AN: Sorry for the long wait. Here's the next chapter. Enjoy!
Chapter 10
Sam paced the length of Bobby's living room, his gait anxious and hurried. His thoughts revolved within the confines of his mind, scarcely making any sense.
'What had happened? Why had Dean scrambled out of the house in a panicked haze? Had he been through another nightmare? What about? Had he dreamed of hell?'
"Sam, sit down before you wear down my floor, boy." Bobby suggested in a forcefully calm tone.
Sam ignored the older hunter and continued his frantic pacing.
"Sammikins, calm down." Gabriel instructed. "Dean-o will be fine."
"How do you know that, Gabriel? We don't even know where he is. He could be anywhere by now. What if he runs into trouble? What if he needs help?" Sam rambled, his panic increasing by leaps and bounds.
"Sam, listen to me. Your brother may be an idiot, but he is still a hunter. A seasoned and experienced one, at that. I'm sure he'll be alright."
Sam didn't appear to be convinced and resumed his methodical march. Seeing this, Bobby sighed in defeat and spoke to the angel.
"Can't your angel mojo find the boy?" Bobby questioned, raising an eyebrow. Gabriel exhaled in a medley of worry and frustration.
"Unfortunately, no. Baby bro did a damn good job with the sigils he branded on your ribs. They're pretty high-class mumbo-jumbo; designed to side-track even archangels. They obscure you from Lucifer's sight; which means that I can't track you either." Gabriel explained.
"Then what do we do?" Sam entreated, desperate in his concern for his brother.
"Ease up, kiddo." Gabriel insisted. "Try to call him on his cellphone. Get him to reveal his location so I can drag his ass back."
Sam scrambled for his phone and hurriedly hit the speed-dial. All was silent for a moment when the blaring of some rock instrumental emerged from the corner table. 'Dean left his cellphone behind. Damn.'
In a fit of rage, Sam tossed his own phone against the wall where it clattered against the faded wallpaper and tumbled to the ground. He resumed his pacing, a horrifying thought budding in his head.
"What if he runs into Alistair? Or if he gets captured…..what if….."
"Sam, hey, calm down, okay. Breath. We'll find Dean, alright. Just calm down." Gabriel tried to placate the young hunter.
"Calm down? CALM DOWN? Gabriel, my brother is MISSING! With HEAVEN and HELL after him. And you want me to CALM DOWN?" Sam yelled in aggravation.
Bobby decided to interfere before Sam invited a fight he couldn't possibly win.
"Shut up and sit down Sam." The eldest hunter snapped; the worry for Dean's safety beginning to fray his nerves as well. Sam started in undisguised shock and reflexively obeyed.
Despite the gravity of the situation, Gabriel couldn't help but chuckle at the scene. 'Seeing that moose of a Winchester with his mouth hanging open in shock is pretty funny.' He thought. He unwillingly admired the respect that Bobby commanded with just a word. 'Anyway, back to the situation at hand…'
"Hmm….where's baby bro?"
"Um…he's on some abstract mission of finding God, apparently." Sam replied distractively.
"WHAT? HE'S TRYING TO FIND GOD?" Gabriel yelled, causing the two hunters to jump in alarm.
"That's what he said…" Bobby answered.
"Okay, where the hell did he get that crazy idea? You Winchesters are definitely a bad influence on Cassie's intelligence. He seems to have become dumber since he met you. I'm going to have a long talk with Cassie later. " Gabriel ranted, this time more in annoyance than in anger. His variant mood swings left the hunters staring at him in dazed confusion; too bewildered to react to the insult. "Anyhow, we'll need my baby brother to find your big brother."
With a flourish the archangel snapped his fingers and materialised said baby brother. Castiel appeared in the centre of Bobby's living room in all his angelic glory, dazed and confused. Unsurprisingly, the angel composed himself quickly, pulling at the lapels of his worn-out trench coat.
"You summoned me, Gabriel?" Castiel asked evenly, apparently immune to his brother's unpredictable antics. Then his gaze locked onto the youngest Winchester and took in his bedraggled form and panicky eyes.
"Are you quite well, Sam?" the concerned angel asked. But the hunter was too preoccupied to bother with an answer.
