Archive of Our Own ^beta

Notes: Welcome to the next story! Thanks to all of you that have stuck with me so far! There were two script versions of this episode, each with different flashbacks. I liked both versions, so I decided to just integrate them both! Hope you like!

Disclaimer: non.

CHAPTER 1

20 Years Ago

A young Balthazar sits on the couch doing his homework for advanced physics. He didn't know why someone going into a business like his father's would ever need to learn this goh se, but he wanted to get a good grade anyway to please Father. He was a good son. His thoughts are disrupted as the couch suddenly is bumped hard from behind, making Balthazar's pen scratch over his paper messily.

Heaving a great sigh Balthazar glances behind the couch to see Castiel giggling after running into it, at least that's what he assumed had happened.

"What are you doing Cassy?" He asks patiently. He could never be angry with his little brother.

"We're in big trouble! We're cut off!" Castiel tries to whisper, but in his excited state it comes out more like a loud squeak.

Balthazar puts on a concerned face indulgently, "Cut off from what?"

Cassy rolls his eyes like he couldn't understand how his brother could be so clueless, "From our platoon, Balth! The whole Garrison! We got outflanked by Hunters and we're never gonna make it back to our platoon….We need to resort to cannibalism." He finishes solemnly.

Balthazar raises his eyebrows, "Well that escalated quickly. Don't we have rations or anything?" He asked playing along.

"They got lost. So we're gonna have to eat the men."

This pulls another smile from Balthazar, "Don't you have some homework due tomorrow? A book report perhaps?"

Cassy sighs dramatically, "I read that book when I was four. I can write that report in my sleep."

"Well that's your fault for reading every book available in the library that you are tall enough to reach….which is like a third. I still can't believe you actually tried reading the dictionary."

"How else would I learn what erinaceous means?!" Castiel says seriously. That makes Balthazar laugh. He looks down at his own homework and frowns before sliding it off his lap and onto the floor. This seemed a lot more worth his time than gravity. He turned to his little brother, ready to play along with the game.

"Okay, so how did the Hunters cut us off?" He asked curiously.

Castiel seems to consider this before answering, "They were using dinosaurs!"

…..okay… "Alright….so are we running or fighting?"

Castiel's answer was to squeal in laughter, jumping off the couch and darting out of the room, Balthazar following behind. The pealed around the house laughing happily. Their noise seemed to draw Gabriel from his own studying as he suddenly grabbed at Castiel as he ran past, picked him up and swung him around with the amount of momentum the little guy was packing.

Castiel pretended to fly for that small moment.

"Whoa kids, where's the fire?" Gabriel asks, trying not to smile.

"We're running from dinosaurs!" Informed Castiel happily, like running from dinosaurs was the best thing that could happen. Balthazar shrugged behind them, trying to catch his breath from the run.

Gabriel picks up the game quickly, "Oh well then you should be careful then! You almost stepped on that fish there! I hear there are some big plans for that fish." He whispers to Castiel like it was some big secret.

Castiel giggles behind his hands.

Gabriel hates to break up this moment and wants nothing more than to play with his brothers for the rest of the day, but their father had left them instructions for the night, and it was his duty as the older brother to deliver the message and see it done. There had to be some way for him to not ruin the game though….

"Hey guys! I just heard from our Commander. He has a mission for us!"

"What is it!?" Asks Castiel in amazed wonder.

"You need to complete a report on a certain scroll by tomorrow that can help us cast a spell on the Hunters, and Balthazar needs to figure out the trajectory we need to deliver that message! If we finish in time then our reward is paradise and ice cream." Gabriel informed them. Balthazar rolled his eyes, but didn't say anything that would ruin the illusion for Castiel.

"The Commander wants me to write a book report?" he asked, his face scrunched up.

"Yup! And then you get ice cream!" Balthazar said, backing up the new story line, just as eager to keep the game going.

Castiel looked at them and rolled his eyes, "I'm not stupid guys. Ice cream wasn't around when the dinosaurs were."

10 Years Ago

"Cassy! Congratulations! I just heard the news from Joshua. Job well done I say."

Castiel smiles shyly, "It's not a big deal, Balthazar. It's just a diploma, you have one after all."

Balthazar grins anyway, "But you're my baby brother. Anything you do above tie your own shoes is a grand accomplishment in my book. Now let's plan a party for you to commemorate your graduation…"

"Not much of a party, I hardly know anyone," Castiel reminds his brother, rolling his eyes.

"Then I'll just call some of my friends as fillers!"

"Your friends don't like me much. They call me a stiff." Castiel looked at Balthazar with sad eyes. It made Balthazar's heart clench too think about how lonely his brother was. Gabriel had left over a year ago for the special training program and they hadn't heard from him for a while. Probably too busy to pick up a pen to write his brothers. And their Father was also quite busy since they hadn't heard from him for a long time as well, but that was nothing new.

What was new was that Balthazar also wasn't around much anymore. Without Gabriel keeping him in line, or their father spouting orders or sending projects for them, Balthazar had started to drift off to fill his time with alcohol, women, and any type of rebellion that he could get his hands on. Cassy seemed to be the only one who was trying to keep the family together.

He reached out to hold on to Castiel's shoulders and looked him in the eye, "Okay, how about this. You and me go out to that artery clogger you call a restaurant and order you that greasy monstrosity you love so much. How's that sound?"

Castiel looked like he considered it a moment, "Okay." He answered, a small smile forming on his lips.

Half hour later Balthazar was trying to clean a spot on the sticky table in front of them so that he could rest his arms without getting stuck there. Cassy was happily munching on his burger and fries, his jaw seeming to magically open wide enough for the ridiculously large sandwich. He paused long enough to look up at Balthazar and smile.

"These make me…very happy."

"I noticed," Balthazar said dryly. He tried to start in on his own meal, but after a few fries he tried to wipe off the accumulated grease on a napkin, only to see it made the thin paper completely transparent. Appetite lost, he pushed the basket of food away.

"Are you going to finish that?" Asks Castiel, mouth still partially full from the last bite of his own burger. Balthazar just shook his head and pushed the basket towards his little brother.

"You are starting to eat like Gabriel did when he was a teenager." He remarked.

Cas stopped eating for a moment and the happy look disappeared from his face, "Well, I'm still a teenager myself. I don't have to worry about my figure, unlike you." He tried to joke, but Balthazar could see that bringing up Gabe had dampened the mood. He was about to apologize when his brother spoke again.

"Do…do you think if we asked Gabriel in a letter, that he might come back for the graduation ceremony?" He asked timidly.

Balthazar opened and closed his mouth a few times before answering, "Cassy, I'm sure he is really busy. That's why he hasn't had time to talk with us. If he doesn't have time to reach us, then I really don't think he can come back here. Even for his favorite baby brother." He reached across the table to rustle Castiel's hair like Gabe used to do, but it didn't look like it helped at all.

"What about Father?"

Jeez, it seemed like Cassy was trying to rip out Balthazar's heart tonight.

"Listen Cassy, you need to think about your future now. Not worry about our brother or father. You have a very bright and promising future ahead of you, I know it."

Castiel finally looks up at his brother and smiles again.

Present Day

"No! No! I don't want to! Let go of me! Don't touch me!"

"Cas…Castiel, it's okay. Just calm…" Gabriel pleaded.

"It's not okay! You can't just dig into my body, rip me out and replace it with what you want!"

"What? Castiel I don't understand. Listen, why don't you just come with me to your room then, yeah? We can talk with Fern."

"I don't want to talk! I just want everyone to stop telling me all is fine when the sky is spiraling down!"

Sam and Dean walked in to the room to see Gabriel struggling with an irate Cas.

"Um, hey Gabe. Cas." Dean greeted awkwardly.

"Hiya Cap. Sorry about the noise, just trying to get Cas here to calm down a bit. He kept Balthazar up all last night with this. I took over so that he could get some sleep."

"What is this?" Sam asked. Gabe didn't answer, he just shook his head and tried to put his hand on Castiel's shoulder, who immediately brushed it off with a whine.

"Stop touching me! It hurts…." Dean frowned at that.

"Cas, you okay man?" Dean asked concerned. Cas looked at him hard, walked forward to Dean and Sam, stumbling a little. He got up real close to the Captain and wiggled his finger to Dean to lean in closer, once he was a few inches away Cas whispered in his ear.

"Don't ask stupid questions."

It was then that Dean and Sam caught a whiff of Cas, smelling like he had bathed in alcohol.

"Dude, are you…drunk?" Sam asked incredulously.

Cas then turned to regard Sam offended, "No!" then after a beat a reluctant, "Yes."

Gabe shook his head and moved to sit down at the table, rubbing the bridge of his nose. Dean couldn't look away from the inebriated Cas.

"What happened to you man?" He asked.

Cas let out a little hiccup, "I found Bobby's liquor store."

"And?" Sam prompted.

Cas made a lovely impression of one of Sam's bitch faces, "I drank it!" He answered angrily. Dean had heard enough.

"Okay, let's get you cleaned up. We'll be back in a few minutes Gabriel." And Dean steered Castiel away.

Sam walked over to where the pilot was seated and placed a warm hand on his shoulder in comfort and squeezed.

"You okay?" He asked gently.

"No."

Sam sighed, "What set him off? Do you know?"

Gabriel glanced up, "Balthazar and I talked to Cas about out Father last night. We told him something that didn't sit well it seems….I should have just kept my mouth shut." He lowered his head to the table, completely exhausted. He had never known how tiring it could be to watch over Cas. Balthazar had been doing it most of the time since they came to the Impala so Gabriel had never known the stress that came with it. His respect for Balthazar went up several notches.

"He'll work through it eventually. Dean's got him for a few minutes. Just relax."

Sam started to rub at Gabe's shoulders, feeling the smaller man become pliant beneath him and the tense muscles soften.

"I can't believe you went and got trashed! That is no way to deal with whatever has been bothering you." Dean scolded as he tried to wrestle Cas out of the smelly shirt.

"You do it." Cas reminded him sourly.

This caught Dean off guard. It was true. "Yeah, well I'm not the best role model." Dean confessed. He was mentally berating himself for introducing Cas to alcohol in the first place. They finally pried the shirt off and Dean was looking for another clean shirt among the pile of clothes that was dumped on Cas' unused bed. Picking out a light blue one he tosses it to Cas who caught it and stared at it, not making a move to get dressed.

"You gonna stare at it, or wear it?"

"He's gone." Cas whispered.

Dean frowned concerned, "Who?"

Cas looked up, his eyes looking red, "My Father."

Oh. Dean wasn't sure how to respond to that. Apparently their talk about dad's back on Lawrence had triggered something. Cas slowly started to pull on the shirt. Once it was on he rounded on the mirror behind him and drove his fist into it, smashing the mirror into a thousand pieces."

Dean rushed forward, "What the fuck Cas?!" He grabbed Cas' hand to inspect the damage done there. He saw blood swelling up in the hundreds of little cuts, but before he could do anything for them Cas wrenched his hand back.

"He left us Dean! He left me to rot in that place!" He cried out, flinging his hand out for emphasis and sent blood splattering on the wall.

"I know he took off Cas, and I'm sorry about that but there is nothing you can do about it." Dean said sternly, trying to get Cas to stay still so that he could start pulling out the shards that had embedded themselves in his fist.

"He knew. He knew we were there, but he left anyway. Started cooking a meal, but left it one the counter to get cold and moldy, unfit for consumption. How sickening. Perhaps he saw the monstrosity and was too disturbed to look upon it again. His wine became poisonous…"

Dean was trying to follow what Cas was saying as he pulled out the glass piece by piece. He was confused by why this was so upsetting to Cas. From what he gathered the Novak's father had never really been around to begin with, these abandonment issues were nothing new to Cas, so why was he freaking so badly right now?

He grabbed one of the older shirts from the pile on Cas' bed and ripped it up into strips to use a bandage until they could get to the infirmary, but when he turned back to put it on Cas, he saw that all of the cuts were gone. Seems that Cas could heal himself too, thought Dean absently.

"Yeah, I know it sucks man, but you don't have to go smashing mirrors. That's seven years bad luck," he told Cas.

"Without bad luck we would have no luck at all," mumbled Cas darkly.

"Jeez Cas, you aren't going to win over many hearts with that sparkling personality." Dean told him sternly.

