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Chapter Ten: The Four Horsemen

"Cryin' won't help you, prayin' won't do you no good, / Now, cryin' won't help you, prayin' won't do you no good, / When the levee breaks, mama, you got to move." – Led Zeppelin "When the Levee Breaks"

Dean wakes to a scream, and his body is stumbling out of bed faster than his brain can move. He's heading down the stairs in a rush, and he realizes as he turns the corner and shoots for the kitchen that he's only wearing boxer-briefs and he isn't armed. They had a long night at the Rockyard watching Sariel sing with the band, and Dean is both hung over and annoyed. The last two weeks have been quiet. He wanted it to stay that way for a little while. He hears Sam's feet stuttering behind him, and then he's swinging the kitchen door wide open and staring at the sight in front of him. He's not sure if he should be alarmed or amused, so he goes with a combination and lets it happen.

Behind him Sam is beginning to sputter, in front of him Sariel is standing in flannel pajama pants and a tank top, and she's slowly lowering a kitchen knife. The girl in front of her is gorgeous, well-endowed, and wearing one of Sam's white undershirts. Dean can't help but roughly elbow his brother. The sunlight is making the shirt terrible cover, and the pretty redhead is outlined perfectly through it. "Good job Sammy!"

Sariel has put the knife down entirely and her hands are up, trying to calm the girl down and glare Dean to death all at the same time. "It's alright, it's alright. I didn't know you were here and I thought you were an intruder."

The girl's face is bright red, and her eyes roam from Sariel to Dean and over Sam before moving back to Sariel. "Oh my god. I'm so sorry. I didn't know Sam had roommates. I was looking for a cup."

Sariel backs towards Dean and Sam moves past them to hug the girl tightly. Dean is surprised to see that the angel's face is bright red. "Uh. Really it's ok. Just a big mistake. Dean and I were just getting dressed to leave for a few hours."

"I thought we'd have breakfast first." Sam's look could peel the paint off the walls, and Sariel's fingers twist in his underwear before she pulls him roughly from the room. Dean is laughing all the way upstairs.

They dress quickly, and they don't see Sam or the redhead as they leave the house and get in the Impala. Dean can't stop looking at her in the passenger seat. Her eyes are closed and her head is tilted back so that her face absorbs the sunlight. A thought has begun to nag at him in the last few weeks, and Dean is trying to work through it. Ever since the night they came home and found her in the kitchen with Bobby it has been all Dean can think about.

"Where are we headed?"

She grins and rolls her window down a bit to soak in the air. "Anywhere that's not here."

Dean can't help himself. "You think Sammy is serious about that girl, or it's just a one night thing?"

Sariel opened one grey eye and peered at Dean. "I think it's none of our damn business. Sam's a grown man."

Dean laughs softly. "I can see that. Did you see the rack on that girl? Man I used to-"

The breath leaves him, and his fingers clench on the wheel. He forgets sometimes how fast Sariel is, and it's a weakness he needs to overcome because she has his pants undone and his cock in her mouth before he can finish the sentence. When she growls around him in warning he responds with a moan, and tries to keep the car on the road.

"Shut up and drive around Dean."

"Yes ma'am."

When they return in the early evening the girl has left, and Sam is waiting for them in the living room. He glares at Dean before turning to Sariel. "I'm sorry. I should have asked you before I came home with her, but you were busy trying to carry my idiot brother out, and I-"

Sariel's smile is broad as she pulls Sam into a hug. "It's ok Sam. It's your home too. Bring anyone you want."

Dean fights it, but he can't hold out, and when he speaks they both turn and look at him in horror. "But make sure they all look like that."

The missions have begun to roll in, and Dean and Sam find themselves traveling back and forth across the country to fight demons. Every now and then they pick up a hunt, but most of their time is consumed with the war against the forces the let out of Hell. Dean's often exhausted and bruised, and he goes to bed at night listening to Sam snore or shift in nightmares while the thought nags at him. When they return home after a particularly grueling battle with a group of demons in Arkansas he watches Sariel as she slices apples into a bowl.

"What are you making?"

She looked up from her work and raised an eyebrow suggestively. "Sam told me someone loved pie. I thought I'd make some."

Dean can feel his mouth watering, and that little thread of internal conversation forces his mouth to move. "I don't like the word girlfriend. Sounds like we're teenagers."

