"Cas?" Gabe peeked around the door of Cas' room. Cas was sitting on his bed, shoulders hunched in his trenchcoat, hands in his lap. He sadly looked up and his big puppy eyes made Gabe's heart clench. "Gabey? Did you know? All the time?" Gabe sighed and sat down next to his brother. "I didn't. Not until Luci... Not until I died." Cas smiled wryly. "Never gets any easier, does it?" Gabe eyed him questioningly. "What?" Cas stared, his eyes not seeing Gabe or his room, but far away memories. "Being betrayed by a loved one, talking about it." A tear escaped Cas' eye and rolled down his scruffy cheek. He blinked. "After you died... Did you see Dad straight away?" Gabe nodded. "So did you, bro. He just couldn't let you remember." Cas returned to staring at his hands, still lying in his lap. "So he did bring us back? Me and Dean and Sam that one time, when Luci broke free." Gabe stuck out his lower lip in a signature pout, while he considered that. "I don't know for certain, but yeah, I think it was. I was still in hiding then, remember?" Cas smiled a sad little smile. "Yeah... I remember. I also remember seeing you in that odd tv-reality you made. Why did you have to send me to that stupid show? What was it called?" Gabe sighed. "Kung fu. I thought you could use the fight practice." Cas scowled. "I nearly killed the main character. You could have warned me." Gabe looked awed. "Really? And you only got that scratch over your nose? I'm impressed!" Cas tilted his head at him. "And you zapped me off again, especially after I saw you. You knew I would warn Sam and Dean." Gabe nodded. "I did. I'm sorry little bro. I was a..." Cas finished it for him. "An apex douchenozzle?" Gabe chuckled. "You've been spending way too much time with Dean... Your language is deteriorating." Cas smiled, but sobered soon after. "I really hope you and Father are done lying to us. It does not make for solid family relations."
Gabe turned his sunshine-through-whiskey eyes on Cas' cerulean ones. "It doesn't, does it?" Cas shook his head. "I have spent years with the Winchesters. They seem to have invented lying to eachother. Wether it is to 'not have the other worry about him' or to 'keep him safe', they somehow seem to end up lying to one and other constantly. It nearly broke their bond. Several times. They somehow seem to be unable to really sever it, but they are unique in that way. I think that we should look at them for guidance on how to be a family again." Gabe looked at him incredulously. "Are you serious? If there is one dysfunctional family, it's the Winchesters!" Cas frowned. "You are not looking at them well enough. True, their upbringing was flawed, but it did make their bond, and that is neigh on indestructable. They will lie, go behind eachother's back and sometimes even try to break with eachother, but in the end, they will always be brothers." Gabe blinked "I guess I will have to look at them closer. I hadn't thought of it that way, Cassie." Cas sighed. "I know it isn't easy to see. Some would say they are dangerously co-dependant on eachother, like Zachariah and Michael, but that is how they live, and it is also why their bond is so strong. They know the other has their back." Cas looked at Gabe. "That is what I hope we can acheive too, Gabey. It will not be the same, but I hope we can be close as brothers once more." Gabe felt a lump rise in his throat. "I want that too Cassie. I want that too. I missed you so much, and just watching over you from a monitor isn't quite the same as being there for you. You don't know how hard it was to see my favorite baby brother struggling like that." Cas suddenly hugged his brother tight and Gabe could feel his shoulders heaving with his sobs. Patting Cas on his back, Gabe mumbled soft nonsens in his hair, switching to Enochian when Cas gave a trembling sigh.
