Notes: Almost none of this chapter was from the firefly show. I just felt like adding some resolve to the story. If it's a little too fluffy for you, my apologies D'X Enjoy! And thanks again for reviews! WinJennster, you're awesome XD

Disclaimer: Ain't not nothing here that's mine.

CHAPTER 11

Later that night everyone has dispersed around the ship. Chuck is sleeping off his stress that had piled up since they broke down that cargo bay door. To him and everyone else, it seemed a lifetime ago. Meg has chosen to sit in her room sharpening her favorite knife after its use during the day. She was smiling to herself, thinking how convenient it was that no one seemed to question how Uriel had gotten out of those ropes so easily.

Anna and Bobby were in the clinic. The companion was cleaning up the cut on the preacher's head where the tray had hit it earlier.

"So, is this the norm for y'all? Cause if it is, then you are all nuts."

Anna laughed softy. It was a lovely musical sound. "We have our up and down days."

"Don't know how you can stand it. I just stood by while the captain shot a man, and I just let it happen. And I don't even feel poorly about it either. If that ain't a kick in the head. Here I was thinking I knew for sure what was right and what was wrong. That captain of yours is real good at blurring those lines for me. I'm starting to think that I chose the wrong ship."

Her face softened at his words. "Or perhaps you chose right. Perhaps you were chosen to learn from this."

The older man huffed at this, but still smiled. He always liked studying the new teachings at the abbey. Perhaps she was right. At least he got an adventure out of it.

Sam came up slowly behind Gabriel on the bridge. The smaller man was watching the stars. Sam figured it was as good a time as any to speak to him.

"I wanted to thank you for saving my life back there. " A long pause…

"It wasn't me who save you, it was Castiel. You don't need to thank me for anything." Gabriel refused to look at Sam and continued to stare at the stars as if they really were more important than Sam.

"I saw you reaching for the wound back in the hold Gabriel. You were going to heal me there…Why did you stop? You knew Bobby couldn't save me. You had the ability-"

Gabriel cut him off, "No I didn't. I may be able to heal like Castiel can, but I was nowhere near powerful enough to do it on my own. Whatever they did to my little brother was a lot more intense than what they did to me. He's their experimentation 2.0 or whatever. I would only have been able to give you more time, probably the same amount of time that Bobby gave you. "

"That's not it. I know there was more of a reason. Were you just trying to stay hidden? Afraid that we would turn you in?" Another pause.

"No. I was afraid that…that if you still died after I revealed my true self, then that would be all you would remember me as. That your last memory of me would be the lying freak that wormed his way into your life and ended up getting you killed. I couldn't live with the thought of you going off like that." The sincerity in his voice took Sam by surprise. He wasn't sure how to respond to that. But he knew that he had to tell Gabriel the truth of what he thought.

"Gabe, I don't think you or your brother is a freak. Yes, I'm upset that you lied to us this whole time. I feel like I don't know you at all anymore. I thought we….I thought we had some messed up sort of connection, but now…" Sam sighed. Gabe looked like he was waiting for Sam to punch his face in. Sam continued, "Now I guess we just have to start over. Hi, I'm Sam."

Gabriel finally tore his eyes away from the stars to look at Sam with a hesitant amount of hope and a lot of surprise. He smiled shyly which sent butterflies a flutter in Sam's stomach.

"I'm Gabriel. "

"It's nice to finally meet you Gabriel."

They smiled at each other, and then looked back to the stars. To Gabriel they looked more bright than ever before.

Castiel was seated at the head of the bed with Balthazar's head in his lap. He was humming the lovely pitch that the Impala had taught him earlier while stroking his brother's hair. Balthazar suddenly shifted underneath his hands to look up at Castiel. His eyes were a little wet.

"I missed you, baby brother."

Castiel simply wiped at the dampness that was on his face and continued humming. The sound had warmed him earlier, and hopefully it will do the same for Balthazar. Balthazar continued, "When I found out that you were gone…it was like losing Gabriel and Father all over again. Only worse, because I didn't have you there to guide me. I was so lost. I had to find you. I'm so sorry that I was too late."

His brother's hands stilled and rested on Balthazar's cheeks. He gave him a warm smile.

"This is how it was meant to be. We are all together now. "

"But you are…."

"Shhh, shhh. I know that I am broken. And I am sorry for that, but I see more now. I see everything. I feel more free now than I ever did before. "His face took on that dreamy look again that twisted in Balthazar's gut. More tears fell from his eyes and Castiel just wiped those away as well.

"I will find a way to help you get better little brother. No matter what it takes."

"What do you mean, "better"?" Castiel looked very confused, but decided that his brother needed rest. He was making no sense. Perhaps he would see better after he had a few hours of sleep. So he moved his fingers up to Balthazar's temple and sent him to sleep. Castiel had places to go and someone to see.