She drops the last slice in the bowl and sprinkles in cinnamon and sugar before mixing it with her hands. "Then don't call me your girlfriend."

"Lovers sounds like a dime store romance novel." She's holding the ladder while he paints the trim above the door. He feels her grip waver and then solidify. From across the porch Sam is watching him contemplatively.

"Then don't use the word lover. You're dripping on the porch Dean."

She's stitching up a cut Sam got from a demon in Minnesota. Her fingers are steady and careful as Sam watches her closing the wound on his bicep. Dean clears his throat.

"Partners sounds like what Sam and I are. Significant others takes too long to say."

Sam hisses in pain as the needle wavers and Sariel looks up. "Dean Winchester. Speak your peace or shut up about this."

"I think we should get married."

Sam's yelp is almost congratulatory.

The ceremony is small. Dean knows that this can't be legal, and neither one of them is interested in big, traditional, or religious. They have it under the willow tree in the backyard and Bobby officiates. Sam is his best man. When she walks down the grass towards him she is barefoot and wearing a simple white sundress. Dean looks at the calla lilies in her hands, at the overly serious expression on her face, and the way her toes grip the earth as she stands across from him. He doesn't regret his decision for a second. Afterwards the four of them eat steak and drink together. Bobby can't stop crowing about how wonderful it is that Dean's stopped acting like a cat in heat and Sam's smile is so broad it looks like his face will break. Dean watches them, his family, and feels a completeness he never entertained could be his.

The universe, or the Word, or whatever decides these things, gives them two weeks of peace. Two weeks of laughter, and love making, and anything they want to do. Dean finally sees the damn Grand Canyon, and he's impressed but his eyes keep straying to Sariel and Sam laughing and joking beside him.

When things go bad, as they always seem to do, Dean will hold onto these memories like a life raft. He will grip them tightly as he drowns.

Dean admits he can't help himself. He picks up a hunt as they head back from the Grand Canyon. Sariel is amused, but she keeps a distance from them as they work. The articles he'd found covered a variety of issues, and if they had been isolated events he wouldn't have given them a second glance, but together they paint a tantalizing picture. Sightings of aliens, werewolves, and of all things a unicorn, make the hunt too mouthwatering to pass up. Sariel insists on riding in the back of the Impala, and when they finally reach Harmony he watches a group of teenagers eye her legs as she swings out of the car. When they look to him he gives the same "yeah that's mine" grin he's given Sam a thousand times while escorting a hot girl out of the bar. Sam is laughing at him when he turns back to them.

The local diner is buzzing with information, and Sam and Dean have no trouble getting more than enough stories out of the waitress, the fry cook, and anyone else who can get some quality time in with the two big shot reporters.

Dean stutters when the local sheriff asks for Sariel's identity, and she slips in smoothly, "This was supposed to be our honeymoon." The sheriff gives her an understanding smile and she returns it easily.

They hike towards a clearing in the woods in the afternoon, and Sariel stands back snapping pictures as Sam and Dean investigate the perfectly round space cut out of the trees.

"Ok. This is weird." Sam is nodding as Dean continues to look around. "So we have a variety of stories, no deaths, and one freaky ass circle. Maybe the Trickster?"

Sam's frown is puzzled. "No, the Trickster always kills people man. It's his M.O., and so far all this stuff has been harmless. Mischievous but harmless. Maybe it's-"Sam's voice cuts off abruptly, and Dean hears Sariel swear. When he turns around there is a unicorn standing at the edge of the clearing watching them. must be the trickster. them.

The

"Is that…?" Dean can feel his eyebrows touching his hairline.

"Yeah man. Holy shit."

They both turn to Sariel, who's eyeing the creature warily from behind her sunglasses. Dean waits expectantly, and then finally gives in to his curiosity. "Well? What do you think?"

Her eyes never leave the mythological beast staring at them. "I think that is very strange."

Sam's face is the picture of astonishment. "Very strange? You're an archangel. You've been around since the beginning of Creation. Haven't you seen one of these before?"

The look Sariel gives him is pitying. "Sam. There's no such thing as unicorns." Dean points helplessly to the one in front of her and she shakes her head. "No. No such thing. Try again."

When they look back to the unicorn it is gone, and Dean shakes his head in exasperation.

