I started this before 8X10 aired, and after I watched it I couldn't help putting in a reference or two here and there.
Hope you don't mind~!

There had been a few times in Gabriel's existence where he'd been caught off guard by something, but it was a rare happenstance. Rarer still for him to be woken from slumber by said intruder. So it was understandable that he acted first and asked questions later, and only stopped his Holy Blade from skewering the shadowy form in his penthouse because he caught the scent of roses in their wake, and knew who it was even before they turned around.

"Gabe; gotta get me to the Winchesters." She was panting, never a good sign, and one of her hands was clutching at her stomach as though she were about to be sick. "Tell them… Tell them to call Cas, tell them I need you both." Her knees suddenly gave out, and he only just managed to catch her before she collided with the floor. "Tell them she needs protecting."

The Archangel wanted to ask who it was that needed protecting, but he never got the chance. There was a blinding, burning wave of light, and the body in his arms went completely limp, sagging against him as though she'd gone twelve rounds with a freight train. He quickly put his fingers to her neck, finding a weak thrum of a pulse push back against his skin as her chest rose and fell in the shallow breaths of the unconscious. Whatever had just happened, it hadn't been good, and he had no idea how to help his sister other than to do what she'd said.

He snapped up some clothes, doubting that a midnight visit from him while he was wearing his PJs was exactly what the two Hunters had in mind for the evening, and picked up the girl quickly, holding her close as he flew them both to where he could sense the Impala was parked. The runes on their ribs might have hidden them from view, but there wasn't much Dean could do to Angel-proof his car against an inquisitive glance.

The Trickster would have been lying if he said he didn't feel at least a little relieved when he saw the run-down cabin sitting beside the car instead of a motel. It certainly made finding the boys easier if he didn't have to try and track them down through sign-in sheets or simply knocking on doors. He zapped himself inside, nearly dropping the blond in his arms when he landed on something that squirmed out from under his foot with a strangled cry of Sonofabitch!

Dean, understandably, didn't take well to being stepped on, and Gabriel was about to complain about the terrible landing pad he made when the Hunter saw what he had cradled against his chest and promptly changed subjects.

"What happened to her?" He asked; eyes narrowed in the dimly-lit cabin as he tried to look at her more closely without actually moving nearer to the man holding her.

"I don't know." Gabriel admitted faintly. "She showed up in my apartment and asked me to bring her here. Said you should call Cassie and tell him that she needs both of us." His mouth twisted off to one side as he gave the limp girl in his arms a disapproving look. "Way to be cryptic, sis."

Sam seemed to have been pulled out of his slumber by the voices, because he sat up and pushed the hair from his eyes as he peered across the room to them. "What's going on?"

"Nothing good." Gabriel replied, carrying his precious cargo over to the bed and gently setting her down. "Budge over, Gigantor, gotta make room for the little lady."

Sam dutifully moved out from under the covers, helping the Archangel lay her out more comfortably before he spoke again. "Dean, you gonna call in Cas, or should I?"

"Nah, I'm on it…" The Elder replied, tearing his eyes away from the girl's slack face to close his eyes and mutter under his breath.

Within seconds Castiel had appeared in an empty corner of the cabin and without saying his customary hello to either brother moved to the bedside and took one of her hands in his. "We have a problem."

"Brilliant, Cassie," Gabe bit out sarcastically, "I was starting to wonder what it was we had. Thank you for clearing that up."

Both Dean and Castiel glared at him, but neither spoke, both more focused on the limp form on the bed and what might have happened to put her in that state. Cas gently put a hand against her forehead, closing his eyes as he stilled his breathing and simply hovered over her for a few moments longer. "Gabriel, this is very serious." He hadn't looked away from her face, but the other three inhabitants of the room could hear the severity of the situation in just his tone.

"Well, Cas," Dean prompted after another moment of uncomfortable silence, "what's the problem?"

"Ariel is no longer inhabiting this vessel." Castiel's voice seemed to physically slap all three of the other men crowding around the bed. "Something has forced her out of Annie, probably a spell." He glanced up then, his gaze shifting between the other three before returning to her slumbering face. "She should be waking up soon. I'm not sure how much she will remember, but I suggest you take it slow."

Sam glanced at Gabriel, who was looking like he should have thought of that, and Dean couldn't seem to take his eyes off the girl on the bed. It took serious mojo to work a spell like that, and usually there was either nothing left of the vessel, or so little that it counted as the same thing. But Annie looked… Well, for lack of a better word, she looked intact. She was breathing evenly, although still a bit too shallowly for Dean's liking, and her body was completely relaxed. There were no bruises or bloodstains that he could see, and that in of itself was a reassuring sign to the Hunter.

