A/N: I'm so much busier now that I'm on break, it makes me a little sad.
Anyway, here's the next chapter. I'll try to update on Christmas, if I have time. There won't be a super special chapter for Christmas or anything, but I guess updating early would make a nice gift.
Thank you for all your follows, favorites and reviews! I'm nervous about this chapter, so let me know what you think.
Enjoy!
Castiel lay awake, even after everyone else went to bed, he could not sleep. Dean was sleeping soundly, Gabriel seeing to that with a touch of his grace that only Castiel noticed. Sammy would rest all night, as was his usual habit. However, Castiel could not sleep. He tried talking to Jimmy, but he found the soul to be sleeping as well, peaceful and comfortable. Castiel couldn't quell the anxiety in his stomach though, so he got up.
He made his way out of his room quietly and down through the hall. He stopped outside Gabriel's room, debating on whether or not to check to see if his brother was awake, but decided against it. Gabriel was still suffering from the wound Raphael inflicted upon him, no matter how much he acted like it wasn't affecting him.
Moving away from Gabriel's door and into the living room area of the house, he made his way to the window, peeking out between the shades. It was dark, but he could see something in the distance among the trees. It looked to be walking towards the house, and Castiel's heart jumped into his throat, effectively startling Jimmy awake.
What's happening? The boy asked groggily. Castiel carefully closed the shade, despite his shaking hands and moved away from the window.
"Someone is coming." Castiel whispered. He didn't want to use his grace, for fear of alerting whatever was outside to his presence, so flying into Gabriel's room was not an option. He also couldn't quietly alert Gabriel to the danger, since his brother locked his door and calling to him would be too loud. Before he could think of an alternative plan, there was a knock at the door. Castiel panicked inwardly, holding his breath to stifle any unintentional noises he might have made.
Did they find us? Jimmy asked in fear. Castiel did not want to risk the noise of replying, so he shrugged. He tiptoed as quietly as he could away from the door and into the hallway, still keeping his eyes locked on the door and the unknown foe behind it.
There was another knock, and then. "Open this door, Gabriel, I know you are here." Castiel didn't recognize the voice as anyone he knew and the fear only increased. To his extreme panic, the lock on the door popped and the door handled turned, the figure letting itself inside. "I cannot sense you, Gabriel, but I know this is where you are. You would do well to answer." It was too dark to see the person clearly, but it was obvious from their voice that they were male. The shadows indicated that the person was fairly tall. Castiel gulped, he did not recognize this person. It was obvious that he had no grace, but somehow he had managed to open the door. Castiel retreated quietly into his room, not daring to close the door behind him for fear of noise.
Despite his best efforts, it seemed the man still heard him. "Is that you, Gabriel?" He asked. Castiel could hear the sound of his footsteps coming ever closer to his position. The light in the hallway flickered on and Castiel flinched away, retreating farther into the shadows of his room. "Gabriel, I'm not interested in playing 'Hide and Go Seek.'" The man said firmly and with annoyance. "Come out here. I need to speak with you."
He sounds mad. Jimmy commented, Castiel nodded, trying to keep his breathing from being too loud.
"Are there others here with you?" The man asked. That probably crossed him off as being angel or related to the Winchester manhunt. The footsteps stopped just outside his door. Castiel could see leather boots shining in the light spilling in from the hallway. He had managed to shove himself between the bookshelf and the wall, holding his breath and shuffling farther behind the bookshelf when the person entered the room. He could no longer see the man from his position, but the light in his room flickered on when the man entered. "Are there children here?" He heard the man mutter quietly. "I'm not going to hurt you, come out." The man demanded now, not loud enough to alert the whole house to his presence, but loud enough that Castiel knew he wasn't joking around. Despite this, he found himself rooted to the spot, Jimmy's fear overtaking his free will and causing him to hyperventilate. When the first harsh breath shattered the silence within the room, Castiel could practically feel the man's gaze turning towards his hiding spot.
