Big thanks to Hyrule and Thallen, as always! Thallen wrote the glorious scene with Sam and the Casa Erotica disk, and all mistakes are mine.

Warning for vague (mostly cannonic) sexual content.

As much as the archangels might have wanted to lie around doing nothing, Raphael at the very least, had responsibilities to the host. He had been in the process of training new healers while also retraining the Rit Zien, because their methods of mercy killing had been required during the first war, but Raphael prayed it would never be used again. The humans had learned something the angels did not yet comprehend, but one could not cease living when "the going gets tough".

The humans had not invented the Hippocratic Oath. It had come from Raphael first, who had believed that as a healer, and the first one, that it was his responsibility to act in the best interest of his patients, and that it was not only his responsibility, but also the responsibility of all healers. The interpretation to Do No Harm had not always been wrapped in the same connotations, because there had been a time when Raphael had truly believed that there were patients who suffered too greatly for death to not be in their best interest. While that would probably still hold true for incurable degenerative injuries or diseases, that wasn't true for anything else anymore. And mental pain could be healed, it just took time and different methods.

Along with the improvement in healing, one of the things Raphael had also been working on was grooming because it was pretty clear that the soldiers had been neglecting their wings and it was showing. It was also unacceptable, but that was another matter.

"You want us to what?!" Lucifer exclaimed.

Raphael sighed. "The newest healers need a demonstration on proper wing grooming techniques before I let them anywhere near a pair of wings after what happened last time, and I can't reschedule it again, so I thought it would be nice if you and Michael perform the demonstration."

"It can't be that bad of idea," Michael said, trying to convince Lucifer to agree. "And it's not as though our wings are pristine." He tilted his head in the direction of Lucifer's wings to punctuate his point. Lucifer's wings had once been a pristine and vibrant hue that shifted between coral and wine depending on the light, but his time in the Cage had diminished that vibrance, leaving them a pale, washed-out rose color that did not look at all as healthy on Lucifer as it might have on someone else. That was punctuated by the fact that it was clear they had not been groomed in some time, with the vanes of the feathers clearly running all the wrong directions. His feathers should have been smooth, not a mess of fluff sticking out in all random directions.

Lucifer resumed his pacing, folding his wings against his back so they couldn't stare as easily. He didn't say anything, but he was uncomfortable with the idea of letting anyone, even Michael, groom his wings in front of an audience.

Michael stood up where he'd been sitting on the edge of the bed and walked towards Lucifer. "It's okay, Heylel. If you really don't want your wings groomed in front of an audience, you could just groom mine."

The second archangel stopped his pacing as he stood face to face with Michael. His lower lip protruded into a pout. "I'll think about it."

Which was how the two oldest archangels came to be standing in front of a room full of healers. Raphael was standing at the edge of the room, near the front with Samandriel standing beside him and Gabriel stood at the back.

Raphael turned to address his class. "Michael and Lucifer are going to give you a demonstration on proper grooming techniques for the injured. Are there any questions before they begin?"

One angel in the back raised a hand.

"Yes?"

"Is it true that all the archangels are back in heaven and will be taking a larger role in running heaven?"

Raphael rolled his eyes. "Yes, but can we focus? Any questions about grooming before we begin?"

Three new hands went up. Raphael nodded towards the closest. "Heziel?"

"Can you explain the significance of wing oil in this demonstration?"

If Raphael had been capable of flushing, he would have. "Actually, please submit your questions in writing to my assistant by the end of the week and I will answer any relevant questions in the follow up discussion next week." He turned towards Michael and Lucifer. "Alright, then, the demonstration will start in a moment. Pretend that Michael has injured a wing, so after the dressing of the injury, the feathers have to be straightened and preened because the injured party can't reach without causing further damage. And for other reasons."

Michael sat on the edge of the provided infirmary bed, displaying his vibrant copper wings for the audience. The break was healing nicely so he could move it, but flying was still not recommended and would not be for awhile yet.

Raphael clapped once, causing a decorative binding to appear around Michael's uninjured wing. "After dressing the injury, the feathers themselves need to be looked after."

Lucifer moved to stand a little of to the side on Michael's left. Michael's feathers were less out of order than Lucifer's but that wasn't relevant. He then started gently straightening Michael's feathers, starting near the bandage.

