Unfound
Chapter Five
Harry wasn't intentional with his magic (wizarding or angelic) when he flew to where Sam had prayed to him. He was surprised, however, when both were blocked. So, instead of appearing where ever Sam was being held, he gracefully landed just outside a large grey building.
He took a second to take in what he was seeing. There was warding here that he was unfamiliar with. At first, he wasn't sure if maybe wizards had just developed some new techniques. But – no, this was older. It was reminiscent of the wards that he and Gabe had put up in the Ministry of Magic. No ordinary angel or wizard would be able to breach these wards. He briefly wondered if it might even stop an archangel.
It wouldn't stop him, in any case. Especially with his renewed concern for his brothers. Harry powered his way through.
He tried to concentrate on where Sam was – only to find that he was trapped. He looked around wildly. It was a small room. All gray with no windows. No furniture either. Just elaborate runes covering the walls floor to ceiling. It was difficult to move.
Suddenly, a door, that he hadn't even been able to discern before, opened, and flowing in came half a dozen men in tactical gear. Half were carrying heavy assault weapons. The other half had their wands at the ready.
Harry quickly disguised his face. He found that the spells that he tried to use first didn't work, but whatever was stopping those didn't work on his angelic powers.
"We have you surrounded," a hard voice came from an older man who entered after the silent men brandishing weapons.
"That you do," Harry said dryly. "10 points to MACUSA."
Tension in the room seemed to ratchet up. Which pleased Harry, it meant that he had struck some sort of chord.
"Who are you? What do you want?"
"The Winchesters," he said.
Recognition shone in the man's eyes.
"How do you – "
Harry had had enough. He quickly blasted everyone away from him with green light (which really did look like the killing curse). He moved to pull memories out of their minds, so he could find out just how much trouble Sam and Dean were in, but alarms started blaring.
"Fuck," he said. His plan quickly changed. He quickly wiped the memories of everyone in the room of his presence here and the name, "Winchester."
He broke the warding and hurried down the hallway where he knew, from a brief look at the memories he had just taken, his brothers were being held.
He got to Dean's cell first. He ripped the door off, but before Dean could see him, he flew his older brother to a clearing just outside the wards. He did the same with Sam.
Harry wasn't quite ready to face his brothers yet, so he went back into the facility one more time, to find the belongings that had been taken from them when they had been arrested.
'Stop being a coward, Potter,' he thought to himself as he flew back, invisible to where Sam and Dean were looking wildly around them.
He made himself visible and cleared his throat.
Sam and Dean turned to face him.
For a couple of seconds, they stared with blank looks on their faces.
"Harry?"
"Er – yes," he confirmed. "Hey, guys. You alright?"
They didn't respond. They both quickly closed the gap between them and him – he braced himself, ready to be punched or hit. Harry was very confident that they couldn't hurt him, but he knew that he could accidentally hurt them with the wrong movement, so he just stood still.
However, to his surprise, neither attacked him.
Well, not with violence. Before he knew it, they had him locked in a three-way hug. It was so aggressive, that if Harry was still human, they would have knocked him down. He returned the embrace and they stood there for what felt like an entirety until Harry said, "I missed you too, but I think you might have gone a bit soft, haven't you?"
They broke off from him – Dean didn't even have it in him to scowl as he might have normally. He just couldn't wipe the grin off his face.
"It is really you?" Sam asked.
"Of course, it's really him," Dean defended immediately. "Who else could pull off that kind of rescue?"
"Any number of beings, no offense, Harry."
"Come on, Sam. Sure, they could, but who would want to?"
"It's fine, Dean, I wouldn't expect anything else from you two. I – uh, I heard your prayer, Sam."
That got Sam's attention. Because while there was a world of monsters and creatures that could have sprung them from prison, his prayer had been silent and he couldn't think of anyone else, except maybe Chuck, who could know about it.
"What did I say?" he asked, just for further confirmation.
Harry scratched the back of his head. "Er – something about the President of the United States being possessed by Lucifer and you sending him back to the cage? And you asked for help. So, I came."
"From Heaven?" Dean asked with wonderment.
"Uh, Florida," Harry corrected. "It's – it's a long story. Is there a more secure place we can talk? We're just outside the warding of…whatever that place was…and even though I wiped the minds of the men in there, but I did set off the alarms in the process, so backup might be on the way."
"You were in Florida?" Sam asked, hurt evident in his voice.
"Yes. Look, I'll tell you everything," Harry said. He felt bad, but he knew that after the explanation, they would understand. "Where's the Impala? I'm assuming you left it somewhere. We can go get it and take it somewhere more secure."
Dean had thought a lot of what had happened to his Baby after they had been arrested, but he had to hope that Cas or their mom would have taken her back to the Bunker. He just wasn't sure how to tell Harry about either of those two people possibly having his car.
Sam to the rescue. "We don't know. I'd assume that someone took it back to the Bunker for us."
"The Bunker?"
"Yeah – it's our base of operations, you'll love it," Sam said, thinking specifically of the magic section that he hadn't had the chance to fully explore yet. He gave Harry the coordinates and a second later all three of them were standing in the map room.
"Woah," Sam said.
"Uh – yeah, I've got a lot to tell you." He looked around. He had no idea what this place was, but the warding was impressive. If he had not just seen the most secure facility that he had ever seen, he might have been a bit more blown away. But he was glad that his brothers had such a safe place to live.
"No kidding," Dean said, "Like how long were you in Florida and why didn't you come find us?"
