Crowley was annoyed. And he blamed Gabriel Winchester, the hunter he hoped to convert into his own personal minion. Though at the rate he was going in terms of annoying him, he might just make him his own personal punting demon.

The brat not only had the cheek to insult him, but recently he started coming in reeking of angel taint. And he had the distinct feeling the bastard knew about the scent and was doing it on purpose...though where he found an angel outside of heaven who wouldn't kill him on sight he had no idea.

Oh well. At least he knew the brat would trust him up until the markers started dwindling rapidly.

Gabriel was right about one thing. He could trust Crowley up until he ran out of markers, or near to it. A demon of his reputation had to keep up certain obligations and despite how many of them became demons only certain ones developed all the powers over crossroads like Crowley.

Crowley had become a demon because he was a conniving son of a bitch who crossed one too many people...but he always kept his word. A paragon of Slytherin house as it were, if Gabriel were to mention anything about him. He would put up with the Winchester brat until he was no longer useful, and Gabriel put up with his assignments because he did owe something to the demon. It was a working relationship, one with many levels.

Besides, the human did grow on you once you worked past his acid wit and rather creative insults.

Gabriel was right on another matter. Cursing a demon isn't nearly as fun when they happen to live in the pit year-round. The only way to actually insult them properly was to be creative about it. And some of the ones Gabriel came up with were rather witty...he used them on some of the lesser demons and it really pissed them off.

"So let me get this straight. That headache and nosebleed I had around my birthday was because I was infected like Sam was?" said Gabriel annoyed.

"Yup. I guess Azazel wanted to make sure Sam didn't have any competition, so he dosed you with Sam before he dumped you in England."

"Right...I'm so stealing that damn Colt first chance I get and unloading it in his face. If for no other reason than for making me suffer through fucking England," said Gabriel growling.

"Look at the bright side!" said Loki.

"What bright side?" asked Gabriel.

"Now's the perfect time to find your animagus form?"

"...You suck sometimes. Alright, let's get this started so I can start blasting people with my mind," said Gabriel.

Loki cackled eagerly.

It took Gabriel two months of crappy meditation techniques and another month of torturing Loki with sugary foods, but eventually he found his animal form. And surprise, surprise, he had two.

A three-headed hellhound and oddly enough a crow that had weird powers.

"So which one you gonna go for first?" asked Loki, popping in another sucker.

"Hellhound. If only for the shock value when I start keeping Crowley awake at night," said Gabriel evilly.

"The never-ending yapper dog?" said Loki grinning.

"Damn straight."

"You know with how much thought you put into annoying him, some might think you have a crush on him," said Loki.

"Possibly. I mean he did save me after all."

"So it doesn't bug you that you're gay? And for a demon no less?"

"Why should it? I've been put through so much crap that I've lost the ability to give a damn about what other people think. Besides, it's not like Crowley likes me that way or anything," said Gabriel.

"Anyway, let's see how long it takes for you to get that transformation down," said Loki.

Their plans were interrupted when Gabriel's phone went off.

"Yes? WHAT?! I'll be there in an hour!" he said closing it, before he looked at Loki, "Change of plans, Sam's apartment just burned down and they've already pulled his girlfriend's body off the ceiling."

Loki winced.

"I can't get involved with them."

"No, but if I don't get there then I'll have trouble laying a tracking charm on Sam so I can save their ass later," said Gabriel.

Loki snorted. That sounded more like the Gabriel he knew.

He might be a gruff bastard, but when it came to family he would jump through hoops and go through any number of intermediaries just to make sure they were safe.

Gabriel was about to leave for another assignment when his charm went off like a klaxon in his head. He apparated to where Dean was and blasted the shapeshifter into the wall. He put a charm on the thing was to make it look like he was wearing a plastic mask and gloves for the cops to find. Dean stared at him for a second before he ducked into another room and vanished without a word.

With that 'evidence' for the cops to find, Dean narrowly avoided being branded a serial murder and was labeled a victim instead. Sam would spend weeks trying to convince Dean that he had been nowhere near that room and he had no idea who the mystery man was.

Gabriel was grinning through his new form. He had finally found a way to make the damn thing work by concentrating on how Fluffy had looked first year. He howled in symphony with all three heads and Loki had to cover his ears.

"TONE THAT SHIT DOWN!" he shouted.

Gabriel had a spark of vindictiveness in him. He slobbered all over Loki.

"Gross!" said Loki annoyed, though he was grinning. The image of Gabriel acting like an over eager puppy that wasn't house-trained next time he saw Crowley was too funny to pass up.

"Right, let's set up the cameras so we can enjoy Crowley's reaction," said Loki evilly. Gabriel barked in agreement. He lived for annoying the demon.

Crowley was pissed...and there was only one reason why.

Gabriel Winchester. The bastard had gone and completed his animagus transformation, finally, and he had decided to annoy him with it. Normally this wouldn't be a problem, but the bastard was a Cerberus with hellfire in him and he had been acting like a new puppy that wasn't house broken. It was going to take weeks to clean this mess up!

And to top it all off, Gabriel's hellhound form slobbered all over his custom tailored outfit.

"Right. This is going to cost you two markers you bastard son of a whore," he growled.

Gabriel barked in annoyance, before he covered Crowley in dirt and rock by digging up the yard.

"Make that three," he said, spitting out dirt. Gabriel chuffed, before he left. He had only come to annoy Crowley. Losing three souls was entirely worth it in his opinion.

Sam and Dean were crashing at Bobby's after a particularly nasty case. Mostly because they had been in the area and Bobby was like an uncle to the two of them.

