Well everyone, this is the end of this story! I hope you enjoy the conclusion and some comfort for the h/c :) Thanks so much to everyone who has read, followed and reviewed this! It's always so nice to see people enjoy the stuff I write :)
Thanks to guest reviewers Loreley and Lizzy once again for taking the time to review :) I am so glad you have enjoyed this!
Chapter Eleven
Castiel watched in horror as Lucifer figured out Gabriel's plan with the decoy, and turned to stab the real Gabriel.
"No!" Castiel screamed, surging to his feet. His mostly healed leg was still wobbly and it almost collapsed until him, but he still kept his footing. Sam was on his feet right after him though, grabbing Castiel by the arm and holding him back.
"Don't," he nearly pleaded. "Lucifer will kill you." There was pure horror in the younger Winchester's eyes, and Castiel knew that this was probably it for all of them. Lucifer would finish Gabriel off and then come and take his revenge on them. Castiel cast his eyes down to Dean's prone form, wondering whether it was worth it to risk his internal injuries with angel travel. It wasn't like they were going to survive if they stayed here.
Then he looked back up at Gabriel and Lucifer just in time to see them both fall over the cliff.
"Gabriel!" Castiel screamed, disbelief and grief surging through him. He shrugged Sam off and staggered over to the cliff, collapsing on the edge and looking down at the drop. There were many rocks and scrubby brush all the way down. He couldn't see anything. "No, Gabriel, you idiot!" he ground out when he still saw no sign of either of them. "Why did you do that? You promised! Dammit!" His eyes squeezed shut against the stinging sensation in them that he only realized were tears when he felt wetness on his cheeks.
Then he heard a tsk tsk sound from behind him. "Cassie. I never knew you to be one to swear."
Castiel spun around and saw Gabriel standing behind him, one hand clutching his wound, the other his angel blade.
"Gabriel?" Castiel breathed, surging to his feet despite the pain and, overcome with relief, he simply threw his arms around his brother. Mimicking the kind of reunion Sam and Dean usually shared when parted for a long time, or after surviving perils.
Gabriel groaned and Castiel quickly pulled back, remembering his wound as he helped steady his older brother. "How? Is Lucifer…"
"Gone," Gabriel said bitterly. "Soon as we hit the bottom, he vamoosed. Was gonna lay there for a while, but figured I had better check to make sure he hadn't come back to nab you three."
Sam joined them then.
"Is Lucifer…" Sam hesitated, waiting with bated breath.
"No," Gabriel bit out, something Castiel couldn't quite read in his eyes. "He was beat up pretty bad, though. Guess he went off somewhere to lick his wounds. He's gonna need to chug a buttload of demon blood to repair his vessel."
Castiel could almost feel the anxiety wafting off Sam as he reached up to clench his hands in his hair. "What the hell, Gabriel?"
"Oh, quiet, sasquatch," Gabriel replied tiredly. "It was an awesome plan and you know it. Just didn't work perfectly. We'll learn from our mistakes next time." He staggered and groaned, hand pressing more earnestly to his wound. "Yikes. Don't think I'm just gonna walk this one off."
Castiel looked at his brother worriedly, then a noise made him cast his attention to Dean who had started choking up blood again. Sam quickly knelt next to his brother, propping Dean's head on his knee and running a hand through his hair to try and soothe him as he turned his face upward to look pleadingly at Castiel. "Cas, he's…he's really bad off."
"Well, lucky for you I have one last act of charity to use up today," Gabriel grunted as he knelt down next to Sam and reached out toward Dean's forehead. Castiel watched anxiously as Gabriel poured healing grace into the elder Winchester.
Dean suddenly gasped as his bruises faded and surged upright, looking around. As soon as he saw Sam he reached out to grab his coat as if he didn't quite believe he was there. "Sammy?"
"Dean!" Sam replied and swiftly yanked his brother into a tight embrace, needing the reassurance that the other was all right. Dean's hand tangled in Sam's hair as his younger brother rested his head against Dean's shoulder, and the elder brother exhaled as if he hadn't breathed in a long time.
Gabriel rocked back on his heels, hand clutching his wound still. "Well, I think that all could have been worse." And then he collapsed to the side.
Castiel just barely caught him and frantically reached out with his grace to touch Gabriel's. He was only slightly reassured as he felt a weak answer. The wound in Gabriel's chest was bleeding profusely, grace mixing with the blood. Castiel hurriedly pressed a hand to it for the little good it did.
