Disclaimer: Don't own supernatural.

Warning: Contains M/M slash and male pregnancy.

Chapter Twelve

"Adam, hey. Hey." Dean quickly went over to help him up.

Adam stared in disbelief.

"You came for me. "

"Yeah, well, you're family. " Dean quickly reminded him and Adam was reassured it was only because of that that he had come, certainly not because of a certain vessel problem but he couldn't stop himself from the one problem that was there in the air between them.

"Dean you know this is a trap, right?"

Dean frowned but didn't look surprised.

"I actually figured it would be."

The figure stepped out and announced himself by saying, "Dean, please. Did you really think it would be that easy?"

"Did you?" Dean retorted.

Sam tried to sneak behind Zachariah with an angel killing sword in his hands. Zachariah instantly had Sam thrown backwards against a screen and scowled when he noticed that the younger Winchester looked fat. It obviously wasn't the weight gain issue he had been worried about but what he was seeing beneath everything. Dean shouted for his brother worried that one or both of them would be in danger and Zachariah just smirked.

"You need to know what I've learned from this experience Dean. I've learnt patience." With a wave of his hand, Adam fell to the floor coughing up blood.

"Let him go you son of a bitch!" Dean wasn't one to stand around and do nothing but Adam was injured in some way and if he pissed him off more, he was afraid of what he would do.

"I really thought I was going to lose my job for sure. I was really angry with you Winchesters but I should have trusted in the boss man. I mean it's all playing out like he said…..It's you, me, and your hemorrhaging brothers. Perhaps the baby will be lost as well and we can play out destiny, what do you think?"

Sam looked surprised as he started coughing up blood just like Adam was doing and groaned. Zachariah looked over in mock arrogance, waiting for Dean to admit defeat.

"Are you finally ready or are you going to keep fighting. Just so you know, you won't win."

Dean didn't want to but what could he have done? His brothers were losing blood and Sammy's baby was in danger. It did seem like a solution to the pregnancy problem but he couldn't guarantee now that it would save Sam now. He already had too much grace stored up inside him and if the baby died what would that leave if Sam did too? Nothing that was what. He couldn't go there.

"This is your only choice now. Choose it or you know what will happen. Everything you've fought to stop will come to pass."

"Stop!" Dean shouted.

"Really and what will that get you now?" Zachariah asked cheekily.

"I'll do it Zachariah, damn it please stop! I'll do it," Dean finally said.

Zachariah put a hand to his ear and Dean grit his teeth saying, "Okay yes. Yes is the answer. Isn't that what you wanted you bastard?"

"Dean!" Sam shouted.

"Go ahead and call Michael down here," Dean continued ignoring Sam.

"What if you're lying," Zachariah replied rather skeptically.

Dean silently reassured him that he wasn't and Zachariah smiled, turning to call Michael down. Finally the small moment would come. He missed Dean winking at Sam to reassure him that everything would be fine. He really wasn't, he couldn't. Not with this being something that would make him miss the last few months he could with Sam and Sam wasn't going to lose the baby. Not now and not ever.

"He can't have me though, not yet," Dean continued hoping that everything would go right like he had planned. At Zachariah's questioning look, he said, "I want a few people guaranteed to be okay."

"If you make a list it would be made possible. Of course it would happen."

"Also, Michael can't have me until he kills you."

Zachariah glared at him and Dean went on, "He can't have a piece of me until he burns you into a piece of charcoal."

"Michael won't ever do that," Zachariah warned him with a scowl.

"He won't," Dean agreed. "But I will."

Dean stabbed Zachariah through the throat with the angel killing sword. Dean fell back as white light beamed throughout the room announcing the coming of Michael. Dean instantly went over to Adam and after being assured that he would walk, helped him up and then ran over to Sam. He quickly pulled his arm over his shoulder and helped him out with Adam not too far behind. He didn't realize when it was that Adam stopped being a couple of steps behind him but once he deposited Sam went over and tried to get to Adam.

It was too late.

"I think that it's wrong that he took Adam. It shouldn't have been him," Dean said into the quiet vehicle.

Sam nodded in agreement.

