Author's note: Thanks so much to Larkafree, Maknatuna, random yet loveable, CherylB1964, Kirabaros, FireChildSlytherin5, Chichi-10018, keacdragon, Riceball-1989, PercyJfan1802, Maddy Love Castiel, Keefer, Claguen, BLACKxSHEEP, RachelPhobia, XxZessxX, kb18142 and Soulless666 for last chapter's reviews!

Special thanks to Treeni for beta-reading!

10

Even though Gabriel didn't have to sleep, he wasn't exactly a morning person. Staying in bed as long as he damn well pleased, lazing around whenever he felt like it and just generally indulging his inner sloth for all it was worth, were some of the luxuries the archangel had learned to enjoy after leaving heaven. He absolutely didn't plan to give any of those up anytime soon, either.

The Winchesters, even as kids, didn't sleep much, however. They were always up fairly early from what the archangel had seen and Gabriel supposed that he could change his sleeping habits for the week he had them around. Not that he was doing it to give the kids the feeling that there was someone who would always be there for them, if they needed something. That would be absolutely absurd and completely against his intention to keep the already inevitable empty nest syndrome he would be suffering from after they were gone, to a minimum. Being up before the Weechesters was more about making sure that they didn't act up while Gabriel wasn't watching, really. If they decided to play more pranks on each other or create a big mess for whatever other reason, the archangel didn't want to miss a second of it. He still was determined to get as much fun out of the entire situation as he could. The two boys weren't the only ones who were supposed to have a good time!

A bottle of the best maple syrup Canada had to offer and the pile of fresh waffles the archangel had in front of him were guaranteed to give the day a good start. At least, that was what Gabriel thought before the older Winchester stood in front of him, his face as stern as a twelve year old could handle and puffing up his chest in a try to make himself look taller.

"I heard you talking to Sammy last night," Dean stated, giving the adult a hard stare and crossing his arms in front of his chest in the manliest way possible. The older Winchester hadn't heard what they had been speaking about, but the fact that Sam had woken up in the middle of the night and went to the stupid adult, they had only known a couple days rather than his big brother was everything he had to know, anyway.

"Insomnia runs in your family, huh?" Gabriel replied calmly, keeping his body language non-threatening. If Dean had been his adult self, the archangel would have made sure that the insolent moron understood that he was taking the wrong tone with the wrong person. However, getting into a pissing contest with a twelve year old really wasn't that tempting.

"You better not try anything funny with my little brother, or I will castrate you!" Dean threatened the adult, to make sure that he really understood what this was all about. It wasn't that the older Winchester didn't understand subtlety, it was just that he thought it was a mostly stupid concept. If there was something that had to be said, it had to be said in a way that the other person simply had to understand. That way they couldn't claim that they hadn't known that their actions would have consequences and Dean never made threats he wasn't fully prepared to go through with!

"Do you even know what that means?" Gabriel couldn't help asking, even though the adult knew that the boy wouldn't take any sign that he wasn't taking him a hundred percent seriously all too well.

"I got a general idea," Dean answered with a devilish grin that didn't reach his eyes. It was a joke, but one that promised to turn completely serious as soon as it was necessary. It was bad enough that Sammy was hanging his heart on a guy they would never see again once their father returned, but to think that that same guy might betray the trust his younger brother was obviously putting into him just made Dean angry. The adult should better believe that he'd be in deep shit, if he gave the older Winchester the slightest reason to unleash that anger on him.

"I'll consider myself threatened," Gabriel stated with a serious nod. Not that the older Winchester had any chance to do anything to the archangel, but the kid had successfully made his point. Plus, it would make Dean feel better if he had the pretense that Gabriel took his threat to heart. Nobody got to hurt his little brother in any way without having to fear the wrath of mother-hen Dean-o.