They have been there three days, and Dean is getting a headache. In that time they've seen aliens, they've seen a very small version of the Loch Ness monster, and just for kicks they caught a flash of Santa Claus pelting children with water balloons from his sleigh. It all seemed so funny and exciting from a distance, but now that they're neck-deep in it Dean's just really fucking frustrated. Other than minor fender benders, a few people tripped into mud, and one scraped knee no one has been injured, and the sightings are becoming more frequent by the day. Sariel is kicked back in the booth of the diner watching them puzzle over it. The night before Sam was glued to his laptop, literally, and she shared Sam's accusatory look at Dean despite his protests. Now Sam is flipping through printouts and shooting Dean death glares. Dean finally turns to his wife.

"Babe, if you got any ideas this would be a great time to share them."

She sips at her coke for a moment before pointing to the menu on the wall. "I think you should order a milkshake."

Dean looks at her in astonishment, but Sam's eyes narrow and he raises his hand to get the waitress. She approaches slowly, as the group of them have tipped less with every day, and raises a silent eyebrow at Sam.

"I'd like a milkshake please." Sam's voice is dry, and his eyes never leave Sariel. Dean is following the looks between them like a tennis match, and he watches as a sly grin slides across her face.

The waitress frowns softly. "I'm sorry sir, but we've been having a problem with the fridge lately. The milk keeps curdling." Sam's hand slaps the table and the waitress jumps back in alarm. Dean watches his brother put on his best dimpled smile and turn to the waitress.

"Thank you, so much. I'm sorry about the noise. I just realized something. Thank you. Really. And sorry." The waitress nods and retreats quickly.

Dean has to rush to follow Sam, and he glances back to see Sariel leaving the waitress an incredibly generous tip. She has a small smile on her face. When they get to the car Sam spins to Dean.

"We were close, but not there. It's a Pooka. A mischievous spirit that gets its kicks from messing with people unless they share their crops. I gotta research its weaknesses, but the milk was a dead giveaway."

Dean nods slowly and lets the sarcasm in his voice show his confusion. "Yeah. I totally got that. So it's not dangerous?"

"Well, no, not really man. Not normally. But it can be."

Sam spends an hour on the internet, and Dean notices that his brother is very careful about what surfaces he touches. When Sam finishes he snaps the lid closed and looks up at the two of them with blazing eyes. "It's the unicorn. One of us has to ride it."

Dean bites his cheek and looks away. "Well look at that Sammy, it's your girlhood dream come true."

The punch in the shoulder is completely worth it.

They are standing at the edge of the clearing, and they both have rope mixed with Pooka hair in their hands. Hair they spent the majority of the damn day trying to find. Dean's eyes scan the circle as they wait for the beast to poke its head out. "So all we gotta do is ride it for a while and then make it promise to leave people alone?"

"That's what the lore says." Sam is shifting carefully, and the rope is swinging softly in his hands. Sariel sits off to the side of the two of them and stares at the stars through the trees. When she speaks her voice is soft.

"It's a beautiful night guys. Have you looked at how pretty the sky is?"

Sam raises a questioning eyebrow at Dean, and he responds with a shrug. She waits a moment and then speaks again just as softly. "Seriously boys. Look up."

Dean glances upwards just in time to see the unicorn running down one of the huge trees and right at them.

He misses his shot, but Sam catches the unicorn dead on, and then Sam is riding it. Dean watches as they shrink into the distance, and then turns to Sariel. "How long does he ride it for?"

She frowns thoughtfully and stares after where Sam has disappeared. "Maybe we should get the car."

It takes them four hours to find Sam, and when they do he's limping awkwardly down the highway. Dean pulls up beside him and whistles. "Hot date tonight Sammy?"

He wakes the next morning with his hands glued to the headboard. He thinks Sariel might help him, if she can get off the floor and stop laughing.

Michael is waiting for them one morning, and Dean looks at him for a moment before walking past and into the kitchen for coffee. When he comes back out Sam is standing in the hallway staring at Michael blearily. Dean handed his little brother a cup of coffee before the two of them sat down across from the tall archangel.

"It's early. Can't you come at a decent hour?" His voice is too sleep-graveled, and he has to wipe at his bleary eyes while Michael studies them both looking entirely too damn awake and aware.

"This is important. Where is Sariel?"

