It didn't take long for Gabriel and Castiel to pack up all their stuff and throw it into the trunk of the Impala. The ride back to the Winchesters' house wasn't nearly as awkward as the first trip had been, probably due to the fact that they were all communicating telepathically.

So, Samsquatch, will the mental connection be enhanced when we finish the Bond?

Gabriel leaned against the door of the backseat, looking at Sam with his customary smirk on his face.

Yeah.

Gabriel raised an eyebrow. Care to elaborate?

Well, we'll be able to feel each others' emotions more vividly, hear each others' thoughts louder, have access to each others' memories, and be able to feel the physical sensations the other is feeling.

Gabriel grinned wickedly at that last one. So if you were jacking off, I'd be able to feel it?

Sam spluttered and turned bright red, the exact reaction Gabriel had been going for. He laughed and pounded on Sam's back when the witch started to choke, causing Dean and Cas to glance back in concern.

"Everything okay back there?" Dean asked, still looking backwards.

"Dean, the road," Cas chided. Dean looked forward and Cas threw Gabe a disapproving glare. "Gabe, what did you say to him?"

"Nothing!" Sam cut in, still the color of a tomato. "He said absolutely nothing." He, too, glared at Gabriel and the familiar laughed again. To anyone else, it would appear that Sam was angry with Gabriel, but the familiar could feel the amusement and affection tickling the back of his mind.

When they finally got back to the house, Gabe and Cas half carried, half dragged their suitcases upstairs to the rooms they had claimed as theirs. Gabriel looked around the room as he put his clothes into the closet.

It was a pretty big room with a queen-sized bed, chest of drawers with a large mirror on the wall on top of it, a bedside table with a tall lamp and Gabriel's personal favorite thing about the room, two huge windows big enough for his large animal form to fit through.

Once all his stuff was put away, he walked downstairs to search out Cas or Sam. He found the three of them in the backyard and joined them.

"What are we doing?" he asked, pulling a lollipop out of his jacket pocket and sticking it into his mouth.

"Cas is gonna show us his animal form," Dean said, never taking his eyes off of Gabe's brother. The two witches and Gabriel watched as Cas changed. It wasn't a very interesting process and took place in less time than it took to blink.

One minute Cas was standing in the middle of the yard wearing his usual tan trenchcoat, the next a sleek black raven was lifting itself off of the grass to settle on Dean's shoulder. He cawed and Dean laughed a little.

"It suits you," he said, and it really did. Cas black feathers were just as dark and soft as his hair was. Cas cawed again and ruffled his feathers. Everyone turned to Gabe expectantly and he blanched under their stares.

"What, my turn?" he asked.

"If you don't mind showing us," Sam said quickly and Gabriel waved him off. He handed Sam his lollipop to hold and focused his mind. By now the transformation had been done so many times that it was almost second nature.

He blinked and the ground was suddenly a lot closer than it had been before. He tilted his head up and shuffled his feet around. Sam looked down at him in awe and Gabriel ruffled his feathers self-consciously.

What are you?

Sam's voice was filled with wonder and Gabe could see the same wide eyes on Dean's face. He flapped his wings a few times and landed on Sam's outstretched arm, too big to perch on any shoulders like Cas could.

I'm a golden eagle. Majestic, huh?

Gabriel lifted one wing and ran his beak through the feathers on the underside, pulling a loose one out and dropping it to the ground. He carefully kept his talons around Sam's arm, aware that he could easily cause long-term damage in this form.

He looked over at Cas and tilted his head in a questioning manner. Cas cawed in response and took off from Dean's shoulder, soaring up into a tree to wait for Gabriel. The older familiar had trouble when it came to lifting off of something not high from the ground, but he managed.

Flapping his huge wings, he threw himself off of Sam's arm and rose lazily into the air to join his brother. The two of them didn't go too high or too far, aware of the danger Gabe was in while in his animal form. While golden eagles weren't rare, they mostly lived in Canada, Alaska and Eurasia. The last time he had flown around a suburban area, animal control had been called to ensure that he wouldn't snatch any kids. It had not been a pleasant experience.

Gabe let out a shrill cry and heard Cas' answering caw somewhere below him. He looked around and could still make out the tiny forms of Sam and Dean a mile or so away. His avian eyes could see much better than his human ones, and he could easily make out their expressions.

Flying looks amazing!

Sam's voice had a wistful tone in it and Gabriel laughed in his head.

Then come and join me!