'Ah. Typical Dean – not pulling any punches,' Harry thought. He hesitated a second. "I think I was in Florida for about two months give or take a couple of days? I'm not quite sure how…"
"Sam, Dean?" a voice called from a hallway somewhere to their left.
"Cas?" Dean called back.
Sure enough, the trench-coated angel appeared in the doorway. His eyes went wide when he saw Sam and Dean, he quickly ran over before stopping short upon registering the third occupant of the little group.
Harry gave him a crooked smile. "Heya, Uncle Cas," he said. "It's been a while. Been on any more killing sprees?"
Castiel let his angel blade fall into his hand. Harry accepted the challenge with an unpleasant, threatening widening grin, and conjuring his wandblade.
In a motion almost too quick for the two humans in the room to perceive, Cas ran to attack. However, he wasn't quite fast enough to stop both Sam and Dean from stepping directly in front of Harry so that he would have to strike them to get to their brother.
"No, Castiel," Sam said, steel in his voice.
"Sam – Dean, that's not – he's not the same. Can't you tell? That's not your brother," Castiel didn't know who this angel was, or why he was wearing the vessel that had been Dean and Sam's brother, but he knew that it wasn't Henry Winchester.
Dean's eyebrows shot up as he quickly glanced back at his middle brother. Sam stood resolutely.
"He was just about to explain that to us."
"Explain? He's an angel! He is somehow is using your brother's body as a vessel. Please, Sam, Dean, I don't know what he's done to you, but we have to get him out of here."
That got both men to turn and look at Harry. Who shrugged.
"Harry? You're an angel?" Dean asked.
Harry inclined his head. "I ascended. Just like Castiel wanted, right?"
Sam's face went pale. "But wizards…"
Harry waved him off. "Are fine. You think I would have come back if I didn't assure that? Magic is safe for now. Gabriel made a deal with, uh, God, to tweak the terms of my return."
"Gabriel," Dean growled. "He's the one who brought you back? Not Amara?"
Harry looked at Dean blankly, "Who's Amara?"
"God's sister," Sam explained.
"God has a sister?"
"Yeah."
"And you thought she brought me back? Why would she do that?"
"Because she brought back…" Sam started, but Dean silenced him with a look. "No reason," Sam mumbled.
Harry wasn't paying attention to his younger brother any though, because Castiel was currently glaring at him in a way that looked like he was about to be attacked.
"You haven't changed in the least, have you, Uncle Cas?" Harry taunted. "I've not been back for two months and you're already ready to try and kill me again, aren't you?"
Surprisingly, this had the opposite effect than Harry thought it would. The angel visibly shrank back – as if Harry had made a threatening step his way. He also stored his angel blade and looked like he wanted to speak, but changed his mind.
"Let's everyone calm down," Sam said, warily looking back and forth between Harry and Cas. "Harry, why did Gabriel bring you back? Not that we're not thrilled to see you."
"I think he's been trying ever since I died. With whatever deal he made with God, he finally had the chance."
"Why didn't you come to find us right away?" Dean demanded anger covering up his guilt for having given up himself. He hadn't even thought to ask Chuck.
"Well, I was unconscious for the first couple of days. I'm not even sure for how long – Gabe isn't the best at keeping track of days. He put me back into this vessel, my body, and I didn't have great control. He said that other angels would be able to relate. Something about how you all had trouble the first time that you were on Earth." He was looking at Castiel, who nodded in agreement.
"When were you going to come to find us?" Sam asked, seeing the hole in the story, as Harry seemed very well in control at the moment.
"I – I didn't know. But I heard you, Sam, and then Gabe admitted that Castiel had come to him for help, so I came as quickly as I could."
"You went to Gabriel for help?" Dean asked Cas. "What's wrong with you? Do you have a death wish?"
Cas looked him straight in the eye. "I couldn't find you. No one would help me, I was desperate – I had to use all the tools at my disposal. He was my last resort. And clearly, it worked."
"You stupid son-of-a…"
"No, he's right," Harry interrupted. "If Sam's prayer hadn't reached me – and let me know…well, they had some ridiculously strong wards, but Castiel's visit would have tipped me off and I could have started searching for you."
"Sam, do you know any spells to check if that's actually Harry? Because I don't think that he would ever agree with Cas," Dean said with fake concern.
"Shut up, Dean," Harry and Sam said at the same time before looking at each other and grinning at their perfect moment of shutting down the eldest Winchester.
Dean also grinned, although also had a brief private moment of concern that he now had two younger brothers to gang up on him.
"Sam, Dean, would you mind if I spoke with Harry privately?" Castiel finally found his voice, interrupting the moment.
Sam and Dean exchanged glances.
"Oh, fuck no," Dean said, widening his stance in front of his middle brother. Sam looked similarly disinclined. "I think you should get lost for a bit, Cas, while we catch up. You know, family time."
Castiel flinched, and Harry noticed. Harry put his hand on Dean's shoulder. "It's fine, Dean, he can't hurt me."
Dean turned to look at him. "Can't he? The last time you were alone with him…" He couldn't quite finish the sentence.
"I think I know what happened last time better than you," Harry said. He tried to keep his voice even and non-accusatory.
"Harry, I'm so – "
"No, there is no need for that. You have nothing to apologize for."
Dean didn't agree, but he wisely decided not to argue with Harry. This once.
Harry sighed. "Look, I'm sure that you all have a lot of questions. I have some answers, but not all of them. But you and Sam look like shit, why don't you two change and maybe take a shower? No offense mates, but you don't smell so great either."
