Home (For Me)

by Megz2

When Harry, post the second Battle of Hogwarts, finds himself looking for purpose once again, Gabriel is there to help him find it. This story cannot stand alone - Part 7 of 7.

2. Chapter 2

Last To Know

"If that's your plan, then there is no way in hell, Gabe," Harry hissed, barely loud enough for Dean to hear.

The eldest Winchester had been on his way to tell Harry to stop working and get his ass over for Sam's farewell BBQ when a hushed argument stopped him dead in his tracks.

Gabriel wasn't as big of a mainstay in their lives as Dean had thought he might be right after what had been dubbed "The Second Battle of Hogwarts." Of course, when they had all still been living in the Bunker, there had been a short time when the archangel had resurfaced, but after some stern talkings-to by him and Sam Harry had wisely distanced himself.

After that, the question was evaded whenever he asked Harry about the angel and the subject changed. He had assumed that the archangel was busy doing Heaven stuff. Or Harry had finally told him to get lost. But it didn't sound like they hadn't seen each other in a long time. Mentally, Dean tried to calculate when he had last seen the douchebag.

"I think you mean no way in Heaven, Hare Bear," Dean heard Gabriel reply, in a normal voice.

"Shh!"

"Why? Is this not your house? I thought that was part of the reason you wanted to move into this suburban nightmare. You know – so that we could have more private time."

What? Dean asked. He and Harry had plotted for nearly a year to purchase what he fondly thought of as "The Village." In fact, he was pretty sure it had been his idea. He searched his memory, suddenly wondering if he could trust it. One day Harry had been lamenting that, despite the extensive wizarding section of the Bunker, that he wanted a place to fly and he had responded with something smartass and then… son of a bitch. It had been a setup.

Not that anything would make Dean regret their decision to purchase ten acres of land just forty-five minutes away from the Bunker. Everyone had their own house – made to their specifications. Which was better than Harry and Dean's original plan to buy in an already constructed neighborhood. There was even a large guesthouse for friends and extended family, where they all ended up spending time together. It was the perfect mixture of solitude and community. And located close enough to the Bunker that they had easy access. Not that any of them were doing much hunting these days.

"That is not the reason and you very well know it, Gabriel," Harry continued in a quiet voice.

Uh oh, full name, Dean thought, someone's in trouble.

"Fine. But it's not like there is anyone except for Dean listening in on this conversation, so I don't know why you care."

"There's not…Dean?"

Wincing, Dean stepped out from behind the door frame that he had hidden himself behind.

Harry groaned. "How much did you hear?" He demanded. "And haven't you heard of bloody knocking?"

"I did knock, you didn't respond!" Dean defended, not answering the question, hoping that Harry might reveal what they had been arguing about. "And it's damn good that I didn't – I thought you told this asshole to hit the pavement months ago."

"Why do you think that? He comes at least twice a…" Harry abruptly stopped talking.

"Twice a what?" Dean asked, concerned.

"Twice a day," Gabriel responded, slinging his arm around Harry's shoulders, which his brother shrugged off. "Would be more, but your little brother here insists that we can't spend all of our time in bed so…"

"Gabe!" Harry yelled, bright red.

Dean looked between the two of them, suddenly concerned. It wasn't like Gabriel didn't make jokes like that all the time, but, usually, Harry just rolled his eyes. Dean didn't like it. He didn't like it at all. But now was not the time. He needed to talk to Sam first.

"Well, are you staying for the BBQ? I talked Sam outta Beyond Burgers, so you know, you're welcome," Dean said, trying to play it cool.

"I dunno, Harry, am I staying for the BBQ?" Gabriel asked Harry in a tone that Dean really didn't like. Something teasing but with an edge.

Harry sighed.

"Is he bothering you?" Dean asked aggressively, trying to communicate with Harry through his eyes, for once, desperately missing when he could pray straight into his brother's head. Of course, the middle Winchester was giving him absolutely nothing. Almost like he knew how much that would drive Dean crazy.

"What? No, of course not. Gabe, stay for the barbecue. Jack'll be happy to see you."

Dean was not convinced. Especially not at the triumphant gleam in Gabriel's eyes. Dean hated that look – it never meant anything good for him.

"Well, with an invite like that, how I can refuse?"

III

"Psst," Sam heard from just inside Dean's house. He had just been explaining (or trying to explain) the difference between gas and charcoal grills to Arthur Weasley, and was on about the hundredth question. He craned his neck and saw Dean hidden in the shadows of the doorframe. He frowned.

"Sam," his brother hissed.

"Excuse me Arthur, I think Dean may need some help with the burgers," he said, excusing himself quickly before the elderly man could offer to help.

It wasn't that Sam didn't enjoy the company of the Weasleys – quite the opposite, but they hadn't picked the best time to stop by for a visit. He was set to leave for six months tomorrow morning and Dean was still quite angry. As if leaving the state of Kansas was a crime and Sam couldn't just apparate home every weekend, if he wanted.

"Why'd you say my name?" Dean demanded as soon as he stepped foot into the kitchen. "What part of psst, don't you understand?"

Sam crossed his arms. "The part where you've barely said more than ten words to me in the last week. Really, Dean, I hope you're not trying to convince me to stay again, it's temporary and…"

"I don't care about that," Dean waved him off, "we've got something way more important to discuss."

Sam, who was fully prepared for a fight, was taken aback. "What?"

"Look, I know that I've been giving you a tough time about leavin', but that's not what matters now. I just went over Harry's to get him over here for the barbeque because I wanted to get the burgers on the grill, and he wasn't alone."

Sam raised an eyebrow. "Ok."

"Gabriel was there," Dean said, as if there was some sort of significance to that statement.

"Alright. I don't see why that's got you at def con one. Sure, it's been a little bit since he visited but…"

"You don't get it. He was there. With Harry."

It took every fiber of Sam's patience to not just walk out of the house. "Dean…"

"They were having an argument."

"Yeah, well, Gabriel's an asshole, are you really that surprised that…"

"It was a friggin' lover's spat!"

Now Dean was just being ridiculous. "A lover's spat? Really? I know he hasn't dated in a while and your attempt to get him laid a couple of weeks ago wasn't successful, but just because he doesn't want to pick up some random woman in a bar doesn't mean that he's sleeping with Gabriel. We don't even know if Harry likes men." Sam had his suspicions about Harry's sexuality, but he didn't dwell on them, because it was Harry's business, and if his brother wanted to share, he would.

"Gabriel ain't exactly a man, is he? Who knows what kinda freaky crap he can do to his junk."

"Maybe it's you that's been spending too much time thinking about Gabriel's private parts," Sam shot back. "Is there something you'd like to tell me?" Dean blushed dark red which was pretty satisfying. "Whatever Gabriel can do to his…parts…is none of your freaking business. And you know angels don't really see gender the same way we do, in any case, not that it matters…"

"You think I friggin' care about Gabriel's junk? I don't. This isn't about whether or not Harry is gay, I don't give a flying fuck. Hell, I'll wingman him at a gay bar. It's about that friggin' archangel that's been tryin' to get into my little brother's pants for years and he ain't ever shown interest before. What if he's done something to force Harry into…into…"

"Do you think anyone can force Harry into anything?" Sam asked, exasperated.

"Not anyone. But an archangel? Yeah. He don't have the mojo he had before and maybe he's been, I dunno, bewitched or somethin'. Gabriel is bad news, you know it. Just watch 'em tonight. You'll see."

"Whatever," he said.

"Sam, I mean it, just – watch."

"I will. But I swear, Dean if this is some sort of elaborate scheme to stop me from leaving, I won't apparate, I'll drive the Impala to Philadelphia."

"You wouldn't dare," Dean said, eyes wide, finally distracted from worrying about Harry and Gabriel.

"Try me," Sam said, walking out of the house and back into the warm summer evening.

III

Despite what Gabe said, it was never meant to be a secret. Harry did his best not to keep secrets from his brothers.

Not that his best was particularly good.

He couldn't help it – he thought it was in the Winchester DNA to play things close to his chest and it just never seemed like the right time.

Worst of all, even though he hid it behind a mask of indifference and sarcasm, Harry knew that not telling everyone hurt Gabe's feelings.

But the longer that it stayed a secret, the harder it was to figure out how to tell his family. And part of him loved having something that was just…for him. He had shared so much of his life with so many different people that those private moments with Gabriel, where it felt like it was just the two of them in the entire world were just so precious and important to him.

Of course, despite having told Gabe over and over again his reasoning for keeping them a secret the angel seemed to think there was something else wrong. And two years into their relationship, it was becoming a sore point.

More than a sore point, if he was being honest with himself.

Gabe had ruined a perfectly nice morning by insisting that he should stay for the family barbeque today.

As if things weren't tense enough with Sam leaving on a wizarding adventure for six months.

And none of this would be happening if Gabe hadn't unfairly made him agree to at least think about telling his family. That is what they had been fighting about when Dean had interrupted them earlier in the day.