Cas regarded him with a less than impressed look, "Personalities don't sparkle, Dean."

"Is everything okay in here? I told Gabe I would check on you two when you didn't come back right away." Sam's concerned voice came from above the ladder.

"We're fine Sam, just a little accident with a mirror, but everything is fine now. I'll send Cas up now." Dean turned to the somber young man and motioned with his head for Cas to head up and back to Gabe. Cas complied, but not without a dirty look first and then he moved up the ladder. Dean followed him out of the room but stopped to address Sam.

Once Cas was out of earshot Dean turned to Sam.

"Okay, I know you talked to Gabriel. Any idea what set Cas off?" Dean asked.

Sam sighed heavily, "Yeah, I got it out of him, but it took a while and I'm pretty sure that I didn't get the whole story yet. It looks like while Gabriel was at the Host, he found out that their father was one of the sponsors for the "program". But what Balthazar dug up a few years later was even worse. He wasn't just a sponsor, he was practically the creator of it! All of the funding came from him and he chose who ran the thing." Sam informed him sounding horrified at the idea that their father was capable of starting such a travesty.

Dean was also feeling a little sick, "So he allowed his first born to attend that "program"? And then didn't lift a finger when Cas got involved?"

Sam nodded sadly, "That's what it looks like."

"Jeez, no wonder Cas is so pissed. I would have gone and gotten drunk too." Mumbled Dean.

"Yeah well, you have the emotional maturity of a fetus. Cas is going to take a while to process this and alcohol won't solve anything." Sam said looking pointedly at Dean. Looks like Sam figured out who introduced Cas to Bobby's liquor, thought Dean guiltily.

"Well all the best to Gabriel then. Balthazar is likely to sleep for the next few hours and I have a delivery to make. Can you go let Gabe know that I need him to land us on the planet?"

"Actually, he's got his hands full with Cas, so I offered to land us this time," said Sam awkwardly.

"You can do that now?" Dean asked surprised.

"Yeah, Gabriel has been teaching me a lot and I've sat in on enough landings to do it myself, so we should be fine." Dean nodded, seemingly satisfied. And with that, Dean headed off to the hold and Sam moved to the control room. It was time for work.

CHAPTER 2

"No! No!"

Cas was still being incredibly difficult, but Gabriel couldn't fault him for it. The poor kid was struggling with having his world pulled out from beneath him and his body screwed with, and now he finds out that his father had not only made the fun house that he and Gabe got to play in for a few years, but also didn't even bother to pull them out when it became a house of horrors.

He was refusing to let anyone touch him, which was hard because that was usually the best way to comfort him. And the back pain that Cas had been suffering from also seemed to be getting worse, making him even more cranky. It was just a bad situation all around.

"Okay, okay. I get it, no touching, but you can't go into the hold right now. There are some seriously restless cows that might step on you." Gabriel tried to coax Cas away from the hold, this time without touching him in anyway. Cas continued to argue loudly, brushing off Gabriel's attempts at contact or comfort. Dean saw this as he came forward, concerned at the interaction.

"Hey, get a grip. It'll be a bad day if his yelling spooks the cattle." Dean said in low warning tones. He then looked to Cas, "You ever see cattle stampede when they have no place to run? It's kind of like a meat grinder and we could lose half the herd. So why don't you yell a little quieter. You can kick and scream as much as you like once we land. It'll be an open area so go ahead and holler until our ears bleed…." Dean stopped to consider that, "Wait, strike that. Don't make our ears bleed, but feel free to yell normal like. Thought, I would take that as a personal favor if you actually chose to not do either of those things." He told Cas trying to be patient.

But Cas gave him a dark look, "The human body can be drained of blood in 8.6 seconds given adequate vacuuming systems. I have yet to determine the rate for when it's by inner ear trauma." He hissed threateningly at Dean before storming off.

Dean watched him go and then turned to Gabriel, "Okay, so I can handle morbid and creepifying Cas just fine, but if he continues to have fits like this we'll need another sit down. Preferably in a room with no breakable objects."

That got Gabriel's hackles to rise, "This is pretty tame behavior for someone who could cause a LOT more damage than just raising his voice, thanks to the government scientists who thought my brother's body was a rutting playground. We have no idea what will set him off, so unless you have some expertise…"

Dean stepped back, hands raised in surrender. "Whoa, whoa, chill out man. I'm just as concerned as you are, but he has to work through this like anyone else with daddy issues…only no more booze. And are you sure you can handle him today? I know Balthazar is still resting, but maybe Bobby or Anna…"

"No. I can take care of my baby brother just fine. Just….let's just get this job done. Maybe if he get's outside for a bit he'll lighten up," mumbled Gabriel before he took off down the hall to find Cas to continue watching him.

It was truly painful for Dean to see so many on his boat suffering like this. It was hitting too close to home too. Daddy issues seemed to be a requirement on this boat, and Dean was an expert on absent fathers to know exactly how hard this was on Cas as well as his brothers. He could understand the poor guy's pain, but Dean had faith that Cas could work through this. He was pretty tough for a little nerdy dude in a trenchcoat.

Three scavengers were all gathered around the carcasses of a few rabbits as the slowly cut away the skin to get at the meager amounts of meat. Their focus was drawn away when they heard the sounds of a ship from above them. They looked up to see a firefly ship soar by to land somewhere off in the distance, the sun gleaming brilliantly off of the metal frame.

The leader of the three gestured to the sky, "You see that? A vessel like that wouldn't land here unless it's got something to sell. And it might just be something we need." He turned to his two men, and smiled a toothless smile. They grinned back and grabbed their knives.

Gabriel has completely lost track of Castiel. He couldn't find him anywhere in the ship, not in his nest, not humming with the engine, not even looking through Bobby's liquor cabinet again, so he decided to head to the hold where the rest of the crew was herding out the cows. Perhaps Cas had snuck by him somehow to go outside for a bit.

Walking into the hold he is pleasantly surprised at the sunlight streaming through and tried to soak in the warmth. Sam is nearby doing the same thing and notices Gabriel's arrival. He smiles gently and moves over to great him, but at the same time Meg comes barreling out of the hold, herding along about twenty cows, knocking Sam back so as not to get trampled and ends up stepping in a cow patty, making a sickening squishy sound.

Gabriel seemed to have noticed and cracked a little smile at Sam's misfortune. Normally schadenfreude sent Gabe into peeling laughter, but this time he didn't even giggle. That just spoke volumes to Sam at how stressed out he was over Castiel.

Meg seemed to be laughing enough though, "Ha! That's gonna leave quite the stain there Sammy!" She mocked and then yelled to the cattle in front of her, "Yah! Get along meat buckets!"

Dean walked up next to her, "You know they walk just as easy if you lead them?"

She smiled at the Captain, "I know that. I just like smackin''em." She giggled again and went back to her fun.

Dean shook his head and went to the side of the metal pole corral that they had put together hastily. He gave it a firm shake, to test its strength to make sure that their cargo would not get loose. He noticed Bobby's approach from where the preacher had just finished up tying off the last pieces of the corral.

"I do hope this corral's strong enough to hold them. You know "shepherd's" a purely figurative title, right?" Bobby said warmly to Dean as he got closer. It got Dean to smile.

"And here you were last night at dinner telling us how you felt like you were dog sitting when it came to my crew!" Dean joked, slapping the Preacher's shoulder in a friendly manner.

Bobby raised his bushy brows at Dean and shook his head seriously, "Oh no. Couldn't have been dogs. See at least I have a chance of them listening to commands. With you lot it's more like…trying to tame squirrels on sugar highs." He said sadly.

Sam had finally gotten up next to Gabriel. The pilot seemed to have finally spotted Castiel, who was sitting on the ground on the outside of the corral watching the cows trot by. Sam came up behind his pilot and wrapped his long arms around Gabe in a comforting embrace.

"I'm thinking next time we smuggle livestock, we should make it smaller. What do you think," he asked in Gabe's ear.

Sam saw what could have been a smile on his face before he responded, sounding serious, "Yes. I totally agree. We should start dealing in those black-market beagles."

Happy to hear a little of the old Gabe, Sam pulled his embrace in a little tighter.

Cas was having a staring contest with one of the smaller cows that had stopped to say hello. He was mumbling back to the creature and was leaning on the corral fencing, as close as he could get without falling in with the cows.

"Little soul, big world. Eat, sleep and eat. So many souls. Made in God's image…."

Dean and Bobby came up behind him, "Those cattle have been on the ship for three weeks and you hardly went near them. Suddenly we're on Jiangyin and you've got a driving need to commune with the beast?" The captain asked with a raised brow.

Cas leaned back to address him, eyes squinting when the sun got in his eyes, "They weren't cows inside. They were waiting to be, but they forgot. Now they see the sky and they remember what they are. Beautiful, natural creatures…" he turned back to the cows, whispering the last part, looking troubled. He hunched forward, trying to adjust his aching back.

Dean frowned and moved up to where Gabriel and Sam were standing, "Is it bad that most things he says make perfect sense to me?" He asked once he reached them.

He got absent shrugs as an answer. Dean didn't want to break up the momentary calm, but he and Sam had a job to do and their clients would be arriving soon. It might not be a good idea to keep the volatile Cas around for that.

"Okay, we're about to get down to business here and I can't be herding these cows as well as Cas, so maybe you two should mosey somewhere else for a bit." He suggested gently.

Gabriel seemed to shrivel in Sam's arms as he sank down, "But he's finally calm," he whined.

"I know, but when we engage in this clandestine dealing, I prefer for things to go smoothly. Things might not go so smoothly if Cas sticks around this time." He tried again, looking to Sam for support in this. Sam was looked like he was about to help out when Garbriel snapped at Dean, "Right. I'm very sorry if he tipped off anyone about your cunningly concealed herd of cows." He said snippily. Dean's eyes pleaded with Sam to help him with this.

Sam heaved a sigh before moving in front of Gabriel and looked him in the eye, "How about you and Castiel go for a walk into town or something? Maybe you can find some candy at the store. I'm thinking your sugar levels are dropping a bit and that's making you both a little cranky," he suggested softly.

"A walk?" Gabriel repeated, not sounding convinced.

"Yeah, it'll be fine. You won't even have to worry about the Garrison. The closest Garrison cruiser is the Magellan, and that's hours from here. They won't bother with a backwater place like this," Dean promised, backing up Sam's suggestion.

Gabriel continued to look skeptical, but the brothers could see his resolve softening. He glanced over to where Cas was looking longingly at the cows. He seemed to have noticed one that drew his attention more than the others. He moved over to that one trying to catch it's eyes. It almost looked like he was trying to ask it a question.

"I'm not so sure that it's such a wise suggestion…." He trailed off unsure.

"Well then maybe you shouldn't mistake it for a suggestion. But Don't worry, we won't leave ya behind." Smirked Dean and he slapped Gabriel on the shoulder and walked off with Sam.

Heaving a big sigh, Gabriel made his way over to Castiel who was still talking to that one cow.

"I think I've almost cracked him," Castiel informed his brother as he drew close.

Shaking his head, the pilot held his hand out in offering, "C'mon Cassy bear, let's go for a walk."

Cas looked at the hand for a moment before hesitantly reaching to clasp it with his own. Gabriel pulled him up and they moved off, but Cas turned back for a moment to address the cow once again.

"Hey! I'm not through with you."

CHAPTER 3

Anna and Chuck are browsing the little shop in town where the light is dim and yellow, the shelves are cluttered with cheap knick knacks, but it still holds an air of old fashion charm that Chuck likes. The whole one room store was warmed by the early morning sun coming through the windows, showing the copious amounts of dust floating around in the air. It didn't bother him though, it just made it feel more homey.

"Why does it seem that every supply store on every planet has the same old dish set and the same wood carvings of…..what is this? An ass?"

Chuck turned to look at whatever had caught Anna's attention. In his haste he almost bumped into the other man who was in the store. Chuck had barely noticed him earlier, he looked scary, tall and dressed in buck-skins that looked far to thick and stiff to be comfortable. But he paid him little mind now, he was too confused and intrigued by Anna's odd comment.

"Why would anyone carve an ass?" He peered over her shoulder to see it. What he saw was far from what he had pictured in his mind, "Umm, I think that it's a horse Anna…."