Sam and Dean hadn't even thought about the state of their clothes since they had gotten out of that prison. Neither wanted to take their eyes off of him – not quite believing that he wouldn't disappear the second that they did.
"I'll leave, if that will help," Cas said mournfully. He could understand why Dean wanted him to leave. "I'm just glad to see that the two – the three of you are safe." And he meant it. He might not understand what Harry had become, but he was at least now convinced that he was who he said he was.
"Maybe that would be for the best," Sam said.
"No. It's fine," Harry said, determined to prove that he wasn't afraid of any puny angel anymore. After all, he could take on Gabriel, Castiel certainly would prove no contest. A mischievous glint appeared in his eyes. "Actually…" with a quick flick of his hand, he pushed Castiel into a chair with a very satisfying thump.
The angel made a disgruntled sound and tried to wiggle free from the chair only to find that he couldn't move. Harry winked at him.
His brothers stared at him.
"See? No problem. I can handle Castiel."
Dean shrugged. "Alright then," he said, heading towards the shower. The sink baths from the jail cell he had been in had been terrible and he very much looked forward to the heat and water pressure from the showers in the Bunker.
Sam was a little more hesitant. "Harry – are you…"
"I'm fine, Sam," he insisted. "And I'm not going anywhere. I promise."
That mollified the tallest Winchester. "Ok. Just – it's really great to see you, Harry, we missed you," his voice and puppy eyed expression that exuded sincerity made Harry realize how much he had missed his younger brother.
He smiled. "I missed you too."
Sam patted Harry's back before heading to the showers as well.
III
"That was skillfully done," Castiel said to Harry. Harry turned his attention to the angel.
"What?" Harry asked innocently.
"Sending your brothers away. I want to – thank you, for not killing me in front of them. I don't believe they would have stopped you, but, never-the-less…"
"You think I'm going to kill you, Castiel?" Harry asked, intensely.
"It's what I deserve, isn't it?"
"Don't you think that I get to decide what you deserve?" He was conveying no emotion on his face at all.
Castiel inclined his head in a gesture of agreement.
"Castiel. I'm not going to kill you," Harry said with a sigh. "I know that you have always thought that I was an abomination, but I didn't think your opinion of me was so low that you would think that I would kill someone in cold blood." He sat in a chair across from the one he had shoved Castiel into.
"It wouldn't be cold blood – I've killed thousands. I killed you."
"That's true. And, don't get me wrong, if I see you behaving in a way that makes me think that you are a threat to innocents again, I will not hesitate to end you. Gleefully, even. But Castiel – I know my brothers. They wouldn't – they couldn't continue to hang around you if they hadn't forgiven you. I always knew you were my enemy. You didn't betray me – you betrayed them. And if they can forgive the hurt that you did to them, so can I."
Cas' eyes got wide. "You – you can't possibly…"
"I can," Harry snapped. "This doesn't mean I like you. But killing you would accomplish very little. And I can see your soul now. At your core you are good. Still a total arsehole, but good."
He let the spell that was binding Castiel to the chair go.
"Angels don't have souls," Cas said, suspiciously.
"Don't they? Not the same as humans, of course, but there is still something in you that makes you fundamentally you."
"I suppose that's true," Castiel conceded. "You were not telling your brothers the truth, though, just now. I was wrong before. You're not fully an angel."
"You're the one who told them I was an angel," Harry said. "I just didn't correct you."
"You said you ascended!"
"And I have. But whatever that means, surely you can tell that I still have a soul, right? The human version of a soul. I'm somewhere in between an angel and a human. I've got wings and a soul."
Suddenly, Castiel understood. "You're what caused a disturbance shortly after the Nephilim came into being! You're – you're something new."
"Yep, lucky me. Look, Uncle Cas, let's just keep that little tidbit between the two of us angels for now. There's no need to concern my brothers with that information."
"I won't lie to Dean and Sam."
Harry raised an eyebrow. "Won't you?"
"Not anymore," Castiel growled.
"I'm not asking you to lie to them. If they directly ask you, sure, tell them the truth, but you have to know that new things like me don't tend to last long. I'm here to protect them. And once I have served that purpose, I'll go quietly back to heaven."
"Harry…"
Harry shook his head. "No. This is not up for discussion. Don't think I haven't told the exact same thing to Gabriel as well. Now. Onto more important matters. Sam and Dean have to have some type of alcohol around here, don't they?"
Castiel didn't dignify that with a response. He knew that nothing he could say was going to change Harry's mind. As the former wizard went off in search of what had always been his biggest vice, Castiel didn't move from his spot. He was disturbed by what Harry had just told him. He knew from exploiting it horribly that Harry's self-worth was one of his biggest weaknesses. Coupled with his desire to protect those he loved it had spelled disaster for him once already.
The angel knew that Harry dying again – especially in an act of trying to save one of his brothers, could very well break Dean or Sam. Especially Dean who had, despite many assurances that he was not at fault, blamed himself for Harry's death.
He made a vow to himself. To protect the Winchesters – all of them, but especially Harry, who certainly didn't seem to have any sense of self-preservation of his own right.
And if there was something that Castiel knew about Winchesters, it was that they valued family above all else. Maybe more of it would help Harry see how much he was needed here on earth. He couldn't believe none of them had thought of it yet, anyway.
He pulled out his phone and dialed.
"Mary?"
"Yes?"
"Dean and Sam are back."
"What? What happened? How did you find them Castiel?"
