New chapter! Thanks for stickin' with me, I'm sorry it's taken so long. The feedback is so nice, and you make my day whenever you review.

Next chapter of You'll never walk Alone will be up as soon as possible!

Enjoy!

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The forest buzzed with nocturnal life in the brush where the four men crouched down low. The Winchesters both clutched their guns in sweaty hands- usually they would have no qualms with ganking the beast of the week, but these were humans; and no ordinary beasts either- and the angels kept keen eyes and ears on every direction for movement or life near the bunker.

Gabriel was trembling just enough for Sam to be able to feel it beside him, and wordlessly pressed their shoulders together a little tighter. He felt his heart clench painfully when the archangel relaxed against his body heat. Nerves were jumping up and down Sam's spine and he tried not to think of the worst case scenarios here. He was just so ashamed... he didn't feel like he could trust Gabriel on this one.

"You're brooding again. Aren't you supposed to be the one who reminds me not to bottle things up?" Dean sat down heavily at the kitchen table across from his baby brother in their latest motel. He poured himself a whiskey and fixed Sam with a stern look. He was about as nonchalant as a freight train.

"I just..." he sighed. It felt like a betrayal, and guilt weighed in his chest like lead. "I don't want Gabe going out on this- this mission... I don't think it's safe, he's not... he's not healthy: he's unstable and scared and-"

"you think he's gonna try pullin' another swan dive?" Dean finished, looking at Sam with blank but concerned eyes. Sam swallowed down bile at just how easily his brother could say something like that.

He could picture Gabriel, writhing and glowing rays of violent golden light on the floor of that rotting barn. He gulped through his tight throat in a way that he really hoped wasn't audible to Dean, and nodded jerkily. He couldn't look up, not when Dean would have that look on his face- the concern that he used to show for his baby brother when they were snot nosed kids, and Sam scraped his knee- big green eyes full of concern and sympathy and anger. Anger that he couldn't stop Sam from hurting- Sam knew how much baggage his brother carried from the people he felt he failed, and he hated knowing he was on that list in Dean's mind.

"God, it's just so selfish." Dean hissed, and Sam heard the whiskey glass clank back on the table. He glanced quickly over at the bed where Gabe was sleeping, with Cas sitting by his side before he turned his eyes back to the whiskey.

"Stop it..."

'Stop what? The guy knew how much it'd kill you to lose him, and he goes and tries to off himself?- that's not cool!"

"Stop it!" He whispered harshly. He was so sick of it. Gabriel genuinely felt unwanted- maybe even hated, or ridiculed- by everyone around him. It wasn't selfish to him, because Sam's hiding and secrets made him feel like he had no other choice. Like he couldn't blend in anywhere, and could never be loved. He still didn't believe Sam loved him, and it was a slow, crawling process back to health, but Sam didn't blame him one bit for his Grace Combustion. And Dean wasn't making him feel any better about the current situation.

Dean seemed to sense this, and heaved a sigh. The tension filtered mostly out of the room with the tension in Dean's muscles, and for a moment there was nothing but the gentle whir of air conditioning and Gabriel's soft, sleep-evened breathing.

"S-stop it.. don't look at me like that..."

"You're not even looking back at me, Sammy. I'm just tryin' to talk to ya."

This was 'Dean language' for; I know something's wrong. Tell me so I can help.

Sam looked up at his brother with big, sad hazel eyes.

"It's not that I don't think that that he's capable, it's just... it's just, I don't wanna-" How do you phrase this without sounding like a complete girl and making Dean laugh at him? He was just gonna sound like an idiot. "I can't lose him again." The tears made him blush, but he just got more embarrassed with the prickling heat in his cheeks. He looked back over at the two angels. Cas was ignoring them as much as he could in the small room, and peacefully held a hand over Gabriel's forehead- keeping him calm enough for actual, restful sleep. He hadn't gotten that in weeks, and it made Sam smile a little.

"i don't want him going either. But we can't leave him here alone. I don't know what else to do." Dean grumbled, but his eyes were still their soft, sympathetic green and Sam knew that this was one of those rare moments: a chick flick moment was okay, as long as it helped him cope.

The leaves crinkled and crunched under his feet as he and his team made their way forward in the dark. They got a tip from one of their undercover units that their position was found out. And- if his hunch was right on how they sided- it could get even worse.

The Winchester brothers.

He'd heard stories about what the two- and their late father- were capable of, and nothing could be worse for them. The small battalion of men moved fluidly between the trees towards the bunker they'd been canvasing.

