Sorry, it's been too long since I posted a new chapter :-/ Anyway, I hope you like it :D
This pic (link, as always without the spaces) applies for this chapter, it's also in the character descriptions on the animexx website (link see chapter 1, in case you have forgotten about that)
www. fanpop clubs/richard-speight-jr/images/12179899/title/richard-supernatural-5x19-screencap

Have fun :-)

4. Who let the Archangel in?

Three weeks had passed since Amelia and Adam had moved in with Sam and Dean. Apart from handing in her letter of resignation to the hospital as well as completing the sale of their house – in an amazingly short time – nothing much had happened in those past weeks.

Surprisingly, everyone had quickly acclimated to each other and the new housing situation. Mia made breakfast almost every morning and Sam often assisted her. Dean and Adam were mostly sleeping in; still, all four always ate breakfast together. In the beginning, Dean had been far from pleased about the fact that he and Sammy had gotten roommates. He had let them stay only because he couldn't send them away after Mia had gotten possessed by a demon and in all honesty, he had expected them to leave after a few days. But they didn't.

Instead, the young blonde woman, who reminded him of his mother, was frequently cooking them breakfast and even dinner. Also, the three brothers spent much time together doing research and teaching Adam (and Mia) how to use a gun along with the basics of killing the supernatural.

Now, Dean was already used to walking into the library of the bunker and finding somebody else except Sam there.

"Alright, are you ready?" The oldest Winchester exclaimed excitedly and a bit maliciously while entering said room.

"Do we really have to do this?" Amelia asked nervously.

"You wanna get possessed by a demon again?"

"No."

"Then yes!" Dean smirked.

Twenty minutes later, they were standing in a tattoo studio in town.

"Hi, guys! What's up?" A man with tattoos all over his arms greeted them thrilled.

"Hey! We need this…" Dean instantly showed him a picture. "… on these two." He pointed at Adam and Mia.

"Sure thing! Come with me!" The tattooist guided them into a separate room. "So, who wants to start?" He inquired readily.

"Ladies first!" Adam answered grinning, shoving his cousin towards the big chair which was standing in the room. She glared at him but didn't complain.

"Alright, where do you want it?"

Amelia took off her long-sleeved shirt – she was wearing a strapless top underneath it because she had known what they were up to – and showed him the spot so he could get to work.

After overall three hours, he was done. Mia had the special tattoo on her right shoulder blade; Adam had chosen his left chest, just as his brothers.

"Alright, let's grab something to eat. My treat." Dean suggested satisfied as they stepped outside on the sidewalk.

"Sounds good!" His youngest brother approved overjoyed and proud of his tattoo. He felt like he was finally a part of their family.

"You okay?" Sam asked Mia as they were strolling to the nearest diner, his brothers already went ahead. He had noticed that there was something on her mind.

"I'm fine." She replied smiling lightly. The Winchester kept staring at her considerately, so she started talking again. "I know, I agreed to stay and help you but I'm still not sure what to think about… well, all of it. If I can handle it. Everything happened so fast and I don't want to get in the way or be a burden because you have to watch out for me."

"You won't be. You aren't. It's great having you here!" Sammy reassured her. "It feels good to have family except Dean. He is my brother and I love him, but sometimes it can get a bit lonely, you know. For the most part of our lives we've had only us, so I'm really grateful that you have found us."

"I'm glad you say that! I'm happy that we came here. I think the change is good, for both Adam and me. I just need a little more time to get adjusted to everything, I guess."

"That's okay! It's a lot to take in. For that, you handled it pretty well." Sam smirked and she returned the smile. Yes, she was glad that she had decided to stay.

As soon as they had finished their lunch, they returned home. Dean parked the Impala in front of the bunker and all four got out of the car.

"What are we gonna do next? Research, weapons training? Or you could show me how to put up warding!" Adam was highly motivated while they headed towards the entrance of the building.

"Whoa, slow down, ki…" Dean, who was walking beside him, stopped and held up his right hand. "Bro." He corrected himself on the last word. He knew by now that the youngest Winchester didn't want to be treated like a child. Besides, he definitely wasn't a kid anymore. He was a grown man and even the same height as Dean.