Currently, Harry was in his own kitchen, claiming that he had needed to grab more beer, when, really, he had come in here to escape the watchful eyes of his brothers. It had been the most uncomfortable hour of him pretending that they weren't watching him and them looking the other way every time that he caught them at it. His nerves felt like they were on fire.

Gabe came up behind him and wrapped his arms over his shoulders. "It'll be ok, Harry," he whispered.

Harry sighed but melted into the hug. "I know, Gabe, it's just…"

"You're not ready," Gabriel finished for him. "I know that, and I'm sorry for pushing it, it's just we have such a good thing here, I don't want to hide it."

"You've never wanted to hide it," Harry said ruefully, pulling away and turning to face the archangel. "And Gabe, you know, this isn't about you."

Gabriel looked at him with sad eyes.

"It isn't!" Harry insisted. "You know my brothers though – if they know, and they try to keep us apart…"

Gabe's face went blank so quickly that it was almost scary. "You know I wouldn't let that happen."

"You might not have a choice," Harry responded, thinking of everything the two of them had accomplished over the years. And while Sam and Dean had complicated feelings towards Gabe, they certainly ran more towards the negative.

"What if we started smaller? With Luna? Or Castiel?"

Harry snorted. "Do you think Cas would keep this from Dean?"

Gabe tilted his head. "Maybe they're keeping a secret of their own and it will lead to a confession and all of us getting to live out of loving cross-species relationships in public."

He shook his head. "I'd give Dean another twenty years before he's ready to admit that there is anything between him and Cas."

"He is a closet case," Gabe commented, "not unlike you."

"I'm not – "

"Yeah, yeah. Look, don't think I've missed the fact that we've both been under scrutiny all evening. I'm going to take off so that everyone can relax."

Harry felt both relief and intense guilt. "Gabe…"

"I'm a freaking saint, I know," he grinned. He leaned in and put his lips against Harry's ear, "And you owe me one."

A pleasant shiver ran down Harry's spine, and he leaned in to catch Gabriel's lips in a quick kiss, only to find that his boyfriend had flown away.

Arse.

He only just managed to remember to grab a six-pack from the fridge before heading back out to his family.

III

Sam had wanted to ignore Dean's order to watch Harry during the barbeque, but it was impossible, once his brother had pointed out that he thought there was something going on between Harry and Gabriel.

There was certainly plenty to watch. Sam had no idea how he had missed that there was something going on between Harry and Gabriel before this. Maybe this was why they hadn't seen the archangel around much, because neither of them seemed particularly good at hiding whatever was there. He dedicated himself to watching them as much as he could without being suspicious.

Observation duty was also a nice distraction from the butterflies in his stomach about the fact that he was leaving in the morning.

Despite what Dean thought, Sam didn't relish in leaving his family. Especially since they were all so happy here – living close but not too close. It was a slice of not-quite normal that they all needed. But helping hunters who stopped by (there were far fewer now that the Gates of Hell had been closed) wasn't enough for him. And unlike when he had left his family to go to Stanford, this time, he felt like he was doing it for more than just to get away.

It had all been Hermione's idea, of course.

Once she had retired and things had calmed down at home, she and Ron had come and stayed with them while their kids were off at Hogwarts.

Much like Sam, she wasn't one to sit still, and they often found themselves together in the mornings, long before anyone else was awake, which led to talking.

She was eager to learn everything about hunting and the "Muggle" supernatural creatures of the United States and Sam was happy to share the knowledge with someone who hadn't just been severely traumatized from said creatures.

It was really too bad that Bobby had passed before he and Hermione could get to know each other because Sam was pretty convinced that the two of them would have been very fast friends.

These chats had led to Sam telling her about Garth and his family of werewolves that fed on beef hearts. She had been fascinated, and after a little convincing, Sam had taken her to meet them.

One thing led to another, and not that long after, MACUSA invited Sam to come take part in a task force that was investigating the possibility of extending magical creature rights to those, like Garth, who were not wizards, but wanted to live peacefully in the country.

It was a perfect combination of using his knowledge of the supernatural and his desire to be a lawyer and help those in need.

Of course, creatures would be suspicious, but Sam loved the idea of traveling the country trying to help people like Garth instead of killing them. From experience, he knew that being a supernatural creature came in many shades of gray.

He couldn't help but think of Amy who had lived peacefully for years and would have continued to do so. And, with magic, there may have been an even better way for her to live her life in a way that she didn't have to hide.

Dean thought he was nuts, of course. He had also offered to come with, but this was something that Sam wanted to do independently of his brothers.

Of course, leaving the family was never something that Dean would understand and Sam had given up trying to explain it to him. It wasn't that he didn't want to be here, or with family. He loved his family but sometimes he felt like he couldn't breathe. Everyone meant well, but he felt like he was in the shadow of both his older brothers. He was never as dedicated to hunting as Dean nor was he ever going to measure up to Harry magically.

This was for him.

And it didn't hurt (although he had told no one) that Hermione had let it slip that a certain redhead may also be on the taskforce.

He was pulled out of his thoughts by a not-so-subtle head gesture from Dean, beaconing him away from the barbeque and towards a shadowy corner of the yard.

Fighting the urge to roll his eyes, he went over.

"So, did you see it?" Dean whispered urgently.

He sighed. "I – "

"I knew it!" Dean exclaimed before Sam could even get all of his thoughts out.

"Cool it. Look, I agree that there is something going on there, but it could be any number of things. Remember a couple of years back when Harry started talking about Gabriel again about something going on in Heaven? Maybe something's wrong and they are working together and…"

"No way, dude, he would have pulled us into that," Dean interrupted. "Why would he hide somethin' we could help him with?"

Sam gave him a look. Maybe it was a bitch face. He refused to accept that label though.

Dean huffed. "Fine, yeah, I know. But if it was something like that, he would be all broody and angsty and instead he just seems…happy. Like all the time. You know, maybe he's doing drugs or he's back on the bottle."

That wasn't a bad point. While he was excellent at keeping secrets, Harry wore his heart on his sleeve. And Sam was pretty sure that he agreed with Dean. He just didn't want to give his oldest brother the satisfaction. But it must have shown on his face.

"Ha! You agree."

Rubbing his temples, Sam said, "Yeah. I could tell that they were trying to avoid each other but the looks that they shot each other when they thought that no one would notice…" It pained him, but the Gabriel and Harry had orbited around each other. They were too careful.

"So what are we gonna to do about it?" Dean asked. "I was thinking that maybe, while you're on your pansy peace mission, you'll come across something that's just too much for you and your team and you'll need your far more magically experienced and powerful older brother to come to your…"

"No," Sam cut him off. The last think he wanted was to get Harry involved in the taskforce. He was already only half convinced that he had only been invited because they really wanted Harry Potter, not Sam Winchester, but he was a close enough second. "I don't think we need to do anything at all," he said quickly, trying to hide his insecurity.

Dean looked ready to explode. "But he's manipulating our brother! Harry had never shown any interest in him. And god knows that Gabriel has hit on him enough times that he had plenty of opportunity."

Sam frowned. "We don't know that. And like you said, Harry seems happy. I think the only thing we have to do is make sure that Harry knows that we won't judge him for who he wants to date and that coming clean will only bring us closer together." While they were certainly very close now – raising a child together did that – Sam knew that Harry still struggled with a fear of being rejected from his family. He probably always would, given his upbringing, and even though it hurt Sam that Harry hadn't felt like he could share his relationship with the two of them, he understood it.

"Happy? Yeah, like you were when you married Becky?" That was a low blow. And Dean knew it but his eyes remained determined.

"He's not using a love potion. Dean – just drop it."

"Drop what?" Harry came over to them, a six pack in hand, and no Gabriel, who had definitely gone into the house with him.

"He's still trying to convince me not to go," Sam lied easily. Partially because he wasn't sure it was entirely a lie. If he wasn't leaving, he couldn't help but wonder if Dean had just pretended not to see what was happening between Harry and Gabriel. This was something that his oldest brother thought would "pull him back in." But it wouldn't work.

"Dean, it's only six months," Harry said. "Not that we won't miss you, Sam, but you can still visit, I'm sure you'll have some time off."

"It starts as only six months," Dean argued back, not missing a beat. "But Sam's such a little nerd that you know they're going to realize how good he is and try and recruit him to stay longer and then, before we know it, he'll be moving to the East Coast and settling down with a witch to have 2.5 kids and a Quidditch Pitch in the backyard."

"He's already got a Quidditch Pitch in the backyard," Harry pointed out, gesturing vaguely behind them. "And yeah, he's going to be brilliant. We know that already."

Sam did his best not the flush. "Where's Gabriel?" He asked, too casually, but changing the topic.

Harry shrugged. "Said he had to take off. Honestly, I was surprised he stayed as long as he did. Most of his visits are quite short."

