"Can we not just go to the library," began Dean furiously, grunting in pain as the demon's fist clipped his jaw. He swung back, knocking the black-eyed man off his feet, "Without running into trouble?"
He spat blood on the pavement.
Savvy roundhouse kicked the demon that had targeted her. "You're Winchesters," she snapped back at him, following with a left hook, "What do you think?"
The unorthodox childhood Savvy had only briefly hinted at was serving her well now, the skills she'd been taught, others she'd been forced to learn, making her valuable rather than a liability or distraction.
These demons weren't even capable of speech at all, just growling and snarling like feral animals, jumping back in the fray as soon as they were knocked out of it, absolutely no concern for their own well-being. It scarily reminded Dean of going to a future overruns with Croats.
"I thought the point of sending us here was so we could lay low," demanded Cas, dodging a punch and following with a right-cross.
"Yeah," agreed Sam, swinging his interlaced hands and snapping a demon's head so hard to the side she crumpled boneless to the ground, melting into a puddle of black tar almost immediately. "How are they finding us?"
One of the demons lunged directly at Savvy. She fell into the attack, holding the man by his jacket as she rolled backward, getting her feet up and then kicking him over her head with a grunt, rolling so that she landed on her feet. The demon's skull met the curbside with a sickening crack and his body went slack, then liquefied.
"At least we don't have to worry about hiding bodies," she panted, hands planted on her knees as Dean and Cas finished off the last denizen of hell. Cas took the demon's head between his hands and twisted sharply. It collapsed and turned to ooze.
The older Winchester scoffed. "No, just the possibility of getting arrested after we gank a bunch of people in the library parking lot!"
Tucking her white hair behind her ear, Savvy folded her arms over her novelty tee, hip jutting to one side. The front of her jeans were fashionably ripped and frayed all down the front. "No one can even see us back here." She flapped a hand at the collection of massive southern oaks.
He snorted, turning to inspect Cas and his brother over for injuries. "Never thought I'd be so thankful for a bunch of lousy trees." The former angel was wincing, weight balanced more on one foot than the other. "You okay?" he questioned lowly, one hand coming up to Cas' elbow as his eyes searched the angel's face.
The other man nodded, forcing a smile. "I'm fine, Dean." He glanced at the others. "Sam? Savvy?"
They both nodded. Dean bobbed his head, glancing cautiously over his shoulder at the rest of the parking lot.
"Let's get out of here before we run into more demons trying to save the world from us."
They all got into Savvy's Honda Civic the color of autumn, Sam up front while Dean and Cas were in the backseat. Green eyes noted the way Castiel rubbed gingerly at where his new tattoo was hidden beneath his clothing, grimacing slightly as he did.
"Well, where to now?" asked Savvy, gaze flicking to them in the rearview mirror and jerking Dean's attention away from the man beside him. With a sigh, Cas laid his head back and allowed his eyes to slip shut. "The power is probably still out at the house."
They'd escaped her apartment and gone to the library under the guise of doing research, but more for relief from the stifling heat indoors than anything. By ten o'clock that morning it had already been nearly a hundred degrees outside, the air thick with humidity, making it cling to you. The humidity and heat in the apartment had awoken them all early, the majority of them sleeping restlessly all night until the miserable heat forced them awake, covered in sweat.
Rubbing his jaw, Dean cast his gaze out the window, watching as downtown passed by. "Let's grab something to eat first, then try our luck at the main library."
Nodding, Savvy drove, a tired silence falling in the car. In the front seat, Sam was flipping through one of the books they'd gotten at the library-and had subsequently been forced to use as a weapon once they'd gotten to the parking lot. Beside him, Cas shifted in his seat, pulled out the iPod Savvy had loaned him, and placed the ear buds in as he let his forehead fall against the window, his eyes sliding closed.
With every occupant of the car distracted in his or her own way, Dean was left free to study the man beside him listening to some audiobook of Savvy's. There had been a screaming child at the library during their research, making Castiel visibly flinch every time its wails started anew after another deep indrawn breath. The angel had apparently not slept as well as Dean, and his tolerate nature was uncharacteristically frail.
Dean was learning quickly that Savvy was usually well prepared for every occasion. She'd handed over her iPod to Castiel without hesitation, along with a spare set of headphones. After a brief instruction, Savvy plugged her headphones into her laptop and continued to block out the child that way. For a few minutes, Castiel continued to toy with the contraption, before he returned to flipping through a book on Catholicism. Dean only knew he was listening to an audiobook or podcast rather than music because of the one time Sam had interrupted him, and the angel had removed an ear bud to hear and answer him. Rather than music filtering through the tiny speaker, it had been the sound of a woman speaking.
It seemed appropriate the angel would choose book narration over music, even if the whole point of the device was the block out the screams of a toddler.
While Cas had been distracted from sleep deprivation, Dean had found himself distracted by Cas. He was presented with a curious problem now that he neither knew how to handle or approach, never having found himself in such a position.
There was a war coming, one none of them were likely to actually survive- and was completely inevitable, he'd already come to terms with that.
Dean was in love with Cas, and they were facing down yet another Armageddon, and before this one came calling Castiel deserved to know just how much he was loved. Which was the problem. The very small by comparison problem, but it was a problem Dean could focus on and deal with realistically.
