Chapter 86.

His visit concluded, Dean said his goodbyes and went to the shadows at the edge of the bar. "Gabriel," he said, "You around? I'm ready to go."

Gabriel appeared in front of him. "Okay, we all done with the big, super secret mission?"

"All done." said Dean, mildly enjoying how pissed Gabriel was to be out of the loop.

"Good. Great. Okay. So, I'll just take you back home where you'll doubtless tell Sam all about it."

"Maybe." said Dean.

"And Cas and Crowley and the guy at the Gas 'n' sip."

"Are you done?"

"I'm done." said Gabriel with a shrug, "What, you think I care about you having secrets? I never bought into Heaven's Dean Winchester Fan Club. I barely notice you except when you're dying in some interesting or amusing way."

"Being fair, I do that a lot, especially when you're around."

The archangel offered a weak smile. "Yeah, I gotta give you that. You're entertaining. Balthazar and I don't see what the other angels see in you, but watching you die is fun."

Dean looked at him. He wanted to know. He really, really wanted to know and Dean decided that he wanted to tell him. "Yeah, well, add another angel to that list. Anael and I are together."

Gabriel's eyebrows shot up. "Anael? The redheaded rebel? You guys are together? As in an actual relationship or just knocking boots?"

"The real thing." said Dean, "I don't notify my parents when I knock boots." He grinned. "Although, boots are being knocked."

Gabriel smirked. "Yeah, I'll bet. Cas a fan?"

"Not at first. He was uneasy about the whole thing."

"Not to say jealous."

"No, it's not like that. He thought we'd end up hurting each other."

"Which you will, obviously."

"Thanks for your support."

"What? You thought you wouldn't? Have you forgotten your track record, because brother, it is littered with broken hearts and a lot of corpses."

"And you wonder why I wasn't gonna tell you."

"Just stating a fact." said Gabriel.

"Yeah." Dean acknowledged. It wasn't as if he hadn't been thinking about it constantly.

"Chances of success are pretty much zero."

"I know."

"Which means … "

"I should give up now, right?"

"You know, your brother never give up on anything. Guess that's how he has a wife and kid and you just have a car." Gabriel laughed. "I'm messing with ya. Not allowed to kill you, but Jack never said I couldn't screw around a little."

"What are you talking about?" said Dean.

"Never thought you'd go for another angel. Not even sure Anna counts, because she was human at the time, but then again, Anael is Anael."

"Meaning?"

"Meaning the vessel is smokin' and the angel inside it is no ordinary angel. She hates Heaven almost as much as you do. I can see the attraction. If you're gonna get serious, may a well go for something special."

"Do you know the human who used to be in that vessel?" said Dean.

"No. Why? Is this a consent thing? I know you have a thing about all that stuff."

"It's not a thing. It's not even about that." said Dean, although it absolutely had been.

"You want me to set up a meeting?" said Gabriel.

"No. Hell, no! That would be frickin' weird."

"Yeah, but then this whole thing is frickin' weird. I mean, your girlfriend is older than your species."

"You and the porn stars didn't care about that." Dean reminded him.

Gabriel chuckled. "No, we didn't, but I think you do. I think you have al kinds of weird objection you never considered before, because you're girlfriend's got wings."

"And now I'm regretting ever telling you."

"I take it Jack knows."

"Yeah, Jack's not a dick."

"Hey, you think I'm a dick?"

"I know you're a dick. You're proud of being a dick."

"True. And also jealous. In all my time on Earth, never found love. Lots of sex, never love. Not that I care. I never needed love, but seeing you get it, from an angel, no less … "

"That's one thing you're never gonna see. You spy on us, I'll have a word with Jack."

"I was speaking figuratively. You shouldn't take things so literally. That's how the evangelicals screwed themselves. Look, the odds are against you and the smart money says you'll fail so spectacularly that they'll be selling tickets, but when hasn't that been the case? Prove me wrong. You love doing that."

"I do love that." said Dean.

Gabriel was unusually quiet and thoghtful for a while, then he said, "You and your dad okay?"

"We always were."

"Yeah, but, there were issues, right?"

"Not really. Between him and Sam, yeah. Dad and I were always fine."

"Yeah, Winchester fine."

"Why?"

"just making conversation." said Gabriel. He seemed to brighten. "You know, the kid's getting things fixed upstairs. Bartholomew straight to the basement, Luci, bye bye forever. The ones who screwed up, got confused or fell apart, they all get another chance. It's working. Finally, Heaven is working. A lot of focus on Purgatory right now. He has this thing about vampires. Thinks with the right purification rituals …"

"They can be human again?" said Dean.

"Right. It's not easy. Takes time and grit, but he has a few working through the process. Although, now I come to think of it, that's meant to be a secret."

"Why?" said Dean. His thoughts had gone straight to a way to save Benny.

"Doesn't wanna get your hopes up, I think."

"Is one of them Benny Lafitte?" said Dean.

"He never mentioned names. Look, don't ask him, okay, because then I'm in trouble and Balthazar would love to replace me as an archangel and I'm sure neither of us wants that."

"Jack would never do that."

"Maybe, maybe not. Let's not find out. If he tells me a name, I'll let you know. Deal?"

"Deal." said Dean. He had asked Jack to find Benny. He had never dared to hope he could return and be human, but he was hoping now.

"Great and in return for your silence, I'll give you my blessing to date Anael."

"Don't need it. Don't even want it."

"When have angels ever cared about your wants and needs? You know, technically, she's my little sister … and brother, but you probably don't wanna think about that."

"No and thanks so much for bringing it up."

"You're welcome. Guessing you never told that little detail to Mom and Pop. See it as a feature, not a bug. You ever get bored, she can just jump into a different vessel."

"Such a dick!" said Dean.

"Or not, as you and Anael prefer."

"Do you know she wants to be human?"

Gabriel frowned. "Not unusual. They all think they wanna be human. They think it's easier or more fun, but none of them ever stick with it. Being human ain't no fun at all. Ask Cas. He hated it."

"So you agree with me, she should stay an angel?"

"You think that's gonna be a clinching argument? Because, I happen to know, she has a low opinion of me."

"It's why I love her." said Dean.

"Really? Because I thought it was those legs, that hair, that spirit."

"It's all those things, but mostly hating you." said Dean.

"You like me more than Lucifer."

"Really? Then I guess I misjudged the guy."