Yes, yes, I know, the last chapter was fabulous.
If a couple Winchesters is all it takes to get you guys that excited, then the next bit of the story is going to be great.
And of course I didn't forget Adam! What sort of Supernatural fan do you take me for?
Anyway, yes, we're continuing off directly from where the last chapter stopped. There's going to be a lot more of the supernatural 'verse in the next few chapters than there is Harry Potter, mainly because I'm trying to fully wrap up season 10 and all of that ridiculousness with heaven because I think the writers left a couple holes [unless they're planning to finish up in s10 in which case carry on].
A warning for later in the chapter: I think the writers totally missed an option they could have taken when solving Cas's Grace problem, but I think I get why they didn't.
[review if you liked the 200th!]
Disclaimer: I do not own Supernatural or Harry Potter
"Dean is a what?"
Gabriel was sitting in the backseat - and when had Castiel learned how to drive? Sure, he'd driven before, but that was in his mind, not in real life - and maybe sulking over getting stuck in the back while Hannah took the front seat when the prayer came.
Uh, Gabriel, I don't know if you're listening, but if you are and you don't mind I could use some help right about now. Sam sounded panicked, or at least as panicked as a Winchester ever sounded. They could have a pretty good poker face when they wanted to.
"Figures," Gabriel muttered to himself.
"Gabriel?" Castiel looked up, frowning, and his eyes were reflected in the mirror back at Gabriel.
"I gotta bail for a minute, Cas, be right back."
"Wait-"
Gabriel did not, in fact, wait for whatever Castiel wanted because sitting in the backseat of the car going at what felt like about 20 miles an hour [which might have been kind of fast but was nothing compared to flying] was the most boring thing he had ever done in his very long life.
Considering how long it had taken Gabriel to track down Castiel, he found Sam fairly quickly, and immediately understood why he'd prayed.
"Wow, you really can't stay out of trouble for five minutes, can you?"
The man standing in front of Sam wheeled around. "What the hell-"
"Nope," Gabriel interrupted cheerfully, two fingers to the guy's forehead before he even realized it and the man crumpled. "Just an angel here to rescue the damsel."
"Thanks." Sam's voice was dry as as desert.
"Eh, I wasn't doing anything too important. Cars are really slow, you ever noticed?" Gabriel stepped over the guy and raised en eyebrow at Sam, who was zip-tied to a chair and bleeding slightly. "Winchesters really do attract trouble, huh? Who was he?"
Sam shrugged as best he could, wincing as Gabriel jarred his arm while snapping the plastic restraint.
"Whoops."
"It's fine. Uh, I've got no idea who he is. He was looking for Dean."
"Dean, huh? Think your brother messed with him recently?" As a demon?
"...I don't know. I don't think he knew about anything supernatural - he didn't know about monsters or anything." Sam stood up and then caught himself on the chair.
"Whoa, there, Gigantor, probably not a good idea with all that blood loss." Gabriel put a hand out to help steady Sam and then realized that, being physically much younger and about ten inches shorter he wouldn't be able to do much.
Sam blinked as the blood abruptly vanished from his face, no doubt feeling the effects of what Gabriel could do.
"Thanks."
"No problemo." Gabriel glanced at the man on the floor again. "I'm going to take a wild guess and say that you didn't find Dean."
"...No." Sam's face hardened as soon as Gabriel mentioned his brother. "I know where he is, though."
"Lucky."
"Where's Cas?"
"Oh, he and Hannah are somewhere in a car, I wasn't paying attention to what road we were on."
Sam frowned, successfully distracted from the topic of Dean. "Who's Hannah? Another angel?"
"Yep. What do you say we meet up with them and then do something about Dean?"
"Sam?" Castiel's voice was almost tinny over the phone.
"Cas, yeah, hi. Look, uh, I think I got a lead on - oh." Sam seemed to come to a sudden realization.
"What?"
"Don't worry, I told him." Gabriel said, picking up the phone from where it was awkwardly positioned on the dashboard so that Sam could keep a hand on the wheel. "He means a lead on Dean, bro."
Gabriel could practically hear Castiel stiffen through the phone.
"Where is he?" Castiel demanded.
