They were driving, Castiel not daring to leave worrying over Dean and his self-destructive tendencies. Dean had already started with the self-destruction, drinking a third of whiskey while he sat on the front seat, staring off into space, probably thinking about the baby, or the absolute horror that awaited the angel that had done this to them.
For the time being though, they were headed to Bobby's, knowing if there was one person that could help them track this monster, it would be Bobby.
They drove, for what felt like days, when in reality it was no more than five or six hours. They didn't make a single stop, not wanting to make this trip longer than it needed to be. They needed to get Dean somewhere familiar, somewhere he could feel at peace and allowed to cry for as long as he needed to, not to worry about his little brother or his husband, he needed to properly grieve, and Bobby would make sure to allow Dean the ability to do so.
They pulled up to Bobby's house at around seven that night and Dean seemed like he was in his own world, but snapped out of it long enough to get out of the car and follow his brother and husband to the door. One knock and Bobby was already at the door looking at the three hunters.
"Can we…?" Dean tried to talk, but his voice sounded so small, so broken that Sam took over. "Hey Bobby…we needed a place to crash and we need your help…we have a hunt we need to…" Bobby nodded, knowing they were in serious need of him, and turned to let them in.
"Can I get you Idjits anything?" Sam shook his head but Dean nodded, asking for some whiskey. Bobby didn't say anything and just brought the boy what he had asked for. Dean drank the entire glass full in one swallow and fell on the couch, exhausted.
"How do we summon an angel?" Sam asked, wanting to get to the point as fast as possible.
"You prey to them you Idjit." Sam sighed. "No I mean…how do you summon an angel based on something they've done…" Sam looked more confused than Bobby did.
"Look, do you know the name?" Sam shook his head and watched as Castiel sat next to Dean and held him close. "Well, the only way to do something like that, as I've read Sam, is to summon an angel of higher ranking and see what they know." Sam sighed but nodded.
Sam already knew who he was going to ask for help, but he also knew it might be a moot point considering last he'd checked, Gabriel was dead, but then again he'd thought that quite a few times so summoning him wouldn't be a bad idea.
"I'm going to go for a walk." Sam announced and walked out of the house, towards the junk yard. Sam walked from one end to the other and thought loudly to himself about his decision. Dean and Castiel wouldn't take it well, but he had to try.
"Gabriel…If you are still alive, I prey to you, I need you more than you could know. Something…" a whooshing noise made it apparent that an angel was standing, probably, right behind him. Turning as fast as he could, Sam came face to face with the familiar grin of Gabriel.
"So Sammy boy, what can I do for you?" Gabriel looked genuinely curious.
"Something horrible has happened and we need your help." Sam said, hoping to god that Gabriel helped.
"Something horrible ALWAYS happens, what makes this different?" Gabriel's eyes narrowed as he said this.
"We buried your niece today." Gabriel looked horrified and was gone in a whoosh of air, reappearing seconds later in front of a sleeping Dean, a wide awake and worried looking Castiel and a Bobby who seemed just plain confused.
"Is it true?" Gabriel said as quietly as he could, not wanting to wake the hunter.
"And hello to you as well brother." Castiel said sarcastically.
"Is it true?" Gabriel hated repeating himself when it came to matters this important. Castiel knew what Sam had told him and therefore nodded, seeing pure rage on Gabriel's face.
"How old was she?" Castiel had tears running down his face as he answered. "She hadn't been born yet."
Gabriel looked FURIOUS now. "How are you walking?" Gabriel asked, assuming the obvious. Bobby looked up, severely intrigued now.
Castiel looked over at Dean who was sleeping with a frown creasing his face. "He was carrying her." Bobby looked shocked. "Explain." Gabriel and Bobby said together.
Castiel nodded and turned his head as he heard Sam enter the house, sounding a bit out of breath.
"Let us take this into the kitchen, I do not wish to wake my husband." Gabriel nodded, not completely registering what Castiel had said.
