Author's Note: First of all, I just want to apologise for how long it's taken me to update this. It's because I've had so many assignments to do for Uni and they've been steadily piling up so right now I'm pulling all-nighters pretty much every day x_x

But I really wanted to get this finished, 'cos I hate not finishing stuff and feeling like I was letting you guys down :(

Anyways, thanks to everyone who has stuck with this, and all the lovely reviews I've had on this story :) I love you all like Dean loves pie ^^

For a moment everything was utterly still and silent in the motel room as the furling smoke from the bowl dissipated slowly into nothingness. Then there was a burst of light from the centre of the ceiling, so bright that Bobby had to shield his eyes and grimace. Almost immediately afterwards, the still air rang with several yells of surprise as four shapes emerged from the light, tumbling to the ground and landing in an unceremonious heap of bodies piled on the floor. Almost at once, a torrent of noise broke out from amidst the jumble.

"Ow! Get your foot out of my back, Sasquatch!"

"Hey, that's not me! How can it be when I'm on you?!"

"Sammy?! Is that you? I mean, is it actually you?"

"Dean?"

"Dean, I would appreciate it if you could get off me."

"Deano's lying on Cassie? That had better be your foot, Winchester."

"Shut up, Gabriel!"

"Ah, I've missed the cacophony and chaos that usually accompanies the Winchester boys everywhere they go." Crowley murmured silkily from his place near the table, glancing sideways at Bobby. "The silence has been rather unnatural, hasn't it, darling?"

"Zip it, hell-spawn." Bobby replied automatically, not taking his eyes off the group currently trying to entangle themselves from one another, feeling lighter than he had in days. "You boys okay?"

Sam nodded jerkily but Dean twitched as if suddenly remembering something, and spun around to stare at Castiel who had just gotten to his feet. Without a word of explanation, he yanked the trench coat apart and studied the angel's stomach. His shirt was as pristine white as it had always been, not so much as a smudge of dirt on him. Dean breathed out heavily, that tightened feeling in his chest finally melting away. Sam watched the bizarre display with a docked eyebrow, and then tried to slide his scrutiny over to Bobby, but Gabriel had chosen to position himself between the two. The moment their gazes locked, something jolted horribly in the pit of Sam's stomach, and he dropped his eyes instantly.

As Gabriel's eyebrows furrowed and he too dropped his gaze to the floor, Crowley let out a low whistle. "Well, this is dramatic."

At those words, Dean's cheeks glowed and he straightened up, determinedly looking anywhere but at Castiel. Gabriel's eyes darted back to Sam's downturned face, eyebrows still furrowed and teeth locked onto his bottom lip. Castiel's attention, as always, was fixed solely on Dean, something warm flickering in the depths of his eyes. Sam clenched his fists and locked his jaw tightly, resolutely staring at the ground as though it had personally insulted him.

Bobby glanced between the four of them, one eyebrow docked, before his eyes slid to the book where it sat on the table. He and Crowley had been so preoccupied in gathering the ingredients for the extraction spell that its latest instalments had been completely forgotten about. Clearly, they'd missed some big developments. Dean followed his gaze and seemed to jump on the change in subject in the same way a drowning man would cling to a float.

"What the hell is that?"

Bobby took the badly-disguised hint and crossed the room to scoop it up. "We found it in that house after you boys disappeared. It's -" But whatever Bobby had been about to say was drowned out.

"It would have worked, ya know, Sammy." Gabriel suddenly blurted out. The room fell deadly quiet, the only movement coming from Dean and Bobby who were glancing between him and Sam.

Sam scoffed derisively and didn't look up, only crossed his arms over his chest. "Yeah, I know it would have." He replied coldly. "If it were up to me, that is." He didn't need to be reminded of this. Why couldn't Gabriel have just snapped himself off to Heaven or something, Hell, do anything but linger in this cramped motel room reminding Sam of just how badly everything was screwed up now?
"It would have taken the both of us for it to work, Kiddo. And I'm telling you, it would have." Gabriel replied calmly.

The hunter did look up at that, his expression an adorable mixture of confused and shocked to stare across at the archangel. Gabriel was now visibly relaxing his posture, his hands slung into the pockets of the same jacket he'd been wearing that night they'd been sucked into the angel's trap, his usual easy, lopsided grin on his face. Feeling warmth flood back into his bones once more, Sam crossed the room in three huge steps and pulled the archangel into a searing kiss. Gabriel practically jumped into his arms and Sam held him close, laughing against his mouth.

Castiel watched the display with a slight tilt of his head while Dean turned away, muttering "Oh, gross," under his breath. Bobby felt the book leave his arms just as Sam and Gabriel broke apart and turned to see Crowley standing just beside him, thumbing through the last chapters. At first he didn't think anything of it. But then the demon's smile turned downright evil and his sharp eyes zeroed in on Dean.

"While we're on the subject of big revelations," Crowley began in the tone of someone carrying a bombshell, slowly advancing on Dean, the open book clamped in his hands, "I can't help but wonder what you were about to say to Feathers over there before we interrupted."

"What? You've been reading what's happened to us?" Sam asked, all of his attention now fixed on the book Dean was frantically tugging out of Crowley's hands and snapping shut.

"I wasn't saying anything." He snapped defensively, ignoring Sam.

Crowley smirked. "Yeah, you're hiding it well."