"Did you just call me 'Bro'?" Adam was astounded and a grin grew on his face.

"Well, I can't call you kid… And you are my brother, so…" The oldest Winchester shrugged and looked away, feeling slightly uncomfortable with acknowledging this fact.

Adam however grinned widely and before the other man could say anything more, he hugged him tightly. It took a few seconds for Dean to hug him back, smiling softly in the process. Maybe it wasn't so bad after all to have him here. Mia and Sam couldn't help but chuckle at the sight of the two men sharing such a genuine moment.

"Aaah, isn't this just sweet?" Oh no, not him again.

"Gabriel?" Sam was understandably surprised to see the archangel approaching them smirking.

"Were you following us again?" Dean wanted to know none too happy.

"Yes, I was." Gabriel admitted. He had no reason to lie, anyway. He wanted something from them; therefore, it would be best to be honest.

"Why? What do you want this time?" Sam questioned him frowning. He knew him well enough to be aware of his rather bad intentions.

"I wanna stay with you."

"You want what?" Dean must have misheard.

"I helped you defeat the demon and now I came to call in your favor."

"You want to… live with us… at the bunker?" Sammy made sure he understood him correctly.

"Ding, ding, ding! Hundred points for Sam Winchester!"

"Does this look like a homeless shelter to you?" Dean was not in the slightest pleased with his idea.

"You want an honest answer with that?" Gabriel asked teasingly. The old run-down building in front of him didn't exactly invite anyone to call it their home.

"You know what I want? I want Lucifer and Michael to leave us the Hell alone! I want demons and other monsters to be killed for good! And I want you to leave!" The oldest Winchester shouted at him angrily.

"That's great! But still, you owe me." The Trickster was undeterred and determined to get what he desired.

"Why?" Adam intervened and added to his question. "Why do you wanna stay with us?" Gabriel's request didn't make any sense. He was an archangel, he could stay anywhere. Why here of all places?

"What? Are you afraid it won't be fun having me around? I am the Trickster!" Gabriel replied mockingly.

"No! I think you are an annoying prick and should fuck off!" Adam was irritated. He simply didn't like him.

"Adam, you don't have to be so rude!" Amelia said indignantly.

"Thank you, darling!" The Trickster grinned, feeling victorious.

"That applies for you, too! You can't just show up here and expect us to let you stay without a good explanation." She rebuked the man who was staring at her flabbergasted. After a few moments in which no one else spoke a word, he cleared his throat.

"Alright, I'll tell you. But can we please step inside?" He faced them almost pleadingly and further seconds passed.

"Okay, let's go in." Dean approved at last and subsequently, they entered the bunker.

"Wow! Not bad, guys! I must say, I'm impressed." The archangel uttered jollily while they took the stairs down to the main room.

Once they reached the ground, the oldest Winchester wasted no time for another chit-chat. "Talk." He demanded sternly and crossed his arms.

"Alright! You guys are no fun, you know that?" Gabriel looked at them a bit frustrated. Nevertheless, he sighed and began his heated explanation. "I'm sort of on the run, thanks to you! Since you revealed who and what I am, I'm followed by demons who try to kill me. Good thing I am an archangel and they were mostly underclass demons, so it was easy for me to get away every time." He paused for an instant to compose himself. "Anyway, I'd like to live a little bit longer. In peace. And this is where you come into the picture." He pointed at Sam and Dean with both of his index fingers and a mischievous smile on his face. "You broke the world and made me a refugee, that's why you have to take care of fixing it. I will stay here until you figured out a way to do that."

"We tried to save the world! We didn't release Lucifer on purpose, you know that!" Sam defended himself and his brother upset.

"Whatever! You haven't found a way to stop him yet, have you?"

Sam and Dean didn't answer; they only glanced at each other uneasily.

"We will find one, you can bet on it!" Adam declared confidently.

Gabriel smirked briefly. "I hope you are right!"

"You could help us." Mia proposed optimistically.

"Sorry, honey! I'm not here to help." He responded nonchalantly and shrugged. She gave him a disappointed look.