Dean's brain flashed to the night before, and he thought of her moaning loudly as he entered her from behind and gripped her hips. He shook himself and found Sam looking at him in shock and Michael's eyebrows raised. "She's sleeping. Very tired."

"I'm awake." She padded in barefoot and in shorts before sitting beside Dean and stealing a sip of his coffee. "What's happening?"

Michael's eyes took in Sariel's bare legs, her tousled hair, and then the ring on her left hand. Dean saw him follow it to his own hand, and then he looked up at her face. "Do you know a demon named Ruby?"

Dean's blood ran cold, and beside him Sam tensed warily. Sariel glanced at them before turning back to Michael. "I have heard of her." Her voice is dry. "Why do you ask?"

"We have reports that she's organizing a group of like-minded demons for some sort of movement. We were aware that she was angling for Sam to join them, but as he has been cleaned of Azazel's blood we thought she would give up on that pursuit. We need to know what the new plan is."

Dean can't help but look to Sam, and he sees that his little brother's hands are clenched tightly in his lap. He knows better than to say I told you so, so he waits for Sam to speak. Sam's voice is a mixture of anger, confusion, and misery. "But she helped us. She's different. She said she remembers being human."

Michael gives him a look that speaks volumes, and Dean doesn't care for it. So his brother is a bit of sap for a sad story and the promise of redemption. That's what makes Sam special. He feels Sariel lay a restraining hand on his forearm. She turns to his brother, "That's impossible Sam. What happens in Hell? There's no way to protect your humanity there."

Michael cuts in while Sam's face cycles through expressions. "Yes. She was planning on using you for the same purpose as Azazel. Just a different approach. From everything we can put together she was waiting until after Dean went to Hell, but that didn't work out for her. As far as we can tell she stayed away afterwards because if Sariel had met her…" His voice trails off and he gives Sariel a meaningful look. Her lips twitch once and then straighten out as she takes in Sam's expression.

Dean vividly recalls how insistent the bitch was that talking to Sariel wouldn't work, and that Dean would have to continue hardening Sammy before his imminent departure. He can feel his fists clench, but he keeps looking at Sam. His brother looks both angry and slightly lost. "How do you know all this?"

Dean easily catches Michael's hesitation, but the angel looks completely honest as he responds. "We have informants. Unfortunately none of them are in Cainesville, Utah, which is where you boys will be going."

Sam leans forward, and Dean sees the exact moment his brother turns his rage into focus. He's pretty fucking proud of Sam in that moment. "What are we doing there?"

"You will spy on Ruby and her group. It's important you are not spotted, as her numbers are too large for you to handle alone."

Dean glances at Sariel. "This one of those times we're gonna have backup boss?"

Her mouth opened, but Michael cut in. "No. Sariel has her own mission. If she entered the Cainesville area she would be sensed immediately, and then it would turn into a battle."

Sam's face is puzzled, but Dean gets Michael's attention first. "We're not exactly sneaky guys man. We're more smash and grab than cat burglars if you get my drift. Plus Ruby knows our faces."

Michael tilted his head quizzically, and Dean could see him puzzling through the phrases before he finally nodded. "We'll be taking care of that. The two of you should prepare to leave by the end of the day. "

Sam's eyes finally rise from studying his hands. "What will Sariel be doing?"

Dean glanced at her, but she was only looking at Michael. He cleared his throat. "She's retrieving a lost weapon for us. Something we can't get to."

Sam struggles with his curiosity, but Dean files it away for later. He'll ask her once Michael is gone. The archangel stands carefully and studies the three of them. "Congratulations on your nuptials." He leaves out the front without another word. Dean lets the closing of the door be the sign it's time to question her, but she's already standing and heading for the kitchen.

"Come on guys. I'm getting at least one more decent meal in you before you revert to grease and fat."

Dean watches as she sits in front of Sam. They're both cross-legged on the floor in the basement, and her eyes are very grave. "The point Sam is that I know what you can still do. So let's use it for this mission without pretending it doesn't exist."

Dean would like it if they'd talk in full sentences that made sense, but he's resigned himself to trying to piece together their shattered conversation as it comes. He can't help but notice Sam looks ashamed. "I wasn't hiding it Sari it just…it didn't need to be mentioned."

Her frown is stern. "It did, but you didn't, so shut up and concentrate. Close your eyes, and take a deep breath, and when you reopen them look from the center instead of the sides."