Her breathing suddenly deepened, and as she let out a sigh, her eyelids fluttered open. The whole room seemed to hold its breath as her eyes opened fully, and refocused on them, her green gaze flitting from one face to the other before she finally settled on Gabriel. "Do you have any chocolate?" Her voice lacked the usual depth that Dean had been accustomed to, and instead sounded the way it had back when they had first met. "I'm starving."

The Archangel grinned, rummaging in a pocket of his jacket as Cas helped her to sit up against the pillows, and as he handed the candy bar over he offered Dean and Sam a rather smug look. "See? Not a single thing wrong with her."

She managed a faint smile at that as she took the candy bar and tugged the wrapper open. "What have I missed?" She asked as she tipped her head back and chewed slowly, seeming to savor the sweet taste on her tongue.

The gathered boys gave each other rather hesitant glances before Sam took the floor and spoke up. "What, ah, what do you remember last?"

She pointed without opening her eyes, her finger directed towards Cas. "Watching stars with you. You beat Ariel by naming more stars than her first. She was so proud." Cas looked like he might actually blush under the sudden scrutiny of the other three men, but Annie continued before they could comment. "Then… Then it gets fuzzy. She didn't want me to see wherever it was she was headed after that, because I only have snatches of locations." Her eyes squeezed shut tighter as she tried to remember all the locations Ariel had touched down in, the snatches of landscapes slipping away the more she tried to grab them. "I don't know where it was, exactly, but she was with that Demon. The one you all hate so much."

Her collective audience froze for a few seconds before Sam decided he wanted to clarify that particular gem of information, the realm of Demons that they hated being a rather large one. "Crowley, you mean? She went to see Crowley?"

Annie nodded. "Yeah, him. He… Called her, I think. She tried to keep me out of it, but it's not easy for her to multi-task like that." She took another bite of her candy bar before she cracked an eye open and looked at Sam. "Is there any water? My mouth feels like the Sahara."

The younger Hunter nodded and moved away from the bed for a moment while Annie continued to chew, and the other three men continued to think. "Did you catch what Crowley wanted her for?" Dean asked eventually, the question beginning to burn against his tongue from being held back.

"Payback, I think?" She ventured after she'd swallowed her mouthful of chocolate. "He said something about some Demons she'd worked over, and she said it was just good business to get even." She paused, opening her eyes long enough to look up at Sam as he handed her the water. "I think she was talking about that Angel you met… The one who was trying to protect the Prophet…" She unscrewed the top of the water bottle and took a long drink before she continued; her voice softer than before. "Crowley isn't the most courteous captor when it comes to Angelic Beings, apparently…"

Cas sent Gabriel a look, which he returned, and then the Archangel spoke. "Do you know what happened after that? After she went to go see him?"

She shook her head, frowning. "After that, there's nothing. Until now, I mean." She shrugged, sending them an apologetic look, and finished the last of the candy bar. "If it's okay," she spoke again after another long drink of water, "can I take a nap? Ariel took care of my body, but there wasn't a lot of time for sleep."

"Yeah, of course," Sam replied before Dean could demand more answers, "you sleep. We'll be right here if you need us." He gave her a small smile, practically dragging his brother away by the arm so that Annie could rearrange herself under the covers.

"Okay, what the hell?" Dean demanded in a harsh whisper as soon as they heard her breathing deepen and even out.

"I don't know." Cas replied faintly, eyes glued to the floor. "I suppose it is possible that Crowley cast a spell on Ariel, but it seems unlikely that it would have given her enough time to contact Gabriel if that was the case."

Dean shot the blond a look. "Which leads me to my next question. Why'd she go to you?"

"Hello," he responded instantly, indicating himself with a wave of his hand, "Archangel."

Dean frowned, but Sam had to admit that Gabriel had a point. It made sense for Ariel to go to him if she had a problem that needed solving, and even if her instructions were for him to take her to the two Hunters, Sam would agree that going to Gabe first had been a good plan. "I think we're edging around the most important question, though…" He put in after a short pause, glancing around at the other three. "How the hell do we put her back?"

"Do we put her back?" Dean added, folding his arms. "I mean, what if Ariel left of her own accord. Who says Annie wants her to take over her life again?"

