Dean was antsy. He couldn't help it.

"Dammit Dean, either go Stitch or get some sleep. You're driving me batty," bitched Sam.

They were on the road to the Roadhouse for one reason. The thing was that Dean had no idea what was waiting for him, and Sam planned to keep it that way.

Dean didn't celebrate his birthday, and they rarely had time off enough to do it. At least, not since Sam went off to college. Ellen and Bobby always tried to celebrate it when they could. Even if it was a few small gestures.

So when they pulled up to the Roadhouse, Sam took vindictive pleasure in the shock Dean's face gave off upon seeing every single hunter they had contact or hunted with (except idiots like Gordon) waiting.

"Sam, what. The . Hell."

"Happy Birthday Dean. We may have had to bribe the younger ones with guarantees that they could take pictures with a multistory black dragon," admitted Sam.

Hell, most of the hunters they had hunted with in the past were under forty, so naturally the chance to take a picture with a real dragon was too good to pass up. Besides, Sam was cheerfully having Dean repay Ellen for any booze she gave out for free.

"I have only one question. Will there be chocolate ice cream?"

"Dude, I'm dating Loki and he's in on this. What the hell do you think?" said Sam snorting.

Dean grinned.

"Let's get this party started!"

"Oh my aching head..." groaned Dean.

He had been enjoying his party...right up until Gabriel broke out the Asgardian Mead. Then everything became a blur. His bloodshot eyes turned to the nearest source of movement and he found Gabriel fondling his brother.

Not his problem. Gabriel was still pouting over the fact Castiel reminded Sam that he did have a way to make Gabriel sleep on the couch.

On the pool table was Sirius in canine form whimpering from his hangover with Fen, Jor and Sleipnir sleeping on top of him drooling.

He looked to an amused Hel.

"Please for the love of Death tell me you have a hangover remedy back there."

Hel snickered, sending pain throughout Dean's brain.

"Hangover draught isn't going to get rid of that one. Sirius learned that the hard way."

"Then kill me and end my misery," deadpanned Dean.

"Mort would be most displeased if I killed you," she said amused. Then she nodded over to a section Dean hadn't seen just yet.

The snort of laughter escaped him and sent fresh peals of pain throughout his skull.

There on the floor was a snoring Castiel, still clutching the jar of now-almost-empty mead. A drunken angel was pretty funny to watch.

"If a hangover remedy won't work, then do you have anything to knock me out until this goes away?"

Hel tossed him a different vial. He downed it without a second thought and was out cold.

Sam opened his eyes and gave Dean an amused look.

"He has no idea why you broke out the Mead does he?"

Hel snickered.

Dean had, upon learning Castiel had never gotten drunk before, broken out the jar of mead he had and challenged the angel to a drinking contest. Castiel won, only because Dean's body could only handle four shots of it before he passed out. Gabriel had been very impressed he could handle four, since most humans couldn't tolerate more than a single sip, let alone a full shot glass.

After that he continued the challenge and proceeded to get the little soldier angel so drunk he could barely remember his own name, let alone what he really was. Castiel damn near finished the jar and passed out in his chair, though he fell over when someone bumped it.

Gabriel had snickered, knowing Dean was in for a world of pain when he woke up because of how much he had drank.


Zachariah was both pissed and confused.

His anger was because he had grabbed the Winchesters and tried to throw them into a fake life, but for some reason he was having trouble with Dean. Not because of their angel protector Castiel, but because for some reason Dean kept wandering off.

It was almost like he saw fake memories and knew they weren't his! Zachariah was getting tired of hauling that idiot back.

Dean was annoyed. He knew something was wrong when Sam didn't recognize him, but he had no idea why people assumed he was the janitor.

This was getting ridiculous.

Mort, what the fuck is going on here? Why the hell do I have memories of some crappy janitor?

Zachariah is attempting to prove a point. That you cannot escape your bloodline or desire to protect others.

And the fact neither of us have tried to escape being hunters is...?

Apparently beyond him. Look, just put up with this nonsense until you see an angel and then you can beat the crap out of them. Or you can just call Gabriel and tell him that his idiot brother has turned his boy-toy into a desk jockey.

...Gabriel it is then. Last I checked he didn't take kindly to anyone trying to steal Sammy from him. Thanks for reminding me.

Dean immediately sent a 'ping' to Gabriel indicating he wanted to chat.

Dean, where the hell are you two? Bobby's been going nuts trying to find you!

One of your brothers has us in an illusion and turned Sammy into a boring desk jockey. Mort seems to think he's trying to prove we can't escape being hunters, which frankly doesn't make much sense.

Say WHAT? Who the hell is messing with MY Sam?!

Gabriel was definitely pissed. One of the reasons why he loved Sam was because he wasn't boring. Hunters lived exciting lives and the thought of dating a desk jockey was like kryptonite to Gabriel's relationship.

Dean left the connection open as he spotted an angel. Gabriel hissed in fury. It was bad enough Uriel had openly disrespected him, but this was something he wouldn't tolerate on a good day.

It took little time for Gabriel to follow the open connection to Dean. And even less time for him to all but kidnap Sam.

The younger hunter was very confused as to how he knew Gabriel without knowing who he was. Or why he went along with it with not even a hint of protest. Zachariah was furious.


The moment Dean and Sam were back at the car, he appeared.

Sam was still very confused since the angel's powers were still in effect, but Dean looked pleased. It was payback time.

