Dean glared at Castiel, who shifted uncomfortably. The angel didn't know why, but he had trouble meeting Dean's annoyed glare.
"Explain to me why you felt it necessary to have me watch my grandparents die?" he asked calmly, though his anger was clear in his voice.
"You needed to see the beginning. And you need to stop Sam," said Castiel, trying and succeeding slightly at meeting Dean's incensed gaze.
"Stop Sam from what?"
"Sam is drinking demons blood courtesy of Ruby. You need to stop him or we will," said Castiel.
"Okay, let me get this straight. You want me to stop Sam from seeing a demon called Ruby. Is that correct?" said Dean, pinching the bridge of his nose.
His opinion of Heaven's information network was dropping fast and at this rate it wouldn't stop. Even the supernaturals knew that Sam was dating Loki, not some demon. Even after Ruby's attempts to integrate into their group, the only demon Dean even trusted was Crowley, and that was because he knew he couldn't trust him.
In the back of his head Dean could hear Lucifer cracking up.
Lucifer, your brothers are idiots. The only sane one is Gabriel, and I'm stretching my definition of sane just to include him!
And this is news to me how ? Lucifer replied laughing. Now that he had someone reasonably intelligent to talk to, he was rather easy to get along with.
"Yes. Our orders are to kill Sam if he continues to drink demon's blood," said Castiel.
"Well that shouldn't be a problem considering he's not currently with Ruby. How long has it been since you people thought to update your information?" asked Dean irritably.
Castiel blinked.
"Update our information," repeated Castiel blankly.
"Sam isn't with me because he's currently on a date with his boyfriend Loki. He's never even gone near this Ruby chick because Loki hates demons more than we do!" said Dean pinching his nose.
Castiel blinked in shock and confusion.
"Sam is with Loki? The pagan Trickster?" asked Castiel in disbelief.
"Okay, clearly you featherbrains need to update your damn info. Come back when you have the right information," said Dean sighing. Now that he was back in his own time, he really needed to talk to Gabriel about how often Heaven updated their knowledge.
The way they automatically assumed he had been in hell or that Sam was with a demon of all things was not only wrong, it was ridiculous.
"So let me get this straight. My brothers sent you into the past to watch you grandparents die...and then they tell you stop Sam from drinking Ruby's blood or they will," said Gabriel with an incredulous tone.
"That reminds me. Sammy, check these out," said Dean.
"Holy crap...is that our mom?"
"Mom, Dad, and both grandparents. Had to show them the camera function before they let me take their picture and believed me about being from another time. Apparently ol' Yellow Eyes killed John and then had mom make a deal so he could enter your room," said Dean.
"So which angel did they send?" asked Gabriel curious.
"Some blue eyed one named Castiel. So how was your date?" asked Dean smirking.
"It was fine. So the angel brought you back?" asked Gabriel.
"Lucifer was cracking up when I told him the angels were idiots," said Dean.
Gabriel still couldn't believe Dean had somehow managed to get on Lucifer's good side. Still, it was worth agreeing to keep the brothers safe in exchange for being able to talk to one of his older brothers.
He never would have thought it would be a magical human who would help him in his desire to keep this fight from restarting. Or that said human would be Death's voice among the living.
Because that was what it meant to be the 'Master' of Death. To meet Death as an equal and act as their voice. Any idiot who gathered the Hallows just for power or some other stupid reason would be slowly driven insane until they begged to be released...and then Death would turn them into a permanent Reaper just to make a point.
Dean wasn't the first Master. He was just the only one who survived it more than a few years. Harry had just insured that it would stick when he asked for a second chance.
"I told Castiel to come back when they bothered to update their information. Should have seen his expression when I told him the reason I was alone in the room was because Sam was on a date with his boyfriend. Looked like someone slapped him silly with a fish," snorted Dean.
Gabriel laughed as he said "Share!"