I'm sorry! I'm so sorry! I didn't mean too! Jimmy apologized frantically. Castiel shook his head, assuring him silently that he was forgiven. He could hear the man making his way over to their hiding spot, they were running out of time. He prepared to fly to another room, perhaps the basement, and was just about in flight, despite the confines of his hiding spot when a hand grabbed him, practically plucking him out of the air by his shirt and pulling him out from behind the bookshelf. He came face to face with green eyes, lighter than Dean's, looking at him inquisitively.
"Hello. Where do think you're going?" The owner of the eyes asked him sarcastically, but not unkindly. "If you don't want to be found, letting off a large burst of energy like that is certainly not the way to go about it." He admonished. Castiel frowned at him. He realized the man was holding him by his pajama shirt at eye level, meaning that Castiel was a good couple feet off the ground. "You must be the little one I saw looking through the window." He commented.
"Put me down." Castiel demanded, proud of how strong he sounded, despite the way he felt.
"So it speaks?" The man commented wryly. "I can only assume you are another angel." He went on, before Castiel could say anything. "Do you know where Gabriel is?" He asked. It wasn't demanding or unkind, but Castiel still wrinkled his nose rebelliously at the man holding him. The man let out a sigh and set him on the ground gently. Being on the ground allowed Castiel a better look at the man. He was pale, with green eyes and black hair that was slicked back away from his thin face. He wore some form of armor, which struck Castiel as odd. He had never seen people in the present day walk around freely in armor. The only armor he had seen humans wear was on police officers and they concealed it. This man displayed his proudly. Over his armor, he wore a green cape that fanned out at his feet. He raised an eyebrow at Castiel's scrutiny. "Yes?" He asked cheekily.
"Who are you?" Castiel asked, a little less rude this time. The man wasn't being particularly aggressive, so there really wasn't a reason for him to be too.
"Loki." The man answered flatly. "And you?" He had gone from looking frustrated at Castiel to looking intrigued. Castiel's stomach twisted.
"I am Castiel." Castiel answered calmly. He didn't expect 'Loki' to recognize him, but the man's eyes widened and he smirked ever so slightly. "Are you the one Gabriel borrowed his name from?" Castiel asked, trying to ignore the man's amused stare.
"Yes. I suppose he is not using it anymore." Loki more stated than asked. "I need to speak to him. Where is he?" He asked, getting back to business.
"I don't know." Castiel answered. Loki sighed.
"Look. I do not intend to harm him." Loki explained, immediately understanding the reason for Castiel's silence. "It is a private matter, but not one that will put Gabriel in danger." He sounded annoyed, and Castiel's eyes widened.
"Are there angels following you too?" Castiel asked. Loki's amused look morphed into a full smirk.
"There were. I've managed to get rid of them for the time being." Loki assured.
Castiel opened his mouth to ask exactly what this man was visiting for, but was interrupted. "Who's that?" A small voice asked from the door. Castiel looked past Loki, as Loki turned around to see Dean standing in the doorway, bleary eyed and leaning on the frame for support, obviously not fully awake.
"This is Loki." Castiel answered automatically. Dean frowned at him, blinking sleep from his eyes and then looking at the mentioned man.
"I thought Gabe was Loki." Dean complained. Loki rolled his eyes.
"Gabriel was only borrowing my name for a short time." Loki explained to the child.
"Ooooooh…" Dean answered, sounding as if that explained everything. "Cas, why's he here?" Dean asked, cocking his head to the side and making his way into the room without invitation. Loki frowned, obviously miffed, but didn't say anything as Dean all but draped himself over Castiel in a hug, sighing softly.
"I do not know, Dean. More importantly, why are you awake?" Castiel asked, temporarily taking his attention away from Loki to assess Dean's condition.
"Had a bad dream." Dean explained. "I wanna sleep with you instead." Castiel nodded, leading Dean over to his bed and laying him down. Dean sighed and fell back asleep despite the lights being on and someone he didn't know in the room. Castiel doubted he would even remember the exchange in the morning.
"We should speak elsewhere." Castiel whispered and then exited the room, the lights flickering off behind them.
