The sun danced brightly across his skin and Sam sighed in its warming embrace. He laid in a dog park in San Francisco soaking in the environment along with the sunlight. For the first time in his lifetime, or perhaps the first time since law school at least, he felt completely at peace. Gabriel huffed wordlessly beside him and Sam reached out to stroke his fur right behind his ear. It was one of his favorite spots.

"I know we have to get back. I know. Just give me a few more minutes, okay?" Sam asked and Gabe whined assent. Sam thought about what it would be like if he wasn't a hunter anymore. He and Gabriel could travel overseas and see the streets of Rome. They could stand in the chapels of the Vatican city, or roam the countryside of France. It would only take a moment on angelic wings and they could be transfixed to a new place and time. Away from Serrath, away from monsters and death.

Sam could feel all the lives he has taken weighing on his soul. He could feel them like a gentle squeeze of hands upon his very being; like a band of iron around his chest, and it made him feel like he couldn't quite catch his breath. He didn't like this feeling in the least and imagined it would only get worse with the path he was going on. Gabriel lifted his head and turned his brown eyes on Sam.

"I don't know what you mean. With everything going on, I don't know how it could be possible to worry too much," Sam said in response to his silent implication, and Gabe huffed his displeasure as he got to his feet. He took a few steps away, and Sam's hand slipped from his fur. "Okay, Gabe, okay. We can go back."

Sam sat up and Gabriel turned to bury his muzzle under Sam's chin in a dogged embrace. Sam laughed, hugging his friend, and then pulled from his Grace to space shift them back to the bunker. They manifested in the central sitting area just as Castiel stormed into the room.

"Oh, hello," Sam said jovially and Gabe turned to meet Cas's eyes as well. The angel stared at the dog for a moment, and then back at Sam before shaking his head.

"I don't have time for this right now," he said huskily and tension radiated from his voice.

"Cas! Come on," Sam could hear Dean say back the hall but already Cas was making his way towards the stairs.

"What is going on?" Sam asked, regretting that he didn't stay in the park just a few minutes longer. Castiel whirled around and jabbed a finger at Dean just as Sam's brother rounded the corner of the hallway.

"He insists on working with that pathetic demon, Crowley," Castiel snapped and Dean skidded to a halt.

"Sam!" Dean said, startled at his brother's abrupt return, but quickly recovered with the opportunity of some needed back up. "Sam, tell Cas that while we work with Crowley on occasion it never really means anything."

"When I allied with Crowley, you put me in a ring of angel fire!" Castiel snapped and Dean shrugged nervously.

"That was before. You know, he's different now. I think he's helped you a few times since then, right? Crowley can help us and we need to figure out what Serrath is about!"

Gabriel huffed quietly into the abrupt silence between them and Sam burst into laughter. He clutched at his ribs as the laughter threatened to give him a side stitch. Gabe looked up at him and showed his teeth in a grin. After a moment Sam opened his eyes and realized that both Cas and Dean were staring at him blankly.

"What?" Sam offered, wiping a tear from his eye, "That was funny." Castiel shook his head.

"I need to go for a walk," he said and stomped up the stairs.

"Cas! Come on," Dean whined impatiently but already the angel was walking out into the day, slamming the door behind him. Dean sighed long and hard and then glanced over at Sam.

"Way to have my back there, Sammy," he grumbled but they both knew that wasn't fair.

"Dean, what is going on?" Sam asked and Dean sighed again.

"Apparently, Castiel is jealous of Crowley," Dean muttered. Gabriel whined deep in his throat and Sam nodded agreement.

"Yeah, no kidding," he said at the dog and Dean stared at him for a moment.

"Can you…understand everything he's saying?" Dean asked, as he walked over and rubbed at Gabe's head.

"Of course," Sam said, blinking confusion. He had already explained this to his brother. Dean stared at Gabe a moment longer and then shook his head.

"Anyway, Crowley is camped out in my bedroom. He wanted to go over a plan he had to deal with Serrath and Lucifer, but then Castiel stormed off leaving me in a very awkward position."

"Go after him, Dean. I'll go talk to Crowley," Sam said and started for the hallway.

"Cas is fine," Dean said gruffly and watched as Gabriel padded back the hall ahead of them. Gabe paused and turned his head to huff softly at the air before moving on to Dean's bedroom.

"He has a point Dean," Sam said nodding.

"What point is that? I'm sorry but it's been a long time since I was able to speak canine," Dean said, growing annoyed. Sam turned and reached for his brother, stopping him in his tracks. He sympathized with Dean, he really did. Dean was never one to really understand emotions and what to do with them. But he has committed himself to Castiel, an angel who is very vulnerable in the emotion department, and he had an obligation to the other man to put him before everything else. That included Sam.

