Sorry this chapter is so short, I'm away from home so I don't have much time to write, but I'll definitely make some this week because some big stuff is about to go down... Anyhow, enjoy, and reviews are appreciated!

Chapter 7

It was the calm after the storm, or so it seemed, because Bobby hadn't heard a peep out of his house guests since Dean stormed out the door. He had stayed well out of the way of whatever was happening, but figured it was about time to put in an appearance. Sam hadn't moved from his position on Bobby's couch, broad shoulders hunched over and head hanging low, when the older hunter peered into the living room.

"Do I wanna know what went down in here?" he asked cautiously.

Sam didn't even bother with a reply, just groaned softly.

"Guess that's a no." Bobby went over to sit by the sagging lump of a man and handed him a beer, which he accepted gratefully.

"Worse than last time," Sam muttered, gulping down the drink. "He's furious."

They both knew who he was referring to; Bobby didn't have to ask. "He'll come around, just like he did before. S'long as that fool in a trench coat comes back, and he will eventually."

"Yeah." Sam knew the only person Dean would even think about listening to at this point would be Castiel; he and Gabriel were officially the enemy in his brother's mind. Not that he blamed him, because if the tables were turned, he'd most likely be the same way. It just made it harder for Sam to know that there was nothing he could do.

Gabriel and Castiel would certainly work things out about the whole grace-mishap, and then of course Castiel would explain everything to Dean, who in the worst-case-scenario would still dislike the archangel but at least would be able to stay in the same room without trying to kill him. However, Sam and Gabriel's newfound interest in one another? Sam couldn't imagine Dean taking that well in any way, shape, or form. He wasn't really sure how to explain it, either; it wasn't planned, it wasn't thought over, it just kind of... happened.

Come to think of it, the younger Winchester couldn't even pinpoint when he had started to feel more-than-friendly toward the cheeky, impulsive trickster. It wasn't the same type of relationship that he had with Jess, where they had an instantaneous spark but the going was tough, so they both had to keep at it until it worked. No, this was more of a natural pull, an instinct. It didn't even bother him in the slightest that Gabriel had a male vessel; it just felt right. When he was with the archangel, it just made sense that he felt safe and a little less guarded than usual. When Gabriel admitted his feelings for the hunter, Sam didn't even think before kissing him – hadn't even realized he wanted to until it happened. Every move they made together seemed to flow seamlessly into the next one, like a dance ingrained into their muscle memory so they hardly thought about the steps they took until they had already taken them. It was effortless, it was right, it was good.

But of course, Dean wouldn't understand that. All he would be able to see was that Sam had taken a little too much liking to the guy who had been an intentional road-block in their lives, and that would not sit well with him. At all.

Another loud crash and what sounded like shattering glass from outside in the yard broke the silence, and Bobby shook his head, grumbling, "If that idjit does any serious damage, he's in for a whole lotta trouble."

Sam huffed out a forced laugh. "Might as well start kicking his ass, then."

Bobby stood and clapped a hand on Sam's shoulder. "You're alright, boy. Dean ain't that big a hypocrite that he won't let you be happy. He just wants you safe. He's sure as hell got a thick skull, but he's got a big heart, too."

Sam looked up and the corners of his lips curled into a half-smile. "Thanks, Bobby."

The older hunter wandered off, presumably back to the kitchen, muttering under his breath something about "freakin' angels" and "soap opera, under my roof" and "stubborn idjits". Sam couldn't help but let out a weak laugh, sipping at his beer and running a hand through his long golden-brown locks.

"Ah, there it is," a familiar voice piped up from the other side of the room.

Sam whipped his head around and his face lit up when he saw Gabriel, leaning against the wall with a grin on his face so big that reached the corners of his eyes. "There what is?"

"Your smile," the archangel said simply. "I missed it."

"What, have you been watching me this whole time?" Sam's tone made it sound like a bad thing, but his red cheeks and pleased expression told a completely different story.