"Cas," Dean's voice cut through his worry, and Castiel looked up to see the two brothers watching him and Gabriel worriedly.
"Let's get back to Bobby's," Dean told him.
Castiel sagged and nodded, cradling Gabriel against his chest as he reached out to touch Sam and Dean so he could teleport them all. He only hoped he hadn't saved part of his family only to lose another.
Dean's eyes opened to familiar surroundings as he felt the vertigo of angel travel ease away. He, Sam, and Cas with the wounded Gabriel propped against him were all kneeling in the middle of Bobby's study.
"What the hell?" Bobby demanded as he rolled in from the kitchen, a shotgun across his lap, then his mouth dropped open as he saw them staggering to their feet.
"Hey, Bobby," Sam said quietly.
Bobby opened and closed his mouth several times, before he finally burst out with, "I oughta tan your hide, boy—all of you! And you…" he jabbed a finger at Dean who instantly ducked his head. "What the hell were you thinking running off and getting captured by Lucifer himself?! Idjit!"
"Sorry, Bobby," Dean mumbled.
"What was that?"
"Sorry, sir," Dean said louder, head snapping up to meet the older hunter's eyes.
The anger faded from Bobby's face and he shook his head, rolling his chair over to see them, reaching out to grip their arms. "Still, it's damn good to see you boys back. I swear you're going to be the death of me."
Sam smiled and Dean shook his head before he heard Cas stir behind them. Bobby looked past them and frowned at the two angels.
"What happened to him?" he asked, nodding to Gabriel.
"Gabriel has been wounded badly," Cas said. "May I borrow a bed to put him in?"
Bobby's eyes lingered on the wounded archangel on the floor, still unconscious, and his eyes widened. "Yeah, sure. You can take one of the rooms upstairs, I'm not gonna use any of them."
"Here, I'll help you," Dean said, crouching next to Cas and taking hold of Gabriel's legs as Cas supported his shoulders and they lifted him up.
"I'll grab some first aid supplies," Sam offered, hurrying off.
Dean glanced back at his brother, who still looked worse for wear and was wearing oddly small clothes, but then he realized that he was still dressed in his torn and bloodstained clothes, most of his skin exposed. At least he was whole again, though, he had never known such pain as he had with Lucifer. Hell hadn't even been the same since it hadn't been his physical body enduring the torment. It was somehow different on earth.
He and Cas laid Gabriel down on the bed, and Dean swallowed hard as Cas started to pull the archangel's clothes aside to better see the wound. Dean wondered if Gabriel wouldn't have been so bad off if he hadn't healed him.
Sam came in with the first aid kit, and Dean took it from him, rummaging through to find some gauze.
"Should we stich it?" Sam asked, wincing as he saw the gaping wound in the middle of Gabriel's chest.
Cas looked down at it indecisively. "He…should be able to start healing himself soon once he rests for a while. I think we should bandage it for now and if there's no change after a couple hours…then we can take further measures."
Dean nodded and handed some gauze over. He helped hold up Gabriel's limp form while Cas pulled his bloodsoaked shirt off and wrapped bandages around his chest. Then they laid Gabriel back as comfortably as possible, and pulled a blanket over him.
Cas just stood by the bed, looking down at his older brother and Dean glanced over at Sam who had finished cleaning up the first aid stuff. Sam offered him a small smile before heading out the door.
Dean sighed. "I'm sure he'll be alright, Cas," he said. "He really stepped up to the plate for us. I gotta say, I didn't exactly expect that."
"Nor did I," Cas said, his voice melancholy. "I…I didn't trust him for a long time. Kept old hurts and grudges, I suppose. But I never should have doubted him. He did see this through, and he would have killed Lucifer too."
"Hey," Dean said, looking at him. "We'll still find a way to kill Lucifer. Believe me, I want to gank that son of a bitch more than anyone now. But we'll do it on our terms. And there's no reason Gabriel has to be the one to kill his brother when there's a bunch of us standing in line."
Cas gave him a small wry smile. "I suppose you're right." He glanced toward the open door where Sam had disappeared. "Do you…need help with anything?"
"No, Cas, stay here with Gabriel. Get off that leg." Cas huffed as he realized Dean had noticed him favoring his bad leg. "I guess Zach did a number on you."
"Sam too," Cas said grimly as he finally pulled a chair over to the bedside. "Zachariah burned him with holy fire. Gabriel couldn't heal those wounds."