"Oh. I thought it might have been a donkey."She said dismissively and moved on to the next shelf.

"Oh, yeah. You meant a donkey…"

Behind them they heard the bell on the door ring as new customers entered.

"Good morning you two!" Anna greeted as Gabriel and Cas came into the shop. Cas immediately veered off to look at something that caught his fancy, Gabriel scurried after him when he saw that it was something sharp. Clearly things had not simmered down from earlier that morning.

"Wow, hey guys. I didn't think you would come out today, with Castiel being….you know." Chuck wagged a finger next to his ear.

"Yeah, well….we're trying something a little different today it seems…Captain's orders and all," muttered Gabriel as he pried Castiel's fingers off of the cutlery display. Castiel shook him off and moved on to a box of rusty looking tools and started inspecting them. It seemed that he was drawn to every sharp object in the store, and it was starting to frustrate the pilot.

"Cas….Castiel, put that down. That's um….What is that?" Chuck asked, turning to Chuck and Anna to identify the strange tool while tearing his brothers hands off of the object.

Chuck was the only one who sort of recognized it, "I'm no farmer…but I think it's a post-holer. You dig holes….for posts."

"Yeah, right. Okay Cassifras, let's put that down. It's dirty, and sharp, and Dean tells me that you have already had some trouble with sharp things today. Let's go look at something different."

He guides a reluctant and silent Castiel to the display of wood carvings that Anna and Chuck were looking at earlier. Anna was glancing sympathetically at the brothers, sad for Gabriel looking so frazzled and stressed, and for Cas she was upset with how troubled he had been as of late. To an outsider it could have been funny, the older brother having to deal with the younger one zoning in on every harmful object in the immediate vicinity like any curious toddler, but to anyone on the Impala...it was more tragic than anything.

Gabriel zoned in on the wood carving that had caught Anna's attention earlier, "Ha! Look Cassy-bear, an ass!" trying to draw his little borther's attention away from the display of letter openers. He held it up for Cas to inspect and the young man absently took it from Gabriel's hand and turned it over to inspect its undersides closely, a small frown on his face.

"It's a horse." He said quietly and handed it back before walking past the mirrors for sale and went up to the window. Gabriel let him go sulk and moved toward his other crew members, done trying to get Castiel to lighten up.

"Well at least you guys got out of bovine duty," said Chuck helpfully.

Anna also tried to cheer up the usually jovial pilot, "Yes! It gives you two a chance to have a little fun!"

Gabriel snorted while rubbing a hand over his tired face, "Fun. Right, yeah. I totally consider this fun. It's fun having to babysit my 27 year old brother who has so far been on this tantrum for 25 hours. It's fun being a pilot slash part time mechanic for a Captain who that thinks the best way to handle said tantrum is to go frolic in public where anything could happen. And let's not forget the molded protein for breakfast! I'm really having a blast today," he snapped sarcastically.

Off to the side of the store, the other customer that Chuck had almost barreled over startled, and looked at the group with renewed interest.

Chuck looked like he wanted to say something to comfort him, "I know it's been rough for your family…"

That just seemed to infuriate the overly stressed pilot. "Just shut your cakehole! You don't know anything about my family. I loved my father. I love my brothers. Love them! But watching Cassy fall apart at the seams and Balthazar almost collapse in exhaustion. I can't bear it! Okay? I wish this were a televid show. Easy answers…ending wrapped up in a happy bow…but this is real. And my baby brother is suffering in ten different directions. And I'm going to have to find some way to deal with that, because that's what big brothers do. We watch out for our families." He ground out bitterly.

Anna and Chuck were shocked by the outburst. They looked to Gabriel and mumbled parting words before turning to leave the shop. They had silently decided to give the pilot his space for now.

Gabriel mentally berated himself for taking out his frustrations on his crew members, but he was at least partially glad that it was them and not Castiel who got the brunt of it. He didn't think that his little brother could handle being yelled at right now. He glanced to the window, to see if Castiel was still standing there, but he wasn't. He spun around to look at the rest of the store, eyes frantically searching for the tanned coat and disheveled hair. but Castiel was nowhere to be seen.

"Castiel?!"

Squish

Sam stepped in yet another cow patty that sent Dean into peals of laughter. Shaking off the excrement from his boot, Sam sends his brother a dirty glare.

"Dean. This is the last time….Last friggin time with cows! I don't care what livestock we get next, beagles, kittens or pigeons, but it better have small droppings!" He grunted while still trying to dislodge the much form his shoe.

"Awww, and I was going to ask you to bag up some of this for Cas to use a fertilizer," joked Dean while resting a hand on Sam's shoulder. It felt good to laugh. It felt good to be working a somewhat legitimate job. It felt good to have Sam at his side, stepping in crap. Dean could almost forget the other dramas in his life for a second and take a moment to bask in the glory of the little things….like Sam stepping in yet another patty…..

"Ah! Again!?" Only this time when Sam went to move his foot away, his boot came clean off. Dean had to hold on to his now aching ribs as he laughed even harder.

Sam looked pitifully up at Dean , "I lost my shoe."

Dean snorted, wiping tears from the corners of his eyes, "Dude, you suck."

Then a rustling in the tree caught his attention and the laughter died away for now. He'd just tease Sam about it more later. It seems that their buyers had finally arrived.

Two scraggly looking farmers come out for the bushes. A quick nod to Sam who was pulling his boot free, and a nod to Bobby who was keeping an eye on the corral, Dean moved up to great them, Meg falling in step next to him.

"Morning, gentlemen. You must be the Grange brothers. Hope you're in the mood for a yummy beefsteak." Dean said smiling. He was going to milk these guys dry.

"Sexy beasts, aren't they." Meg said lewdly. Seems she was trying to sell the animals as well, probably looking for a raise again.

The Grange brothers had some good poker faces, nothing to compare to Cas, but their eyes were roaming over the herd, not revealing any opinion they had on the offered cargo.

The older brother was the first to speak with some kind of broken country drawl, "T'aint well fed. Scrawny."

Dean and Meg both scoffed at that, "Fei hua! Milk and hay, three times a day. Fed to 'em by the family." Stated Dean defensively. (Crap Talk)

Meg's smile started to strain "Yeah, family business and all that."

Off to his brother's side, the younger Grange started to whine, "They's branded!"

"Oh, you boys are hitting all the selling points. A fresh brand's a dead giveaway. You can claim this brand as your own since the previous owner is on a planet three weeks away!" Dean said rolling his eyes. The Granges were still holding their arms crossed over their chests, not impressed at all. They both glanced over at the herd again for a second before catching Dean's gaze.

"Twenty a head." The older Grange offered abruptly, as if there was no room for argument.

Dean snorted, "Now, see. That's an amusing figure, in the light of we already agreed on thirty with Crowley." Dean copied the brothers and crossed his own arms over his chest, like he wasn't interested in arguing either.

"Thah's afore we seen 'em. They're atrophied, standin' around on a ship for near a month." Grunted the younger brother.

Dean made a show of turning to look at Sam and Bobby and spreading his arms out wide in a "These guys must think we're idiots" gesture. Returning his attention to the Granges Dean tried again.

"Now it's my understanding that the less muscle, the more tender the meat. Thirty." He stated firmly.

Bobby wasn't used to these kinds of dealings, and from his point of view, the deal didn't look to be going very well. In his experience with the Winchesters, when a deal didn't go well….things really didn't go well. Sam seemed to not be too concerned, but it could have been an act to help Dean hold some air of confidence. So Bobby approached Dean slowly and rested a hand on his Captain's shoulder.

"Is there a problem boy?" He whispered.

Dean half turned and gave his a smile before whispering back, "Nah. In about a minute form now, we'll agree on twenty-five. No harm, no foul and a good deal." Dean turned back to the brothers, "Hey, I've got a family to feed! You're taking their cheese and crackers right off the table!"

Off to the side of the corral there was a rustle in the bushes that had both Grange brothers jumping and their hands going to their guns, but not yet drawing them.

Bobby raised a bushy brow. "They seem a mite jumpy to you?" He commented skeptical at Dean's confidence here. The elder Winchester had to admit that he might have been feeling a little tweaky now as well.

His heart feels like it's about to beat right out of his chest and he's breathing so hard that he swears anyone within a mile could hear him pant. Gabriel had been racing through the town, trying to find some clue as to where Castiel had run off to.

He had been listening on passing conversations to hear if anyone had mentioned a strange young man in a trenchcoat asking if perchance they had found his marbles. He looked for shiny object that might have drawn his little brother's attention. He even looked in all the livestock coups that were in the small town to see if Cas was talking a chicken through the process of dropping an egg.

He had come across a few lawmen and was tempted to ask for help, or ask if they had gotten any weird reports lately. However, he had chosen to not alert them to Castiel's presence, not yet anyway.

Unless Castiel had gotten into someone's house, he was no longer in the town center, so Gabriel decided to start circling the outskirts. Of course Cas wouldn't make this day easy in any way.

"Well mebbe I'm thinkin' that mebbe we walk away entirely!" Said the older Grange sounding peeved. The deal was going along great, thought Dean. Not long form now they would get the twenty five.

"I'm thinking you do that and we've got ourselves some trouble," Dean said, jerking his head at Meg and Sam, showing that the Grange brothers were outnumbered here. Off in the distance Dean could see the approach of Chuck and Anna, both looking a bit troubled, but not afraid or nervous. Whatever was bugging them, it could wait till later. Dean turned back to the brothers, "Serious trouble. Of the "you owe us" variety."

The grungy brothers looked to one another in some sort of psychic counsel, agreeing upon whatever they turned back to the Impala Captain.

"We can go twenty-five."

Dean heaved a heavy sigh and let his shoulder's slump, "Well…we'd be taking a loss, but you guys seem like clean and virtuous boys. I say deal." Inside Dean was doing a dance. He had agreed upon twenty with Crowley. Looks like the crew would be getting a bonus.

The older Grange brother pulled out a musty looking leather bag that jingled with the promise of coins. He was reaching in when everything went to hell.

The lawmen that Gabriel had spotted earlier came pouring into the clearing, guns raised and loud voices.

"Marcus and Nathaniel Grange! You are wanted in the connection to the illegal killing of Rance Durbin. You are bound by law to stand down!" Shouted the leader of the posse, shooting off two rounds into the sky.

The Impala crew all raised their hands in the air, not wanting more trouble then they deserved, but the Grange brothers seemed to hesitate, panic in their eyes.

Leaning closer to the preacher, Dean whispers, "You know…I'm starting to find that most planets we visit seem to be very uninviting."

"You notice that, huh." Remarked Bobby, clearly disgruntled.

Off to the side, a cow let out a half hearted moo.

CHAPTER 4

Sam would have made him clean out his mouth with soap if he heard the string of curses that were being muttered under Gabriel's breath. Dean probably would have congratulated him, and then punched his lights out when he found out that the reason for the cursing was because Gabe had lost his little brother on a foreign planet.

It was like those times when he was younger and took his younger brothers on trips during the weekends. No matter what, one of them would always go missing. Balthazar would be found happily chatting with new made friends on the other side of the building usually. Castiel would either be in some kind adults lap, munching away on whatever snack they had given him, or he would be staring at some random object that caught his fancy like it held all of life's meaning.

But those times were not anywhere near as scary as this because then he didn't have to worry about Castiel being snatched up by Garrison soldiers. His little brother may now act like the child he was when he got lost in the museums or libraries, but this time he came with some special, maybe even dangerous abilities that probably shouldn't be public knowledge.

Gabriel was running around so fast, and his head was looking in every direction possible, that he almost missed it. Off to the side of the road was a small path. Gabriel would chalk it up to his strengthening sixth sense that informed him then that Castiel had in fact gone down this way.

He slowed down his pace as he moved forward, not wanting to miss any clues or indications as to where Castiel had roamed. But looking around him, he could easily see what had drawn his little brother's attention.

It was a garden. Large, lush, green and beautiful. Gabriel had not seen gardens like this for a long time. Rows upon endless rows of flower bushes, and vines. So many colors spread out before him like a painter's pallet. The air was saturated with flower scents and just pure freshness that made anyone breathing it, breath in even deeper. The sights and smells brought forth memories for him of his past home. The garden there was a haven for not just Cassy, but also Balthazar and Gabriel.

