Hey there! Sorry about the wait, but I've finished my exams so you should have a new chapter every couple days! YAY! I hope you like it! This is gonna be a bit longer than Cold and Broken, and if you have any ideas for the story, or have a way that you could see it going, I'd love to hear it! PM and review!

I own nothing!

Enjoy!

PS. This could be quite confusing. At first, Gabriel is alone. Then it's just Dean. Then it's just Cas. Then Dean and Cas. Then Sam and Gabriel. That's the order of characters being questioned. Sorry it's so weird, I didn't know what else to do!

"How long were you incarcerated?"

"About a month." Gabriel really hoped the smirk held up, and silently thanked his- practically nonexistent- father that his voice didn't shake too badly as he sat down across from the two men.

"Where were you quarantined?"

Sam watched him through the chain link by the door, glancing at the men from time to time, but smiling- weakly, but reassuringly- whenever he caught the archangel's eyes. The tremors in his hands stopped a little just thinking about Sam's warm arms and steady heartbeat. He wanted him back- hating how he sounded like some clingy girlfriend.

"What does that even mean?" He scoffed lightly. Stalling.

"Where in the headquarters were you held in between tests?" This man- Rick- seemed kinder- or at least more patient- but Gabriel wasn't buying any acts. He bound him up with his collars.

The room swam in his stinging eyes, and every inch of his body seemed to burn with a fevered warmth under the bland white lights.

"Take it easy, now..." A soft voice rang in his ears like an echo. "This is gonna sting-"
The blinding pain struck him through to his core, and the scream ripped out of his throat. Millions of tiny daggers pierced the flesh between his vessels ribs and over his torso, blood flowing from everywhere he could see. He couldn't breathe. All the lights seemed to go out in his mind as the brutal pain and a sensation of unbearable weakness took over.

He barely even felt the last collar- the one sealed over his hipbones- and Gabriel slowly drifted. There was no way out... He was going to die here...

"Where did you find 56028?"

Dean raised an eyebrow.

"Who's that?" He relished the exasperation and irritation on the weathered man's face. "He has a name." Why he was defending the little dick so much, Dean didn't know. But, there was definitely a developing soft spot for the archangel.

"Gabriel. Where did you find him?"

"The crazy house by the bunker." He restrained a snarky comment, just barely. The smug, shit-eating grin just couldn't be helped though. And Dean was just fine with that.

"Were there any other surviving angels, say... children?"

"Fledglings." Cas corrected in a bland tone.

"Fl- what?"

"Fledglings are angelic offspring. Infants and children." The unknown hunter shook his head a little- exasperated- which confused Cas; that was not a difficult concept to grasp.

"Well, did you see any fledglings at the Grayson barn when you found your friend?"

"Gabriel was the..." It was still hard to even say as he felt the waves of grief washing over him "he was the only one alive..."

The young man dropped his head a little bit, regretful and sad but not knowing what to do. Castiel still appreciated the sentiment though, and let just a sliver of his grace worm it's way across the table. A silent 'thank you'.

"What I wanna know is why were being questioned like criminals or somethin'! I'm Thelma-" Dean gestured to himself "this is Louise-" he gestured to Cas, which made the angel smirk slightly "nice to meet you." he joked, trying to pull these boys off track. They asked a Hell of a lot of questions, and Dean didn't know what for.

"We just want to make positive that our theories are headed right." Drawled the thoroughly unamused second in command, getting more irritated with each passing moment. That made Dean smile.

"Do all these 'theories' concern fledglings?" Sam frowned. Gabriel sat ramrod straight beside him, still close enough to touch the pulse point at his wrist when he had to. At least the 'resistance' hunters didn't try to separate them. They asked some individual questions, but Sam appreciated that he was able to join his angel. The separation wouldn't have ended well for anyone.

"I think I know what they're doing." Gabriel murmured before Rick had a chance to even open his mouth. He stared at the tabletop in front of them. "Do you have a map or some- some blueprints?"

"Y-yes. Yeah, right here-" the stocky man pulled some wrapped up- clearly stolen- blueprints from a nearby drawer, laying them out for the archangel and waiting with baited breath. He didn't have to wait long. Gabe furrowed his brow and drew in a shaky inhale.