Dean's jaw clenched. "I wish I had ganked that bastard sooner."
"He's still gone, though," Cas said tiredly. "That's all that matters."
Dean rested a hand on his shoulder as the angel slumped into the chair. "Get some rest, Cas. We're all okay for the moment…mostly. We may as well get rest now while we still have the chance."
"Yes," Cas replied in agreement.
"Oh, and thanks," Dean said, somewhat awkwardly. "For getting me off that cliff."
"You and Sam really get yourselves into a lot of trouble," Cas said gruffly, but Dean thought there might have been underlying affection there that almost reminded him of Bobby. He smirked and left the room, closing the door quietly behind him.
He found Sam sitting at the kitchen table as Bobby put a sandwich and cup of coffee in front of him. Dean's stomach turned sickly with hunger as he saw the food and suddenly realized he'd had nothing to eat or drink for…however long he had been captive. Damn.
He collapsed at the table and grabbed the sandwich things, barely bothering with clapping the ham and cheese between two slices of bread before he had his mouth around it. Sam's eyes widened and Bobby gave him a warning glance.
"You had best slow down, son, or that's all just gonna make a return visit," the older hunter cautioned.
Sam hurriedly got up and filled a glass of water for Dean as the elder Winchester tried to slow himself. He knew Bobby was right, but he was starving. He did stop to gratefully take the glass of water from Sam though, gulping it so eagerly he choked and Sam had to take it back and slap him on the back as he doubled over, clearing water from his lungs.
"Told you to slow down," Bobby said as Dean came back up, eyes watering. Sam gave him a worried look, but he was better now and drank more slowly, thoroughly enjoying the cool water on his parched throat.
After he and Sam had both eaten two huge sandwiches and gotten rehydrated, Dean finally turned to his brother.
"Okay, let me see," he said, leaving no room for argument.
"Dean, I'm fine," Sam told him half-heartedly.
Dean folded his arms over his chest. "Cas said Zach burned you, that even Gabriel couldn't heal them. Just let me look, at least."
Sam rolled his eyes, but shrugged off the too-small flannel overshirt he had been wearing and winced as he did the same with his t-shirt. Most of the wounds were still taped over with gauze but in his mad dash and the ensuing fights, some of the bandages had gotten loose and the burns had rubbed against the shirt, gathering fibers. Dean pulled his chair over to sit in front of Sam as he examined his brother's injuries, getting angrier and angrier as he went.
"That son of a bitch," he muttered as he gently removed the bandage from a particularly nasty burn across Sam's ribs.
Sam flinched. "Not much you can do for them."
"I've got some burn cream," Bobby offered, anger on his face too.
"Why don't you go shower, it will loosen up some of this gunk stuck to them," Dean said. "Just be careful."
"I know," Sam said but without his usual fire. Dean could see how exhausted he was as he gave Sam a hand up out of the chair.
"I'll grab you some clean clothes," he offered and Sam didn't protest.
"You too," Bobby told Dean. "Those clothes you're wearing should be burned. You can wash up in the bathroom down here."
Dean consented, not wanting to admit how good a shower would feel right then, and grabbed his own clothes after he had deposited Sam's in the other bathroom, retreating to the shower and turning on the water almost scalding hot.
The hot water against his skin made him remember how cold Lucifer had been. The chill that seeped into his bones and stayed for a long time afterward when the fallen archangel had healed him. Just the memory made him cold, but it was over now. Even though it would take a while to forget this, it was over for the moment, and he was going to enjoy a couple days of rest and recovery. He thought he was entitled.
He dried off, dressing in clean non-bloody clothes and found Sam sitting on the couch in the living room, Bobby setting the first aid stuff out on the coffee table.
"I can do that," Dean offered as he came into the room.
Bobby looked up and nodded, knowing the brothers needed their patching up ritual after everything that had happened. Dean took a seat on the coffee table across from Sam and started to dab burn cream onto his little brother's wounds.
"Sam," he said after a few minutes of his brother's silence. "I just want you to know that no matter what happened, you can't blame yourself for it. Not drinking the demon blood, not Zach catching you and Lucifer grabbing me. That's all on them."
Sam sighed heavily, head hanging so that his still-damp hair fell into his face. "But it was my fault, Dean."
"No," Dean said firmly. "Because you know what? You were right before. We are not stronger apart. If this is the kind of thing that happens when we get separated, then we need to stick together. If we do that then they can't use us against each other."