"Yeeaaah….your boyfriend's in trouble, Cassie…" Gabriel drawled, grinning when he perceived Sam's startled expression.
"Dean is in trouble?" Castiel asked, a hint of anxiety creeping into his voice and appearing on his face.
"Aha! So you admit that Dean-o is your boyfriend!" Gabriel exclaimed, triumphantly.
"Dean is my friend and he is a boy, yes. You already know that Gabriel." Castiel replied in confusion.
"Oh, my poor Cassie…" Gabriel sighed mournfully, clutching his heart in mock grief.
"I do not understand." The clueless angel declared, tilting his head in confusion like he was trying to solve a complicated mathematical problem.
"CAN WE PLEASE GET TO THE MATTER AT HAND? DEAN'S GONE AND WE HAVE TO FIND HIM!" Sam yelled in frustration. 'Dean, please, please be alright.'
Gabriel took pity on the distraught hunter."Right, so Cassie, I need your help in finding Dean."
"Ofcourse, Gabriel. But may I ask the reason for Dean's departure?" Castiel asked, noticing Sam flinch at the question. All remained silent.
"How do you intend to find him, Gabriel?" Castiel decided not to press matters for the time being. "The Enochian sigils on their ribs obscure them from our view."
"True, baby brother. But you forget that I am a genius. The brand of your handprint on Dean's shoulder contains traces of your grace. Which means that I can track your flighty hunter through you." Gabriel explained, childishly proud of his idea.
"Will it work?" Bobby asked skeptically.
"Only one way to find out. Give me your hands, baby bro!"
The hunters watched in fascination as Gabriel held Cass's hands in his own and closed his eyes, a look of intense concentration flitting across his features. His lips moved silently, forming words in an ancient language that hadn't been heard by human ears in several centuries.
"Gotcha!"
And then Gabriel vanished, leaving behind two worried hunters and an equally worried angel in his wake.
Dean nursed a glass of whiskey in his hand, unmindful of the cozy bar he had taken refuge in. But the alcohol burning down his throat failed to provide any warmth or comfort like he had hoped. He remained unbearably cold.
Having driven a few towns over in his haste to get away from his brother, he had wished to drown his grievances in some nameless bar. But instead of anesthetizing his emotions, the alcohol seemed to be only inviting more misery and distress.
Dean twirled the glass between his hand, replaying his dream with startling clarity. Alistair's message rang clear. The demon was intent on dragging him back to hell; and this time there would be no bright, holy light to save him.
But that wasn't the real reason for his worry. Another terrifying fear lurked just beneath the surface, too dreadful to be spoken of or be acknowledged. The dream, illusion, whatever it was, had awakened a terrifying suspicion that had prowled the corners of his mind ever since his escapade from hell. A suspicion so disgusting, so revolting that he had refused to even consider it. A suspicion that had been unearthed by his nightmare.
Alistair's unyielding grasp over him. The fearsome power that Alistair possessed that had commanded his submission in the pit. The morbidly awe-inspiring power that had consumed him, defeated him and rendered him defenseless against Alistair's dominion.
The same power that had overwhelmed him that one time when he and Sam had been kidnapped by Alistair. The same power that had incapacitated him in his dream last night. The same power he feared still encompassed him in its unforgiving tendrils.
He wondered yet again if he would ever be free again; in his life or in death. Is it possible that he still holds this power over me? Can he control me? Can he force me to lose control? Will I become his puppet again?
These questions were hardly strangers in his mind. They had been knocking at the door of his mind whenever he was too tired to keep his walls up. But this was the first time that he had given in and allowed them to cross the threshold.
But these thoughts also brought with them an uncontainable fear that could not be leashed. The dream replayed itself again and again in his mind as if set on playback and seemed to answer his doubts. A haunting voice, Alistair's voice, echoed eerily; cold and merciless. 'You are mine, Dean. Mine. I can control you. I will control you. You do not have any power or freewill. I can make you do as I say. You are mine.'
Dean involuntarily shuddered at the horribly familiar voice, trying to block it out. Self-doubt and insecurity, feelings that had been alien to him before hell, were introduced to him for the first time. Alistair had decimated his sense of self-worth.