Gabriel shrugged. "Not the whole time. Just got back from talking with Cassie a few minutes ago."

"How'd it go?" Sam inquired eagerly, patting the cushion next to him for Gabriel to join him on the couch.

As he walked over, the archangel assured him, "All sorted. Tied up the loose ends. Cas is gonna have a sit-down with your dickwad of a brother, maybe a little make-up sex, and we'll all be best friends again in no time." He winked as he plopped down next to the hunter and wrapped an arm around his shoulders, which Sam immediately relaxed against.

"Uh, sure." Best friends? That was too far from the truth to even be a little funny for Sam. "At least you and Cas are good, right?"

"Relax, Sammy. Everything's gonna be fine," Gabriel soothed him, pulling him a little closer. "You gotta stop worrying so much. You're gonna go gray early, and I don't really go for gray-haired guys."

"Shut up," the younger Winchester laughed, swatting at his leg playfully.

"Just kidding. You'd be sexy with any color hair."

Sam felt a hand card through his hair, then slowly make its way down his neck to splay out along the contours of his chest. "Gabriel," he warned.

"What? I'm just... appreciating."

Sam rolled his eyes and leaned his head on Gabriel's shoulder. "Appreciate me while I'm sleeping. I need a nap."

"Oh, no fun!" the archangel whined.

After a slight hesitation, Sam tilted his head and pressed a quick kiss to Gabriel's neck. "Later," he promised, feeling a slight fluttering in his chest at his own words. He wasn't quite certain what he was promising, but whatever it was, he didn't want it to be ruined by the guilt hanging over his head at his brother's anger. Because he and Gabriel were good. And they had time to wait.

Out in the salvage yard, Dean was throwing the grown-man equivalent of a temper tantrum, kicking dents into busted-up cars and heaving a tire iron into some half-cracked windshields. He wasn't sure what he was more upset about; seeing Sam with Gabriel, or losing Castiel twice in less than twenty-four hours. Of course his stupid brother had to go and be forgiving with the archangel that didn't give a rat's ass about anybody but himself. How could Sam be so blind? The guy was a trickster, for fucks sake. It didn't take a rocket scientist to see that the guy was going to use him up and throw him away like a piece of worthless junk. And damn it all if Dean Winchester was going to let that happen to his little brother.

Besides the whole mess with Sam and Gabriel, Dean had his own issues to work through, too. Last night and the following morning had been so easy, wrapped up in Castiel, forgetting everyone and everything else. But out in the daylight, around other people, Dean realized that he might not be quite on board with the whole gay-for-his-best-friend thing yet. Because yeah, Castiel was his best friend – Sam didn't count for stuff like that – so admitting any kind of feelings between them would be risking the solid relationship that they had built up so far. Dean wasn't sure if he wanted to take that risk, especially for a guy, because he was definitely not gay. Hadn't he been with enough women to prove that? Sure, he'd heard people call it "over-compensating", but those pretentious, assuming dicks didn't know him better than he knew himself, despite what they thought. And he knew that he wasn't gay.

But if he was being completely honest... he hadn't been able to get Castiel out of his mind since he saw him stark naked in the bathroom the other day. Being in bed with the guy was a whole different kind of amazing than he'd ever experienced before, and he knew good sex when he had it. So maybe he was... sort of attracted to Castiel. Just a little bit.

Dean exhaled heavily and braced his forearms on the hood of the closest car, leaning his head down to rest on sun-heated metal. Who was he kidding? He was in deep. If he could stop being a stubborn idiot for two seconds, he'd have to admit to himself that he didn't really give a damn if it made him gay – he wanted Castiel. He wanted to spend every waking moment with his angel, to hunt with him and let him ride shotgun in the Impala as he drove across the country, to take him out to bars and teach him how to play pool, to fall asleep beside him and wake up to see that he had stayed all night. He loved Castiel. He might even take a step further, one that he hadn't allowed himself to in a long time, and admit that maybe, just maybe, he was in love with Castiel.