"We have to discuss this." Dean didn't know how to handle this present situation otherwise.

"Oh, yes, please! Take all the time you need. I'm sure Lucifer wastes his time talking, too." Gabriel's sarcastic tone made the oldest Winchester even angrier. He grunted annoyed and quickly stepped away because he felt a huge urge to punch the Trickster in the face or stab him with an angel blade.

Luckily, right in this moment, Castiel came down the stairs as well.

"Cass!" Sam was relieved to see his friend.

"Hello!" The angel greeted calmly.

"Hey, bro! How's it going?" Gabriel welcomed him cheerily.

"Hello, Gabriel!" Cass was not too friendly. He still held a grudge for being zapped away by his angel brother so he could play with Sam and Dean. "So it's true. You are here."

"How did you know that? We didn't tell you yet." Sam asked surprised.

"Angel radio." Castiel responded shortly but when he saw the confusion on the others' faces, he carried on. "First, I thought it was simply a rumor that an archangel was hunted down by demons. But three weeks ago, you told me that Gabriel was back and today, the nearer I came to the bunker, the more I felt his presence. So, I assumed it must be true. And here he is." He eyed his brother warily.

Gabriel clapped his hands. "Great story, bro. Really touching. But can we get back to the original topic? Me staying here?"

Now, it was Cass' turn to look confused.

"Yeah, we need to talk." Dean spoke grumpily.

"Here we go again." The Trickster rolled his eyes.

"Okay, that's enough! Sit down and shut up until we have discussed this!" The oldest Winchester yelled at him irately.

"Fine." Gabriel mumbled sulky and took a seat on the small couch in the library.

"What is going on? Gabriel wants to stay… here? With you?" Castiel questioned his friends bewildered.

"Yeah. We kinda owe him a favor and this is what he wants in return." Sam explained.

"It's my fault. I agreed we would owe him if he helped us to defeat the demon that has possessed Mia." Adam reckoned guiltily.

"It's not your fault! He is the Trickster and knew that we were desperate enough to let him help." Dean clarified convinced. "I say we just kill him. Then we no longer have to take any of his crap."

"Can we do that?" His youngest brother asked keenly.

"Unfortunately, no."

"So, maybe we should let him stay." Sammy thought aloud.

"What? Are you out of your mind?"

"Dean, I don't think we have a choice. Besides, maybe we can change his mind. Maybe, we can convince him to help us in the end."

"There are too many 'maybes' in this."

"Yeah, I know, but it's all we've got. He's still an archangel. He could be useful for us even if he doesn't want to be."

"You got a point." Dean had to admit. "Cass, what do you think?"

"He is powerful. To have him on our side either way is a good thing. And he doesn't want to hurt any of us. That's not who he is."

"Still, he is the Trickster and we have to be aware of that the whole time."

"I guess we have to take that risk." Sam assumed pensively. "What about you? Will you be okay with Gabriel staying here?" He turned to Adam and Amelia.

The youngest Winchester exhaled sharply. "Well, like you said, we don't have a choice." He crossed his arms and glanced suspiciously at Gabriel.

"It's fine with me." Mia consented.

"Are you sure?" Adam inquired doubtfully.

"Even though he is an archangel, I can defend and take care of myself, Ammie." She insisted assertively. She was the only person in this world who used this nickname for him. When she was very young, she couldn't pronounce his full name, Adam Milligan, correctly. She had always called him 'Ammie' instead because it was short and easy to articulate and somehow, it stuck. However, she rarely used it nowadays.

"Don't worry, we'll keep an eye on him. If he doesn't behave, we'll kick him out." Dean put a hand on Adam's shoulder to reinforce his statement.

"Alright." Although his youngest brother obviously wasn't pleased with the idea of having Gabriel around, he agreed. He trusted that his brothers wouldn't risk putting any of them in immediate danger.

Eventually, they stepped in front of the archangel to deliver the 'good' news.

"Okay, Gabriel, you can stay. But don't think that we can't throw you out anytime if you mess with us." Dean told him resolutely.

