Castiel leaves, Dean, and the diner, and flies directly into an all out battle, being waged between Angels, with a few other Supernatural creatures interspersed, depending on the local. Demons have been taking advantage of the strife, and some of the Holy sites have been desecrated in the melee, resulting in further losses to both sides.
Castiel is loathed to loose this particular site. Tonight's battleground is an important one, one of the first Holy grounds that Castiel had warded and brought over to their cause.
The war is a war of territory: who ever controls the most controls Heaven. Each side has amassed an army of Angels and has positioned them amongst the sites, each side protecting each location.
The sight and sound of Angelic blades clashing together are deafening and each strike reverberates for miles. Their Angelic armour is awe inspiring, each are intricate and unique pieces of protective metal, which adorn the thousands of Angel's, in both their true forms and vessel's alike.
The smell of burnt feathers and flesh permeate the air along with the tang of metallic blood and their cloying embers immediately raise up to coat Castiel's nose and throat. Castiel moves the sensation to the back of his mind and focuses on the battlefield, to where his aid will help their cause the most. After a few moments of deliberation he finds it: the lynch pin that will turn the tide of this particular battle in their favour.
Raphael's second in command is dead center and completely focused on attacking. And so Castiel is able to easily alight within the high-ranking Angel's guard, and make the fatal strike before anyone even realizes Castiel is present.
It feels as if the entire battlefield takes a collective breath as the Angel's grace explodes; in an awesome display of power, light, and wrath. Castiel's vessel is buffeted, but he maintains his position with seeming ease. As he thought the battle is over within minutes of Camael's death. The victory is bittersweet for Castiel and his troops, as each Angel feels the loss of Camael strongly in their grace; such is the curse of a civil war.
The fact that each Angel is connected through their grace; emotionally, physically, spiritually makes civil war all the more devastating: win or loose. The despair and sadness are overwhelming; there is no celebrating of victories in this war. Only the heavy sense of duty that weighs on Castiel's grace so laboriously that his wings droop visibly.
Looking over the battlefield Castiel's senses trace over the vessels of the fallen; their wings splayed out in ash, in vast charcoal caricatures of life. This plane and the Earthly plane shift and merge revealing the angelic devastation. Each side is responsible for their dead and all are returned to the earth.
Following the victory his Angel's disperse and Castiel flies in the only direction his grace wants to be, straight to Dean. Castiel refrains from waking his mate, he simply ensures his sleep is a peaceful one, and uses the quiet time to contemplate his next steps. They are in need of a base of operations that isn't as well known, nor as easily found as Bobby's salvage yard. Which while on the outskirts of South Dakota, is far too well known in Supernatural circles.
Castiel casts-out his senses, searching for property unclaimed, and unreachable by human means. With the perfect property found, Castiel bends and kisses his hunters forehead, blessing his dreams, and takes flight to begin his preparations.
Castiel alights in the middle of the Western Canadian wilderness, where large swaths of the Country remain unpopulated and untamed to this day. Castiel uses his heightened Archangel senses to conduct a sweep of the land around him, and finds that no Human has ventured within 200 miles in the past hundred years.
The first thing Castiel attends to is wards, he wards the property carefully, such that it won't attract attention to itself, being unpopulated it should continue to appear as such. The wards are subtle, in they don't hinder trespass, but shield, any sign of life from unwanted senses. Any number of creatures could venture onto this land and never see, nor hear anything but vast Canadian wilderness.
Then Castiel creates dwellings, one for each of the three hunters he holds dear to his heart. These dwellings are strung from the trees and consist of wooden spheres connected with ropes, pulleys, and bridges throughout the tree bows. In the center he builds a communal area, where meals and research could be conducted. The trees here are large, and so the spheres are large enough within that even his wings aren't impeded when relaxed.
Within each sphere of residence Castiel adds touches that he hopes will please each individual as best as he is able. He is able to personalize his and Dean's too much greater detail, knowing his hunter as well as he does. Their sphere is dominated by a large soft bed filled with eiderdown and a large walk in shower with multiple rain shower nozzles. The bed doubles as a couch for viewing the TV with its padded leather frame.
The only thing left to work out was, Baby… Castiel knows that Dean would want her close at hand, however there are no roads in the vicinity. As a contingency plan he builds a lean-to and affixes special mirrors to the sides for camouflage. And inside he includes all the essentials for automotive upkeep that Dean would need for Baby.