But as good as it felt to finally make that realization, it didn't even matter, because the guy had left. He was off somewhere with that stupid fucker of an archangel, the same one who was apparently trying to get in his little brother's pants. And that was a whole other ball game he'd have to play before he could do anything about his newfound feelings for his own angel.

The thought of Gabriel with his arm around Sam caused a new bout of anger in the older Winchester, and he pushed himself off of the car he was resting against to raise the tire iron over his head and slam it down on the fading red hood. Gritting his teeth and puffing out his chest, he whacked the car over and over again, grunting with the effort but not letting up, getting more and more violent with each swing.

"Dean," called a voice from over his shoulder.

"Not now, I'm busy," he shouted, still going to town with the tire iron.

"Dean," it said again, more insistently.

"What?" he yelled furiously, spinning around and panting heavily, coming face-to-face with a pair of startlingly close cool blue eyes. "Oh. Uh... hey, Cas."

"Hello Dean."

"I was just... um..."

"We need to discuss Gabriel," Castiel stated matter-of-factly, ignoring the hunter's fit of rage a moment ago.

A wave of relief and joy passed over Dean now that his angel was back, standing right in front of him, but the mention of Gabriel instantly brought his anger back to the surface. "Yeah, what the hell is he doing back here?"

Castiel touched him gently on the arm in an attempt to calm him down. "Gabriel is trying to help, Dean. He took a great risk for my benefit, and that of you and your brother."

"What are you talking about?" Dean was in no position to believe that the archangel had done anything that remotely resembled selflessness.

"I atoned for my mistakes in Heaven, and I am being given a chance with you to prove that I can still protect you despite my affection for you," Castiel explained for a second time, "but what I did not know was that Gabriel made his own sacrifices to attain my forgiveness. He was the one to ultimately convince Raphael to 'bend the rules', and without him I would not be here now."

"Okay, but... why? What's he get out of it all?" Dean asked bitterly, still unable to give Gabriel the benefit of the doubt.

"Gabriel has broken the rules as well," Castiel admitted hesitantly, pleading his hunter to understand with his eyes. "He has... developed attachment to his own charge."

"That being..." Dean clenched his jaw and narrowed his eyes when it clicked. "Sam."

"I understand your lack of faith in him, but he would never hurt Sam, or force him to do anything he does not want," Castiel rushed out, trying in vain to prevent Dean from exploding in fury. "He just wants Sam to be happy. Much as I do for you."

Dean choked out a laugh. "Happy? That dick has gone out of his way more than once to make us miserable, and now he wants to make Sam happy? That's all kinds of messed up," he growled. "He better keep his greedy paws off Sam or I'm gonna kick the living daylights out of that bastard."

He made to go back into the house, back to knock some sense into his stupid, stupid brother and that son-of-a-bitch Gabriel, but a firm hand on his arm held him in place.

"Dean, listen to me. You cannot hurt Gabriel. He has done nothing wrong. It is because of him that I am here with you. He has taken a great risk for my sake and yours, and I will not let you harm him." Castiel's voice was low and forceful, laying down the law, in a no-tolerance-for-bullshit kind of way. If Dean wasn't so pissed off about Gabriel, he would be pretty turned on. In fact, he was a little turned on anyway.

He eyed Castiel warily as the gears turned in his head. Alright, so maybe the guy wasn't a total douche. Having his angel back with him for good was something he probably should thank Gabriel for – not that he actually would, though. And if he truly was just trying to make Sam happy... Well. That was still something to be determined, and he'd be the judge of that, in any case. Reluctantly, he came to the conclusion that maybe he should give Gabriel another chance. Just a little one though – one false move, and he was roadkill.

"We're not gonna be best friends right away, ya know," he warned Castiel, sighing and relaxing his shoulders a bit, which automatically caused his angel to ease up as well.

"I understand. I do not expect you to forgive him for his past actions. But he has good intentions," Castiel assured him.