"We're in North Dakota right now, I managed to track him to this town but he's probably long gone by now." Sam answered - the phone was on speaker and Gabriel was holding it in between the two of them, so he could easily hear what Castiel had said.
"...I see." Castiel's voice was heavy. "Where in North Dakota?"
"Cas-"
"I can meet up with you and we'll go from there. Where are you?"
Sam sighed, breath gusting out. "We're near Fargo. How soon can you be here?"
"If Gabriel helps-"
"Sorry." Gabriel shifted in his seat, back rubbing uncomfortably against the back of it. "I may be able to fly but not that much in one day. You can drive up here, can't you?"
"Yes, but - Gabriel, if you can't fly-"
"I didn't say I couldn't, it's just uncomfortable."
"Right-" Sam interrupted before the conversation could go any further. "Cas, do you think you can be up here in a day?"
"I think so, yes."
"Great. Call me when you get here." Sam turned is attention back to the road and Gabriel pressed the end call button, putting the phone in his own pocket.
"When you say uncomfortable, you mean it hurts, right?" Sam asked quietly, darting a glance at Gabriel.
"Whatever." Gabriel let his head lean against the window of the car. Sam seemed to take that as a yes.
"If it hurts, then why-"
"You know, I don't recall offering to share my feelings with you, Sam." Gabriel snapped.
"I'm just trying to be helpful." Sam's brows had drawn down so that he looked like he was trying to stare down a demon. "I haven't forgotten what you did for us at the Elysian, you know."
"I was kind of trying to not remember that, actually." Gabriel scowled at the window. "What are you bringing up the Elysian for? That was years ago."
"So, you helped us." Sam dared a glance at Gabriel before concentrating on the road again. "Gabriel, you basically ensured that we could actually defeat Lucifer. I'm just trying to return the favor."
"Yeah, well find another way."
Sam huffed out a breath. "Fine, then. Who's your new vessel?"
Gabriel snorted, sitting up again. "Of course you would go straight for that. You Winchesters are always about the vessels."
Sam frowned. "You've been talking to Dean?"
"Other brother, Sam."
Sam almost crashed the car in surprise.
"Holy - what the hell, Sam!" Gabriel demanded as Sam swerved over to the side of the road and slammed on the brakes.
"I should be asking you that!" Sam spun around in his seat. He looked furious. "You've been talking to Adam?"
Gabriel realized the magnitude of the offhand comment he'd made. "Ah. Right."
"What the hell have you been doing with Adam?" Sam demanded. "How did he even get out of the Cage?"
"Alright, relax, Gigantor," Gabriel replied, leaning back slightly in his seat. "I don't know how he got out of the cage, he showed up out of nowhere!"
"Well then where the hell is he?"
"Same place I've been for the last few years!" Gabriel raised his leg and shoved Sam backwards. "Personal space, and stop panicking, Sam, your brother's fine. As far as I can tell, he got yanked out before getting stuck downstairs."
Sam relaxed once he heard that, but only slightly, his expression changing to become slightly more panicked. "Wait - if Adam's out-"
"Lucifer isn't, Sam, I checked myself. No Apocalypse." Gabriel made an X over his vessel's heart. "Promise."
Sam didn't look away. "What about Michael?"
"Ah. Well..."
Sam's hand tightened on the wheel and he glared at Gabriel. "Please tell me you're joking."
"I was serious when I said no Apocalypse."
Sam barked out a laugh. "Right. You expect me to just believe that when fucking Michael is running around-"
"Which one of us was spewing all that crap about the Elysian five seconds ago?"
The younger Winchester went silent and Gabriel cocked an eyebrow. "I know my sibling, Sam. Michael wouldn't be running around if I thought the end of the world was going to come about again."
Sam glared at the steering wheel so hard that Gabriel thought he might be trying to melt it.
"Sam-"
"I hear you, alright?" Sam held up a finger. "You're sure."
"Yep." Gabriel didn't add anything else - whatever his doubts about Michael, he was sure of at least that much.