They were friends. Had started out the most unlikely of friends, sure, what with the guy who didn't believe in angels or God, and then the angel who knew nothing about humans or exercising free will. They'd become tentative allies, brothers in arms, and then finally best friends and family.
It wasn't like Dean could just come out and say 'Hey, I love you'. Though, if he did, Cas might reply back that he loved Dean, too, meaning it a completely platonic manner, and then ask if Dean was alright and how hard he'd recently hit his head.
That didn't seem like the best approach. He just wanted Castiel to know; he wasn't expecting the feeling returned. Well, he hoped, but Cas was- or had been- an angel. He had no idea if angels could even experience romantic love, or was it all strictly platonic? The hunter didn't want to damage their relationship by revealing something Cas wasn't even equipped to handle. Then again, there was that impromptu kiss they had shared. Which they still hadn't talked about, and Dean was actually kind of grateful for.
He glanced toward where his brother was reading in the front seat. As often as they all faced death, and kept being given second chances, Dean didn't know why they kept letting things go unsaid, or why they had let things go unsaid for so long. He and Sam made a point of talking to each other-granted, only when they had to- but they talked and were honest, even about the things they didn't want the other one to know, really.
Green eyes slid back over to the man sharing the backseat with him, apparently lulled to sleep by the motion of the car and the voice in his ears.
While he still had the opportunity, Dean wanted to grab at it. Wanted Cas to know, if only so the angel would stop selling himself short, would realize how amazing he was, and stop apparently waiting for those he cared about to eventually just leave him in the end, for his family to continue to abandon him. If something came from Dean's reveal, even better, but in a way, he wanted it out in the open more for Castiel's sake than his own.
Which brought him back around to trying to figure out how to tell the other man. Or how to tell Sam, now that he thought about it. Maybe Sam could help him come up with a strategy. His younger brother was a lot better at all this emotional crap than Dean was.
Savvy took them to a Chinese restaurant called The Pearl, and Dean gently shook Cas' shoulder, causing the angel to blink in surprise and muddled confusion a moment, before he nodded and got out of the car, replacing the iPod as he did.
Their lunch was eaten in exhausted silence, all four of them hunched over the plates of noodles, the gestures of food to mouth almost robotic in its automatry.
Beneath the table, Cas gave Dean's foot a significant nudge, causing the hunter to look at him across the table. The dark haired man inclined his head toward his meal and the noodles on his fork.
"Add this to the list of food I like."
Beside him, Sam smiled into his drink and Dean chuckled, nodding obediently. "Duly noted. Cas likes burgers, Chinese noodles, and his coffee like he likes his women: blonde and sweet."
Their eyes met across the table, a little frown appearing in the angel's brow. "The gender on the outside holds no relevance for me, Dean. I have no preference one way or the other." His head angled slightly as Dean had to swallow hard. "Your gender analogy is inaccurate, though that is how I like my coffee."
It was an opening, an opportunity. Their gazes held, and it would be so easy for Dean to cross that bridge, to say something like 'Well that's a relief' or 'Glad to hear it', while offering the other man a flirtatious smile, or giving his leg a pointed nudge under the table. Castiel had unknowingly given Dean the opportunity he needed…
The hunter was acutely aware of the other two people sitting at the table with them, though neither spoke or even seemed to be moving. Coughing lightly, Dean tore his gaze away for Cas', the moment shattered.
"I'll, uh, add that tidbit to the list of Castiel Facts as well, then," he said.
Blue eyes lingered for another moment, then Cas returned his attention back to his own plate and they resumed eating in silence.
Dean was distracted from eating by the aura of disapproval and irritation coming for beside him. He looked up questioningly to find Sam giving him one of his exasperated bitchfaces. It was Bitchface #5, actually, the one that said 'I cannot believe you could be so stupid, how are we related, Dean you're an idiot'. The elder Winchester straightened with a frown, not understanding his brother's expression.
"What?" he asked.
Cas looked up inquiringly as Sam released a snort and shook his head in disgust. "Nothing. Absolutely nothing."
Brows drawn together, Dean looked at Savvy, wondering if he'd missed something. She stared at him with an arched brow, finger tapping irregularly against the table top.
Then she sighed and shook her head, returning to her food. "I'm too tired to care."
The main branch of the library offered them no more help than the other one had, Savvy grumbling at what a fail the libraries in the area were anyway, of her desire to move further north "Where the snow lives, y'know? And there's less bigotry and racism. People are both good as gold and hateful down here. And the libraries are terrible. I want to move somewhere with a Half Price bookstore."
She had interesting priorities.
As the day wore on, they all grew increasingly more agitated with exhaustion, hardly speaking to each other, and reduced to single word answers or grunts when they did. Savvy kept glaring, swearing like a sailor under her breath every time something happened to her displeasure, until she'd finally declared "Fuck this. I am tired and I hate everybody on the fucking planet right now. Can we please go home or I swear to God, I will find an empty hallway and go to sleep in the corner."
Cas and Sam both fell asleep in the car.
