Chapter 6:

Dean stared at himself in the mirror, lightly massaging the red marks on his neck.

He could see it was starting to bruise.

'What the hell brought that on?' Dean wondered to himself.

He had thought the Angels would have tried to attack him in hopes to escape… or something, not… this.

'How the hell was he going to explain this?' Dean wondered next.

Yeah he was going to tell Sam about it, but mom and dad…

Dean had read far enough in the packet to know what happens to Angels who get too out of hand, too aggressive.

He agreed with Sam on one thing.

They didn't deserve that kind of torture.

Especially Castiel.

Castiel…

The things he must have been through to be so scared of Dean.

It hurt him. More than he thought.

Dean sighed before leaving his room, heading for the kitchen to fix some lunch.

Dean nearly jumped out of the chair he had accidentally dozed off in.

He checked his phone.

2:30 PM.

Dean sighed. He'd be picking up Sam in a couple hours.

Then, he remembered the two Angels in the other room.

He had a feeling they wouldn't escape, or probably couldn't, but he still wanted to check on them.

Hopefully Gabriel wasn't going to pounce on him this time.

Dean slowly and carefully opened the door, peeking inside.

The first thing he saw was something black on the ground, which made Dean completely open the door.

He stood frozen in place at the sight before him.

Gabriel was still sitting on Sam's bed, Castiel was half sitting half lying on the floor, his head resting on Gabriel's lap.

Castiel's black wings were fanned out around Gabriel as he was running his hands through them, seeming intensely focused.

Dean slowly took a couple steps in, which neither took notice to.

The closer he got, he noticed Castiel was asleep.

"Uh, what are you doing?" Dean asked, watching as Gabriel brushed his hands through the many black feathers, picking at them every now and then.

Gabriel paused what he was doing, rolling his eyes, but answered, "Not that it's any of your business, but I'm grooming his wings."

"Oh." Dean nodded simply, not able to think of anything else to say.

Gabriel sighed before going back to work on the wings.

They were shiny and looked very soft, however, there were a lot of feathers missing the further down the wing went.

Suddenly, the wing jerked, and Castiel whined lightly.

"Sorry bro." Gabriel said gently, giving him a short apologetic look, even if he remained asleep.

Dean watched, mesmerized by the wings, and how every motion Gabriel made seemed to make every feather look softer and shinier.

Finally, Gabriel scoffed, "Look. He's tired, and grooming wings can take up to two to three hours. You can have him back after, I promise, just… please, let me have this."

Gabriel's voice only grew more and more soft as he finished, before meeting Dean's eyes, a pleading look in them.

Dean didn't reply for a while, slightly brought aback by the change of attitude.

"Oh… oh. Yeah. That's fine. Sammy won't be home for another few hours anyway. So…" Dean finally said.

Gabriel cocked a brow at him, before sighing, resuming his focus back onto his brother's wings.

Dean watched them for a few more seconds before finally deciding to leave them again.

"Sorry about the bruise, by the way." Gabriel's voice was barely audible just as Dean closed the door.

Dean didn't even turn around to confirm if he had heard him right, he kept walking.

"He did WHAT?!" Sam nearly yelled, almost making Dean swerve off the road.

"Jesus, Sam. Calm down-" Dean started.

"No. That's it. I'm done trying to be nice. When I see him, I am going to-"

"Sam, Sammy! Will you just stop. He… he apologized, okay?" Dean managed weakly.

He honestly wasn't sure where this was going to go. He didn't think Sam would react this way.

"He apologized. Well, that makes it all better then?" Sam said, full of sarcasm.

"He was worried about his brother, it's… a long story. Just… you can talk to him, but go easy on him, ok?" Dean said, giving him a look.

Sam rolled his eyes but nodded, even though his expressions didn't look the least bit convincing.

"And I'll come up with something for mom and dad. Look I know you're mad at him, and I don't know if you've read that whole ownership packet yet, but if they find out what he did. Let's just say what you think about wanting to do to him isn't near as bad as what happens to Angels who get out of hand. And that's not what happened today." Dean explained.

That seemed to dissipate some of the anger as Sam glanced at him, giving him that familiar sympathetic look.

When Castiel awoke, he told Gabriel he should return to Dean's room.