Sam sighed deeply and finally looked up at him. "But they will, Dean."
"They can try, but we'll take the fight to them," Dean told him firmly. "As long as we stick together, as a united front, they can't do anything we don't want them to. Especially since this whole thing kinda depends on us saying yes."
Sam narrowed his eyes at him. "You're not as doom and gloom anymore."
"I'm done with that. Now I'm angry," Dean told him. "Lucifer is a dick, and I sure as hell am not gonna be an angel condom for the side that did this to my little brother." Sam rolled his eyes, but didn't protest. "Besides, who says you can't beat all that destiny crap? I say screw destiny, right in the face. We take the fight to them and we do it our way."
Sam met his eyes and Dean saw the determination there. "Okay."
Dean raised his eyebrows. "That's it? No rallying speech to go with that?"
Sam huffed. "What do you want? I'm shot, Dean."
"Okay, I'll give you that." Dean smiled fondly as he finished taping the last bandage to Sam's shoulder and then helped him get his arms into his shirt sleeves. "You're in luck, because I think we have some R&R with our name on it." He patted Sam's knee and stood, cleaning up the first aid stuff and handing his brother the remote. "Find something decent, I'll be back soon."
He put the first aid stuff away and then grabbed Cas' trench coat from the floor where it had ended up when they got back. It had still been draped across Dean's lap from when Cas had given it to him on the mountain to keep warm. Dean closed his eyes as vertigo and remembered agony washed over him again, as he recalled hanging off the cliff. But he shook that off. No need to think of that now. It was over and they were all back in one piece, more of less.
He went upstairs to see if Cas needed anything and when he saw the angel, Cas was still sitting by Gabriel's bed, but his head was tipped back in the chair and he was snoring slightly. Dean smirked, but deep down he was also worried. He hadn't seen Cas sleep before apart from when he was wounded and fell unconscious like Gabriel was now. He knew his friend was falling even farther. The image of future Cas sprang into his head, and he swallowed hard. Was he really doing the right thing by defying his so-called destiny? Would Sam still get jumped by Lucifer? Would Dean still become a hard-ass guerilla leader? Would Cas become a drugged up hippy?
He wasn't going to believe it though. For all he knew that was just a storyline Zachariah had cooked up to scare him into saying yes. In fact, that was probably the truth of the whole thing. In any case, Dean wasn't going to let it dictate his next moves. He still thought that fighting and taking their own side was the best thing. And if they were screwed, then they would go down together.
He shook out the trench coat and draped it over Cas' sleeping figure before he left the room again, going back down to the living room and slumping next to his brother on the couch where Sam had found an old movie to watch on TV.
He leaned back against the couch, just trying to let himself go for a moment, reminding himself that all the people he cared about were safe again, if not a little worse for wear.
Sometime during the movie Sam dozed off and slumped against Dean's shoulder. Dean didn't even care at the moment whether this was too chick-flicky or not, and simply draped an arm over his brother's shoulders and leaned his head back against the couch himself and closed his eyes. It wasn't long before he was completely out.
Gabriel hit the ground at the base of the mountain hard. Okay, maybe not the best plan ever but pulling a Reichenbach hadn't exactly been his first plan either. You had to make do sometimes with impromptu ideas.
Another body lay beside him and for a moment he thought Lucifer might have broken his neck—not that it would have stopped him long—but then the other archangel stirred with a groan and pushed himself up, yanking Gabriel's blade out of his thigh.
Oh, he was so screwed now. Gabriel couldn't speak—and boy, would that be a surprise to everyone—as Lucifer leaned over him. It was only then he realized he still had Lucifer's blade sticking out of his chest. Funny the things you could forget when you had just fallen off a cliff.
Lucifer reached out for the blade and Gabriel knew this was it. Just a few inches correction and Lucifer could angle that blade through his heart and that would be the end of Gabriel, AKA Loki God of Mischief, AKA the Trickster—well at least he couldn't say he didn't live a full life.
He met Lucifer's eyes as his older brother leaned over him, gripping the blade stuck into Gabriel. "I'm going to be extremely generous and let you off with a warning this time," he said. "Because I hope that some day you will come to your senses and join me. If not, I will hunt you down, and I will kill you myself, brother. It will be slow and painful and befitting your betrayal. So reevaluate your side, Gabriel, or next time I won't miss." He yanked the blade out, which tore a ragged scream from Gabriel's throat, and then staggered to his feet. He dropped Gabriel's blade down next to his hand. "I hope to see you soon, little brother."