By the time they made it back to her apartment, the power was already on and the home was blessedly cool again. Everyone unanimously decided on a nap almost as soon as they met the inviting interior temperature. Savvy shuffled into her room and crawled into bed, Harley immediately curling up beside her, and one of her arms wrapped around the dog. In the living room, Sam practically faceplanted on the sofa and seemed to be asleep almost immediately. Dean and Cas did the same, falling onto the air mattress together with sighs of contentment, as weariness made them pliant and relax into the bed. Beside him, Cas was already asleep when Dean pulled the blankets over them, before a few breaths later he was a sleep as well.
Several hours of blissful sleep passed, and Dean awoke first, curled against Cas' back, with an arm around the angel's waist. It was perfect and comfortable, and Dean wanted to nuzzle closer and drift back off to sleep. It would be easy. In the weeks that had been sharing a bed, it was surprising they hadn't woken up curled together before, or had any other embarrassing incidents upon waking.
They'd had to wake each other from their own nightmares on several occasions, or they'd woken the other one up when jerked violently awake by a nightmare, but it was a small mercy nothing embarrassing had happened between them yet.
Dean sighed, biting back a chuckle when the warm breath across Cas' neck enticed a low hum from the other man. Lowering his head, the hunter brushed his mouth over Cas' shoulder before rolling away from him and onto his back, staring at the ceiling and contemplating the merits of getting up.
There weren't any. No one else was awake, the books that they had gotten were more to say they had made an effort, but they all already knew there was nothing helpful to be found in any of them. They were left to wait. Wait for Balthazar to retrieve them, for the Holy Grail from this world to find them so they could take it back, or wait for the worlds to implode in on themselves.
He snorted, giving a little shake of his head. He'd told Lisa he wouldn't get in another mess where the world was on the line, that he was just looking for one missing person. One missing person case that had led him here. Maybe it was a sign, but he wasn't sure what it meant, whether telling him to get out of the life, or that right in the middle of it was where he was supposed to be.
Cas stretched in his sleep, groaning, before rolling over and seeking out Dean's lost heat. The hunter stilled, gaze focused on the ceiling as Cas' head settled against the his shoulder, an arm draping across Dean's waist. Then, Cas sighed and sagged back into a deeper sleep.
Technically, these were better circumstances than when Dean woke up. At least it wasn't him, what with his apparent massive crush that could be seen from space that was latched onto Castiel. It had been bound to happen eventually, right? And it wasn't like they had any issues with personal space anymore at this point anyway, what with the constant body contact at the start of this soul-anchor mess, then having to share a bedroom and bathroom since. It was no big deal. None.
He smiled fondly against the top of the other man's head a moment, thumb stroking over the fabric of his shirt. Smile vanishing, Dean rolled his head to regard the ceiling again.
They were in another battle to save the world, and God help him, Dean didn't want to be. He just wanted to do his job. To save lives from regular monsters and things that went bump in the night. One life at a time, not all six billion at once.
In the event that they did survive this, though God help him, Dean had no idea how they could, given what they were facing, but in the very off chance that they did… he needed to figure out a way to do his job and stay out of the fire fight as well. The demons were right. Shit hit the fan and there was Team Free Will, right in the middle of it, like before.
A tired and frustrated sigh escaped him. Beside him-against him, really- Castiel stiffened. Dean looked down. The other man's eyes were open and blinking, brows drawn together.
"I'm sorry," Dean said softly. "Did I wake you?"
Blue eyes jerked up to his face, eyes widening in alarm as he drew back the arm that had been curled around Dean's torso, pushing himself back.
"I-I'm sorry. I didn't mean to-" His eyes didn't know where to look, and cast away at no spot in particular. "I apologize."
Huffing a laugh, Dean stretched, the arm that had been curled around the angel purposefully bumping against him, before Dean went slack against the bed regarding his friend. "Nothing to apologize for, Cas." The other man was pushed up onto one arm, peering down at him, studying him as he spoke. Dean cocked a brow. "Feel better?"
Chuckling, Cas glanced at where Sam was still fast asleep, an arm thrown across his face. He settled back down on his side of the bed, he and Dean turning on their sides to speak in low tones so as to not wake him.
"Yes." He glanced down in embarrassment, then back at Dean. "I was… unreasonably cross earlier. It was uncharacteristic."
Dean rolled his eyes. "You were tired. Everybody gets cranky. Like that kid from earlier."
Snorting softly, it was Cas' turn to roll his eyes. "Again, you compare me to a squalling toddler." His eyes were playful as they met Dean's. "Do you think so little of me?"
"Cas, I can honestly say, you are the person I am most honored to have met and call family."
They shared a smile.
"Were you not tired as well?" Cas questioned.
"I woke up a few minutes ago. Was just thinking."
"About?"
Dean told him, the angel studying his features as he explained, nodding along in understanding.
"Dean, it's completely reasonable what you are feeling. You shouldn't feel guilty." He shook his head as best he could from his position on his side. "We'll figure something out."
A sardonic smirk curled the corner of his mouth. "If we live through this?"
"When we live through this." Blue eyes found his. "Do you have an idea what you want after all of this?"