"I know. It's not like we could even find where he is at right now and we tried to prevent that. I just hope that Cas is okay," Sam added, rubbing his stomach soothingly in small circles. The baby seemed to have no damage to speak of since the bleeding was minimal. He just hoped there weren't any complications. The baby kicked as though to reinforce that he was indeed okay and Sam let out a tiny smile.

Dean smiled a little bit at the sight and sighed.

"Yeah, I get that. Cas is gonna be okay and even though Adam has been captured it does not mean that it will be forever," Dean said in which he hoped was optimism. Sam hummed in agreement, hesitating before turning the radio on. Dean raised an eyebrow and Sam just shrugged.

"The baby calms down when that is playing."

Dean just smirked and Sam just rolled his eyes.

"Dude it's ACDC and you don't like that song. I guess the baby has more of my tastes than yours." Sam just smiled smugly and then Dean quickly scowled. "No, don't you dare say the baby shares my tastes because I share them with Gabriel. HELL NO!"

Sam just started to laugh and Dean glared. Finally he seemed to forget all about it and just sighed.

"With everything that has happened, it makes a person wonder what we're fighting for sometimes. I mean, Cas lost faith in a God he was trying to find, you lost faith for a little while doubting that anything right could even happen, and we lost our brother Adam for how long, we don't know. I just think we have to hold onto faith because whatever happens, it was meant to be and there's no way we could go back and change that."

Dean groaned.

"Yeah right. That's like saying that Lucifer will willingly step down and God will see to it that his heavenly brats stop trying to kill each other!"

Sam hid his smirk at that retort.

"I'm not in any way like Gabriel Sam so you could knock it off," Dean warned. Sam jumped a little and placed his hand back over his stomach with a now softer smile right on the edge of his lips. Dean bit his lip knowing that this was the price he was paying for his brother to be happy.

"You know a lot of people fight over whether it's right to have a kid or not saying there's a lot of things that need to be considered when thinking about the issues. There's the preparation, the age, and the maturity of it all but I think they forget the most important thing," Sam paused and with a thoughtful look, continued. "The majority who write the laws on unborn babies never had been in this situation before. You'd think that they would consider what it would be like before they made laws like that? It isn't until it happens to you that you realize how great one life means to you and when you do, you realize just how far you'd go to protect it with everything you have."

"That's nice," Dean quickly covered up the fact that he almost choked up over that and instead decided to change the subject. Sam was going to die and there was no way he'd bring up a sensitive issue like abortion up again. "I wonder where Cas is, I mean the son of a bitch believed in me and even went as far as falling for me. I should have listened to him. I should have-"

"He'll be okay," Sam interrupted.

Dean looked in disbelief for a moment before turning back to concentrate on driving. After a moment he nodded.

"I just don't know how much more I could take losing people Sam. I've done this hunting stuff for so long I thought nothing could bother me because the only people in the world wouldn't leave me and now," he gulped and could see that Sam stiffened at the side but continued anyways. "I need-we need to find Cas Sam. We have to because I have to apologize for the way I acted."

Sam nodded.

Dean didn't need to say anymore though.

Sam got what Dean would never say and he felt that he wouldn't have to say it anyways cause Sam would know anyways.

Just like he knew he was sacrificing everything for something he loved yet hadn't even meet.

Sam was sleeping.

There was nothing unusual about that. Dean found that often enough, Sam retired earlier since the pregnancy and that Sam couldn't seem to tolerate sleeping straight on his back anymore either. Dean quickly bit back a retort when he saw Gabriel there rubbing his brother's cheek slowly and with a face of concern the elder Winchester never saw on the trickster turned angel's face.

He just wondered for how long that Gabriel had done this without Dean knowing.

"You quite done snuggling up to my brother?" Dean asked instead. "He's not going to be pleased if he wakes up to you petting his face like he's a dog you know?"

Gabriel just huffed.

"I'm helping him sleep. He really doesn't get much these days and I thought that he could use some more so maybe I added a little something more to help with that. He truly hasn't noticed before so it will be okay. He's still carrying the baby and he's safe from Zachy although you took away my glory from hurting him first."

Dean rolled his eyes.