There were four of them.

Four men , able bodied and well built, knelt with their backs to them in the bushes by the opening of the hill. In less than a second, one of them was whipping his head around like he'd been making enough noise for a herd of elephants.

"FREEZE!"

Dean blood chilled as he tightened his grip around his gun. Gabriel gave a quiet whimper, and Sam froze with a gun in one hand and the archangel's hand in the other. Cas was tense and wide eyed, having just seen the troop of men approaching just before they barked at them.

"FREEZE! I'll shoot!"The leader cried in warning as Sam and Dean both started to turn.

"Take it easy, Kid. I'm just turnin' to look at you. I'm no hurtin' any-"

"DROP YOUR WEAPONS!" So much for shooting their way out. Not that that would work anyway, with 10- at least- against four. "I saw a gun- DROP IT!" the leader barked, his own gun raised and ready. Dean looked at Sam , and both of them dropped their weapons at the foot of the enemy.

This leader guy was not a 'kid'. He was graying and wiry and scruffy. His cunning and sharp little eyes darted back and forth over the brothers from behind big glasses- circa 1982.

"Hainds in the air- churn slowly." The apparent second in command warned darkly through the rough southern accent. Cas and Gabe followed the order- Gabriel needing a bit of encouragement from Sam to come out of his catatonic state of sheer terror. From there the leader took over.

"hands behind your head-d..." he choked off with an awestruck gasp, gaping like a fish. Dean felt his eyebrow quirk and Sam cocked his head a little in Dean's periphery.

They were all staring at Gabriel.

The archangel was more than a little uncomfortable with the attention- a sentence Dean never thought he'd need to construct- and slid just the slightest bit closer to Sam, shaking like a leaf and breathing fast and shallow. His trembling hand slowly came down, circling Sam's bicep and squeezing til Dean could see the imprints from his blunt little nails. The guns were cocked and ready the moment his arms started to move, but it only seemed to confuse -and occasionally disgust- the men as Gabe displayed an open need for protection from the tall hunter.

"5... 56028?" The leader whispered disbelievingly and stared at Gabriel for one of the longest seconds of Dean's entire life. After a tense moment, the leader took a cautious step forward, holstering his weapon as he approached Gabe like a skittish animal. Fitting- since the archangel was a deer in headlights.

"56028?"" said with more confidence now, creeping closer to the archangel, making Sam tenser with every step. Gabe didn't even bother trying to conceal how he melted into Sam's side, huddling close, but never looking away from this approaching man. "Are you specimen 56028?" The man asked, slow and calm as he kneeled in front of Gabriel, and Dean could see the tears in his terrified eyes. Sam's jaw clenched and every muscle was tensed as he looked at the leader with unveiled disgust.

"He isn't anybody's specimen." he growled like he could kill with nothing but words.

"Which Winchester are you?" the man commanded- suddenly harsh- resting his hand over the butt of his gun.

"Sam"

"How'd you find this angel?Hoping to cash in on that big reward?" contempt seeped into his every syllable and he glanced at Gabriel periodically as he spoke. Sam's confusion must've shown, because the leader of this little Boy Scout troop eyed him with a dark look through his owl eyed spectacles. "This angel's face has been circulating to all in the 'Harkness Fold' for damn near a full month. 300,000. And you're tellin' me you have no clue?" He scoffed.

"Must be a little behind in the times." Dean piped up- Gabriel looked like he was gonna piss himself, and Sam was gonna dive for his gun at any second. "The reward's a bit new. But you aren't in the 'Fold', are you?"

"Are you?"

Dean sneered and his skin crawled at the idea of it, keeping a cool exterior as Cas sat stock still at his side. "Hi. My name's Dean, and this is my boyfriend: Castiel, Angel of the Lord." he threw a shit-eating grin at Cas' 'What the Hell do you Think You're Doing' face. "And this is my baby brother and his boyfriend: GABRIEL" he practically shouted the name. 56028, his ass. "archangel of the Lord."

The looks on the mens' faces were priceless.

"So, who are you?"

"We- We aren't..."

"In the Harkness VIP Club?" he just nodded dumbly, standing up and backing away from Sam and Gabe. "Neither are we."

"I'm Smith. This is the-"he gestured back at the men." "But," cut in the second in command "We cain't discuss it heer. Too mainy eyes n ears." he looked around conspiratorially and shared a look with the leader. He nodded understandingly.

"Don't try anything funny." The leader- Smith- sent four men out to them, who sandwiched them into their troop as they wordlessly let themselves be led into the darkness.