"So, a nightmare, huh?" Dean asked amused.
"Shut up," Sam replied meekly, avoiding direct eye contact with his brother.
"Hey, I'm the last one who could judge you, man.
I know how appealing an Angel's charisma is.", he blushed slightly.
Sam sighed, a grin tugged on the corner of his mouth.
"Gabe told me that he was very interested in me from the beginning ..."
"And of course you jumped on it!", Dean speculated.
"Nonsense ...," his brother replied with arched eyebrows.
"Come on, Sam, you've always been the type for this sentimental crap!"
Sam rolled his eyes.
"Dude, will you let me finish, or what?"
He told him about Gabriel's renewed mention of what their roles in God's "great plan" were, and also of his initial dream sequence and encounter with the "cage-part" of his soul.
"So you're trying to tell me now that you're going to say "yes and amen" to everything?" Dean asked stunned.
"Hell no! I'm not insane!", Sam replied indignantly.
"Sometimes I'm not so sure about that," Dean grumbled.
"And that "Thing" is what exactly?", he asked, to change the Topic.
"I have no clue", Sam shrugged, burying his head in his hands.
"But Gabriel mentioned it before...
he said, an old mighty creature was after him."
"That limits the situation." , Dean replied tauntingly.
"It must be a beast from the old world."
Sam and Dean flinched.
Although they had spent a long time with Angels now, it was hard to get used to their soundless appearance.
"What do you mean, Cas?"
"Well, dad is not the only god on whom humanity believes ..."
"Yes, we already had the pleasure.", Dean interrupted him rudely.
Cas looked, as so often, uncomprehending.
"Yes, Dean, I know. You were the one who asked", he said slightly annoyed.
Now it was Dean who looked a bit perplexed.
He was not used to such pointy remarks from the Angel.
"Anyway," Cas continued, "we seem to be dealing with a very dangerous creature.
Something we can't handle on our own. "
"Can't there be good news in our lives? Just one time? " Dean asked, exasperated.
"You've just answered the question yourself, it's OUR life, Dean, what did you expect?" His brother answered with a wry smile.
Dean shrugged.
"I don't know, and neither how we're supposed to help Gabriel, in his opinion."
"Not WE, Dean, I. He said I was the only one who could help him and I don't think he just pretended it to wrap me around his finger. "
"For me it sounds like it all boils down to Sam's role as Lucifer's vessel", Cas said.
The two brothers looked at him shocked.
"You can't be serious, Cas!" Dean railed.
"We have not taken so much on us, just so that the devil wins in the end! I'm not gonna let that happen!"
"But we've already managed to trick him, Dean," Sam replied,
"Maybe we...",
"No!" Dean interrupted him. "Just over my cold body. May be that we did it once, but at what price ?!" Dean asked, gesticulating with his hands.
"Your soul was torn to shreds and ..." His voice failed him.
"No, Sammy don't do that to me again. I beg you." He looked at his brother in pain.
"We find another way, ok, we can do it! Don't put your love for Gabriel above your own safety!"
Sam was torn by his thoughts, too much information, theories and conflicts plagued his mind.
These dreams were already tugging at his powers anyway, so he didn't need conflicts in the real world either.
He yawned and stretched his tensed muscles, trying to relax.
"Ok, Dean, I appreciate your concern for me, but it's unfounded! You're right, if someone finds a solution, then we do."
Sam yawned again.
"But not today, I'm going to bed."
"Alrea ...", Cas's hand on Dean's shoulder and the implied head shake of the Angel, let him pause.
When Sam disappeared in his room, Cas said in a serious voice:
"We have to talk, Dean."
The look he gave his friend couldn't imply any good...