Gabriel felt his chest tighten at that. Already?

Of course, he had finished with his wings an hour ago, but he still enjoyed the close contact.

"I hope he doesn't hurt you anymore, especially after today." Castiel said after pulling away from their last hug.

"Like I said, don't worry about me. I'll manage." Gabriel said, smiling.

Castiel didn't return the smile, simply turning from him and leaving the room.

Gabriel sighed, already feeling the loss.

He looked around the room, trying to see what he could occupy himself with next.

What he could destroy.

However, once again, his schemes were cut off when Sam stormed into the room, tossing his backpack on the chair, before turning to him.

"Dean said you attacked him today."

Gabriel sighed, rolling his eyes, "Oh boy, here we go."

"You can't just… why? Why did you do it? Dean didn't really tell me much, so I need to know." Sam demanded, standing mere inches from the Angel now.

"It was a misunderstanding." Gabriel said simply, rubbing his face as if he'd answered the question a million times.

"Misunderstanding about what? Dean said you were worried about your brother. It was his idea to let your two spend the day together." Sam said.

"You know what." Gabriel finally stood up, his height only barely meeting Sam's shoulders, but he still held firm, "Not that I should have to explain myself to you, but my brother has nightmares. He was telling me how Dean apparently helped him through one last night, he let Cassie sleep in his f-freaking bed, so forgive me if I was a bit suspicious."

Gabriel was so close to Sam's face now, he could practically feel how tense he was.

Sam stared at him in silence for a while, taking in the information. Trying to even imagine everything.

If the situation at hand wasn't so intense, Sam would have smiled and laughed. The visual was absolutely adorable to him.

Sam's face went hard again, remembering the reason he was mad at him, "Well I'm going to tell you right now. Dean will not hurt Castiel. Not like that. He would never."

Gabriel stared at him, staring deep into those brown eyes he now had access to up close.

He searched them for a hint of a lie or a joke.

Finally, Gabriel sighed, before nodding, taking a couple steps away from him, "Okay."

Sam's brows lowered as he watched the Angel make distance from him again. Okay? That's it?

"S-so you can't do this again. Okay?" Sam said, his voice softer than he intended.

"As long as he doesn't give me a reason to. As long as he keeps his hands off my brother." Gabriel said.

"I- No. Gabriel, you don't get it. You can't do that kind of stuff. I know you don't trust me, I know you don't trust Dean, but you have to trust when I say that I don't want to see you get hurt, or even killed." Sam said.

Gabriel gave him a confused, almost surprised look for the first time.

"Yeah. I haven't really gotten far into the packet yet, but Dean said bad things happen to Angels who get too… aggressive. I don't want that for you, he doesn't want that for you, but our parents will be asking about those marks on his neck, if they find out it was you…" Sam trailed off.

"Why?" Gabriel asked, risking a step forward, "Why are you trying so hard to protect me?"

"Because I care about you. I… I care about you as a person. I told you, you're not a pet. I didn't want this for you, but I don't want to see you hurt. I… It's all so confusing, just… if you can just trust me… I can help you." Sam said, his eyes pleading.

Gabriel stared at him in silence, for once at a loss for words.

Usually, he'd have a witty remark or comeback or even joke to play off everything he just said, but this time…

All Gabriel sensed from him was honesty and purity.

He's never sensed that in any human before.

It prevented him from trying to call his bluff.

If there was anything Gabriel was good at spotting, was a liar.

Sam wasn't.

"Sam. Dean. I'm home." Mary called from the living room.

The voice seemed to shatter any and all connection between the two.

"Luci. I'm hoommeee." Gabriel sang out in a girly voice, before finally turning away from Sam.

"Gabriel…" Sam tried.

"We can talk more later. Just go." Gabriel broke him off roughly.

Sam opened his mouth to argue, but quickly decided against it.

He sighed before leaving the room.

Gabriel waited for the departing footsteps, before sitting down on the bed, burying his face into his hands.

'What the hell was that?'

He'd never let his guard down like that before.

He'd never felt so… vulnerable.

He couldn't be vulnerable.

He had Castiel to look after.

Gabriel sighed, stubbornly wiping at his eyes before standing, pacing the room.

"Come on Gabriel. You're losing it." Gabriel laughed humorlessly to himself.