Sam narrowed his eyes and then carefully schooled his expression to be more neutral, seeing the position that he had just taken with Dean.

"Any idea what he's up to?" Dean pushed.

"What do you care?" Harry shot back.

"Well, sometimes he goes on killing sprees so I think that I should care."

"Oh come on," Harry said, flushing, "you know he doesn't do that anymore! He's been way too busy keeping the formally fallen angels and the other angels from…" he stopped speaking realizing that he was sharing more information than he wanted to.

"Ah ha!" Dean exclaimed. "There is something going on!"

"I didn't…"

"Dean – leave him alone. Harry – anything we should be concerned about?" Sam said, trying to keep the peace, which had, exhaustingly, become his role as the youngest brother. He really felt like it should be Harry's job as the middle child.

"No," Harry sulked. "I think Mom's calling me – I better go see if she needs help."

He slumped away towards Mary who was engaged in a lively conversation with Arthur Weasley and was certainly not calling out to Harry. Plus, she wasn't much of a hostess, this barbeque was mostly put together by Dean and Harry.

He turned to give Dean a lecture about the whole situation, but his oldest brother was already heading away.

"I'm gonna go see if Cas knows anything about this. Hey – it's Jack's bedtime. Maybe you should go put him to sleep. Since it's your last chance for a long time."

Of course, one last guilt trip for the road, Sam thought. He was more worried about leaving than ever before. Hopefully Dean wouldn't do anything to send Harry into spiral while he was out of town.

III

Sam had been gone for a week – and from the sound of it things were going swimmingly for him. Not that Harry expected anything less. More troubling was that Gabe had really stopped coming by as often as he had been. He always said it was because he was busy in Heaven (Harry felt the pain of that being his go-to excuse as to where Gabe was at any given time) but Harry knew that this had to do with the fight they had before the barbeque.

Since getting together, they rarely spent more than a night or two apart. Only when he went on hunting trips with his brothers or longer vacations with the whole family (Gabriel had complained loudly and often about not getting invited on the Disney trip they took Jack on last year). But this was something else.

Harry wondered if he was finally getting sick of him.

It was really only a matter of time.

Feeling sorry for himself, and having nothing to do to fill his evening time, he decided to see what Jack was up to. The kid never failed to cheer him up.

He was the happiest child that Harry had ever seen. Even happier than Teddy – but his godson had always had the darkness of having lost both his parents die tragically hanging over him. Not that Jack didn't have his only difficult past, but they had all been so careful to be sure that he knew nothing but love and support from his whole family.

Harry was also sure that the spirit of older Jack was a big part of it. He had chosen to be a baby, after all. Or at least, the possibility of being a baby. He hoped that they were doing right by him.

Jack's bedroom had been the trickiest part of the construction of their houses. For a bit there had been arguments about which house Jack would live in. Mary had suggested a room in every house, but Sam and Dean had been against it, reminding them too much of their transient childhood.

They had finally settled on him living with either Harry or Castiel full-time when they had decided to leave the decision to Jack. That had proven to be a huge mistake. It had stressed the kid out so much that he had accidently apparated to the rooftop-garden of the Bunker – breaking through the anti-apparition wards and causing a panic for everyone desperately trying to find him.

It had ultimately been Gabriel that had come up with the solution. Harry still didn't understand the metaphysics of it all (and nor did he want to) but they had created a room that somehow existed both in all the houses and none of them at the same time. Castiel and Gabriel had worked together (secretly – they were still keeping Gabriel away from Sam and Dean) to make it happen. Each house had a door that led to Jack's room, so they could all get to him quickly, if need be. But from inside the room, Jack could choose to enter whichever house he wanted just by selecting a picture on the wall.

(They had, however, established a rule that unless you were expected at someone else's house that only Jack was allowed to use that feature.)

Harry poked his head into the room.

"Hey Jack-Jack, alright to come aboard?" He asked.

Jack was sitting at his coloring table and he looked up and beamed. "Aye, aye, captain!" He shouted in response.

Already feeling lighter, Harry entered the room. "How was school today?"

"Great!" Jack responded and then set off on a very long tale of what each of his (many) friends were up to and what he had learned. "…and then Paulie fell off his broom and he was so sad so I was shared my brownies with him at lunch which made him happy. Cas is getting really good at baking. I haven't had a chance to tell him yet, though, because Mary picked me up from school."

That was unusual. "Why was that?" Harry asked him.

Jack shrugged. "She said that he was helpin' Dean with something. Which is fine, because everyone loves Mary's car. It's way cooler than flying with Castiel. You know, Audrey said that…"

Alarm bells were going off in his head as Jack continued on. Cas and Dean, of course, still hung out all the time. In fact, Harry knew that Dean was a big part of Cas's culinary abilities because the angel had realized that if he was going to take care of Jack that he was going to have to learn to cook beyond putting together a peanut butter and jelly sandwich. But he was religious about picking Jack up from school.

What are they doing? Harry asked himself, his stomach sinking, wondering if Dean hadn't dropped the whole Gabriel thing from the other day.

Not wanted to rob Jack of any time, Harry stayed with him and listened more about his day when Mary popped in the room.

"Henry!" She greeted him with a smile. "I wasn't expecting you. I was just coming to get Jack for dinner."

"You made dinner?" Harry asked, skeptical and teasing. Unlike Castiel, Mary was not trying to become a better cook. He was pretty sure she was incapable.

"Hush, I can pick up a pizza as well as the next person," she said.

"Pizza?" Jack questioned, eyes big. "But it's not Friday!"

"Yeah, well, Sam isn't here to tell us what to do, so we can do what we want. Come on, Jack, I got your favorite."

"Cheesy cheese?"

"Cheesy cheese," Mary confirmed with a laugh. He was only seven, but Jack was a staunch vegetarian, refusing to eat meat ever since he had learned where it came from. It broke Dean's heart, but no one could convince him otherwise. She held out her hand for Jack, who eagerly took it. "You joining us, Henry?"

"Sure, Mom," he said absent mindedly, still worrying about what Dean and Cas were up to. He followed the two of them into Mary's house.

Mary's house was fairly small – she said she didn't want to have to worry about a big cleanup, but it was comfy and there was, as she put it, "enough room for all my boys," to hang out, if they wanted to. The kitchen was cozy – a table in a sunny nook took up the majority of the room.

"I didn't think you'd be joining, so I didn't get your favorite," she said, evenly, as Harry poked at the cheese pizza slice in front of him.

"Oh, that's fine," he said. He took a bite to show that it was before setting the pizza down.

"What's going on, Henry?" She asked seriously.

Harry looked over to Jack, who was oblivious to anything other than the food in front of him.

"I don't know. Something just – feels off," he said, honestly.

"Is this about Sam?" She asked gently. "I know that you and Dean had your reservations, but he needs this. And I just talked to him on the phone earlier – he's happy. Something about finding a young Kitsune and helping him."

"No, it's not Sam," Harry responded.

She raised her eyebrows. "Dean?"

Harry shook his head. It was a little bit Dean, of course, but that wasn't what was really bothering him.

"Hey Jack – why don't you go on back upstairs and finish your math homework," Mary suggested.

"Can I take a slice of pizza with me?" He asked.

"Sure, take the whole box," she said.

His eyes went wide. "Really?"

She winked at him. "Yeah – but be careful not to give yourself a tummy ache. I'll come check your work in a bit."

"I won't, I promise!" Jack shouted, thrilled that he was being allowed to take junk food up to his room. He snatched the pizza from the table and happily ran along.

"You know he's gonna tell Sam all about that," Harry said dryly. "Then it will be another lecture about the food pyramid and "appropriate caloric intake,"" he used air quotes, "we may never hear the end of it."

"I'm not worried. Sam won't be home for another six months, he will have forgotten all about it by then, I'm sure. Honey, I'm worried about you. You're not acting like yourself. If you're not fighting with your brothers, it's something else."

"I – " Harry didn't know what to say. But he wanted to spill his guts. Because he was pretty sure that his relationship with Gabriel was going to end. All because he was too much of a coward to share it with his family. "I don't know what to do, Mom."

She put her hand over his. "Is this about Gabriel?" She asked carefully.

Harry quickly drew his hand back as if he had been bitten. "No, what?" He spluttered, "Why would I…why do you think…were you talking with…" He couldn't get a full sentence out.

"Sweetie, Sam and Dean may be blind as bats when it comes to romantic relationships, but you're not as sneaky as you think you are, and I can see what's right in front of me."

Harry felt like he couldn't get air into his lungs. This was it – it really was the end. Because if Mary knew, she would tell Dean, who would tell Sam and… And then there wouldn't be a choice at all. He wouldn't not only have lost Gabriel but also his family and…

"Henry, calm down, please, you're panicking," she said, suddenly in front of him. "Could you breathe with me, honey?" She took long, calming breaths, which Harry copied.

He came back to. "How long?" He asked.

