Author's note: Thanks so much to CassXDeano, Maknatuna, Maddy Love Castiel, RachelPhobia, kb18142, CherylB1964, Kirabaros, PercyJfan1802, random yet loveable, Lewlou15, latest-blooming-sakura-blossom, Chichi-10018, eiahlaie, baileylovesyou0400, XxZessxX, keacdragon and Riceball-1989 for last chapter's reviews!
Special thanks to Treeni for beta-reading!
14
"Should've walked this time," Dean muttered, once more sitting in the passenger's seat of Gabriel's stupid, little, green VW Beetle. In fact, this time around the car was even more stupid in the older Winchester's eyes. It was bringing them to a museum of all places!
Honestly, Dean had started out not having an exactly high opinion of the adult, but the twelve year old liked Gabriel well enough and he had some trust in the man's ability to choose fun activities for them. Then of course the jerk had announced that they should go get their jackets, because they were going to the museum. Sammy, the big nerd, had been excited immediately, which had been the only thing that kept Dean from voicing his displeasure up to this point.
"You know, Dean-o, just because we're driving already, doesn't mean I can't pull over and let you have your way," Gabriel pointed out in an amused tone. The archangel was certain that the older Winchester had waited with his complaints until they were already on the way, so the adult wasn't so likely to cancel the trip altogether and thus, taking something from Sam that the eight year old clearly wanted. Of course, not complaining at all wasn't an option to the preteen.
"Yeah? Fine, do it! Then I will only get there when it's time to go home again!" Dean replied challengingly, crossing his arms in front of his chest. Actually, walking to the museum while Sam and Gabriel got their geek on looking at the exhibits was something the older Winchester would have been able to live with. Hell, he even might have preferred that to having to look at all the boring paintings and old vases or whatever else boring stuff they put into museums.
"Dean, please!" Sam begged from the backseat, bringing the puppy dog eyes on full force as soon as his older brother turned to look at him. The eight year old was very close to saying that they didn't have to go to a museum for him, if his brother so clearly didn't want to. At the same time, the younger Winchester really wanted to see what museum Gabriel was taking them to. He always looked forward to learning new things, no matter what the exhibition actually was about.
"Okay, Sammy," Dean sighed, giving his little brother a small smile. The older Winchester had seen how close Sam was to giving up on something he really liked for his sake and Dean couldn't let it get to that. He was the older brother and that meant that it was his job to care for his baby brother. If that meant Dean had to do without something or that he had to do something he didn't like, that was too bad, because it was his duty. However, the older Winchester still had to make sure that nobody thought of him as a big softie, so he turned back toward Gabriel and narrowed his eyes and said: "But you can't make me enjoy it!"
"Don't be so sure about that one, Dean-o," the archangel retorted, smirking as he continued to drive toward the museum. He had discovered it over a quick search for good things for kids to do. They had their plans for Saturday evening, but it was only Thursday afternoon, so they still had some time to fill with other awesome childhood experiences the boys had missed before. What Gabriel had found should fit the bill.
"Whatever," Dean huffed out with a humorless laugh. A museum was a museum and boring by definition. That was one of the reasons why the older Winchester was usually quite glad that their dad never liked them to go along on any field trips their current schools might be planning. Sometimes, they didn't get out of it and some of the trips weren't that bad, but the ones to museums always sucked monkey balls!
Gabriel was still grinning – grinning stupidly, in Dean's opinion – when he pulled into the parking lot. His grin didn't falter when he got out of the car and the boys followed suit. Actually, the archangel's grin got ever bigger, until Sam and Dean finally saw the signs announcing exactly what kind of museum he had brought them to.
The spy museum that was close enough for them to reach in good time by car was nowhere near as big as the one in Washington, but it still had all the awesome stuff. Judging by the way the boys' jaws had dropped, it would be a very good way for them to spend the afternoon.