Dean was leaning over the railing again in the hold, just looking out over his ship. Obviously he had a lot to think about. Hell, they had just killed a fed, had three fugitives on board his boat, he had failed and Sam had almost died, and now he finally had some cash to use, but he didn't even have the energy to decide whether the money should go towards parts or food first. He shook his head. There was no way he was going to be able to sleep tonight.

A soft padding of feet drew his attention to the end of the catwalk. Castiel was alone and approached him still wearing that over-sized coat. Dean thought of sending him back to his room to sleep, but for whatever reason he decided to just talk to him.

"Hey, couldn't sleep?"

"I don't sleep." His voice had lost a bit of its flightiness and for a second, he seemed almost sane except for the part where he says he doesn't sleep.

Dean gave him a half smile. "You were doing a pretty good impression of sleep earlier."

"That was to restore my energy from healing Sam. Under normal circumstances I do not require sleep."

"That's too bad. I hear it's nice."

"I hear that as well. Did you know that a snail can sleep for up to three years? Truly amazing universe we live in."A pause and Castiel had moved to be shoulder to shoulder with Dean. The captain wanted to shift away a bit since they were now touching, but he just couldn't bring himself to move away from the warmth. Dude seriously had an issue with personal space. And usually Dean didn't have a problem with silence; he preferred it actually, but perhaps the day had been just enough of a stress that for once Dean felt like talking.

"How are you doing anyway? It has been a pretty exciting day for you."

The other man seemed to ponder this seriously before answering. "I woke up to find myself in a strange place, I have found out that my missing brother has been hiding this whole time, I have been threatened and gagged, and we were almost captured by abominations and killed." He stopped there for a moment to look at Dean with a blank look and then gave a small smile. "I also found out my brother is alive, I was able to see Balthazar for the first time in 5 years, I have met many fascinating people today, I learned a new song from your ship, I survived an abomination attack, and I met you. Truthfully, this is the most fun that I have had in my life and it's nice to be reminded that good things happen. I thank you for that."

"Wow Cas, that's…kinda messed up. I'm not sure I see much good that happened in the last day, or the last decade actually. Good things don't happen in my experience." Castiel looked heartbroken at this comment.

"What's the matter Dean? Don't you think you deserve some happiness? Is it too hard to believe that you can still take joy in the little things in life?"

"Like what?"

"You are alive. Your brother is alive, you still have your ship, your crew is safe for the time being, you outran a ship full of monsters, you got to meet some fascinating people….and you got paid." As Castiel went on, Dean's smile grew and by the end his shoulders were shaking with silent laughter. He met Castiel's intense gaze for what could have been a bit longer than necessary and then pushed off from the railing.

"You're crazy. You know that, right?"

"That seems to be the general diagnosis. But then again, you have thought that you were crazy many times before."

He wasn't going to question how Castiel knew that, "A little crazy never hurt anyone," Dean smirked.

They both laughed at this. Once the laughs had died down, Castiel looked seriously at Dean again.

"May I ask what you plan on doing with my brothers and I?" And the chick flick moment was broken. Dean hadn't even realized that one had even started. But he really did need to decide. It wasn't fair to leave them guessing their fate. But Dean knew what he had to do. He knew what was right.

"There are plenty of places that I can leave you guys that would be safe. " Castiel's shoulders dropped almost unnoticeably. "But it turns out that one of you guys is my pilot, which I kind of need. And truthfully, you will be even more safe if you kept moving. And Balthazar seems to know our trade pretty well. Perhaps he could be of some use to us finding our next job. And….you seem to have a few tricks up your sleeves. Your pretty badass for a little nerdy dude. And for whatever reason, I'm starting to like you…guys. So if you keep the crazy levels down, and you all pull your weight, then I can see you guys staying here…until something better comes up, of course." So Dean had made his decision.

"Thank you Dean. I will do my best." And Dean knew he meant it. And to avoid even more girly moments, Dean nodded and said, "I'm sure. Now you should go tell your brother's the news." He waved Castiel away to bed. But before Castiel left, he turned and said to Dean, "Cas."

"What?"

"Cas. You called me Cas, a few minutes ago."

"Oh, sorry. Castiel, my bad."

"No, no. You can call me that. I like it. It feels right." His dreamy smile had come back and he walked away. Dean shook his head again. Then Sam appeared from the other end of the corridor. He leaned on the rail next to Dean.

"We're still flying," he said.

"That's not much."

"But it's enough." The brothers looked at each other as the truth of that statement hit them. Dean just scoffed, clapped Sam on the shoulder and headed towards his bunk.

"Let's get some sleep Sammy. Tomorrow, we've got work to do."

Weird, I feel like I can sleep now, thought Dean. He hopped down into his bunk and lay down. It was silent except for a soft humming that he heard. It was soothing, and Dean fell into the most restful sleep he had gotten in years listening to it.

And the Impala rumbled through space with its slumbering crew safe and content and together.

BWAH! My first story ever completed! Such a happy feeling! Anyway! This is not the end! It is continued in part II: Pick You Poison. Please check it out! It's first chapter had already been posted.