Each building has multiple exits and access points, several dumbwaiter style pulley systems are installed throughout, making the system of tree houses accessible and efficient.
Dean wakes from a fitful slumber, to the sounds and smells of Bobby making breakfast. The last vestiges of his dream fall away too quickly for Dean to grasp on to. This morning is slightly brighter for the hunter than the last, having worked his issues out with his Angel the night before. However the peace of their morning routine is shattered by an early morning phone call. Bobby answers the call while Dean hurries to complete his morning ablutions.
By the time Dean is clambering down the stairs and into the kitchen, Bobby is depositing the receiver back into it's cradle and turning back to the breakfast, which may have gotten a little blacker than it needed to during the phone call.
"What's up?" Dean asks, sneaking a piece of slightly burnt bacon off of the top of the pile.
"That was your brother, he's gotten wind of a hunt and wants, backup." Bobby relays the gist of the conversation while simultaneously slapping at Deans wandering hands and shooing him towards the table. They sit down to eat in relative silence once again. When Dean is mostly finished with his breakfast he finally asks, "Any details?"
"Said something about six month old infants going missing, the parents being slaughtered." Bobby says not pulling any punches. Dean reels at the possibilities.
"Did he say when they are coming by? What's the plan, man?" Dean says in a failed attempt to lighten the mood a little.
"No, but he did say to tell you to get ready to go." Bobby says and would have elaborated with circumspect anecdotal advice if Gabriel and Sam hadn't appeared at the kitchen table with them mid sentence.
"Dean-O, Bobster! What's shak-a-laking?" Gabriel calls out cheerfully and unnaturally loud for first thing in the morning.
"Hey guys!" Sam says a little more sedately, even if it's still tinged with the same joie de vivre as his mates greeting.
"Morning ya Idjits!" Bobby greets back, while Dean gives a wary nod and finishes his coffee in one gulp.
"So you guys ready to head out?" Dean says in lieu of a greeting, his coffee cup empty and his plate scraped clean.
"Sure dude, you want the details now, or when we get there?" Sam says taken aback at his brother's shortness.
"Well if I know you, and I do, you've probably got some extra thick case file-folder all colour coded and indexed. So why don't you just hand it over and lets get a move on." Dean says, his hand out expectantly causing Sam to blush. Meanwhile Gabriel narrows his eyes and Bobby rolls his at the boys' passive aggressive behaviour toward one another.
Sam dutifully whips out his case file and hands it over. Dean scoffs at his nerdy brother while he speed-reads his way through the very well organized and thoroughly researched case file. Bobby takes his turn while Dean rummages through his baby's trunk for things he might need, still unsure as to their mode of travel. Meanwhile Bobby has been caught up to speed and the others are itching to take off.
"Dean, you ready to go?" Sam calls, head sticking out the porch door, he's held open.
"Yeah, sure dude just saying goodbye. Be in, in just a minute." Dean yells back not even looking towards the house, and Sam ducks back inside to give Dean a few minutes to himself.
Dean pats Impala's trunk affectionately, "sitting another one out, huh? Seems like Sam plans to sideline you permanently, doesn't it, Baby?" Dean mutters to Baby and heads back inside, his usual weapons strapped to his person easily concealed by his clothes.
The foursome alights in an alley, just around the corner from the police station, in a small town a few states over. The disappearances seem to be centered here, and two sets of parents are already in the morgue. They split up; Dean and Bobby going to talk to the police, and Sam and Gabriel hop into Sam's Charger to visit the crime scenes. A foursome of FBI agents on one case is a little overkill, but with two missing babies, the local Leo's are quick to work with them.
When they meet back up at the local diner. Dean has both elbows on the table protecting his slice of apple pie. They find out there are more than just the four of them working this case. When four more hunters enter the diner also gussied up in black suits and ties. Dean almost chokes on his pie; when he looks up to see his grandfather Samuel, waltz into the diner, with three hunters at his back.
The reunion is full of testosterone, and more than a few hurt feelings. Samuel claims he isn't sure why he suddenly found himself on Earth, after spending the last twenty years in Heaven with his wife. He also claims to have no knowledge of the being that is responsible, nor their reasons for raising him. The public nature of the meeting is the only thing preventing the Winchesters from demanding a battery of tests to prove he is who he says he is.