Groaning in the back of his throat, Sam let his head hit the wheel with a dull thump. "I can't believe I'm doing this," He muttered, and then cleared his throat. "Fine - but I swear if I hear about anything that sounds like seals breaking-"
"You'll stick me in holy fire, et cetera, et cetera," Gabriel finished, relaxing now that he knew Sam was not about to break out the holy fire. "Let's drive, how about? Since we're supposed to be meeting Cas and all. I got stuff to do."
Gabriel flew back home once Castiel and Sam were on the case - they would be able to handle things well enough - and was immediately ambushed bu several smaller figures.
"|Where did you go?|" Demanded Slepnir.
"|Hey, it's alright! I just got summoned. It happens sometimes.|" Gabriel detached Fenris from his leg and swung him up into his arms. "|Nothing big.|"
"|Yes, something big,|" Fenris argued, latching on again around Gabriel's neck. "|You left.|"
"|I know, I'm sorry.|"
"|Promise not to again.|"
"|I can't control when people summon me, kiddo.|" Gabriel ruffled Jormungand's hair as the older boy held the hem of Gabriel's shirt tightly. "|But lucky for you guys, it's not gonna happen again anytime soon.|"
It didn't take long for the Winchesters to call again. About a day or two, actually. Gabriel might have laughed if he wasn't so annoyed.
Gabriel, now would be a good time to show up! Sam's voice blared through Gabriel's head, making the archangel tense for a moment.
"What now?" He muttered to himself, curiosity piqued at the urgent nature of the call. It wasn't like Sam to sound so urgent, even if he was more likely to call for help than his brother.
Gabriel stretched his wings experimentally and decided that he could probably make it.
Note left with a snap and Gabriel was gone, skidding as he landed clumsily in the bunker, Sam jumping in astonishment and nearly stabbing him.
"Mother of fucking-" Gabriel took a deep breath. "What the hell do you want?"
"Gabriel-" Sam lowered the blade with a sigh and then jumped again as a hammer crashed into the wall next to his head, thrown from a few feet away.
"Sammy!" Dean rounded the corner and then stopped, reeling backwards, and Gabriel froze in surprise at the elder Winchester's blackened soul.
Well, demons were demons, even if they hadn't been demons for long.
The Mark of Cain shone like a brand on his forearm and Gabriel scowled, sending Dean shooting backwards into the wall of the bunker and pinning him there. "This is what you called me for?"
Sam gasped, and scrabbled for the knife he had, which Gabriel realized was their demon-killing knife. "No - it's Cas-"
Gabriel spun around and pushed Sam against the wall in the same instant, one hand fisted in the man's shirt. "What about Cas?" He demanded.
"It's his Grace!" Sam tried to push Gabriel away.
Gabriel snapped his fingers and Dean collapsed to the floor, unconscious. He didn't pay any attention to Sam's panic over his brother before his wings whipped out again, Grace seeking Castiel and finding a feeble pulse of Grace to hone in on.
His brother was slumped against the wall of the bunker a few hallways away from where Dean and Sam were, and Castiel looked up groggily as Gabriel slammed into the wall, rough landing abruptly cut short.
"Gabriel? I-"
"Shut up." Gabriel was next to his brother in an instant. "I told you to be careful, you idiot!"
Castiel coughed, his Grace flickering alarmingly. "I was-"
"Bullshit, Castiel, or you wouldn't look like this." Gabriel was frantically running through ideas in his head, but only one of them didn't involve Castiel's Grace magically appearing out of thin air to replace the borrowed one. "Cas-"
"Don't. I know you can't do anything." Cas slumped a little farther onto the floor.
Gabriel growled and hit the wall in frustration, ignoring the cracks he left behind. "I can. Cas-"
Castiel stared at Gabriel in surprise. "What-"
"You can?" Sam had arrived behind them while Gabriel was distracted. "Do it!"
"Cas!" Gabriel yanked his brother's attention back to him. "Do you trust me?"
"What does-"
"Do you trust me?"
Cas swallowed heavily and nodded, breathing heavily. "Of course." His voice was more gravelly than normal.
"Good." Gabriel inhaled sharply. "Sam, I need a jar." Castiel's eyes widened in sudden understanding and he tensed under Gabriel's hand - which was solidly on his shoulder, in case the near-fallen angel decided he wanted to be suicidal - but didn't move.