And then he was gone. Gabriel lay there for a moment, gasping. He could hear Castiel screaming for him up top and his heart—so nearly perforated—ached. So, no. If Lucifer saw him again, he would just have to kill him, because Gabriel really did know where he belonged and on what side he fought for. And he was not gonna change it now.
Gabriel's eyes opened with a sharp inhale of breath. He looked around at his surroundings, half expecting to see nothing but mountain and sky above, but he wasn't lying at the bottom of a cliff anymore, that had just been memories. Now he was in what looked like a room in some abandoned place—no, wait, that was definitely the smell of whisky and gunpowder, this must be Bobby Singer's house.
He glanced down at the blankets covering him, and slowly brought a hand up to where his chest was still aching—getting stabbed with an archangel's blade would do that to you. All he found there were bandages though, and he was too tired to undo whoever's work that had been. He was too tired to do much of anything, truth be told.
He tilted his head to one side and was slightly surprised to see Castiel sitting in a chair beside his bed, covered in that ridiculous Columbo coat, head tipped back and snoring gently. Gabriel frowned at first. Angels weren't supposed to sleep, but Castiel was falling, and it could only be expected after a while for him to be pretty much human. But at the same time, with his wings wrapped around him—which would be undetected to the human eye—the kid looked pretty innocent and adorable, like he had as a fledgling—not that Gabriel would ever admit that out loud.
He made the mistake of trying to sit up and was unable to help the yelp that escaped him as fire shot through his body. That startled Cas who jolted upright. His coat slid to the floor and he looked over quickly toward Gabriel, eyes widening as he saw he was awake.
"Gabriel! You're awake!"
Gabriel slumped back with a wince. "Reconsidering it."
Castiel was standing over him, pulling his blanket down to check his bandage. "How do you feel?"
"Like I got stabbed," Gabriel replied blandly.
Cas gave him a slightly annoyed look, but he couldn't hide his relief either. Uh-huh, the kid had been worried about him, he could deny it.
"Are you…healing?" the younger angel asked hopefully.
Gabriel could feel his grace stirring, culminating around the site of his wound. It was sluggish, thanks to his charity of healing Dean Winchester, but it was working. "I think I'll be okay before too long. Just gotta get a little more rack time. Hey, they got pay-per-view in this joint?"
Castiel sat back in the chair, still just staring at his face until Gabriel was starting to squirm. "You know, you keep looking at people like that, they may get the wrong idea, kiddo."
Castiel sighed softly. "I'm just…glad you're alright. I was afraid for a moment back there that…"
He looked away and Gabriel raised his eyebrows, gently prompting him. "That what?"
Cas looked up at him, deep regret mixing with the relief in his eyes. "That I had lost you. Again. And without a proper goodbye. Again."
Gabriel mustered a smirk. "Hey, you know me, Cassie, I don't die easy."
"But I doubted you," Castiel said earnestly. "Almost this whole time. I was…angry at you still."
"Which you had every right to be," Gabriel assured him truthfully. "You already gave me your reasons for that."
"I know, but all the same…you are still my brother, Gabriel, and I should have at least given you that much."
"Well, considering what some of your other bros have done, I don't blame you," Gabriel said. "I mean, Lucifer, Zach, they would have killed you, you know that."
"But you wouldn't," Castiel said firmly.
Gabriel smiled, and reached out to knock his knuckles against Cas' arm. "No. I wouldn't."
Cas slumped, relief overcoming him and making him weary again. "I'm just glad you're okay. And I'm glad you're back."
Gabriel shrugged, then winced. "Well, if everyone is determined to get me into this war after all, I may as well get to choose the side I want to be on."
"And you are?" Castiel asked, hopefully. "On our side, I mean?"
Gabriel settled his hand over Cas'. "I am, kiddo. Promise."
Cas shifted until his hand was facing palm up and wrapped his fingers around Gabriel's. Normally, Gabriel wouldn't have stood for anything so touchy-feely but the kid was obviously tired. He reached out with his grace to touch Castiel's and the younger angel returned the favor, feathers bristling in relief. Gabriel was tired too, and it was safe here, so he closed his eyes, but not before he said, "For what it's worth, Cas, I'm glad to see you again too."