When they were in the kitchen, it was Loki who spoke first. "Who was that?" he asked. "Has Gabriel finally taken up kidnapping and keeping small children?" He seemed completely serious when he asked this.
"N-no." Castiel stuttered, wondering if Gabriel had ever seriously spoken about doing that with this man. "That is Dean Winchester. His father is staying here." He explained.
"Not for long though." Gabriel's voice floated from the kitchen doorway. "Ever heard of knocking, Loki? Or is that not a thing on Asgard?" He seemed annoyed, but not entirely angry. It made Castiel curious about the nature of their relationship.
Loki pouted. It was unexpectedly childish for someone his size. "I did knock. Twice." He said testily, crossing his arms. "Regardless, this is not only your house; I can come and go as I please." He commented. As if making that point, he sat himself gracefully into one of the kitchen chairs.
Gabriel sighed and sat down as well, leaving Castiel in a very awkward position before Gabriel grabbed him and set him in his lap. "Not that I'm not happy to see you, Loki… Because really, I am, but this is not the best time." He explained, unusually polite.
"I can see that." Loki looked pointedly at Castiel, prompting Gabriel to explain.
"Yeah, so you know that brother I told you about? The one that got sent on a mission from my Dad, well, this is him." Gabriel pointed to Castiel, still sat in his lap and looking quite mortified.
"Yes, we spoke earlier. This matters why?" Loki asked, apparently losing patience.
"Well, he kind of messed everything up about a certain prophecy." Gabriel explained. When Loki gave him an odd look he elaborated. "End of the world stuff, nothing major. For your dimension anyway." He said vaguely. Castiel looked confusedly up at him.
"Then I hardly see why this was worth mentioning." Loki said critically.
"Would you let me talk, Loki? For the love of Dad!" Gabriel exclaimed. Loki rolled his eyes and smirked.
"Gabriel, I realize you love to talk, and any other night that would be lovely, but right now I have… Other… obligations, so if you would make your explanation quick…" Loki said impatiently.
"Wait… What 'other' obligations?" Gabriel asked suspiciously.
"Nothing you need to be concerned about." Loki answered evasively.
"What are you doing, Loki?" Gabriel asked, suspicion prominent in his voice.
"Nothing that concerns your dimension, Gabriel. As you said 'nothing major.'" Loki said, waving a hand as if to wipe the conversation from Gabriel's mind. Gabriel frowned.
"Fine, whatever, if you get yourself killed, don't expect a rescue." Gabriel said indignantly.
"You wound me." Loki said sarcastically. "What has your brother got to do with angels following me around? Please elaborate." He said, returning to business.
"Angels are following you around?" Gabriel asked in surprise.
"Gabriel, you are using my name as an alias, of course they would follow me." Loki said impatiently. "They think I am you."
"Do you need help?" Gabriel asked worriedly. Castiel kept getting more confused by the minute.
"No. I was able to handle them well enough. They have no idea where I am now." Loki explained. "That is not important. What is important is why they are following me around, Gabriel." Loki said sternly, expecting an explanation. "What trouble have you gotten yourself into?"
"Blame Cas for being so adorable!" Gabriel yelped. "His pleading eyes dragged me into it!"
"What?" Castiel asked blankly. Loki rolled his eyes.
"So your brother meddled with a prophecy and now all of Heaven wants to kill you?" Loki asked, putting the pieces together on his own.
"Well, they want to catch Cas. I guess they want to kill me, I've been a thorn in their side for a pretty long time now, so…" Gabriel shrugged, not finishing his sentence.
"Ah." Loki said plainly. "Then I would ask that you no longer use my name as an alias, I do not need to be responsible for the destruction of two worlds." Loki said, resting his head on his hands.
"Destruction of—" Gabriel cut himself off for a moment. "Loki! What the hell did you do?!"
Loki looked away. "It is not what I did, it is what I plan to do." He said with a matter-of-fact tone. Castiel was looking rather horrified. Why was Gabriel speaking to this man?
"What do you 'plan to do,' Loki?" Gabriel demanded. "It better be damn good, because I'm not saving your sorry butt if you brother comes calling."
