Sam jerked awake the next morning when something hit him hard in the centre of his forehead.

Hunter senses kicking in at once, he sat bolt upright in a flash, hand already flying to Ruby's knife which was hidden beneath his pillow. His movement dislodged the offending object though, and when he saw it he felt an irritated sigh escape his lips as it rolled into his lap, held aloft by the blankets bunching around his legs. It was a small scrap of paper, scrunched into a tiny ball. Sliding the knife back into place, he carefully unravelled the paper, only to find a single word scrawled onto it in a thick black pen.

'PEEKABOO! :)'.

"My sides are aching, Gabriel." He said dryly, rolling the paper up again and aiming in the rough direction of the bin.

The archangel appeared a moment later at the foot of his bed without the flap of wings, indicating he had already been standing there, invisible. Sam couldn't help but inwardly groan at this; had he been sleeping in an embarrassing position? Had he been making noises? It would be just his rotten luck that the archangel would observe him sleeping just when he was engrossed in a vivid dream and curled in the most ridiculous position, wouldn't it?

Gabriel's crooked grin curled his mouth, and his eyes were dancing with mischief, but he made no comments to indicate Sam had been caught in a humiliating situation. Yet. "Pretty bad case of bedhead you got there, Sammy."

Sam scowled, ignoring the clenching of his stomach at the archangel's words. At that moment, Gabriel chose to become engrossed in pulling a new stick of bubble gum from his pocket, so Sam tried desperately to make his hair lie flat without making it obvious as to what he was doing. The moment the archangel's eyes darted back up he dropped his hands and tried to ignore the chewing movement Gabriel's jaw was now making.

"And just why did you throw that at me?" He asked instead, nodding towards the paper several feet from the bin.

Gabriel shrugged, grinning that blinding grin of his that made Sam's insides squirm, and blew a bubble. "Target practice? Your head's big enough, Gigantor."

"Thanks a ton, Gabe."

The nickname rolled off his tongue easily. He'd been mentally referring to Gabriel as that for a long time whenever the subject of the archangel cropped up in conversation with Dean, Bobby or Castiel, but he'd never said it aloud. One day, it had just accidentally slipped out when talking to Gabriel himself, but he'd just laughed and referred to Sam as 'Sammykins' for at least a week. Sam couldn't help but notice that nobody else called Gabriel that though; like it was a name only he could use. And he liked it; it kind of brought them closer.

"I'm kidding. Cassie told me to wake you up."

"You know, just nudging me or shouting my name would work."

Gabriel's expression turned scandalised, like Sam had suggested he sawed his own wings off. "But where's the fun in that?"

"It's more fun than having something launched at your face. Or thinking your bed's about to blow up."

The grin slid back into place after another green bubble burst. "Oh come on, that was funny."

"We have a very different opinion on what's funny, Gabe." Sam shook his head. "You don't have to deal with Dean after you pull those stunts. I do."

Gabriel rolled his eyes. "Deano takes all of this way too seriously."

Sam shot the archangel a look; one Dean had mockingly labelled his 'Are-you-freaking-kidding-me-right-now' bitchface. "Gabriel, you set fire to his bed."

"Not intentionally!"

Sam shook his head, knowing that there was no point in continuing this conversation. Gabriel would never back down and admit he took things to beyond the extreme, and Dean was too stubborn to tell Gabriel to tone it down himself. That would be like admitting he wasn't strong enough to handle Gabriel's stunts, or some stupid macho crap like that. And speaking of Dean..

"Where is he?" Sam asked, suddenly catching sight of his brother's empty bed.

"He and Cassie left about an hour ago." Gabriel replied, collapsing at the foot of Sam's bed and on top of his legs. And Sam tried to ignore the comfortable warm weight of the archangel, he really did, but it was a miserable failure.

"An hour ago?" He echoed, by some miracle managing to keep his mind blissfully blank. "Why?"

"One of the girls who vanished came back late last night." Gabriel said and with a snap of his fingers, he held one of the missing persons reports in his hand. "Lea Osmond is officially home safe and sound. Deano and Cassie went off early to interview her."