"Ariel wouldn't have left without telling us why first." Gabriel snapped at him. "And she told me that Annie needed protecting. Which, I will assume, means she plans to come back to her at some point. And since you asked, bucko, Annie will have a say in the matter. That's how it works."

Dean held up his hands in surrender, shaking his head. "Fine, whatever, let's just figure out what the hell happened, and then we can go from there."

"Agreed." Cas nodded. "If we are to help Ariel we must ascertain what happened to her." He glanced back at the bed and the girl curled up under the covers. "How we find that out, however, seems to be the more difficult problem."

Gabriel's golden eyes slid over to Annie and watched her for a few moments, his expression softening slightly before he let out a huff of a laugh and rolled his eyes. "Fine, I'll go. See you suckers in two shakes." He vanished with a ruffling of wings, and Dean looked from the spot he'd recently been occupying back to Cas.

"Where's he headed?" He asked, suddenly curious as to what the Archangel had planned.

"I… Don't know." Cas' head tipped to one side as he stared at the empty space his brother had previously been occupying, as though trying to see a trail that the Archangel had left in his wake. "There are several places he might go to discover what happened. None of them are very pleasant." He looked back at Dean and gave him what passed for an unconcerned expression. "Gabriel knows the risks involved. I'm sure he'll be fine."

Dean, for some reason, sort of doubted that.

Seeing as an Archangel had landed on top of him in the middle of the night, and then he'd been forced to sleep on a slightly-less-comfortable patch of floor because Sammy had been kicked out of the bed and commandeered his spot before Dean could call dibs (and he didn't care what Cas had said, there was no way that he was sleeping on the couch while it still smelled like stale beer from when the Angel had spooked him badly enough to spill his beverage), he wasn't surprised that his mood was foul the next morning.

His mood merely darkened when he sat up, stretched, and looked up to see the bed empty. "Dammit." He hissed, getting up and moving around the room looking for the blond in question. "Sammy, wake up! We've got a missing vessel!"

Sam growled as he pushed himself up onto his elbows, glaring at his big brother. "Cas took her somewhere. Go back to bed."

Dean paused midstride and turned to look at him. "What? Why didn't he wake me up?"

"He did." Sam replied, apparently giving up on the idea of sleep in favor of sitting up and pushing the hair from his eyes. "You told him to shut up and go ahead. I don't think you even really heard what he said." He chuckled, rubbing his eyes. "Annie got a kick out of that."

Dean denied the faint heat in his cheeks that told of a blush, and instead started to change into fresh clothes. He was just pulling on a new over-shirt when the door opened, and Annie walked back in, a towel in one hand and a button down in the other. Her hair was wet, and Dean could see tiny beads of water still on her bare shoulders. "Where'd Cas take you?"

"Back to my old house." She replied, quickly coming the rest of the way in and closing the door behind her. She dabbed at her shoulders and then pulled on the button down, doing up the buttons quickly. "Needed to freshen up." It was as she was tugging the shirt on, over the black undershirt, that Dean saw the tattoo on her left shoulder blade.

"When did you get your ink?" He asked with raised eyebrows, gesturing towards her shoulder when she turned to look at him.

She raised a hand self-consciously to hover over her shoulder, smiling sheepishly. "Right after Ariel asked me… She said it would be better if I waited, because then it wouldn't hurt as much." She shrugged, her hands going back to her sides to slip into her jean's pockets. "She was right. I didn't feel a thing." She seemed to realize Sam was still curled up in what passed for a bed, and a faint sheen of pink rose into her cheeks. "Ah, I'll be outside, if you need me." She nodded to them both a little awkwardly, grabbing her towel and slipping back outside.

Dean watched her go, and then turned to look at Sam. "You good?" He waited for a brief nod from his brother before he followed the blond out the door, giving her a slight smile when she turned to look at him. "Hey, we're gonna look after you while she's away… You know that, right?"

Annie smiled, nodding. "Yeah, I know." She continued to rub at her hair with the towel, trying to get it to dry, and let her gaze play over him.

Dean found the attention a little uncomfortable, and shifted on the spot, hands sliding into his pockets as he tried to think of what to say. He wasn't used to being stared at like that, at least not by girls who didn't work in bars, and he found it a little weird to be scrutinized by a girl he barely even knew this side of. "What was it like? If you don't mind my asking, I mean."

