Dean was in full on panic mode, and to make matters worse Sam and Bobby weren't helping at all.
He kept hearing snakes (and having flashbacks of Indiana Jones marathons) but he couldn't find them. There were even a few ominous rattles whenever had his back turned, and he didn't dare look under anything for fear of being attacked.
Finally someone had enough and Sam fell over howling as Dean damn near pissed himself trying to find the snakes.
Bobby was chuckling a bit as well, if only because he had been clued in on the prank and the reasons why.
Dean twitched. It had taken him four long agonizing hours before he found out the source of the hissing. During that time the sound kept getting closer and closer...until he finally busted Gabe and his new pranking buddy Jor speaking entirely in parseltongue just to freak him out.
Dean had refrained from shooting them both in the ass. He did punch them when Sam and Bobby started cracking up at his expense though.
"I hate you all," deadpanned Dean.
"OH GOD MY EYES! TURN IT OFF, TURN IT OFF!" shouted Dean loudly to get the attention of the entire house.
Gabriel took one look at the video Dean had popped in out of boredom at the hotel and looked at the two brothers who were cackling in the corner.
"Which one of you switched the labels?" he asked in honest curiosity.
"He did," snickered Fen. Jor didn't even try for innocent.
"Nice choice."
"My eyes! Someone give me some brain bleach!" yelled Dean as he frantically tried to turn off the VCR, or at least the TV.
What could cause Dean to have such a strong reaction?
What Dean had assumed was a girly porno had in fact been a recording of Loki and Gabe's more kinky fun time...a tape that involved one of them in a maid uniform and bondage gear. Dean would be scared for life seeing a look-a-like of Sam in that outfit.
Sam had gone out on a food run and had thus been spared the horror of seeing his twin in a bondage outfit.
Dean sighed with relief when he finally turned it off before it got too serious, though he was glaring at the two brothers.
"That was entirely uncalled for! Now I'll have to get shitfaced drunk to get that image out of my head!" he whined.
"Why? Hel certainly enjoyed raiding his collection of recordings," said Fen snickering.
"When did Hel get into the tent long enough to satisfy her yaoi addiction?" asked Gabriel amused.
"Dad's been letting her in. She said as long as she gets copies she'll give you guys any support you need. It's really boring in Purgatory and this is the first time she's had any real blackmail material on dad," said Jor.
"Next time I'll offer to let her watch and chose the scene," said Gabriel.
A note appeared above his head and with his old seeker reflexes he caught it.
"'I will so take you up on that. Hel~'" read Gabriel amused.
"Will someone please wipe that memory out of my head?" said Dean.
Gabriel snickered before he obliviated the memory from Dean's head. Dean gave a deep sigh of relief...until Gabriel casually told him that he knew the counter charm. Dean threw a pillow at his younger brother. He was so going to get the other two back for that...that horrible prank.
Sam came back to find Dean glaring at the two in the corner and Gabriel still reading his book and wondered what they had done this time.
Unlike Loki, Jor and Fen didn't kill anyone with their pranks. However they could hold their own in the yearly Winchester prank war and they often teamed up against the Winchester trio.
Gabriel usually got Loki to back off by threatening make him sleep on the couch, but that didn't stop his sons...or Hel who occasionally supplied them with ideas.
John would have killed them on sight, but even Dean had to admit it was more fun having the two with them, and it was nice to have back up for a change.
"What did they do now?" he asked.
"They swapped the crappy third-rate girl on girl with one of mine," deadpanned Gabe.
Sam flinched. He didn't care about Gabe and Loki, but he would prefer not to see any of his twin's weird kinks...or worse, Loki's.
If Sam thought Loki was bad when he was missing Gabriel during a switch, he hadn't counted on Loki's sons being as bad as he was.
Fenrir was kept happy with Gabriel's more feral hounds who saw him as their new alpha. Gabriel could care less, since now that he knew how many generations it took to breed out the more violent nature he had little use for the more feral ones outside of dealing with the more irritating pests that came near his house.
Jor was another matter entirely.
Sam was bored, so he popped in a random tape. He quickly spit out his drink when he realized he had grabbed one of his brother's home-made videos. If that wasn't enough, Jor happened to be passing by and a mischievous grin found it's way on his face.