Dean grinned and let Gabriel put his hand on Dean's head. Gabriel crackled up at the look on Castiel's face.
"We really need to find a way to open up a chat without having to switch wavelengths," said Sam.
"Yeah...about that..." said Dean not looking at his brother.
"Dean."
"There's actually this thing called a 'Round Robin' telepathy link. Kinda like a messaging board only with telepathy. Mort showed me how but I never bothered to use it."
"Dean! Come on!" said Sam.
"Fine...want me to open one or do you want him to show you how?" asked Dean.
Sam looked at Gabriel expectantly.
"Nuh-uh, I never messed with those things," said Gabriel shaking his head.
It was less that he didn't want to and more like he couldn't. Opening up a round robin telepathic link also allowed them to see his true nature, which was something he was more than a little hesitant to do. Hell, he never messed with telepathy except with close friends who he eventually told the truth to!
The only people he kept in contact like that with were his daughter and the twins.
Dean sent a mental nudge to Gabriel, Sam and Lucifer. Automatically all three sent one back, opening up the link.
So this is a round robin. Neat, said Gabriel.
Hello little brother.
So which one is he Dean?
That's Lucifer. Lucifer, meet the unlucky bastard picked to be your vessel who I will beat bloody if you ever do try to take him, said Dean simply. Lucifer took the hint that this was Sam.
Lucifer snorted.
If I took him as a vessel, then I would have to deal with these idiot demons. Do you really think I would give up the most intelligent conversation I've had in eons?
What about me? Gabriel said petulantly.
I stand by my statement brother. The most intelligent conversation in eons.
Gabriel pouted and Sam laughed.
So what sparked this?
Sammy wanted to know how to start the telepathic equivalent of a messaging board. Gabriel apparently never bothered to learn how and I was just waiting for people to invite.
You do know that you can leave these things open so that anyone invited can stay on and others can jump in right? Lucifer told him.
Gabriel immediately pounced on his brother.
No trying to steal my mate, or I'll stab you on principle brother. Sam is mine.
In hell, Lucifer rolled his eyes.
I'm not going to. But I assume you won't have any problem with me using them to watch these movies Dean's so damn fascinated with, do you?
Gabriel's protectiveness faded. He sent an amused ping to Dean.
Does this mean we can corrupt Lucy with Disney?
Dude, do I look like I care if you corrupt Lucifer with Lilo and Stitch? Just avoid the Evil Overlord of Darkness and any of his subjects and I could care less.
Evil Overlord of Darkness? Lucifer said dryly.
He's talking about Barney and Friends, Sam said equally dry.
Lucifer may be a jerk, but even I'm not evil enough to introduce him to that crap, said Gabriel laughing.
I love you too Gabriel, said Lucifer rolling his eyes.
Now that the connection was open, Lucifer kept it open. The others could come and go when they wanted to be left alone, but at least this way he wouldn't be entirely bored.
If Gabriel was openly amused by the Shifter who had an unhealthy fascination with the black and white movies, it was nothing to his reaction to finding Sam in the traditional German peasant garb. Dean laughed so hard he had trouble breathing, and took plenty of damning pictures for later.
Gabriel however was on the floor howling with laughter when he found his boyfriend dressed like that. It just didn't suit Sam at all.
Sam hexed them both with a glare. And then he went to kill the Shifter slowly and painfully for it.
Dean, strangely, didn't try to immediately pick up the grateful woman like he normally would. Which surprised Gabriel somewhat.
"So Sammy...what's up with your brother? I mean normally he'd jump on doing her after such a 'heroic' rescue," said Gabriel.
Sam grinned.
"Okay, keep quiet but I think Dean's interested in someone else," said Sam snickering.
"Who?"
"It's a guy."
Gabriel choked.
"Not Lucifer!" he said shocked.
"No. At least I don't think so. I'm pretty sure Dean considers Lucifer as the cousin people prefer not to talk about in reunions. I think Dean has a thing for Castiel."
