Castiel was the only one with even a small chance of holding Gabriel still, which meant that Sam and Dean had the oh so wonderful task of pushing and pulling Gabriel's wing until the bone sat right once again. Cas' grace was only enough to numb the pain down but not enough to keep it completely at bay, and Gabriel began to thrash and scream from the moment they put their hands on his feathers. Dean had to do most of the actual legwork while Sam soothed his feathers down and tried to calm the frantic Angel while he cried himself. Sam Winchester always was an odd duck, he could take out Vamps and Weres in a heartbeat without blinking an eye but he couldn't walk by a stray dog without getting all teary eyed. When the wing was finally in place Dean had Cas help him start wrapping it up in bandages to hold it, while Sam held onto the shivering Archangel and spoke softly to him.

"That's it over Gabe, I swear…I won't let them hurt you again, I won't…you're gonna be fine now…Easy." Sam whispered to him as he stroked a hand down his back, soothing the man back into a doze as Cas' Grace worked through his system to ease the pain. Once he was asleep again the group rearranged him back in bed and Sam pulled the covers up over him.

"Sam, there is still much we have to do…he has many cuts and scratches that we must clean and stitch soon otherwise…" Cas began but Sam cut him off quickly.

"I'll take care of it, you guys go get some sleep…" Sam said without meeting eyes with either his Brother, or the Angel. He was watching Gabriel like a hawk and stroking a hand through his hair, running his fingers over his forehead to calm the still shaking man. Whatever he was doing was working because after only a few moments Gabriel's shaking eased off and stopped, then with a soft sigh his breathing relaxed and evened out making Sam smile in relief. Dean on the other hand did not look so happy, his worry remained.

"Sammy, you can't do this all by yourself okay let us help you…" Dean said but Cas gripped his arm and gave it a squeeze, a silent plea for him to leave it alone. Normally the Hunter would have shaken him off but something in his Brothers silent expression made him shake his head and turn to leave. "Let us know if anything changes…" Dean said as he walked out the door, leaving Sam and Cas standing over a snoring Gabriel. Cas was watching Sam watch Gabriel, a strange frown on his face…and he wondered if maybe…

Castiel moved closer swiftly and leaned over Gabriel, placing a kiss to his forehead and running his fingers through his hair.

"Feel better, Brother." Castiel whispered in Gabe's ear - far too low for Sam's Human hearing - and as he did so he watched the Hunters expression carefully. When he first moved forward he did so fast and with his shoulders squared in order to seem threatening and the Hunter stiffened as though poised for a fight but when he kissed his Brother and whispered in his ear Sam's expression changed…it darkened and for just a moment he looked very jealous.

"Interesting" Castiel thought to himself as he smiled at Sam before turning to leave, hiding a smile as the Hunter quickly began petting down Gabe's hair and running his fingers through where Castiel had just touched. "That is very interesting, indeed"

It was going on close to a week since Gabriel had come to the Bunker in Sam's arms and the Young Hunter had barely left his bedside, choosing to sleep curled up under a thin blanket on the floor beside his bed than risk leaving for a few hours and having the Angel wake up alone. Finally Dean had put his foot down and was ready to drag Sam out of the room by his 'not-washed-for-six-days' hair, when Castiel suggested an alternative.

One insane shopping trip later and Dean found himself in one of the bunkers many spare bedrooms up to his eyeballs in cheap easy to assemble furniture and various other bits and pieces that Castiel 'simply couldn't resist'. The Hunter sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose, feeling a headache coming on at the thought of all the fun they were about to have - he really needed to learn to say no to Castiel once in a while but the Angel had an epic set of puppy dog eyes and Dean just melted when he saw them.

"Dean, why did you buy two singles instead of a double…it would make much more sense if you would just…" Castiel said with a confused expression but Dean shook his head and glared at the Angel.

"Nope, no way! I ain't gonna encourage my Brother to shack up with an Angel by forcing them into bed together, screw that!" Dean snapped and Castiel pouted as he methodically began separating out all the pieces for the single bed he had just unpacked.