"Have I known? Hmm, I was pretty sure that something happened after the Battle of Hogwarts, but I couldn't be sure. But, I've gotta tell you, it was Jack who gave you up in the end."

Oh no, he thought. "Jack knows?"

"Oh no, he doesn't. But he has spent a lot of time at your house and he regularly talks about his "Uncle Gabe," and the adventures they've had together. It didn't take much to realize that both you and he were spending more time with Gabriel than the rest of us knew."

Harry just kind of gaped at his mother.

Sure, Gabe had been there with Jack a couple of times, but he didn't think it had made that big of an impression. He had thought they had been careful.

"Henry, it's alright," his mom said, looking him in the eyes. "I wouldn't have brought it up at all, I was waiting until you felt comfortable, but you just look so upset. And I thought about how hard it must be to not have anyone to go to when you're having relationship issues."

"You – you aren't mad?"

"About what?"

"That I'm…that Gabriel is my boyfriend."

Merlin, he had never said that out loud to anyone but Gabe. It was terrifying but also exhilarating.

"Mad? No. Why would I be?"

"Because he's…I don't know…he's him." Harry didn't know how to explain it to Mary.

"I think you're forgetting that I know Gabriel better than just about any other member of this family. Other than you, of course. We had all that time in Limbo together. And yes, he has his faults, but god knows do did John. At the end of the day – he loves you. I could see how much he loves you, even before I think you knew that you loved him back. He would do anything for you. It's obvious that whoever he was before he met you isn't who he is anymore. But more importantly than that – Henry, you've been so happy. And that's my greatest wish for you – and for Sam and Dean. I want you to be happy. Are you happy?"

Harry took a deep breath. "Yeah. I am," he said. "But he isn't."

"Gabriel?" Mary asked, surprised.

"Yeah. I've mucked things up and this time…I don't know if he's coming back."

"Why don't you tell me about it?"

III

"…I fail to see why you needed me here," Castiel said flatly to Dean. "It certainly doesn't seem important enough to make me miss picking Jack up from school." Earlier in the day, his friend had come to him saying that he was in desperate need of help. Naively, he had assumed that Dean wouldn't have said those words without actually meaning them.

A trip to Flaming Saddles Saloon was not something that seemed dire to the angel.

Dean gave him a look that Castiel translated to something along the lines of oh, you stupid angel, that he wore whenever he failed to understand something human. Which was nearly as often as it had been.

"Or why you needed to wear that hat," he pointed out.

"One of us had to blend in. You stick out like a sore thumb. Would it have killed you to at least borrow one of my flannels?"

Castiel looked down at his usual attire. He thought it was fine. "No."

Dean rolled his eyes as the waiter – a man wearing jeans like Dean's, but they appeared to be a couple of sizes too small, and a tank top, approached their bar stools.

"What can I get you fine gentlemen?" He gave Dean an up and down look that he could completely understand. Dean was an especially handsome human.

"El Sol – two," Dean replied, holding up two fingers.

"You got it," he said with a wink and went off.

"Was that a flirtation?" Castiel asked.

"I dunno, probably. But that's part of the reason I brought you here. Do I react alright? Did I look uncomfortable?"

"Why would you be uncomfortable?" Castiel asked, "You order beer at bars all the time."

Dean sighed. "Yeah, I know, man, I just want to know if I give off, I dunno, homophobic vibes to you? Or to him."

This was all very strange. "I'm afraid I don't understand," he said, frustrated. Men flirted with Dean all the time. So did women, it never seemed to bother his friend either way.

Dean just shook his head as the bartender came back with their beers.

Castiel was beginning to wonder if Dean had only asked him to come along so that he would have a "ride" to the New York bar they were currently in.

They had arrived here right at opening, and the music had been loud then, and it was only getting louder.

It was entertaining, some of the bartenders got up on the bar and danced, but this wasn't the usual sort of bar that Dean picked out nor was the music the "classic rock" genre that his friend preferred.

But he still had no idea why they were here.

"Alright, man, let's go," Dean said, his face clouded in a way that told Castiel that he was drunk.

Once they were outside, it was way more pleasant.

"Home?" Castiel asked.

Dean shook his head. "Nah – I think I need to clear my head. Could we just walk around for a bit?"

Another odd request. Castiel was beginning to get suspicious. "Sure," he agreed. He had learned to appreciate the slowness of human traveling and he had not spent much time in this particular city.

For a bit, they walked in silence. It was early evening here – the sun was just beginning to set and there were people everywhere. They did not seem to be on the same leisurely stroll that he and Dean were on – many of them had looks of determination on their faces as they moved quickly through the crowds.

"What is this about?" Castiel finally asked, still confused.

"Harry," Dean said.

Which explained nothing at all.

"What about him?"

"Sam – Sam thinks that he doesn't trust us. That he thinks that we won't accept him because he's gay. But I'm no homophobe dude! I don't care."

"I don't think that Harry worries if you care if he's gay or not," Castiel said, "I think he's more concerned that you won't approve of Gabriel." Obviously, that was the issue. Honestly, he was a little proud that he understood Harry better than Dean did. He was getting much better at humans.

Dean stopped walking.

Which was very inconvenient, because Castiel had been right behind him and ended up nearly running him over.

"What did you just say?" He asked staring his friend straight in the face. Castiel held the eye contact for a moment before looking away and answering.

"Um – I said that Harry knows that you wouldn't reject him because he is currently romantically involved with a man."

Dean shook his head. "No – no. I mean about Gabriel. Did you tell you? Is he dating that douche canoe? Since when? Why the hell didn't you tell me? And why would he tell you and not me?"

Castiel tilted his head.

"Move it, assholes," someone said behind them, annoyed that they had stopped in the middle of a sidewalk of the busy city.

"Watch who you're calling asshole, asshole!" Dean yelled after the man, who flipped Dean off, but before his friend could get involved in an altercation, Castiel grabbed him and pulled him into an alley.

"I coulda taken him," Dean muttered.

Castiel rolled his eyes. "Yes, I know. But we spent way too much time clearing your name and wiping memories for you to get arrested again. Why don't we go back home?"

If had taken a momentous effort on both the part of Harry and Gabriel to figure out how to get Sam and Dean out of being both legally dead and on the FBI's most wanted list. Harry had insisted on doing it "legally" within the wizarding world as to not add a crime on top of everything else. But it meant that both Sam and Dean were able to use their real names in public. Dean grumbled about having to register Baby and sit through a driving test, but it really had made everything much easier.

Sam had been thrilled that he was able to vote again.

Castiel didn't wait for Dean's approval before flying them back to the family compound in South Dakota. It was earlier in the evening here – something Castiel appreciated. Maybe he'd still be able to tuck Jack in tonight.

"I need somethin' stronger than beer," was the first thing Dean said when they landed, heading straight for his liquor cabinet. He didn't even bother to pour the whiskey into a glass. Just drank straight from the bottle. "I can't believe that he told you, man. And not Sam or I."

"Harry didn't tell me anything," Castiel said.

"Gabriel did?"

Castiel shook his head. "No. Of course not."

"Then how the hell do you know the two of them are together? Do you even know it?"

Castiel was confused. "I thought it was obvious. Gabriel is here almost every day. He keeps his "human" things in Harry's house. You had to have known this. Jack even calls him, "Uncle Gabe," because he's over so often."

"But he is Gabriel's nephew," Dean pointed out.

"Yes. But still, it's an honorific. I'm sorry – I didn't really think it was a secret. I just thought that it was one of those things that you Winchesters just preferred not to talk about."

Dean looked to be at a complete and total loss for words. It took him a couple of minutes, where Castiel could practically hear his thoughts before he finally spoke. "No way in hell, man," he said. "First of all, he's just not that good of a liar. Second – I can count on one hand the times that I've seen that jerkwad since the Battle of Hogwarts and I'm at Harry's house all the time. I sure as hell would have noticed if there was a bunch of crap there that wasn't his. Or Jack's."

"Oh, so because you've never seen him that means he was never there?" Castiel snapped. He was beginning to regret talking to Dean about this at all. He had thought that his friend was stressed and in need of consoling.

"Well, yeah," Dean responded. "I'm pretty damn observant, Cas. I've kinda had to be – I'd be out of a job and possibly a life if I wasn't. I would notice if Harry had a significant other and I sure as hell would have noticed if that significant other was the friggin' archangel from Hell."

"No, Lucifer's dead," Castiel corrected, wandering where Dean had gotten that from.

Dean sighed dismissively. "Well, thanks for the help, Cas, I think I'm gonna call it a night."

"It's six."

"Yeah. Well – I'm tired."

Castiel then understood that he was being dismissed. Fine. If Dean wanted to pretend that Harry wasn't dating Gabriel, that was his business. Plus, it wasn't Castiel's news to share, in any case. He left Dean's house in search of Jack.