"Now!" Gabriel snapped when the hunter showed no signs of moving, and Sam's feet suddenly pounded on the floor moving away from them as Gabriel unsheathed his angel blade.
"Don't move," He warned Castiel. His brother flinched anyway. His eyes squeezed shut in reflex when the silver blade cut a gash in his neck.
The kitchen was close, luckily - Gabriel had noticed it on his way to Cas, however fast he'd been going - and Sam's sudden shout was proof that he'd returned.
"Give it!" Gabriel shouted back, holding out a hand commandingly as whitish wisps of Grace started drifting onto the floor. "Sam, now!"
"What the hell are you doing?" Sam demanded, voice just as loud and Gabriel snapped, glaring fiercely as the jar appeared in his hand. He quickly opened it and held it close to Castiel, using his own Grace to coax the wisps and scraps - all that remained of the Grace that Castiel had borrowed - snaked into it, piling at the bottom and drifting sparsely as Gabriel screwed the top back on.
The jar was all but forgotten as Castiel groaned, and Gabriel immediately hoisted up his brother despite being half a foot shorter and quite a bit smaller when vessels came into the equation. "Give me a hand here, Gigantor!"
Sam was still furious, but he gave Gabriel a hand all the same and they managed to get Castiel onto a bed in the nearest bedroom, which happened to be Dean's.
Castiel was half-awake as they did so, and Gabriel rested a hand on his now-human [again, if what Metatron had told his was correct] brother's head. "Go to sleep," He said softly. "You'll feel better when you wake up."
He walked back to the hallway where they had been previously and picked up the jar, aware that Sam was following him like a cloud of doom.
"What the hell was that?" Sam asked dangerously.
"That was me being a damn sight more effective at saving my brother's life than you have," Gabriel snapped, tossing the jar at Sam. The hunter caught it on the tips of his fingers, scrabbling to keep hold of it.
Sam stared at the jar, and more specifically at what was inside it. "Is this what I think it is?"
"Depends on what you think it is, but I'm leaning towards yes." Gabriel slammed a random door open and realized he'd left Dean on the floor but couldn't particularly find it in himself to care at that exact moment.
"Gabriel, what - what am I supposed to do with this?" Sam demanded, following him.
"Put it in storage, I don't care," Gabriel said irritably. "What are you going to do about Dean, anyway?"
Sam straightened. "Oh - right." He pushed past Gabriel, handing off the jar of Grace as he went after his brother again.
Gabriel sighed and glared at the jar in his hand. "This is all your fault."
He might have been blaming a jar, but he wasn't about to yell at Castiel for getting himself into this mess.
Gabriel's first encounter with the also newly-human Dean [using so much Grace plus his wings meant Gabriel had to camp out in the bunker for now] was when the hunter tried to get back into his bedroom.
"I don't think so." Gabriel closed the door so sharply he almost crunched Dean's fingers, making the latter jump out of the way and reach for his gun.
"Sonuva - who the hell are you?" Dean demanded, hand already on the weapon.
"Wow," Gabriel replied dryly. "Your memory's even worse than I thought. You saw me yesterday, remember?"
Dean's eyes widened, and his hand fell back to his side. "That was you?"
"Who else would it be?" Gabriel smirked. It was good to have someone to rile up again.
Dean opened his mouth and the closed it again, hardening into a stubborn expression. "Why the hell are you locking me out of my own bedroom?"
"It's occupied."
"Occupied? By who?" Dean's expression shifted to disgusted. "You weren't in there, were you?"
Gabriel scoffed at the accusation. "Hell no. What would I want with your bedroom? Castiel needed a place to crash is all."
"Cas?" Dean's interest sharpened immediately. "He's in there? Let me see him."
"Ohhh, no." Gabriel barred the doorway physically as Dean reached for the handle again. "You are not getting your creep on by watching my brother while he's asleep."
"Dude, you realize Cas does that to me like, once a week."
"So?" Gabriel raised one eyebrow challengingly. "Do I look like I care?"
"Let me in my fucking room, Gabriel." Dean tried to push past Gabriel again and Gabriel kicked his knee lightly, but hard enough that it made Dean stumble backwards.