"See how Lucifer has started near the imagined wound?" Raphael turned back towards his students. "Can anyone tell me why? Jophiel?"

"If the wound is to the flesh of the wing, feathers could have been pulled out or damaged. The feathers nearest the wound need to be examined so that the don't interfere with the growth of new feathers."

"That is correct."

Lucifer finished examining and grooming the feathers closest to the decorative bandage and moved further down.

Michael enjoyed the fingers in his wings and his fingers flexed on instinct as he wanted to dig them into a pair of wings to reciprocate the grooming. When had someone last groomed his wings? When had he last groomed someone else?

Lucifer could see Michael's fingers flexing, so inwardly smirking, he went for the feathers closest to the oil gland. The area was sensitive so he was careful not to brush his fingers more than a few teasing strokes. He'd missed this. He'd missed this so much.

"Rafa?" Samandriel whispered, tugging on the hem of Raphael's shirt. "How come my wings don't do that?"

Raphael heard the door slam as Gabriel left and he looked down at the fledgling and then over at what he was talking about. Lucifer was grooming the feathers around one of Michael's oil glands and the healerjust knew there was teasing occuring. This was punctuated by the fact that there was visible oil glistening from the gland. Michael was still silent and unmoving, but Raphael was sure he was rapidly losing concentration, not that he could be blamed. "Demonstration over, everyone out," he ordered his students.

The students in question gave some questioning hesitancy, but eventually they all moved towards the exit.

Raphael reached the door when Michael let out a deep moan so he quickly shut the door behind him. Samandriel was still by his side.

"Why'd you cancel the demonstration?" the fledgling whined.

"They need some alone time. Wing grooming is a personal matter and I should have known better than to pressure them into a demonstration."

"But wing grooming isn't that personal. You groom my wings all the time."

"You are a fledgling and you like sticky things. What, would you rather I left you to your own devices when you get honey out of reach?" Raphael kept his tone gently teasing. There was a great difference between the traditional platonic grooming and the mating ritual Lucifer had been about to initiate in front of everyone and a fledgling.

He should have known better. It had been an open secret once that Lucifer had intended to ask Michael to bond with him and he'd seen the aftermath when Michael found the mating token Lucifer had hidden away as a surprise for after he'd repented. Only to receive further suffering.

"Rafa? Are you mad Mika and Heyl ruined your demonstration?"

Raphael stopped walking and picked Samandriel up. "I'm not mad at them. They were really happy once, before the fall, and I'm angry that it took so much pain to bring us to here. They were going to bond and Someone took that away from them."

"That's sad." The fledgling buried his head in the healer's neck. "Where we going?"

"I thought we could go find Gabriel. I think he might feel left out."

It took Raphael some time to find Gabriel. His younger brother was sitting near the edge of heaven, feet dangling over the ledge. There was a wall that would keep anyone from falling, but it wasn't visible. It had probably infringed on Gabriel's view.

"Gabby?" Raphael whispered so as not to startle his brother as he approached.

Gabriel looked behind him. His cobalt wings were folded around his shoulders like a shawl, teal and gold accents unusually dull.

Samandriel squirmed in Raphael's grasp, kicking and wiggling until Raphael had to put him down. The fledgling ran towards the messenger and crawled into his lap.

Gabriel looked down at the child in his lap and moved an arm to better support him. With the other he ran a gentle hand down his back, as though petting a dog. "Hey, kid." His voice was hoarse, quiet, and he stared at the fledgling as though he wasn't sure how he'd come to be there.

Raphael approached the edge with some trepidation and was careful not to look down as he took a seat next to Gabriel. He wasn't sure what to do. He knew Gabriel well enough to know the youngest didn't have feelings for Michael or Lucifer the same way the pair had for each other, so he knew it wasn't that kind of jealousy. He himself had not been created with the capacity to have those needs or desires, so he did not understand them as well as another would have. He would have been happy in a room with Michael, Lucifer, and Gabriel forever, and he'd thought maybe Gabriel would have been too, but Michael and Lucifer deserved their alone time. They had waited more than long enough to finally have this.

"Hey, little brother, what's wrong?"

Gabriel shook his head furiously. "I'm not jealous, I'm not!" The conviction was uttered with such force that it only served to make Raphael think that Gabriel was trying to convince himself this was true.