"Oh, no, I don't mind." She offered him a gentle smile. "It was… Odd, at first." She turned to look out over the cabin's scraggly front yard, shrugging slightly. "I caught snatches of life here and there, but mostly… Mostly I dreamed." She smiled slightly. "Ariel knew what I wanted to see, different places and people." She glanced back at Dean. "It wasn't like living a different life; not really, I knew where I was and what was really going on, but at the same time…" She shrugged. "It was nice. And when I was dragged back into consciousness, for whatever reason, it wasn't painful or terrible or anything like that." She smiled, looking back over at him. "It was even better than the dreams, really."

Dean folded his arms, leaning against the side of the building. "Doesn't sound so bad."

"It was weird with Gabriel, though." She admitted softly, as though the Archangel might be able to hear her from wherever he was. "He let me dream more than Ariel did, but his were a bit more…" She trailed off, her cheeks coloring. "In depth, shall we say."

Dean could hold back the grin that spilled onto his lips. "What'd he do, make you a dancer at a club?"

She shook her head, managing a soft giggle. "Candy striper." When Dean's eyebrows shot up his forehead she held up her hands in surrender. "Hey, man, don't look at me. All I know is that I couldn't even look at a lollipop for the next week without wanting to blush." She raked her fingers through her hair, clearly trying to comb it back into order. "But he was nice," she sent Dean a soft smile, "he doesn't really let anyone else see it, but he has a soft side."

Dean snorted softly. "I somehow doubt that." But it was an empty argument and they both knew it. The Hunter may have doubted just how cute and cuddly Gabe was on the inside, but he knew that the Archangel had a soft spot a mile wide when it came to his sister. "So, you don't know what happened to Ariel?" He asked softly, wishing they could get a straight answer about what had happened to the Seraphim.

"Not a clue, unfortunately." She looked down at her shoes, frowning. "It feels weird with her gone… Like, if one of your muscles atrophies, and then you have to get used to using it again. It's like I have to relearn how my body moves, because I've been used to just kicking back and riding shotgun for so long."

"Everything still where it should be?" He asked; genuine concern laced in with his flippant tone. The last thing he wanted was for something bad to happen to her while her Guardian Angel was away.

"Yeah, just a little stiff." She rolled her shoulders, finally deciding she'd done enough damage to her hair and giving up the attempt to get it to look perfect.

Dean watched her for another long moment of silence, taking in the changes to her posture and general air that she gave off. Annie was tiny compared to Ariel, the vessel giving off a shyer vibe than Dean would have expected. She spoke more softly, in a lighter tone of voice, and rarely looked him in the eye, even when addressing him directly. Where Ariel had been able to walk into a room and take control of a situation, Annie was more the type to slip quietly into the back and pretend she didn't exist. "If she comes back, will you let her back in?"

"In a heartbeat." She replied without hesitation, shrugging as she turned to look at him with a shy smile. "Honestly, I really miss having her around."

"She said being her vessel was like being hog-tied to a galaxy." He pointed out. "Doesn't it get a bit cramped?"

She laughed at that, shaking her head. "Yeah, a little, but I'm usually too busy dreaming to realize. It's only when there's something stressful going on, for her or for me, that I remember how uncomfortable sharing the space is." She looked down at her hands, running her right thumb hard against her left palm, as though she were trying to mark a trail against her skin from the pressure. "But… I never had a family, other than my mom, I mean, so the fact that Ariel came back to put hers back together again seems like a worthwhile cause to me." She looked back up at him, and he could see the resolve in her eyes. "So if she needs me for a little while longer, in order to help out her family, then I don't care how cramped it gets, she can run around in my skin for as long as it takes."

Dean probably would have said something, although he wasn't entirely sure what you could say to that, but just then the sound of wings wafted up the steps to him from the yard, and he turned to see Gabriel standing a few feet from him, grinning in a spot of sunshine. His hair was ruffled, and one side of his jacket collar was sticking up at an awkward angle, but otherwise he seemed intact.

"Woo, look at you two!" He exclaimed, bounding up the steps and winking at Annie. "Getting on like a house on fire!" He pulled on a more serious expression, looking between the two of them a moment before he raised his eyebrows at Dean. "Is there something you should be telling me? Because I get it, she's adorable, but that's my sister's vessel you're eyeing, bucko, and I'm not sure how I feel about that." He smirked as soon as Dean glared at him, and quickly switched topics. "Is the Abominable Sam-man up; or do we have to wait around for him before we get this circus on the road?"

Dean rolled his eyes, nearly growling at the Archangel as he turned and headed back into the cabin. "No, Sam should be up by now." He held the door open for Annie, who was waved in first with a flourish by a bowing Gabriel, and led the way back into the cabin, finding Sam already sitting at the table with the laptop open. "So what have you got for us, Gabe?"