He remembered long summer days that he shared with his brothers. When Cas was just a toddler, they had played ball with him in the sweet and soft grass. They would laugh when the little tyke would try picking up the big red ball that was almost as big as himself, only to topple over from the awkward weight. Balthazar and Gabe would then play catch themselves, keeping an eye on their baby brother as he fell asleep in the grass, snoozing away in the shade of their willow tree.

When they got older their routines became a bit different. Cas would either be pruning the flowers, or reading a book under one of the trees. Balthazar would be trying to tan under the artificial sun, lounging on one of the stone benches that were spread about. And Gabriel would be finding all of the bugs around the garden and placing them in the hair of both his siblings. This would always end up in a wrestling match at the end of it all, happily pulling on each other's hair and clothes, trying to gain purchase at the top of the pile of limbs.

Finally Gabriel recalled the last week he had spent at home before he was off to the program. The garden had never looked so spectacular. Castiel had perfected his gardening tricks over the years and had added new plants here and there to make the once simple and elegant garden into a magnificent display of botany. They had not played together in the garden for a few years, feeling they were too old or too busy to wrestle in the grass. Castiel had stayed out there still, as if patiently waiting for his brothers to join him again. But finally one day found each of them back there. Cas was reading like usual, a book that was so big it took up his whole lap and then some. Balthazar had wandered out to join him, taking a nap on one of the benches after a long night of partying the night before. Gabriel had seen them outside and had soaked in the scene before him, taking it in as a memory to keep while he was away.

And once that was done, he snuck off to find each and every fuzzy caterpillar and sneak them into Cas' and Balthazar's hair, completing his traditional contribution to their garden shenanigans. And of course, that ended in the obligatory wrestling match on the grass.

Back in the present, all of the panic that he had felt before had dissipated into nothingness as he slowly strolled along the lanes of flowers and tall bushes. Down each new row he would glance around for Cas, thinking about how happy he must have been to discover this place. Gabriel could only pray that it somehow brought Cas out of the dark mood he had been in since his enlightenment.

Finally. There he was.

Castiel had plopped himself in front of a spectacular and diverse display of flowers. There were so many different species presented in the small area, it even made Gabriel wonder in awe of who had been able to assemble so many different types that could somehow coexist in such a small area. He snorted to himself, probably the same powers that be that were able to get the entire Impala crew to live together without everyone already killing one another.

Cas seemed to be lost in blissful unawareness, surrounded by the soft colors and gentle scents. He wasn't smiling like Gabriel had expected, but he was more relaxed than he had ever was before. He didn't move too close to Cas, he wanted his brother to keep this illusion of peace and pleasant isolation for just a moment more.

The lawmen had made each of the Impala crew and the Grange brothers drop their weapons on the dusty ground. Dean was far from happy. Here he was trying to make a living, and no matter where they seemed to go, or who they chose to work with, they always ended up in some sort of trouble.

The first lawman, a guy with a seriously obnoxiously large mustache, came up to Dean first, identifying him as the leader of the unknown persons.

"Who are you and what's your business with these two," he gestured to where the twitchy Grange brothers were standing.

Not wanting to deal with more crap than he had to, Dean kept his answer simple, "We're just bystanders, sir."

Unconvinced, the lawman turned his attention to the cattle, "This your beef?" He asked roughly.

"Nope! You're looking at the proper owners right there," Dean smirked happily, gesturing to the Granges, glad that for once this wasn't his fault.

"I see, then I would very much like to see the papers for these animals iffin you please."Mustache man demanded turning from Dean to address the wanted criminals. But the Granges were like cornered animals at this point. Their eyes were wild and darting in every which way, looking for an escape route.

Seemingly impatient with the lack of response, the lawman stepped forward toward the two brothers, getting ready to physically find those papers himself. But as soon as he reached them the younger brother lashed out, punching the lawman in the gut and then stealing his pistol right out of his holster.

He fired a shot right into the lawman's chest, and then the chaos started. Dean and his crew all scrambled and scurried to find any sort of cover they could find. Sam, Meg and Dean were able to duck behind part of the Impala's ramp. Anna and Chuck dove back into the trees, but Dean lost sight of Bobby in the melee of gun shots.

The older Grange brother had found his own pistol by now and was shooting off covering fire so that he and his brother could get away. As the bullets zinged by, Dean dropped to the ground, crawling forward to where his own gunbelt…and the Granges money bag were sitting in a pile of dirt.

As he crawled on his belly through the dust Dean was ranting away under his breath some curses that would have made Gabriel proud, "Never #$&*% goes smooth. How come it never **$#&%* goes smooth!?"

Reaching out for his gun and their pay, Dean nearly gets his hand shot off for the trouble. But he wasn't about to lose his favorite gun or his gorramn lunch money to this interference. He reaches again; grabs it, and rolls back to where Sam is, narrowly avoiding getting shot in the head by a ricochet bullet from the lawmen's side.

Off in the corral, the cows were becoming alarmed by all of the noise and were all starting to become restless, jostling each other to move to the far end of the makeshift coral, away from the fight.

Sam and Dean try to crawl along the edges of the corral, attempting to get to closer to the pile of weapons a few yards away. Meg stayed behind, not willing to move from her relatively safe haven.

Finally reaching the rest of the weapons, Sam arms himself and Dean tosses a weapon to Meg back at the ramp. She catches it deftly, loading the locking a bullet in place in the span of a few seconds. Done with dealing with trouble that wasn't theirs in any way, she took aim at the older Grange's skull.

"Not my circus, not my monkey." She mutters under her breath, and pulls the trigger. Ending the elder brother's life, and ultimately the fight.

Gabriel had drifted further away for Castiel, just making sure that he had enough space to be at peace. They would have to be on their way soon to meet up with Dean and the rest of the crew, but Gabriel thought that Cas could use this time alone, but he always kept him in sight.

After a few minutes of watching his brother gently caress some flowers, and follow the flight of some bees, he saw a change. Suddenly the blank look on Cas' face disappeared and his face scrunched up as if he were in pain. He started rubbing at his temples and let out a long whine.

"Something has happened." The younger brother whined quietly.

Gabriel couldn't ignore this so he moved forward to check on Cas when he was stopped from hands grabbing him from behind. Some sort of bag was thrown over his head so that Gabriel lost sight of Cas. Before he could react and throw whoever was upon him off, he felt a burst of pain on the back of his head and he crumpled into unconsciousness.

His last thought was a prayer for Castiel to be okay.

CHAPTER 5

Meg lowered her gun and the whole area went silent, even the cows were suddenly mute and unmoving. The younger Grange brother was too shocked to continue fighting and was still in a stunned stupor as he was led away by the remaining lawmen. Dean and his scattered crew were completely ignored as the lawmen left with all that they had come for. That was fine by them, they had gotten into enough trouble as it was.

Dean took a moment to look around to check on the rest of his crew. His first glance was to Sam, who was busy wiping the dust and cow crap of his shirt and failing miserably to dislodge it. Next Dean spotted Anna and Chuck coming out from the tree line cautiously like a pair of deer ready to bolt at the next loud noise. Meg was perfectly fine up on the ramp, now disarming her gun and relaxing her tense posture. Dean nodded at her, grateful that she had ended the fight early and she shrugged back in response.

Dean was about to try and spot the preacher when Balthazar came tearing out of the Impala, gun raised and face flushed. He still had lines on his face from the pillow he had been using. He stopped when he reached the edge of the ramp, weapon held awkwardly high and looked around at the remnants of chaos and a very much finished fight. The crew all looked dumbly at him, and Dean was wondering how the hell he had managed to miss the whole fight. Did he gel his hair before coming out here?

"Well this is awkward." The somewhat less posh man panted out. "I heard the shots and got here as soon as possible. Where are Gabe and Cassy? Was anyone hurt?" he asked in a rush.

Dean was about to answer when he heard Anna scream from over at the far end of the corral.

"Oh my God! Preacher!" The shrill call got everyone's attention and they raced over to see what was wrong. What they saw when they reached the kneeling Anna was like a living nightmare.

Bobby was on the ground, flat on his back with a growing stain of red stretching across his chest slowly. Anna was knelt beside him holding up his head, but he was barely conscious. His face had become alarmingly white, and his eyes were only open a fraction of an inch.

Sam and Balthazar joined Anna on the ground, quickly locating the wound and putting pressure on it to try and stem the bleeding. Meg and Chuck ran into the ship to grab the stretcher and med kit, but Dean…Dean couldn't move. The world around him slowed and became muted.

Seeing Bobby down like that had sent him to another place in a whole 'nother time. He wasn't looking down at the Preacher who gripped his shoulder and called him "son". He wasn't watching the man who had the balls to question Dean's choices bleed out in front of him. Hell, this wasn't Bobby. Dean was looking down at his father, John Winchester, in his last moments on the battle field.

Dean didn't see who did it. He didn't even hear the shot that did it. He just came around the bend in the trench to see his father on his back, sprawled on the dusty ground. He had been shot in the chest, blood crawling across his chest like a water stain on the ceiling. Dean had run forward to try and stop the bleeding and wake up his father, but it was too late. The body of John Winchester was already cold. But then Sam came and found them….

"Dean."

It was happening again. He was watching as his father left them for the last time. Watching as the blood spread…

"Dean!"

Sam's second shout brought Dean out from the nightmarish memory. The world had slowed down and the only thing that he could hear was the remnant ringing in his ears from too many shells blowing up close by, but as Sam brought him back to the present and everything seemed to be going by ten times faster and the noise was too much with everyone frantically talking at once.

To hell with this. I'm not going to let him die, thought Dean.

Dean shook his head once, pushing back the memories and falling to the Sheppard's side.

"Hey, you stay with me, Sheppard. You hear me?" Dean said, moving Balthazar's hand out of the way so Dean could start to inspect the wound, having some experience with chest wounds during the war.

Bobby was trying to sit up to look closer at the damage done to his person, "That's…that's quite a lot of blood, isn't it." He gurgled out, not able to fully articulate his words as he was slowly slipping into full unconsciousness.

Dean nodded absently, still looking at the source of the blood. "No worries old man, just means you ain't dead." He said trying to sound nonchalant.

Bobby must have tried to laugh, but it came out more like a choked off grunt. "Af…Afraid I might be needing a preacher."

Dean also tried to laugh, but it came out sounding more like a sob, "That's good. You lie there and be ironical." Turning back to the ship he saw Chuck and Meg running forward with the stretcher.

"Sheppard, Sheppard can you hear me?" Anna was gently shaking the preacher's shoulders, alarmed that his eyes seemed to have closed. He didn't answer her gentle callings. He had lost too much blood at this point.

Sam and Dean exchanged glances at each other over Bobby's still form. They had seen wounds like this in the war. They knew the gravity that came with chest wounds.

Meg and Chuck finally made it to the group, and they all helped transfer Bobby from the ground to the stretcher so gentle that it might have felt like he was floating had he been awake. And then the entourage moved into the ship, going straight to the infirmary.

Reaching the examination table, they made another smooth transfer. Under the medical lamps stark lighting, the damage became even more real to the gathered crew.

Sam leaned into his brother's side, "This doesn't look good, Dean," he mumbled sadly.

Dean didn't stop to answer, he motioned for Sam to come forward, "We need to try and get this to stop bleeding, ma-shong!" he said indicating the injury. (On the double)

They set to work, Sam cutting away the bloodied shirt and Dean hooking up an IV. The other crew members stood at attention, waiting for their any order thrown their way.

Anna and Chuck were at Bobby's side across from where the brothers were working. Anna was holding the calloused hand, trying to keep some warmth in them. Chuck was right there, trying to offer some of his own comforting words, "Don't worry about a thing, Shepherd. The Captain and Sam have got a lot of experience with this kind of stuff. They saw a lot in the war." The young mechanic sounded like he was close to tears.

Meg was watching closely from the door, a silent and pale Balthazar beside her. She was the first to notice that the preacher's chest stopped breathing.

"Sammy, Dean! You might want to give his lungs a jump-start." She said testily. She wasn't about to just let the only decent cook this ship had seen pass on cause the stupid Winchesters didn't stop to check if his damn lungs were punctured or not.