"I want Sam to be able to go back to school if he still wants," he said immediately. "I want him to have the normal life he always wanted, whether with Sarah or someone else. I give him a hard time about her, but I really just want him to have what he's wanted since he was a brat, you know? And she accepts him as is."
"What do you want to do, though, Dean?"
The blond frowned, mulling over the question. "I don't know, man. I can't walk away. I know I can't walk away. Lisa was right. I can't be happy knowing there are things out there hunting innocent people and I'm not doing something about it, but the way we've been doing things won't work anymore." He shook his head. "I don't want to be living a nomad life when I'm sixty; living out of cheap motels and hunting monsters. We save the world again, I kinda think I've earned a spot on the sidelines. Maybe, do something like Bobby: I'm the one people call for information and advice. Or, I could do something kinda like Ellen with the bar, and it doubles as an information spot like Bobby's? I dunno. Part of me wishes we could start some kind of institution, underground or whatever, train more people, create better hunters, make certain more of us live to even see sixty. There are too few hunters, too spread out, and none of us talk to each other. We're gonna die off like that, and then what? Who protects the people?"
He faltered at the look Cas was giving him, the fond amusement coloring the other man's expression. "What?"
"I asked what you wanted, and your wants all still focus around protecting and caring for others," pointed out the angel. "You are selfless."
He smiled as Dean blinked with a start. The elder Winchester didn't see it that way. He thought he was being rather selfish wanting to get out of the traditional version of a hunter life, wanting to be on the sidelines where it was safer and he was less likely to get caught up in anymore cosmic wars.
"What do you want?" he asked, rather than respond. "You're human now. Once all this crazy settles down and it's safe for you to be more than five feet away from me for more than five minutes again… any plans? Tour the world? Take up golf?" The last part he asked grinning, coaxing a soft snort of laughter from the other man. "Or did you want to figure out some way to strong arm that Naomi bitch into giving you your grace back? Say the word and me, Sam, and Bobby have got your back. We'll totally kick her ass, Cas."
A fond smile that Dean thought seemed a bit sad colored his friend's expression. He didn't pull away when Cas reached out with one hand to cup the back of Dean's neck, thumb resting lightly against this jaw.
"Dean," he said lowly. "You grieve for my lost grace more than I do. I would not take it back even if it were offered to me."
"But… but why?" questioned Dean, unable to comprehend the other man's choice. Why would he choose to be weak, breakable, mortal when he could be…
"Because I was untouchable before," Cas told him and Dean's frown of confusion deepened. "I felt, Dean, but there was…" His eyes searched for the word. "Frosted bullet-proof glass separating me from emotions and feelings, they were there and I was aware of them, but did not fully grasp them or experience them, what they were, what some even meant. Nothing was fully able to get to me. I was cut off and separated. I'm human now and my feelings are fully available to me. It's like," The hand on Dean's neck came away to make an vague gesture, "It's like a blurred world suddenly snapping into focus, o-or a breath of clean, fresh air after being choked of it." His hand fell back to the mattress between them. "I wanted to stay on Earth, to stay with you- and with Sam and Bobby. Now all of me is." He shook his head. "Nothing can make me regret that." He sucked in a deep breath and let it out in a huff. "As far as what I want to do? I think I'll stick by you." A shadow of a smirk. "A world trip might be fun to experience as a human, but if I do, you and I ought to go together."
"Me?"
The other man laughed. "Think about it, Dean: as much time as you spend on the road, as much as you travel, yet you've never actually been anywhere. You haven't even seen the wonders of your own country, much less those around the world. Going alone would be lonely. Journeys are meant to be shared, so we might as well go together. Sam would probably like a break from road tripping."
Snorting a laugh, Dean nodded slightly, shrugging one shoulder. "Sam would probably do anything to never have to road trip with me again."
Sobering, Cas' gaze played over Dean's face. "What else is bothering you? You keep watching Savvy when she's preoccupied with something else."
Dean arched a brow. "I'm not into her if that's what you're hinting at."
Another snort of laughter. "The scowl and serious way you seem to study her would suggest something other than romantic interest." A pause. "What's wrong? You don't trust her?"
"We wouldn't still be here if I didn't," the hunter stated, then hesitated, trying to find words to describe the unease that nagged him. "It's just… I dunno. I don't understand, I guess. On all accounts, she's just a woman. Works from home, mid-twenties, dog owner, introvert or whatever. She's capable, prepared, acts well in a crisis, and isn't pawing at any of us like Becky would, which is a nice change."
"But?"
Their gazes met. "Her entire demeanor changes in a fight. Savvy is nice, easy to get along with, slowly starting to be herself more and more around us rather than being so guarded. She took us in when we needed her, knowing the threat our presence alone offered, I mean, she smiles and waves to little kids at the library." He shook his head. "But then that first night with the demons? She didn't hesitate to use brutal force. Went for the knees, then the shoulder and collar bone with a softball bat. Didn't bat an eye. Then she sprayed away the evidence with that same, like, hard expression, that between one blink and the next can be there and gone."
"She's familiar with what we were dealing with, or demons, at least. She knows from witnessing your lives not to hold back," Cas pointed out.