Dean's starting to get really annoyed. His little brother closes his eyes, and then when he reopens them Dean watches as a look he's never seen before crosses Sam's face. His brother pushes himself violently backwards and away from her. Sam's mouth hangs open uselessly and he releases small gasps and points at Sariel.

"You…you…your face is…"

She nods quietly and looks to Dean. Sam's gaze follows hers and Dean sees that his little brother relaxes when he sees him. Sam blinks, and when he looks back to Sariel he seems to have control of himself.

"Do that when you get to Cainesville. Keep your eyes open from the center Sam, and you'll always see the truth."

When she stands her legs seem shaky from the length of her half-lotus position, but she waves away Dean's offer of help. He waits till she's gone upstairs before turning to Sam. Dean may not be the book smart genius his little brother is but he's pretty damn quick on the uptake. "Your psychic stuff never left."

Sam looks ashamed. "No. Not really. When that demon had the gun pointed at her? She told me in my head that he was possessed. It's been little stuff like that even after we became Soldiers."

"You should have told me Sam." His voice is gruffer than he expected it to be, but Sam is already shaking his head and adopting that mulish expression Dean knows so well.

"You wouldn't have understood Dean. Hell I didn't really understand."

Dean chooses not to discuss it. This sounds too much like an opening for Sam to talk feelings, and all of Dean's are hot and raw at the moment. It will do them no good to fight before they head into enemy territory.

"What was she showing you?"

Sam began to ascend the stairs slowly. "How to see demons when they're walking in human skins."

Dean's mind clicks Sam's reaction into place in the context of this admission. "What does she look like?"

Sam's voice is soft and humble. "It was like looking into a star."

Dean isn't surprised.

Cainesville, Utah

Whatever Sariel did to their faces before they left has him itching. It doesn't help that the Camry's acceleration is for shit, and that he's driving the damn thing at all. He's complained, but Sam is unsympathetic to it. When they finally reach Utah Dean can feel his skin crawling. Sariel insisted that he and Sam would look different to demons, but when he looks in the mirror all he sees is himself. Same hazel eyes, same strong jaw, same Dean. He just has to take her word for it.

Cainesville is small, and Dean and Sam should be in their element here. They follow instructions and take a job at the local lumber yard. They make friends. They are well-liked and the whole time Sam's face becomes more of a mockery of itself. A frozen and charming mask that Dean hates to look at. It doesn't take long before they start hearing things, and every time they turn around Sam is giving Dean the little hand signal that suggests the nice old lady at the corner, or the little girl skipping rope, or the pretty waitress with the low-cut shirt is really a demon in disguise. Dean hasn't been this tense in his whole life and he sleeps poorly while they collect information.

Their yard boss is one of the sons of bitches, and three weeks into their stay in Cainesville Sam overhears him talking about their convert and how his help will be instrumental in bringing Lucifer to Earth. Sam tells Dean the information breathlessly as he rubs at his temple and Dean can't help but worry about the perpetual headache Sam has. Still, concerns aside, this is an in they haven't had before. They sit in their rented shack, drinking beer and discussing it.

"So he said this convert has a horn?"

Sam nodded and kept rubbing at his temple. "He said the horn was the key."

Dean can't help his frown. "The key? What, they gonna play a little jazz and that'll wake the Devil up?"

"I don't know Dean. I'd have to look into it and we don't exactly have resources here. She we don't even have internet. Personally? I think we should leave right now. The angels have to know more about this horn than we can ever figure out."

"Man that might not work. It's not a lot of information for three weeks worth of living in this hellhole. I mean come on Sam, a convert and a horn? Those aren't real answers they're Jeopardy clues!"

Sam looks up from the floor, and Dean sees for the first time the full toll that this is taking on his little brother. Sam's skin is pale, his eyes are shadowed and red, his mask has fully slipped off and there's desperation and fear there. It's been a long time since Sam looked up at Dean and begged him with his eyes to be his hero. "Dean. I can't take much more of this. You don't know what it's like to look at them and seethem."