He felt Sam's presence enter his mind and practically radiate delight at the feeling of the wind under his wing and running through his feathers. He and Cas flew a little farther away, doing flips and dives and spirals.

Gabe, you guys are getting a little far away. We can hardly see you.

Alright, we're coming back.

Gabe flapped his wings and flew in front of his brother, angling his wings so that Cas had to turn around to avoid a collision. Cas at once knew what Gabe wanted and started flying back to their witches.

They were only a few houses away when he heard a sharp crack followed by a searing pain in his left wing. He dropped instantly, flapping his right wing uselessly in an attempt to keep herself airborne.

Gabriel! I felt that, what happened? Are you hurt?

Aaah! Yes! It hurts, Sam, and I can't use my wing!

Okay, hold on! We're coming to get you.

Cas dived down and locked their feet together, flapping his wings furiously to try to slow Gabe's decent. It worked, and instead of going splat on the pavement, Gabe landed roughly in a backyard. He lay stunned for a moment, feeling the blood dripping from his wing in a steady stream.

Cas landed next to him and fluttered around anxiously. They heard pounding footsteps coming closer and froze, hoping that it was Sam and Dean. It wasn't. Three kids came rushing around the corner, heading straight for them.

Cas flew out of the way, hovering shakily above Gabriel. He cawed threateningly at the kids, but they weren't deterred. The oldest one raised a BB gun and aimed it at Cas. So that's what happened to his wing, a BB.

Gabe hauled himself to his feet and extended his wing. The BB had passed straight through, missing the hollow bones thankfully. He looked up and shrieked at his brother. The raven cawed back, but flew away and perched in a nearby tree, gaze never wavering off of Gabe.

The kid with the gun started forward cautiously and Gabe let the animal part of him take over in a final act of self preservation. He ruffled his feathers to make himself look bigger and raised one of his feet, exposing his wicked sharp talons.

The stupid kid didn't let that deter him and threw the gun at Gabe. He barely managed to jump out of the way, but in his panic didn't notice the kid sneaking up on him until he felt a huge weight land on top of him.

He flapped his good wing and thrashed around but the kid had a death grip on him. Gabriel felt fear well up in him and he panicked, remembering the incident with the animal control guy. The kid carried a struggling Gabriel over to the other two and held him out proudly.

"I can't believe we actually caught something!" he said excitedly. "We can keep it as a pet and train it to do tricks and stuff."

"Yeah!" said the only girl, eyes shining. "And I can dress it up and have tea parties with it!"

The kid forcefully yanked open his hurt wing and Gabriel squawked in pain. The kid stuck his finger through the small hole in the wing, nearly causing Gabriel to pass out from pain.

"He can't fly," said the other boy. "But that's okay, it means he can't escape."

Sam!

Gabriel, hold on. We know where you are, we're almost there.

Sure enough, Gabriel saw Sam and Dean, the latter with a raven perched on his shoulder, stormed into the yard. The kids ran forward to meet them, obviously acquainted with the two witches. Gabriel wing jolted painfully with each step the kid took.

"Mr. Winchester!" The one holding Gabriel cried. "We caught a bird!" He caught sight of Cas on Dean's shoulder and smiled wider. "You have a bird, too! We can teach them tricks together!"

"No, we can't," Sam said angrily, fists clenched tight at his sides. Dean was mimicking his posture and glaring at all three of the kids.

"Why not?" the kid asked, oblivious to the fury rolling off of Sam in waves. Then again, Gabe was a bird of prey and very attuned to the smell of emotions.

"Because," Sam said, "that's my bird."

"No, it isn't," the kid said, holding Gabriel tight to his chest. "I found him hurt in my backyard. Finders keepers!"

"You didn't find him!" Sam allowed some of his anger to seep through into his voice. "You shot him! And you can't have him, he's mine."

"Oh yeah?" the kid spat. "Prove it!"

"Fine," Sam snapped. "Put him down and see who he comes to." The kids looked a little frightened at the thought that they might lose their new pet, but they obeyed. As soon as Gabriel was dropped unceremoniously on the ground, he half flew, half hopped onto Sam's outstretched arm.

Sam shot the kid a smug look and started to walk away.

"Wait!" the kids called. Sam turned around, annoyance written on his features.

"What?"

"Can we at least come visit him?"

"No."

"Why? We helped him."

"No, you shot him. You could have killed him, and I am having a serious talk with your mother about your stupid gun."

With that, the witches stomped angrily away. Gabriel was feeling a little faint from blood loss and he could hardly move his wing at all. Cas flew onto Sam's shoulder and peered down at Gabe. He gave a small caw and Gabriel cooed softly in response.

