Dean shouldn't have been hurt that Castiel was different now. After all, he abandoned him first. But he was about ninety percent sure that Castiel had still been following him until a day or two ago, considering he saw a fewer people than usual shot in front of him. But then there was that commotion and their argument.

It occurred to Dean that if Castiel actually believed that human lives were worth something more than money, and he had been shut down like that... Castiel might have found trouble trying to save him. But Dean was trying to kill his "family," so that didn't make sense.

He resolved to stay away from people. He was going to end up dead or in jail, so it reasoned that the fewer people he hurt in doing so, (and didn't it just crush Sammy) the fewer people in this town would be suffering.

On the other hand, Castiel was still, at least until he figured out what happened, off his hit list.

"Balthazar," Michael pandered with his plastic smile, "Come in my brother. It is so good to see you!"

Balthazar looked at Michael in the way that arachnophobes look at their friends' pet spiders: slowly, with a cover of boredom, but their fear is still evident. "What do you need me for?" he drawled in a British accent only Gabriel could answer for.

Michael's smile dropped at the corners into a threat. "Gabriel has fallen and must be taken care of, (Balthazar barely avoided letting any trace of fear cross his face) but you... I need you to watch over Castiel, be his little guardian angel. I fear his target has compromised him. Don't let him fall, Balthazar. We're still a family, and family is loyal to the end."

Balthazar knew there was an unspoken to their patriarch in Michael's voice. Everyone in the family cowered before their oldest "brother," but no one remembered just why. But Balthazar remembered pain, and yelling, and someone else telling Michael off. The younger siblings are not toys, Michael, and if anyone should be hurt and manipulated, it's the commoners not the Family. Michael ruled with an iron fist, and no matter where Balthazar listened, he never heard that voice again.

Perhaps for the best. Balthazar picked up his rifle and left. No one hurt his baby brother, even if his brother was hurting himself. He could still be saved.

Castiel did not remember reeducation. Castiel did not remember his father any longer. Castiel did not remember why his body was so tired. Castiel remembered that to stray from his Family loyalty was to seek death.

Castiel tried not to remember Dean Smith. He shouldered his rifle and soldiered on. Regardless of who this was, he had a duty to his Family. Dean Smith had to die at his hands.

Gabriel awoke again much later. Night had fallen, but he could see the stars instead of just streetlights.

He tried to sit up without interrupting Big Bird's stargazing, but he huffed in effort and it was too late. Sam was helping him sit up: "Hey, how are you feeling?"

"Shitty." At least his reflexes were honest.

"Well, you were concussed trying to protect me."

"No, Sam, don't you get it? I'm dangerous. I'm not your ally. I'm beat to crap not because I was protecting you from some threat, but because I was going to kill you, and my brother pounded the shit out of me protecting you and Dean!"

"Wait, Dean's alive?"

"That's what you got out of that?!" OK, he was screeching a bit, but in Gabriel's own defense,he was a bit concussed. "Yes, Dean's alive! Dean's a spy and an assassin, like I said earlier, whereas you are currently stuck with probably the only living fallen Angel who only... how long was I out?"

Sam looked hesitant to let him finish, but finally admitted, "I don't know. I had to get you out of that part of the city, and it was dark when we got here. I'm pretty sure it hasn't been more than three days, but I haven't slept much." Sammy. Sammy, please don't take care of me like this. "And Gabriel," he mentioned, making confident eye contact, "Even if you were going to kill me, which believe me, is not okay, you had a million chances and you never did. Why?"

"Sam, you never did anything to deserve it. I may have a low standard on what it takes to deserve dying, but I still have standards. You even helped an old lady cross the street!"

Sam's face seemed twisted between smiling at the compliment, anger at his friend for trying to kill him, and some kind of sadness- at least, that's how it seemed to Gabriel. "Gabe," he pronounced very slowly, "Ga-bri-el No-vak, (HOW DO YOU KNOW THAT SAMMY! EVEN I DON'T KNOW MY LAST NAME!) if you know that my brother is an assassin, which I didn't believe the first time because I thought you were babbling, then you should know that I have done plenty of things to deserve dying."

"Sam-"

"No Gabriel, I grew up on the street with my brother. This city isn't a safe place for children, and as much as I try to forget what it made me into, I killed people. People who didn't really deserve it died so I could live. Even my mom died saving me from arson. So don't tell me that I deserve to be alive right now."

"Sam, I was going to ask-"

"You just don't get it Gabriel! I saved you to try to make up for all the people that died at my hands, and don't think for a second that if your life hadn't been on the line I wouldn't have stayed there and let myself get killed. I love my brother, but I'm not sacrificing myself for him like he does for me. But now it turns out you just wanted something from me too. Well, take it. You know I'm a murderer now, and that should be enough for your stupid 'standards' to relieve your conscience." His face twisted into a sneer. "Kill me, Gabriel. I don't even think you could."

Gabriel blinked and consciously wiped every trace of emotion outside of amusement off his face. "Well, Sammy, i would fulfill your dying wish, (Sam rolled his eyes) but it seems when I fled my 'brothers,' I forgot to grab anything to do it with. Sorry, kid, I'm all out of cyanide pills." He allowed his face to soften, "Look, Samsquatch, I'm sure you did most of those things to keep yourself alive. And at this point, it doesn't even matter, because as I was trying to tell you, I only need you to tell me one thing."

"Which is?"

"How do you know my name?"