The Archangel took a moment to smooth back his hair and fix his collar before replying, a rather smug smirk plastering itself onto his face. "I have an answer for you two yahoos," he replied with a wink, "and luckily for you, people still believe in Loki, even though you managed to blow my cover to practically the entire Pantheon back when Luci iced me." He sent Dean a disapproving look, but continued before the Hunter could reply. "Ariel is in heaven."

"Well great," Sam answered, "we just send you up there and problem solved, right?"

"Unfortunately, Samsquatch, it won't be that easy." Gabriel continued, snapping up a champagne glass of Skittles and popping one into his mouth. "I can't go back up to the city in the clouds."

"Why not?" Dean asked. "You're an Archangel."

"A supposedly dead Archangel," Gabriel reminded him, "which means that if I show up back home again, getting the Welcome Back confetti out of my hair will not be the worst of my problems." He tossed a few more candies into his mouth before he offered the glass to Annie, who shyly took a few, and then looked between the two brothers. "So, anytime you two geniuses find a better way back upstairs, I am all ears."

Dean looked at Sam, who looked back with an equally plaintive expression, and they both sighed in unison.

"Garth?" Sam suggested; an eyebrow quirking upwards.

"Garth." Dean confirmed, pinching the bridge of his nose at the very idea of asking the other Hunter for help. "But I swear; if he mentions the tooth fairy again, I am outta there."

Sam merely grinned.

Garth looked genuinely surprised to see the Winchesters on his doorstep. He looked even more surprised to see the two angels and the empty vessel standing a few feet away as well. "What did you two idjits do this time?" He asked with a sigh, managing to fix both boys with a disapproving look at the same time.

"We lost a Seraphim." Sam answered simply. "To be more specific, we lost her, found her, and now need a way to bring her back from heaven."

Garth blinked a few times in quick succession, processing that before he shook his head and opened the door open wider. "Well, come on in, don't mind the books." He looked back at the other three stragglers at the bottom of the porch steps, and motioned them closer. "You too, might as well have the whole gang in one place."

Annie sent him an apologetic smile as she slipped past, looking about curiously as she followed Sam and Dean further into the house. "I was under the impression," Cas spoke as he followed Garth into the house and closed the door behind them, "that you were staying on your boat with the Prophet."

"Kid said he needed some space," Garth answered with a shrug, "figured I'd give it to him. Besides, he knows how to get in touch if he needs me." He plopped himself down in a wide leather chair behind the crowded desk, motioning for the rest of them to take seats as well. "So, what's this angelic problem you need my help with?"

"She," Gabriel indicated Annie; "is a vessel. Something tore what was living in her out, and we'd like it back." He plopped down on one side of the sofa, and Annie perched carefully next to him.

"As we understand it, she's back in heaven now." The blond continued once she was seated comfortably. "The boys thought maybe you could help us find a way to bring her back…" Her tone was hopeful, even though she looked doubtful about the whole idea. "If there's some spell, or ritual, maybe?"

Garth let out a long breath and rubbed the back of his neck. "A few come to mind, summoning rituals that have been a bit altered, but they aren't real easy…"

"We will do whatever is required." Castiel spoke from his post by the doorway, his expression drawn. "So please, tell us what these rituals might entail."

"Blood, mostly," Garth shrugged uncomfortably, opening one of the drawers on his desk and rummaging through it, "a few other things that slip my mind. But there is one thing I know we need for sure." He paused, glancing between all five of them before his gaze settled on Annie. "An empty vessel."

If Cas' posture could have stiffened even more, Dean was sure it would have. "Define 'empty', Garth." The Hunter grumbled, glaring at the lanky man behind the desk.

"He means soulless." Gabriel explained softly. "He means we need to remove Annie's soul without injuring her body."

Garth nodded slowly, looking uncomfortable, and pulled a rather battered looking leather book from the drawer, closing it before he put the book on the desk and began to flip through it. "The ritual not only brings her back, it'll seal her in. She won't go for any more trips upstairs without warning."

"Okay, so how do we ditch my soul?" The question earned the girl a collection of odd looks, but she ignored all of them in favor of continuing to look at Garth. "Do we just have someone tug it out, or do I have to actually snuff it?"