Sam quickly sputtered as he felt unfamiliar hands around his shoulders.
"Hoping to star in your own video?" asked Jor with a purr.
Sam's face was flaming red as he tried in vain to turn the video off before he saw too much.
"It's not what you think!" said Sam as he finally got the video to shut off.
"Oh? And what is it that you think I'm thinking?" asked Jor grinning wider.
Sam sputtered and looked for anything to get out of this mess. Unfortunately the only one around was Loki, who had walked in halfway and was too busy laughing at Sam's predicament.
Finally Fenrir came into the house and Sam bolted out the door.
"What just happened?" asked Fen.
Jor and Loki cackled in unison.
Gabriel, when he found Sam in with the still somewhat feral spirit hounds, was entirely unsympathetic.
"What the hell did you expect from a snake? I swear the entire species is full of perverts and Jor is one of their patron gods," said Gabriel.
"You could have warned me about that!"
"There's a reason why snakes are often considered symbols of male virility idjit," said Gabe deadpan.
Sam just blushed even more. Then Gabe said something that had Sam throwing one of the hound's chew toys at him.
"So...did you like the tape? Loki said you grabbed one of the more tame ones."
If Sam hadn't been blushing before, he would have at that comment. Some of the things he had seen... Even Dean wouldn't blame him for that!
If Dean had thought it was bad enough being subjected to Loki and Gabe's home made videos, that was nothing compared to what he found when he finally decided to ask Gabe for help while Sam relaxed.
"WHAT THE HELL?!"
Jor was doing his best to make Sam blush, and from how red his face was it was working.
"Yo."
"Dude, what...the...hell?"
"Jor seems to have taken a liking to Sam...or he's starting an ongoing prank. Haven't figured out which just yet," shrugged Gabriel. Either way Loki still found it hilarious.
"Why?" Dean asked Jor.
"Dad taught us never to discriminate between genders. If we like them, then a little thing like gender shouldn't stop us," shrugged Fen.
"Like that ever stopped you, Mr. Supreme-Alpha-of-ALL-Dogs," said Loki snorting.
"Again, why is he after Sam and not Gabriel?" asked Dean, though he had to admit, once he was over his shock it was pretty funny to see the look on Sam's face.
He didn't care about Gabriel batting for the home team, so if Sam happened to like Jor that way he had no issues with it.
Just meant more ladies for him.
"Gabriel's already claimed. One of the rules among our family is that we don't go after anyone taken by someone else. Though god forbid if the other partner falls for someone else in the family...dear lord the pouting from Dad alone..." said Fen rolling his eyes.
More than one girl or guy had decided to get away from Loki and go after his children. He always moped for weeks before someone else caught his attention.
Gabriel was actually the longest they had seen anyone last in years.
"Sounds fair to me," said Dean.
"What did you need?"
"Thought I would take Gabriel out on a hunt instead of Sam for once. I swear this 'house' of yours is becoming just as much of a home base as Bobby's," said Dean.
Sam gave him a betrayed look.
"Which reminds me, I heard about this weird thing happening at Christmas," said Gabriel.
"How weird?"
"As in people being eaten and teeth found in the fireplace weird," said Gabriel.
Dean perked up. Sounded like a job for Team Winchester!
Dean was inwardly cursing. They had come to some no name town to find the thing killing people on Christmas, only to be captured by a pair of pagan deities that weren't even worshiped anymore.
Gabriel was having the worst of it, from what Dean could tell. Something about this whole situation was setting him off in the worst possible way, and Dean was already trying to get Loki's attention through prayer. Either Loki wasn't paying attention, or he was being blocked.
It was when the woman removed one of Gabe's fingernails that things went pear-shaped...for the gods that is.
Gabe's eyes went whiter than snow as his powers broke free of what little control he had. The two gods were slammed hard against the wall as he started reliving his year of torture with the Death Eaters. Just because Loki kept his memories of those days at a minimum never meant he stopped all the flashbacks. Gabriel still had nightmares of that time.
And by strapping him down like that, these idiots had set off his flashback of that horrible year. All the betrayals, the pain, the sheer horror of what he had been through... his mind retreated and his power reacted to the danger.
