Notes: Hello again guys. So apparently 210 people visited this story on christmas day...double the amount the day before or after, and no reviews! So many sad faces! Ah well, at least there are no flames. But please enjoy a chapter with Missouri! I do miss her so much D'X

Disclaimer: Nothing doing here...nothing owning here...

CHAPTER 10

After Cas had healed up his brother, they both got to work on the generator. Gabriel took the chance to teach Cas about how the mechanics worked. The kid had always been curious about the inner workings of things, and Gabriel was happy to show him how each and every piece of the machinery functioned, even if it took five times longer to get anything done. They were cautiously content to lay on their backs working on the wiring. Gabriel doing most of the actual work, and Cas holding things out of the way for him or grabbing specified tools.

Neither of them brought up Balthazar. It was a scary subject to think about. In his heart, Gabriel knew that Balthazar would never leave Castiel behind. He had become far too protective of the little guy, but the little voice in the back of his head reminded him that Balthazar could still be upset with him for not warning his family to the dangers of the program. Maybe he still blamed Gabriel for them all being fugitives and Castiel's mind and body being mauled. Maybe in this case, Gabriel was the trash, and Castiel was the fork.

Castiel had similar thoughts of his own. Balthazar had been so exhausted and frustrated with Cas the other night. Why wouldn't he leave behind Castiel? All he had ever given Balthazar was trouble, even before he had left for the host Balthazar had told him he wanted nothing to do with his family...But still, neither brother voiced their thoughts, they just kept on working.

They went on like this for a few hours until Cas could no longer stay on his aching back and had to crawl out from under the large machine. He then handed tools to his brother for the last part of the morning until it had finally reached one thirteen hundred hours. Lunch time.

As promised, Missouri came to them with apples, bread and cheese, and two cups of cider. Castiel had barely ate anything, only finishing the cider upon Gabriel's and Missouri's insistence before walking off a short distance to look at some wild flowers growing at the tree line. The other two remained seated near the generator, keeping an eye on the young man from a distance.

"He's not quite right, is he? Got a lot of dark thoughts it seems." Missouri said gently, as if worried she would startle the pilot.

Gabriel didn't want to reveal too much so he kept his answers vague as possible, "He's been through some trauma. But he's recovering, slowly. He just needs time and a nice stable environment."

They watched as Castiel sat down next to an old rose bush. It looked like he was trying to hold a conversation with it. Missouri sighed at the sight, "He's not going to get a good conversation out of that old rose bush, I can tell you that much. That darn thing hasn't bloomed for ten years. The old mayor of the town used to care for that bush, but when he passed away…the roses stopped coming out. Shame really. They were some lovely flowers."

Gabriel grunted at this, "That's kinda spooky." As odd as the story was, Gabriel was still warmed by the fact that Missouri seemed perfectly at ease accepting that Cas made friends with plant instead of being put off by it.

"Hmm. I suppose…..But this town ain't all bad. I know you're thinking we're all a bunch of kidnappers and bandits, but they only do it out of frantic necessity. The people here are very strong in their beliefs, but it is also a quiet and safe place where folks take care of each other. It could be that stable environment you're looking for, perhaps."She suggested casually while sipping at her own cup of cider.

Gabriel sighed, "It's calm enough I suppose, but Castiel is…..different. I don't think everyone here is as accepting as you."

"The lord says, "Judge not"." Missouri added, her tone wry, as if she was also unsure at the town's people's reactions to the unique man in the trenchcoat.

It got a snort from the pilot, "Yeah. We all like to feel like we are accepted for who we are and not what we are, but in the end…people can still surprise you. Never thought it would land us here though." His mind flashed to Sam flying off in the Impala.

Missouri looked up into the sky a small smile on her face, "Sometimes life takes you places you weren't expecting to go."

"Life didn't bring us here. Those men did." Gabriel half joked.

"You were on a transport ship, right? Taking a journey? It's the way of life in my findings that journey's end when and where they want to, and that's where you make your home." She said quietly, her eyes closed as a warm breeze moves through the air.

Gabriel looked across to where Castiel was still talking to the bush, sadly petting its empty branches. He had seen his little brother do the same thing with Fern back on the ship, calmly settled in his nest...