Dean shook his head. "No, it isn't that. She's… she's like a soldier or something. She's prepared for everything: weapons throughout the house, lights, medical supplies, even today at the library and the screaming kid. Her entire demeanor and the way she holds herself changes when she's threatened. She doesn't get scared and try to get away like a normal person. Her face goes hard, eyes cold, and she prepares to take the threat head-on, like…"
"Like a hunter?"
"Like she's use to fighting battles," he clarified. "Not the occasional fist fight or whatever. She goes into a sort of soldier-mode or something. She holds her bat like a sword."
"She is ordained to take up banner and sword for others," Cas reminded him. "That would suggest her entire existence is meant to be a battle field, quite literally, from what I've seen."
Sighing, Dean shook his head. "I just don't like the way the flip switches so easily for her, especially not really knowing her. I don't like how cold her expression goes. What the hell does that to a person?"
"You have to ask, Dean? You, of all people?" wondered Castiel. "It comes from having seen too much, having been through too much. She hasadapted." Sighing, he rolled over and got out of the bed. "If you'll excuse me." He shuffled off into the bathroom, which was close enough they could be that far away.
Dean stayed in bed, still not wanting to get up. He was tired in a way different from needing sleep. He wanted to watch a movie and not have to go out or get out of bed. On the couch behind him, Sam moved, the old red couch creaking slightly under his weight. Twisting, Dean turned to see his younger sibling propped up on one arm and giving him a pointed and impatient look.
"Dean, would you please just ask Cas to marry you already?" Dean blinked, brows drawing together in confusion.
"How long have you been awake?"
Sam pointed at him. "You're deflecting. Tell him you're in love with him already."
Rolling over so he could fully face his brother, Dean looked up at him. "You know?"
"Everybody but the two of you knows, Dean!" the brunette hissed in irritation. "Just make out already, though, please, for the love of God, not where I can see. My teeth would immediately rot. Just stop all this ridiculous pining for each other."
The blond's expression closed off and he eyed his brother suspiciously. "You're saying you think he feels the same?"
Sighing explosively, Sam raked a hand through his hair. "Dean. He just asked you to go on a world trip with him. The two of you. He doesn't want to be an angel anymore so he can have his feelings without a Kevlar filter. Wanted to stay on Earth with you, Bobby and I were an addendum to the statement. Seriously, how can you have any doubt he loves you?" He shook his head in disbelief. "How can you not see how much he loves you, Dean? He wants a life with you, would take it even if he thought he could only have it by remaining strictly friends, just so long as he can stay by your side. He's given up Heaven now twice for you, Dean. As far as romantic gestures go? That's kind of a big one." Warm eyes locked on his, pained and beseeching. "How are you so insecure in your worth that you can't even see when someone loves you?"
A moment later, Cas came out of the bathroom, stopping when he saw Sam was awake. Dean looked at Cas in the doorway and raised a brow.
"Well, I don't plan on doing anything the rest of the day unless I have to. You guys wanna watch a movie?"
The next morning, the real reason they'd been sent to the alternate world was made clear to them. They didn't so much find the thing they'd been sent to retrieve, as it found them. More precisely, he found them.
Amidst the four of them shuffling around Savvy's small kitchen handing out coffee and tea and scrambled egg sandwiches, they heard the argument outside. One of the voices was Phillip's, the old man that lived next door and spent the majority of the day in a chair on the back porch.
"I told you yesterday to go away!" he said. "Leave her alone! She's a nice girl!"
They all looked at each other in confusion.
"Look, old man, I am not here to cause problems, but I need to speak to her, and she wasn't home yesterday," the other voice argued back, the sound familiar. "She can help me."
Savvy had already opened her back door and was peering through the screen door, blinking with a start. "Gabriel?!"
The three men in the apartment suddenly crowded in the door way and by the kitchen window in order to see out into the parking area. Phillip stood on his half of the shared porch, wielding a spatula like a weapon and looking as crazy as ever. On the sidewalk leading up to the apartments, looking hopefully at Savvy… was Gabriel.
"Gabriel!" the men all said in surprise, causing the archangel's face to break out into a wide grin.
"Boys!"
"I-I told him," insisted Phillip, stammering and shaking his spatula, "I told him not to bother you. Was hanging 'round all yesterday while you were gone, watching the place, b-but I run him off."
Savvy slipped out onto the porch, just as Gabriel hurried inside. She smiled at the old man. "It's fine, Phillip. He's a friend. Thank you very much for guarding my apartment."
"I told him-"
She nodded. "And he came back at another time when I was home so he could see us. Thank you for that. I appreciate it."
"-strange men coming out of the woodwork," he fussed, glaring over her shoulder toward the apartment, then snorted and glowered at her. "Miss Savvy, what have you got yourself mixed up in? You better not be running an irreputable business out of your home. Last girl who tried that… they cut her lease and kicked her out."
Dean choked on a laugh at the thought of Savvy dealing in anything shady.
Her smiled remained placating. "I told you, remember, Phillip? They're family that came to visit for a few days. Gabriel is leaving with them when they go, so they met up here."
Another few minutes and she came back inside to watch as Gabriel walked in a circle around his brother, looking him up and down with a surprisingly dark expression.
"Who did this to you?" he growled.