Suddenly Bobby's back arches and he went into a fit of convulsions. Without even taking a moment to think, Sam reaches for one of the pre-loaded hypodermic needles filled with adrenaline. He rips the cap off with his teeth and hands it to Dean, who takes it without missing a beat. A tragically well choreographed and practiced procedure between the brothers as they tried to save a man's life. Dean quickly slams it home into Bobby, pushing down the plunger, praying that it would end the convulsions.

Twenty minutes later Dean stood in front of his crew, wiping his hands off with a wet cloth.

"He isn't dead. But he's pretty bad." Dean told them. Nobody said anything and looked to the floor.

"So we're going to see what we can do to help him." Dean finished. All eyes in the room looked up to him, hopeful and awaiting orders. The captain first turned to Balthazar, "I need you to go to town. Find Gabriel and Cas and get them back here on the double. They've got some healing to do."

Balthazar was already half out of the room by the time Dean finished, heading off to find his brothers.

"Please hurry," whimpered out Anna as he left.

Gabriel woke to a pounding in his head. He couldn't make out anything around him. It was too dark and his head hurt too much. It felt as if he were being carried along by several men…or one guy with eight arms… Around him he could hear harsh whispers form multiple people…not an octopus then.

"Faster! We got to go faster! We want to get there 'fore dark!" Man number one said.

Gabriel gathered enough of his wits to address his captures, "Get where? Where are we going?" He asked groggily.

His captors seemed surprised that he was awake and one of them roughly slapped the side of his head, sending strikes of pain through Gabriel's skull.

"Shut up!" Man number two ordered.

Gabriel was trying to think things through, figure out his options. He didn't hear Castiel, but that didn't mean that they hadn't gotten him too. He couldn't figure out why they would kidnap him unless they figured out that he too was a wanted criminal. They were after the reward money. It had to be.

Frantically Gabriel tried to reason with them, "Listen. I know you're after money. I can get it for you, just let us go….."

Slap

Gabriel was slapped and starts crossed through his vision.

"No talking, gorramnit!" Man number on grunted.

"But my brother…"

Gabriel didn't even remember getting hit the second time.

CHAPTER 6

Seven Years Ago

"Gabriel is fine Cassy. He's just busy, that's all!" Balthazar moaned for what seemed like the thousandth time. He had been lounging on one the living room sofa, a tumbler of scotch in his hand, watching the gold liquid swirl in his hands, seemingly more interested in that then what Castiel was talking about. His little brother had started to become paranoid and agitated as of late, spouting conspiracy theories of what might have happened to their MIA brother.

"He's not fine! He hasn't answered any of my letters, he hasn't come home for five years! What could he possibly be doing that would keep him occupied for that long without getting a chance to send a single message. It's not like him!" Castiel insisted, sitting next to his brother on the couch, trying to catch his eyes to drive his worry home, but Balthazar waved a dismissive hand.

"He's just taking after our good old daddy. After all, it's perfectly normal for him to dash off with work for years on end without contacting us directly." Balthazar grumbled bitterly. Their father was quick becoming a sensitive subject since he also had not contacted them for a while, but since he had never really kept in touch before, it wasn't as big of a worry…yet. But Castiel could not sit back and wait when it came to his brother. He knew that Gabriel loved them and that nothing could change that, even with such a long absence.

Castiel shook his head in defiance, "No. Something must have happened. Maybe the program wasn't what we were led to believe it was. Maybe father isn't off on some trip and something happened to him too! We need to go find them!" He pleaded with his older brother. Looking into his little brother's wide and urgent eyes, he almost caved, but the bitterness that came with an absent father blinded him to Castiel's pain.

Balthazar was a sour noise with his voice and got up from the couch, "My goodness Cassy! Are you really so lost without your big brother that you can't even go a few years without Gabriel there to hold your hand?! You need to grow up, think for yourself and stop worrying about how Gabriel is. He's a big boy and can handle himself. You would do well to learn from him!" He shouted at Cas. He was about to continue his angry tirade at his little brother when he noticed the look on his face. It was one of surprise and dejection. It was a look that Balthazar had never really seen Castiel express before. It was then that Balthazar realized that he had never yelled at Cassy before. The realization was like a slap to the face.

He sighed heavily and rubbed the bridge of his nose, now unable to look Castiel in the eye, "Look." He started softly. He waited for Castiel's face to turn up, the beginnings of tears in his eyes. Balthazar made his voice even more gentle for what he was about to say, "You are having trouble accepting this. I know. But all we can do at this point is wait for them to come back. At this point you're just being paranoid. I'm sure you wouldn't be this way if it weren't for the stress of your studies. You just need to calm down and focus on your academics."

The tears seemed to evaporate as flames rose up in his eyes. Angrily he addressed his brother, "Who cares about my academics! They are all in preparation for working for our father who is gone!"

"He's not gone!" Balthazar had raised his voice again and quickly stopped himself. He tried again, quieter this time. He moved up closer to his little brother, lifting his chin so that he could meet his little brother's heated gaze.

"Just give them both some more time, you'll turn around and there they'll be. Nothing is going to keep us all apart for long."

Present Day

Castiel knew that Gabriel was watching him. He just was glad that his brother was giving him some space to think. Castiel had felt like he was like a drifting leaf in a twister these last few days since learning of his Father's abandonment. He was being buffeted and bashed around, unable to gain purchase on the ground. Usually the idea of flying made him giddy and excited. This time around it just made him feel ill. He didn't appreciate this mode of flight at all.

He had been watching the bees, hoping that they could offer some kind of advice on how to glide over this kind of gust, but so far they were not answering him. Castiel's heart felt like it was in a vice. Of course they wouldn't answer him. Why would they want to talk to some freak like him? They were the embodiment of natural perfection, and he was…he was a monster. A monster that his own father couldn't stand to look upon….

His dark thoughts were interrupted by a sharp pain in his head. He fingers flew to his temples, trying to rub away the sharp pain as it spread to his eyes.

"Something has happened." He murmured out, scrunching up his eyes and gasping in pain.

A sense of pure urgency came over him. He needed to see what had happened and now. Whatever it was, it was calling out to him like a beacon, echoing loudly in his head. Every cell in his body felt as if it was magnetic and the opposite pole was somewhere close, pulling at him.

Frantically he turned to see where Gabriel had gotten to, eyes searching the area where his brother stood before. He knew that he should probably inform his eldest brother that they needed to get back to the ship, Cas had a feeling that whatever had happened, it had happened there. But instead of seeing Gabriel there trying not to look like he was watching, he saw a group of men carrying away what could only be his brother off into the trees.

Castiel frowned, not sure if this was Gabriel's odd version of play, or if he was actually in trouble. Either way, he and Castiel were needed back at the Impala and they couldn't let Dean down. He ignored the tugging of his cells and heart to start jogging lightly after the group of men. Hopefully whatever had happened at the ship could wait.

He followed the group of men into the thick forest of trees. They were moving amazingly fast for humans and covering their tracks with practiced ease. It was making it incredibly difficult for Castiel to keep up. He even lost track of them a few times in the large forest. To the best of his knowledge, it looked like they were climbing up a very large hill, but Castiel was becoming frustrated with how these men played hide and seek. They weren't supposed to keep on moving! They were supposed to pick one spot and wait for Castiel to catch up. Perhaps they were friends of Gabriel's after all. Moving his hiding spot was one of hi favorite ways to cheat when they played as children.

But then he heard it, a rustle in the bushes. Got them.

He moved up to the group of men, trying to catch a glimpse of Gabriel who they were holding between them all. Cas let his shoulders sag in relief.

"Found you!" He announced triumphantly, glad he won the game and ready to go back to the Impala with his brother. But upon closer inspection of the group of men, he didn't really feel like they were all that friendly. Gabriel had always had odd friends though.

It seemed like his big brother was trying to say something, but Gabriel's voice was muffled because for whatever reason he was wearing a bag on his head, his hands were tied and he sounded kind of groggy. Odd game. Then he blushed, this could be one of those games that Balthazar liked to talk about…

"Castiel? Cas?! No. Oh no. Run Cassy run!"

Castiel was deeply confused, not wanting to leave his brother behind and not sure why Gabriel sounded so panicked, but he was a good brother and tried to comply. He was slowly turning his body so that he could start his ordered retreat when three of the men who had been holding Gabriel rushed forward, grabbing Cas' arms, preventing his attempt to run. Perhaps they were playing tag? In that case Castiel had been caught, so he pouted unhappily.

"What do we do with this one boss?" Man number two asked.

Man number one stared at their newly acquired prisoner, assessing him. A suspicious overall glance that made Castiel uncomfortable and fidget under the scrutiny.

Meanwhile, a weakened and hurting Gabriel was still trying to break free from the men holding him to get to his brother. But Man number one seemed to come to some sort of decision. He moved up to the pilot and ripped off the bag covering his head. The sudden change of light sent daggers through his skull and only added to the pain in his head.

"Who is this?" He demanded, almost spitting in Gabe's face. Gabriel was hesitant to answer, but he had to say something that wouldn't draw attention to his fugitive brother.

"Umm, he's…he's part of the crew from my ship." He finally answered.

"What's his trade?"

"Trade?" Gabriel asked confused. Normally he was a master at lying, but it seems these asshats scrambled his brains a bit from the constant clubbing.

"What does he do on the ship!?" Demanded the boss, this time actually spitting in Gabe's face. Gabriel frantically looked for an answer, but his head was aching too hard. Impatient to get a move on, he didn't wait for Gabriel's answer.

"Just take em both!" He ordered his men, and Gabriel and Cas were roughly pulled along.

Cas turned to address his brother, looking somewhat cross, "Your friends are not very good at hide and seek. They're doing it wrong."

CHAPTER 7

Balthazar came tearing into the cargo hold where Chuck and Anna were waiting. His face was sweaty from his run around the town and he had to rest his hands on his knees when he arrived, trying to catch his breath. Anna and Chuck were too frantic to wait for him to start breathing normally and immediately prodded the doubled over man for answers.

"Where are they? Why aren't Castiel and Gabriel with you?!" Asked Chuck, his voice full of open panic and confusion.

"They…pant…they weren't in …..pant….town. No one had seen them."

Anna shook her head in denial, "They were in town. We saw them there. In the store! I can show you where…"

By now Balthazar was able to stand up straight, but he was still partially winded and looked troubled to the point of feeling sick, "The town's not that big. Believe me when I say they weren't there."

Meg appeared in the hold from the catwalk above, interrupting Balthazar's report. "I knew it! They probably saw those lawmen walking around and turned tail. Probably hiding under some rock somewhere like cowards." She sounded less than impressed at the idea of someone choosing to hide instead of fighting their way out.

Dean startled everyone by coming into the hold and interrupting Meg's bashing. "Gabriel can be called a lot of things, but coward wouldn't be one of them. And Cas wouldn't want to leave either." Dean stated firmly. He had a hard look in his eyes that the crew recognized. They had seen it many times when Sam was hurt or missing. Seems that the Preacher had wormed his way into Dean's definition of "family", and now someone from his family had been hurt. There would be no joking about this.

Anna felt that she had to bring up the possibility that hung heavily on everyone's hearts, "You don't….you don't think they were arrested, do you?" She asked timidly, not really wanting to hear an answer that would hurt all there. But beside her she heard of slap of flesh on metal and turned to see Balthazar who appeared to have punched the wall of the ship. It went to show how serious Dean was that he didn't even scold Balthazar for hurting his ship, or maybe he was being sympathetic to the middle Novak who was struggling with the disappearance of his own family.

He didn't turn to face them, but they could hear the strain on his voice as Balthazar finished his report from what he had learned in town, "It's probably worse than that. According to the nice bloody townsmen I encountered, there is a good chance that they got snatched." He scoffed bitterly and pushed off from the wall and started pacing the hold.

"Kidnapped?" squeaked Chuck.

Balthazar nodded absently, rubbing a hand over his sweaty face. "I asked around if anyone had seen two foreigners, and all of them told me to go to the sheriff's office. When I got there I was informed that if we had checked the posted alerts for this blasted rock, we might have known before….before we let them go traipsing off into town." He finished harshly, trying to resist the urge to give Dean a dirty look, knowing that he was partly responsible for sending his brothers into town, but he kept enough presence of mind to know that Dean was already at the point of snapping, so he said nothing.