"I didn't. They were rescued by someone else. I think it's best if I let them explain that to you. But they are safe and back home in the Bunker. You should come."
"I'm on my way," she hung up.
Castiel smiled. Soon, the whole Winchester family would be reunited.
III
Dean found Harry in the kitchen, scrounging through the pantry.
"You have no food," Harry said when he noticed Dean's presence. His older brother was now dressed in his normal attire – jeans, a black t-shirt, and a flannel.
Dean shrugged. "We were kidnapped by the US government a month ago. Cas doesn't eat, so why would there be any here? Mostly, I'm thankful that we didn't come back to a fridge full of rotting food – he must have remembered to throw it out."
"Oh, he didn't. I vanished it. The smell was horrid."
"Oh."
"It's alright. While you were busy taking the world's longest shower, I popped by your favorite burger place and picked up some food for you. I figure they can't have been feeding you well." That was not actually what Harry had done. Even he was not fast enough to fly, order, and get back, but he didn't want to tell Dean that he had used his powers to steal some people's meals straight from their trays.
Dean's eyes got big. "Double bacon, extra onions?"
"Yeah, and those chips you're so fond of too," Harry said. He didn't need to say anything else, because Dean dove straight into the bag. He moaned indecently while he took a bite.
"Harry, have I ever told you that you're a way better brother than Sam?"
"I heard that," Sam said, stepping into the room.
"Good," Dean bit back.
Harry chuckled. "Got you a salad, Sam. Hope that's alright."
Sam smiled. "Thank you, Harry, it's been ages since I've had any fresh vegetables." He grabbed the container.
"What kind of bitch gets out of prison and wants a freakin' salad?" Dean asked Sam.
"The kind that doesn't want to have a heart attack before he turns 40," Sam said light-heartedly. Prison aside, this is the happiest he had seen Dean since Mary had left them.
Dean had shoved the majority of the burger in his mouth before he realized something. "You gonna eat, Harry?"
"Don't talk with food in your mouth, Dean," Sam chided.
Harry laughed. "No. I'm not hungry. Plus, I've already found the most important sustenance you have," he indicated to the glass of whiskey he had poured himself before snatching food for his brothers.
Sam and Dean exchanged a quick glance. They realized that the time for levity was over.
For a couple of minutes, no one said anything while Sam and Dean played "serious talk chicken" each waiting for the other to start talking.
Sam was the one who caved.
He cleared his throat. "So, uh, Harry, you still didn't say why you didn't come to find us right away. Cause, you know, Cas interrupted and all."
Harry looked down. "Er – a couple of reasons, really. First, the reason I already told you. I didn't have control – I beat Gabriel up pretty badly a couple of times. And he's an archangel so…"
"Awesome, you know, I killed Hitler," Dean bragged, impressed that Harry had beaten up an archangel, particularly that archangel, but also, not wanting to be one-upped by his younger brother.
Harry gave him a half-smile, looking really confused.
Sam gave him bitchface (don't interrupt). Dean shut up.
"The other…well, I wasn't sure you'd want to see me, honestly. Then Sam prayed, so…"
"Why wouldn't we want to see you?" Dean asked like he was crazy.
Harry blushed slightly and scratched the back of his head but didn't say anything.
Sam, of course, understood.
"You thought we were angry with you," he said sadly.
"Well, yeah. Aren't you?"
"No, dude," Dean said. He considered. "Well, maybe, in the, 'my dumbass little brother didn't wait for us to find a different way,' sort of anger. But we tried to bring you back way earlier than this. Even summoned Death to try and force him to bring you back. He wouldn't, the bastard."
Harry's breath hitched. He knew what he had done. He had gone behind their backs – after they had explicitly asked him not to use that spell. With that anger, he didn't see why they would have bothered to try and bring him back.
"What, you thought we'd just accept your death?" Dean asked, sounding offended. "Does that sound like Sam and me to you? You're our brother."
"Gabriel said…" He didn't even finish that thought. Yes, he was their brother, but it wasn't as if he mattered in the same way. Sam and Dean had each other, they didn't need him. Which is why he had just accepted it when Gabriel told him that his brothers hadn't even looked for him.
"What did Gabriel say?" Dean practically spat.
"It – uh, it doesn't matter," Harry ducked his head.
"Gabriel's a piece of shit," Dean said.
"But why would he lie?" He was asking himself more than Sam or Dean.
Dean fixed him with a look.
"Oh. Right," Harry said.
Sam's heart sank. Harry really thought they didn't care. When he thought back to the weeks leading up to Harry's death, he supposed that he couldn't completely blame him. But the next time he saw Gabriel he was going to kick the archangel's ass.
"Of all the stupid…" Dean started to rant.
"Dean!" Sam stopped him, thinking that this sort of behavior is what made Harry assume that they were angry with him in the first place. "Look, Harry, the bottom line is that we want you here. With us. Always have."
Dean scowled a little. This was venturing a little too much into touchy-feely land for him. Harry should know that he was family and what that meant, and if he didn't, Dean was going to have to show him. Words were meaningless. "Alright, that's enough Hallmark moments for the day. Actually, for the month. Why don't we show you around and pick a room out for you?"
III
Harry wasn't quite sure what to do with himself. It was the middle of the night – he was sure that both Sam and Dean were fast asleep. The three of them had spent most of the evening in very light conversation. His brothers had given him general updates and told funny stories about things that had happened while he had been in Heaven (including the entire baffling tale about how they had fought necromancer Nazis, leading to the second death of Hitler), but nothing of substance.
