Author's note: Thanks so much to Larkafree, Maknatuna, Maddy Love Castiel, QuietCrash, AnninaSA, Nyx Ro, LeeMarieJack, CherylB1964, XxZessxX, AlexandraMills, Crazy as a Cheshire Cat, emebalia, random yet lovable, LadyGrelka, gothichic and parakeetwuvs for last chapter's reviews!

Special thanks to Treeni for beta-reading!

13

Gabriel could not help thinking that Sam was like the most adorable puppy when he was sleeping. The younger Winchester's features were completely relaxed, strands of hair falling over his eyes now and then, which Gabriel gently tucked back behind his partner's ear again. It was a fruitless task, every time Sam moved the slightest the hair would come loose again, but Gabriel thought he could spend hours like this.

"Since when are you up before me?" Sam asked sleepily a moment after the former archangel once more brushed some hair out of his face. The younger Winchester kept his eyes closed as he leaned into his boyfriend's touch. The sun had not even come up yet, but it was getting light outside so it had to be very early morning. In short, it was just the right time for some extensive cuddling.

"Since I've got to make sure you're still here," Gabriel replied honestly, pressing his lips against the spot behind Sam's ear that always made the younger Winchester melt. It never failed to amuse the former archangel that he was the big spoon of their sleeping arrangement, but at the same time it gave him a good feeling to know Sam still felt safe enough to let him have that position.

"Gabe," Sam sighed, turning around to face his partner.

"Shh, it's okay," Gabriel tried his best to smile before he leaned in and brushed his lips against Sam's, "It'll just take some time to stop thinking you could be gone again someday."

"I'd never leave you voluntarily," Sam vowed, meeting Gabriel's eyes before he asked, "What do I have to do to...?"

"Nothing, Sam. It's not..." Gabriel interrupted, before he even took a moment to consider what he really wanted to say, "I just feel like there's nothing I've got to give to you anymore."

Sam was still the same wonderful man Gabriel fell in love with, but he knew the same could not be said for him. The former archangel could not offer help or protection the same way he used to, he could not simply snap his fingers and take them wherever Sam wanted to go, he could not make things appear or disappear... Hell, Gabriel had troubles controlling what little magic there was for him to handle the amulet.

"Gabe, the one thing I want is your love," Sam replied seriously as he leaned his forehead against the former archangel's. Of course, Gabriel's powers came in handy more than once while he had them, but Gabriel did not need his grace to be the man Sam loved, even if the former archangel had a hard time seeing it. What the younger Winchester loved about Gabriel the most was how mindful of Sam's thoughts and feelings the former archangel usually was and he loved Gabriel's creativity, sass and sense of humor. In short, Sam loved everything that made Gabriel Gabriel and did not count an archangel's powers as one of those things.

"I sure can give you that," Gabriel replied in a nearly choked up tone before a grin spread over his face.

"We're good then," Sam said just before the former archangel rolled them over so he could fit himself comfortably between the younger Winchester's legs. Sam was about to point out that they were not in the panic room and that the soundproofing of this part of the house really was not the best when Gabriel shimmied out of his sleep pants and promptly made the younger Winchester lose his train of thoughts.

Dean groaned, grabbing the pillow from under his head and pressing it against his face instead. It was bad enough that the oldest Winchester had to witness the PDA between Sam and the former archangel all day long; he really did not need to hear any of the activities they got up to in the early morning!

Dean realized he should have banged against the wall and shouted at them to quit the crap when he heard the first few noises, but at the time the oldest Winchester had the foolish hope that what he heard was them finishing, not getting started! Dean realized that the right time to interrupt had passed. After a certain point it would be too cruel to demand they stop.

The oldest Winchester could only hope that Bobby would get fed up and break out the shotgun. In the meantime Dean would have to find a way to distract himself.

"Hey Cas, listen dude," Dean sighed, as he tried not to focus on how silly it felt to speak to an empty room without anything like a phone involved. Praying was supposed to work for them despite the marks on their ribs. Since there were no angels out for their heads anymore -that they knew of anyway- there was no harm in talking to Castiel for a while. "My middle brother and your older brother are driving me nuts."

It wasn't only about the noises Sam and Gabriel made, the entire situation was not exactly after the oldest Winchester's liking. Dean was happy that Becky had not managed to break the two up for long. It was highly unlikely that spending time with a heartbroken Sam would be any more pleasant than having a lovey-dovey Sam and Gabriel around. The real problem was that Sam and Gabriel were an item while Dean was... a unique copy. Sure, the oldest Winchester was hardly ever alone, but he went from being Sam's best friend to the third wheel, if he felt like being dramatic about it. Of course Sammy was still his baby brother and the person who knew Dean better than he knew himself at times, but Sam had a relationship outside of that relationship between brothers. It had not been quite so obvious during the Apocalypse when Castiel was around frequently, but as things were, Dean felt like he was missing out on something.