"Castiel? That nerdy little soldier? How can you tell?" asked Gabriel.
Sam smirked.
"I was with him when he 'summoned' Castiel. You should have seen them...there was this instant brooding connection," said Sam.
Gabriel giggled evilly.
"So Dean-o has a thing for my nerdy little brother. That should be fun to watch."
"Not too sure though. They've only met a few times."
"Well to be fair, Castiel has been destined to bring Dean out of hell for a while now. Even since he was born actually...anyone who knows about the seals knows the angel that would bring Dean out was him. It's kind of a pre-destined event," said Gabriel.
Certain events were fixed, like Dean meeting Castiel. However the way they met could be altered slightly.
"Seriously?"
"Yeah. Frankly it's about time Dean settled down."
Dean was tired. He needed someone constant in his life to release some of his pent up stress, and Sam was definitely not it.
While he did have his family for support, he needed someone to snuggle with at night other than his dog. And there was no chance in hell Dean would ever consider Sam like that. At least not unless he was in Stitch form.
Gabriel was doing his usual Trickster duties... pranking some asshole or another...when he got Sam's panicked cry for his help. And he was calling Gabriel, not Loki and not caring who heard.
He finished up early and appeared next to his boy-toy wondering what happened.
It didn't take a genius to figure out something was very, very wrong with Dean.
He was in Stitch form, growling and snarling and generally making a total mess of the place. He had never seen Dean this agitated before.
"What the hell were you hunting?" he asked Sam incredulous.
"People were dropping dead and Mort said it wasn't his reapers, so Dean and I went to the morgue. Bobby said he has Ghost Sickness."
Gabriel looked at Dean. Dean was definitely acting weird and Ghost Sickness was a likely suspect.
"So he went into Stitch form out of fear?"
"Stitch is invulnerable to everything save drowning. It was either that or Godzilla, Dean was terrified of the attention dragon from brought so he went Stitch. Bear's kept him calm but we need to end this because his time limit is almost up."
"Yeah...lead on. Dean freaking out is a bad thing for everyone," said Gabriel, eying the freaked out blue ball. Bear was doing his best to calm him, but it was quickly losing battle. As much as Gabriel enjoyed pranking Dean, he did have limits.
Seeing Dean die because of bizarre paranoia that made no sense was one of them.
When they came back Dean was firmly curled into Bear and shivering...at least until Sam picked up the ball and it uncurled.
The only one who could ever do that was Sam. No even Ellen or Bobby could calm him down enough to uncurl from that tight a ball.
Gabriel snapped up a few seats as Sam gently calmed his brother down.
You know times like this make me wish that Micheal had been a bit more reasonable, said Gabriel to Lucifer.
Lucifer watched the seen and agreed.
Just because he didn't like the addition of humans didn't mean he wouldn't respect his father's wishes. But Micheal blew a small incident when Lucifer lost his temper with a few of them completely out of proportion and it developed into a full blown war. He might dislike most of humanity, but that never meant he couldn't learn to tolerate their presence. They were young. They honestly didn't know any better and they lived on a different plain that them.
But Micheal had always been a stick-in-the-mud, to put it in Gabriel's terms. And he took things way to far until the only thing to do was fight it out.
After all this time Lucifer still couldn't remember who started the first real fight about the subject. Some claimed it was him, but he didn't want to start a war over something so trivial, especially against his brothers.
At this point I'll settle for being allowed out of this damn cage and popping in occasionally to annoy Dean and Sam. If more humans were like Dean then maybe I might be able to live with humanities existence a bit more.
Gabriel hummed in agreement. The brothers were unaware that someone had been listening to their little 'round robin' chat. That was the problem with open chat windows...if you had the right aural frequency you could 'hack' into one without anyone the wiser. And someone had been listening to Lucifer's talks with Dean.
Someone who had given Gabriel his initial mischievous spark.