"Guys, I wouldn't dream of it!" Gabriel grinned innocently.

"We will totally regret this." The oldest Winchester mumbled and got himself some Whisky from one of the cupboards in the library.

"So… what's next?" The Trickster inquired curiously.

"Research." Dean's reply was short as he took a sip of the liquor.

"About what?"

"About how to stop your jerk-brothers from destroying the universe."

"Right!" The archangel reflected upon something for a short moment. "Since you can't kill either one of my brothers, have you ever thought about locking Lucifer back in his Cage?" He had decided to help them at least a little bit. After all, they let him stay here and the faster they stopped his brother, the sooner he could go back to his non-refugee life. Sam, Dean and Cass instantly faced him dumbfounded. He looked at them in disbelief. "You haven't? Seriously? What have you been doing all this time? Waiting for a miracle?"

"We didn't know that his Cage was still there. Not to mention that we could lock him back in." Sam countered.

"Well, it is and you can."

"And how are we supposed to do that?" Dean was impatient.

"You'll need the rings of the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse. Those are the keys to open the Cage."

"Okay! We've already got War's ring, so that leaves Pestilence, Famine and Death." Sammy stated hopefully.

"Yeah, but we have to find those SOBs first." His older brother was not really optimistic.

"Shouldn't be too hard to locate them." Gabriel was certain about that.

"What makes you say that?" Adam asked skeptically.

"They aren't exactly… discreet. You said you've got War's ring so you should at least know what they are capable of."

Cass had to agree with his brother. "He's right. If they are here on Earth, we will find them. They won't be hiding, anyway, since they have an important job to carry out."

"Alright! Let's check if there are any strange incidents happening across the states. And if there's anything useful written in the books." Dean was now re-motivated.

Consequently, they all began researching. Except for Gabriel, who still didn't want to help them any further. Cass on the other hand left to go to Heaven; maybe someone up there could enlighten them about the Horsemen.

"This is what you do all day? No wonder you're so tense. This is boring!" The archangel complained after only half an hour where no one had spoken.

"I have a great idea!" Dean told him smirking.

"What?"

"Shut up and help us!"

"Thanks for the offer, but no." Gabriel answered tauntingly.

The oldest Winchester exhaled sharply. He and Adam were sitting next to each other and could not only hear but see what their new roommate was doing. It made it all the more unbearable. Sam and Mia had their backs turned on him. However, Dean tried to focus on the book he was currently reading. He had better things to do than to argue with this… what did Adam call him? Oh yeah, annoying prick. Unfortunately, the Trickster wasn't that easy to ignore. He started whistling different songs. By the beginning of the fourth song, Dean couldn't take it anymore. He quickly rose from his chair and punched his palms onto the table, startling the others in the process. He was clearly pissed off.

"Dean, calm down." Sam appeased him while holding up his hands. His brother was staring furiously at a now silent Gabriel.

Amelia unexpectedly stood up, too. "Maybe you should take a break." She smiled softly and grasped Dean's left arm.

Due to this, the Winchester shifted his gaze hesitantly to her face and his anger slowly vanished. "I'm gonna go grab a beer." He uttered disgruntled and immediately went off to the kitchen. It wasn't about the beer; he simply had to leave the room for a few minutes.

"I'll go see if he's alright." Adam followed his oldest brother.

"Thanks." Sam smiled lightly at Mia as she sat back down on her chair.

"I don't want him to be angry." She explained even though she didn't have to.

"Yeah, me neither." He chuckled; nevertheless, he looked somewhat sorrowful.

"Why is he like this?" She had recognized from the beginning that Dean was a tough guy – on the outside. She didn't know him that well after the short time they had lived together. Yet, she knew that he was a sad and hurt man and that he used his anger to cover that up. He didn't want to show his soft and vulnerable side. That was something they both had in common. Unlike him, she hid behind her optimism because she didn't want to face her sorrow and fear of loneliness.

"I have no idea." Sammy replied honestly. "He wouldn't talk about it, anyway, so I have stopped asking."

Amelia nodded, she understood both sides. On one hand, you should talk about the worries in your life, but on the other hand, talking often didn't make anything better and above all, go away.