The younger angel shook his head. "It's a long story, brother." He and Dean met gazes, Gabriel watching the movement with sharp eyes, narrowed dangerously.
"How'd you find us?" asked Sam, shaking his head as his eyes raked over the archangel. "And how are you here?"
Sighing, Gabriel waved a hand. "Equally long story, kiddo. Not my idea." His amber eyes flicked to each other them, and Dean wondered how he could suddenly look so ancient. "I'm just glad you're here to take me back."
Folding his arms, Dean leaned against the door frame leading to Savvy's room, while the girl in question was standing back in the kitchen, arms folded and eyes taking in every detail of what was happening around her, much like she had when the Winchesters had all first arrived. Harley was seated directly by her side, eyes following the newcomer's every move.
"Actually," Dean sighed, making the angel look at him, "we were sent here to keep us unavailable to Michael and Lucifer since your dad has deemed it a good idea to let them out of the Cage, even while the wall to Purgatory is about to blow and we're scrambling trying to find a way to stop it."
Gabriel's mouth curled upward in a mischievous smirk. "Is that what they told you?"
Dean frowned. "Uh, yeah. Balthazar said he and the others were a little apprehensive and as a precaution they were sending us here."
Shoulders shaking with laughter, Gabriel gave him a tired smile. "Oh kid. They played you the fool." He shook his head. "You're here so I can go home. The angels can't come get me, and I can't go home on my own power. I'm cut off here and a little weaker every day, which is why it took a couple of days to find you. Angels can open the portal, but not from this side. They sent you through knowing I would sense it and come searching. You were, like, a flare to get my attention, nothing more. Balthazar will have to reopen the window from his side if we're to make it back home."
Scoffing, Sam held up a hand. "We were angel bait?"
Their eyes met and the weary expression on the blond man's face fizzled out any anger that had been building up in the taller of the two. "What lengths would you go to save your brother from dying a slow death?" Another sigh, before his gaze traveled to the silent spectator in her own home.
Gabriel's posture changed as he turned to fully regard her. Stiffening under his amber gaze, Savvy straightened to full height, her arms falling to her sides, and chin lifting in challenge. Other people in the room forgotten, the archangel stepped forward, gaze studying her like Cas use to do to Dean, like he were looking beneath skin and bone, to something deeper only he could see as an angel. The angel's focus strayed to her right hand, studying it for a moment before his eyes trailed back up to her face.
"You carry the sword," he said softly. Her whole expression tightened, and Dean watched as she suddenly had to swallow, her eyes bright. Gabriel stepped close to her, taking her face in hands and forcing her to look at him, and Dean would have sworn she suddenly had tears in her eyes. "I'm sorry for the weight that has put on your shoulders, for the things your calling has put you through," he whispered, leaning forward to press a kiss to her forehead. "You have what it takes to always get back up."
Squeezing her eyes shut, Savvy's hands trembled by her sides as she balled them into fists, tears spilling down her cheeks. Without a word, Gabriel brushed them away with his thumb, offering her a smile when she forced her eyes back open a moment later. Her smile was wobbly when she returned his.
Dean and Sam shared a confused look, brows drawn together as they silently gestured back and forth until Sam just shrugged and held up his hands. They looked at Cas who was smiling fondly, apparently understanding a lot better than they were what was going on.
Turning back to the others, Gabriel put his hands on his hips as his gaze travelled over them. "Okay. We don't have much time now that I'm here. Fill me in on what's going on."
They did, the four of them sitting around the living room and catching Gabriel up to speed on what was going on. Meanwhile, Savvy was in her room packing bags.
"You're involved now," he'd said. "I'm sorry. You may be sent back eventually, but if you weren't meant to come back with us, they wouldn't have sent the boys to you. I could have found them anywhere."
She watched him with dawning horror. "But my mom! My family and friends-"
Gabriel shook his head. "Will never miss you. There is another you in our world, a different you. You can't be in the same place, so they'll probably swap you. You'll have her life, they'll mind whammy her and drop her in your life, and it'll go on like nothing is out of the ordinary. Like none of this ever happened."
Swallowing, her expression shifted again, going from the woman to the cold soldier persona like Alice stepping through the mirror.
"And what should I expect of my new life?"
"Honey, I have no idea," he sighed, shaking his head. "Go pack."
She gave a nod, then pointed at the Blue Heeler. "Harley comes with me." Gabriel stared at her, and something in her eyes hardened further. "Non-negotiable."
When he nodded in acquiescence, she softened back into Savvy again, nodding in return. Then silently turned away and shut herself up in her room.
True to his prediction, shortly after dawn the next morning, they all felt the change, the shift, making them all look around wildly, wondering where the displacement was coming from. Savvy immediately grabbed her bat as though expecting demons to get dumped in her living room this time. Her bags were situated in the corner.
"This is our ride, boys," Gabriel said, his normal cheerfulness sounding forced and tired. "Time to head back to Oz."
A orange-red vortex began to open up, a hole in reality right in front of the windows, spinning and crackling as it grew in size, revealing nothing more than a black void on the other side.