He was slipping off into his recharge mode again, but he could feel a spark in the younger angel's grace as Castiel smiled back at him; a real genuine smile, like Gabriel hadn't seen since Cas was a fledgling. That in itself made him realize he had made the right choice.
Dean jolted awake, heart pounding as his breath caught in his throat. His hand clutched at his chest where a cold ache had started, but it was only a memory, as were Lucifer's red eyes and dark chuckle that lingered in his head. It was dark in the room, but the television flitted light across the familiar surroundings and Dean knew he was safe—they were all safe.
Sam was still sleeping against his side, and Dean closed his eyes and gave a fervent prayer of thanks for that. He carefully slid off the couch, and lowered Sam down into a more comfortable position, lifting his long legs up onto the couch as well. He grabbed the blanket off the back and draped it over his little brother, taking a moment to watch him breathing deeply in sleep, the familiar sound he had known all his life. He smoothed some of Sam's hair off his forehead before he straightened, working a crick from his neck as he made his way to the kitchen, still thirsty and hungry.
He was just pulling stuff out of the fridge for another sandwich when he heard a footstep in the doorway and turned around to see Cas, fully dressed in his trench coat again. He straightened up with a small smile. "Hey, how's Gabriel?"
Castiel nodded slightly and came to sit at the table as Dean did the same. "He is healing. He woke up for a bit earlier and seems lucid enough. I think he will be okay."
"That's good." Dean could clearly see the relief in Cas' face at the knowledge his brother would be okay. Sure, Dean and the archangel hadn't exactly been on the best of terms previously, but if Gabriel was willing to help them out, then he wasn't going to complain. Besides, Cas obviously cared about him and Dean was glad to see his friend reunite with his heavenly family members—especially ones who didn't just want to ostracize and kill him.
Dean motioned to the sandwich fixings spread on the table. "You want any?"
Cas shook his head, a hand subconsciously going to his stomach. "I am still not ready to eat anything after the hamburger incident," he said wryly. "Besides, it probably will not be long before I have to eat to sustain this vessel."
Dean instantly felt less hungry at Cas' own, almost casual, admittance that he was getting worse and worse. To make his friend feel better though, he forced a smile and said, "Well, if that happens, you'll just have to learn moderation. No more burger binges."
Cas shook his head, then turned his gaze back on Dean. "How are you, Dean? And Sam, is he all right?"
Dean spread some mustard on a piece of bread. "I'm all right. Sammy's not too bad. He could use a few days of sleep from the looks of him, and I guess I could too, but his burns aren't too bad. He'll heal up before long."
Cas cocked his head to one side and gave him a slightly longsuffering look. "And everything that isn't physical?"
Dean focused on his sandwich, putting it together carefully. "What can I do, Cas? It happened, I survived. There ain't nothing else to it."
Cas looked pained, turning his gaze toward the wall. "If I had gotten to you sooner…"
"Hey, this is not on you," Dean said firmly. "Cas, you can't blame yourself for this. I was the idiot who ran off to Zachariah. I know you think I should have taken you with me, but even if I had, Lucifer would have just gotten both of us, you may not have gotten out alive." He swallowed hard. "Cas, like I said, what happened happened. There's nothing we can do about it now but keep swinging. Keep going after Lucifer and finding a way to defeat him. Yeah, what happened to me and Sam wasn't good. In fact, it was horrible, and both physically and psychologically draining, but if I stop and think about it, I'm just gonna end up rocking myself in a corner somewhere. So you know what I'm gonna do? Keep fighting, just like I always do, and so are you—so is everyone else, because that's what we do. Team Free Will, remember?"
Cas stared at him a moment and nodded. "Yes. You're right, Dean. We cannot afford to give up now."
"Good," Dean said, and took a big bite of his sandwich. "How did you find me anyway? You never said."
Cas reached into his coat pocket and pulled out Dean's amulet. The hunter frowned.
"That? I thought it only found God?"
"So did I, but Gabriel said I could reroute it, so to speak, if I used our soul bond."
Dean choked, glancing at the angel. "Our what?"
Cas rolled his eyes. "That scar on your shoulder. It's where I took hold of you to pull you out of Hell. I had to lay claim to your soul to do so. It left a…bond of sorts."
"Well, that's not gay at all," Dean muttered under his breath, slightly uncomfortable.