The ringing of Sam's cell phone snapped her out of her thoughts. "It's Cass. I'll be right back." The Winchester stood up from his chair and left the library.

Gabriel took the chance and seated himself opposite from the blonde woman who wanted to continue reading the book which she had started earlier. She eyed him a bit distrustfully. "So… What's a girl like you doing in a place like this?" He smirked curiously.

"Helping Sam and Dean." Mia responded shortly.

"Oh, come on, talk to me! I'm bored!"

"That's not my problem, Gabriel." She couldn't tell what bothered her about him. He was intrusive; still, he hadn't done anything bad, at least to her. Sam and Dean had told Adam and her what 'games' the Trickster had played with them and admittedly, they had been shocked. He was a powerful being and could mess with anyone anytime, if he wanted. However, she wasn't afraid of him.

"It kinda is." The archangel grinned. He liked that she wasn't intimidated or intrigued by him that easily. It would definitely be fun living here. "What's your job, besides reading ancient books?" He kept asking questions although he wasn't honestly interested. Talking to her was simply better than just sitting around and doing nothing.

Amelia hesitated for a moment but she decided to answer him. "I am… was a midwife."

"And now you're a librarian?"

"I'm helping Sam and Dean. Something you should be doing as well."

"Nah. It's not my fault that my brothers are fighting. If they want to kill each other – fine. But don't drag me into their mess. I just want to enjoy my life with or without them." Gabriel stated seemingly detached.

"But they are your family! You should try to reconcile with them."

He had to laugh. "You haven't met them, have you? Because you wouldn't say that if you have."

"I'm sure it's not too late."

"Oh, it is. Trust me." He assured her assertively. "Speaking of family… what about yours?"

Mia focused on the book before her. "I only have Adam."

"Your…"

"Cousin."

"Aaah!" Now, it was clear to him what kind of relationship those two shared and why Adam was so protective of her. "What happened to your parents?"

She kept her attention on the book even though she wasn't reading. "They died when I was fourteen."

"Let me guess. Killed by a demon?"

"No."

"Vampire?"

"No!" She got sadder and angrier with every question.

"Werewolf?" That was too much.

"NO! For God's sake, they were shot in our house by a burglar, a human! And I was just lucky that I have survived! Are you happy now?!" She screamed at him with tears in her eyes.

Gabriel stared at her, genuinely taken aback by this reveal and her sudden misery. He had seen sad people before but with her, it was different. He felt guilty, something that he rarely felt – if ever.

"What's going on?" Adam shouted alarmed while running into the room. He and Dean had been on the way back to the library when they had heard her yelling. Sam was also hurrying into said room, worried by her small outburst.

Amelia merely jumped up from her chair and walked out. She locked herself in her room, sat down on her bed, hugged her knees and let her head rest on them. She didn't wanna cry; the tears were flowing down her cheeks, anyway. In this moment, she hated everything and everyone. She hated her parents for leaving her alone. She hated Adam for taking her here. She hated Gabriel for making her digging up those horrible memories. She hated Sam and Dean for letting all of them stay in the bunker. She hated God for not preventing the deaths in her family. But primarily, she hated herself right now. For thinking those thoughts and for not being able to get her shit together. She wasn't an angry or resentful person. Sure, losing her parents and her aunt had been awful and she probably would never get over it completely. However, it wasn't Gabriel's or Adam's fault.

A knock on the door snapped her out of her thoughts once again. She lifted her head and faced the door, expecting someone to enter her room. Then she remembered that it was locked.

"Yes?" Mia said while wiping away her tears. To her own surprise she sounded quite normal.

"Are you okay?" Adam asked from outside the door. He was concerned; she could hear it in his voice.

"I'm fine. I just need a few minutes."

"You wanna talk about it?"

"No."

"Mia, you know you can always talk to me."

"I know. But like I said, I'm fine."

"Mia-"

"Adam, please." She replied, this time more emphatically.

Her cousin seemed to understand. "Okay. I'll see you in a few minutes."