"Oh, so you do remember me from ten hours ago." Gabriel said lightly as Deans swore under his breath. "I was wondering if your memory had started to go - that does happen with old age, you know."
Dean growled. "Gabriel, I swear to God-"
"Let's not bring my Dad into this." Gabriel cackled mentally - he could practically see the steam coming out of Dean's ears.
"Get out of the way!"
"Oh, by all means, keep demanding. I could do this all day."
"You know what? Fine." Dean threw up his arms and turned around, walking back the way he had come. "You do whatever the hell you want, I'm getting something to eat."
"Killjoy!" Gabriel called after him, leaning against the doorframe. He practically leaped out of the way when the door creaked open.
"Was that Dean?" Castiel whispered, but the creak had been enough to get Dean to turn back around.
"Cas, you alright?" Gabriel was now awkwardly stuck between his brother and the hunter - both of who incredibly unfairly towered over him, since his new vessel was even shorter than his old one.
"I'm fine, Dean." Gabriel edged out from inbetween the two taller figures as Castiel leaned forward slightly, holding himself on the doorframe. "And you're..."
"Not a demon anymore, yeah." Dean laughed. "You sure you're okay? Sam said you lost the Grace you got."
"I...think I am fine." Castiel frowned. "Being human is confusing."
"Yeah, tell me about it."
"Well this is touching." Gabriel grinned as the pair appeared to suddenly realize that he was still there. "I'm gonna go somewhere else before you decide to start making out to make each other feel better." His grin only got wider as Dean started blushing furiously and making incoherent noises that no doubt promised a painful demise, while Castiel tilted his head and looked as confused as ever.
"Dean, I don't understand, why would 'making out' make me feel better?"
Gabriel laughed out loud as he left to the background noise of Dean attempting to explain away Gabriel's comment while still blushing furiously.
"Screw you, too, Gabriel! Fucking angels."
"You're still here?"
"While I do appreciate that you recognize that I have a life outside helping you two, yes, I am."
Sam paused, and then apparently decided it wasn't worth it to pursue the topic and sat down with a sheaf of papers. "Hey, on the topic of Heaven..."
"I wasn't aware we were on the topic, but go on." Gabriel eyed the papers in Sam's hand and the neat characters drawn on it.
Sam followed Gabriel's line of sight and pushed the papers towards the archangel. "Um, we managed to translate a little bit of the angel tablet-"
"Excuse me?" Gabriel paused in the act of reaching for the papers. "The what tablet?"
Sam huffed out a laugh. "Yeah. We had it for a little while, but then, uh, Metatron managed to get his hands on it."
"Of course," Gabriel muttered, rolling his eyes and snatching the papers. "And how exactly did you managed to - is this Elamite?" He looked up at Sam disbelievingly. "How did you managed to translate one indecipherable language into another one that hasn't been spoken for the last few millenia?"
Sam's mouth thinned, and he looked down at the table. "Kevin did."
"Thanks, that really helps." Gabriel huffed, sitting back in his chair. "What, he's the prophet of the Word?"
"He was, yeah." Sam's tone made Gabriel pause again.
"...Ah." Gabriel picked up the papers, flicking through them - elamite wasn't exactly difficult to read, despite how long it had been since Gabriel had had the need to. "Metatron's footnotes, huh? Didn't think he'd dare add his own stuff to Dad's Word."
Surprise flickered over Sam's face for the briefest second. "You were there when he wrote it down, weren't you?"
"I don't know what the tablets say," Gabriel bluntly shot Sam down, seeing the idea burgeoning in the Winchester's head. "The only beings Metatron hates worse than you three is us archangels." He put the papers down. "And this is just his spell and some side notes - nothing important. If there was a way to undo it, your prophet didn't include it."
Sam sighed in disappointment, relaxing so that he sagged in his chair. "Yeah, I wasn't hoping for a whole lot. Crowley said as much."
"Crowley?" Gabriel raised an eyebrow. "As in, the demon who set himself up on the throne downstairs? Why'd he do you a favor like that?"
"We had him tied up in our dungeon."
Gabriel opened his mouth, paused, and then closed it again. "You know what? I don't want to know."
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