"Annie!" Dean's voice came out harsher than he had intended, but he decided it was probably due to the stress of the situation, and he was entitled to react this strongly. "No one is snuffing it today. And there's no way we're gonna rip out your soul." He still had memories of that God-awful experience that Sam had put him through, and thanks very much, he did not want to have to relive that nightmare again.

Sam seemed to be of the same mind, because he offered her a gentle smile from the other side of the room. "We'll figure something else out."

"Why?" She looked genuinely confused as she glanced between the two of them. "We have a plan now, why come up with another that might not work."

"Because this one doesn't work!" Dean argued. "Why are you so ready to kick your soul out, Annie? That's not okay!"

"Why are you so ready not to?" She countered. "It's my soul, Dean, I can do what I like with it." He stared at her, effectively silenced by the outburst. Gone was the shy girl from before, and in her place was a feisty side that the Hunter hadn't even known existed. "So, as I was saying," she continued in a softer tone of voice, returning her gaze to their host, "how do we ditch my soul?"

Gabriel was looking at her the way he had the night before when she'd been sleeping, his eyes soft around the corners and his smile so much softer than usual. "I could take care of that for you, kiddo," he offered softly, "I promise I'll be gentle."

Annie smiled at him, nodding. "Would that work, Garth? We have to do this without hurting my body, right? So Gabriel could take out my soul and the ritual would still work, right?"

"Yeah, it should…" Garth muttered, trying to ignore the glare Dean was sending his way. "As long as you're okay with that."

"Anything for Ariel." The blond replied instantly, standing up and looking expectantly at the Archangel. "So, are you gonna do this here, or should we go somewhere a little more private?"

Gabe waggled his eyebrows at her and stood, bowing with a grand sweep of his hand. "After you, madam!" He motioned for Cas to follow them as they moved down the hall and followed Garth's directions into the other room.

"You cannot be serious!" Dean hissed to Garth, moving to tower over the other Hunter. "We can't just yank someone's soul out and hope the ritual goes okay!"

"The ritual will work, Dean," Garth snapped back, "so have a little faith, and let's get this show on the road!" He stood and slammed his hands onto the desk, trying to make his scarecrow frame look imposing in the face of the Wall-of-Winchester that was Dean.

"Fine." He breathed. "But if this goes south, and I mean even a little, I will personally make your life a living hell." He stiffened when he heard the muffled screams from the other room, and knew exactly what Gabriel was doing. "So, what do we need to make this work?"

Garth looked more comfortable now that he had a task at hand to focus on, and he relaxed, looking at the page of the book he'd turned to. "A whole lotta stuff. Some of it I have, some of it I don't even know where to start looking."

"I believe I can help with that." Cas spoke from the doorway, pushing his sleeve back down and looking like he could do with a distraction. "Gabriel requested that I be your "Delivery Boy"," he included the air quotes, this time appropriately, "so, tell me what you need, and I'll go get it for you."

Garth quickly started to make a list while Cas hovered in the doorway and Sam slinked off to go see if he could help keep an eye on Annie. As soon as the list was completed and handed over, and Cas had taken off to find the items contained therein, Garth sat back down in his chair and got to rummaging through another drawer. "While he's off getting that, I need your help getting everything else finished off."

"What else do you need?" Dean asked, eyeing him dubiously.

Garth straightened and handed him a stick of chalk, grinning broadly. "A nice big target for your Seraphim to aim at."

It was… weird to see Annie being carried out of the other room in Cas' arms, her body limp as he gently laid it out in the middle of the largest rune that Garth had drawn onto his living room floor. It was weirder still to see the bright, flickering light of her soul being deposited gently into a jar that he snapped up specifically for the purpose. It was covered in runes that had been etched into the surface (which Dean would have been willing to bet was made from crystal, not glass), and stoppered with something that the Hunter honestly did not want to know the origin of.

Sam looked genuinely pained to see Gabriel stash Annie's soul in the jar, watching it go like it was their last hope, and sat quietly in the corner while the other four started to get everything ready for the ritual. There was salt to lay out in lines over the runes and incantations to be recited while blood was spilled into a bowl by the two Angels and Dean himself, there were sigils to be drawn on Annie's forehead and hands with the blood, and more incantations that had to be recited in different parts by the different members of the group.

All-in-all, it was complicated and confusing, and Dean was very glad he wasn't the one in charge of the situation.

Garth finally took a few steps back, looking at his handiwork and nodding his approval. "Few steps back, boys," he waved them off towards the doors, "I'll call you back in when she gets here."