III

"…and why would I trust a Winchester?" The half-djinn sitting across from him snarled. He was being magically held in place by Ginny, who had been the team member selected to join Sam on this mission. "You wiped out how many of us now?"

It had seemed like they were making headway before Sam had used his last name. He had debated many times not revealing who he was, but he never wanted to start these conversations with a lie. In the end, it wouldn't be a positive result.

Sam leveled him with a look. "I've only killed those who were killing humans. We looked into your history, Tony, and as far as we can tell you've never murdered anyone. Your worst crime is knocking off a blood bank. But you haven't even done that in years, have you?"

"How do you know that?" Tony asked, looking more scared than anything else.

Sam took a deep breath. The true answer was that he knew because the Men of Letters – when they had invaded the United States all those years ago, had kept meticulous notes on all the supernatural communities around the country. This particular family – the Monroes, had managed to slip under the radar long enough that the Brits didn't have a chance to hunt them down before Sam had ended their occupation of the country.

"Look – you don't have to agree to anything now. Or even this year. We promise to leave you and your family alone as long as you all continue to not harm anyone. But we're making a real community. You can be part of a world that hides you from Muggles. We've left you an information packet on the table. It includes others similar to you. You don't have to live in fear and hiding anymore. We can provide you with what you need to live and you won't have to break any more laws." Ginny said, pointing to the kitchen table of the man's home.

Sam wasn't ready to give up. "Ginny…maybe we…"

She shook her head.

He didn't like it, but he did trust her instincts. "Alright. We'll leave. The spell will wear off when we are outside the radius of your home. But I hope you consider it."

They walked out and apparated back to headquarters.

"I really think we could have gotten him," Sam groused as they walked in the doors.

"He was too scared, Sam," Ginny responded. "And you weren't the one holding him. He was about to break out of the spell and if he had managed that, he would have attacked us and then would be ineligible. And I couldn't allow that to happen."

"And if he exposes the entire wizarding world because we didn't get an oath out of him? We have to follow protocol, Ginny and…"

"He won't. Calling attention to the wizarding world in any real way would bring the media down on him and his family and that is the very last thing that he would want."

"Still, you can't just…"

"I think you'll find that I can," Ginny shot back, turning on him suddenly, the fury on her face making him take a step back. "I, unlike you, have diplomatic immunity."

She argued this every single time she broke the rules. Which, she must have taken lessons from Harry on, because it was practically every day. In fairness to Sam, he could probably get away with much of the same just by the nature of his connections, but he was sick of living outside of the law. The rules governing their taskforce were fair and ensured protection on all sides. He wanted to follow them. He needed to in order to prove himself.

"That doesn't mean that…"

His phone rang.

"Saved by mobile," Ginny said, flouncing out of the room, probably off to file a report that would conceal any wrong doing on their parts. Sam knew when he had lost.

"Yeah?" He answered.

"Is that anyway to greet your favorite brother after you haven't talked to him in years?"

Sam rolled his eyes. It hadn't been that long since he spoke with Dean. "I talked to Harry this morning."

"Hardy har. It's actually him that I was calling about."

"Not this again. Come on, man. I agree there may be something there, but he will tell us when he's ready. If there really is anything at all."

"I have new information," Dean said.

"Yeah?" Sam wasn't really interested sure that he wanted to hear it but he had learned a long time ago that to completely dismiss Dean was a mistake.

"Cas says that Gabriel basically lives with Harry."

"Cas?"

"Yeah – you know, our angel best friend? He and I went to this – you know, it doesn't matter. We were talkin' and he said that Jack calls Gabriel, "uncle," and that he even keeps some of his shit at Harry's house."

"Yeah, I've heard Jack call him uncle too, but that's because that's what he is."

"He doesn't call Cas that!"

"No – of course not. Because Cas has always been like a dad. Teddy doesn't call Harry "uncle" either."

"Because Harry would hate that."

"Whatever dude, do you think you and I wouldn't notice if there was a bunch of extra crap at Harry's house?"

As if his name had summoned her, Ginny re-entered the room. Dean started on another tirade but he was too busy trying to think how to not talk about the fact that Harry may be dating someone new. He knew that she and Harry had made their peace and were friends but he also didn't want to push too much.

"Dean – we're gonna have to talk about this later."

He didn't wait for his brother's response before hanging up the phone.

"What was that about?" Ginny asked him, curiosity shining in her eyes.

"Nothing," Sam said quickly.

She crossed her arms across her body. "I heard you say something about Harry."

"It's really nothing, Dean's just being paranoid. Did you get the report filed?" He attempted to change the subject.

"If he's just being paranoid, then there is no reason for you not to tell me. Harry's my friend, you know. I think I have the right to know what's going on with him."

"Probably nothing. Dean just has this crazy theory that…" He stopped talking. At the end of the day, whether it was true or not, he knew that Harry would not appreciate him broaching this conversation with Ginny. Hell, he wouldn't be thrilled that they were talking about this at all behind his back.

"Don't make me bat boogey you," Ginny threatened.

"It's private," Sam tried to explain. "And it's really no one's business unless he wants it to be. Not mine or Dean's either. Maybe especially not us."

She pursed her lips, but she dropped the topic, much to Sam's relief. "Well, Sampson said that you need to be there for the report, so remember, we didn't break any rules, and let me do the talking."

Suppressing a roll of his eyes, Sam followed behind Ginny. He would have to call Cas later to see what the angel really knew.

III

Hey, Gabe, Harry prayed. I know you're pissed and avoiding me but I thought you'd like to know that mom knows about us now and…

With the fluttering of wings Gabriel appeared.

"What?" He asked. "You actually told someone? Harry, I'm so happy. I know that had to be so difficult for you. But you'll see it'll be fine. It will be better than ever before, when we don't have to hide this anymore." He pulled Harry into a hug and then planted a kiss straight on his lips.

For a moment, Harry was tempted to let Gabe believe that he had told his mom. Especially when he could see just how happy the archangel was. But he realized he couldn't. He had vowed to himself that if he wasn't going to tell anyone about their relationship that he would, at very least, always be honest with Gabriel.

He pushed himself out of Gabe's embrace. "I…er…didn't exactly tell her."

Gabe took a step back. "Huh?"

"She – well, apparently she's known, for a while.

Gabriel's eyes got wide. "How? I swear to you Harry, I didn't tell her, if you think that…"

Harry was a little surprised at his defensiveness. "No, it wasn't you. It was Jack. He loves to talk about you."

"I told you that we needed better locks on your door. What did he walk in on us and we didn't notice? That sounds scarring. Although, I suppose it serves him right if he's sneaking around like that."

"No," Harry said, repulsed. "Nothing like that. Mom says that he doesn't even understand, he's just a kid, Gabe, ugh. But if Mom knows that it's likely that he's also…"

"Talked to others?"

"Yeah. And I'm pretty sure if Sam and Dean knew that they would have said something. But if Cas knows then…"

Gabriel snapped his fingers and Castiel appeared before them.

His momentary panicked look turned to annoyance when he saw who was responsible for him appearing out of thin air.

"I live right next door, you could have just called," he groused.

"Hey, Cas," Harry said weakly. "Gabe – really, you didn't need…"

"No, I want to know what this asshole has been saying to your brothers," Gabe said, his finger pointing at Cas, who raised his hands to demonstrate innocence.

"Nothing!" He insisted.

"Liar," Gabriel hissed and he looked like he was about to punch Castiel in the face.

"Gabe, stop this," Harry said, moving to get between the two angels. "You're overreacting."

"I'm overreacting? You're the one who has been insisting that no one knows and now you want to stop me from…" Gabe stopped himself from speaking, realizing what he was going to say.

"I don't know why everyone thinks this is such a big deal," Cas said with an eyeroll, "the two of you have loved each other for years."

Harry jaw could have dropped, instead he tightened it. But before he could ask anything, Gabe stepped in.

"What do you mean everyone?" the archangel hissed.

Now Cas looked nervous. "Cas…" Harry said faintly, not even sure that he wanted to know.

"I didn't know it was a secret. Even Jack knows and he's seven, so when Dean was asking…" He told them the whole story.

Harry felt a little sick. He needed to sit down.

"Harry, I'm sorry, I didn't know…"

"Go, Castiel," Gabriel said, a hard edge to his voice. Cas didn't need to be told twice.

"Harry," Gabriel said as he guided him into the living room and onto the sofa. "Breathe, it's fine, just breathe."

Harry felt like his world had collapsed around him. Sure, his mom had been supportive, but Dean – he… he wouldn't understand. He hated Gabriel and that was nothing compared to how Sam felt about the archangel, although he kept his anger a little better in check. And if Dean knew it was only a matter of time before Sam did and then…

He'd have nothing. There was no way that their mom would pick his side over Sam and Dean's. He wasn't a good enough boyfriend for Gabriel to stick around. Going back to the wizarding world felt impossible – a cage, more than anything, even if his friends would still take him in.

Alone.

That's what he would be.

