Author's note: Thanks to Ghastly Eternity for beta-reading and to Maknatuna, Mello18, Tendencia, Creativity Incarnate, keacdragon, RejectedShyRebel18 and Maddy Love Castiel for last chapter's reviews!

Edit: Now beta-read by the wonderful Ghastly Eternity

15

Sam had only just fallen asleep when Castiel's mother returned, her second born son behind her. Gabriel very carefully freed himself from his partner's grasp and looked out of the window of the hamster-house curiously. He, of course, knew the human Gabriel he had been named after, but it wasn't like they had too much to do with each other.

"Do you think this is funny?" the adult asked sternly, but in a hushed tone.

The blonde twelve year old simply shrugged, completely unfazed by his mother's annoyed expression. He didn't even know what he had supposedly done, yet. He knew better than to say something like 'if I didn't think it was funny, the bike wouldn't be on the tree'. He had done that before only to find out that his mother had actually been talking about the fake spider in the mailbox.

"Your little brother was so worried that his hamster would die and you just had to use that for a joke!" the adult reprimanded the boy completely unimpressed by his nonchalant behavior.

The golden hamster watched the exchange fascinated. He knew that it was his fault that the human Gabriel was being scolded, but the kid was used to it and didn't care, anyway. Besides, finding someone else to pay for it was what made a crime perfect.

It was only then that the blonde boy took a closer look at the hamster cage and noticed the message written in food. He just had to grin widely at that. Oh, he wished he had thought of that one! Okay, it wasn't nice to play with Castiel's tiny little feelings, but to be honest, Gabriel would have only thought of that after pulling the prank off and seeing how it affected his little brother. He'd have been really sorry then, though.

"Okay, you won't believe it anyway, but it wasn't me this time," the boy told his mother completely seriously. Not that that would make much of a difference. He could look completely serious and as if butter wouldn't melt in his mouth in every situation and especially after he had done something wrong.

"Mom, I sort of wish I had thought of this, but come on," Gabriel went on talking without missing a beat, "If I had written a message it would have been something like 'bring me to your leader' or 'all work and no play makes Gabe a dull hamster'. You really don't know me at all!"

His mother was not impressed with that little rant, but the golden hamster thought it was very funny. If he decided to write messages more often, he would try to remember the suggestions the human had just made. The first one sounded doable, the second was way too long, though.

"You were the only one at home, Gabriel, of course you did it," the adult pointed out logically and with a hint of disappointment, "I really wish you'd at least be honest and take responsibility for the things you did!"

The smaller hamster was nearly sorry for the boy at that point, but then he remembered the time when the kid had tried to stuff him down the back of some unsuspecting girl's shirt. Payback was a bitch, indeed!

"The way I see it there are only two possibilities," the blonde boy replied matter-of-factly, "Either a burglar came in while you were gone and did nothing but write that message, or the hamster did it!"

It wasn't all that surprising that his mother just gave him a hard stare. When Gabriel saw that he was getting very close to being grounded he sighed and admitted defeat. There was no way he could still win this battle.

"Okay, I am sorry. I didn't consider the consequences of my actions and I am sorry for lying to you and I will go and apologize to Cassy, too," the boy stated with as much conviction as he could fake. He had used the same or a very similar speech so often that it came out pretty naturally, though.

His mother just shook her head exasperatedly, but she was willing to let it go for now. She was starting to think that her second born son was a pretty hopeless case, though.

The golden hamster chuckled to himself. He was no criminal mastermind by any means, but he was getting there, apparently. He was tempted to write another message sometime soon just to see what would happen then, but he feared that Sam wouldn't let him. Well, he had more important things to do, anyway. His partner was ill and needed a lot of tender loving care, after all!

"Gabe?" Sam asked very groggily. He had just woken up and had noticed that Gabriel was not by his side and he didn't like it. The smaller hamster immediately hurried back to his partner's side and made him lie down and rest some more.

"'S okay, Sammy. Gabriel's in trouble, but he's always in trouble, so there's nothing to worry about," the golden hamster explained for his mate very quickly and cuddled up to him some more.

"Just tell me you're not talking about yourself in third person," the brown hamster sighed and pressed his face against his partner's chest. He wasn't really concerned about what Gabriel had just said, though. Sam's main concern was getting some rest and cuddles.

"Nah, I'm not in trouble," Gabriel assured the other hamster, stroking the soft fur on his head, "Nobody suspects the hamster!"

It was just a couple of minutes later that the human Gabriel came back into the room, alone this time. He took a good long look into the cage and saw the two animals snuggling with each other. Contrary to popular belief Gabriel was neither stupid nor crazy, but he still thought that somehow the golden hamster must have written the message. It was the only explanation available, really.

"You know I got in trouble because of you," the human whispered to the hamster that only looked back at him with his black beady eyes, "Well played, rodent. Well played."