"It is… Not as if I have a choice." Loki said. Gabriel frowned, but allowed him to continue speaking. "It is either invade earth, or... Let's just say I would much rather succeed at an invasion and have a throne than be subjected to that." Loki said simply. "It is not you 'earth', so it is not your concern." He then added.
"You could just stay here…" Gabriel suggested sheepishly. "There's room, and no one has to know." He bargained.
"Your concern is touching, but I'm afraid it isn't that simple." Loki said. "I need to go now, they'll be wondering where I am."
"Wait a second, Loki!" Gabriel exclaimed. Loki stood and began to exit the room. Gabriel stood too, setting Castiel on the floor and following after him. "Loki, come on. You can't just drop a bomb like that and then just leave!" He said, grabbing hold of Loki's arm.
Loki wrenched out of his grip and continued towards the door. "I merely came to get an explanation and to find if you were still alive. Now that I have both pieces of information, I will be leaving." He explained calmly. Gabriel oozed irritation.
"Loki, despite what you want to think, I do care about you. Stay here." Gabriel said, grabbing Loki's arm again. "Who cares if it isn't that simple? Ditching Heaven wasn't that simple. Yeah they'll be consequences, but…" Gabriel trailed off. Loki extracted his arm from Gabriel's grasp, gentler this time. He seemed to have deflated from his usual regal air into something that was quite tired and sad.
"It is very complicated. Assuming I do not get myself killed, I will see you again after I have finished this task." Loki explained with a sad smile. He pat Gabriel on the shoulder, before disappearing from the room completely, leaving a Gabriel wallowing in worry and with a plane look of rage on his face. He stood like that for a while before Castiel approached him cautiously.
"Gabriel…" Castiel said, grabbing his hand. Gabriel allowed it, but didn't look to Castiel, still staring at the spot where Loki had been.
"I'll kill them, Cas." Gabriel said finally. He was dangerously quiet and raging inside. "If anyone kills Loki, I swear, I'll kill them." He said.
Castiel nodded, but didn't say anything. Suddenly, Gabriel's rage dissipated and Castiel found himself curious.
"What kind of relationship do you have with Loki?" Castiel asked cautiously. "Are you… Are you…" Castiel couldn't complete his sentence, turning red. Gabriel looked at him with wide eyes for a moment before bursting out laughing.
"No way! Oh Dad, no!" He said, laughing even harder and wiping tears from his eyes. "Just really, really old friends, Cas." He explained in between laughs. "We've known each other since before I 'officially' left Heaven." He giggled, but it tapered off at that point, realizing he might make John and Bobby wake up. He kneeled down in front of Cas. "Probably thought it was someone here to get us, huh Cas?" He said more than asked. "Sorry about that. I didn't expect him to visit for another couple of years." He said apologetically.
Castiel nodded. "It's okay, I should not have been up and out of bed anyway." Castiel said quietly.
"I know you don't sleep much, Cas. When we're here you don't have to sleep if you don't want to, there's plenty of stuff to do." Gabriel assured, patting Castiel on the head. "I know you've already been digging through mine and Loki's book collection. Help yourself to anything else too, okay?" He asked, noticing that Cas' cheeks had gone red.
"Okay." Castiel agreed. Gabriel gave Castiel one last pat and stood.
"Cool! Well, I'm heading back off to bed. That was exciting, but I'm tired now." Gabriel said with a clap. "See you tomorrow, Cas!" He said.
"Goodnight." Castiel said, just as Gabriel disappeared.
Your family's really complicated, Cas. Jimmy commented from the back of his mind, having hid himself there when Loki grabbed Cas.
"Yes." Castiel agreed, before heading off to his room to join Dean in bed.
TBC...
(That was all filler and I'm really sorry, but it happened and it was really fun to write and I hope you enjoyed it too. One thing about this, is the timelines are different between the two dimensions, and Supernatural's timeline lags behind the Marvel one. For those of you who are interested, I do plan to write a crossover oneshot that explains how Loki and Gabriel meet. I don't know when it will be finished though, oneshots tend to take me a while to write.)