"..ry…come on love, come back, I think you're hyperventilating."

Gabriel had been talking to him the whole time but his words were just beginning to come into focus. He was also rubbing circles on Harry's back, which made him flinch away when he realized it. The touch vanished immediately.

"Drink – I need, Gabe I need…" He hadn't really been drinking the last two years but he still had moments, like this, like it felt like the only thing the world that was going to keep him alive. "Ambrosia."

"No, I don't think that's what you need, Harry," Gabriel said, quietly. "Look, I don't know what Dean is thinking, but it can't be as bad as you're building it up in your head."

It could be. Gabriel didn't know his brothers the way that Harry did. He just didn't.

"Gabriel – please…could you…"

"Could I what?"

"Could you go? I need – I need to think. Alone."

"I don't think that's what you need at all, Harry – "

"Please," he pled.

Never one to be able to deny Harry anything, Gabriel flew off.

III

"Sam," Cas answered, sounding very annoyed.

"Cas – I got off the phone with Dean a little bit ago and he said…"

"I know what he said," Cas responded, cutting him off. "And I'm not going to say one more word about it. If you want more information you're going to have to speak with Harry or Gabriel directly."

Crap, Sam thought. That all but confirmed it.

"Fine," he said to Cas and hung up, running his hand through his hair. He had only been out here for two weeks, but it looked like he was going to have to visit home far sooner than he had been planning on. Moving swiftly, he went to knock on Ginny's door at the hotel they were staying in at the moment. Sam was planning on renting a small apartment, but hadn't actually had the time to go looking yet.

Ginny opened the door. "Ready for dinner, already Winchester?" She asked in a teasing voice. He had only left her after giving their report ten minutes ago. "I thought you were going to take a shower, first. With that hair, I know that you couldn't've done it that fast."

"Ha," he responded. "No, I'm not here to talk about dinner. I've got to go home – might be gone for a day or two. Would you be alright without me? It might actually be a good thing to see if people will respond to our team better without a Winchester with you."

Her eyes went wide and she pulled him into the room. He should have realized that he wasn't going to get away that easily.

"What's happening?" She asked as soon as the door was closed and privacy wards went up. "Is it Harry?"

"Ginny…"

"No, don't Ginny me. Something big must be going on with your brothers if you have to go so suddenly. Or Jack. Or Mary. Is everyone ok?"

"Everyone's fine," Sam said, "probably. It's…private," he repeated from earlier.

"Private my arse! Samuel Winchester if you don't tell me what is going on right this moment, I'll…"

She didn't have to finish the threat. Sam knew that, magically, she could still kick his ass, and he was unwilling to fight her physically. He hoped that this wasn't going to hurt her feelings too badly. He knew that, even though they had broken up ages ago, that there was still love between his middle brother and the youngest Weasley. It seemed to be more sibling-like these days, but, at the same time, Ginny hadn't moved onto a new relationship. And until recently, he hadn't thought that Harry had either.

"It's about Harry and Gabriel, alright? Cas all but just confirmed that they are dating and if Dean finds out he's going to lose his shit and say something stupid to Harry and who knows if he'll go off the deep end."

"You didn't know?" Ginny asked. She was sure that, by now, everyone did. Even if they weren't talking about it. You just never knew when it came to Winchesters.

"You did?" Of all the people he didn't expect to know anything about Harry's love life, it was Ginny. "Harry told you?" He couldn't keep the hurt out of his voice. Once again, Harry seemed more inclined to trust his friends in England that he was to trust them.

She rolled her eyes at him.

"Of course he didn't bloody tell me. This is Harry we're talking about – he won't mention anyone to me who might be a romantic interest. As if I wasn't completely over him."

"Are you?" Sam couldn't help but blurting out.

"Dear Merlin," she swore. "What is it going to take for everyone to know that Harry and I are done? Did you know my Mum is sure that I am doing this job so that I can be closer to him? And she was so convinced of it that she got Hermione to give me a talking to? Harry is my friend. A very good, very dear friend, but that's it. I care for him and I always will be but anything romantic between us died when he did."

"If he didn't tell you, how'd you know then?"

Ginny looked down for a second, as if she were debating, but she answered, "Gabriel. He's been coming to me for "dating Harry advice" for two effin years. Merlin, if everyone knows now maybe he can talk to someone else for a change."

That was almost too much for Sam to comprehend. "Gabriel – the archangel – comes to you for…dating advice?"

"Yeah," she sighed, "and it's damned annoying. 'But Ginny what does it mean when Harry says…Ginny which gift do you think would mean more to Harry…Ginny, I know we have different parts, but would you say is Harry's favorite…'" She mimicked Gabriel's voice.

"Alright, alright, I get it," Sam said, not wanting to think about Harry's intimate moments. God knows he had heard enough from Dean – both from sharing a room and from a serious amount of oversharing over the years. He didn't need to know anything else about any of his family member's sex lives.

"Actually, it's brilliant that someone else knows now. Maybe he'll start bothering you and Dean instead of me. Because Merlin knows Harry and I haven't been that close in years."

"I sure as hell hope not." Sam was still not a big Gabriel fan. He would put up with him, of course, if it was really what Harry wanted, but he didn't need any extra time with the jackass. He still hadn't forgiven him for killing Dean all of those times. "How do you think Harry is going to take it?" He asked, remembering why he had come in here in the first place.

Ginny winced.

"Right," Sam said, setting his jaw. "Now you know why I've got to go. Hopefully it won't be more than a couple of days."

"Yeah. Go." He turned to leave.

"But Sam – " she stopped him.

"Yeah?"

"Tell Harry that I love him. Not love love, of course, but if he spirals – we don't care. I doubt he's worried about Ron and Hermione, but he tends to escalate these things, you know, and I made peace with it ages ago."

He nodded, and apparated back home.

III

Dean reached to pour whiskey into his glass. He wanted desperately to go and confront Harry but the annoying voice in his head, that sounded suspiciously like Sam, told him that coming at Harry when he was this upset and worried would do more harm than good.

Character growth, he thought bitterly to himself. He didn't know what hurt more. That Harry was romantically involved with the son-of-a-bitch who had killed him hundreds of times or that he hadn't thought that he could trust Dean with that information.

What he did know was he was fucking angry.

Angry at Harry for keeping this from him. For not trusting him. For thinking that he would – would do whatever Harry obviously was so scared he would do. Reject him? Dean would never. Not over something like this.

He was also so, so angry with himself.

He had thought that, after all this time, buying a place together and living and raising a friggin' kid together that Harry would know that he wasn't some homophobe that couldn't accept that one of his brothers was with a man. Hell, he hadn't even fought when Jack wanted to be Elsa for Halloween and kept quite a few clothes that he would classify as for girls in his closet.

Dean finished the shot he had just poured himself and was reaching to polish off the bottle when a hand stopped him.

"I don't think that's going to help anything, Dean," Sam said.

He wasn't even surprised. "Yeah, well, I disagree," he tried to wrestle the bottle away from his youngest brother, only for the jackass to vanish the entire bottle.

Fucking wizard.

"Dean. I need you to sober up. Now. By now Harry must know that we've found out and who knows what he's going to do."

"How the hell would he know?" Dean asked, grumpily.

"Because news travels fast around here. And Cas was being very cagey with me. You did find out from him, didn't you?"

"Yeah. He said he thought it wasn't a secret."

"Ginny said the same."

"Ginny knows? And why the hell were you talking to Ginny? Isn't she off on some assignment?"

Sam shuffled a little. Oops, he hadn't shared that she would be there with Dean. Or Harry for that matter.

"Jesus," Dean said, "doesn't anyone trust me around here?"

"Dean – that's not what this is about. In fact, I don't even know why you're drinking, when you should be talking to Harry. This isn't about you. Harry just had something very personal shared and whether it's true or not, he's gotta be freaking out, why else would he have bothered to keep this from us for two years?"

"Two years?" Dean had figured this had all started when they moved out here. That was – that was a lot longer than he had imagined. It was going to be all that much harder to convince Harry that Gabriel was brainwashing him if it had been that long. How the hell hadn't he noticed?

Sam winced. That was information he hadn't meant to share.

Also, he didn't have time to talk Dean off the ledge when he was pretty sure that they needed to get to Harry as soon as possible. If he wasn't sure that they needed to go together, he would have just left Dean wallowing in his own self-hatred. But Harry needed both of them.

He was just wondering if he remembered Mrs. Weasley's sobering charm well enough to perform it on Dean when Jack came running into the house. He was sobbing.

"Jack!" Sam called out. Seeing the tall man, the little boy ran into his arms, still crying.

"Sam," he said, "you have to help."

"Have to help with what, buddy?" Sam asked, worried. Jack was a very happy child – he rarely cried. And he hadn't seen him like this at all.

Jack shook his head. "I don't know! I don't understand. I just feel so, so, so sad." He couldn't get any more words out.

"Are you hurt?" Dean asked, jumping into action.