Dean swallows the last of his beer and stands. He hasn't seen Sam look this bad since Jess died, and he'll be damned if he's going to sacrifice his brother for job security. There's no question that Dean Winchester is a hard man. Some might look at the domesticity of his arrangement with Sariel and think that he's softened, and that might be true. Hell it was certainly true. That didn't change the fact that since the age of four there is one subject Dean has never softened on. Protect Sam. Always, before anything else, protect Sam. "Ok Sammy. Pack up."

They're on the road less than hour later, and Dean is tapping the wheel lightly as Golden Earring comes on. "Hey Sam, 'Radar Love'! This is a good one."

Sam gives him the ghost of a smile, and then he sees his brother's mouth open wide before his eyes snap back to the road. There's a man there and Dean swerves the wheel with only a second to spare. The sedan skids to a stop right in front of a tree. Dean has to remind himself to breathe. He barely hears Sam quietly say his name over the sound of the music.

"I know Sammy. Shit. Where did that guy-"

"Dean."

"Yeah, ok, I get it. Close call, but-"

"Dean." That is when Dean looks into the rearview mirror. The face coming towards them is familiar, and it takes him a moment to process it. When he does all the hairs on the back of his neck stand up.

"Sam. Get out of the car Sam." But there's no time for Sam to listen to him, because Gabriel is grabbing the back bumper and flipping the car with an effortless grace Dean can't appreciate as the world turns upside down. When they slam on to the roof of the car Dean feels the impact against his seatbelt like a punch to his lungs. He fights to breathe through the fire in his chest. Glass explodes around them, and he hears something in his shoulder pop sickeningly. Then he's hanging upside down beside Sam, and he knows without checking that the comforting weight of his weapon is gone from his jacket pocket. Somehow the radio stays on, and Dean can study the road through the one headlight that is still working. Gabriel's smile is just as broad and insane as it was the day he came to their home, and Dean reaches around with the arm he can move searching for the seatbelt buckle. When he finds it and pops the button the impact of his head with the roof turned floor is jarring, and his vision wavers at the pain in his shoulder.

He can hear Sam scrabbling for the sawed-off, and Dean is almost disappointed that when he finally gets to use this quote it may be his last one. "Faster Sam, faster would be better."

Gabriel's sword appears out of thin air, his wings spread, and he lifts it high as he continues to bear down on them. Dean feels the cold wood grip of the sawed-off brush his hand, and when he turns Sam is fighting for consciousness as he pushes his gun at his older brother. Dean scrabbles to pull himself out of the window, and gets halfway out before he has to use his only functioning arm to pull the gun out. He sees the glint of metal lowering on him, and then there is a sound that splits the night and shakes the ground underneath him. When Dean's eyes focus forward he's looking at low-topped sneakers, jean-clad legs with a deep gash in one thigh, and then black feathered wings and long blue-black hair. It's probably relief he feels, but Dean isn't a damsel in distress. He uses his good arm to pull himself the rest of the way out of the vehicle, and then leans against it to aim the gun.

Sariel's arms are lifted high, and she has caught Gabriel's sword in between her two smaller blades. Dean can only see the left side of her face, and in the moonlight her eye is a darker silver than he's ever witnessed before bisected by the shadowed line of her scar. Her voice, when it rolls across him, is so furious and destructive that he's almost afraid of her. "Gabriel. Stand down."

Gabriel's smile widens impossibly, and he shifts his balance before pulling back his sword and swinging again. She catches it at the last second and throws him backwards with her return show of force. When he finally speaks the archangel's voice makes Dean want to claw his eyes out. "Dirty, tainted, broken Sariel wishes to save the world? Save the mortals? Have you even told him what you did?"

She attacks. It's unlike her, and Dean feels unease at it. She's vicious, and he can't keep up with the speed of her movements. Her recklessness gives her two deep cuts on Gabriel, but earns her a gash in her side. Gabriel waves one hand and she is sent flying across the road and into a tree. He fumbles with the shotgun as Gabriel turns back to him, and then she's descending through the air at full speed and slamming into the larger archangel's back. They twist and tumble into the road, and she's up and canted wildly before he can push himself from the asphalt. Dean can see her stagger through the dim light. There's something very wrong here. Barry Hay wails about a dead radar lover behind him as Gabriel lifts from the ground. She doesn't have to tell him what she's doing as she stumbles backwards and leads the mad archangel in a tight circle. Shotguns aren't the best for precision, but if he has the bastard in close range it won't matter much.