Between the three of them, they had also drank enough whiskey to put Hagrid to sleep many times over. Other than the pleasant burning sensation as he swallowed, the whiskey didn't affect him anymore than if he had been drinking water. And Harry really didn't need much sleep anymore. He still needed some, but way less than he had when he was a human.
The biggest difference was when he was human, he had been so busy. There were never enough hours in a day. There was always something or someone who needed him and he was constantly pulled in a million different directions. Hell, in those last couple of years, he had flown back and forth between the US and the UK that he had hardly ever known what time it was.
That had been one of his biggest adjustments when he had died. Learning to slow down had been one of the first, and most difficult, things for him. There was no urgency there. And he had figured out how to settle but it had never made him very happy. That was part of the reason that he had gotten on the angel's last nerves because it had just taken him forever to sit and enjoy.
Now that he was back on Earth, he was remembering himself again.
And he had never been one to sit still.
So, he made his mind up and left his room, ready to explore this Bunker that his brothers now called home. Maybe check out the warding to be sure that it was up to snuff.
Of course, he ran into the other inhabitant of the Bunker who also didn't need sleep.
"So, do you just…sit there all night? Staring into space?" He asked when he saw Castiel sitting in the library. Harry had honestly forgotten that he was still here – he had made himself scarce all evening.
The angel calmly turned to look at him.
"Sometimes." He inclined his head. "I've sat and watched for the majority of my existence. A couple of hours every night is hardly a burden."
Harry flopped down in a chair across from Castiel.
"You know – I've been thinking…"
"Yes?" Castiel straightened.
"I think I really manifested this whole thing. I've been calling you Uncle Cas for years, and I suppose it has never been closer to the truth than it is now."
Castiel frowned. "You could not possibly have predicted this outcome. You are many things, Harry, but you don't have any prophetic powers. Unless those are new."
Harry couldn't help but laugh at the deadpan.
"Oi, mate, you really are the same," he shook his head. "I think that I'm gonna keep calling you that."
Castiel just stared forward in a way that Harry now understood much better to know that he had annoyed the angel.
Good.
"So, would you like to go on an outing with me? A family trip, of sorts."
"Where do you want to go?"
"I dunno. I was thinking of the supermarket, for one. I don't have any money, but I can nick Sam or Dean's wallet. I did leave them my whole vault at Gringotts, so I'm sure they can afford it."
Castiel blinked at him. "You want to go to the grocery store…with me?"
Harry shrugged. "Sure? Why not?"
He was trying to appear casual. In reality, he didn't want to leave the angel in the Bunker alone with his sleeping brothers. Harry knew this was irrational. That his brothers had been alone with this angel for more time than they had ever spent with him, but he had one purpose here.
Castiel glared at him for a second before softening it, remembering who he was looking at.
"It's the middle of the night."
"So? We're in America, right? There should be plenty of 24-hour places." He thought for a minute. "Hey – maybe we could even take the Impala. I never did get a chance to drive it."
"I know you wish to return to Heaven, but I didn't think that your death wish was so imminent," Castiel said in his usual monotone.
That took Harry a second before he burst into laughter. "You just made a joke! I didn't know you had that in you, Uncle Cas. I suppose you're right, I don't want to wear out my goodwill and welcome so quickly. I guess flying would be best."
Castiel looked down. "I cannot fly anymore. My wings were damaged in the fall."
Harry's eyes sparkled. "I know. Gabriel told me. But I can."
Castiel shook his head. "I've spent a lot of time looking for Sam and Dean when I should have also been looking for Kelly Kline. I guess now is as good of a time as any to leave."
Harry had no idea who Kelly Kline was, but if it meant that Castiel would clear out of the Bunker, he would be happy for it. "Suit yourself."
III
Dean woke up to the sound of Sam yelling. His first thought was that his younger brother was in the hallway and they were taking him away for torture. Then he remembered that he was no longer in prison. Harry had saved them. Harry. His long-dead brother. Dean grabbed the gun that he had stowed under his pillow and went running out of his room.
"Dean!" Sam was yelling.
"Wha? What's happin'?" He asked suddenly fully awake and aware.
His brother found him in the hallway.
"Harry – he's gone. But so is Cas."
Dean's eyes got wide. "Shit. Do you think…"
"I don't know what to think. Do you think Cas actually left after we told him to last night? Do you think that he's hurt, Harry?"
"I think it's far more likely that Harry hurt him," Dean said, darkly. And it's not like he could blame him, but the thought of Harry ganking Cas filled his heart with ice. He also felt stupid. Why had they left the two of them alone? They were mortal enemies and he had let his younger brother send him to bed like a child.
"Harry wouldn't…"
"We don't know what Harry would or would not do," Dean said, harshly. "We have no idea what his headspace is like. You saw him downing that whiskey last night. If he's like he was…"
"No. He seemed better."
"From the couple hours, we spent with him? Come on Sam, you know better than to trust that. He barely mentioned what happened to him in Heaven. What if it was torture? What if he's worse than before?"
"It was Heaven, Dean. I'm sure they didn't torture him. Plus, he promised not to leave."
"What if he didn't have a choice?"
Sam was afraid. He had grown to trust Cas again, but maybe that was a big mistake. "I'll just – Dear Harry, where are you? Please come back to the Bunker?"
Sam and Dean looked around.
Nothing.
"You rang?" A sarcastic voice said.
They both whipped around to see Harry standing in the hallway. He was holding a large amount of grocery bags.