His train of thought led him to his brother. Guilt and shame infused in his veins and he hung his head. Could he really hurt Sam? Could Alistair really compel him to hurt his own little brother? Would he end up hurting Sammy against his will? Could his fear of Alistair overcome his love for his brother? Was he now a danger to his own family?
"Done with the pity party yet, Dean-o?"
Gabriel appeared at the door of the inconsequential bar where he had sensed the eldest Winchester, and walked in with purposeful steps. Immediately spotting the brooding hunter huddled in one corner, he walked towards him, fully intent on lecturing the idiot on his irresponsibility. But as he reached closer, the unusually saddened and miserable expression on the hunter's worn face made him pause.
Gabriel studied the hunter with a keen, experienced eye and couldn't help but pity the fool in front of him. The proud, cocky hunter that he had previously witnessed; since he had been keeping an eye on the harbingers of the prophesied apocalypse ever since their birth; was nowhere present in the man before him. His skin was pale and sickly, his eyes embellished by purple, bruise-like circles. His form hung dejectedly on the chair, exhausted and defeated. Dean Winchester was but the shell of the man he used to be.
Nevertheless he spoke with his usual air of levity. "Done with the pity party yet, Dean-o?"
The addressed hunter jumped at the voice, nearly dropping his glass in panic. But he quickly deflated when he caught sight of the archangel.
"What do you want, Gabriel?" Dean sighed, too wound up to summon the energy to be angry.
"You left in quite a hurry, kiddo. Your brother's worried and he wants you back."
"I'm not going back." Dean declared defiantly. "Drag me back if you want."
"Don't think I won't, Dean-o!" Gabriel replied with a grin and Dean cursed the truth of the statement.
"Leave me alone, Gabriel." Dean said, taking a long swig from the glass.
"Can't do that. You do realize that by staying on your own completely unprotected, you are just inviting Alistair to capture you again?"
Dean shuddered involuntarily at the demon's mention which did not go unnoticed by Gabriel.
"I can't come back." Dean answered in a rare moment of vulnerability. If confronted later, Dean decided to blame the alcohol.
"Why not?" Gabriel asked softly.
An uninterrupted silence ensued.
"He can't control you, Dean. Not unless you let him." Gabriel assured him softly. Dean's eyes flew open in shock. 'How did he….stupid, mindreading angels…'
"You don't know anything, Gabriel." Dean answered irritably. He bristled at the archangel's perceptiveness that seemed to look right through to his soul; his fears, hopes…dreams laid bare for the celestial entity to see. "Stay out of my head."
"Dean, you're not in hell anymore. Alistair does not hold any power over you. You are free. Your dreams are not reality. They're just instruments that he's using to break you. Don't let him break you, Dean."
"You don't understand, Gabriel. I'm already broken. He broke me in hell. Who's to say that he won't break me again? Who's to say that I can stop him?" Dean's words trailed off as his breathing hovered over hyperventilation. The honesty of his own words was a heavy burden on his shoulders. He closed his eyes again, obstructing his shameful tears.
"I know, kiddo. But you're not in hell now. And you're not alone. You've got a moose of a little brother, a surrogate father figure, a righteous angel of the lord and by some stroke of luck, an awesome, kick-ass archangel with you."
"Yeah right. I still don't trust you, you know. You could still run off and leave us in hot water." Dean replied snarkily.
"I guess I could do that. You'll just have to wait and see!" Gabriel grinned.
Dean rolled his eyes and then his mood subdued again. Gabriel waited silently, displaying uncharacteristic patience that was surprising even to himself.
"What if….what if I end up hurting Sam or Bobby or Cass…..what if Alistair gets to them because of me…."
"Not going to happen, Dean-o. I'm not going to let anyone hurt Cassie, and by extension you Winchesters either. I know that you don't believe that I'm on your side and I guess that's partly true. But I am going to stand beside my little bro, no matter what happens. So yeah, I'm on your side."
Dean appeared thoughtful for a minute and then a slight smile stretched across his face that held a hint of a smirk. He abruptly realized that he did have something in common with the annoying archangel after all; the responsibility of being an elder brother.
Gabriel lost his serious expression as well and smirked.
"So, you ready to go back before our little brothers tear Bobby's house down in their worry?"
"Let's go."
AN: Please leave a review and let me know what you think!