As soon as he was gone, she took a deep breath and exhaled to calm herself. She repeated it several times, something she had learned in the three years of therapy. She was glad it helped and that she felt a little bit better. Nevertheless, it took another half an hour until she finally got up and walked to the sink. She looked into the mirror which was hanging above it and sighed. She'd really like to know when her life would get any easier. She felt frustrated and exhausted.

"Stop whining! There are more important things to worry about right now. So pull yourself together and get back out there!" Amelia exhorted herself in her mind. Now was not the time to be depressed or selfish.

"This won't work. He has to leave!" Adam spoke upset.

"He's only been here for two hours." Sam tried to reason with his younger brother.

"Yeah, and he already blew it!"

"We need to give him a chance to adapt. This situation is tough for everyone."

"Guys, I'm still here!" Gabriel, who this conversation was about, pointed out.

"That's the problem!" Adam eyed him annoyed.

"Deal with it!"

"Oh, I'd love to!" The youngest Winchester gave the Trickster a challenging look.

"Guys, stop! Fighting won't lead us anywhere." Sammy interrupted quite calmly. The other two men simply stared at each other coldly.

"I have to side with Sam on this. I'm not a fan of him staying here either but we already agreed to it." Dean cut in. "We have to think about the whole world, not just us, even if we don't like it. Besides, we've had worse than this and we will get through this too… together." He put his right hand on Adam's left shoulder and smirked.

"Alright, I get it!" His youngest brother uttered displeased.

"What's wrong?" Surprisingly, Mia entered the library right at this moment. The four men immediately turned their attention towards her.

"Uh, nothing. Everything's fine." Sam's response wasn't very convincing.

"Okay!" She smiled though. "By the way, what did Cass want?" She remembered that Sammy had been on the phone with the angel.

"Ah, right! Unfortunately, Heaven can't or won't help us."

"What a surprise!" Dean said sarcastically, shooting a glance at Gabriel in the process.

"Anyway…" His brother continued. "Cass thinks he has found one of the Horsemen, namely Pestilence. Yesterday, a bunch of people died in a diner of an unknown disease and a few days ago, the same happened in a cinema hall. Apparently, Heaven is in quite an uproar because of that."

"Sounds like our type of guy." The oldest Winchester affirmed.

"So we'll go after him, right?" Adam was ready to hunt whatever monster they would encounter.

"Pack up! We're leaving in ten minutes." Dean declared, holding back a grin. He was excited, something he hadn't felt in a while. Hunting wasn't exactly fun, at least most of the time, but with Adam, he felt his own fighting spirit building up increasingly.

"Yes!" The youngest Winchester exclaimed thrilled and rushed out of the room.

"I didn't even tell you yet where we have to go." Sam mentioned slightly puzzled.

"You can tell us on the way." Dean reacted smirking and left the room as well.

Amelia only smiled at Sammy and shrugged. He chuckled and shook his head. Afterwards, the two also went to their bedrooms to pack their bags. Gabriel stayed in the library; he didn't have anything to pack anyway, due to the fact that he rarely changed his clothes. If he wanted to, he could do it with a snap of his fingers. There was no need for him to carry any luggage around.

"Okay, Gabriel. We'll be back in a few days. Make yourself at home." Sam spoke friendly as they all were packed up and ready to leave.

"Oh no, I'm coming with you!"

"What? First, you insist that you stay here because you are being followed by demons and now you want to go out there?" Dean wasn't sure what to think of that.

"Well, I hate to feel bored which I definitely would without you being here. Besides, there is a higher chance that the demons kill you, so I think I'm quite safe." The archangel answered grinning.

The oldest Winchester faced his brothers and Mia doubtfully. They simply nodded in agreement, even if it was rather hesitantly.

"Fine." Of course, Dean was not at all overjoyed to drag the Trickster along. Nevertheless, he wanted to avert another fight between them.

Consequently, they had to split up for the drive. Gabriel rode in the Impala with Sam and Dean, Adam and Amelia took Adam's Chevy.

All of them were actually completely clueless what they were getting themselves into. And that this was a next big step towards fulfilling their inevitable destiny.