Raphael raised an eyebrow. "There's different kinds of envy. But like anger, it can mask another emotion as a self defense mechanism. I don't think you're jealous because you wanted one or the other all for yourself."

"No," Gabriel agreed. He folded himself slightly smaller, but careful not to squeeze the fledgling he was holding.

Samandriel shifted, reaching for one of Gabriel's primaries. "May I?" In lieu of an actual answer, the edge of the wing shifted closer to him and the fledgling grabbed it. The adult talk was boring, but Gabriel's feathers were enticing and beautiful. And soft.

The healer waited for Gabriel to speak, and after a few moments of enjoying the sensation of childish fingers in his wing, he clarified himself. "I don't want anything to change," he whispered. "We're all back, and we were together, and happy. And I know that if anyone deserves to finally have their happily ever after, it's Mikha'el and Heylel. But I'm afraid they won't have time for us anymore and I don't want to lose them again."

"Why would bonding mean Mika and Heyl have less time for us?" Samandriel asked. His fingers got caught on one of the feathers Gabriel hid a wince as the fledgling tugged.

"They'll probably spend more alone time together," Raphael said.

"If they didn't reaffirm the bond, it would fade," Gabriel agreed. "Which would of course defeat the purpose of bonding in the first place."

Samandriel hummed, but not really in understanding. The feathers in his fingers were tantalizing, so he put it in his mouth. It was warm and smelled of grace. It was not as warm as Raphael's feathers, but warm enough. The fledgling shut his eyes as he sucked on the feather.

"I do hope that you'll tell me why there's still a fledgling in heaven," Gabriel said. He didn't pull his wing away from Samandriel because he didn't mind. He could feel the fledgling's content grace, and it soothed his own.

"Perhaps another time." Raphael would not tell the story in front of the fledgling, but he also knew that he would have to tell the other archangels the full story eventually. "They'll still have time for us, Gabriel. We won't abandon you again." He wrapped a wing around Gabriel, overlapping the cobalt wing still wrapped around himself. Raphael's wings were a steel blue, with greater accents of green and chestnut.

Gabriel leaned towards his brother. "I want something like what Michael and Lucifer share. Not with either of them, just a bond for myself."

Raphael was sure that the other three archangels and at least some of the other angels had that same desire, but it was still something that he had difficulty understanding. But that didn't stop him from being supportive. "Yeah? Have your eye on anyone in particular?" He hoped Gabe did, if only so that he didn't depress his brother out any more. He sure hoped Samandriel was sleeping.

"There's this one human… His soul is as bright as Lucifer's grace used to be, and his body is so aesthetically pleasing. He's so tall, and his eyes Raph, they're this indescribable color, like where the tree leaves meld with the branches of the forest, and it goes on forever and ever. A never ending sea of timberline, both green and brown. He's really tall, and every part of him is so large and handsome. I wonder if the rest of him is just as proportional."

Samandriel yawned around the feather in his mouth. "Aren't all humans created proportionally?" he asked.

Raphael flushed with embarrassment. He didn't really want to hear all about Gabriel's crush. He'd had to deal with Michael's pining for a few thousand years, wasn't that enough? The fledgling wasn't old enough to need to hear about this kind of conversation.

"Maybe when you're older you'll understand," Gabriel suggested.

The comment stung Raphael, but the fledgling was nonplussed and didn't object, just asked, "When'll that be?"

Raphael could hear Gabriel's soft response of, "Maybe in a few aeons," but all Raphael could think about why Samandriel was still a fledgling, would always be a fledgling. There would be no "growing up" for heaven's last fledgling.

"Okay," the fledgling replied, closing his mouth back around Gabriel's feathers and drifting into sleep.

"Let's go back," Raphael suggested. "Dri is a heavy enough sleeper, he won't wake up, and maybe Michael and Lucifer will join us when they're done making a mess of my beautiful demonstration room."

"Alright." Gabriel followed suit as Raphael stood. "But will you tell me why there's still a fledgling in heaven? The last batch should have all grown up by now."

"I don't want to talk about it," Raphael replied, sharper than intended. "Maybe later. Do you think the human could return your affection?"

"I don't know. I hope so, but I did some unforgivable things to him and his brother, so I might have burned that bridge. But I left him a little gift, I guess I'll find out eventually whether or not he liked it."