"-You- had no problem 'shacking up' with an Angel…" Cas muttered with a huff and Dean laughed bitterly.

"Yeah, but now I am ass deep in problems all cause of being balls deep in yours…" Dean snapped and immediately he regretted it as the Angel's expression went from hurt to hateful in two seconds flat. He didn't say a word as he slammed down the box of screws, stood up and stormed from the room, slamming the door behind him. Dean didn't even have a chance to run after him because he was boxed into a corner by a mountain of crap. Dean sighed heavily and put his head in his hands, he was a complete asshole at times and now he had some major making up to do…right after he finished setting up this room on his own and unpacking the rest of the of stuff Cas had bought. It was gonna be a long damn day.

It had been a whole week, but Sam didn't know the difference between one day and the next as he hadn't set foot over Gabriel's door since the Angel was brought him. Every time he woke up it was the same routine, he would check over the wounds to make sure there was no infection then carefully clean around every single cut and scratch he found. He would change the Angels sheets on his own, give him a sponge bath and change his clothes. After all that was done he would take out the book from the bedside table and start reading, watching all the time for even the slightest sign that the Angel could hear him, and that was how he would fall asleep again - with one hand holding the book and the other rubbing over Gabe's hand.

Castiel and Dean came and went day in and day out, bringing him food and coffee and always offering to help him out with whatever task he was doing at the time, but every single time he refused. Dean kicked up a fuss at first but after a serious talk in the hallway with Castiel which ended in a slammed door and a huffy Hunter he finally let up and allowed Sam to continue on with it alone. Sam didn't know exactly why but he knew this was something he had to do alone, and that one way or another he owed Gabriel this much…whatever had done this to his friend had done so because of him and Gabriel had defended him, but the Hunter knew something deeper was going on because there was no way that thought should have made him feel so 'happy'. Every time he thought about the Angel protecting him he got all giddy and couldn't stop smiling, and that just wasn't normal behaviour for the hardened Hunter. Something was happening and when Gabriel woke up - please God let him wake up - Sam was going to have a long damn talk with him and get the answers he needed. But for now…

Sam was sponging Gabriel down gently with a warm wash cloth when it happened. He had stripped the man down and he was working his way over the Angels belly, down to his hips and finally around his groin when a voice startled him.

"You know usually a guy would buy me dinner first…" The voice spoke and Sam jumped with a squeak, turning to face the soft smile on Gabriel's face. "Hey Sammy…long time no WOW!" Gabriel huffed out a breath as the full force of Sam Winchester landed on top of him and pulled him into a bear hug that almost broke his already tender ribs. Gabriel allowed him a few minutes of this before he had to push him back.

"Hey there, good to see you to big guy but you're kinda killing me here…" Gabriel puffed, out of breath after his warm welcome. Sam pulled away with a grin and clapped the Angel on the shoulder, tears stinging his eyes.

"Sorry…I didn't think you were gonna wake up…" Sam choked out making Gabriel soften and reach out with one hand to take the Hunters and the other hand to cup his cheek.

"Its all good now, Sammy…I'm fine…" Gabriel said and Sam eyed him sceptically, motioning to his bandaged wings and his numerous cuts and bruises. The Archangel chuckled and rolled his eyes. "Okay, I'll -be- fine then…that better?" Gabriel asked and Sam smiled, gripping his hand. The two stayed staring at one another for several minutes and just as Sam opened his mouth to ask Gabriel what had happened to him…Castiel walked in the door.

"Sam, Dean and I have something to…show you…Gabriel?!" Cas explained but he had little chance to see either his Brother or the Hunter as his sudden appearance startled Gabe and the Archangel's one good wing flared up and snapped down, wrapping around the pair to hide them from the intruder. Castiel stood staring wide eyed with shock at the reaction which confirmed his theory, and after a moment he began to giggle much to the embarrassment of Gabriel.

"Oh Brother…what have you done this time?"