Placing a kiss on Dean's forehead, Castiel led the others towards the kitchen and took a seat at the table, Bobby walking towards the coffee pot, NEEDING to do something.
"Dean and I married a year ago, once the apocalypse had been successfully stopped. We married in a small ceremony, Bobby was there, Sam was our best man, you would have been there as well, had I known you lived.
"Knowing that Dean had always wanted a family, we made sure to be careful when making any form of intimate gestures. My grace must have felt his intense need for a family, though, since it still allowed him to carry my child.
"Dean became quite inconsolable when he first discovered he was with child, but once he had calmed down enough to listen to my reasoning, and my comfort to him, he accepted the child and loved her immediately.
"I knew we were having a daughter, from the energy she was producing, and immediately Dean knew what he wished to name her."
"Alana Grace Winchester." Dean finished, coming over to kiss Castiel.
Dean took a seat next to Castiel and thanked Bobby, who handed him a cup of coffee. "I was happy Sammy." Dean said, making sure to address his curious brother. "I didn't drink coffee, or beer. I didn't do any of the hunting, and I even made sure the hunts we were on were easy so that you could do them yourself." Gabriel didn't bother interrupting Dean to announce his presence, he wanted to know the entire story and there were parts that only Dean could tell him.
"Week by week, Castiel checked on her progress and he would smile, then I would smile, and then we were both smiling and it was good. It was happy.
"Two days ago my stomach felt off. I couldn't eat…I couldn't drink anything. I felt bad, but Cas had told me the night before that she was perfectly healthy, so I didn't think much of it and tried to go to sleep. Sammy was asleep when my stomach started hurting, and the pain just got worse and worse and finally I was sick to my stomach and had to run towards the bathroom.
"I started puking and all that came up was blood. I was so scared when my stomach contracted and my legs were suddenly wet. I looked down and the amount of blood I saw scared the shit out of me. I tried to call to Sam, to Castiel, but my voice wouldn't come out. I could hardly breathe. I was in so much pain, I was puking up so much blood, and next thing I know I hear the worst kind of plop and I look down, and there she is…all bloody and pink and…she twitched once and then nothing. No movement. I was hysterical. I cried and cried, but still no sound came out.
"That's when Sammy walked in and…he knows the rest." Castiel was holding Dean close, knowing that Dean had tried to call out to him, but failed…how scared Dean must have been then, knowing he was losing their daughter, and not being able to do anything. Bobby looked sullen, Sam looked about ready to cry and Gabriel looked PISSED.
"I will summon the faithful." Gabriel said, standing to walk outside. Every stride looked intimidating. Sam wouldn't want to be the bastard who had taken Castiel's child from him. Everyone stood to follow Gabriel, hoping to be of some use, and what they saw made them go pale. Everyone, that is, except Castiel. Cas always knew what was happening.
The sky was eerily black, with lightning crackling around Gabriel as he folded in on himself and let out the most horrific of cries, sounding as though he was talking. "It is Enochian. He is summoning only those faithful to me." Castiel explained, walking over towards his brother. Gabriel may have been an ass, but he was faithful to his family.
Lightning flashed in five different areas on the ground and once they dissipated, in their place stood five angels, wings drawn, looking ready to fight.
"This is pathetic. You are the only ones faithful to my brother?" They nodded and took a bow to the arch-angel.
"I didn't think Gabriel was this strong." Sam said, looking over at the angel in awe. "He is very strong, and since Michael and Lucifer are no longer a threat, Gabriel is the strongest of us in heaven." Sam nodded, continuing to look over at Gabriel and feeling heat rise to his face.
Castiel walked over to where Gabriel stood looking at the angels that had gathered. "It is alright brother." Castiel tried to reassure Gabriel before looking over to his most loyal. "I am in need of help. I am searching for the angel that has decided to harm my husband and child. I wish them to be found and brought to me for punishment." The angels looked up in surprise. None of them had known about such a fate befalling their friend and companion.