Of course Gabriel is able to give them more than a modicum of relief, when he assures them that Samuel is the Human he claims to be: their Grandfather. That settled, they come to a sort of truce and agree to work together on the case. The Cambell base of operations being nearby means they can use it for further meetings.
Sam and Dean pull stakeout duty, for the only child who fits the pattern: same security company, is six months old, and lives within the geographic area. The house is quiet, too quiet and they end up silently letting themselves in after only watching for a few hours to find blood everywhere. The mother didn't make it and the shifter is able to escape the house. As they are clearing the house they find the baby stuffed under an end table with a tablecloth barely concealing him.
Sam and Dean bundle the baby into the car, having found a few odds and ends easily in the attached garage and mud room, a quick thank you to organized parents, and they speed off to the rendezvous point of the Cambell compound. Halfway there they realize they need to stop for essentials they didn't grab, like diapers when it's evident that the baby might need a new one, and stat.
The all night Walmart they pull into is blessedly quiet, and the brothers have a surreal shopping experience, while simultaneously attempting to keep the baby from going nuclear on them whilst unprepared.
"Alright. I'm pretty sure there's some sort of paste, or jelly you put on the butt." Dean says, harried, while franticly looking along the baby shelves.
"Like that?" Sam says, showing Dean a small jar of Boudreaux's Butt Paste.
"Yeah, that, grab that!" Dean responds absentmindedly, already pulling more items into their cart.
"So… how do you know all this?" Sam asks, as he attempts to keep the baby occupied.
"Uh, Lisa's got a baby niece, so I've been on a few milk runs." Dean admits while his mind veers off on tangents from the night before.
"Huh." Sam says, lost in thought.
"Shut it." Dean tells him.
"I just said huh." Sam says defensively.
"I just said shut it." Dean says, as he's still pulling stuff off of shelves, when the baby starts to fuss.
"Okay we gotta get moving, we got water works in like T minus ten." Dean says, and they start rushing around like chickens with their heads cut off. They finish grabbing stuff and the baby continues to cry while the blond checkout girl goes as fast as she can.
While the Walmart customers stare, Dean takes the baby out of his seat thinking he might need a diaper change. Dean is holding him at arms length, tilting him like he's looking for poop running down his legs, when an old black lady comes up to them.
"Awe, what's the matter?" She says then continues to ask. "What's his name?"
"Bobby" Dean says at the same time Sam says, "John." so Dean says "Bobby John" of course.
"Hi there, Bobby John!" The creepy lady says. "Aren't you handsome, may I?" She asks Dean who looks skeptical but hands him over, and he quiets almost immediately. "I see now, Bobby Johns a little wet. No offence, but you two look exhausted. I don't mind, Lord knows I've changed a million diapers." She says and seems to be offering to help them out, meanwhile Deans chuckling awkwardly and humming and hawing. Until he looks over at the cameras and sees that the eyes reveal her to be a shifter.
"That a really nice offer, but I think we've got it." Dean says sternly, motioning for her to pass the baby back.
"Oh it's nothing, happy to help." She says sweetly still bouncing the baby gently on her hip.
"Give me the baby before I stab you in the neck." Dean threatens seriously at normal voice level.
"Dean!" Sam admonishes and Dean simply points his thumb towards his back where the camera is. Sam's face changes and the lady takes off and they of course give chase. The shifters skin coming off when they try and grab her.
Eventually Sam gets the baby into the car meanwhile Dean almost gets nabbed, for stabbing the old lady, by the Walmart manager. Their tires chirp as they squeal out of the parking lot, their items forgotten in their haste. At a loss for where to go they head straight for the Cambell compound once again. They stop along the way to fuel up and grab the absolute essentials and continue to make the drive to the Cambell's.
Both brothers can't help but think about what if's, as they go through the motions of keeping the baby content during the drive. Dean takes lead sitting in the backseat, since he has more practical experience than Sam. Sam looks back into the mirror every so often, and his mind wanders to impossibilities.
With thoughts of their Angel mates on their minds they decide to stop just outside of the town that the Cambells have resided in since the American Civil War.