"They didn't take you with them?" Sam asked as he took the document from Gabriel, refusing to acknowledge the way he accidentally-on-purpose brushed his fingers against the archangel's.

"Hey, someone's gotta be here to watch over you, Sleeping Beauty." Gabriel cackled with a wink.

Sam ignored the traitorous heat rising in his cheeks and distracted himself by studying the report they'd copied from Bobby. Lea's mother had reported her missing after a family fight, and she'd been gone for three days. And now, just as suddenly, she was back. That was as far as he got with his reading – he was interrupted by a particularly loud pop, followed by a groan from Gabriel.

"Oh, great. I hate it when this happens."

Sam glanced up from the top of the paper, and instantly wished he hadn't. Gabriel had obviously blown too big of a bubble with his gum and it had exploded, coating his lips and chin with the green sticky substance. The archangel began to pick the bigger pieces from his face, while sweeping any remnants on his lips with his tongue, apparently unaware that he had an audience.

Sam instinctively licked his own lips as he watched the motions of the archangel's tongue, before tearing his eyes away to try and bully his brain back into focusing on the case. He wished Dean and Castiel would get back soon; he didn't know how much longer he could keep his mind free from wandering. Especially if Gabriel was going to stay spread out across his legs, licking traces of gum from around his mouth.

Dean was beginning to regret his decision to leave Sam sleeping in their room and teaming up with Castiel instead.

For one, at least Sam knew how to talk to the witnesses in ways that didn't make them feel like stepped into some bizarre television show. But Castiel's completely stoic facial expression, no-nonsense gravelly tone and lack of knowledge of any human protocol made for some seriously awkward situations. The man who'd discovered Lea walking the streets wouldn't soon forget the FBI agent with the blue eyes who'd informed him the girl had been swept away by an angel. That had taken some serious ad-libbing on Dean's part.

For another, Sam knew where certain lines were and when they absolutely should not be crossed. Not Castiel. He flat out suggested he should pick Lea up and Angel Air her to a more private place in order for them to ask the questions they needed answering. He then got that horrible kicked puppy look and didn't understand when Dean argued so violently against the idea.

"If it was angels that took her, she's not exactly gonna jump at the chance of speaking to more of them!" He'd snapped in exasperation at the time. Castiel had just frowned at him, but thankfully dropped the matter.

On the bright side, at least the angel knew which way round the badge was meant to be shown now. And although that was a step in the right direction, the events of that morning proved that Castiel wasn't yet ready to handle an interrogation without specific instructions. So, as Dean pulled the Impala to a stop just down the street from Lea's house, he turned to the angel before exiting the car.

"Okay, Cas, ground rules." He said and the angel turned to stare intently at him. "No mentioning angels, demons, anything supernatural. Kid's been through a lot, and that'll just make her worse. Just let me do the talking, okay? You just sit there and look pretty."

He caught Castiel's half-hearted bitchface out of the corner of his eye as he got out of the Impala. It looked to Dean as if Castiel was aware he was being mocked for something but he was unsure as to what, so he'd scowl at it anyway. And that didn't amuse Dean, not in the slightest.

They'd managed to time their arrival at the house phenomenally well; Lea's parents were being interviewed by a local journalist, and so the conversation between the 'FBI agents' and their daughter would be completely solitary. The first thing Dean noticed when he took a seat at the table opposite Lea and next to Castiel was how remarkably calm she was. It was as if the last two days had never happened to her. She sat slouched in her chair, smiling widely at the two of them in turn, and waiting for one to speak. Her dark hair was pulled back into a messy ponytail, and her brown eyes portrayed no hidden negative emotion.

"So, Lea," Dean began, clearing his throat. "What do you remember of the past three days?"

"Like I told the police when they came by earlier, not a lot." Lea replied with a gentle shrug. Her voice was remained completely level and at ease; almost too calm for a girl in her situation. It was starting to freak Dean out a bit. "Bits and pieces, really."