"I wish for you to keep your ears open, and be vigilant. I wish to know of any rumors, anything that would help us pinpoint the one responsible. You are dismissed." Castiel finished up, watching the angels disappear one at a time.
Dean disappeared into the house, followed closely by Bobby and Castiel, Sam not wanting to leave the other angel quite yet.
"Sometimes I wonder at the sanity of the angels. We are supposed to be almighty and merciful and the protector of man, and yet…" Gabriel turned to look at Sam and tears were falling down his face. "We were supposed to protect ones like your brother, who carry the most innocent of creatures."
Sam walked over to the angel and put his hand on Gabriel's shoulder, not expecting what happened next. Gabriel fell into Sam's chest and sobbed.
Sam held onto the angel with everything he had and cried as well, knowing that one tiny life had made an impression on so many people, and she hadn't even been born yet.
Gabriel pushed himself away from Sam and wiped his eyes. "I'm sorry Sammy. I didn't mean to…you know?" Sam wiped his own tears and smiled sheepishly. "Yes, I know…no chick flick moments for you either huh?" Gabriel laughed. "That's right Sammy boy." Sam sighed and closed his eyes, hearing a whooshing noise, and knowing Gabriel was gone, and somewhere in the bottom of his heart, he was sad to see the angel go.
Once Gabriel was gone, Sam found no reason to stay outside and made his way into the house, closing the door and locking it, before turning towards the kitchen, watching the occupants talking and chatting away, trying to forget about the events of the past three days. Sam wanted to join them, wanted to be a part of the conversation, maybe help find whoever it was that had killed his niece, but for some reason, he wasn't feeling all that great, he felt tired, achy and like he was going to puke. Maybe it was the events of the day that had gotten to him, or maybe it was just that he was so very, very tired.
Walking up the stairs, he stopped and held his stomach and groaned. "What the…" He got out before he vomited. He looked down at the stairs and noticed the black thick liquid that had pooled at his feet. He felt dizzy and next thing he knew, he had fallen backwards down the three stairs he had climbed.
Dean was the first to his feet, running towards his brother. "SAMMY?" He was hysterical by the time he made it to his brother's side. "CAS?" Castiel placed his fingers to Sam's head, only to be pushed away from his body. "I cannot do anything Dean." Sam looked pale and tired, maybe he needed sleep...
Sam opened his mouth and vomited again, this time there was a red tint to it, before convulsing. Dean grabbed his brother's head and used his legs to steady Sam's body with his own, not wanting Sam's flailing to hurt him.
Tears were falling freely from Dean's eyes as he watched Sam convulse repeatedly. "SAMMY, you can't do this. SAMMY?" Sam's body stopped convulsing long enough for his eyes to open and look at Dean. Dean looked relieved until Sam opened his mouth and let out a scream of pain, closed his eyes and fell limp against Dean's body.
"Cas…what's happening?" Castiel looked down at Sam and shook his head. Castiel could not tell, but he did try to heal the younger hunter again, only to be thrown from his body this time. Castiel could not go near Sam without consequences.
Sam's breathing was labored and his face was losing more color as the time dragged on. Dean did not let go of his brother. He would not lose Sam, not after having already lost Alana. Dean opened his mouth and screamed for Gabriel to come back. If Castiel wasn't strong enough, then Gabriel HAD to be strong enough. He was the strongest angel in heaven now.
Gabriel, hearing the urgency in Dean's voice, whooshed into the room and looked down at the pair of hunters and his heart stopped.
"Dean, I need you to move." Dean would have none of it and just clung to Sam harder. "DEAN!" The demand made Dean rethink his position before finally nodding and laying Sam on the ground and scooting away a bit to give the angel some working room.
Gabriel went to place a hand on Sam's head, only to have his hand thrown back, but that did not deter him, he merely strengthened his resolve and pushed forward with all his might.
Gabriel screamed in agony as his hand was being pushed away by an invisible force. Skin and flesh peeled away, blood pooling on Sam's forehead, but he did not stop. He would heal this hunter, he would save HIS Sammy.