"It's a breeding program." He muttered, in a state somewhat like awe mixed with revulsion. Gabriel's hands shook slightly, but his voice gave nothing away. "They- they're breeding angels like cattle, and selling away - or killing- the ones that don't... don't-" he cut himself off, able to feel the slipping grip he had on his emotions. Gabriel was shaking against Sam, who loosely wrapped an arm around the angel and lightly stroked his back.

He wasn't sure what he expected Gabe to do. But every muscle he skimmed instantly tensed into a firm wall, shutting him out.

"N-no."

"Gabriel, please. It's me- Sam, I won't-"

"Hurt me? You don't have to Kiddo, every other greedy sucker in the goddamn human race already has." His laugh was a disturbingly hollow sound, worse than the flashbacks, worse than the moment he woke up in Bobby's spare room, and the younger Winchester felt his heart constrict. Gabriel pulled his body away from his and Sam resisted the urge to chase his angel.

"But I'm not. I'm not everyone else, Gabe- none of us here are going to do that. We want it to stop too-"

"He put the collars on me in the first place" he pointed an accusatory finger at Rick "he was there when they transferred me to Carl's" that was Smith "an-and he was one of the guys that f-f-first took me." that was the southern second in command in the corner of the room. Gabriel licked his lips in frustration and almost looked like he was rolling his eyes at himself. Sam could tell he was scolding himself in his head, and getting sick of the cracks and shakes in his voice.

But he still wouldn't let Sam touch him. Not a single finger.

There was no getting through to him like this. Gabriel shook, his breath caught over and over like a broken record, and the air around him tensed and crackled with grace and sheer mania. He'd been scared for Gabriel before.

He was almost scared of Gabriel now.

The golden eyes glowed with tears and murder and from the moment he met him as a trickster, Sam knew how wrathful 'Loki' could be. He didn't know why he assumed that the archangel behind the pagan mask would be any different.

Dean and Cas stood in the doorway. The hunter wrapped his hand tightly around the trenchcoated angels waist like he would run away. Castiel's blue eyes were full of tears that understood differently then anyone ever could, and he gently shook away deans hand.

"Cas-"

"Dean, please." He pleaded to his hunter, turning to face Gabriel. "Brother?" He tentatively approached him, and Sam could do nothing but sit on the sidelines and wish he could reach out to his archangel.

"Cas, I-" Gabriel hadn't exactly been himself (understatement) since he came back. It was expected, and Sam definitely didn't hold any of his outbursts and flashbacks against the angel. But, he'd never seen him so... unhinged.

His eyes were hopelessly exhausted and so so bloodshot and sad. He curled in slightly on himself, his cocky posture and swagger completely lost in the ocean of terror and pain. He always kept his back to the wall- unless he had Sam at his side- like he was protecting his wings. He was like a caged animal, backed up and crackling with a need to just get out. Fear and pain gripped at Sam's heart til his own tears blurred his vision.

"I know, I know, Gabriel... We'll fix things, everything will be alright." Cas managed to get within a foot of his brother before Gabe backed up more. The trenchcoated angel raised his hands a little in peaceful surrender. The electric crackle of grace and power faded into the atmosphere a little more. Sam felt himself exhale, but couldn't say it was a conscious response. Gabe still looked more lost than he'd ever seen him, and he wouldn't know how to relax til the archangel was safely back in his arms.

"We're nothing but animals to them, we're money and sick pleasure to them, how-?"

"We're important to them." Cas reached a hand out behind himself, gesturing at Sam and Dean, and Sam tried to make himself look as welcoming and loving as possible. And hopefully a little less terrified. "That's what matters, Gabriel. You know that, Brother... you're just angry..." A tentative hand reached out to Gabriel's shoulder, and he trembled and shook under the new touch.

"I- I just.." words caught in the archangel's throat, and he crumbled completely, falling forward to land in his baby brother's arms. His hands clawed and scrabbled for purchase in Castiel's trenchcoat, like he would disappear like his other brothers and sisters. Like his father.

Sam waited until the energy dissolved in the air, and Gabriel's sobs became tired heaves. When he finally felt his feet move him forward, Dean close on his heels, the two angels were crying in each others arms. He placed a huge hand gently between the archangel's shoulder blades, right where the wings would extend, and breathed a deep sigh as Gabriel relaxed into his warm touch.