Cas gave an exasperated sigh. "There is no innuendo behind it, Dean. I am your guardian, after all. You and in conjunction, Sam, were the charges I was sent to watch over. It just helps me be more connected to you, though with my failing powers it does little good. You may think of it now as a bond of friendship or brotherhood if it makes you feel better."
"Hey, I'm comfortable with my masculinity," Dean snarked. He cautiously raised a hand to his shoulder to touch the scar hidden beneath his shirt. Well, if it turned out he had his own angelic GPS tracker, it was good that Cas was the only one who could use it, he supposed. It could be worse.
He cleared his throat. "So, something I wanted to ask you. Lucifer carved something onto my skull so you couldn't get in my head again. Like the sigils on my ribs. Think you can get rid of it?"
Cas frowned and reached out to touch Dean's forehead and closed his eyes in a few seconds of concentration. "I can remove it if you want me to, but are you sure you do?"
"Why wouldn't I?" Dean asked.
"Because it will also keep any other angels out of your head. Michael will not be able to contact you like that, nor will Lucifer be able to torment you further if he chooses to do so."
Dean thought a moment, and then shook his head. "Yeah, but you'll have no way of contacting me either. If one of us looses our phone and needs help, we'd have no way to reach each other. I don't think we should risk it."
Cas looked at him for a long moment and then nodded in consent and reached out to touch Dean's head again. Dean couldn't help a small yelp as he felt a burn across his skull, but it was over it a second and Cas was sitting back in his chair, and all that was left was a dull ache.
"Thanks," he said, rubbing his head before he went back to his sandwich. "By the way, where is my car?"
"Still at the site you were supposed to meet Zachariah," Cas told him.
Dean cursed. "Alright, well, tomorrow, you can fly me there and I'll pick up my baby and bring her home," he said. "Hopefully no one has found our weapon cache yet."
He ate in silence until Cas opened his mouth to speak again. "Dean, this whole thing, even though it was bad, it still proves that we have a chance against Lucifer. We got out of there alive, without you or Sam saying yes. I think that we should count it as a victory."
Dean nodded slowly, his eyes on the table in front of him. As much as it had hurt, what he had gone through, and knowing what Sam was going through at the same time, he knew Cas was right. Maybe if he could keep thinking of it like that, he would be able to make it through the next few weeks without a nervous breakdown.
"You're right," he said after a while. "We should count it as a victory. But I still can't help but wonder if it's enough?"
Cas was silent and cast a look back toward the den where Sam was still sleeping on the couch before he faced Dean once more. "I think…that having family support you is always enough. No matter what happens. You just have to remember not to let go of that."
Dean's eyes narrowed slightly at Cas' words, surprised to hear them from the angel, but he nodded with a small smile. "Agreed." He stood up to put the sandwich stuff back in the fridge before he crossed the room, clapping a hand on Cas' shoulder as he passed him and looking down at his friend. "Thanks again, Cas. For being there."
Cas looked up at him with a small nod. "I will endeavor to always be that," he said.
Dean left the kitchen and cast one last glance at the angel, his second brother, before he grabbed a sleeping bag from one of Bobby's closets and went back to the den. He spread the roll on the floor next to the couch and laid down on it, glancing up to look at Sam's sleeping figure one more time before he closed his eyes and fell asleep to the familiar sound of his brother's breathing.
Sam woke the next morning feeling genuinely refreshed. He sat up on the couch with a yawn and rubbed his eyes.
"About time you woke up."
Sam looked over to see Bobby sitting at his desk, working on his computer. He smiled tiredly, standing up to stretch his back out. "Well, I haven't slept much for a few days." He looked down and saw the sleeping bag still laid out on the floor. "Where's Dean?"
"He and Cas went to get the Impala," Bobby said and wheeled his chair around the desk. "You hungry?"
Sam's stomach growled just at the thought. "Yeah. But you don't have to make anything, Bobby."
"I was gonna make some breakfast anyway. Come on, son."
Sam followed him into the kitchen and grabbed stuff for Bobby as he worked on making eggs and bacon. They were just sitting down at the table when Gabriel appeared in the doorway, looking a little ragged, maybe a little pale, but much better than he had when they got him back.
"Hey," Sam said in surprise. "You doing okay?"
"Aw, were you worried about me?" Gabriel asked as he came in and sat down in one of the vacant chairs. "I've been worse. Been better too, though." He looked around. "Where's the other set of bros?"
"Out to get the car," Sam said, then glanced at his plate. "Um, want some breakfast?"