He closed his eyes and didn't open them until Sam set him down gently on the couch.

"Gabe, can you transform back? It'll make it a lot easier to heal the injury," Sam said. Gabriel closed his eyes and transformed into a human, and it didn't hurt any less when he didn't have wings. Sweat beaded at his brow and his breath came in short gasps.

He looked down and almost passed out. The wound had changed in proportion to his changed size, and there was now a hole the size of a quarter running straight through his upper arm. The wound was gushing blood and he felt lightheaded.

Sam and Dean prepared a healing spell and in a few minutes, Gabriel was completely healed. Cas changed as well and grabbed Gabe in a tight hug.

"Kids suck," he muttered. Gabriel laughed.

"Yeah, they do."

Are you sure you're okay?

I'm fine, Sam. The spell worked.

Oh God, Gabe, that was the scariest thing to ever happen to me. When I felt your pain and saw you falling,, and there was nothing I could do…

I know, Sam, it's okay. I'm okay.

Gabriel smiled reassuringly at Sam and reached out an arm. Sam took the invitation and hugged his other side, the one Cas wasn't clinging to. Gabriel smiled into Sam's jacket. He knew for a fact now that he wanted nothing more than to be Bonded to Sam.

I want to Bond with you, too, Gabe. More than anything.

Then let's do it. Let's do the thingy and Bind already.

Sam laughed at Gabriel's eagerness and held out a hand. Gabriel laid his hand flat against Sam's giant one. He focused on Sam, on the small Bond they already shared, the way his presence felt in Gabriel's mind, the affection he felt towards Sam, and Sam to him.

There was a sudden pain in his hand, but that was nothing compared to what was happening in his mind. He could feel the exact moment when their souls melded together, when Sam's memories flooded his mind and he couldn't tell what was him and what was the witch for a moment.

Then it cleared and he was back in his own head, though Sam's presence was even larger in his mind. He could feel all of the emotions Sam was feeling, he had access to every memory that the witch had. He was aware of Sam's hand still pressed to his, but at the same time, he was aware of his hand pressed to Sam's.

"That was intense," Gabriel said, pulling his had away to study the mark. His hand was almost exactly the same as before, although he was missing the fingerprints on his fingers and the whole inside of the hand was a few shades darker, as if it had been burned.

He grabbed Sam's hand and studied it, noting how there was a burn on Sam's hand that was the exact shape and size of Gabe's hand. He noted with annoyance how small his hand was compared to Sam's.

Sam laughed. "Don't worry, Gabe, your hand isn't that small." Gabriel scowled and bumped his shoulder against Sam's.

"What just happened?" Cas asked, looking at the mark on Sam's hand and then at Gabriel's burned palm.

"They Bonded," Dean said, "although they could have chosen a more original place to put their marks."

"Well, where would you put yours?" Sam asked in a childish tone.

Dean grinned. "I'll show you." He grabbed Cas' trenchcoat and pulled him close. He undid the buttons on Cas' shirt and placed his hand flat on Cas' chest, right above his heart. Cas simply placed his hand on Dean's shoulder.

As soon as Cas' hand touched Dean, their eyes went wide and their spines were completely straight. For a few seconds neither of them moved. Then they both gasped and blinked confusedly. They pulled their hands away from each other and Cas started buttoning up his shirt. There was a large handprint on his chest, right where Dean's hand had been.

"You were right, Gabe," he said. "That was intense."

Gabriel smiled and Cas smiled back. He felt Sam behind him and leaned on the witch's broad chest, the highest point Gabe could reach without standing on tiptoe. He felt complete, like a hole had been filled in him that he hadn't even known was there.

That's part of the Bond. Our souls have connected, literally become one soul.

This is super weird, I can see you looking at me and see myself looking at you through your eyes.

Yup. It'll be weird at first, but it'll get easier. It is your destiny to be Bonded to me, after all.

It was my what?

A familiar only ever Bonds with one witch in their whole life. It's destiny.

Has a witch ever turned away a familiar?

No way! Familiars are rare and extremely sought after. Only a witch with no soul would turn away his or her familiar. Not every witch gets a familiar, after all, and that's why me and Dean are incredibly lucky to have found you and Cas.

Gabriel smiled and watched Cas and Dean stare at each other, most likely having the same mental conversation that he and Sam had just had. He smirked when Cas caught himself staring at Dean and blushed a little.

This was going to be fun.