Chapter Three

He closed up his sight and he closed up his mind. The second he succeeded the silence was so endless and deafening that he wanted to scream in frustration. For the first time in his existence he didn't hear the never-ending whispers of his brothers. But it also cut off Michael's rapidly angering calls, maybe angry was not the right word, his brother sounded furious up until the point Gabriel managed to silence him to nothingness.

He knew that he soon had to find a better place to hide, or at least take a vessel but he was not ready to go anywhere just yet. He was still exhausted from the years of never ending arguing and fighting, years of angry words and bitter insults, years of watching Michael and Raphael harden with fury until he couldn't even recognize the brothers he loved. And Father was gone. He didn't answer to his older brother's prayers or to Gabriel's own pleas. He just suddenly wasn't there anymore, the knowledge clawed out a gaping hole in Gabriel's grace, his very essence, and it hurt even more than the one Lucifer left behind. And every passing minute he watched as his brothers turned into something else he didn't know in their bitterness and anger and he felt like he was hollowing out, fading away in his own incapability to stop it. Breaking apart as their family broke.

He was even surprised that they noticed he was gone, but then again Michael did not call him out of worry, but in anger to his 'disobedience'. Father was gone, so there was no one to disobey and he would not bow to his brother like Raphael did. He would not become like them… kinslayers.

Only the thought of leaving all his younger siblings behind in Heaven made his grace cringe in guilt. What would happen to them with Michael and Raphael being so cold and uncaring, seeing them as insignificant, collateral, cannon-fodder, paws and he knew his brothers would not rest until they were nothing but obedient marionettes. Not like Gabriel could've changed any of that even if he stayed. Michael would've forced him to get in line, maybe would've thrown him out of Heaven himself if he argued with him any longer. He just hoped the little ones would forgive his abandonment one day.

Earth was as beautiful as he remembered it to be. And probably his Father was here somewhere too. Gabriel had no illusions, he knew he won't ever find Him if He didn't want him to, but just the plain fact that he was again in the same world his Father was lifted something in him, made that painful hollowness inside of him bearable. Only the silence was crushing down on him now mercilessly.

'Hey Gabriel' someone said and it only took a fragment of a second for him to take in the presence. And what was with this annoying thing? If he paid him no attention; he would probably get bored and scatter away soon enough.

'Gabriel' said the voice again and he crouched down a few steps away from him. Even if he was encircled in his wings Gabriel was aware of every movement around him. 'Gabriel. Hello! Gabriel… Gabriel… Gaaaabrieeel' he drawled then. 'I know you can hear me… Gaaaabriiiieeeeel… I won't leave y'know. Gaaaaabrieeeeel… Ga..bri..el… Gabriel!… Gabri, Gibri, Gabe, Gabby, Gibby, Gii, Gabbidy-Gibbidy-Gu Gabriel!… Gaaaaa-'

'What?' his wings snapped open and he glared at the man.

'Hey there' he grinned back brightly.

'What do you want?' Gabriel asked in a low tone. It should've been enough to strike fear into him and there was a shift in his eyes for a second, but nothing else.

'I came to thank you' he said and he put down something to the ground in front of him. It was a small jug filled with fermented fruit juice – wine was it called – and several different things wrapped in a soft kerchief, definitely meant to be food.

'I have no need of such things' Gabriel told him. Green eyes were looking on him for a moment.

'Listen, I'm not a traditionalist but I'm going to thank someone properly for saving my life, you got me? So there, token of my gratitude. Could you just accept it so that we can get over it?'

Gabriel looked at the offered objects then at the creature again. It was definitely a mistake to intervene if that was the reason he was bothered again. He should've just let it happen, but he acted before he thought about it when he caught sight of those two dark spirits. Those were evil things thirsting for blood, and despite his annoying nature this one was not. Gabriel narrowed his attention on the man, his face was determined, but guarded. It took the archangel a few seconds to decipher the embarrassment and discomfort under the certain expression. He was not someone used to have to show gratitude like this, or be indebted to someone probably.

'Fine' Gabriel said. 'Your gratitude is accepted, now leave' he was about to fold his wings back around himself when the man spoke up again.

