November 1, 1996

Sam and Dean barged through the front door of the house, heading for the kitchen in a thunderous stampede of pushing and shoving. Sam elbowed Dean in the ribs and ducked in front, the dirty cheater, but Dean grabbed Sam's backpack and dragged him back again. They barreled neck and neck into the kitchen only to stop short when they saw the bowl that had held the leftover Halloween candy was empty.

Indignant, Dean opened his mouth to complain but was cut off by Bobby calling out to them from the living room.

"Problem, boys?" he asked.

Dean followed Sam into the front room, where Bobby sat in his recliner with an ancient book in his hands and a whole bunch of empty candy wrappers scattered over the end table beside him.

With a huff, Sam whined, "There's none left? Aw, maaaaan."

Bobby smirked and shrugged.

But Dean had to laugh. He and Sam had been the ones to announce they needed candy in case trick-or-treaters came for Halloween. Bobby had told them no one ever came to a salvage yard to trick-or-treat, but they'd insisted. Bobby had relented, and now he was smug in the fact that he had known perfectly well they'd been expecting to poach the leftovers.

Bobby's face turned more serious. "You boys got a minute? We wanted to talk to you about something."

A nervous twinge immediately shot through Dean's belly. Disaster scenarios crowded his head: Bobby's heart was giving out and he was dying, Bobby couldn't pay the hospital bills and was kicking them out on the streets, Bobby knew Dean had taken the old Chevelle out for a joy ride...

"We?" asked Sam.

"Joshua and me," Bobby clarified. He closed his eyes to pray, and a moment later, the angel appeared.

He smiled warmly at the boys, then cringed. "Oh, dear. What did Bobby say? You both look like you're expecting a death sentence."

"You shut it, Sparkles," Bobby grumbled. "I ain't told them nothing yet."

Joshua laughed and made himself comfortable in the other recliner. He waved a hand toward the couch. "Why don't you have a seat."

A glance passed between Dean and Sam, then Sam shrugged and dropped down onto the couch with a bounce, squirming out of his backpack and coat. Still unsure about the whole thing, Dean took off his leather jacket and followed.

Hesitantly, Joshua cleared his throat. "Now, this came up a few weeks ago, when Bobby was in the hospital. You said something, Dean, that got me thinking. Bobby and I have done a little research and talked it over and... well, we think it might be possible to break Gabriel's banishment."

Neither Dean nor Sam said a word. It took a second for the words to even register for Dean, and when they did, a million thoughts and feelings hit him at once.

Gabriel.

Their angel. He'd saved them from the fire and nearly died trying to save their mom. He'd been forced from their lives so long ago that Dean only remembered him in flashes, vague images, and feelings of safety and love. He was the missing piece of their family.

Hope, joy, and excitement all clashed in a rush to be felt first.

"It won't be easy," Bobby cautioned. "It's going to take some time to figure out exactly how it was done so it can be undone."

"And we need to locate the woman who did the original spell, which may be difficult," Joshua added.

"But we got feelers out. We'll find her, don't you worry," Bobby reassured them. "Maybe as little as a few months from now, you'll have your angel back!"


Dean was sprawled on his bed in the dark, his mind in a whirl. He couldn't quite wrap his head around it.

Gabriel.

He wanted the angel back desperately. He missed him. He'd been missing him for so long, he didn't remember what it was like not to miss him. And selfish as it felt to think about, Gabriel was Dean's closest link to his mom. The angel had known her from the day she was born, knew more about who she was than anyone else alive. And Dean wanted that connection.

But he was nervous.

What if Gabriel had forgotten all about him? It was possible there were distant cousins Dean didn't know about. What if the angel had a whole new life with a whole new family?

And then there was Castiel. Dean had still never told him he'd had an angel as a child. He hadn't thought it mattered, since it was so far in the past, and Gabriel was long gone. But if Gabriel were returned to them, what would happen with Cas?

The vague, unsettling worries just kept going round and round in his head, and he knew he wasn't going to get a wink of sleep tonight.

"Dean?"

Sam stood silhouetted in the doorway, peering blindly into the dark room. Dean leaned over to turn on the lamp by his bed and scrunched his eyes shut at the sudden brightness.

"Hey, Sammy. S'up?" He scooted up to sit against the headboard, cushioned by his pillow.

Sam closed the door with a click and sat on the floor beside the bed, leaning back against it. He ran his fingers through his way-too-long hair and plucked at the leg of his sweat pants.

"If Gabriel comes back, what do you think Castiel will do?" he asked bluntly.

Dean sighed. Even though he'd been thinking about it non-stop since this afternoon, he didn't want to say any of it aloud on the off chance it might come true. "I don't know, Sammy. It's hard enough with Joshua around. There's no way Cas will ever trust an angel, no matter who it is."

"I know."

"It's just...I'm worried he'll be pissed about it. What if he hates me? I didn't mean for it to be a secret, but now that's what it feels like, and he's gonna be mad." All of Dean's fear and anxiety came pouring out. "What am I supposed to do? I want Gabriel back, but I'm scared Cas'll leave."

"Well, you should probably tell Castiel before it happens, so he doesn't get blindsided," Sam suggested.

Dean nodded, knowing Sam was right, but the anxiety didn't ease up.

Sam continued thoughtfully, "We can't tell Gabriel about Cas without his permission – he'd never forgive us for that. Do you even think Gabriel would...be okay with Cas?"

"I'd like to think he would, but what do I know? I was just a little kid when he was around. I barely even remember him."

Sam shifted, turning to look up at Dean worriedly. "So, here's the thing. Castiel's not really an angel, but he sort of is, with the halo and the healing and everything, right? And since he can heal us, that means he's bound to our bloodline. So what happens when Gabriel comes back? Is he gonna be able to, I don't know...sense Cas somehow?"

Dean considered it for a second. "I don't think so," he said slowly. "I mean, if we're right about all that, then he was bound to the family way before we were ever born. If he couldn't sense Cas before, why would he be able to now?"

"That makes sense, I guess," Sam nodded. "So he won't find out about Castiel if we don't tell him. And as long as you tell Cas before Gabriel comes, he should be able to avoid stumbling into him accidentally."

Another needle of fear pierced Dean. "Sammy, what if he's mad? What if he hates me for keeping it from him?"

"Dean, you didn't do it on purpose. Besides, it's Cas. I don't think he could ever hate you. Not even if you were being a jerk." Sam looked up at him with a smirk on his lips, but sincerity in his eyes.

Sam's reassurance actually seemed to help. Dean's churning stomach calmed a little. "Okay. We'll see him this weekend. I'll tell him then."

"Good." After a moment's hesitation, Sam asked timidly, "Hey, Dean? What was Gabriel like?"

Dean wasn't really sure how to answer that, but as he thought about it, he found himself smiling. "I remember he was funny. He always played with me when he visited, even when he couldn't stay long. He liked candy and sneaked me Tootsie Rolls every time he stopped in." He chuckled at his four-year-old self. "I thought I was really getting away with something, but Mom must have known..."

He fell quiet, the bittersweet memories from before the fire bringing a painful lump to his throat. "He was different after that night. The night of the fire. I don't mean the scars – at least, not the ones on the outside. He nearly killed himself trying to save her, you know, and I think part of him died with her."

Dean stopped and blinked away the wetness in his eyes. "I miss him, Sammy. I want him to come home."

He wasn't even sure what had prompted him to say any of this aloud, let alone get all mushy about it. Maybe he was just stirred up at the prospect of the banishment being broken.

But Sam didn't make fun of him for it. "Me, too," he said softly. "I can't wait to meet him."