"He said that if Castiel didn't want you to follow him, he would have used his wings instead of his feet. Go after him. I will talk to Crowley." He pulled away from Dean then and continued back the hallway. It gave him hope to see that Dean didn't follow him. He was learning at least. Sam trailed after Gabriel and went into Dean's room.

Dean had been trudging through the woods for a good hour when he finally came upon Castiel sitting on the sandy shore of a wide mouthed creek. Dean sighed and pushed forward. He didn't like this sudden strange territory they were on and desperately wanted things to go back to the way they were before. He didn't understand how everything went so horribly south but south it went that was for sure.

"Cas," Dean said tenderly as he approached the angel from behind. Cas didn't turn to move, but instead remained crouched on his haunches; poking at the water with a stick. Dean walked over to stand beside him, and then lowered himself to the earth so that he could better see Cas's face.

"I don't like him, Dean," Cas muttered, still sulking and Dean nodded.

"Yeah. I know."

"He was posturing towards you. Did you not see it?" Cas asked, shoving rocks deeper into the water current with his stick.

"I don't know what you mean, Cas," Dean said and he gingerly ran his fingers down Castiel's back. The angel turned to him frowning, hurt set deep into his eyes.

"Did you not see how he was holding his hands?" Cas asked and Dean nodded.

"Yeah like he was shooting a finger gun at me. Was that supposed to mean something?" He asked and Cas turned away; poking at the water once more.

"It's nothing," he mumbled but he didn't stop sulking.

"Be honest with me Cas," Dean said and he reached out to pull Cas's chin towards him; forcing the angel to look at him again. Castiel frowned as he looked up at Dean, and his sadness twisted at Dean's heart. He leaned over and gently brought his lips to his angels. Their kiss was long and languid, and soon Cas was leaning into Dean; finding comfort in his arms. "Talk to me Cas. Tell me what's going on."

"Crowley was enacting the ancient Enochian hand gestures of courtship," Cas grumbled and Dean laughed in surprise.

"He what?" Cas looked up at him, his face stern and serious, and Dean tried his hardest to wipe the smile off his face.

"The hand gestures he used was to invite you to bed him, and then to suggest that he bed you instead. It was rude and disgusting for him to do that right in front of me," Castiel said and his voice came out like a growl.

"Cas, come on. You know he was just fucking with you." Dean laughed again but Cas stared at him with those killer blue eyes.

"Was he, Dean?" Blue to green. Dean's smile faded away.

"Well I…I wouldn't understand what he meant…I mean he wouldn't really…"

"Dean…what happened between you two when you were a demon?" Cas asked and gently Dean pulled away from him.

"We are not going to go there," Dean said with all the finality he could muster, and he got to his feet.

"I don't want him helping us, Dean," Castiel stated in his firm angel-with-no-nonsense voice and Dean nodded reluctantly.

"Okay, yeah. I get it Cas. Let's just go back and tell him he has to leave. You are far more important than any information he might be able to provide." Cas peered up at Dean with suspicion.

"Do you really mean that, Dean?" he asked and Dean leaned over to ruffle his unruly hair.

"Of course. I love you, Cas," Dean admitted, somewhat begrudgingly, and Castiel's face broke into an amazing smile.

"Moose!" Crowley exclaimed gleefully as Sam walked into the room. Gabriel seemed to have already made himself comfortable on the demon's lap and Crowley's hand was suspended just above his head. Gabriel looked up at him. Giving his consent, and Crowley's hand lowered hesitantly. An instant later he was burying his fingers into the dog's thick neck fur. That was one of his sweet spots. Crowley's smile reached the creases at his eyes.

"I see you've taken a shine to Gabe," Sam said gesturing at the husky and Crowley beamed at him.

"Gabriel! Yes, I am surprised to see a dog possessed by the ghost of an angel." Gabriel huffed at this and both Sam and Crowley chuckled. Then Sam lifted his gaze and met eyes with the demon.

"You can understand him?" Sam asked and Crowley shrugged.

"I command hell-hounds, you shouldn't be surprised that I can understand your angel when he speaks. Tis a shame he is soul-bound to you. I would love to keep him for myself." Sam sat down in the chair adjacent to the bed and pondered what Crowley had said.

"Perhaps we could come up with an agreement," he suggested and both Crowley and Gabe lifted their heads to peer at Sam. The unison in which they moved was almost comical.

"You know how I love agreements, Moose," Crowley rasped softly and Sam smiled.

"Leave Cas and Dean alone. Work through me exclusively. You can have all the petting time you want with Gabe. As long as it's ok with him, that is." Gabriel huffed softly in his throat and both men smiled at him. Of course it was okay with Gabe because it was what Sam wanted.

"Very well," Crowley said dismissively and he almost was able to mask the slight hint of disappointment in his eyes. "Although I would be of much more help to Dean. You, are just a puppet. The best I can do for you is pull a few of your strings."

