He knew he wouldn't have much time. Gabriel had taken Sam God knew where, to do God knows what (In fact, Dean knew exactly what; he just didn't want to think about it). Summoning spells never were a strong point of Deans. Or it may have been those they would summon just weren't cooperative with the situation. He didn't imagine Death was going to be overly pleased to see him. That was the understatement of the year.

"Let me go, or I will kill everyone I brought back, one by one, and I will make sure you have to watch." Death spat the words at the older Winchester, pacing within the summons.

"Whoa there, big fella. I don't need you to do anything. I just have one question." Death rolled his eyes, him impatience growing clearer as the room began to turn dark around him.

"Let me guess. This is about your little feathered friend. It always was." Death smirked, pacing slowly across the confines of the room, knowing full well what questions Dean had in store for him, but choosing to play dumb.

"Tell me what he remembers." Dean wasn't in the mood for the games Death had in mind before he would be told the truth. He needed to know what his angel could remember, and if there was any way for the memories to be restored.

"I reset the clock. He remembers nothing." Dean's heart sank. He appeared so tough on the outside, but the loss of his angel destroyed him inside.

"But…" Death smiled to himself, knowing Dean wasn't making eye contact with the monster. Dean looked up slowly to see the smile smeared across the skeletal face of Death.

"I didn't remove anything. It's all still there, hiding behind a decorative little wall with your name scribbled all over it. All you have to do is break it." He smirked as his form disappeared, the sudden crack in the trap laid for him screamingly obvious to Dean.

"Dammit…"

So his history with the angel still remained, it was just hidden from conscious thought. All he had to do was break down a wall… inside an angel's head. Yep, great, easy, Dean thought to himself as he fell face first onto his bed, just as Sam and Gabriel snapped back into existence, laughing too loudly for it to be sane.

"I told you not to do it!" Sam could barely speak from laughing, almost doubled over on the floor, Gabriel's piercing snicker painful to Dean's already throbbing head.

"No, you said I shouldn't do it. Not the same, Samsquatch." The hysterical laughter from his kid brother and pain-in-the-ass angel bitch was starting to get on Dean's nerves more than he could rationalise. Of course, the loud noises when a headache was brewing was bad enough, but seeing your kid brother hopelessly in love with a celestial being as you once were was tipping Dean off the deep end, jealousy threatening to bubble over if they didn't pack it in.

"What the hell did you do this time, ass?" Dean's voice was muffled by the pillows, barely audible by human senses, but Gabriel wasn't human and just burst into hysterics again. Dean was about ready to kill him when he finally decided to share his "hilarious" story.

"Well, you know how the Mona Lisa always looks so damn grumpy? Well, I thought I'd change it, for the better of course." Sam was now on the floor, curled up in absolute hysterics and Dean was pretty sure he was now chocking to death on his own saliva.

"Dude, you sound like a wounded hippo, shut the hell up already." Dean snapped at his younger brother, getting the attention of both Sam and Gabriel. They looked at him with furrowed brows, their expressions practically ideal. Dean still hadn't moved his head from being buried in his pillows and had no intention of moving again until he had a plan.

"What's the matter with you, grumpy guts?" Before Dean could look up, Gabriel had skipped over to the bed and jumped up next to him, sitting by his head with his legs crossed, Sam now sitting in the chair across the room, face still laced with concern for his usually pretty sedate brother. Dena's entire body tensed at the archangel sitting so damn close to him, his hands curling into fists as Gabriel started to bounce slightly on the bed, trying to get Dean's attention.

"You wouldn't believe me." Dean laughed into the pillow, the sound turning into a strangled groan as he remembered himself what he was dealing with. Gabe tilted his head slightly, prying ever so slightly into Dean's mind, seeing everything he could remember, the alternate reality that now ceased to exist.

"Oh..." Gabriel put his hand on Dean's shoulder, knowing the strong man was now completed vulnerable, completely out of character and just plain broken. The hunter didn't react to the touch of the archangel despite the sudden shock it gave his skin, as if the wrong wire was connected somewhere and it sent dangerous sparks across a room. That's when Sam realised something was very wrong. Dean never could stand Gabriel. He put up with him for Sam, but human contact wasn't Dean's thing, and angel contact was even further down the list.

Dean didn't move the rest of the day, nor did Gabriel ever leave the bed with him, as if scared he was going to do something stupid (which Dean definitely had a habit of doing in desperate times). Sam still didn't know what was going on a Gabriel had deemed it a need to know problem for now, until Dean was willing to ask for their help, or started to risk his life for this. But Gabriel had made the mistake of forgetting Sam and he had arranged to meet with Castiel and Meg, to try and get Meg to stop attempting to kill the Winchesters out of spite. The knock on the motel room door was an unwelcome reminder of their arrangement.

"Shit." Gabriel's whole body froze the realisation that his brother was the other side of the door with a murderous demon and where was an emotionally unstable Winchester face down on the bed that wasn't going to move if the world ended, again. Dean groaned again into his pillow, the only sign of life he had shown for hours and it wasn't a reassuring one.

Gabriel jumped up, trying to grab a marker pen to draw an angel warding symbol on the wall to keep his brother away, but he never had the chance. The flutter of wings made Dean's whole body freeze, like a small animal playing dead in the presence of a predator.

"That isn't a very funny joke, Gabriel." Cas' voice hurt. The archangel shot a glance in the direction of Dean, who no longer looked as if he was breathing, so he sent a small electric shock through his body, causing a muffled insult from the Winchester, reassuring Gabe of Dean's consciousness.

Castiel walked slowly to the door, unlocking the many locks to allow Meg inside, scraping his foot though the UV demon trap painted on the floor. She walked around the trap nevertheless, refusing to step foot inside, despite it being broken by Castiel. She walked to his side and clung on to his hand. Not very much scared Meg, but she was always cautious around Gabriel. She had heard the stories of his little games, and she had no intention of ever taking part. Just as she clung to the angel, Sam walked through the door, gun aimed and ready, a knee-jerk response from the hunter at seeing his motel room door left open. He let his gun drop as soon as his eyes met those staring at him from inside.

"Well shit."