'Wait, don't you want to try it at least? I mean it's not much, but it's good I promise.' Gabriel moved his wings out of the way again.

'Like I said, I have no need of such things' especially since he was not even in a vessel. He was rather incorporeal and immaterial compared to all the things on Earth right now.

'All right' the man said. 'So does this mean you're not going to show up at my doorstep and say "I saved your life now do my bidding" or anything remotely similar?' he asked.

'I certainly won't visit you in your home' Gabriel answered.

'Figure of speech, scamp' the man rolled his eyes.

'Well, I am growing tired of your nonsense now, so leave before I turn you to dust. And that is not "figure of speech"… scamp.'

Gabriel was sure he heard a chuckle before the man leaped off the cliff and took an animal form to fly away.

x~x~x

'Hey Gabriel… Gaaaabri-'

'Don't you dare start that again' Gabriel told sternly as he spread out his wings. 'What do you want?' It was definitely a mistake to destroy the spirits before they got rid of this little annoying thing, especially after taking a look at his grinning face.

'So… just wondering… you're not here to kill us all, right?' he asked in a light tone. It probably was fake nonchalance, but he acted it well, his face and body betrayed nothing. 'Because I heard that's your usual thing.'

It was no surprise that supernatural creatures remembered that from his last visit to Earth as they most certainly didn't pay attention to his interaction with humans.

'I am not here to destroy your home' Gabriel answered.

'That's what I like to hear' he grinned again. 'See you later scamp.'

And he was off again quickly as he arrived.

x~x~x

'Hey Gabriel!'

'Stop bothering me' Gabriel told him as he snapped his wings open.

'Good to see you too' the man smiled. 'Nice weather today, aye?' Gabriel just looked at him. He perceived no psychical sensation from his material surroundings in his true form so he couldn't actually determine what it made it "nice" at the very moment, but he knew better than to question it.

'Do I really need to kill you to have peace?' he asked.

'Have you ever heard what they say about barking dogs, scamp?' he asked in return. He most definitely had to ignore him.

'What?' he asked against his best judgment.

'That they don't bite' he told him with a smirk.

'Barking can be a signal of aggression I don't see how…' he looked up again and the expression on the man's face told him enough. 'Did you just compare me to a dog?' he asked instead.

'Me? I would never dare' he said with wide eyes and with an expression that was definitely meant to look innocent, it did look innocent even if Gabriel knew that it was fake.

'You are making fun of me right now' he concluded.

'Maybe a little' and the smirk returned in a blink.

'I don't tolerate such things' he told him firmly.

'Don't look at me like that, I was just ruffling your feathers.'

'No, you weren't.'

'Come on' chuckled the man. 'We've been through this one' he said then looked at him with a clearly expectant expression. Gabriel felt more annoyed than he did in centuries a second later when he realized what the last words meant.

'Figure of speech' he grumbled.

'Bang on, scamp!' laughed the man.

'Why do you insist irritating me all the time?' he asked him then.

'I don't know' shrugged the man. 'You're really bright.'

'What does my appearance has to do with anything?' he asked in confusion. He was used to humans and even other creatures walking the Earth being fascinated by him, but this one did not look at him in fear and awe like some others did so his words made no sense.

'Bright things should not be so… still' the man said, and that was not what he meant to say first Gabriel was sure of that.

'And little things should not be so loud' he told him in return. There were a few moments of silence then the man started laughing again.

'Oh was I just insulted properly?' he chuckled. 'Scamp, you know what they say about old dogs?' he asked.

'I dare you to compare me to a dog again' warned Gabriel.

x~x~x

'Hey Gabriel… c'mon I thought you were talking to me now… are you ignoring me again?' Dean crouched down in front of the archangel. His wings were not encircled around him, but he was just looking out into the distance. 'Gabriel' he drawled out the name again a little, but only quietly this time as he was quite close to the golden angel. Completely motionless, could've looked like a golden statue. So very bright, but too still… too sad. It was such a pity for such a shiny being to be somber all the time, but endless sadness was written on the archangel since the day it touched ground. Dean wondered if all angels were so sad or was it just this one, and if it was only Gabriel than what caused it?