"I know you've got important stuff going on..." Dean added before he frowned deeply. All the oldest Winchester knew was that Castiel and Balthazar were in heaven to minimize the damage done by the archangels' disappearance and to set the angels on the right path, whatever it was that entailed. "You really should explain what the hell it is you're doing these days by the way."

Besides, there was so much left to explain about pop culture and human behavior. Castiel had skipped the lessons Dean fully intended to teach him for long enough!

"Anyway, it'd be nice to have someone sane to hang out with now and then," Dean finished with a crooked smile. The oldest Winchester tried to ignore it over the past few weeks, but he really missed the angel. Both his younger brothers had their own personal angels, so there was nothing wrong with Dean wanting his angel-bud around! "So what I'm saying is... swing your ass down here some time... and don't bring Balthazar."

Lucifer's eyes snapped open the moment he felt something cold cover parts of his face. The former archangel was fully prepared to put up as much of a fight as he could when he realized it was Grace who put a cool, wet rag on his forehead. It was only when Lucifer allowed himself to relax back into the pillows that he was fully hit with the sensation of burning up. His entire body was covered in sweat, which could not be explained away by the temperature in the wooden playhouse.

"You need a doctor," Gracie stated matter-of-factly as soon as she was sure she had her angel's attention. The little girl did not like to admit it, but all her attempts to help Lucifer get better had been ineffective. The angel was getting worse every day and Gracie was at the end of her possibilities. All that was left to do was to call a doctor.

"No," Lucifer rasped, only just noticing how parched his throat was when he tried to speak.

"Yes!" Gracie insisted even as she handed the angel a glass of water. Drinking enough liquid was always important, but especially so when you were ill. Besides, Gracie hoped that Lucifer would be more reasonable when he was feeling a little better and was less cranky.

"You're not gettin' any better," Gracie stated with a small pout as soon as Lucifer was settled again, "You need a doctor, now!"

Nobody liked going to the doctor, Gracie herself hated it, but sometimes it was necessary. Even if all you got out of it was bad news, it was still important to know what was going on. Her father always said that even uncomfortable facts had to be known so you could start to deal with them.

"You don't understand," Lucifer sighed, "A doctor wouldn't help."

The damage done to the former archangel's vessel was the result of an overly powerful celestial being inhabiting an insufficiently equipped body. The last time Lucifer checked -when he still possessed the powers to check- Nick was at the brink of falling apart completely already. The human's body was too burned out to be of much use. In fact, if Lucifer had left his vessel at that point, he was sure Nick would have dropped dead within the minute. Taking all that into consideration, it was a miracle Lucifer made it for as long as he did.

"You're sick... doctors help when you're sick!" Gracie pointed out vehemently. Somebody had to help her angel, because Gracie sure as hell was not going to lose him! They were friends and there were so many things the little girl still wanted to show to him.

"I don't need a doctor, I need..." Lucifer started to object before he noticed how upset Grace was. Apparently the smart little abomination came to the same conclusion Lucifer did. The next step was death.

Lucifer groaned. The former archangel did not want to die. As things were he would go back to hell and probably find himself on the racks before long. Lucifer did not look forward to that part, but it was nothing worse than what he had gone through before. The more troubling part was that dying would mean leaving Grace now that Lucifer learned to love her. The former archangel could push that thought aside, though. He had been ripped away from his entire family when he was cast down into hell the last time. What was leaving one measly human compared to that? Of course, Grace would feel differently about all of this and try as he may, Lucifer could not bring himself to disregard the little girl's feelings even if he would not be around to witness them anymore.

"Can you find anything other than angels with that wiki thing?" Lucifer finally asked. The general idea came to him days ago, but he hadn't thought he would go through with it. As things were, he was out of options.

"Everything's somewhere on the internet," Gracie replied, giving her angel a quizzical look.

"Good," Lucifer nodded tightly, "There's someone I need you to find and call for me."

"I just dropped by to tell you I'll have the missing people reports in the evening," Jody explained when Bobby opened the door for her. Somehow simply walking in whenever she pleased seemed wrong with the Winchesters around. Besides, Jody had a shift to get to; she only wanted to give Bobby a heads-up that she had more work for them.