"Hey Cas, can you meet us here? If you're not too busy?" Dean prays, while Sam taps into his bond with Gabriel and relays what's happened since they parted ways. Both Angels alight wings fluttering and wrapping around their mates in greeting.
"Dean, Sam." Castiel says.
"Sammykins, Dean-O. What's with the shifter baby?" Gabriel asks.
"Well that makes so much sense." Sam replies, as they all peer at the baby intently.
"What does?" Castiel questions, his eyebrow raised.
"That the shifter was trying to take the baby, that the shifter found us so easily…" Dean explains, as the baby starts to cry again feeling the tension acutely.
"It's the crying." Sam blurts out jumping into action to pacify the infant.
Dean's phone starts ringing startling the foursome, making the baby cry even louder.
"What?" Dean barks into the phone.
"Dean? It's Samuel, Mark just talked to the father of the most recent kidnap vic, and he says he's not the father." Samuel relays.
"Uh yeah, we figured that out already." Dean says wiping a hand over his face in frustration.
"You really should bring the baby to the compound Dean, we're set up for something like this." Samuel says and Dean agrees with a monosyllabic grunt and snaps his phone shut, stuffing it into his pocket.
"Something's not right." Dean says, and reaches for the baby who instantly quiets in his arms. "Come on Sam, we should head out." Dean says, and cradling his burden tightly to his chest starts towards Baby resigned and downtrodden.
"Dean." Castiel says pleadingly and Dean turns abruptly his eyes dark with anger. Castiel can feel how emotionally attached his mate already is to this baby.
"No, Cas." Dean forces himself to say and the brothers get into the car and drive off. Dean can't help himself; it's just an innocent baby.
Gabriel sends Sam as much reassurance as he's able, as they drive off. Sam sends back his thanks, but feels as remorseful as his brother does over what he expects to be a hunt gone terribly wrong by this time tomorrow.
They drive up to the compound and are admitted through the gate, after careful scrutiny by the armed sentries. Upon entering the compound the situation gets bleaker and clearer to the brothers. Both regret leaving their mates out of this confrontation especially when the Alpha Shifter arrives taking first Samuel's, and then Dean's form seamlessly, while easily evading all their weapons.
Dean holds tight to the baby fruitlessly, held aloft by a much stronger foe, just as the lights go out there is a sudden blast of light and exploding wrath that rockets through the compound singeing everything in it's path.
Gabriel spirits Sam off, to their pocket of time and space, both reeling with the result of Castiel's wrath. The Alpha and baby along with half the compound had gone up in smoke. Mark didn't survive the Alpha attack, and their relationship with the eldest Cambell was over.
Castiel waits patiently at his hunter's bedside, while he tosses and turns, genuinely afraid to wake him. Castiel multi-tasks with his battle plans, shifting his army from afar.
When Dean comes to, he's in his bed back at Bobby's and at the sight of his empty arms, Dean hugs himself tighter and rolls over pushing his face into his lifeless pillow with all of his strength.
"Dean…" Castiel says, and sits gingerly upon the bed; he starts to reach out a hand towards Dean's shoulder, but pulls back sharply when Dean rolls over quickly, eyes enraged.
"How could you?" Dean cries out voice strangled.
"I am sorry. Dean. I lost control, you were in danger and my Grace reacted to the threat." Castiel says, eyes pleading for his mate to understand.
"A baby is not a threat Cas." Dean sobs, and Castiel recoils as if slapped.
"I am terribly sorry, Dean, I didn't intend to kill the child." Castiel replies mournfully.
"I just, I just can't Cas. I need to be alone." Dean replies and turns and lays with his back to his mate, new tears streaming down his cheeks.
Castiel stands stock still for a moment, before fleeing to his peak of solitude in the Himalayas once more. He thought that his use for this mountaintop might be behind him after Dean had groomed his wings, but alas his mate is more complicated than that. Castiel is starting to wonder if this too shall pass, or if this is merely the beginning of the end.
Castiel thinks of the secret compound he built in the wilderness for them, and is bitter that he hadn't yet revealed that to his mate. He wants Dean to be safe, and Bobby's place really isn't anymore.
Gabriel can sense that Castiel is once again emotionally compromised.
"Sammy, I gotta go, Cassie is all a flutter again." Gabriel tells his mate, who hasn't said much since they returned to their own safe haven.