Sam and Dean were a little bit shell shocked when they finally made it to some other hotel. Sam was still holding onto the disk that Gabriel had shoved into his hands and told him to guard with his life. "Do you think Gabriel's okay?" Sam asked softly.

"I don't know," Dean answered honestly. "Lucifer seemed pretty irrational to me. Maybe…. Maybe if anyone can get through to him it'll be Gabriel?"

"I just… I don't want him to be hurt for something he didn't want apart of to begin with. I know he's a super powerful being, but he has feelings too, and this is our mess."

"Why don't you try to sleep, Sam?" Dean suggested. "We can ask Castiel to check the hotel in the morning, and watch the disk then. Okay?"

Sam slept poorly that night and Dean didn't sleep much better. First thing in the morning they called Castiel and asked if he would be willing to check the hotel because they wanted to know if Gabriel was okay.

The angel flew away, and then flew back. "There were no archangel deaths in the hotel, but at some point, all four archangels were in that room."

"And Earth is still standing? And no one died?" Dean gave Cas a considering look. "That's good, right? Maybe they're going to repair their relationship and not try to destroy the world?"

"We're being optimistic," Sam said. "What if this is just the calm before the storm?"

"In that case, we should make sure we have everything we need for an apocalypse. Sammy, you start inventory, I'll be right behind you!"

Castiel watched Sam as he got to work on checking the contents of the trunk.

Dean watched the disk Gabriel had given them while sitting on the curb. Sam had wanted to watch it too, but there was so much to be done in the inventorying of the impala.

"I didn't need to see that!" Dean shouted, slamming the laptop closed more forcefully than necessary and ejecting the disk. "I'm sorry, Sam, it's pure porn. Gabriel had nothing helpful to give us."

Sam glanced over his shoulder at his brother. He let it go because Dean really did look disturbed by the porn. "He did spend a few thousand years as Loki. I'm not sure why we expected anything different."

"I just thought your analysis was accurate and that we could convince him to help us." Dean leaned over the closed laptop. "But now, I don't know."

Sam sighed. "We don't know what really happened yesterday. Cas said all four archangels were present. Maybe they'll surprise us."

"Or maybe Michael dragged hs unruly siblings to Heaven to face the music. And if so, what'll we do then?"

The younger hunter turned away. "If they aren't trying to end the world, what effect does it have on us? We're mortal, dean. What chance do we have against Heaven's general?"

"I know," Dean answered. "I guess we'll just have to prepare for the worst."

Dean tossed the dvd away without Sam watching it. There had been no message as far as the elder could tell and Sam saw no reason to argue. They'd spent so long fighting over things way bigger than a stupid porn video. Even if the creator of it could very well be dead. Sam could worry about the archangel he thought he understood the best on his own time.

They hunted and planned, driving around the country in a beautiful '67 Chevy Impala.

A few days after Dean threw the disk in the trash, Sam found it in a folder on the headboard. The disk was in his folder with papers from the most recent hunt. There was also a sentence highlighted that ended up solving the case.

Sam didn't remember highlighting it and Dean hadn't touched the folder, but he just threw the disk away and moved on.

The disk came back for the next case and the one after it. The third time Sam found it, he kept it. "Dean, I know you said Gabriel's Casa Erotica wasn't worth watching, but it's stalking me."

"That's…. Weird." Dean frowned. He didn't want to know about Gabriel's creepy shit. "I'm gonna go find a bar. I'll be back tomorrow, I ain't drunk enough for this shit."

Sam waited 15 minutes just in case Dean changed his mind or forgot something, but he didn't come back. So he watched the disk.

It was really hot gay porn, and while Sam may not have ever told Dean, it was really hot.

The video was of Gabriel, a Gabriel copy, and another person. Sam couldn't help but find Gabriel aesthetically appealing and the video really was good quality, for, you know, porn. At the very end of the video there was a short message from Gabriel. "I hope you're still watching! Here's the rundown. I am still alive and my plan to make peace worked. Don't worry about the apocalypse, it's officially over!"

Sam couldn't help but laugh. Of course Gabriel would include his secret message at the end.

He texted the message to Dean and then watched the video over again with a quick prayer to Gabriel thanking him for whatever he'd done and for letting them know that he was okay.