He was snapped out of his train of thoughts when golden eyes shifted and locked on him.

'Hey Gabriel' he greeted again.

'It's you again' Gabriel stated.

'It's me again' Dean nodded. 'You were lost in your thoughts there for a while' he added. 'Looked real creepy.'

'It's too quiet' Gabriel said.

'I thought you liked the quiet' Dean said, because the angel complained enough about Dean being loud and annoying. Which was of course true, but he very much liked being loud and annoying.

'No' the angel answered simply.

'All right. You could come down to the valley, the spirits came back when I told them you won't smite them to death' he smiled at the end of his sentence. 'They're pretty noisy mostly.'

Gabriel's eyes shifted down towards the valley.

'There are humans there' he said.

'What?' he asked, because he knew of none. 'Oh, you mean Creide and Patrick? I tend to forget that they are, they're witches you know… not demon worshippers' he added quickly, an angel would definitely not like that type, Dean didn't like that type either. 'They already know you're here' he said too, not being sure why Gabriel minded human presence.

'My true form can be overwhelming to humans' Gabriel said. 'I have something to take care of' the angel said after a beat of silence, his wings spread and he was gone so quickly that Dean didn't even see when he took flight, it was just gone between one blink and the other.

x~x~x

Dean sat at the top of the hill again. It's been a few days since Gabriel just whisked away and the god started to think that it meant the angel was gone for good. It was a pity; it was way too entertaining to poke and ruffle its feathers and since he was not smote the second day he started coming up the hill he was pretty sure that he was safe playing that game. The archangel started to catch up too, which made it all the more fun.

He never got around asking why the angel saved him from the fire spirits either, which was a shame because it was nagging him constantly now. He should've tried getting more information out of Gabriel instead of teasing, joking and amusing himself while doing so.

He sighed looking down onto the valley and figured he should just get back down, since he would see Gabriel's golden light on the top of the hill even from down there.

He was just about to shift and take flight when the angel's presence filled his senses and his ear caught the sound of wings. He turned around swiftly, but the greeting stuck in his mouth. He narrowed his eyes not being exactly sure of the sight.

A man stood not far behind him, walking closer as a matter of fact. Brown slacks and boots, gold-embroidered red shirt with a green wool cape wrapped around his neck and shoulders. Gold brown hair reached his shoulder, but Dean only became sure of who was standing before him when he looked at his eyes, amber brown in such a brilliant color that they almost looked gold in the sunlight.

'Gabriel?' he asked.

'Indeed' the man answered as he stopped next to him.

'What-' the question trailed off as he made a vague motion gesturing at the angel's entire appearance.

'It's a vessel, a human body that can contain my grace and true form.'

'All right' Dean said, still processing and taking in the angel's new form. He couldn't even see the wings anymore, but now that he looked closely he could see the golden light pulsing under the human skin. 'That settles it… you're a man' he concluded, glad that he finally had an answer to that mystery.

'My vessel is' Gabriel corrected.

'Trust me, it's better if I don't get into that in detail scamp' Dean said, then he frowned… down at the archangel and grinned.

'What?' he asked. Oh and it was so much more fun to see him get annoyed now that there was an actual face with actual expressions not just a vague form of one.

'You're short' he said and stepped closer to make his point clear. The angel was a lot bigger than him even when he shrunk in his true form, but now Dean had several inches on him, that was nothing but delightful. 'See?' he asked as he put his hand on the top of the archangel's head. The ground was out from under his feet and the world titled so fast that he lost all orientation immediately. Until the point when his back and head painfully collided with the ground. Gabriel had one hand twisted in his shirt and that simple gesture stopped Dean when he wanted to move.

'And much, much, much stronger than you are' the angel said. 'See?' he asked. 'Brat' he added before he let Dean go and straightened up again, folding his hands together behind his back. Dean chuckled even if his head hurt a bit, then he got to his feet.

'All right, noted. And the reason you're all… dressed up in meat?' he asked then.

'Because I need to learn how to hide and assimilate on Earth, and so you will teach me exactly that.'

Dean did not need to think too hard to know that the tone in Gabriel's voice meant that there was no room for an argument.