Dean opened the door to Cas' room softly, not sure what he would find. He was hoping, almost praying, to find Cas in the trance like state he sometimes adapted since Purgatory. Cas called it 'his version of sleeping'. He claimed it calmed the mind and rested his body. Dean noticed that since Purgatory and Cas meeting the almost grownup daughter of Jimmy, Cas had started calling it his body, using the term 'vessel' less and less. A 'sleep' was just what Cas would need after the highly emotional reunion with his Father. What Dean hadn't expected was Cas, 'sleeping' with Gabriel holding him like a child cradled to his chest. Gabe turned his amber eyes on Dean and put a finger to his lips. "He's actually sleeping." Gabe whispered. "I put him under. He has much to process." Dean smiled. "Good on you, Gabe. We should let him sleep it off then, but your Father asked for you both. I think he might excuse Cas for this." Frowning a bit, he added: "I think it might even be less stressful for Cas this way." Gabe frowned at that. "You're kidding!" he whispered furiously. "What's Dad planning now? I hope he isn't going to use his magic squeegy to wipe this all again. I'm so done with that! It only causes more trouble in the long run!" Dean held up his hands placatingly. He was not going to get in an argument with a pissed off Archangel."I don't know, Gabe, but if he even so much as suggests it, I'm backing you up. Keeping important stuff like this from your family... Bad choice! I should know." His left hand unconsiously rubbed his right arm, just below the crook of his elbow. Cas moved, nuzzling into Gabe's chest, and Gabe and Dean froze. "I really don't want to wake him, Dean." Gabe whispered. Dean smiled at his best friend, looking so peaceful in sleep. "Me neither, Gabe. I'm going to ask Chuck what he wants us to do." He closed the door to Gabe muttering soothingly in Enochian to Cas.
"You're leaving?! Again?!" Gabe held Cas back. "Cassie, let him finish, please." Cas turned his oceanblue eyes on his brother and Gabe inwardly cringed at the pain and betrayal they showed. He knew Cas still had issues with their Father leaving the first time, so him announcing that he would do it again was salting the wounds. "Gabey! He's doing it all over again... He's leaving us to fend for ourselves, yet again..." Cas' voice had a desperate, pleading note to it and Gabe felt his heart break. "I know, Cassie, I know... But let him finish, he might have a real explaination for us this time." Gabe threw an angry look over his shoulder, right at their Father. Chuck sighed. "I'm not really leaving, Castiël. I'm going back to my safehaven up in Heaven. Gabriel knows how to contact me there. I'm just asking you to keep my identity and whereabouts secret." Cas never took his eyes of Gabe's face. "And you? What are you going to do?" Gabe switched his gaze between his Father and his brother. "I'm not going to leave you again, Cassie... I'll be at my new home, but here too. I have my charges, like Adrienne, but I won't drop off the radar. Never again, brother. I love you and these two muttonheads too much to ever desert you like that again. Pray to me, and I will get to you. Don't pray, I might still pop in." Gabe winked and Cas relaxed a bit. For the first time since Chuck announced his leaving, Cas turned to face his Father. "Allright then. If you feel you must... But don't take Gabey away from us again." Chuck smiled sadly. "I won't, Castiël. I never should have. It seems even I make mistakes, and this was one of the biggest." He turned to the Winchesters. "I know I shouldn't show favoritism, but you two are my dearest human children since Adam and Eve. Please, take care of eachother and my special angelchild." Dean nodded acceptance and Sam smiled. "Have we ever stopped doing that?" Chuck smiled back. "No, no you haven't. Contact Gabe if you really need me." And with that he was gone. Gabe sighed. "Well... Now what, boys?" Stony silence ensued. Gabe smiled mischeivously and his amber eyes twinkled as he said: "I know... Who's up for a game of 'Nutcracker'?" Sam crossed his legs swiftly and Dean cringed. Gabriel laughed out loud. This would be the best. His brother and the Winchesters were on his team. Nothing could be better.
A.N. That's it guys... This fic is done. I had the hardest time trying to think of more stuff, but this is basically the end. Chuck is revealed, Gabe back to being an Archangel and big bro to Cas. What else can we want? Thank you all who reviewed, followed and favorited. Those messages in my inbox were rays of sunshine in my everyday life.
love from Holland.
Hectate