By the time they were dead and Dean had managed to get free of the bindings, Gabriel's mind had retreated into itself to protect him from the pain. It was a rather common way to escape torture if one was subjected to it long enough, but were too stubborn to give in.
Dean counted himself lucky Gabriel at least recognized him as someone who didn't want to hurt him...the last thing he wanted was to be blasted to bits like those gods had been when they got too close to his baby brother.
"Dammit Gabe! Wake up! They're dead already!" shouted Dean. He had to snap Gabriel out of it before the cops came to investigate. Gabriel hadn't exactly been quiet when he shredded the bastards.
Dean finally remembered something Loki had told him in the event Gabe had a relapse.
If he had no other choice, then pray to the arch angel who delivered God's message to the three wise men when God's only son was born.
Now Dean wasn't as smart as Sam or Gabe, but from what he remembered of the old tales the name of the angel who spoke to the wise men was Gabriel. The same angel his brother was named after.
He was really out of options, so Dean decided to give it a shot. It wasn't like the angel would respond, right?
Gabriel, if you're listening I need help. My brother is having a relapse and I have no idea what to do to save him.
Dean stayed close to his brother when he heard what sounded far too much like massive wings behind him.
"Wow... what the hell did they do to piss him off that much?"
"Loki? What the hell? I sent you like a hundred prayers yet when I sent one to Gabriel you show up?!" said Dean recognizing that voice immediately.
Turning around revealed Loki the Trickster. Why did he answer a prayer now instead of earlier before Gabe retreated inside his head?
"I'll explain later. Right now we've got to get you two out... I saw the cops heading this way. Where's the car?"
"At the hotel," said Dean.
"You had better explain why Gabe's suffering a relapse now of all times after we get the hell out of here," said Loki seriously. He had thought Gabe was over most of that torture, at least enough not to go into survival mode like this.
Loki sent the car to the house, where it automatically shrank and went into the area Gabe had designated for Dean to tinker with his baby. He then got them out of there mere seconds before the cops burst into the house. They would find chunks of the owners, but not a single shred of evidence of who had been bound to the chairs.
"Explain, now."
"We were tied up and about to be eaten when one of the bastards ripped Gabe's nail out. Next thing I know, Gabe's breathing was erratic and the two gods were thrown into the wall. Once they managed to get up, they tried to knock him out only to be shredded by him. Why the hell didn't you answer the prayers I sent earlier?!" demanded Dean.
"Who did you direct them to?"
"Loki," said Dean immediately.
"That's why. I almost never answer prayers directed to my Trickster side."
"What do you mean Trickster side?" demanded Dean.
"Seriously? You haven't figured it out yet?" asked Sam openly amused.
He had figured out Loki was really Gabriel the arch angel months ago. He had assume Dean had figured it out too. And it wasn't too hard to figure out why Gabe insisted on calling him 'Lo' instead of by his real name...having two Gabriel around would be confusing.
"In any case I'm going to have to break Gabe out of his flashback before he hurts himself. I'm not surprised he retreated into his mind if he was about to be faced with torture..." said Loki.
"He has PTSD doesn't he?" asked Dean.
"He was the communal training tool for the newly minted Death Eaters to learn torture for a year and a half. And that was after his so called friends left him in a ditch to die when it came out he was adopted. What the hell do you think?" said Loki flatly.
Gabriel's biggest fear was being betrayed like before. It had taken some serious heart to heart talks before he realized that Loki wasn't going to leave him like his closest friends had before. And that was before England tried to bring him back by force using that ritual that brought them closer than just friends.
Loki had Gabriel on the reclining chair facing him. His boyfriend's eyes were dilated and his breathing erratic. He carefully placed a hand on Gabriel's forehead and channeled his Grace into him. Slowly Gabe's breathing went back to normal and his eyes started to gain focus again.
Without warning he slumped into Loki's arms and fell straight asleep.
"Well?"
"He'll be fine. Just let him get some real sleep and he should be back to normal when he wakes up," said Loki, stroking Gabe's hair.
Dean relaxed.
This had been too close for his comfort. He never wanted to see Gabe in that situation again.