"What do you remember? Anything could help us at this point, and we need you to think. It could help us to find the other missing people."

Her smile only broadened. "You won't find them where I was."

Well that certainly caught Dean's attention. "What do you mean?"

"Nobody goes to the same place, obviously." She said, her tone suggesting that this was basic knowledge Dean should already have. "I mean, you won't learn much if you're living someone else's story, will you?"

The hunter shook himself, trying not to let his confusion show on his face. "Let's, uh, get back on track. Your mother said in her report you'd stormed out after a family fight. Want to elaborate?"

"It was with my dad." She said, her tone now a little quieter. "He's been really sick recently, and it's only been getting worse. But he was still going on about how he'd go to war if he had to, going off on one of these macho-bullshit rants he has every week or so. And then he told me it's an honour to serve your country in a time of war. I told him he was wrong, and left."

"Your father is correct." Castiel didn't seem to be able to stop himself. Dean shut him up as he opened his mouth again with a venomous glare, and the angel instantly fell silent once more. But Lea was nodding, smiling.

"I get that now. But I was so angry that he'd even consider doing that, I just had to get some space. It started raining, but I didn't want to go home that soon. So I found the house, and went in."

"What was it like?"

"What, the house? It felt like walking into the middle of a thunderstorm, if you want the truth. And it seemed like the door hadn't been opened in forever. The air was so thick, it was almost suffocating."

"And what was inside?" Dean asked.

She shrugged and shook her head. "A whole lot of nothing."

Dean waited for her to press on, but when she remained silent, he cleared his throat again. "Do you remember anything past that?"

"Not a thing, sorry." Lea replied, grinning once again. "But I learned a lesson, and I get what my dad meant now. But I can't let him go, he'd never survive." Then, puffing out her chest with pride, she said, "I'm joining up."

And Dean honestly didn't have a response to that, so they thanked her and left.

"So you think she was lying?"

Not an hour later and all four of them were sat in a diner, talking through Dean and Castiel's interview with Lea. Sam was picking his way through a salad while Dean took a huge bite out of his burger. Another, the exact replica of Dean's meal, sat in front of Castiel but he had yet to touch it. Gabriel was making his way through a caramel covered sundae, fighting with the spoon to get to the awkward-to-reach points of the glass.

Dean shrugged, swallowing his mouthful. "I think so. Just this feeling I got from her. I think she remembers more than she was letting on."

"What makes you so sure of that, Deano?" Gabriel asked, now tipping the glass upside down to catch the last remains of his dessert. "And Cassie, hate to go all traditional big bro on you, but hurry up and eat that would you?"
"I am an angel, Gabriel. I have no need for sustenance." He then looked at the archangel pointedly and added, "And nor do you."

Gabriel only grinned. "I know. But they're damn good. So come on, Deano. Why's your sixth sense going off?"

Dean rolled his eyes. "She said she learnt a lesson from this whole thing, right? Well, she couldn't really have learnt anything if she can't remember it, could she?"

Sam was nodding. "It makes sense. But why wouldn't she tell us the truth?"

"Maybe she thinks we'd think she was crazy." Dean suggested with a shrug. "And hey, it's a little weird what she's doing."

"Joining the army so her dad doesn't? Yeah Dean, it's buckets of crazy." Sam shot back, deadpan.

"Humans," Gabriel muttered, pretending to wipe a tear from his eye. "You gotta love 'em."

"I do not find that her wishes vary that far from our own choices." Castiel said, eyes fixed on the tabletop. "She desires to fight to protect her father. I feel that is a plight we are all able to relate to."

"Aaaand trust Cassie to turn this fifty times more serious." Gabriel muttered with a sigh, pushing his empty sundae glass away before turning to Sam. "Hey, Sammy, can you order me another one? I'll be back in a sec."

"Sure." Sam said, knowing how pointless it was to try and get Gabriel to stop calling him by that nickname. "Where are you going?"

"Gonna do a quick check upstairs to see if anybody took an earthly nosedive last night. Couldn't have pulled the girl back from wherever they'd taken her otherwise."