"Bite me!" He snarled in response.

"I think I'll leave that to Beast Boy over there."

Dean opened his mouth to retort but all that left it was a strangled yell as Gabriel suddenly appeared right in front of him and slid the book from his fingers. He then danced annoyingly out of reach of Dean's furious swipes, flicking through page after page until he discovered just what he was looking for. And before anyone could stop him, he vanished and reappeared on the other side of the room entirely, his expression a mirror image of Crowley's. "Oh, this is very interesting, Deano."

"Don't you dare, Gabriel!" Dean yelled furiously, face so red steam was practically billowing from his ears, shoving his way across the room. He instantly wished he'd chosen better words, because Gabriel's only response was to widen his smug, shit-eating grin and raise an eyebrow in challenge.

And then, to Dean's utter horror, Gabriel cleared his throat and began to read in a ridiculous deep-throated imitation of his voice.

"'Come on you son of a bitch, heal yourself! Come on! You can't die Cas, dammit! Come on Cas, I –'Sounds juicy, Deano. I'd like to know what it is you were about to say to my baby bro."

"As would I, Dean."

Dean whirled around to face Castiel who was looking at him with those bluer than blue eyes and that stupid stare of his that left Dean feeling as though he were being x-rayed. Castiel who had died for him before, who had nearly died before him again. Castiel who had rebelled against Heaven and everything he'd believed for him. Castiel who had subjected himself to insanity for him. Castiel who returned to be at his side no matter what the hardship, regardless of the risk. And Dean's unspoken words, which to him were meant the same as a certain other three-word phrase, sat like cement in his mouth, weighing him down, longing to burst free.

I need you.

But Dean Winchester didn't do chick flick moments. Especially when they were taking place against his will. So he squared his jaw and, turning away from Castiel, gave Gabriel and Crowley the best glares he could manage and snapped, "I was just going to tell him that after all the crap I had to put up with in that place, he owed me big time, especially as it was kind of his fault we were in that shit in the first place."

Gabriel stared at him hard for a few moments as the smile slipped from his face and he slammed the book onto the table as he turned to Sam. "I cannot believe he just said that. I'm hallucinating, right? Tell me I just imagined him being that much of an idiotic jackass!" He paused, then, "What am I saying? This is Dean Winchester; of course he said something that mind-bogglingly moronic!" He spun back to face Dean, his eyes blazing with fury, sparks practically flying from his gaze. "You're kidding, right?!" He spat, looking at the hunter for an explanation.

"Dean, what were you going to say? The truth this time." Sam stepped out from behind Gabriel and fixed his brother with his I'm-taking-none-of-your-bullshit-so-spit-it-out-now expression.

But Dean couldn't, especially not with everyone there, watching him. So he responded with his usual, knee-jerk reaction. He folded his arms over his chest, breathed in deeply and glared at the downright hostile expression on Gabriel's face. He couldn't look at Sam. "That was the truth. It's not my fault that you don't like my answer, is it?"

"It's not how we feel that matters, Winchester." Gabriel snarled in a glacial tone.

Dean knew it was a mistake, but he couldn't help but turn. He immediately wished he hadn't. Castiel was watching him just as before, except he looked utterly crestfallen. As soon as Dean caught his eye though, he abruptly tried to change it, but Dean had already seen. And besides, he knew from personal experience that his true emotions were hidden in the angel's eyes, and Castiel's looked downright dejected.

He opened his mouth to say something, anything, but Castiel wasn't hanging around to hear it. Without a word he vanished, leaving Dean staring at thin air and nothing but that returning crushing feeling in his chest for company.

With a resigned sigh, Dean turned back and started. Even Crowley was looking at him in a disapproving way, frowning and rolling his eyes. Gabriel looked thunderous, and with one final chilling glare at Dean that, if looks could kill, would have left him encased in concrete at the very bottom pit of Hell, also disappeared. Presumably to start looking for wherever Castiel had gone. Sam just stood in the same spot for a moment, shaking his head and looking so damn disappointed, Dean couldn't stop the guilt crashing down on him in waves. And then he and Crowley were walking away without saying a word. Bobby, like Sam, looked let down rather than angry, but Dean would have much preferred it if they'd both shouted at him like Gabriel had done. Anything was better than this.

"You're an idjit, Dean." Bobby finally said quietly, before he too walked away, leaving the hunter feeling the lowest of the low.

Gabriel reappeared three hours later right beside Sam where he sat at Bobby's motel room table, a grave expression on his face. Bobby looked up from his place in the kitchenette at the noise. Dean hadn't left his own room since they had left him standing there, and Crowley had long since grown bored and disappeared. Sam, who had half expected to see Castiel being dragged along in Gabriel's wake, was taken aback.

"Where is he, Gabe? You found him, right?"

"Yeah, eventually." The archangel replied coldly. "Didn't make it easy for me, either. Kid's picked up a few of my tricks." And despite the ice in his tone, there was a hint of pride at that.

Sam breathed an almost silent sigh of relief. "So he's with Dean now?"

Gabriel's entire expression hardened. "Nope. He refused to come back with me." He bit into the chocolate bar that had just materialised in his hand and spoke around the mouthful. "Give him time. He'll come crawling back to Dean and I'll make good on my promise of locking them up. But don't tell your brother. I want him to stew in his own guilt for as long as possible."