"And now you listen to me and listen to me closely," Gabriel added after giving the twelve year old a few moments to be smug about his victory of sorts, "My brother asked me to watch you two for the week and I agreed, because Castiel's job is very demanding right now. As you might have noticed, Dean-o, we all get along pretty well and I'm trying to give you a good time. That's all it is."

In fact, the archangel was once more trying to convince himself that there really wasn't anything more to the arrangement they had going on, just as much as he was trying to convince the preteen. When it came down to it, the Winchesters could hate him all they wanted – and they undoubtedly would as soon as they were grownups again – but Gabriel had to continue to live with himself, after all this was over.

"So, we're staying for a week?" Dean frowned, taking the new information in. He had deflated noticeably and his tone had softened a little, however. The adult hadn't said anything the older Winchester hadn't liked and he actually hadn't done anything bad, either. On the contrary, Gabriel had given them a pretty good day and even though Dean wouldn't admit it, he had held his signed homerun ball tight for a good part of the night, having fallen asleep with the thing in his hand.

"Have you told Sammy?" the older Winchester asked when Gabriel simply nodded. A week with the adult didn't sound too bad to Dean, especially if Castiel kept checking in with them as regularly as he had. Granted, a week was more than enough time for Sam to get by far too attached to the adult, but it wasn't enough time for the eight year old to accept Gabriel as his new father figure or something. That wouldn't be right, anyway. If anybody – other than their dad – was allowed to be anything like a father figure to Sammy then it was Dean… and maybe Bobby.

"Not yet," the archangel admitted with a shrug. In fact, he hadn't planned to tell the kids at all, but then he had let the words slip and of course Dean just had to be the most perceptive of things when he actually wasn't meant to be. At least, it looked like the older Winchester was quite happy with what he had heard. Not that Gabriel had expected the preteen to shed any tears over getting rid of him at the end of the week.

"Good," Dean replied with a definite nod, "Don't tell him. It'll break his heart and he'll be whiny for the rest of the week."

The older Winchester knew that there was no use telling Sammy that they would have to give up their temporary home again even a moment before he absolutely had to know. His younger brother always reacted badly, getting all mopey and pouty and distancing himself from everyone and everything. Telling him the uncomfortable truth before it was strictly necessary only ever gave Sam more time to be a brat about it. His younger brother wasn't the kind of person who could simply enjoy things while they lasted, knowing there was a deadline to them, so Dean had no other choice but to keep Sam in the dark to make sure that he got the most out of the good things that – rarely – happened to them.

"He'll find out eventually," Gabriel pointed out, even though it suited him very well that the older Winchester didn't want him to speak to Sam about the inevitable end of their time together. Call him a coward, but the archangel really didn't fancy the thought of making the kid get all teary eyed on him. Hell, the thought of stopping Castiel from finding a cure and instead finding a way to make the spell permanent so he could keep the children had crossed Gabriel's mind before. He had kicked himself repeatedly and very hard only for thinking of something as absolutely stupid as that right afterward, of course.

"Yeah, but by then it's not your problem anymore," Dean shrugged, trying to look completely casual. No, he wasn't looking forward to his baby brother throwing a tantrum, but it would inevitably happen and when it did, the older Winchester knew how to pick up the pieces. It was always Dean who had to make sure that Sam was okay again, after all.

"I bow to your authority, in all things Sambo," Gabriel told the older Winchester, bowing slightly while he was at it. The archangel knew that any other reaction would have gotten him in troubles with the twelve year old and Gabriel really could do without that. It was hard enough to gain little bits of Dean's trust without getting into ultimately unnecessary arguments with him.

The older Winchester nodded contently, eyeing the waffles now that the conversation was over. He was a still growing near-teenager and needed all the sustenance he could get! That the waffles looked and smelled very good, did nothing to reduce his hunger either.

Dean knew that he could probably just ask the adult to give him one of the waffles, even if Sam hadn't shown his face yet, but where was the fun in that? Instead he leaned against the kitchen counter nonchalantly and went for easy conversation to distract Gabriel with. "So, you 'nd Cas are brothers then?"