"Oh, thank God," Sam breathed a sigh of relief. He ran over and hugged Harry. Then punched him on the arm. "Ow," he said, meeting the far more solid shoulder than he had been expecting. Right, angel.
Harry raised an eyebrow. "I just went to the shops, lads. You have nothing in your kitchen."
"You…and Cas went together to the grocery store?" Dean asked, skeptically.
"Yeah. I went grocery shopping with the angel that, until recently, wanted me dead. Because I couldn't carry the food all myself," he said sarcastically. To drive that point home, he vanished the bags from his arms to transport them to the kitchen.
"Then where is Cas?"
Harry shrugged. "He said something about going to look for Kelly Kline? I don't know why you have your knickers in a twist anyway – I left you a note when I took your wallet, Dean."
Dean narrowed his eyes and quickly moved back to his bedroom. Sure enough, on his dresser, where his wallet had been, there was a note that said, "Went to the shops - HP"
He walked back to where Harry was currently lecturing Sam. "I also got myself a mobile. Praying is…tingly. And it can be warded against."
"Son of a bitch. Give me my wallet back," Dean demanded, angry at the panic over nothing. "And if you got groceries, you better make me some god-damned coffee. I'm going back to bed."
He stomped off the sound of both his brothers laughing.
III
Mary had a lead foot. And a good sense of what stretches might have cops patrolling. That hadn't changed much in the time she had been away. She had been about a ten-hour drive away, but she had managed to make the drive in eight. She couldn't really allow herself to believe what Castiel had said. If her boys were really alright and free from whatever prison they had been put into, then how come they hadn't called her themselves?
She knew that she had hurt them by leaving. But she was still their mother. She should have been the first call they made.
If they could make a call at all.
Of course, that made her mind go to dark places.
Castiel hadn't said anything about what condition her boys were in. If they were hurt, if they were conscious, if they were broken. All the stupid angel had given her was "safe" and "here," and if she wasn't so determined to get to her boys as quickly as she could, she would have called him back for more details.
Mary didn't even take the extra time to park her car in the Bunker's garage. She needed to see Sam and Dean as quickly as possible.
She quickly got out of the car and slammed the door shut as she went running for the outside door of the bunker. She was annoyed by the security that she had to go through, trembling a little as she made her way through all the layers of the doors.
It felt like forever, but eventually, she was on the landing looking over the library. No one was there. "Sam, Dean?" she called out. There was no response, which only made her heart beat faster.
As she rushed down the stairs, she could hear sounds coming from the kitchen. She practically ran there.
What she saw stopped her dead in her tracks.
Both of her boys were sitting at the table – backs to her. Neither looked hurt, but they were facing another man who was standing at the oven range, with a spatula. She had never met this man before. He looked to be a bit younger than her boys. His hair was a very dark brown and he was close to her height. But he stood as if he were much taller. He also wore round glasses and had a faint lightning bolt scar in the middle of his forehead.
He didn't notice her as he turned around with a plate in his hand. "And an egg white omelet for Sam," he said as he handed the meal to her youngest.
"Thanks, Harry, Dean refuses to…"
"Er, hello, can we help you?" The man finally noticed her, interrupting Sam. He was British. Which made the hair on her arms stand up.
Sam and Dean whipped around.
"Mom!" Sam called out as he stood up quickly from the table to pull her into a hug.
The man froze.
Dean quickly followed behind Sam and pulled Mary into a hug. She was seemingly forgiven for the way that she had left them.
She forgot that there was a fourth person in the room for a moment, just taking in the sight of her boys.
"Sam, Dean, I was so worried, when Castiel called and said you had been taken…"
"It's alright, Mom," Sam comforted her. "We, uh, got out."
That is when her sons seemed to also remember that there was a non-Winchester in the room. The man was still standing, staring with somewhat glazed eyes. It was strange.
Sam and Dean were looking at each other, having a silent conversation – no – argument with facial expressions in a way that only they could.
Dean won out.
"Mom, this is Harry," he said, indicating to the British men who closed his jaw. "Harry…" he hesitated for a second. "This is our mom, Mary."
In a second Harry was right in front of her, which startled her and made her back up. Not a human then.
"Mary," he breathed. The way he was staring at her was unnerving. Like he had never seen anyone like her in his life.
"Woah, buddy, back up a bit," Dean said. That seemed to snap Harry out of his intense stare.
"Sorry. My apologies. Let's start over." He held out his hand, which Mary took. "I'm Harry. It's nice to meet you. I've heard a lot about you from Sam and Dean."
Were those tears in his eyes? Did angels even cry?
"Mom, Harry is an old friend of ours," Dean said. "He's the one who sprung us out."
Mary looked at him, impressed. "How? We looked everywhere. Used every resource we could. No one could find you."
"Sam prayed to him," Dean said, confirming to her that Harry was an angel.
"I didn't think it would work," Sam said gruffly. "But I had to try."
"I've recently…returned to earth and I heard him. I only wish I could have come earlier."
He blushed a little bit, looking embarrassed. Mary couldn't imagine why. Also, the more she looked at him the more that he felt familiar to her. He held himself much like her boys did. Like John had – men who had fought wars. But was more than that. He kind of resembled Dean. Their eyes were nearly the same color.
"Have we met before?" She blurted out.
That time, there was no mistaking it. His eyes were tearing up.
"No," he said sadly. "We never had the pleasure." He tore his eyes off of her. "Sam, Dean, if you'd excuse me, I've got to…I've got to go."
"Wait! Don't go!" Sam called out before he could fly away. "Stay. We can discuss it."