"What's eatin' you two idjits up?"

"Well since you asked, we're about to revisit the possibility of me having a body double. Again. For the third time this month," said Sam tiredly.

He didn't think it was a shapeshifter, for one thing those bastards were territorial as hell. And for another it had helped Dean without asking for anything.

Dean was lying on the couch with an ice-pack to his head. He had a bit of a migraine.

"What's this about a body double?"

"Remember that shape-shifter that nearly got me on the Feds list?" asked Dean.

"Yeah, what about it?"

"Well right before the cops were about to bust me in the house, Sam's double appeared out of nowhere after some weird electrical discharge that sounded like a crack, blasted him into the wall and did something to create a fake mask and gloves with my fingerprints on them for the cops to find. When I went to follow him, he had vanished without warning. He had this weird tattoo on his shoulders though," said Dean.

"Weird tattoos?" said Bobby.

Dean grabbed a piece of paper and pen, then doodled it on there. On one side was an Enochian sigil, he knew that much. The other one looked like it was Norse.

Bobby stared.

"Are you sure he had these tattoos specifically?"

"This was on the right and this was on the left. He had some sort of badge around his neck, but I never got a good look at it."

"Hold on a minute... did it look like this?" asked Bobby, bringing out a book with the badges in it.

"That's it. Who is he?" asked Dean.

"You were helped by the Hound of Judgment...the only bounty hunter rumored to have ties to demons. I wonder why he bothered to show up if there wasn't any bounties in the area?" asked Bobby.

"Hound of Judgment?"

"Gabriel W., known to the Feds as the Hound of Judgment. He goes in, shoots his targets with a bean bag round then brings them in for the feds. He's never failed to get his target, though occasionally they end up dying after the feds get their information in their cells. Mysterious deaths and the like. Thing is that all those were tied to an overnight success," said Bobby.

"Crossroads demon," said Dean, catching the pattern.

"Like I said, it's not confirmed whether he works for demons or not, but it's a damn strange coincidence that those targets died before the contract was up," said Bobby.

"Do you have a picture of him?" asked Dean.

"The feds have a database of their bounty hunters so the cops don't arrest them without a reason," said Bobby, bringing up the page on his computer.

Sam, Dean and Bobby all stared.

Gabriel...looked exactly like Sam only he was more tired looking and had a tattoo on his each of his shoulders. There was an edge of a third tattoo where his heart would be, but they couldn't see the whole thing. However what they could see had Bobby digging up one of his old talismans.

"Anti-possession. Specifically demons," he said.

"Does he have a phone number?" asked Dean.

"There's a cell phone number. He has two according to this, but the second's not listed."

Sam blinked when he saw one of the numbers. He recognized it.

"Hang on..." he said, digging out his wallet. He pulled out a faded card with a cell phone number and a second below it. All it said was G. W., though he had no idea who that man had been.

The numbers matched.

"So he was the one to give me a lift that day..." muttered Sam.

"Sammy?"

"Remember that fight we had, right before I left for Stanford? Someone gave me a lift on a motorcycle to the nearest city with a bus station. Said if I ever needed help to give him a call. I've had this in my wallet since," said Sam.

"Why would a bounty hunter who works with demons be so interested in you two?" asked Bobby.

"No idea. Wait, what does this thing say on the bottom?" asked Dean.

"'Prefers to use Winchester brand guns'," read Bobby.

"Wait. His last name is just listed as W., you don't think..." said Sam.

"I have a way to find out," said Dean.

He was calling John.

John Winchester was a paranoid son of a bitch. So when Dean calls about Sam having a double that they believe to be connected with demons, he makes a point of picking up the cell to call them back.

"Dean."

"What's this about Sam having a double?" demanded John.

"Dad?! We've been trying to reach you for months!"

"I know. It's too dangerous," said John, "Now what's this about a double?"

"There's a bounty hunter named Gabriel W. on the feds list of approved hunters, and he showed up a couple times. He even kept me from being put on the feds radar."

"What?"

"Shapeshifter tried to frame me for a serial murder. Sam's double showed up for no reason and blasted it into the wall before making it look like the thing had been wearing a fake mask and gloves with my prints on it. The cops had to let me go after that," explained Dean.

"So what did Bobby say about this double?"

"His name is Gabriel, and he goes after targets that coincide with demon deals that mysteriously die in prison once their usefulness is over. He also uses Winchester brand guns and rides a motorcycle. No idea who he is though."

John felt a lump in his throat grow. The chances of it being him were astronomical. However there was a chance his son didn't die with Mary and was now working with demons. He didn't know which was worse.

"Dad?"

"Sam...had a twin. I thought he died in the fire but if this is him, then chances are he's been with demons this entire time," said John.

"Sam had a twin?" said Dean incredulous.

"Gabriel. He was in the nursery when the demon showed up, but I thought he had been killed in the fire because I couldn't find him. It had been hot enough to melt an infant's bones," said John

Suddenly he heard the speakerphone on Dean's end.

"I have a twin brother? Why didn't you ever mention him?" asked Sam.

"Like I wanted to remember losing one of my sons along with my wife! Dean forgot all about him too, and he was old enough to remember," said John.

"So what do we do if we run into him again?" asked Dean.

"Find out if it really is Gabriel. And where he's been all these years."

"What do we do if he really is in league with demons?" asked Sam.

"Then we don't contact him at all," said John flatly.

He hung up, his mind whirling over the fact that Gabriel might in fact be alive. Why now?