabriel act just like his brother. There was probably a code for older brothers that they had to follow and one of them must have been making the younger sibling's life hell when they were concerned. "Don't act like Dean, I get it enough of it from him."
"Look I just want to help the one family I regretted most when I left Heaven. I helped Castiel learn everything since he was fledgling to a full grown angel. That is a long time to be with someone and then I went and abandoned him. I want to try to get that connection we had before." he quickly answered just so Sam could get off his back but was holding back the Sam part of the reason he was here. That would be way too awkward and he hadn't had the time to talk in private like he wanted with Sam. "Good enough? Can I go now?"
"Where are you going?"
"Don't be a mother hen I can take care of myself and unlike you two, I'm sure I can get more dirt on this Crowley character." he answered before disappearing.
Crowley had found himself a very secluded location where no demon should be able to find him. He didn't think an archangel would be looking for him and was glad he had put up angel proofing on his temporary house. He knew who was outside his house and that he wouldn't be attacked. "Hello~." called Gabriel at the front door and knocked on it. "Candy gram!"
Crowley rolled his eyes and downed the rest of the Craig in the glass before getting up and fixing his suit. He answered the door with a small smile on his face. "This would have to be the mystery flavored right?" he asked.
Gabriel wasn't the least bit thrown off and smiled right back. "Mystery flavors are always the best because you get to have fun guessing."
"Oh darling, don't underestimate me because I only need one guess with you Gabriel, the archangel, who is supposed to be dead." he stated his smile turning into a smirk while the other's smile faltered.
"You're right, I shouldn't underestimate you." he said trying to figure out who this demon was exactly. He had heard enough from whispers, rumors, and Castiel getting him up to speed but even with a demon lover as strong as Lilith shouldn't give him the ability to sniff out archangels.
"Don't go mind reader on me either, won't work. Your wing mate Castiel tried to probe around a few times while I was making the deal with the piggy banker a few days ago. Do you want a drink?"
Gabriel was indeed trying to poke around his mind but it was a weird haze to him, one he hadn't come across before and he shook his head. "I'm fine."
Crowley shrugged it off as he walked inside the house to pour himself another glass of Craig before coming back. "What is it you're here for?"
"I just wanted to make sure that you had no intentions of harming the Winchester's or Castiel." he answered seeing that there was no point to be formal or considerate anymore. Crowley was setting off many different weird vibes with him and try as he might he still couldn't pinpoint exactly which one he should follow up with. He would need to investigate a lot more on Crowley when he ran out of leads on devil killing.
"I'm pretty sure Sam and Dean have already told you and I don't like repeating myself."
"Hearing it from you will set me more at ease."
"Because you're a big bad archangel who could strike me down at any moment?" he asked doing a lot more homework which meant whoever was his informants had very close eyes on the Winchester's at all times.
"Just tell me."
Crowley sighed and set his Craig down on the table in the hallway. "Alright now listen. I hate wasting my breath on things that don't need to be said twice. I want the devil dead so I can continue being in sales, that's it."
Gabriel was trying to use his ability without using too much grace since he wanted to stay as the ace up their sleeve not being able to read him completely but for what he could he was telling the truth. He was putting the blame on the Enochian sigils that he couldn't read him as well since he was not stepping outside the house and he couldn't get in. "Don't try anything." he warned before disappearing.
"You were never scary and it hasn't changed much." smirked Crowley before he closed the door to relax the rest of his vacation from being hunted.
Sam was on his laptop staying up much later than Bobby or Dean since he was trying to find them another hunt. A good distraction is exactly what they needed after losing Ellen and Jo. It was still hard to believe that they were really gone and on top of that, the colt didn't kill the devil or they would be celebrating. He sighed after his eyes could no longer focus and he rubbed them leaning back in his chair. He really needed a distraction right about now and as his luck would have it, one appeared.
"Samsquatch, you'll ruin your eye sight by staring at this screen for so long." stated Gabriel as he pushed the laptop closed so Sam knew he was done for the night.
"Shut up Gabriel." he said and refused to open his eyes. Sam wasn't in the mood for Gabriel's antics.
"Well geez, after claiming to be on the same side you still don't treat me very well." he pouted leaning against the small table.
Sam sighed opening his eyes and looking at Gabriel. "So far you haven't done much to avoid the apocalypse." he pointed out.
Gabriel's pout only deepened at the statement and glanced at the laptop. "I have been looking but you really think there's much I can tell you that you don't already know?" Sadly Sam couldn't argue that point since they were trying to do the near impossible by killing the devil without the help of Michael and the power of Heaven. "Listen before I panicked and thought the apocalypse was the only way out, I was serious about you Sam."
"It's hard to believe that when you felt so strongly about watching me die just so your family would stop fighting." he frowned not able to glare anymore at him because whether he would like to admit it or not it was nice to hear that from him.
"I know it is but I liked the friendship we had and I left out earlier when I told you the reasons I was here that one of them was to be buddies with you again. Text each other, bitch about your brother, and you sneaking out just to come see little old me." he smirked.
Sam had to force back his smile at that and shook his head. "You have a bigger head than I thought."
"Oh you have no idea." he said wiggling his eyebrows.
Sam couldn't stop his eyes from darting to Gabriel's crotch but they were back up at his face just as quickly. "You know what I mean." He stood up and stretched a little trying to do anything so he didn't look embarrassed just in case Gabriel had caught his quick look.
Gabriel did see his eyes dart down and his smirk only grew wider. He was thinking things were going well until Sam suddenly stood up. He decided then to ask the pressing question now before Sam could run away completely and ignore him until he had gotten his rest. "Do you want to be friends with me again?"
Sam had to take the time to think about it because the truth was, he did want to be friends with him, he still kind of wanted to hate him, and deep down he also wanted to be more than friends. That feeling never went away even after Gabriel declared he was up for the apocalypse. He took a deep breath knowing that he had to answer because he wasn't that mean and it wasn't that big of a question. "Sure, but not tonight." he said since he did have to get rest and ignored how much lighter he felt after answering the question as he went upstairs to bed.
So I had a little fun with this chapter and am amazed I got it up in a week! I think it's a week…well whatever. Since after Gishwhes is done and the semester is starting to get easier to handle I should be able to do weekly updates again. Hopefully you're still enjoying the story and be ready for a time jump (which in this case will be episode jump).