Harry shook his head. "Later. I'll leave the three of you to catch up. I'm just going to go to my room, Sam, don't worry." He disappeared with a whoosh of wings.
Mary was surprised to hear that this angel had a room in the Bunker. She wasn't even sure if Castiel had one. "How many angel friends do you two have?" Mary asked after he left.
"Not many," Dean said shortly. "Here, have a seat Mom, you looked exhausted. You must have driven all night from the look of you. We were just having breakfast. Harry makes the best breakfast burritos, and there's plenty…"
She took him up on the offer and the three of them sat down. Soon, she forgot about the sad British angel as her boys recounted what had happened to them. And then she filled them in on what she had been up to.
"I've been hunting," she admitted. Although that was only a half-truth.
"I knew you couldn't stay away," Dean smirked. "What kinds of cases have you been taking?"
"Dean," Sam said quietly.
"Yeah?"
"I'm just gonna go check on him," he said.
Dean nodded. "Go ahead, see if you can get him to come back out here."
Sam quietly left the room as Dean turned his attention back to Mary.
"Is he alright? Your friend, that is?" She asked, having seen Sam's concern.
"Harry?" Dean asked. "Yeah. Or, he will be. But I want to hear more about your hunts…"
III
Sam was furious with Dean as he headed to the room that they had assigned Harry the night before.
Of all the selfish things that his eldest brother had done this had to be in the top ten. To introduce Harry, their brother who had grown up an unwanted orphan, to their mother, as a friend was cruel. And he fully intended to beat some sense into Dean later. But he had seen the look on Harry's face and knew that was more important than tearing Dean a new one.
He knocked lightly on the door. "Harry?" he asked.
The door opened on its own.
Harry was sitting on his bed, blankly staring ahead while nursing an entire bottle of whiskey.
'Shit,' Sam thought. "Harry, I'm so sorry," was all he could think to say. "Dean's a jerk."
Harry laughed without humor. "He's fine. I get it, I do. I just wasn't expecting to see her."
Sam sat down on the bed next to Harry, and gently pulled the bottle away from him. He didn't protest. "How could you? We were going to tell you. Of course, we were going to tell you, but we haven't had you back for more than 24 hours."
"How is she…"
"Back?"
Harry nodded.
"Yeah. God's sister – Amara, brought her back. As a gift to Dean for helping her. She's been back for a couple of months, but things are…strained."
"How? It's Mom! I can't think of anything I would have wanted more as a kid. And you and Dean – Dean especially, worship her."
"Yeah. He did. Does, I suppose. But she came from Heaven. Uh – muggle heaven, I suppose and she wasn't expecting two fully grown men in place of her babies. She doesn't remember any time she was a ghost or when we talked to her, so I'm guessing that she also doesn't remember when you recalled her with the resurrection stone."
"I figured as much. Look, I get it, if she is having a hard time with the two of you, I can't imagine how she would handle a third son that she thinks is long dead. If she remembers anything at all. I also understand why Dean wouldn't want to share her. He was without a mother for so long. You too. I just got to spend hundreds of years with mine. It would be selfish to get Mary too."
Sam looked at Harry with utter disbelief.
"Harry, no. That's not why he did it."
Harry set his jaw stubbornly.
"Harry. The way he treated you right before…well right before you died…the way we both treated you was completely unacceptable. We treated you more like a weapon to be used than a brother. I had plans to talk to you about the drinking and depression. It was unforgivable that I didn't act earlier."
Harry looked like he was going to interrupt, but Sam shook his head.
"No, don't deny it. And as bad as I was. Dean – the way he spoke to you. He just railed into you all the time. It was – it was the way that dad treated him. Maybe if he had been nicer. Or taken a step back. Or treated you, hell, treated you how he would treat me, none of this would have happened in the first place. He blames himself for your death. It wasn't just him, of course, but he certainly played a big role in it."
Harry looked at Sam with surprise. "It wasn't his fault."
"Wasn't it?" Sam asked bitterly. He loved Dean, and nothing would ever change that, but a part of him had not forgiven him in the part that he – that they both had played in Harry's demise. It's why he tolerated and forgave Cas. He only deserved part of the blame. Maybe less than the Winchester brothers themselves.
"Sam. It wasn't Dean's fault. Or yours. Castiel – he played you. But even without him, it was only a matter of time to when I was faced with the decision to ascend or die. And, all other factors aside, I always would have chosen to save you and protect my family over my own life. It was inevitable. And it was the right thing to do."
Sam stood up and backed away from Harry as if he had been hit with a hex. "How can you say that? Harry, the world was a better place for having you in it. And it wasn't just us that missed you. Your friends in England…Teddy…"
"Don't," Harry said harshly. He didn't want to hear what his death did to his godson. He had a pretty good idea.
"Fine. But have you contacted them, Harry? Do they know you're back?"
Harry shook his head. "No."
That didn't surprise Sam, he didn't think that they would have kept that information from Dean and him. Which made him feel guilty for not immediately calling. "Well, it's a long story, but I have Hermione's number. We can call her right now if you want. You know she's Minister of Magic? I bet she'd still drop everything and get over here."
Harry stood. "I'm not going to tell them, Sam," he said with authority. Sam could feel his power and it made him shudder. "And neither are you."
"But…"
"No."
Sam was sick of his older brothers bossing him around. They both seemed to think that they had absolute say. But he wasn't going to waste his breath arguing with Harry. "Whatever, dude. Come on, let's get back to Mom and Dean. We still have a lot to catch up on."