"Okay. Are you gonna go outside to -" The rest of Sam's sentence died in his throat as Gabriel promptly vanished from the seat next to him. "- I guess not." With a sigh, he too slid out of the booth. "You guys want anything?"

"Pie. Love me some pie." Dean replied without missing a beat, grinning at Sam when he rolled his eyes and left.

He returned a few minutes later, one hand holding a plate with a slice of cherry pie and the other a second sundae glass. Castiel watched as Sam slid the glass onto the table in front of his original seat before sliding across to the one that Gabriel had previously been sat in. Out of the corner of his eye Castiel saw Dean's mouth curl into a malevolent grin as he spotted the glass in front of him.

"I phoned Bobby." Sam explained as he handed Dean his pie and evidently didn't spot the downright evil look on his brother's face. "Told him what Lea said and how you guys think she's lying, but we're no closer to figuring out - Dean, what are you doing?"

Because as he was speaking, Dean was reaching across the table towards Gabriel's sundae. Dean completely ignored his brother's question, instead choosing to mutter choice phrases like, 'Teach him to screw with me,' and 'This is gonna be awesome,' under his breath. And then, before Sam could stop him, Dean grabbed the salt shaker and tipped a great quantity of it over Gabriel's dessert. Still grinning, he slid the glass back across the table before catching sight of Sam's number ten bitchface; the 'Dean-you're-a-fucking-moron' one.

"Why?" Was all he said as he folded his arms over his chest and scowled.

Dean shrugged, still grinning. "Fire crackers, Sammy. He used fire crackers."

Before Sam could form a response, they heard footsteps approaching their table and a moment later Gabriel reappeared. Luckily, it seemed he had had the good sense to zap himself someplace away from the prying eyes of humanity this time, and then walked back to the diner. His eyes lit up with a happy gleam when he spotted the new sundae awaiting him, and slid into the seat Sam had left for him. Dean spotted his brother eyeing the glass warily and opening his mouth, so he gave him a sharp kick to the shin. Sam shot him another bitchface, but Dean ignored it.

"So, did you find anyone who could be our guy?" He asked, trying not to sound or look too suspicious.

Gabriel shook his head, picking up his spoon. "Everyone's present and accounted for. Literally everyone. Believe me, I checked. Couldn't have been anyone up there." He sounded uncharacteristically serious as he spoke.

"So what? We off the angel theory?" Sam asked, still glaring daggers at Dean.

"No, I think that's the best one we've got right now." Gabriel replied and Dean tried desperately not to look too happy when the archangel stuck the spoon into his ice cream. "Just means Cassie and I have to find someone who's wandering around down here that shouldn't be."

"Sounds like a fun job." Sam muttered and Gabriel grimaced at him.

"Oh yeah, it's a riot. Best way to spend your Friday night. I literally can't imagine anything more entertaining." The archangel said, utterly deadpan.

Castiel gave his brother his usual head tilt and opened his mouth to speak – but he never got the chance. Because at that very moment, Gabriel decided to start eating. The moment the ruined food touched his tongue, his entire face screwed up in disgust and he spluttered, even going as far as to wipe his tongue on the back of his sleeve. Across from him, Dean burst out laughing and picked up the salt shaker to jiggle it in front of the archangel's face.

"And now we're even." He said with a smug air to his tone.

Gabriel scowled, his eyes flashing dangerously as he glared at the hunter. "You're gonna live to regret that, Deano. There's a lot of things you don't sink to in a prank war, and messing with my sugar intake is one of them."

"Yeah, because you're the shining example of keeping things above the belt." Dean shot back, and Sam couldn't help but admit his brother had a point.

Gabriel just shrugged, and an evil grin to match Dean's began to ink its way onto his face. "If you think you had it bad before, Deano, then just you wait. Things are about to get fun."

Sam caught Castiel's eye and knew he was thinking exactly the same thing; Dick wouldn't have to worry about killing Dean and Gabriel because if this constant war went on any longer, their brothers would happily do it for him.