"What are you talking about," the Captain demanded, guiltily wondering what he might have sent Cas and Gabe off into. Here he was already battling with himself over losing sight of Bobby in a fight, and now he was about to learn how he had fucked up again and lost more of his people.

"Apparently the religious settlers in the hills like to take people sometimes. Usually tradesmen and the like." Balthazar delivered sounding helplessly lost.

Meg was confused, "What would some religious kooks want with a pilot and his nutty brother?"

"Maybe they found out they could heal!" Chuck said, gasping at the implications.

A snort came from above where Meg was, "How would they know that?!"

A gasp came from Anna, she turned to Chuck, "Didn't Gabriel say in the store that he was a part time mechanic?" Chuck nodded emphatically.

"Yes! That must be what they were after, a mechanic!" Chuck paled a little bit knowing that it could have easily been him who was nabbed if he had even mentioned that he was also a mechanic by trade…..

Dean shook his head, "And they probably took Cas as well, just to avoid the fuss. Damn. And now they have themselves our healers, and we don't….." Dean paused a beat. He didn't like where his mind was taking him, but there was only one choice in the matter, as much as it pained him, and as much as it would pain the others…

"We're going." He choked out.

All around him the crew started to speak their piece.

"Dean! You can't be serious! What about Castiel and Gabriel?!" Demanded Anna, looking completely furious.

"What the bloody fuck are you talking about!? I'm not leaving my brothers behind!" Shouted Balthazar, his face turning red.

"Ay Ay, Captain," smirked Meg as she moved quickly to comply.

Dean whirled on all of them.

"I know that you don't want to leave them behind! I don't either, but this is how it's got to be. We don't have enough time to go searching through miles and miles of forest to find them, Bobby doesn't have time!... If the town people took them for a purpose, then they aren't likely to harm them before the job is done, which gives them, us, and Bobby some time." He paused and looked at the now silent crew, all simmering.

"We already lost two people today. If I can help it, we won't lose a third." He turned away, leaving the stunned crew behind. He went to find Sam so that they could get this ship in the air.

Gabriel and Cas were being herded along by the hill folk. It seemed like they were intentionally moving in a zig-zag pattern to confuse the brothers, but it was also making the trip triple the time spent walking. Gabriel had been fighting to keep close enough to Cas to make sure that his little brother wasn't harmed, but also at enough of a distance as to not tempt Castiel to try and heal Gabriel's throbbing head. The pilot was trying to heal it as fast as possible on his own, but he didn't want to use up too much of his pitiful amounts of energy in case he would need it later.

It was starting to get dark out and Gabriel was having trouble seeing where they were, or where they were going. His attention was drawn away from the trees when Castiel started to murmur next to him, sounding on the edge of tears.

"We're lost…lost in the woods…..this is where they send the monsters…" he choked out quietly, suffering resounding in his voice. It scared Gabriel to hear the despair coming from his once happy and awkward baby brother.

"Shh, shhh. It's okay. We're not lost, once the Captain realizes what happened, they'll come." He tried to comfort, but it seemed like Castiel would hear nothing of it. He turned his face upwards, and Gabriel saw the slight reflection on his cheeks from the small remnants of light in the sky where tears had trailed down his face. The older brother felt like his heart was being crushed under a mountain of rocks. He looked up though, to see what Castiel was gazing at so sadly.

At first it just looked like open sky, a dark navy blue sky on the edge of night, but then he heard them…familiar engines. He would know the sound of the Impala anywhere. And then there she was, flying over head….and away from them. She was ascending awkwardly, but definitely ascending to break atmo. Sam must be at the wheel he thinks absently. But more importantly, he thought about how the ship was leaving the planet…and leaving them.

Gabriel could only watch, stunned, as the Impala flew out of sight.

Behind him his thoughts were interrupted by a rough shove from man number one, "See there? No one's coming for you. You two just keep moving."

The pilot complied, to shocked to say anything. Next to him though, Castiel was openly weeping.

"Too ugly to look upon the monster….Don't deserve to be saved…."

Dean had returned to the infirmary to check on the preacher. He had a feeling that he wasn't welcome anywhere else on the ship. It had taken him another ten minutes of a shouting match with Sam to get him to fly the ship. At one point Dean was sure that it would come down to punches. Of course Sam was reluctant to leave behind Gabe, or anyone for that matter, but even Sam could see that Bobby didn't have long. Sam had finally caved, but Dean doubted that they would be on speaking terms for a while after this.

He was checking on the wound again, making sure that no new leaks had sprung while he was battling with his crew. Removing the rubber gloves, Dean noticed that Bobby had opened his eyes and was watching Dean in a half drugged stupor.

"How bad?" He asked, words slurred.

Dean made a show of thinking hard about it, "Not bad, not bad. Battle wounds are nothing new to me, Preacher Man. I've seen men live with a dozen holes in 'em this size." He exaggerated the size of the wound by holding up his thumb and forefinger three inches away from each other.

But the blessed man smirked knowingly, "Is that right?"

Dean had to give the guy credit for being able to sound so condescending when he was all laid up and shot, but he continued to play along, "Surely is! I knew a guy who had a hole clean through his shoulder once. He used to keep a spare hankie in there," Dean joked, fiddling with the I.V tubing to appear occupied, not really wanting to look Bobby in the eye knowing how bad off the poor guy was. He also didn't want the Sheppard to see the guilt in Dean's eyes, knowing that Bobby would figure out right away that something had happened and that Dean had lost Cas and Gabe, the only ones who could heal him.

But Bobby wasn't going to let Dean scramble away, "Where are those two rascals? Not back yet?" he asked, trying to angle his head to stare down Dean.

Dean turned his back, unable to meet the preacher's gaze, unable to handle any more accusatory glares today.

"We don't make them hurry for the little stuff. They'll be along eventually."

Bobby tried to huff, but it ended up in more of a pained gasp, "They could hurry a little." He suggested, his voice strained.

Dean squeezed his eyes shut, not wanting to open them and see the pain on Bobby's features. "Don't worry about it, we'll get you fixed up as soon as we can. I'll go see what's keeping the others." And Dean practically ran from the room.

Bobby had fallen asleep by the time Dean reached to door.

Dean meets up with Sam in the control room, they have stuff to go over and Dean can't hide any longer. They have been pouring over star maps of the surrounding area, looking for anything that may hold a medical facility that could handle this dire case.

Sam sighed heavily, leaning his head on his crooked arm. "Well, there's Greenleaf. They'd have med help there."

Dean shook his head, "Too far. More than ten hours. Bobby can't hold on that long."Dean threw down the pen he was using in frustration. There was no easy way of it, and they were running out of time. Sam looked equally frustrated, if not more so. Not only did he want to get Bobby help as soon as possible, but he also wanted to get Gabriel back on board as soon as possible.

Both brothers were startled from their thoughts by Balthazar entering the room and Dean braced himself for another explosion.

But when Balthazar spoke, it didn't come out a holler or cursing, more than anything is sounded like he was straining to be reasonable, "You know where you can find what you need." He stated in a dead voice.

Dean had been waiting for the next blow-up, hell he couldn't blame the guy. If it were Dean leaving Sam behind….well, Dean would have probably pulled a gun out by now. But it seemed like Balthazar was trying his damn hardest to stay calm and not rip off Deans head.

He sighed and looked to the middle Novak, trying to sound as calm and reasonable as possible. "Balthazar, you have no idea how much it's tearing me up to leave them behind, but as I said before, we can't go beating the tree looking for them now. There is no assurance that we'd find them…" or that they wouldn't be in need of a healer themselves, though Dean darkly to himself.

To his credit, Balthazar was able to keep a cool façade while listening to the Captain, but he shook his head, "I'm not talking about my brothers. I'm talking about medical facilities." He looked hard at the two. He might have been physically ill with the fact that they left his brothers behind, but he wasn't stupid. He knew Bobby needed help, so he was going to push the Captain down the most logical avenue, even if the idea of it made his palms sweat.

Sam wasn't sure what Balthazar was talking about, but looking at Dean, he could see that his brother understood fully what was being implied, and it didn't look like a happy option judging by how stiffly Dean was sitting now.

"That's not an option, nor is it a discussion I want to have at this moment. I won't waste time arguing about it." Dean ground out, his teeth grinding together so that Sam could hear it across the terminal.

"It doesn't matter what you want. He's dying, and he needs a doctor now." This time Balthazar did shout.

"So you are suggesting that we just waltz over to the Garrison cruiser, with you, a wanted fugitive on board, and ask nicely?!"

Oh, so that's what was being suggested, thought Sam.

"Dean, it's not a bad plan. We can easily hide Balthazar on the ship somewhere. It's not like they'll search the ship if we show up with a wounded passenger." Sam said reasonably. He was surprised that Balthazar was the one suggesting this, seeing as it was his neck on the line should he be caught. But then again, Balthazar would have to be brave if he saved Castiel from the Garrison in the first place.

"No." Dean said firmly and turned back to the star maps as if the conversation was over.

But Balthazar wasn't deterred, and neither was Sam for that matter. Balthazar moved in front of Dean leaning low on the table to meet the Captain's eyes. "I get it. I do. I know better than most what evil and corruption comes from the Garrison. I know that they are the bloody enemy, but we are desperate, and we are out of options. We can save Bobby's life, and we can get my brothers back. And if it means making a deal with the Devil…then that's what we will do. We are not losing any family tonight."

CHAPTER 8

The forest opened up after what was at least four hours of walking in cirlces. It was dark out, so dark that it was difficult for Gabriel and the men they were with to see anything. They probably all had stubbed toes at this point, and some even had scraped knees. Not Castiel though. Even walking, half slumped over in despair, his little brother had avoided all the root and rocks, as if he could see in the dark. Maybe he could? It wouldn't surprise Gabriel, the Host had already made it so the kid didn't have to sleep, why not have peepers that worked in the dark? The pilot wasn't sure if he should be jealous of the cool tricks that Cassy had, or just happy that the Host didn't install those traits in him that had turned Cas half out of his mind.

Shaking himself out of the dark memories of the Host, Gabriel looked up ahead for the first time that hour, too concentrated on keeping his footing. He was surprised to see lights in the distance that looked like they belonged to houses. A lot of houses.

He and Castiel were pushed into the center of the little villiage they found themselves in. It looked rather innocent and old fashioned, not at all like what Gabriel had been envisioning. He had been expecting some sketchy ass tents with animal carcasses spread around by the "hillfolk" that inhabited the area. Who else would pull a caveman and kidnap two men as prizes?

"Look what we got! Found ourselves a mechanic! A real one!" The shout from man number 2 was right in the pilots ear and Gabriel turned to give the guy a nasty look, but then he saw Cas get shoved next to him.

Castiel wasn't doing anything to fight back or even defend himself, he just kept his eyes low, practically cowed. It sent an overwhelming wave of protectiveness through Gabriel. He stepped forward to kick that shoving jerk in his raisin nuts, but was pulled back by man number one.

"Stand up straight!" he ordered, like he was a judge presenting his prize poodle. It made him sick, but he stood up straight. Not in obedience, but more like a cat who was arching its back and fluffing its fur.

A crowd had started to form as people poured out of the little houses, everyone trying to catch a glimpse at the new arrivals. Looking over to see how Castiel was handling the attention Gabriel was only able to barely see him, only being able to notice his increasingly distressed posture. Gabriel angled himself and tried to move closer to his brother, but the crowd was moving closer, distracting him and his captors with joyous calls.

"They brought home a mechanic! Thank the Lord!"

"Why are there two?"

"Praise the lord!"

Men and women were patting the kidnappers on their backs, saying things like "bless you" and then doing the same to Gabriel and Cas, making them incredibly confused.

The pilot had envisioned so many scenarios and reasons that they would have been kidnapped like this. Slavery, hard labor, cannibals, prostitution, bounty hunters that finally caught up with them….interior decorators….

But these people were genuinely relived to see him and Cas….well mostly him. They must have really been hurting for a mechanic…

"You sure this is where you want to be?" Sam asked, maneuvering the Impala towards the intimidating Magellan Garrison ship. The small cargo ship looked like a bug to be splattered on its windshield compared to the giant vessel. It was enough to make Sam's palms sweaty on the control stick.

Dean was standing next to the pilot's chair, arms crossed over his chest. His face was completely blank, but Sam could tell how nervous his brother really was. You could see it in the little lines of his eyes as they creased minutely and the twitch in his jaw.