When she's led him so that his back is to Dean and his sword is lifting Dean doesn't hesitate. Can't hesitate. He pulls the shotgun up and points taking Gabriel in the back. When the archangel turns around and gives him a look of surprise Dean pulls the trigger again, and sends the other barrel into him. Gabriel falls without a sound and the air around them ripples with energy. He can't think about that though. His brother is badly injured in the car, Sariel is holding her side and stumbling towards Gabriel's body, and there's a sound coming from the town behind him that lets him know they have been discovered.

"Sariel." Her gaze cuts through him, and he's honestly frightened when he sees a measure of Gabriel's madness in it. "Sariel. We have to go."Whatever she's been through in these last three weeks it hasn't been pleasant. Added to the gash in her thigh and the wounds she's just received the right side of her face is practically destroyed. What Dean has heard her call her 'good eye' is now a mass of pulp and raw flesh. She leaves Gabriel's body behind and stumbles over to him before leaning against him and the car.

With no clear understanding of how they have done it, Dean finds that they are in the driveway of their home. Sam is moaning in pain from the car, and Dean pushes himself up shakily and then limps around to the other side to fight with the door of the Toyota. A large hand brushes past him and rips the door off of its hinges, and Dean looks back to see Michael staring grimly into the car. The archangel lifts Sam out of the car effortlessly, and Dean follows him inside as another figure helps Sariel up. Dean can't help but notice that whoever she is she touches Sariel with distaste. It makes him angry, but then the whole thing makes him angry. How the fuck did they miss an archangel working with demons? They barely get inside the door before Michael is lowering Sam to the couch and spinning on Sariel.

"Is Gabriel dead?"

Dean moves to her side, and takes her from the angel before helping her into the armchair. In the living room light he can see that her wound isn't as bad as he thought but her face looks much worse. There's a concavity to her eye socket under the swelling that suggests serious damage to the eyeball itself. She keeps her open eye down as her hand presses against her side. "Yes."

Michael's eyes are dark blue. "How?"

The female angel has been hovering over Sam, and now she turns to Dean, but he doesn't want her touching him. He can feel the snarl on his face as she eyes him warily and then stands behind Michael. His rage is only fueled when Sariel pushes herself shakily out of the chair and faces Michael head on.

"Dean shot him. We have to discuss what you have done."

Michael's eyes move quickly towards Dean and then back to her face. "What I've done? What has your soldier done? He's killed an archangel. One of the first."

"He did what he had to do. You on the other hand-"She's advancing on Michael with an almost drunken gait and Dean takes a half step towards her.

"Your weaknesses are well known Sariel, but that doesn't excuse him from-"

Dean's anger is a palpable thing, and so it's a shock when the sound of the slap drains it from him. Michael stands with his mouth slightly open, his head turned to the side, and a handprint already rising on his skin. The female angel behind him is staring openly, and beyond them Sam has sat up on the couch and is trying to catch Dean's gaze. Trying to communicate with him, but whatever powers his little brother has he can't seem to get the message across.

"You cut them off from me. They were alone. If Sam hadn't have reached out I would never have known they were in trouble, and Gabriel would have murdered them. He Fell and you missed it! Did you think the only way to Fall was to be in the Pit? You arrogant bastard!"Her hand, in comparison to Michael's sheer size, looks like a child's when it pushes out, but the force of it sends him stumbling back into the wall. He doesn't look as righteous as he did a moment before, and Dean feels a vicious triumph in it. When she speaks again her voice is a ragged cry. "I could have lost them!"

Dean feels that tight clench in his chest at the fury and grief in her voice, and his brain is putting together puzzle pieces as quickly as it can while he watches Michael's face fill with shame.

"We thought it best you not be distracted."

Sariel stumbles backwards, and Dean uses his good arm to catch her. All the fight has left her body, and when she pressed her face into the side of his neck he can feel the heat coming off of the damaged flesh, and the wetness of her tears. Sam speaks quietly from across the room. "We got the information you wanted. They were saying they had a convert, and I'm guessing that was Gabriel. They also said they have a Horn."

The gasp the female angel gives has Dean glancing her way, before he turns his eyes back to Michael. The big archangel looks pale. In the circle of Dean's good arm Sariel has gone stiff.

"Did you find the horn on the body Sariel?" Her head shakes against Dean's neck.

"Then we are in a good deal of trouble."