"Thanks," Bobby replied with a short, but sincere smile, "I... appreciate it."

"I... uh... I also wondered, if maybe..?" Jody started before she quickly abandoned her question at the first glimpse of Sam. The sheriff was not entirely sure if Bobby would welcome her offer to bring dinner for them. Asking and possibly being shot down while one of the Winchesters was listening would be too embarrassing.

"Hey Bobby, do you know a good tattoo artist..?" Sam asked before he saw Jody Mills standing in the doorway, "Am I disturbing something?"

The younger Winchester was in fact sure that he walked in at the worst possible moment, but there was nothing he could do against it now.

"No... no. I have a shift to get to," Jody quickly answered as she forced a smile, "See you later then."

"See you," Bobby replied a little awkwardly even though Jody was already on the way to her police cruiser.

"Are you and Sheriff Mills..?" Sam asked cautiously. The younger Winchester did not intend to stick his nose into something that was not his business, but if Bobby wanted to talk Sam had an open ear. It was unlikely that Dean would appreciate a talk about any kind of romance Bobby and the sheriff might have going on, short of mocking it.

"What do you need a tattoo artist for?" Bobby countered with a question of his own. The old hunter was not blind to the developing relationship he had going with the sheriff, but it was hard to say where it was going to go. Both of them had lost their spouses recently. Bobby was still grieving and he knew Jody was as well. At the same time there definitely was attraction between them. It was hard to make sense of the entire situation, but Bobby would be damned if he needed help from one of the masters of unresolved sexual tension! Even if it had eventually been resolved in Sam's case.

"Gabriel," Sam shrugged, "If he's going to keep hunting with us, he needs protection."

The younger Winchester decided to back off the topic of Sheriff Mills for the moment. Bobby was old enough to know what he was doing and generally wise enough to know when he needed to talk things over. Sam still vowed to try to give Bobby and Jody as much privacy as possible.

The tattoo parlor Bobby recommended was run by a middle aged, heavily tattooed man who did not bat an eye when Sam showed him the design for the anti-possession tattoo. The younger Winchester was not completely sure if the man knew what the tattoo was for or if he had simply seen too many strange things people wanted to have permanently inked on their skin to still raise an eyebrow over pentagrams. On second thought, Sam should have asked Bobby for more information on the tattooist, but as long as the tattoo did its job in the end it would not matter what the man did or did not know. In fact, something Gabriel might not take into consideration seemed much more important that moment.

"You haven't had a lot of experience with pain yet," Sam stated in a warning tone when the tattoo artist left them alone for a minute to prepare everything. The younger Winchester did not want to unnecessarily scare his partner, but Gabriel should know what he was getting into. The former archangel seemed a little too eager to finally have his own anti-possession tattoo, so Sam did not believe he even spared a thought to the pain that was sure to come with someone putting ink under his skin with the help of needles.

"Hey, I've had my share of paper cuts, stubbed toes and let's not forget that sunburn," Gabriel replied dismissively, before he added with a grin, "Not to mention what you put me through yesterday. This can't be so much worse."

Sam huffed out a chuckle as he shook his head exaggeratedly. Of course Gabriel would get through the procedure. All Sam wanted was to prepare his partner for what was to come, but if Gabriel decided to disregard the younger Winchester's warning that was the former archangel's own fault.

"Besides, I've got you to hold my hand," Gabriel stated with a smile, taking hold of Sam's hand just as the tattoo artist returned. Fact was the former archangel was looking forward to having a visible sign on his skin that said he was a part of the team. If he had to endure a little pain for that, so be it.

The tattooist got to work as soon as Gabriel shed his shirt and sat down which the former archangel was grateful for. Gabriel wanted and needed that tattoo, delaying the inevitable would not lessen the pain.

"It's okay Gabe, even Dean cursed like a sailor when we got ours," Sam smiled encouragingly as he squeezed Gabriel's hand. Everyone dealt with pain differently and it just so happened that Dean's usual coping mechanism involved a whole lot of colorful swear words.

"What about you?" Gabriel asked, putting a brave smile on his face even as the tattoo artist kept torturing him. The former archangel was sure that a few of his nightmares would center around the sound of the needle in the future.

"Silent tears of manly pain," Sam replied completely seriously.

Gabriel could not stop himself from laughing out loud much to the dismay of the tattooist. If anyone asked in the future Gabriel would claim that the man pressed the needle against his skin much harder than strictly necessary, but for the time being he would take Sam's suggestion and go through all the curses in all the languages he still could remember.