"Hello, Dean." the woman in the bed said, as he walked in. Dean was taken aback a bit. "So, Jodie told you who we are..." She smiled. "No, she didn't. I get people's names first from all of their thoughts. A handy thing, if I do say so." Dean looked sceptic. "You're a mind reader?" Again that smile, but Dean saw her wrap her wings around her body protectively. "Not really. Not like your friend Missouri. I gather she could read you like a book. I just get flashes of images and names, and mostly feelings." Her eyes misted over as she said the last words. "Yes, Dean, even those buried deep. And that is why I don't want all three of you in here at once. That might be a bit overwhelming. I remember you walking up on me one by one, and that was when it all went black." Dean sat down on the bed next to her, looking guilty. "I'm sorry... Erm, what's your name by the way?" She smiled sweetly, but her wings wrapped even more securely around her. "Adrienne. Don't feel sorry, Dean. Not about that. Nor about not saving your mother, your father, or anybody else. Don't you know you only have limited time here? People have to die, Dean. Without Death, there would be no room for New Life." Dean snorted, because, unwillingly, those words dragged up memories of all the times he had died, and was brought back. Adrienne shivered and drew her wings closer still, her eyes starting to mist over again. "Great Gods... That many times? You must be special." Her voice shook a bit. "How can you stand it? Feeling so undeserving, so guilty about things that you could never change. Why don't you talk with your brother? You finally accepted that he is grown up, yet you don't confide in him. This is how misunderstandings grow. Tell him how you feel, even if it's a shamefull feeling. He might show you a new perspective on yourself." She sounded tired and tears were once again falling. Dean gasped. "Adrienne, I'm sorry if I made you sad." he appologised, wiping at her tears with his thumbs. She smiled a watery smile. "Oh, honey, these tears are not mine." Dean looked puzzled. "What? What's that supposed to mean?" The tears kept streaming and Dean felt somehow that as they fell, they took some of his darkest feelings with them. "I rarely cry for myself, Dean. These... These are all yours. All the tears you daren't shed all through the years." Dean gasped, and covered his face with both his hands. "Don't worry, they don't really hurt me, and you'll feel so much better when they're gone. Let's just talk. Tell me." Dean looked up and almost without knowing that he chose to do it, he started talking.
"Gabriel... Brother, where did you go? You were gone when I returned. Are you allright?" Gabe looked at his Father, panicked. "Dad, what do I do? I can't go back there with Adrienne there. She might remember, and... Oh, this is getting complicated again." His Father put his hands on Gabe's shoulders. "I think we should hold a war council. Cover the 'whats', 'whys' and 'hows'. Tell Cas you're fine, that you needed to get something done. We'll pop you back in when we are clear on what to do next. These are things I haven't even considered. Trust the Winchesters to throw even me off." He smiled fondly. "Those guys have grown on you, haven't they, Dad?" Gabe shrewdly noted. God smiled. "Yeah... Somehow it's impossible not to love them." He smiled at the monitor, where the boys sat with Cas in their library. "Come, tell your brother you're ok, and let us start planning."
Cas blinked and turned to Sam with a relieved look on his face. "Gabriel is fine. He had some things to. I should not have worried." Sam smiled sadly. "Yeah, well that's what brothers do, Cas. I can't tell you how worried sick I was any time Dean just dropped off the radar. In the end it always turned out ok, but it was a close call several times." Cas looked at him, knowing where his mind had taken him. "It was not your fault, Sam. Dean chose to go to Metatron by himself. He knocked you out!" Sam looked at his slender hands, entwining and unfurling his long fingers. "I know, Cas. Nor was it my fault that he took on that stupid Mark, but still..." Cas patted Sam on the shoulder. "I'm starting to understand your bond. Now that Gabe is back, I can really see why you would do certain things the way you did." His blue eyes soft and caring, Cas looked a Sam fondly. "I think I would do the same for any of you." Dean walked in, his green eyes unusually bright. "Please don't, Cas. I have made some very stupid decissions that way." Sam looked up at him, stunned. "Sammy, Adrienne would like to see you now." Sam raised his eyebrows. "What is she? An interrogator?" Dean shook his head. "Just talk to her... Cas, any word on Gabe?" Sam decided to wait until he had seen this Adrienne himself, and then ask his big brother what the Hell had happened to him. He seemed to behave odd.
Sam took in the woman in the bed, with her wings wrapped tightly around her. "Hey. I'm..." But she didn't let him finish. "You're Sam. I know. Why do you hate your name? It's a strong and wise name. It suits you... Your grandfather? What has he done, for you to dispise him so? Oh my... Betrayal... Hon, come here... Tell me." Utterly stumped, Sam strode to the bed, to sit down in the place his brother had left. "How... How do you know that?" he asked, his voice hoarse with emotion. Adrienne trained her warm, brown eyes on Sam's. "Sweetheart, I can sense your feelings. Even those you have burried under all the others. This grandfather... Paternal? No... That is laced with sadness and pride. Did he die?" Sam swallowed hard, remembering how Henry Winchester, the scholar, had died for his grandsons. "Yeah... He left us this building. Our home. We have so much to thank him for..." Adrienne blinked, and two fat tears rolled down her cheeks. "That's ok, hon. I bet he is proud of you two." Sam noticed her wings being drawn around her even tighter. "Why do you do that? Are you afraid of us?" he asked. "What?" Adrienne looked stumped. "What do you mean?" Sam stroked the top of one wing, making Adrienne shiver. "Pull your wings around you like that." She gaped at him. "You can see them? I thought I was going mad." Sam smiled a sad little smile, and Adrienne gasped. "You know that feeling... Awe honey!" She spread her arms and wings and embraced him with both. Sam felt warmth and comfort radiate from her hug and he gladly burrowed into it, for once not embarrased to accept solace. He felt a lot of his darkest feelings soften and sighed. When he felt his shirt get soaked, he looked up. Adrienne once again had tears running down her cheeks. She sniffled and smiled. "Don't worry, Sammy. These are not mine, they're yours. I'm used to crying for those who can't or won't cry themselves. Just let it be." Sam snuggled in the feathery embrace. "Geez, Sam. How long since you and Dean actually talked? Do you really think he hates emotions? He can't handle them like you, but he hasn't gotten callous. Just allow yourself and him an open mind. See what becomes of that. And don't you dare feel guilty... Is that a family thing? Feeling guilty about stuff you cant possibly be guilty for?" Sam felt like he was crying, yet he didn't. No sobs, no tears, not even dry heaving. But the exhaustion and emotional cleansing were there. All those bad memories came to mind unbidden, and instead of depressing them, this time he let them come, welcoming them. Adrienne held him, while her tears soaked them both.