Scoffing, Savvy shook her head. "Oh, I am not going through there unarmed. You can hang that up to dry." She moved to grab her dagger and bowie knife, tucking the dagger into the back of her jeans and then the knife into her boot as Gabriel glanced at their bags and snapped his fingers. Looking at her dog, she patted her hip, bat still firmly held in one hand. "C'mon, Harley," she said, before taking off running and diving through the portal before anyone could stop her, her companion right by her side.
Gabriel looked at Castiel. "Brother?"
The dark haired man shook his head and stepped closer to Dean's side. "He and I can't be separated yet."
He flashed a smile at the younger Winchester. "Looks like it's you and me, kiddo. Let's go."
Expression severe, Sam gave a nod, his gaze meeting Dean's and locking. His elder brother gave an infinitesimal nod. Sucking in a deep breath, Sam bobbed his head, then he and Gabriel followed after Savvy, both diving through the ring of power.
Once they were gone, Cas took a step forward to follow suit, only to have Dean's hand clamp down on his shoulder, making him look back. The severe and desperate expression on the hunter's face caught Cas off guard, and he turned fully.
"Dean? What's wrong?"
Green eyes played over his friend's face, memorizing ever detail like it was the last time Dean might ever see him.
"Cas, when we get home, and before the world gets a chance to burn, you and I need to have a talk." The other man angled his head in confusion, brows drawn together as he tried to read what the problem was. Dean gave his shoulder a squeeze. "Okay?" Castiel nodded in returned, and the hunter's hand fell away. "Good." He jerked his head toward the vortex. "Now let's go see what trouble they got up to while we were gone."
Smiling, Cas gave a sharp nod, then the two of them turned and ran toward the portal that would take them home.
Years of training allowed Dean to land in a roll and come up on his feet in a crouch, ready to attack or dodge out of the way of danger. Beside him, Cas was in much the same position, eyes narrowed and calculating. Dean quickly took in the trees around them. If he was right, they were in the woods not far from Bobby's salvage yard. They'd had to come out here many a time to bury a monster corpse. Rising together, Sam appeared at his brother's elbow as the three of them caught sight of the people only a few yards away, Gabriel standing in a lineup as a man stood regarding them.
There was nothing particularly strange about the sight, save for the fact that the lineup consisted strictly of angels. Angels all standing at attention under the eye of this unremarkable man so average, Dean would have instantly forgotten his face in passing. Savvy was standing closer to the group than they were, her feet planted shoulder width apart and bat in front of her, her hands folded over the end of it, and head bowed, eyes firmly fixed on the ground. Even Harley was staring at the ground.
Dean's eyes snapped to the angels again, a rising panic setting off all the alarms in his head, not just at the sight of the familiar faces of Michael and Lucifer standing side by side in the lineup, along with others like Anna and Balthazar, but the way they, too, stood at attention, though Lucifer looked decidedly less happy about it.
That was when it clicked, and Dean stared at the man, his mouth speaking without permission. "Oh my god, it's God," his hissed, slapping out blindly for his brother.
Yards away, the man straightened, turning slightly as though someone had called for Him, turning His head slightly to give the three men a hint of a smile, His eyes a swirling rainbow of ever-changing color.
They all took an involuntary step back, Dean trying to push Cas behind him even while grabbing for his brother's sleeve in the event they had to take off running.
The smile on God's expression grew more pronounced as He turned back to regard His children. The amusement melted away in an instant.
"Luce," called God gently.
The fallen angel hadn't actually been looking at his Father at that point, but glaring pointedly somewhere over God's shoulder, into the distance of the woods around them. Hearing his name though, Lucifer begrudgingly regarded the speaker.
God continued softly, "You get one shot, Lucifer. Just one. You will help the Winchesters and their allies to the fullest of your capabilities or you will go back in the Cage, do you understand? You are not to betray them or allow harm to come to them through negligence on your part, even if not by your own hand, or you will go back in the Cage." He regarded him a moment, calm, like a parent explaining to a child why they were put in time-out and what would land them back in it. "Do you understand?"
Sucking in a deep breath, Lucifer gave a nod, only to have Michael elbow him sharply, earning himself a glare, before the fallen angel regarded their father again. Dean noted that Michael's appearance was back to that of young John Winchester, while Lucifer was a non-deteriorating Nick. Even had they had different faces, Dean thought he'd know them anywhere.
"Yes, sir," Lucifer said finally.
Satisfied, God nodded and smiled. "I know you'll do great things, Luce."
He let his gaze travel over the other angels, to Michael, Anna, Balthazar, Gabriel, and even Naomi, before his gaze cast over to where Castiel stood by Dean's side. Everything in the hunter wanted to step between them like a shield. He sensed more than anything that God knew that, because he smiled again, even going so far as to chuckle as he regarded his lineup of children.
"How did I manage to raise such strong-willed, independent thinkers and still get accused of denying you free will?"
The way he said it, each of the angels actually seemed to swell with pride rather than being chastised. They'd all messed up, but he was proud of each of them regardless, for stretching their wings, for risking failure.
"You're going to have your hands full with this coming battle," God began, seriously, "but if you put aside your differences and let go of past transgressions to work together, I know you can see this through to the end and come out successful."
They all saluted as one. "Sir!"