They all looked a bit hesitant to leave, but Gabriel rolled his eyes and dragged Sam out by the elbow, and Cas gently shepherded Dean out with looks and half-aborted gestures, and when they were all finally out, Dean didn't feel any better about it. He couldn't get rid of the image of Garth painting sigils across her skin in his blood, while she laid there limp and empty, and he'd say even Purgatory didn't have much over on that experience.

He paced back and forth across the front porch of the house, earning him glares from both Sam and the midget who was standing beside him, but he ignored them both in favor of glaring the peeling wooden boards beneath his feet into submission and trying to ignore the mumbled chanting that was floating out to him from inside. He didn't want to have to think about what might happen if this didn't work, what Annie would end up becoming if Gabriel couldn't shove her soul back, what that would mean for all of them, not just the Hunters. Ariel had been there to protect all of them, not just the two humans, and Dean knew not having their sister around would seriously affect the two Angels.

He froze when he heard the chanting stop, and looked up through the screen door in time to see light flood the room. He didn't stop to think about what he was doing before he did it, instinct taking over his brain before reason had a chance to, and he practically kicked the door open in his hurry to get inside and see what had happened.

Garth looked surprised, as though he hadn't been expecting this to actually work, and Annie's eyes were open wide, her head tipped back and her mouth hanging open in a gasp that was filling her lungs with air. Dean landed on his knees next to her, waiting for a sign that this was the girl they'd been trying to get back, and not some strange hybrid between the three possibilities.

"Gettin' worried about me, are you kiddo?" She managed after a moment, her eyes refocusing up on the Hunter's face. "Didn't know you were so attached."

"Just wanted to make sure I didn't have to find myself another Guardian." He grinned, trying to play off his concern as no big deal. "I mean come on, that'd be a massive pain in my ass. 'Sides, what'd Gabe do without you to keep him in line?" He winked, offering her a hand and pulling her up into a sitting position, relief flooding through him as he continued to watch her readjust to being in a meat suit. "That'd just be a nightmare."

She laughed, rubbing at her head and closing her eyes. "Dad, what'd you do to me? It feels really…" She froze as her brothers slowly moved back into the room, Gabriel looking far too guilty for his own good. "Empty." She finished her sentence, glaring at Gabriel. "What did you boys do to me? Where's Annie?"

"Part of the ritual…" Sam managed to get out, looking somewhere between terrified about her possible reaction to the news and relieved over her return. "Had to have a soulless vessel to bring you back to."

Ariel was on her feet and halfway across the room before Dean could do more than blink, and she was snatching the etched jar from her brother with wide eyes as she stared at the flickering glow inside. "No, no, no, what have you done, Annie?"

"She wanted to say thank you," Gabriel practically whispered, "to you and all of us. She wanted this, Sis, it was her idea to go ahead with it in the first place."

Ariel handed the jar back gently, having a wordless conversation with her brother via looks and tiny inclinations of her head, and when the Archangel had vanished from the room, she turned to look at the rest of them. "How long was I gone?" She asked the room at large.

"Only a day or so." Dean answered. "Other than being a little… Roomier," he gestured at her, "how do you feel?"

"Fine." She looked down at herself, flexing her hands and wiggling her fingers experimentally. "Just… A little lonely." She shrugged, turning to look at them. "How'd you hold up without me?"

Cas looked like he wanted to say something, probably something that would get him mocked by at least two of the Hunters in the room, but he refrained, and Sam answered her instead. "Alright, I guess."

"How was heaven?" Garth asked, earning him a collection of glares that he merely shrugged off. "What, I wanna know what dragged her back there against her will!"

"A spell sent me back." Ariel replied. "And apparently one brought me back downstairs too…" She trailed off, looking pensive. "Heaven was…" She tipped her head to one side and managed a faint smile. "Different than I remember it."

Gabriel reappeared beside her and sighed dramatically. "Oh, come on sourpusses! Big sis is back! Let's go celebrate." He snapped his fingers, and they suddenly found themselves in a club Dean had very serious doubts about.

"Really, Gabe?" Sam asked, giving him a disapproving look. "This is how you decide to celebrate?"

He gave the taller man an exasperated look, rolling his eyes a moments later. "Lighten up, Moosechester; you should live a little every once in a while!" He motioned after Dean (who was dragging a very reluctant looking Cas towards the bar), and grinned. "Your brother is."

Sam sighed deeply and followed after the tan trench coat being swallowed by the crowd, deciding he should probably try to save the Angel before Dean put his Grace in any more jeopardy than it probably already was.