Sam understood now how Crowley liked to operate. He used his smooth words to get those involved with him hot and angry. He would work them up into a fine emotional stew, and then he would throw out his ace and let them get gobbled up. It made any contract end in his favor even if it didn't seem like it from the start. The thing that Crowley didn't seem to remember though was that Sam studied to be a lawyer. He negotiated with the best of them, and he knew how to keep his cool when he faced a battle of wits.

"Explain it to me," he said calmly, and a small smile brushed at his lips. "But not here. You will not come back here again. Understand?" Gabriel barked once and Crowley gasped.

"I did no such thing!" He said defensively.

"You walked in on them?" Sam asked, his eyebrows threatening to climb off his forehead.

"Okay well…yes. But it was an accident! I didn't know the two of them would be…and how did you even know that?" he asked Gabriel but the dog just rested his head back on Crowley's lap. Sam kind of wondered the same thing.

"Okay, you are definitely not permitted to come back here. Understand?"

"Yes," Crowley hissed reluctantly and then rolled his eyes.

"Good. Now get out of here. Meet me tomorrow at this time on top of the Golden Gate Bridge." Crowley looked at Sam, astonished.

"You can do that?" he asked in a small voice and Sam smiled. Crowley didn't have all the answers to life's great mysteries did he?

"I have grown fond of San Francisco."

When Castiel returned with Dean, Gabriel and Sam were waiting for them in the common area. Castiel glanced at Gabe, and the dog lifted his head. Images flashed between them, faster than light, and Castiel felt a newfound warmth in his heart for the younger Winchester. Cas was so grateful that Gabriel forgave him for his past mistakes and released the influence he had on Sam's opinion of Cas. He needed Sam as an ally, but also wanted him as a friend. Sam was always the best of them after all.

"Crowley won't be bothering you anymore," Sam announced when they came to join the hunter and his dog at the table.

"Really? Well that was easy," said Dean, but then he glanced nervously at Castiel. "Still…he seemed to have been on to something."

"Tell me everything he said," Sam insisted and Dean proceeded to explain the events that occurred. He was kind enough to leave out the part of Castiel being naked which he was very grateful for. Gabriel knew the truth of it; he would not keep secrets from his brother, but Sam really didn't need to know the degree of his embarrassment.

"He said that Serrath was forming an army to come after me. He thinks that it will take an army to be able to get past all of you, but with a mass of demons armed with magical weapons that can do God knows what…I don't know if what we have can be enough."

"We can track down Shawn…get the rest of the hunters together," Castiel offered but Sam shook his head.

"I think I might have something better in mind. But you aren't going to like it Dean. Neither of you are going to like it." He looked down at Gabriel who lifted his head to meet Sam's eyes. Softly Gabriel whined and whatever he communicated to Sam, he was not projecting it to Cas. "I am going to have to part ways from you for a while," Sam said softly and Dean was instantly to his feet.

"No Sam," he said, his jaw set like he was ready for a fight. Sam shook his head and looked up at Dean.

"I am not going to argue with you on this. I know in the past I thought I had a great idea and you pretty much bullied me into realizing I was wrong and yes, usually you were right Dean, but not this time. This time, I go it alone."

"Sam this is bigger than anything we have ever faced. You can't be serious. There is no way we will be able to survive if we are separated. Castiel looked between the brothers and could see the tension thick in the air. He knew well enough when to keep his mouth shut but perhaps if he just offered one suggestion…

"Maybe we should get some dinner," he said in his best jovial voice, "maybe have some pie."

"No," both brothers said in unison and Castiel bit his lip. Images projected in his head. Crowley, Sam, and an army behind them. Castiel swallowed hard and looked with wide eyes at Gabriel. Surely he didn't mean…it was far too dangerous. Gabriel closed his eyes slowly, and turned away from his brother.

"Dean I will be back before you know it," Sam said and already he was pulling back his chair. Gabriel jumped off of the chair he had inhabited and trotted to Sam's side.

"Sam don't do this," Dean warned, "we need to stick together!"

"Good bye, Dean," Sam said with a sad smile, and then he vanished on the flight of an angel wing.

"Fuck!" Dean shouted and then he picked up his chair and threw it across the room. Castiel stared, not sure what to do, but knowing now was not the time to say what he needed to say. Dean reached across the table for a bottle of scotch and unscrewed the lid.

"Dean," Cas began but Dean's glare silenced him instantly. Dean sat back at the table and poured a large portion of the amber liquid into a glass resting beside him. He downed the drink in one swallow, and Cas could think of nothing but to stand and watch and wait.

The world was on the cusp of destruction, and Castiel quietly watched the one human he loved more than all others get utterly drunk. He never felt so helpless to stop the hands of time as they spiraled towards disaster.