The archangel raised his eyebrows at the sudden change of topic. He nodded with a smirk just a moment later, however. It was quite obvious that the kid was up to something and chances were pretty good, that that something was connected to the way he had been looking at the waffles. Gabriel was curious to see how exactly the older Winchester thought he'd be able to grab one of them from under his nose. Not that the archangel planned to keep the boy from taking what he wanted in the first place.

"Huh," Dean replied, acting like he really was surprised by what he had just heard, "I could've sworn you were Cas' bitch."

To tell the truth, the older Winchester hadn't thought for a second that Gabriel and Castiel were lovers. They didn't act like they were lovers at all and Dean was sure that Cas was out of the other guy's league, anyway. Them being friends or brothers, which they apparently really were, made a lot more sense, but voicing an assumption like that wouldn't have had the sort of effect on the adult that the older Winchester had wanted to achieve.

Even though Gabriel had been waiting for Dean to make his move, it still caught him by surprise when he did. Or rather, the archangel hadn't expected anything like what the kid had just thrown at him. The huffing and puffing that ensued was by no means an act, it apparently was exactly what the older Winchester had been waiting for, however.

Dean quickly grabbed a waffle from the plate, while Gabriel was too busy sputtering and trying to come up with something to say, and licked a thick stripe of saliva over it. Grinning contently, the older Winchester declared: "It's mine now!"

Dean was tempted to stick his tongue out at the adult for good measure, but he was much too mature to do that. Instead he just took his hard-earned waffle over to the table and plopped down on one of the comfortable chairs. The older Winchester made sure to take small bites of his prize, so he'd still have something to wave under Sammy's nose, as soon as his younger brother joined them in the kitchen.

"I'm telling you one thing, you brat," Gabriel stated, pointing his index finger at the boy, "If anything, Castiel would be my bitch!"

Dean could steal just about anything he wanted from the apartment and the archangel wouldn't really care. There was absolutely nothing around that he couldn't replace with a snap of his fingers. Gabriel also didn't care if Dean thought he might be gay – which was partly true, though he was much more omni-sexual, putting very few limits to his sexuality - but he wouldn't let the brat accuse him of being the submissive part in any kind of relationship he might have with Castiel.

"Whatever," Dean replied casually, smirking at the adult's indignant expression. After behaving like a little angel for their babysitter for nearly three whole days, it was about time that the older Winchester let him have a taste of what this could be like, if he chose to give Gabriel hell!

"I already got a waffle!" the twelve year old suddenly exclaimed braggingly, announcing the arrival of his younger brother with it.

"Good for you," Sam replied, trying to look like he didn't care at all. The way his eyes were drawn to Gabriel to confirm that there were still enough waffles left, gave away that he was a little jealous. The younger Winchester didn't have to wait for long until the archangel grabbed the rest of the waffles and the maple syrup and put them onto the table, however.

"I thought of something, I'd like to do," Sam announced, as soon as he had secured his own waffle supply. He ignored that Dean immediately rolled his eyes - no doubt expecting a suggestion about going to museums or something alike – and instead focused on the way Gabriel looked at him encouragingly. Seeing the adult look at him like that helped with the nervousness a bit.

"It's… it's nearly… and we never…" the younger Winchester stammered, suddenly a little insecure about saying what he wanted. The adult had never given him any reason to think that he couldn't just voice his preferences however, so he steeled himself and quickly explained: "It's nearly Halloween and we never go trick or treating and I'd like to do that."

All of a sudden, the archangel had the expectant eyes of both boys on him. There probably was a very good reason for why the Winchesters weren't into Halloween and trick or treating under normal circumstances, but as things were all that didn't count for them anymore. Gabriel was all too willing to give the little munchkin what he had just asked for, anyway.

"Alright guys, I guess we'll go shopping then."