The Winchesters got on with hunting. Their time dealing with Heaven seemed to be over, so they got back to business. Castiel hung around for reasons unknown and even lended a hand researching. He was their friend and they made him feel welcome.

Sam kept the disk and he watched it with some frequency. It wasn't a feeling of necessity so much as something he greatly enjoyed. The hunter was comfortable with his sexuality and it could be so difficult to find ( and hide from Dean) good gay porn. And there was something imperious about this particular gift. It helped that he still couldn't "lose" it.

One day about two weeks later, Sam was rewatching it with headphones while researching for a hunt. He expected Dean back with lunch any minute but he couldn't help himself.

Slight Sexual fantasy

He didn't risk anything that could actually be considered risque. His brother catching him with his hand down his pants was not on his list of preferred activities, although it had happened in the past. But that didn't mean that he couldn't enjoy some good old fashioned fantasies. By this point, he'd watched the video enough times to have most of the scenes memorized, and could scroll through news articles while the soundtrack played, moans and the whispering sound of skin against skin.

Sam's fingers gradually grew slower on the keys of his laptop, as he imagined Gabriels mouth on his skin, his hot breath against his own neck, rather than that of the clone in the video. The way strong, thick fingers would feel gliding their way up under his shirt, and spreading themselves across his chest. The way Gabriel would feel under his lips and the noises he would make as Sam kissed him just so. Sam could feel tremors of heat travel their way down his spine to pool in his abdomen.

As Sam's ideations/imaginings/fantasies progressed, he eventually abandoned the pretense of research all together to switch over to watching the video as well as listening to it. Seeing Gabriel's lithe form had Sam's fist clenching on the tables surface, and he almost couldn't help his eyes fluttering shut for a few seconds. He worked them back open to stare, panting, at someone that sparked something inside him he couldn't fully describe. He might not even go so far as to openly say it was affection, but there was something there that wound its way up his spine and wrapped itself around his throat whenever he thought about the archangel too long, or at a quiet time, or on Tuesdays, and it was definitely something. Imagining the angel in his lap, arms wrapped around his shoulders, and words, sweet, tender, meaningful wordsbeing whispered against his cheek sent tremors through Sam's arms. His breathe shuddered through his body as he gazed, imagining the screen wasn't there, and that the hands on the screen were winding through his hair, lips on his lips, body against his body and that-...

* * Fin * *

Castiel flew into the room, landing behind Sam and getting a full view of Sam's screen. "Hello, Sam."

Sam jumped, slamming the laptop closed. "Hello, Cas! I'm so sorry, um…" The hunter blushed, looking embarrassed.

Castiel tilted his head as Sam blushed fiercely. "You don't need to explain yourself to me. I know humans are sensual creatures."

Sam didn't know what to say to that. He could feel his cheeks burning with his embarrassment. It felt worse, almost, being caught by an angel. Weren't they above such temptations of the flesh? How did Cas even know?

"That's a special gift you have been given," Castiel added after a moment. "You should not be so uncomfortable. If Gabriel had not intended it for you, you would not have it."

That was reasonable, Sam supposed, except Gabriel had been a pagan for a long time. He lived to mess with them. This disk could just be some elaborate joke he was about to be the butt of and didn't even know it yet. "Special, how?" he asked incredulously.

"Gabriel has chosen this method as the initiation of his courting ritual. I do not understand the reasons behind his methods, but he's an archangel."

Sam blinked. "Courting rituals… courting?! Why me ?!"

"If you don't return his feelings, you should tell him that before you break his heart. Don't lead him on. You are my friend, but Gabriel is my brother and he has been hurt enough."

"I… Cas, stop. I'm not going to hurt Gabriel. I didn't know this was a courting ritual, but I'm not opposed to that, necessarily, it's just a lot to think about." Sam considered his next words. "I hope this isn't how all all angels try to start their relationships?"

"I believe only Gabriel would be so bold. Although I heard that Michael and Lucifer almost consummated their bond in front of Raphael and his healers during a grooming demonstration."

Sam snorted before realizing Castiel was being sincere. "For real? He must have been so scandalized." He shook his head. "Unless angels have fewer inhibitions?" Gabriel's Casa Erotica didn't suggest the archangel had many inhibitions, but that didn't necessarily mean anything about angels as a whole.