Jack shook his head.

Then it clicked. "Is it Harry, Jack?" Sam asked, as gently as he could, because he didn't want to alarm the little boy anymore than he was already.

Jack just cried harder, confirming Sam's suspicions. Panic filled him as he lifted Jack off the ground to hold him tightly to try and sooth his tears. He stopped second-guessing himself and hit Dean with the sobering charm at the same time.

"Get that out of your system, I'm going to take Jack to Cas and then you and I are going to go talk to Harry. Right now."

Any arguments that Dean might have had faded as he felt a sudden lurch in his stomach and he ran to make it to the bathroom in time. Stupid fucking magic.

"Cas, I need you at Dean's house right now," he prayed.

Cas was there, immediately.

"Sam, what are you…Jack! Are you ok?" The angel zoned-in on the crying child.

"I think this is Harry's feelings. They're still connected, right?" Sam asked, passing Jack over to Cas when the man reached out for him.

"Not as strongly as before – for Jack to feel this way then Harry must be in very bad shape. Is this about Gabriel?" He looked guilty.

"I think so. I'm going to grab Dean and go to him."

"Sam – I didn't know – I thought that…"

"Don't worry about it, Cas. We'll get to him. He's overreacting."

Cas squinted at him. "Are you going to try and force him and Gabriel apart? Because I…"

"No!" Sam exclaimed.

"Not if it's a real thing," Dean said, coming back in the room, looking a little green around the gills, but completely sober. "If that son-of-a-bitch is brainwashing him then…"

"He's not brainwashing him," Sam and Cas said at the same time before looking at each other. Sam was happy that he had decided to take a break from living around everyone, because it said something about having spent way too much time around Cas if they were speaking together.

"How the hell do you know?"

"We don't have time for this," Sam said, "we just need to go talk to him. And Dean – you're going to be supportive."

"But…"

"No buts. This isn't something that we can decide for him, and anything that seems even a little disapproving from his is going to make him spiral even more than he already is. He's been so happy the last couple of years. Even you have pointed that out. If Gabriel is part of that reason than, well…"

"Yeah, yeah," Dean said. "Doesn't mean I have to like him does it?"

"No," Sam said. "But we have to let Harry know that what we think of Gabriel doesn't change how we feel about Harry."

"Of course not!"

"Dean – shut up. There's no "of course" here." He did a quick point-me and cursed. "Damnit. He's gone to the Bunker. Let's go."

Dean only nodded and only made a feint sound of protest when Sam grabbed him by the arm and apparated them to just outside the wards.

III

Harry didn't know how long he sat in his kitchen, trying not to vomit. But long enough that he realized that he needed to get out of there.

He needed to be alone.

And there was only one place where he could easily control who could come and go. Their current location had great security, but between playdates for Jack and hunters who stopped by for advice, it wasn't practical to not allow anyone else to enter.

The Bunker, however, no longer needed to be a base-of-operations and that meant that they were able to make it one of the most secure locations on Earth.

Not even Gabriel would be able to get in without Harry's permission.

The only people that would be able to would be Sam and Dean, and Harry figured that the two of them would want nothing to do with him very soon, if they hadn't already decided that he wasn't worth the trouble now that they knew he was sleeping with someone they considered an enemy.

Still, before he went for the bar cart, he was sure to raise all of the wards, so that he could drown himself in liquor in peace.

He was only on about his third drink when there was a ping. Someone had entered the property.

Time to face the music, he thought, knowing that it had to be one of his brothers.

Probably Dean, since Sam was off on the other coast, doing actual important work and probably couldn't be bothered to come. Harry steeled himself for what was to come – accepting that he would take whatever Dean wanted to dish out. It was only fair after he had lied to and deceived his family – again.

It took about twenty minutes for Dean to get to the door. There were a lot of "gates" for him to get through.

Harry slumped in his armchair in the war room, not looking forward to this conversation.

Was Dean going to make him break up with Gabriel? Could he even break up with Gabriel? It would feel like he was ripping his soul out. He had really come to depend on the archangel and he couldn't imagine his life without him.

But to keep Sam and Dean in his life, well…

"Jesus fuckin' Christ," he heard Dean curse as he stumbled through the door. "Did you have to put up all of the goddamned wards, Harry?" He called out.

Harry decided not to answer.

"Dean," Sam chided. This was not what he had talked to his brother about. He took the raised wards to be a very sign of what kind of mental state they were going to find Harry in.

"Sam?" Harry couldn't stop himself from saying, before mentally yelling at himself. He hadn't meant to give his position away so quickly. Things must be really bad if Dean called in reinforcements.

"Why are all the lights out, Harry?" Sam asked as they all flickered to life.

Harry shuddered a bit and closed his eyes. He hadn't even thought of turning on all the lights. He had just lit his wand to get him over here.

His brothers crossed the room much more quickly than Harry would have liked.

Dean bumped into the bar cart before they got to him.

"Damnit, Harry, did you have to crack open that 18-year Glenfiddich? I thought we were saving that for a special occasion."

"Well, Sam cleared this place out of Goblin-made whiskey, so I had to improvise," Harry shot back.

Sam's nose wrinkled. "From the smell of it, that was for the best. Harry – are you ok?" He looked at him with puppy eyes. Was it possible that he didn't know yet?

"Bloody great," Harry responded, trying to take another sip, only to have the glass summoned away from him.

"Yeah, we can tell," Dean said gruffly, taking the glass from Sam, and swallowing it all back in one gulp.

Sam glared.

"Just do whatever you came here to do," Harry said, miserably, not nearly as drunk as he would like to be, "you want me to move out of my house? I can do that, I get it, but I think that…"

"Who said anything about you moving out?" Sam asked, looking accusingly at Dean who looked just as confused as he was.

"Well, I assumed that…"

"You're shit at making assumptions," Dean interrupted.

"Dean…"

"No, Sam, this is ridiculous, I know you agree." He pulled a chair up to sit directly in front of Harry, who winced. "Dude – no one is kicking you out. But why the hell didn't you just tell us? Is it because Gabriel is forcing you into it? Because you know that…"

"Gabriel isn't forcing me to do anything," Harry said quickly.

"Alright, then what's the issue?" Dean asked. "Yeah, the guy's a douche, but why would you have to keep it a secret if it's all on the up-and-up."

Harry just gaped at Dean. He had been expecting to be punched. To be yelled at. Not…

"It doesn't matter to us, you have to know that, Harry," Sam said, much more gently, and with a little bit of a bitch face at Dean. "I mean, it matters, we want you to be happy, but you've seemed happy. If Gabriel is who makes you happy then…"

"Then we'll put up with the asshole," Dean finished for Sam.

"Not that we think he's an asshole," Sam countered.

"Speak for yourself, Sammy," Dean said. "But he may be better than Becky Rosen. But only just. And definitely better than Ruby."

"What, like you've had such great relationships? Do I need to remind you about the Amazon woman you slept with? And don't tell me that you didn't at least think of doing something with that Siren."

Harry still could not find his words as his brothers bickered about who had worst taste in – well, maybe not just women.

Sam seemed to realize that they had all but forgotten about Harry, when he turned to his middle brother.

"The point, Harry, is there is no reason to freak out. Do we wish you had told us? Yeah, of course. But it doesn't change anything. Except that you don't have to hide it anymore. Personally, I'm glad that I've taken a job on the other side of the country, so I don't have to deal with him moving in full time for a bit, but if he's important to you, then he's important to us."

He still didn't say anything. Harry didn't know if he would ever be able to make words come out of his mouth again.

"Dean…" Sam prompted.

Dean shook his head. "Right. What he said. But you can be sure as hell that I will knock like five times anytime I come and visit. There some things a man does not need to see. And I bet Gabriel is one hell of a freak in bed."

"Have you been imagining Gabriel in bed, Dean?" Sam teased, "Because I don't think that Harry is the sharing type."

"Shut up," Dean said. They began to bicker again.

Harry finally found his voice. "You're not mad?"

They both stopped talking immediately.

"No," they said together.

"And you don't care that he's a…"

"Douchebag?" Dean finished for him. "A little, but there's no accounting for taste. And if he hurts you, well…"

"No – I mean, an archangel. A guy."

Dean shrugged. "You're acting like we've never slept with men before. Not my go to, but I can't say that I haven't tried it out once or twice. And Sam went to college, and you know what happens there…"

"Hey! I only dated Jessica in college," Sam protested.

"That wasn't a no," Dean pointed out.

Sam decided to ignore him. "We don't care about the gender of the person you're in a relationship, Harry. As long as you're happy, we're happy."

"Well…" Dean hedged.

"Dean!"

"I mean, there are way more handsome guys you could have gone for, you know, Harry? You just needed to tell me, we could have hit up gay bars instead of those joints I took you to with all those lose chicks."

Sam gave him a patented bitch face.