"Agent Munchkin, Agent Bratty, let's go check this out!" Gabriel stated in an upbeat tone, ushering the kids toward the entrance.
"That's not funny!" Dean complained immediately after hearing his new nickname. The older Winchester had had some hopes that the adult would stick to only giving cutesy and stupid nicknames to Sammy, but no.
"Would you rather be Agent Sweety-Pie? That could be arranged," the archangel offered, looking at Dean like he honestly expected the preteen to give him an answer.
"Whatever," the older Winchester huffed predictably. Not more than a moment later the twelve year old was distracted by something he had read on a sign, so that he nearly forgot that he had just been annoyed, however.
"We can go on an actual mission every full hour!" Dean exclaimed excitedly. He checked his watch quickly and then added urgently, "It's nearly three! Hurry up!"
Gabriel laughed out loud at that. It looked like the older Winchester was eager to get the museum experience started, already. If someone had told the preteen so just a couple minutes ago, he'd not have believed it. The archangel took pity on the impatient Weechester and quickened his pace a little. Keeping Dean happy was one of the key ingredients to make sure that they all had an enjoyable day, after all.
When Gabriel tried to purchase their tickets a problem he hadn't anticipated came up, however. Not that it had to be much of a problem at all, since the archangel could be very persuasive, if he wanted to be. A friendly human cashier telling him that kids joining the mission had to be at least twelve years old, wouldn't stand much of a chance to actually keep Sam out of the group, if Gabriel put his mind to it.
"It's okay, I'd rather look at the exhibition with you," the younger Winchester said decisively, before the archangel could work his charm and grace on the woman. The adult took a moment to try and determine if the kid was telling the God honest truth, but when Sam grabbed his hand and smiled one of his dimpled smiles, Gabriel shrugged and bought two regular tickets for them.
"Meet you back here in an hour, Dean-o," the archangel told the twelve year old, handing Dean's special mission ticket over to him. It was actually quite cute how enthusiastically the older Winchester ran off toward the meeting point. However, Gabriel wouldn't have been able to hold back on just one more comment, if he had wanted to. "Do your country proud, Agent Bratty!"
Dean only stopped for a moment to throw a glare back at the adult. Apparently, Gabriel had taken enough care not to speak loud enough for the rest of the already assembled group to hear over their own chattering, which was a blessing to the twelve year old. The older Winchester still made a mental note to give his younger brother a noogie for snickering later.
"You sure you don't want to go with him? I'm pretty sure I can still get you in there," the archangel offered one last time. Gabriel was nearly convinced that Sam hadn't only said that he would rather go look at the normal exhibition with the adult not to cause any troubles, but it wouldn't hurt to make sure. The Winchesters were famous for being self-sacrificing idiots, after all. The archangel could at least make sure that eight year old Sammy wouldn't get away with that kind of behavior, even if it only was about an activity for children and not the lives of a bunch of people.
"No, 's okay. It's much more Dean's thing," Sam shrugged, tugging on Gabriel's hand to get him to move toward the show room. The eagerness the boy displayed with that simple gesture was everything the adult needed to be completely convinced that not getting to go with Dean really was a non-issue.
"And learning stuff, doing research and hanging out with old farts like me, is much more your thing?" the archangel asked with a grin, letting the kid drag him toward the first few exhibits he wanted to look at. Actually, the first two things Gabriel had listed probably applied to Sam in his adult form, too. If the last point did as well, that would have been quite the surprise.
"You're not that old," Sam replied, his ears immediately turning bright red, indicating that he hadn't actually meant to say that out loud. Because of reasons the younger Winchester didn't understand himself, he always got embarrassed when he thought or spoke about how much he liked Gabriel.
The archangel chuckled and ruffled the kid's hair affectionately. He didn't voice just how adorable he thought Sam was, because that wouldn't have done a thing to help Sam's ears to return to their normal color. In fact, there was something Gabriel had meant to show to the younger Winchester, anyway. It was the perfect moment to do so too, with Dean undoubtedly being away and busy for a while. It should help to distract the eight year old from his current train of thoughts, too.