"There was a fledgling present. Raphael was scandalized."

"Okay, then." Sam wasn't sure what to do with the new information. It was a lot to take in. "Was there something you came for? I'm sure you didn't come just to talk about Gabriel."

"I had a question for Dean, but I can see he's not here. I will wait elsewhere so as not to disturb you."

"No, Cas, it's fine. I expect Dean back any minute and I'd rather he not find out about this yet."

The door opened. "Find out about what? Sammy, I thought there were no secrets anymore."

Sam winced at hearing Dean's voice. "Remember that Casa Erotica disk? Well, I haven't been able to get rid of it, and it turns out it's a Gabriel thing. In all honesty, you probably don't want to know."

"Okay."

Dean's quick dropping of the subject surprises Sam, and the hunter stared at Dean, wondering momentarily if this was a shifter using his brother's body.

"Shit, no, Sam. Don't look at me like I'm dying. I didn't mean what I said when I walked in. I thought you and Cas were planning a surprise and I thought I was fishing. You told me Gabriel left a message at the end of the Casa Erotica disk and I have no intention of prying further into it than I already did. There's not enough brain bleach to unsee what I saw."

"Do you not find male bodies pleasing?" Castiel asked.

Dean sputtered and blushed. "What does that…? Why does it…?" He looked down at the ground as though it might swallow him and as though he would prefer that to being there a second longer. "I didn't need to see two copies of your brother fucking someone who looked like Sam! It was disturbing! No, I didn't find it hot! That has nothing to do with whether or not I find men attractive!"

Sam did not want to hear this. He did not need to know why Castiel was asking about his brother's sexual preferences and why Dean had been so disturbed by the video. "Aren't angels genderless, Cas?"

"Angels are genderless, yes, but the vessels they inhabit do have gender. I use the term brothers, sisters and siblings to refer to the rest of the host loosely because it is one of the better translations, but is not exact. Brothers-in-arms or comrades are a few more words that the Enochian can translate into. None of us are exactly genetically related, although some of us feel more familiar towards others than some."

"Shit," Sam mumbled. "We should have asked if you had a pronoun preference."

Castiel tilted his head. "I am wearing a male vessel, why would it not be reasonable for you to use male pronouns to refer to me?"

"Because you don't really have gender?" Sam reopened his laptop and pulled up a blank internet browser. "Not all people identify with the sex they were assigned at birth and instead are nonbinary or genderfluid or transgender, and choose to use other pronouns. It's polite to refer to people using the pronouns they prefer. In English, some examples of pronouns besides he/him and she/her are they/them or xe/xem." Sam saw Castiel tilt his head at they/them. "They/them is used as a singular in this case."

Castiel nodded. "I and a few of my siblings have a strong preference for vessels of a certain gender. I don't mind the masculine pronouns."

The Winchesters weren't sure what to say to that.

"I have it on good authority that Gabriel made his vessel himself and that he also has a preference for the masculine form over the feminine. For both himself and his partners."

Sam blushed and rolled to the side, slamming his head into the mattress in his embarrassment. Gabriel's preferred pronouns was something he and Gabriel would have to work out between the two of them, if he decided to show his face and if Castiel's earlier comments were truthful. He did not need Castiel going on about it while Dean was right there.

Dean laughed. He had no idea why Cas and Sam had been talking about Gabriel or the porno or why Sam looked as though he wanted to be anywhere other than right here, but he was all for taking his older brother responsibilities seriously and embarrassing Sam about his crush to the best of his abilities.

Castiel tilted his head in confusion. He did not understand why Sam was embarrassed about knowing Gabriel's preference. Gabriel had clearly initiated a courting, even if Sam didn't understand all that entailed or meant. Any angel would have been beyond honored to have been courted by an archangel, so why was Sam taking it so strangely? Gabriel's methods were unorthodox, but they still seemed more human than the traditional approach. Not that what Michael and Lucifer had been doing was traditional either, but that was just an example of why forcing two mates into delaying the consummation of their bond was a bad idea.

But that didn't matter. The apocalypse was over, that mattered. They had all the time in the world now that it wasn't about to end. Their choices had been made, the die had been cast, and the rolls in their favor. All would be well.