"I don't know how you knew to contact that pathetic pagan, but you're going to learn your lesson whether you like it or not!" hissed Zachariah.

"Yeah, good luck with that when you're the one who's in trouble," said Dean smirking.

Zachariah felt a flare of Grace behind him. He turned to face Loki...and Castiel?

"You!"

"Dean, do you want me to break that memory spell he used or do you want him to do it?" asked Castiel, nodding to a very incensed Gabriel.

"Have him do it, so we know it was done right. No offense, but last I checked you were lower ranked than this idiot."

"Like a mere pagan could break a seraph's..." started Zachariah before he felt the full force of Gabriel's grace on him. His eyes were wide with shock and more than a little fear.

"Yeah, not a pagan moron. I just prefer them to the idiots back home," snarled Gabriel, "And what idiots you all are. I clearly marked Sam as mine and you were still foolish enough to ignore the warning signs."

"Gabriel. But you're dead!"

"Not dead. In hiding with His approval. You've gone too far Zachariah. But you'll live long enough to pass the warning. And tell Uriel if I see his face down here I'll kill him next," said Gabriel flatly.

Zachariah flinched. He had pissed off the wrong angel and he damn well knew it now.


Dean looked up from the laptop.

"They still going at it?" he said tiredly to Castiel. Castiel looked up from where he was scratching Bear's ears.

"Yes. I imagine watching Gabriel in full angel form was something of a turn on for Sam. They have not stopped in four hours," said Castiel, cocking his head and listening. Gabriel sent a flick of grace at him telling him to stop being a damn voyeur.

Dean snorted.

"I better get brewing some pain reliever then. I get the feeling Sam's going to be sore in the morning. You hungry?" he asked Cas.

"I do not require sustenance."

"Bull and shit. Don't think I didn't see you sneaking an extra burger last time I grilled," snorted Dean. Castiel ducked his head sheepishly.

Dean was the cook in the family, and everyone knew it. When he was in the kitchen, there was no fighting...except over who got what. It was something he never got tired of, cooking for his family. And he knew it came mostly from Harry, who was one of the best chefs he had ever seen.

It was also the reason why Sam never said a word about Dean watching cooking shows of all things when he needed to unwind.

Dean went to the stove and whipped up a few burgers. He plated three and handed those to Castiel. Two he ate and he gave another two smaller ones to the pugs while Bear got one all to himself.

Dean spoiled the dogs and they all knew it. He just loved the silly things.

Once they were done eating, Dean turned into Stitch and curled up next to Bear.

Castiel had a strange sort of smile on his face as he watched the hellhound crossbreed curl around the blue creature while the pugs snuggled up beside him. It was strangely cute.

Cas ran his hand along Stitch's spine, causing the blue creature to curl into it. It was something he had seen Sam do many times, but the only time Dean ever undid that little ball he went into when he was afraid or upset was when Sam was the one stroking his fur.

Castiel was sure Dean would have gone into that ball again, but something about the way he was petting Stitch made Dean reluctant to do so.

Sam wandered downstairs, starving and exhausted when he stumbled upon the scene. He made another mental check that Dean clearly trusted Castiel more than he wanted to admit before going back upstairs to tell Gabriel to snap something up. He wasn't about to ruin that adorable moment.


Dean was pissed. There was no other way to describe it.

Somehow Adam had gotten their phone number and called. Frankly Dean could care less if the idiot got killed, but they were Hunters. People who kept the innocent safe. And Adam was an innocent.

So he went about it as quickly as he could by turning into Godzilla and scanning the area for any monsters. He ignored three of them simply because they didn't fit the description Adam gave, but a trio of Ghouls nearby would work.

Those things were dead before sunrise.

Adam took one look at Dean and flinched.

"Look, if you want to become a hunter, then that's fine by me. Just don't call us again. Next time you think something after you, call Bobby first," he said flatly.

Sam took pity on Adam.

"Dean's upset because finding out about you was the last straw. We broke off things with John because we found out he cared more for you than he did us. He just doesn't want to be around a reminder of that time," explained Sam apologetically.

Adam's eyes were wide.

"What do you mean?"

"John wasn't happy when he found out we had powers. He took it out on Dean until he couldn't take it any more and we ran away. Then we found out through a mutual friend that you existed and Dean felt betrayed by John. So much so that he told him to leave and never come back. We've worked for years to overcome the damage he's done."

Adam looked at a very unhappy Dean.

Sam knew Dean was going to turn into Stitch for the next few days. And frankly he was more in the mood to go into his unicorn form and run for hours until he was exhausted after finally meeting Adam face-to-face.

"Anyway, if you run into anything trying to kill you again, call Bobby first," said Sam.

Adam nodded and put the card into his wallet.


Gabriel looked at an incensed Stitch.

"Someone's in a pissy mood today," he said.

"We met Adam. Dean's just dealing with all the memories he drug up," said Sam tiredly.

"Where are you going?"

"Running. I told Castiel to grab Dean the first chance he had without being mauled. Out of all of us he's the only one who could possibly calm Dean down while I'm out."

"Running?" said Gabriel with an eyebrow raised.

Sam turned into his animagus form by way of explanation. Gabriel's eyes lit up with understanding. Clearly Sam had his own memories to deal with, which was why he wasn't trying to reign Dean in at the moment.

"I'll come with you. Lucy can keep an eye on these two while we're out," said Gabriel.