III
There was something about Harry that Mary wanted to get to the bottom of. After his brief moment of tears in the kitchen, he seemed very calm and collected. Easy going. Mary didn't trust it.
"So, how did you meet my boys, Harry?" she asked wanting to learn more, but start with a softball question.
The quick exchange of glances between the three men confirmed to her that something fishy was going on.
"I met them when they were children," Harry said easily. "Dean was sixteen and Sammy was twelve, I think."
Mary expected her youngest to correct him for using the diminutive of his name. He didn't. He smiled softly. She didn't even think that she could get away with calling him that. "Oh. I haven't gotten to talk to a lot of people who knew them at that age. What were they like?"
Harry's eyes twinkled with mischief. "You must not have brought the right bottle of scotch to Bobby then, I'm sure that he's full of them," Harry completely missed the brief, panicked looked between his brothers as he kept talking. "Dean was a moody arsehole, like most sixteen-year-olds. Sam followed me around like a shadow. He never stopped asking questions."
"Hey!" Dean said. "Who are you calling moody? I wasn't the one dramatically blowing up electronics because I didn't get my way. I never saw Dad cart us out of a library as fast as he did after you destroyed one of their computers."
Sam looked amused. "They were like oil and water, Mom," he said. "I loved every second of it. It was the first time I saw someone get under Dean's skin like that. Although, I think my legs still hurt from the extra laps that Dad made us run just because he was trying to tire them out so that they would stop going at each other. Not that it worked."
"Whatever. He only made us run those extra laps because Harry kept beating us. By cheating," Dean said gruffly, but Mary could hear the tease in there.
"I can't help that my innate abilities were just greater than yours," Harry responded with a shrug and look of amusement.
"Bullshit! You did your mumbo jumbo just to show me up. Don't pretend otherwise."
"I'm sure I don't have the foggiest to what you may be referring to," Harry said.
Sam chuckled. "Come on Harry, I'm not saying I didn't enjoy it, but you can't deny that you were so determined to make Dean look bad in front of Dad that you used an unfair advantage."
"Sam!" Harry said in mock outrage. "I thought you were on my side."
Sam shrugged and looked completely unashamed while Dean smirked.
"Harry, Harry, Harry," Dean said, "You cannot underestimate the bond between Sam and I. But, if you're going to try and get back at him for this betrayal, I recommend going for the hair."
"Hmmm," Harry said as if he was really thinking about it.
"Don't you dare," Sam said threateningly.
"John made an angel run laps?" Mary asked in wonder after that interaction between the angel and her boys. "And you didn't expect for him to beat you?"
The mood in the room immediately sobered. All three men avoided her gaze.
"He, uh, didn't know Harry was an angel," Dean finally said.
"Dean…" Sam started.
"What? Dad didn't know anything about that."
Sam looked like he wanted to say more but he looked over to Harry who shook his head slightly to tell him to leave it.
"You're an ass," Sam said to Dean and promptly got up and left.
"Come on Sam…" They heard a door slam down the hall. Dean sighed.
"What just happened?" Mary asked, somewhat rhetorically. She couldn't follow what was happening. Harry didn't interact with Sam and Dean even close to the way that Castiel did. He was far more familiar and he didn't seem to have a difficult time with human interactions. And there was obviously some secret they were keeping from her.
Dean got up to go after his younger brother.
"Dean, just leave him be," Harry said, tiredly.
To Mary's surprise, Dean listened. He sat back down.
"The least you could do is get me a beer," he grumped.
"That's alright, I'll get it," Mary said. "I was thinking of going anyway…"
She didn't have a chance to get up and go to the kitchen though. Before she stood three beers came floating into the room and gently landed in front of one of each of them.
"Castiel never does that," she said.
"That's because Uncle Cas is no fun at all," Harry said, trying to lighten the mood as he took a sip from his beer.
Dean snorted.
"Castiel is your…uncle?"
"In a manner of speaking," Harry said with a smirk.
"Is that true?" Dean asked, interested. "I mean, now…"
Harry raised his eyebrows. "I mean, kind of. I am a younger generation. It's not like he would want to claim me as his brother."
Dean winced at the barb.
"Plus, you know I like to take the piss out of him."
"Who are you?" Mary asked, frustrated. None of this added up and she was getting sick of it.
"No one of import," Harry responded lightly. "I was going to make dinner, I figure I should probably get that started," he said, getting up from his chair.
Dean's face lit up. "Really? Are you going to make pie? Please make pie. Mom, you have no idea, Harry makes the best pie."
"You're just going to have to wait and see, aren't you?" Harry winked and left the room.
Dean looked like he wanted to follow him, but he didn't.
AN – Someone just needs to go ahead and give Harry a hug, don't they? (He'll actually be getting far more than a Winchester usually gets.) Cas could use one as well, but I volunteer myself for that one.
In canon, it is unclear how long Sam and Dean spend in prison, but here, it was just over a month. Don't worry, we'll get to Billie later, I promise. (And yes, that is meant to sound ominous.) Also, there are lots of small details in this chapter that will be important later – in case you are keeping a mental list.
This chapter contains one of my favorite jokes of what I've written so far. I hope you enjoyed it too.
As always, thank you so much to everyone who interacts, especially those who comment and/or review. As a serial non-commenter, myself, I won't complain about not having many, but I will give you a puppy-eyed look of hope that maybe some of you quiet ones will say something.
Did y'all enjoy the reunion? Let me know what you think!