"Dean's gonna take this hard Gabe. He really, doesn't do well when kids are involved." Sam warns his mate.
By the time Gabriel shows up Castiel has pulled his emotional socks up, and is thinking up ways to get his hunter to move to the compound.
"Cas, what did that dolt do now?" Gabriel starts testily, before shoving a cherry tootsie pop into his mouth. Castiel hardly reacts to his brother's comment, although the barb does rub him the wrong way.
"It was my error, this time, Gabriel." Castiel says evenly, eyes locked on the horizon.
Gabriel sucks in a breath and blows it out slowly. "Sam said Dean-O would take the kids death pretty hard." Gabriel says and notes Castiel's wince at the mention of the shifter baby.
"I was just - so scared - Gabriel." Castiel mutters and his shoulder start to shake. Gabriel closes the distance between them by pulling Castiel into his vessel using his wings.
"I know Cassie, I know." Gabriel comforts.
"I didn't even get to show him the compound yet." Castiel cries between sobs.
"Compound?" Gabriel asks interest peaked.
"Bobby's place is too well known, and Dean misses Sam." Castiel says his sobs quieting, now that his thoughts were being redirected.
"Show me." Gabriel commands, and they fly off together with a thought. Gabriel has decided that this sounds like the perfect thing to get everyone's mind off of the recent losses.
They wonder around the compound slash tree house Castiel has built and Gabriel can't help but add his own touches here and there. Upon seeing his and Sammy's little sphere he gives Castiel a wink and proceeds to add his own brand of spice to the place. The finishing touch is of course folding time and space to incorporate his current pocket away from things, where Sam is currently lazing in front of the fire, reading a book of all things.
"Sammykins!" Gabriel cries out upon finishing up the last touches, making Sam jump a foot and spill his hot cocoa all over himself. For which he receives a patented Sam bitch face number 23 for.
"Oh my God, Gabe you almost gave me a heart attack! And ouch that hurts." Sam cries out while jumping up and shaking his burnt hand before turning on his heel and heading for the sink, to hold his hand under cold water for a minute or two.
"Sorry Sammykins, but I have a surprise for you!" Gabriel coos, as he uses his grace to make the spilt cocoa and burn go away in an instant. Sam is not immune to his tricks and melts easily, quickly forgetting the incident and allowing himself to be pulled towards the door (not that he could stop Gabriel if he tried).
Sam gasps, as the door opens upon the Canadian wilderness instead of the streetscape he was expecting.
"What's going on Gabe?" Sam asks, bewildered his head whipping about taking in the pulleys, ladders and the other structures attached to their own amongst the trees.
"Castiel feels that Bobby's place is too well known and found somewhere a little more secluded for our hideaway from home. This place is all his idea, though I did add a few touches here and there of my own." Gabriel says, a fond look on his face as he speaks of his fledgling's accomplishments to his mate.
"This is SO great Cas!" Sam cries out enthusiastically, finally noticing the Angel, since Castiel's blue and green tinged black wings blend so well into the forest.
"Thank you Sam." Castiel replies, a violent blush exploding on his cheeks at the praise.
"So where's Dean?" Sam asks, looking around for his brother. Castiel instantly looks away his wings slumping in defeat.
"Dean's still really upset with Castiel, and so he and Bobby are still in Sioux Falls." Gabriel replies for Castiel.
"Well let's go get him then!" Sam cries out excitedly. "Man, Cas this place is great, there's a river close by too isn't there?" Sam continues babbling while beaming at Castiel.
"Yes, just through that thicket over there, the river is quite deep and slow for the next couple of miles." Castiel says distracted again by his new project.
Sam and Gabriel enter Bobby's third of the compound together. Leaving Castiel to finish up any last minute touches, before the last of their group arrives. Gabriel easily ads a pocket worm hole from this room into the study in Sioux Falls. Where they find Bobby pouring himself a generous snifter of Hunters Helper, while pouring over anything he has on Alphas, in his vast library on the Supernatural.
"Bobster!" Gabriel cries out in greeting. Bobby had luckily just replaced the bottle onto the desk, so it didn't spill in Bobby's startle at the intrusion; he was slowly getting used to.
"Gabriel!" Bobby groused his heart needing a minute to restart at the sudden materialization of Sam and Gabriel. "Where did you idjit's come from?" Bobby asks while running his hand through his hair, wondering when he became fairly used to people popping into his home unannounced.
