Gabriel was walking by Sam's room and found his son sitting in the middle of the floor with his eyes closed. "Sam, are you okay?"
Sam opened his eyes and turned to his father. "Yeah, I was just meditating."
"Why?" Gabriel asked.
"The angel from the garden, Joshua, suggested it as a way to get used to all the Grace here," he said.
"Why didn't you tell me you were being overwhelmed by the Grace?" Gabriel asked. Thinking about it, he probably should've realized that his son would have trouble with it. Sam wasn't used to being around many angels at once. Now he was in close proximity of about a million of them. Gabriel supposed he didn't think of it because this hadn't been a problem with any other angel. They had all been around Grace since their creation.
Sam just shrugged in response.
Gabriel sighed. "Joshua is right. Meditation can help with it. It settles the mind and makes things less intense. It might help you in other ways too." Meditation helped with emotions as well. It helped to calm the whole body. Hopefully it would help with Sam's anger.
"I doubt that," Sam said, knowing exactly what he meant.
Before Gabriel had a chance to respond, he heard a knock at the door. Gabriel immediately left the room and went to the door. He opened it to find Castiel there. "Hey, bro. Come on in."
"Hello, Gabriel," Castiel said before walking inside.
"What have you been up to, little brother? I haven't seen you in a while," Gabriel said.
"Yes, I have been quite busy. I've had work with my garrison and Lucifer has also taken me on as an adviser," Castiel said proudly. There wasn't really any greater honor than working with an archangel so directly. Sure, he'd been doing so before, but it was different doing it in a official capacity.
Gabriel laughed. "How would you have reacted if someone told you a year ago you'd be doing that?"
"I would've found it implausible," Castiel said. There were no circumstances in the past where he would've considered he'd be here, proudly helping Lucifer with anything. In fact, he would've found the idea frightening. Now, things were looking much better than they had in the past. Lucifer hadn't been in charge for long, but he was already working to fix things.
Gabriel nodded. "I would've thought all our current positions to be, as you put it, implausible."
"There is something else I wished to tell you. I visited Dean yesterday," Castiel said.
"Uh, let's have this conversation later," Gabriel said. He didn't want Sam knowing anything about Dean. It would just make things harder for him.
It was too late. By then, Sam was standing a few feet behind his father. "You saw Dean?"
Castiel's gaze shifted to his nephew. "Hello, Sam. It's good to see you. How are you?"
Sam ignored the angel's inquiry. He was too focused on talk of his brother. "Is Dean okay?"
Castiel glanced over at his brother, silently asking if he should go on. Gabriel had just made it clear he didn't want Sam knowing about what was going on with Dean.
Gabriel nodded. It was too late to keep whatever Castiel had to say from Sam.
Sam noticed the exchange. He didn't comment on it, but inside he was bristling. He did not need his father's permission to hear about his brother.
"Dean had just finished up a hunt when I saw him," Castiel said.
"Was he okay? Was he hurt at all?" Sam questioned with concern.
"He looked well enough. There were some cuts and bruises that I healed for him, but nothing that doesn't usually come from hunting," Castiel explained.
"What about other than that? How's he dealing?" Sam asked.
"He says he's well. He asked about the two of you. I said you were well and then he asked that I go and not come back," Castiel said. He had to admit being slightly put out by Dean not wanting him to visit. He took it a bit personally until Dean told him that it was just too hard to be around angels when they got to see Sam and he couldn't.
"He asked the same of me. Don't take it personally, Cas. He just needs a clear break from all of us until he dies and comes here. It's the only way he can move on," Gabriel explained.
"There shouldn't be anything to move on from," Sam grumbled.
"Sam..." Gabriel started.
"It's not fair! I shouldn't have to wait until my brother dies to see him again! Why did Lucifer have to give in to Michael! He gave into the bastard! So did you! You agreed to all this! You should've told him no!" Sam yelled. Yes, he realized he was being unreasonable, at least where his father was concerned, but he was so angry.
Gabriel took a deep breath. It had been exactly like this nearly the whole time they'd been in Heaven and he was getting tired of it. He was very close to snapping at the kid.
"Now, you're even trying to keep me from finding out things about my brother! I heard what you said to Cas when you told him he'd seen Dean! You didn't want me to know about it! You have no right to keep things about my brother from me!" Sam continued angrily.
Gabriel took a couple of steps towards his son and spoke in a low, steely voice. "Listen to me carefully, Samuel. I have put up with more than enough crap from you in the last few weeks. I know that you're hurt and angry and I've tried to keep that in mind, but you need to realize that my patience has limits and you are very close to crossing them!"
"I am not a child! You can't talk to me like..."
"I will talk to you how I please! You wanna be spoken to with respect? Start deserving it! You wanna be treated like an adult? Same thing! Start earning it. Start acting like an adult instead a petulant child. Now you will not speak to me like this again! Am I clear!" Gabriel yelled.
Sam nodded, but the glare on his face made it clear that he was still pissed. "I'm going for a walk."
"That might be in your best interests," Gabriel said as his son brushed past him and Cas and left.
"Gabriel, I'm sorry. It is clear to me now why you didn't wish him to know that I'd seen Dean," Castiel said. He'd been quite stunned by his nephew's outburst. He knew Sam had a temper, but he'd never once heard him speak to Gabriel like that.
Gabriel sighed. "He's just so angry. And I don't blame him for being angry, but he's taking it out on everyone. I knew hearing about Dean would just make it worse."
"I can see your point. I believe it may have hurt Dean more to see me and hear of Sam as well," Castiel said.
"How is Dean really? I get the feeling you omitted some details," Gabriel said.
"Not from my conversation with Dean. It happened as I said. But I spoke with Bobby Singer soon afterwards. He tells me Dean is not coping so well. He's been on back to back hunts since you left," Castiel said.
Gabriel groaned. "Damn it, kid. Has he been reckless?"
"Bobby says he thinks Dean is being careful, but he hasn't been with him, so he doesn't know for sure. I believe he's doing it merely to stay busy, not to shorten his life expectancy," he said.
"I don't know about that. Cas, I know you've got a lot on your plate right now."
"Plate?" Cas asked confused before he got an annoyed look from Gabriel. "Oh, that is another expression then?"
"Yeah. It means you're busy. But I was hoping you could do something for me. If you can't, say so," Gabriel said in firm tone. He didn't want his brother to overwork himself and he knew he would if Gabriel asked him to.
Castiel nodded.
"Look in on Dean from time to time without his knowledge? I wanna know if he's being at all reckless," Gabriel said. If he was, Gabriel would make good on his promise to go down there and smack some sense into him.
"Of course. I was considering such a thing anyway," Castiel said. Dean had asked him to stay away, but he found that didn't like the idea of simply leaving Dean completely alone. Dean was his friend. Actually, since Gabriel considered him a son, he was more like another nephew. He couldn't just abandon him.
"Thank you. And I don't want Sam to know about it. As you just saw, it just makes it worse. He can't move on with constant updates about his brother, especially if those updates aren't good. Dean thought a clean break was best for him. Well, I agree, and it's also best for Sam."
"I understand. I will abide by your wishes," Castiel said.
"Thanks."
"I should go. I need to meet with my garrison," Castiel said before walking away.