Ariel looked ready to follow them, but Gabriel gently grabbed her elbow and led her away from the rest of the crowd, directing them both through the back door of the club and out into the rather dingy alleyway that lay behind it. "Okay, spill." He folded his arms across his chest and gave her a pointed look. "What the hell happened back there? And if you say "just some spell", so help me I will snap you into a dreamland the likes of which you have never seen before!"

Ariel sighed, running a hand through her hair. "I got sloppy. Stupid, I know, but there you go. I let Crowley put a spell on me, and I didn't try to get rid of it because…" She trailed off into a shrug. "I wanted to know what home had turned into."

Gabe's face fell, his head tipping just slightly to one side. "Sweetie…"

"Oh, zip it, kiddo." She snapped back coolly. "Stupidity killed the cat, curiosity was framed, you know that." She smiled gently. "So relax, I'm not going to get all melancholy and melodramatic on you because I had a bad day back home." She winked at him. "So can we get back inside before Dean decides to deflower our little bro any more completely, and maybe have a little fun?"

Gabriel laughed at that, a real honest-to-God laugh that made his shoulders shake and his head tip back. "Fine, fine, let's go save Cassie's virtue from the villainous Dean Winchester." He slipped an arm around her waist and led her back to the door, opening it for her before he guided her through. "But you have to make me a promise, sis."

"Anything, kiddo." She promised with a grin as they slipped back into the buzzing club.

"Don't go flying off again without warning, okay?" He asked. "I don't like having to track your cute ass down every other day."

Ariel laughed at that, nodding. "Sir, yes sir!"

Gabe let out a breath he hadn't realized he'd been holding, and led her back through the gyrating crowd to where the rest of their troupe was waiting by the bar. Dean had already downed a few shots, and Cas was looking like he might just join the elder Hunter. Sam was seated in a corner, fending off any and all advances that were directed his way, and Garth was looking like he wanted to question Cas about anything and everything, but was holding his tongue. Dean motioned Ariel over, apparently attempting to get her to talk Cas into trying whatever it was the Hunter was drinking, and Gabe went to sit next to Sam and glare anyone who came too close in submission.

Ariel was laughing, and Gabe sat and watched her talk with the Hunter and Angel, enjoying seeing her interact with the two of them. He didn't want to have to threaten any other Gods into submission just to locate her again, and really, he would burn this whole marble to ashes to save his sister.

And the whole world knew it, too.

"Happy to have her back?" Sam asked conversationally, taking another swig of his beer and watching his brother from across the bar.

"Thrilled to bits, Samsquatch." He replied with a nod. "Obviously."

"She worth it?" His tone indicated he already knew the answer, but wanted to be sure all the same. He watched the Archangel closely, probably waiting for the thunder and lighting and wrath to rain down on his head from even suggesting such a thing.

"She's always worth it, kiddo," Gabriel replied with a faint grin, "don't know what she sees in me, of course, but I know why I rescue her."

Sam chuckled at that, nodding. "And why's that?"

Honey eyes met soft green across the bar, and the two shared a look that spoke volumes of silent promises that spanned eons of time spent apart and together. "Because she thought I was worth rescuing in the first place." He turned to look back at Sam, a grin tugging at the corners of his lips. "Sides, she's family, Sammy, and we gotta look out for our own."

Sam grinned, ignoring the use of the nickname in favor of giving the Archangel a genuinely pleased expression, and nodded. "I hear you there."

"Although, ya know," he drawled on with a smirk, "I do draw the line and hawking my soul to save my lil bro…" He waved dismissively, chuckling as Sam elbowed him in the ribs and rolled his eyes.

"Shut-up, you know you'd smite this whole freakin' planet to be sure she was brought back safe." The Hunter replied in an undertone.

"Damn right I would." Gabe replied without any hesitation. "And she'd be worth it." He nodded once, the motion containing enough finality to put the conversation to rest, and snapped up a drink Sam had a sneaking suspicion contained more sugar than alcohol.

The Hunter grinned and took another drink from the dark brown bottle in his hand, watching the way his brother reacted from the other side of the bar. He was more animated, as though there wasn't anything weighing on him anymore, and if that was what having Ariel around did for him, Sam was more than ready to take a step back and let her come into her own a little more.

His brother was worth letting one more person into their lives, and if that person was Ariel, well… Sam sure as hell wasn't complaining.

See? Toldja I wouldn't just abandon you because of school~!

The song "Brick by Boring Brick" belongs to: Paramore