"That's the surprise we came to show you guys!" Sam says excitedly. "Where's Dean? I wanna get back to Cas right away."
"He's still upstairs, hasn't so much as made a peep since he got back." Bobby relays quietly his voice layered with concern.
"Well we have something that ought to take his mind off of all of that." Sam says and bounds off towards his brothers room.
"What's up with Sam?" Bobby asks not sure if he'll even get a straight answer from the trickster.
"He's happy." Gabriel says simply, a smile on his face as he basks in just how happy his mate really is.
Sam throws open the door and peers into the dark room searching out Dean. A pang of guilt runs through him, at the sight of his brothers balled up form. Sam slowly enters the room and Dean begins to stir at his presence.
"Dean…" Sam starts to say.
"Sammy" Dean says, his voice horse.
"We have a surprise for you." Sam says gently.
"I'm not really in the mood, Sammy." Dean replies.
"Do we need to talk about this, Dean?" Sam threatens.
"I'm up." Dean cries and leaps to his feet while Sam chuckles to himself at how easy it is to manipulate his older brother.
"So what's up Sammy?" Dean asks, arms overhead stretching out his sore back.
"You're never gonna believe this, until you see it with your own eyes, Dean!" Sam says excitedly and starts back towards the others with Dean hot on his heels.
"Just give me a sec Sammy." Dean says and stops off to clean himself up a bit, since it seems like it might be a while until he gets another moment to himself. Dean stares at his reflection in the mirror and tries to push down the feelings of guilt and inadequacy that the shifter hunt stirred up within him. Short self pep talk over with, Dean descends the stairs at a slower pace than Sam can stand in his excitement
"Hurry up, Dean" Sam cries out, practically rattling apart while he jumps up and down a little. Gabriel smiles fondly at his mate's antics, secretly just as excited to show the two hunters Castiel's creation.
"All right, all right, hold your horses Samantha!" Dean chuckles his mood picking up, in light of his brothers obvious glee.
"Now that you're all here, without further adieux…" Gabriel says with a circus big man announcer type voice, complete with a deep bow, and sweeping arm gesture towards, well the wall.
"You got to be kidding me! You got me down here, all excited over, The Wall in Bobby's study?" Dean says disbelief colouring his irritation at Gabriel's antics.
"It's not the wall Dean it's what's on the other side of the wall." Sam says and starts towards the wall. Dean takes in a huge breath, as he watches his brother pass through the wall and with a look to the others, he shrugs his shoulders and barges in after Sam. As Dean approaches the wall, he thinks to himself, 'Gabriel will probably let me smack right into the wall, just for a laugh.'
Bobby follows after a bit of prodding from Gabriel, and finds that the other side offers a clear view of from whence they came. The dichotomy is mind boggling, and Bobby isn't sure what to make of it. Meanwhile Sam is dragging Dean out the front door, or at least he thought it was his front door, apparently that, now leads to less cars and more trees.
"Gabriel what have you done to my home?" Bobby grouses sternly.
"Not my doing Bobby, I merely created the secret access two and fro. This side is all Castiel's creation." Gabriel replies proudly. Bobby makes a note of the fatherly pride he detects in Gabriel's tone, and follows the Archangel both lost in their own thoughts.
Meanwhile Castiel paces back and forth, until he's worn a path in the dirt floor of the forest, waiting for the others to return. He has never felt this nervous before, in all his millennia of existence.
Dean exits the house and is awed at the sight before him, he glances back into the house and sees what he usually sees: Bobby's house. However the outside is another story all together. Dean slowly takes everything in; the pulleys, the sheer height of the globe like structures suspended in the massive trees. And finally his gaze lands on his mate who stands off to the side near the lean-to built into the base of the compounds structures. Dean makes his way down to Castiel using one of the quick draw dumbwaiters to descend quickly.
"Cas…" Dean says sheepishly.
"Dean." Castiel replies simultaneously hope tingeing his voice.
"It's beautiful!" Dean says truthfully.
"Thank you." Castiel replies, blushing. "Would you like to see the rest of it?" Castiel offers, his hand outstretched.
"I would love to." Dean replies and accepts the proffered hand. Together they walk the perimeter, while Castiel explains the location, wards, and the reasons behind his undertaking.