"This isn't our home."He stated firmly.

Missouri turned to him, eyebrows raised questioningly, "Well if it isn't here, where is it?"

He didn't have an answer for her. He had thought that the Impala had become their home. He though Sam had accepted that Gabriel was "altered". He thought Dean was someone he could rely on to keep Castiel safe. He thought that maybe Balthazar wanted to be a family again.

Obviously, he had thought wrong.

Dean paces the stark white hallways, arms crossed over his chest. He hasn't looked up from the floor in the last hour. Sam knows what Dean is thinking about, hell, Sam had been thinking about the same things since the exchange back in the Impala. Obviously Dean was thinking that they had a mole of some sort on their ship and was frantically trying to figure out why Bobby hadn't turned them all in yet. Or he was simply just feeling betrayed. Sam would be pretty pissed himself if they had left Gabe and Cas back on that planet to save some Garrison spy. Or worse, someone from the Host looking for Cas and his brothers.

The rest of the crew weren't thinking on that though. Anna and Chuck were nervously wringing their hands, waiting for news on the Preacher's condition. Meg seemed to be completely calm as she was cleaning her nails, but Sam could see how her eyes kept darting around the room, waiting for any threat. She wasn't about to let her guard down in enemy territory.

Sam shifted his thoughts to where he had left Balthazar in Anna's room. He had been leaning against the wall so heavily it almost looked like he was holding up the establishment. He had his arms crossed over his chest, one finger tapping frantically on his arm showing his impatience. Sam felt for him, he really did. He was holding up remarkably well, not even having a fit since the first go at Dean. And also seemingly calm while they were docked at the Garrison ship. His patience had been wearing thin however. Sam could see the tension growing in the lines on his face as he had left Anna's shuttle. If it was Sam who was locked alone in a room while he was made to wait to save his brother….he would have probably pulled a Dean by now and whipped out his gun to get things moving along. Sam's musings were interrupted from a shifting across the room.

Apparently done inspecting her nails, Meg dramatically threw back her head and blew out a long breath. "This place give me the heeby jeebies. Can we go yet?" She whined piteously.

Even though Sam was grateful that she ended the awkward silence, he chose to ignore her comment, like everyone else. But she rolled her eyes at the silent crew and tried a different tactic to get people talking, "So, what are we figuring? Preacher man's got some kind of connection with the Garrison?" She asked innocently, eyes roaming over to Dean to see his reaction.

Dean had frozen mid pace, rubbing a clammy hand over his face, "I know what it looks like. I've got fifty different scenarios as to what he could be. Ninety-five percent of them ain't good. I say once they finish with him and he's on the road to recovery and shit, then we ask for an explanation. We'll go from there. I'm not making any calls until I know for sure what his story is."

It seemed fair enough, and the crew nodded in agreement. All of them wanted to believe that the affectionately grouchy Sheppard had not been lying to them, even if it was only for a little bit longer.

Meg was shaking her head, "See, it's my whole problem with picking up tourists. They're never what they claim to be," she stated sounding incredibly annoyed. She adjusted herself to lie down on the bench, but she didn't close her eyes, still keeping an eye out for any threats.

Sighing heavily, Sam had to agree with her there, "Seems like everyone has a story to tell." He mumbled under his breath.

Dean resumed his pacing.

Missouri had left them after lunch to go back to the hospital. She said with the cold weather coming and no generator to keep the hospital warm, she had to keep a constant fire going that took up far too much time out of the day.

That thought in mind, Gabriel set back to work. The project itself was intense; enough to even make Chuck moan more than usually. The tools being what they were, few and ungainly, made the job even harder. But it felt good to be working this hard. The physical labor was enough to keep his mind off of more troubling thoughts as he lost himself in the machinery. He had tried to get Castiel to join him again, hoping his brother would get the same kind of therapy out of it as the pilot, but instead his little brother chose to sit with the old rose bush.

Apparently it had quite the story to tell if the look of concentration on his brother's face was anything to go by. At least Cas wasn't seeking out sharp objects anymore like he had been back at the store. Knowing the state of mind that the kid was in at the moment, self harm wasn't out of the question in Gabriel's figuring. And that truly terrified him.

Huh, I actually was pleased with this chapter when I edited it….sweet!