Harry was finally beginning to feel like he could breathe. He couldn't believe what he was hearing. Never in a million years did he imagine that this would just be – alright.

"Are you done with the dramatics now?" Dean asked him. "I think it's past time that you introduce me to this guy so I can give him my older brother speech."

"You've met him!" Harry sputtered.

Dean shrugged, "Yeah, but not in this capacity. I know he's an archangel, but if he thinks that's going to protect him if he hurts you…"

"I second that," Sam agreed, back on the same page as Dean. "We've taken down at least two other archangels that were far more powerful than him."

"He's not going to hurt me!" Harry got out. In fact, he realized that it was quite the opposite. That he was the one who had done the hurting. And that all this acceptance might be for nothing. Gabriel may not want a damn thing to do with him. All of a sudden, it became clear to him that this was not where he should be. He should be with Gabriel – groveling, after the way he'd been treating him. Especially if everyone in his family was going to be so supportive. He had been so worried, over absolutely bloody nothing.

"He better not," Dean said.

"I – I need to go," Harry stuttered.

"What, why?" Sam asked, looking alarmed.

"This – this meant a lot," Harry said, "but it might be moot. I – kicked Gabriel out of my house. He might never want to talk to me again. I need to go to him."

Dean snorted. "Dude, that guy's been obsessed with you for years, I don't think that this one little bump will keep him away."

Harry shook his head. Dean didn't understand.

"Do what you need to do, Harry. But you know we're here for you, right?" Sam asked. "You don't have to keep things like this from us."

The puppy dog look in Sam's eyes was so sincere that it melted Harry's heart a little. "Thanks, Sammy," he said.

"Ditto, man," Dean said.

"Thanks, Dean. I'll – we can talk about this more later?"

"Sure, go get your man," Dean said. Harry shook his head and was about to leave.

"Actually – Sam, if you have time, and Dean, if you don't mind, could you do me a favor?"

His brothers looked at each other.

"Sure," Sam said.

"Kinda thought this was going to take a lot more time than it did," Dean said, "and I already cleared all my plans."

Harry grinned.

III

When he was upset – Gabriel didn't like to be alone.

He found comfort in crowds. Especially ones where he was completely anonymous. Where no one had any expectations of him.

He didn't know what he was going to do if Harry ended things with him.

He certainly didn't want to spend more time in Heaven. The only reason he spent time there at all was because Harry had convinced him to take the reins and try to keep it from descending into complete chaos.

Possibly witness protection again.

If he was going to be able to stay away from the wizard at all. He thought that might be impossible. Not for the first time, he cursed the fact that he had needed to push Harry. If the wizard decided that the only way they could be together was for him to be a dirty little secret, he would take whatever he could get.

It was a little pathetic, and he knew it, but, hey, he was head-over-heels.

Reno was perfect.

Some people may have thought that he would prefer Vegas, but that wasn't the case.

It was a den of iniquity filled with tourists but just had a closer-knit feeling to it. And while Vegas had a ton of glitz and glam, there was just something a little more…dishonest about it.

He tossed some chips on the Blackjack table of his favorite casino and said, "hit me," when the dealer dealt, but his heart wasn't really in it. The sexy waitress offered him a strawberry daiquiri and he couldn't even stomach the thought.

He lost a couple thousand dollars of not-real money as he finally decided to wander off from his table.

Gabriel was debating what to do next when he heard a prayer. (He actually heard prayers all the time – he just tuned most of them out. But there was one frequency that he kept at the forefront of his mind all the time.)

He flew – but not very far. Just to a hotel across the street.

"Woah, the Chairmen Suite. I know how cheap you are, Harry, you must really have something important to say to me," he said, with dread in his heart.

And it was true. Even though the man was loaded, Harry hated spending money frivolously. Sure, he'd spend a fortune making sure that each and every whim of his brothers was met, but when it came to himself, he rarely spent more than the very bare minimum.

Harry looked better than he had when Gabriel had left him just a couple of hours earlier. Still tired, but not nearly as drunk as the archangel had been expecting.

On the other hand, Harry couldn't help but think that Gabe looked terrible. For someone who could easily hide his face and his real feelings with complicated glamours, this was the most worn down that he had ever seen his boyfriend look. Which made him feel even worse than he already did.

"Gabe – I'm so sorry…"

"No, there's no need to be, Harry," he interrupted him. "I get it. I always knew that this would be short-lived, I was just hoping…anyway, I shouldn't have pushed you. You have the right to tell who you want when you want and it was selfish of me to…"

Harry's heart broke. "You want to end this?"

Gabe's gaze snapped up. He hadn't been able to look at Harry before, but now, he had to see what was happening on his face.

"No! Of course not, never, but I thought now that Castiel opened his big, fat, mouth, that…"

He didn't have a chance to finish that sentence. Harry had closed the distance between the two of them and had pulled him into a hot, lingering, and desperate kiss. Like he was scared that this was the last one they would ever share.

Well, if it was going to the last one ever, then Gabriel was going to make it the best one yet as he deepened the kiss.

Harry groaned as he pulled away – like it was physically painful to do so. And maybe it was, for him. It certainly hurt Gabriel's feelings, if nothing else.

"This isn't why I wanted…needed to see you," Harry said, looking like he still very much wanted to jump Gabriel's bones. Which the archangel would more than allow him.

"Right, of course, I was hoping for a quicky for the road…"

"There is no road, Gabriel. If you're not giving up on me, I'm not giving up on you."

Gabriel felt tears prickle in his eyes. Every time he thought he had Harry figured out. Every. Single. Time.

More embarrassing than that – he started to cry. Actual fucking tears. He wasn't even sure that he could cry the way he was crying now.

"Oh, Gabe," Harry said softly, pulling him in. "I'm so sorry. I've been a complete and total arse."

He didn't respond, he just leaned into the man that he had been prepared to say goodbye to for the last couple of hours and kept on crying. The two of them moved to the sofa of the suite and just sat together, Harry holding onto him tightly.

Eventually, he was pretty sure there was no more water left in the universe, because it had all come out of his face.

"You alright?" Harry asked, quietly.

Gabriel sniffled.

"It's just – if you're up for it, and really only then, I have a surprise for you."

Gabriel perked up. "A surprise?" He loved surprises. Especially now that he was at least 90% sure that Harry wasn't going to leave him.

"Yeah. A surprise. It should be all set up now. Just – well, just know that I have this place booked for a week, so if you hate it, we can always come back. Just you and me."

Gabriel was certainly interested now.

"Follow me," Harry said, and he apparated away.

Gabriel didn't need to be told twice.

III

They landed in Kansas, in a very familiar location.

"You're not going to show me another field, are you?" Gabriel asked, warily. Even though that was one of the nicest surprises he had ever gotten.

"The exact same field, in fact," Harry said with a cheeky grin.

They were standing outside of Mary Winchester's house. Gabriel wasn't even sure if he had ever been there before.

"I'm at a loss," he admitted, not letting himself feel disappointed. After all, that had backfired the last time.

"I know," Harry said. And then he held out his hand.

With a questioning glance, Gabriel took it. Harry squeezed it.

Hand-in-hand, Harry led him through the front door.

They went towards the dining room, where Harry's entire family was assembled. Mary was slapping Dean's hand away as he tried to sneak a roll from a basket, and Sam had a salad in his hands that he had just carried in from the kitchen. Castiel was pouring some milk into a cup for Jack, and they all looked up when Harry cleared his throat.

"Hello," he said, sounding just a little nervous for the first time since they got there. "Everyone – I'd like you to meet Gabriel – my boyfriend."

"But we've already…" Cas started.

"Shut up," Dean said to him. "Gabriel, huh? Little short, ain't he?"

"Dean!" Sam admonished. "It's a pleasure to meet you, Gabe, you are just in time for dinner. Would you like to join us?"

"It's Winchester Surprise," Mary said, "but I promise I didn't make it. Dean's version is way better."

"I do love a surprise," Gabriel said, slightly stunned.

"Perfect, have a seat," Mary said.

He did. Throughout dinner, the family joked and bickered in the way they always did, and Harry stole glances, and even kisses whenever he could. Everyone else pretended to either not notice, or looked on with approval.

It was the single best night of Gabriel's life. And he made sure to show his appreciation for it to Harry when they returned to their hotel suite.

"You know, I think I love you, Mr. Potter," he said to him when they woke up the next morning.

Harry blinked at him through tired eyes and instead of answering, just started kissing him, and Gabriel grinned as they went on for yet another round.

THE END

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AN – Surprise! This is a surprise even for me. I don't know what came over me, but I wrote this entire chapter/story in two days. It's probably not the best edited I've ever done (not the worst either) but I really want to get this out there.

I'm going to stop saying that I'm done with this series, because, for some reason, I just can't stay away. I really love these characters and this community and it's very comforting for me to write in this space. (Although I still don't plan for any long sequels – just one/two shots like these.)

Anyway, Happy New Year and I hope that y'all enjoyed it.