He nodded and looked at the only angel in a business suit. "Naomi. I have a task for you and your subordinates. The others will stay here with the Winchesters and their allies. You will work from a different angle, as per usual."
She gave a curt nod. "We'll see our mission through to completion," she promised.
"Of that I have no doubt." When He nodded to her again, she saluted and disappeared from sight. Head bobbing, God turned around to face Savvy. She visibly stiffened the moment His eyes landed on her. Harley lowered herself to her belly on the ground. "Savannah," he greeted.
"Sir."
He smiled and gestured toward the Winchesters. "Shall we?"
Swallowing thickly, she bobbed her head, repositioning her bat in her grip, and patting her hip for Harley to follow after her, all the while never lifting her gaze to look at more than God's shoes.
Dean had to suppress a very strong urge to turn and take off running in panic as God calmly began walking their way. He grabbed for Cas' arm, making sure he was at least a step in front of the angel, and could take off running with him and Sam in tow if he needed. Not that he thought they stood a chance of getting away, but he'd be damned if anyone thought he was just gonna sit around as well. Cas pulled at his arm, shifting their grip so that his hand slipped into Dean's, squeezing just as tightly on his hand as Dean had on the angel's arm. He could feel the panic rolling off the angel in waves, making his own spike higher, along with the angry protectiveness he felt, bristling like an angry animal.
Behind God, the angels had relaxed their stance and now a tense standoff of sorts seemed to be taking place as Michael and Lucifer regarded each other, their nearby siblings each taking a step away, brows lowered, and eyes catching every muscle twitch in the two angels as they stared at each other.
The standoff was broken when Lucifer offered out his hand.
Seconds stretched by like small eternities as Michael regarded the proffered hand, before finally taking it in his own, and giving his brother a nod. Anna and the others slumped and let out a huge, collective breath.
Dean was distracted from the angelic reunion by God's continued approach, the man in front of him somehow looking different than He had only a moment ago, His appearance shifting between one blink and the next just as His eyes were a swirl of color, yet Dean found himself hard pressed to even recall the details of God's appearance.
"Well," God said as He was now close enough to the Winchesters. "I hope you boys at least got some down time in the while you were away." They glanced nervously at each other, and Sam cautiously gave a nod when the other man said nothing else. "Good. You'll find your friends have been very busy in your absence, and beforehand, preparing for this next war. I've taken the liberty of helping provide you with greater manpower. Also, Crowley and I had a chat and you'll have no trouble from their side in the upcoming battles, so no need adding that to your lists of concerns. Afterward? Well, I suppose you'll all fall back into old routines and patterns or either forge new ones."
Dean wanted to demand why God didn't just fix the wall to Purgatory himself. He had the power. He'd created it after all, He'd released Michael and Lucifer from the Cage, He'd created everything, so why not fix it as well, why was He leaving them to do the fighting when they stood the risk of failure? When they really had no idea what they were actually up against?
"If we survive," he said instead, tone flat. God's multicolored eyes shifted to him, and he had to clear his throat and look down, feeling oddly small by comparison. Not in a belittled way, but like a child in the presence of an adult, like after everything he'd seen and survived, he still knew absolutely nothing. "Sir."
God smiled, reaching forward to clap a hand on Dean's shoulder, causing the hunter to look up in surprise. "I have faith, Dean. You should, too."
Then, he was gone. The hunters looked around, then across the way to the group of angels who, all at once, slowly turned their heads to regard the humans.
Dean and Sam simultaneously took another step back, Sam shoving Savvy behind them. Not that it would do them any good against that many high-ranking angels. A collective chuckle passed through the angels.
At his side, Cas gave Dean's hand a squeeze, shifting the hunter's focus, first down at their hands in surprise, then to the other man, just as Cas' grip went slack and fell away.
"Shall we go let Bobby know we're back?" Nervous and uncertain, Dean's gaze flicked to the angels now walking their way. He missed the way Sam was staring, directly at Lucifer even, brows knitting together and shaking his head in confusion. Savvy was regarding the angels curiously, all traces of the fear Dean felt absent from her face as her eyes played over each of them. He wondered what information her brain was recalling. Cas stepped in Dean's line of sight. "They won't cause you any trouble now, you'll be fine, I assure you." He took Dean's elbow and turned him toward Bobby's house in the distance, Sam hurriedly following his lead and ushering Savvy forward as well, casting another nervous glance over his shoulder. "Come."
Sucking in a deep breath through his nose, Dean tried to fight the burning at the back of his neck, the unease at have so many of his enemies at his back and in his blindside, taking it on faith they weren't about to strike him- all of them- down now that their Father was no longer present.
He had no idea how they were supposed to all work together. His brain could not even fathom that much tension in a room, especially if Crowley was going to be working with them as well. He tried to imagine that: Lucifer, Michael, Crowley, Meg, and then him, Sam, and Cas all in the same room, pretending they hadn't all gone to war against each other. He tried to imagine them peacefully working together, failed, and downgraded to trying to imagine just having a civil conversation with one of them, and was unable to do even that.
Blowing out a breath, he clapped a hand on Cas' shoulder, making the former angel regard him, brows raised inquiringly. "Cas, buddy, you and I have very different ideas of 'fine'."