"This is unbelievable Cas!" Dean tells his mate, his wonder and awe clear in his voice.
"Would you like to see Baby?" Castiel offers, having gotten from Gabriel's odd gestures that Baby had also been relocated when the hunters stepped through the fold.
"You remembered Baby?" Dean asks incredulous.
"Oh course, I know you would never leave her behind." Castiel tells Dean bluntly as he leads him towards the lean-to.
Dean gasps again at the sight of the personalized space just for his Baby. Dean can plainly see every tool he might need and all neatly arranged: it's a dream come true.
"Oh, Cas, you shouldn't have." Dean says, emotions choking his voice.
"But I wanted to, Dean. I wanted to do something for you, something to thank you for all that you have done, and all you have suffered through." Castiel tells him, as he pulls his mate into an embrace with his wings. They stay wrapped in one another until Gabriel interrupts them.
"Are you two finished being all emo?" Gabriel asks while Sam lurks just behind his Archangel. Both Dean and Castiel peak out from under Castiel's wings their cheeks dusky with embarrassment. "So did Cas tell you about the exit strategy for Baby?" Gabriel asks, as a smile stretches over his face at the sight of his fledgling Castiel all grown up with his mate. Dean turns to Castiel eyebrows raised, eyes alight waiting to hear more about Baby's garage.
"It is true, the other side of this garage contains a special portal. Spelled so that Baby can be driven out and arrive undetected onto any interstate the driver focuses on. And of course to return, simply drive her into the corresponding garage at Singer Salvage." Castiel tells Dean while Gabriel, Sam and Bobby listen and watch Dean's expression go from intrigued, to happy, to awe.
"With that said, I say we check out the rest of our new compound." Gabriel says merrily.
"I agree." Sam says excitement and happiness contorting his features into a not often seen wide smile. They split up and explore the compound focusing on their individual spaces first, and then congregating in the common spaces.
Castiel brings Dean to their dwelling the fastest way he knows how - they fly. Eager to show him the interior they alight just inside the door. The first thing Dean notices is that the structure seems larger inside that it appeared from the ground. Castiel's wings are able to fully stretch out with out impediment.
The interior is sparse but warm and inviting, simply furnished and split into zones. The room is dominated by a large leather surrounded platform bed, which is a combination of a couch and a bed. Dean can't resist climbing onto it, to test it out and discovers a large screen has been mounted to the ceiling/wall at the perfect TV viewing angle and that the entire room is visible from where he lays.
"Oh man this is perfect, Cas!" Dean exclaims, as Castiel joins his mate on their bed. The bed of course is designed to accommodate his massive wings and is therefore somewhat nest like.
"I am glad that you approve, Dean." Castiel replies, snuggling up to his hunter, their bodies flush.
They relax for a few moments before Dean realizes he hasn't seen the rest of their space and with an apologetic glance at his mate, disentangles himself to go check out the facilities. Castiel has outdone himself yet again and the whole area is a rain shower type steam shower all done in glass and stainless steel. With a large deep Japanese style soaking tub is set off to the side near a window, which overlooks the stream near their compound.
"Oh my God Cas this is amazing!" Dean cries out, and rushes out of the bathroom and into Castiel's arms once more. Castiel is overjoyed at his mate's reaction, his wings puff up and wrap around his mate. The bond is alive and buzzes with feelings of happiness, joy, completeness, and possibilities.
It's not long until the others make themselves known and Castiel and Dean join their family in the common areas of the compound. Castiel has created: kitchen, dining, library, study, lounge areas all with convenient back doors and wormholes to other places with similar uses. The fridge has access to Bobby's fridge in Sioux Falls, and the library is of course magically linked to any and all archives of Supernatural reference they might need.
The area is both indoors and outdoors and connects the three separate personal spheres making it the hub of the compound. Dean, Sam, and Bobby explore the space like children on Christmas morning, while Castiel and Gabriel look on with indulgent smiles.
Balthazar calls out to his brothers and both Castiel and Gabriel make their excuses and promise to return, as soon as they are finished. The three hunters are relaxing and exploring their new digs, when Dean's phone begins playing Smoke on the Water. Dean's expression turns stony the minute he hears who's on the other end.
"Ben?" Dean answers.
"There's men in the house." Ben says franticly.