"Oh Sammy…I'm fairly sure this is the last place I want to be."

The younger Winchester nodded stiffly, in complete agreement. It was getting close to that time when they would need to ask to dock. He wasn't really prepared to do that, so he decided to distract himself by trying for small talk with Dean. It was always a bad idea, but Sam wasn't really thinking straight at the moment.

"So…is Balthazar tucked away?" he asked awkwardly. Dean gave him an equally awkward look in return.

"Yeah….Anna took care of it. She probably sewed him into her mattress or hid him behind one of her too many draperies."

Sam nodded, "Oh. Good. Good. That's…good….So…."

"What is it you are really trying to ask here Sam?" Dean snapped, having no patience for beating around the bush…or beating through trees for that matter.

Heaving a large breath, Sam decided to just ask what really had been bothering him…besides leaving Gabriel and Castiel behind.

"Dean…What happened back there, after the fight? It looked like you were somewhere else."

Dean closed his eyes, the flashbacks that had plagued him when he saw Bobby down like that trailing over his mind again. Way to pick at healing wounds there Sam, thought Dean.

"I don't want to talk about this Sam. I've got too much on my plate right now. Save the ovary hug for later." He said in a clipped tone.

"Dean…"

"No."

"Dean."

"No the time Sam."

"…."

"Fine! I just…I just got caught in a bad memory for a second…the one where Dad…when I found him." Glancing at Sam, Dean saw Sam's "sympathetic puppy eyes" coming out and that was notwhat he wanted right now. He didn't deserve sympathy from anyone.

"Don't even start! I'm fine. It's over. Don't go pulling out the ice cream pints and nail polish you big girl."

Sam scoffed. He knew that Dean was hurting a lot right now. They all were, but they weren't the ones who were being forced to make the tough decisions. They weren't the ones who had to make a choice between saving "family" and friends. Choosing between Bobby and Cas….

Sam knew that the crotchety old Sheppard was slowly becoming a father figure to Dean. A good father figure too, one that Dean had been looking for his whole life. If they lost the preacher here, like this…it would harm his older brother more deeply than the rest of them.

But then there was Cas. Sam wasn't entirely sure what it was between his brother and the troubled young man. At first it looked like Dean had found himself a new "younger brother" in the child-like Cas. Dean had loved taking Cas under his wing, finding a kindred spirit of sorts, enjoying having someone who looked up to him…like Sam had done when they were kids.

But their relationship had grown past that. Sam wasn't sure what it was just yet. It was too unique. Dean could share in a small moment with Cas things that Sam couldn't even pry from the steal trap that was Dean's heart their whole lives. What Cas had done for Dean was so much that Sam couldn't even begin to try to feel jealous of what Dean shared with him. Cas had become not only Dean's best friend, but so much more.

Just today Sam has seen Dean walk Castiel away to try and help calm him down and try to sort out what the frantic man was upset about. It was a huge thing for Dean to be willing to talk things out with someone. He wasn't one for "girly chick-flicky" moments, never had been. Whatever it was that Cas was suffering from emotionally, Dean seemed to be able to relate to. Perhaps this is why Dean and Cas cared for each other like they did. Both just wanted to everything in their power to keep the other from falling….

"Whatever Dean, but please stop beating yourself up over this. I'm not…I know how hard this is for you. But know that I've still got your back." Sam reminded him.

He watched as his brother's stiff stature loosened a bit, but he kept his poker face.

"It's time to flag them. Remember, be polite." Dean said lowly, never taking his eyes off of the Magellan.

"Right." Sam switched on the intership comm., hailing the Garrison cruiser. His heart was thumping so hard in his chest he was worried it might be heard on the other ship's comm.. But he kept his voice steady.

"Garrison Cruiser Magellan, this is Firefly transport Impala requesting permission for docking…."

Once the crowds had finally dissipated, Gabriel was escorted, in a somewhat friendly manner towards one of the larger houses whose candles were still lit. Thinking it was the prison where they would be storing him and Cas that night, he tensed and moved up to Cas' side. It was the first time he was allowed to move relatively freely since they were first captured.

"Hey, hey. Are you okay? Are you able to run if we have to?" He whispered.

His brother turned to him with a despairing look, "Where would we run to?" He asked sadly, not really meaning it as a question. It hit Gabriel then, they had nowhere to go. He had been trying to figure out the reasoning for the Impala's departure, but no matter what scenario he came up with…they had been left behind. Abandoned.

A knife had lodged itself in Gabriel's heart when he had realized that it could only be Sam who was flying that ship away. And a twist of that knife also reminds him that Dean would have allowed this, leaving Castiel behind. And here Gabriel was starting to think that those two were destined to bump uglies. That's why Castiel was crushed. Not only had he just realized that his father had abandoned him, but now the one man that Castiel had decided to have faith in had taken off!

The realization left him in such shock he only barely registered that they had arrived in what looked like a makeshift hospital. There were six cots lined on each side of the walls, with off-white sheets that looked to be twenty years old at least going by the yellowing color. Eight of the cots were filled with people of varying ages and injuries. Some appeared sick, others with broken bones or nasty looking lacerations.

"Stop gaping and sit down," Gabriel was pushed into a nearby chair by their escort who turned to address who seemed to be the only one attending to this hospital. "Hello Missouri, we got ourselves a mechanic if you haven't heard, but he got a little beat up it seems…."

A middle aged woman stood up from where she was tending to a man who looked to have a fever. Dusting off her knees she gave a knowing gaze to the man. "Uh huh. I'm sure he just fell down and punched himself."

"Missouri…"

"Don't even start with me boy. You just keep your hands to yourself from now on and get back to your wife. I bet she has something to say about you getting your new shirt all covered in sap and dirt. Now get!"

The man couldn't move fast enough it seemed. Seemingly satisfied, the lady moved forward to check on Gabriel, but she stopped and turned back to the door, distracted by something. Instead of moving to the pilot, she peered out the door. Gabriel could hear her calling out softly.

"What are you doing out here sweetheart? Come in before you catch your death of cold. Come, come." She coaxed as timid Castiel who had been reluctant to enter the hospital before. She moved him to the chair next to Gabriel and then put a blanket around his shoulders.

"I'll get some tea for you two. It looks like you've had a long day. Then I'll see about the damage that those ruffians did." She mumbled kindly and started to bustle around the fireplace. She continued her one-sided conversation, filling the silence of the hospital.

"It's such a shame that they have to resort to such means to get a decent mechanic. And then they kidnap another just to tie up loose ends! A damn shame…"

"What do they need a mechanic for?" Gabriel asked quietly, mindful of the sick people in the room.

Missouri looked thoughtful, "Oh, this and that. But we desperately need someone to fix the generator for the town. It's how we heat the hospital, it's how we survive the cold. Winter is on its way here, and we have so many sick…well, it would be bad if this place could not be heated. We have been waiting on someone who could come and fix it."

Gabriel nodded, understanding the desperation, but not really condoning it. Missouri finished the tea and brought it to the table, setting it in front of the two brothers. She was looking intently at Castiel, who continued to remain silent.

"Hello there, who are you then?" She asked Castiel kindly. He glanced up at her nervously for a second before dropping his eyes again.

"I don't like to repeat myself." He muttered, not moving to touch his tea. Missouri didn't seem confused by this, actually she looked slightly amused. Smiling gently she adjusted the blanket on his shoulders, then turned to address Gabriel.

"And you?"

"Gabriel. And this is my brother Castiel." He said shortly and reached for the tea. He had been feeling incredibly cold inside since he saw the Impala fly off, but for whatever reason, the tea she had given him took away some of that emotional chill, almost like magic.

A harsh coughing came from the back of the room as one of the patients sat up in her bed, trying to breath. It sounded like she was drowning in her own lungs. An echoing cough came from across the room, this time form a young boy. The poor tyke was practically gaunt. Missouri rushed over to pat his back, trying to help him through the fit. Then she moved on to the older woman whose lips were turning blue. It reminded Gabriel of a time when Balthazar had gotten pneumonia and was stuck in bed for a month. There were a few weeks in there that Gabriel was worried that he might lose his brother…..

Gabriel knew that he couldn't heal illness. As far as he knew, neither could Castiel. And it pained him to walk the child struggle to breath.

"Where is the generator?"

Missouri looked up from where she was helping the woman to lay back. "You just cool down your gears boy. I know you wanna help. But let's get your head taken care of first and then find you and your brother a place to sleep. It's too dark to work out tonight anyway." She scolded lightly and stood up, bringing a box of bandages over to the table to tend to his injuries.

"Well, looks like this isn't so bad. One might even say that it looks almost completely healed already…" She tutted and cleaned away the dirt and dried blood though, not making any more comments that sounded suspicious.

For the most part Gabriel stayed still for her ministrations, but he still glanced over at Castiel every few moments. But his brother never seemed to move. He just stayed hunched over, staring at the table, humming forlornly.

CHAPTER 9

Sam and Dean couldn't help but stare down at their pale friend as they carried his stretcher into the hold. Bobby hadn't woken up all the way for the whole transfer from the infirmary, he mumbled a bit and groaned whenever he was jostled too much. Every grunt that came from the preacher was accusatory to Dean's ear. There was no way that Bobby would have allowed them to leave behind their friends if he had known, he would have cussed up a storm that would have made Gabriel proud. But Dean had to stick by his decision, it was too late now, and by the looks of Bobby's color, Dean had probably made the right choice in bringing him here.

At least Sam seemed to have forgiven him for now, or maybe he was saving the hissy fit for later when they had retrieved Gabe and Cas. If they were still alive…

"You sanguine about the kind of reception we're to receive on a Garrison ship, Dean?" Asked Sam, breaking Dean from his morbid thoughts.

Quickly he answered, "Absolutely…..What does "sanguine" mean?" He whispered the last part to Anna, but Sam heard him anyway.

"It means hopeful. Plus, point of interest, it also means "bloody"." Sam offered helpfully, ever the dork in Dean's opinion.

Snorting he responded to Sam's first question, "Well, that pretty much covers all the options, doesn't it?"

All conversation ended abruptly when they heard the approaching footsteps of soldiers through the airlock door. Dean nodded to Meg who then pulled the lever to open the door for the incoming guests.

It was all too familiar to see the same uniformed men marching towards them, armed to the gills, not a single smile on anyone's face. Dean silently wished that it was Hendrickson's cruiser they were knocking on, but no such luck. The real commander stepped forward; Dean only knew this because this guy had a nice fancy military hat and didn't have a large gun in his hands, while the rest of the goons got shiny helmets and held some big ol' peashooters in their hands.

Straightening his posture, Dean stepped in front of his crew to address the Commander. "We are requesting aid, no other purpose."

"We've got papers," added Sam holding out the indicated forms.

Looking incredibly bored, the Commander took the forms and went through them like a flip book, not even bothering to really read anything there.

"What's your business?" He asked with a sigh, not looking up from the papers he was barely reading.

"We're a supply ship, freelance. We had an accident this morning and one of my crew got hurt. We're here for medical assistance," stated Dean, falling into a soldier's stance unintentionally.

"The faster the better, he's not doing too well," came Sam's voice from just behind Dean. He had a very strong urgent tone in his voice, almost making the comment sound like a command.

Glancing over to where Bobby's stretcher was lying, the Commander perked up a little bit, now realizing that this was not the normal ship repair that most docked here for. He looked at the papers for real now, looking for any flaws in the story.

"You're official seal is out of date, Captain…Harbatkin?," he said lifting his eyes from the paper and tutting at Dean like a kid who had gotten a "D" on his paper.

Dean pretended to look ashamed, secretly glad that he and Sam always kept fake ID papers aboard, "We haven't been through a checkpoint in a while, sir. Are you going to see to my man?" Dean asked, not wanted to waste anymore time. If Bobby still died, and then they went back to find out that they were too late to save Gabriel and Cas…Dean's stomach felt like a big rock had just dropped into it.

The Commander sighed like he was pondering between watching comedy or tragedy film for the night. "How did this happen?"

"Bystander in a gunfight. Back on Jiangyin. You can check. None of us, or him, were the aggressors. Now are we going to play twenty questions, or are you going to help him?" Dean asked snapping, patience finally dissipating as he thought of what he could lose today.