"You angels don't get it," he replied. "We never had any issues until you guys came into our lives. You think you could just sit there and act like you love Sam? You played tricks on us and hurt him a hundred times over emotionally. How could I trust that you have Sam's best interests in heart when I don't even know if you're going to want him to play his role in being a vessel?"

"You could believe what you want Dean but sometimes what you can't see is there." Gabriel frowned. "Never thought I would feel like that again, I sealed it far away from me but…" he trailed off dragging his hand softly through Sam's hair as he seemed to be watching Sam's chest slowly rise and fall.

Dean shrugged uncomfortably feeling as though he just walked into a private moment between his brother and the archangel. He never doubted that there was something there. It was the big reason Gabriel was away wasn't it? He couldn't handle the child and the fact that he caused something to grow that would be a danger to Sam. He didn't know however that Gabriel was hanging around when his brother was sleeping to make sure that he was okay. That Dean could even do without knowing. He already knew they had sex because of the baby being inside there but as far as anything else, it's something he didn't want to know either.

"Why don't you go Gabriel? Better yet find Cas."

"I would have known if he died," Gabriel mumbled annoyingly.

"Well stop pretending to be a bad older brother and find him," Dean demanded.

Gabriel snorted and Dean found himself wanting to smack him. Hell he wouldn't mind punching him if he knew it wouldn't have hurt him in the end. Gabriel really knew how to try his patience though and did it on a daily basis too.

"I really don't think you appreciate Cas as much as you say," Gabriel continued. "At least I had a reason for leaving-"

"Right, so the reason why Cas hates you so much for the skipping part? I would hate you too," Dean retorted angrily. "You think everything is a joke and you don't even try to help. It's your brothers that are fighting but the only one that isn't on board with hurting them is Cas and he's not trying to hurt them, he's trying to keep the fighting from happening. First you wanted it to happen but now I don't know. I get that you love them, I get that you care, but what would you do if your brother was destroying the world? I would imagine that if they were in your shoes, they wouldn't want you to sit back and pretend that nothing is happening!"

"You don't have any idea what it was like," Gabriel seethed. Dean shut up confused and Gabriel continued with a sigh. "You think you are the only one that has issues? Oh the world was mean to me and I can't stand how everything doesn't go my way and everyone dies? I wasn't lying when I said I left because I couldn't stand it! Michael was different after he casted Lucifer into the pit. Michael loved his brother much like you love yours but throwing him down there nearly destroyed him. He couldn't stand it. I couldn't stand it because it wasn't Michael anymore. It was just some stranger in his place and he was so different. He wasn't nice or lenient and he followed without question. Raphael became a hard ass as well. Things were so different and to be reminded of it constantly that Lucifer's rebelling got everything so messed up in the worst possible way. How could anybody stand to be around that heartbreak? I had to leave and Castiel, he was going to be something special someday and he would make changes I couldn't. I wasn't going to bring him down with me but now he hates me and I don't blame him anymore," Gabriel finally admitted.

"How could I blame him when I abandoned him for something I couldn't take? How am I any better than the normal cowards that don't want to stand up for what they know? I know what I did and what would happen, but I also threw everything else away. I betrayed Cas's trust when he looked up to me. Every day he looks at me with disappointment and I understand that. And now it looks like the only person that cares isn't always going to be around. I guess the best thing I ever did was to create a baby, I'm a coward otherwise and a horrible brother."

Dean gulped and averted his eyes.

"You need to find Cas Gabriel. I need to know that he's okay-"

"For the hundredth time he is fine!" Gabriel shouted. "And you think I'm selfish? At least I don't look for him when I need something! I always took care of Cas even as a fledgling. Even now I'm making sure that he's not hurt because in the end Cas is my younger brother and the only one I could stand to protect even if he hates me. He'll be fine and I need to do something anyways. Tell Sam anything about this and I'll gut you with a stick!"

Dean blinked and cursed under his breath.

"You better hope this is worth it little brother," he mumbled sighing as he fell into his own bed.

Even with Cas missing and Gabriel acting like a dick once more, he couldn't help but realize that maybe him and Gabriel did have something in common.

They both loved brothers that didn't realize all that they done for them.

And yet they'd sacrifice everything they had all the same.