Dean raised his eyebrows in stubborn disbelief, but nonetheless huffed out, "Yeah, alright. I guess I'll let him go. For now. If he hurts Sammy, he's dead."

Castiel nodded solemnly, knowing it would never come to that. Gabriel wouldn't hurt Sam any more than Castiel would hurt Dean – and he would give his life before that happened.

He watched as his hunter's gaze flicked down to his mouth, and his eyes tracked the movement of his tongue as it darted out and wetted his own lips. When Dean's sea green eyes met his own, Castiel sucked in a sharp breath and waited patiently for him to close the distance between them, which he did painfully slowly. A gentle brush of lips soon turned into a heated, passionate dance of tongues and teeth, Dean gripping Castiel's hair to tilt his head and allow him more access.

After what felt like hours, they broke apart, panting and aching for more. But Dean still had his brother to think about, and he sure as hell wasn't gonna bone his angel with Sam in his mind, so he whispered, "I need to go talk to Sam."

Castiel bit his lip, waiting another moment to compose himself before pulling away and turning toward the house, Dean on his heels.

When they entered the living room, Dean narrowed his eyes upon seeing his brother asleep against Gabriel, who quickly shook him awake.

"We need to talk," the older Winchester demanded, looking down at Sam.

The archangel stood and clapped his hands together. "And that's my cue to leave. Play nice, now," he teased, though he looked all too uncomfortable with Dean standing in the room. Both of the angels made their way into the kitchen to give the hunters some privacy.

Sam opened his mouth to talk, but Dean held up a hand to stop him before he could even start. "Just listen to me for a minute, okay? I'm still pissed at you, because you're an idiot. But Cas told me what Gabriel did. I don't know if you know anything about it," he said nervously, not really wanting his brother to know that he and Castiel had slept together, "but I guess... I guess he's alright. He's still a dick, but he's alright. So I don't mind if you guys are... friends. Or something. But I just wanna let you know that I'm gonna have your back, even if you don't want me to, and if he hurts you – if he makes you feel anything but rainbows and sunshine happy – he's gone for good. Comprende?"

Sam let out the breath he'd been holding in relief. He hadn't expected Dean to be so willing to give Gabriel a chance – he'd have to thank Castiel for whatever he'd done later. With an enthusiastic nod, he replied, "Yeah, yeah of course. Thanks Dean. I really... You won't regret this."

"I better not," Dean chided. He stepped forward and ruffled Sam's hair, adding, "You better find something for us to do soon. I'm starting to go stir-crazy just sitting here. It's gonna be 'The Shining' type shit if we don't get going."

Sam rolled his eyes. "Alright, Johnny, I'm on it."

"Bitch."

"Jerk."

Sliding back into the comfort of their usual banter, both Winchesters felt the tension in the air dissolve and were visibly more at ease. It was still awkward, what with the new angel-relationships they had both acquired, but they could move on and get over their feud from the last few days, and that was good enough for now.

"Well, uh..." Dean coughed, "I'm gonna go see how Cas is doing. You know, with Gabriel back and all. Just make sure he's okay."

Sam smirked knowingly. "Yeah, okay, Dean. Whatever."

"What's that s'posed to mean?" the older hunter demanded indignantly.

"Nothing. Go spend time with your boyfriend," Sam waved him off, reaching for his computer and reclining back on the couch.

Dean turned beet red and stammered, "He isn't – he's not my boyfriend! Oh, like you're one to talk, Sammy," he added sharply when his brother chuckled and shook his head. With a huff, he turned and marched into the kitchen, where Bobby sat talking with the two angels. They all looked up at the same time and immediately stopped their hushed conversation.

Taking a seat at the table after grabbing a beer, Dean greeted them cheerily, "What's the word, boys?"

Castiel looked at him stoically, Gabriel averted his eyes, and Bobby cleared his throat, tightening his lips into a thin line.

Suddenly getting very uncomfortable, Dean asked, "Uh... Did I interrupt something, or..."

The older hunter replied grimly, "Get Sam in here. We've got trouble."