"Hey, Munchkin, while your brother is gone, I've got something for you," the archangel spoke in a conspiratorial whisper, taking a small bottle out of the inside pocket of his jacket. Sam might have forgotten about Gabriel's promise to help him come up with a prank, but the trickster never forgot about something as important as a prank! He might have had a lot of other things on his mind recently, but his plans were postponed not abandoned.
"Cool!" the younger Winchester grinned from ear to ear as soon as he realized what the adult had just given to him. The bottle looked inconspicuous enough, but upon closer inspection it turned out to be hair dye. Not the kind that women bought at drug stores, but the kind that was sold at joke shops. "It'll wash out again, right?"
Sam wanted to get his brother back for the clown mask incident, but he didn't want to humiliate him, especially when they were going to go out for Halloween! The younger Winchester just had to make sure that his older brother wouldn't suffer because of the prank before he could put hair dye into Dean's shampoo bottle.
"Sure, Dean-o will only have to run around with pink hair for a few days, or he'll have to take a very long shower with lots of hair washing," Gabriel answered, winking at Sam. Having to spend an hour or two with pink hair would be bad enough for Dean, there was absolutely no need to make it last any longer. Sam wanted justice and not cruelty, after all.
The younger Winchester nodded, satisfied. He put the bottle into the pocket of his own jacket, vowing to use it that evening. That way Dean would have nearly two days to get rid of the color again before Halloween.
The regular part of the exhibition was interesting and well presented. It captured the attention of the eight year old so much, that the hour the older Winchester was gone seemed to fly by. It looked like the little mission the other children had been on had left quite the impression with Dean, because he had no complaints about going back and looking at the entire exhibition when Sam suggested so, because he hadn't had the time to look at everything yet anyway.
"Looks like I didn't even have to force you to have fun, Dean-o," Gabriel stated with a smirk when they were on the way back to the car some time later.
"Whatever," Dean snorted. He didn't even try to pretend that he wasn't just as happy with his 'Spy Science Secrete Message Kit' as Sam was with his book on the history of espionage, though.
The younger Winchester had made sure he got the first shower that evening. Replacing some of the content of the shampoo bottle he knew Dean used with the hair dye hadn't been a problem. After Sam had spent enough time in the bathroom to make it look like he had done his usual daily routine, he just went to the living room to wait.
Gabriel grinned when the younger Winchester looked over to him yet again, looking expectant, but also a little nervous. The archangel couldn't help thinking that Sam wasn't exactly a born trickster, he had too much of a conscience for that, but he had some potential. Not that the kid would ever get the chance to live up to his potential, not only in regards to his trickster potential, either.
"Sam!" Dean yelled from the bathroom, successfully pulling Gabriel out of his thoughts, too. Not that the older Winchester would know that or care when his hair had just been dyed bright pink, his skin taking on a pink tinge from the dye, too.
The archangel didn't make it a habit to take pictures of half-naked preteens, but Gabriel just couldn't let the opportunity to have lasting evidence of this pass. The older Winchester was too focused on glaring at his laughing little brother to notice the mobile phone, until an audible click announced that a picture had been taken.
It didn't take longer than a second for Dean to turn around on his heels and storm back into the bathroom.
"Hey Sambo," Gabriel suddenly said, snapping another picture when the eight year old turned to look at him. The archangel had only just realized that he hadn't taken any photos of the children in the past days and while having keepsakes of their time together would turn hurtful very soon, not having any wouldn't be much better.
"I wasn't ready!" Sam complained half-heartedly.
"Okay, try to look cute," Gabriel chuckled, getting ready to snap another picture. The younger Winchester frowned, looking like he wasn't quite sure what the adult wanted from him for a moment. "Just act like you normally do, is what I meant."
A moment later the archangel had a picture of a red-eared Sam to add to his picture of a bright pink Dean.