"I'm not that bad off," Gabriel said. "Could use some sugar though."
"Well, there ain't much of that," Bobby said.
"I'll settle for a beer then," Gabriel said and snapped his fingers. A bottle from the fridge appeared on the table. Gabriel shrugged. "Still got the mojo."
"So what happened with Lucifer?" Sam asked as he ate his breakfast. "Did he just fly off somewhere?"
"Pretty much," Gabriel said, taking a drink. "I'm not sure what his deal was."
"What I'm wondering is why he didn't kill you," Bobby said.
"You and me both," Gabriel muttered.
Sam watched him for a minute but decided not to press it. Gabriel might have stepped up to the plate for them, but Lucifer was still his brother. Sam and Dean had had some pretty intense fights in the past, and while they'd never intended to actually kill each other, the hurt afterward was hard to deal with and took a while to smooth over. Sam could tell Gabriel was still rattled, and wasn't willing to press the issue. If the archangel didn't want to kill Lucifer, then the rest of them could do so easily.
"So what now?" Sam asked him to change the subject.
"Well, I thought I would look around, try to drum up some more help," Gabriel said with a shrug. "I also got a few feathers to unruffle with some old friends."
"But you're in this?" Bobby asked.
Gabriel gave him a longsuffering look. "Yeah, I am now. For better or worse. Now that Luci knows I'm with you, it's not like I'm gonna change sides or anything. I'm afraid you're stuck with me."
"Well, thanks," Sam said sincerely. "I don't think any of us would have gotten out of there without your help."
"Ya think?" Gabriel quirked an eyebrow at him. He gave a short chuckle and took another drink of his beer. "And to think, that this ended the way you wanted it to after all. Doing your own thing, and dragging me along with it. I spent all that time making those pocket dimensions to persuade you for nothing."
"Yeah," Sam said. "And for the record, don't ever do that again."
Gabriel gave him a smile but didn't say anything. Sam decided not to read too much into that for his own good.
After they finished breakfast, Sam helped Bobby research until Dean and Cas got back early in the afternoon. Cas looked relieved to see Gabriel up and about.
"I see you're feeling better," he said.
Gabriel grinned. "Yep, just about good as new."
Sam greeted Dean as he watched the two angels out of the corner of his eye. Cas stood rather awkwardly next to Gabriel who was sitting on the couch.
"So," the younger angel said. "Are you going to be leaving now?"
Gabriel shrugged. "For a while, just to see if there's any help I can find, and uh, to check in on Kali and the others."
Cas sighed slightly. "But you'll be back?"
"Couse, kiddo, I'm in this now too," he assured him, standing up and clasping Cas' shoulder. "Team Free Will?"
Dean grunted. "Yeah, that's right."
"Oh, by the way," Gabriel said and crossed the room to Bobby. He settled a hand on his shoulder and the old hunter glared at him before his eyes widened slightly. "You're welcome," the archangel said with a smirk.
"Bobby?" Sam asked, frowning, unsure of what had just happened.
The hunter was shaking, and as he started to push himself up out of his wheelchair, Sam and Dean shot forward to stop him, but then stopped in their tracks as they watched him climb slowly to his feet, a look of shock on all their faces.
"Bobby?" Dean breathed.
Bobby took a step away from the chair and tested his balance before he looked over at Gabriel with wide eyes. "Thanks," was all he said.
The archangel winked. "We need all the help we can get. And as much as you were rocking the Professor X look, I figured this was more helpful to all of us."
Sam and Dean looked at Gabriel with gratitude, and Cas gave his brother an almost proud look.
"So," Sam said. "What do we do now?"
"Today, we regroup and recover," Dean said firmly, going over to Bobby's desk where he took up one of their angel blades. "Tomorrow, we figure out a way to ice the devil."
Cas nodded. "Agreed."
Sam looked around at the small group of people and angels who were willing to go up against one of the most powerful forces they had ever faced. But despite their lack of numbers and firepower, he still had every faith that they could win. Because if they didn't the world would end, and they weren't going to let that happen.
Sam figured that was just part of being a hero. And really, there was no one he'd rather stand at the end of the world with than the people in this room.
He caught Dean's eye across the room and knew he felt the same. He picked up a shot gun and started to break it down for cleaning.
"Let's get to work."
The End
I'll have a couple one-shots posted next week for you all to enjoy while I finish up my next multi-chap fic so keep an eye out for those :)