Not impressed by Dean's hastiness, the Commander put his hands behind his back and stood up as tall as he could, trying to appear more imposing. It wasn't really helping. Dean had seen scarier looking bunnies.

"We aren't an emergency facility, Captain. Our services aren't available to simply anyone who stops by." He said firmly, sarcastically saying "Captain" like it came with a sour taste.

Everyone of Dean's crew bristled at that, ready to fight to get Bobby the medical attention he needed. They were all about to bust out arguing when they heard the preacher start mumbling louder, his hand clumsily moving in order to get attention on himself. The Commander and the Impala crew moved over to where he lay, trying to hear what he was trying to say.

"Com…mander…my….ident card." He got out before coughing weakly, trying to gesture with a heavy hand to his pocket. Reaching forward, the Commander pulled out the card and ran it through a scanner he had hanging from his belt. The Impala crew all held their breath, not taking their eyes off of the Commander as he looked over the scanner's results.

Snapping to attention, the Commander looks over to his men, "Get this man to the infirmary at once!" He ordered, and his men hopped into action, two coming forward to take the stretcher and Bobby away quickly.

Dean and Sam were too stunned at the change in the commander to move at first. What could possibly have been on that card that could make the Commander turn a 180 and suddenly want to….no, have to save the preacher? What connection did Bobby have with the Garrison?

Sam and Dean exchanged a troubled look and then took off down the hall, following the soldiers and the preacher to the infirmary.

The whole town seemed to be on an old fashioned schedule where you worked as long as the sun was in the air. So being woken up at the ass crack of dawn with a killer headache and in a foreign place crawling with kidnappers and a little brother who was in a serious funk, and realizing that the man you share a bed with had abandoned you….well, it went without saying that Gabriel was in somewhat of a sour mood.

Man number two from the day before had come and retrieved Gabriel when the sky was still purple and took him to the back of one of the buildings just as the sun started to wink over the horizon. Castiel, who of course didn't sleep the night before, followed behind quietly, not meeting the eye of anyone they walked past.

Behind the building they were led to was the oldest piece of rust and metal that Gabriel had ever laid eyes on. It had holes here and there, where the rust had eaten away at the panels. The wiring that could be seen through the holes looked like raw spaghetti and was corroded in certain areas. This was the town generator?!

"All the tools we have are right over there." The man gestured to an equally rusty tool box that appeared to hold a cacophony of random old school instruments. Even the hammer looked like it was made by cavemen it was so old.

"So…fix it. Lunch is at one. Missouri said she'd bring it by for you." And with that the man walked off, leaving the two brothers standing there alone. Gabriel had the immediate urge to grab Cas and run away, but a second though gave him pause. He had no idea where they were. He had no idea what was out there, or who was out there. And it wasn't like they could go find the Impala, cause it wasn't even on the planet anymore! They were stuck.

"Hey, Cas. How are you feeling?" Asked Gabriel gently, trying to get his brother to look him in the eye. He couldn't imagine how lousy the poor kid must feel. He would have abandonment issues for the rest of his life at this point.

"I am fine, Gabriel." He answered, looking anywhere on his brother's face but his eyes. He gaze was eventually drawn to the almost completely healed head wound on Gabriel and the corner of his eyes crinkled in concern. He was about to reach out to heal it completely when he stopped just short of touching and drew back quickly, as if expecting to be slapped away.

"Castiel?" Gabriel asked, concerned with his brother's reaction.

Looking extremely timid and nervous, Castiel awkwardly started to wring his hands, looking at his feet. "I could…I could heal your head if you wish. But I understand if you do not wish to be touched by me."

It occurred to Gabriel then that maybe there was more to his brother's behavior than just being left behind and abandoned. There was a self loathing that floated in Castiel's eyes recently that was now as clear as day for Gabriel to see once he had finally understood.

Gabriel reached for Castiel's hand suddenly and grabbed it tight in his own. The other man flinched violently, but didn't pull away. Using his other hand, the pilot guided Castiel's face to hold him in place to meet Gabriel's eyes.

"Castiel. I need to you to listen to me. None of this is your fault."

His brother's face crumpled in his hand, "But it is! They looked upon the hideous creation and ran away in horror, unable to look upon the monstrous mistake any longer. I'm so sorry Gabriel."

"Sorry? You have nothing to be sorry about!"Gabriel cried.

Castiel was almost crying at this point, guilt draped over him like sheets, "They wanted to take out the trash, but a fork got mixed in, so it all got left in the dumpster."

"What?"

Looking seriously at Gabriel, he said firmly, "Sam would never have left you behind if it weren't for me."

Gabriel froze at Sam's name. It stung him worse than he would have ever imagined hearing his name after he saw that ship take off. Gabriel had even dreamt the night before of Sam. It wasn't pleasant like his usual dreams involving the younger Winchester.

Sam was shaving in the bathroom of their shared room. It was just a normal morning for them, where Gabe would be lounging on the bed, trying to cajole Sam into some more morning escapades. Sam would laugh and shake his head, trying to get ready for the day when he hissed suddenly. He had cut himself with the razor.

The sight of the blood bothered Gabriel so greatly he shot up from the bed and rushed to Sam's side, immediately moving to heal up the small cut with his ability. Once the red had stopped flowing, Gabriel looked up to meet Sam's eyes and ask if he was okay.

But Sam wasn't looking at him, he was looking in the mirror beside them. Curious, Gabriel also looked down to see what had distracted Sam so. In the reflection he first saw Sam, a disgusted look of horror on his face. Gabriel was very confused until he saw what he guessed to be his own reflection.

A horrendously distorted human figure was looking back at Gabriel. There was nothing natural in what he saw. He was looking at a monster in the mirror.

Frantically turning back to Sam, he tried to reassure his lover. "Sam? Sam, it's okay. It's still me I swear! Nothing's changed! I'm still Gabriel, the guy you fell in love with, I promise."

Sam had a dead look in his eye as he roughly shoved Gabriel away, "No. Everything has changed. You aren't human, You never were. You're just another monster hidden under sheep skin." And Sam walked away. Leaving Gabriel turn around and smash the mirror into a thousand pieces.

That's when Gabriel had been woken up by the man to start on the generator.

Shaking his head to rid himself of the dream memory, he looked back to Castiel, "You listen to me. None of this is your fault. I don't know why we were left behind, but we were. So we are going to survive. You and me. And I will never, never leave you. Dongma?"

Castiel shyly looked up into his older brother's warm golden eyes, "Okay."

"Good, now do something about this head injury will ya? It's like someone is doing a tap dance across my cranium."

CHAPTER 10

After Cas had healed up his brother, they both got to work on the generator. Gabriel took the chance to teach Cas about how the mechanics worked. The kid had always been curious about the inner workings of things, and Gabriel was happy to show him how each and every piece of the machinery functioned, even if it took five times longer to get anything done. They were cautiously content to lay on their backs working on the wiring. Gabriel doing most of the actual work, and Cas holding things out of the way for him or grabbing specified tools.

Neither of them brought up Balthazar. It was a scary subject to think about. In his heart, Gabriel knew that Balthazar would never leave Castiel behind. He had become far too protective of the little guy, but the little voice in the back of his head reminded him that Balthazar could still be upset with him for not warning his family to the dangers of the program. Maybe he still blamed Gabriel for them all being fugitives and Castiel's mind and body being mauled. Maybe in this case, Gabriel was the trash, and Castiel was the fork.

Castiel had similar thoughts of his own. Balthazar had been so exhausted and frustrated with Cas the other night. Why wouldn't he leave behind Castiel? All he had ever given Balthazar was trouble, even before he had left for the host Balthazar had told him he wanted nothing to do with his family...But still, neither brother voiced their thoughts, they just kept on working.

They went on like this for a few hours until Cas could no longer stay on his aching back and had to crawl out from under the large machine. He then handed tools to his brother for the last part of the morning until it had finally reached one thirteen hundred hours. Lunch time.

As promised, Missouri came to them with apples, bread and cheese, and two cups of cider. Castiel had barely ate anything, only finishing the cider upon Gabriel's and Missouri's insistence before walking off a short distance to look at some wild flowers growing at the tree line. The other two remained seated near the generator, keeping an eye on the young man from a distance.

"He's not quite right, is he? Got a lot of dark thoughts it seems." Missouri said gently, as if worried she would startle the pilot.

Gabriel didn't want to reveal too much so he kept his answers vague as possible, "He's been through some trauma. But he's recovering, slowly. He just needs time and a nice stable environment."

They watched as Castiel sat down next to an old rose bush. It looked like he was trying to hold a conversation with it. Missouri sighed at the sight, "He's not going to get a good conversation out of that old rose bush, I can tell you that much. That darn thing hasn't bloomed for ten years. The old mayor of the town used to care for that bush, but when he passed away…the roses stopped coming out. Shame really. They were some lovely flowers."

Gabriel grunted at this, "That's kinda spooky." As odd as the story was, Gabriel was still warmed by the fact that Missouri seemed perfectly at ease accepting that Cas made friends with plant instead of being put off by it.

"Hmm. I suppose…..But this town ain't all bad. I know you're thinking we're all a bunch of kidnappers and bandits, but they only do it out of frantic necessity. The people here are very strong in their beliefs, but it is also a quiet and safe place where folks take care of each other. It could be that stable environment you're looking for, perhaps."She suggested casually while sipping at her own cup of cider.

Gabriel sighed, "It's calm enough I suppose, but Castiel is…..different. I don't think everyone here is as accepting as you."

"The lord says, "Judge not"." Missouri added, her tone wry, as if she was also unsure at the town's people's reactions to the unique man in the trenchcoat.

It got a snort from the pilot, "Yeah. We all like to feel like we are accepted for who we are and not what we are, but in the end…people can still surprise you. Never thought it would land us here though." His mind flashed to Sam flying off in the Impala.

Missouri looked up into the sky a small smile on her face, "Sometimes life takes you places you weren't expecting to go."

"Life didn't bring us here. Those men did." Gabriel half joked.

"You were on a transport ship, right? Taking a journey? It's the way of life in my findings that journey's end when and where they want to, and that's where you make your home." She said quietly, her eyes closed as a warm breeze moves through the air.

Gabriel looked across to where Castiel was still talking to the bush, sadly petting its empty branches. He had seen his little brother do the same thing with Fern back on the ship, calmly settled in his nest...

"This isn't our home."He stated firmly.

Missouri turned to him, eyebrows raised questioningly, "Well if it isn't here, where is it?"

He didn't have an answer for her. He had thought that the Impala had become their home. He though Sam had accepted that Gabriel was "altered". He thought Dean was someone he could rely on to keep Castiel safe. He thought that maybe Balthazar wanted to be a family again.

Obviously, he had thought wrong.

Dean paces the stark white hallways, arms crossed over his chest. He hasn't looked up from the floor in the last hour. Sam knows what Dean is thinking about, hell, Sam had been thinking about the same things since the exchange back in the Impala. Obviously Dean was thinking that they had a mole of some sort on their ship and was frantically trying to figure out why Bobby hadn't turned them all in yet. Or he was simply just feeling betrayed. Sam would be pretty pissed himself if they had left Gabe and Cas back on that planet to save some Garrison spy. Or worse, someone from the Host looking for Cas and his brothers.

The rest of the crew weren't thinking on that though. Anna and Chuck were nervously wringing their hands, waiting for news on the Preacher's condition. Meg seemed to be completely calm as she was cleaning her nails, but Sam could see how her eyes kept darting around the room, waiting for any threat. She wasn't about to let her guard down in enemy territory.

Sam shifted his thoughts to where he had left Balthazar in Anna's room. He had been leaning against the wall so heavily it almost looked like he was holding up the establishment. He had his arms crossed over his chest, one finger tapping frantically on his arm showing his impatience. Sam felt for him, he really did. He was holding up remarkably well, not even having a fit since the first go at Dean. And also seemingly calm while they were docked at the Garrison ship. His patience had been wearing thin however. Sam could see the tension growing in the lines on his face as he had left Anna's shuttle. If it was Sam who was locked alone in a room while he was made to wait to save his brother….he would have probably pulled a Dean by now and whipped out his gun to get things moving along. Sam's musings were interrupted from a shifting across the room.

Apparently done inspecting her nails, Meg dramatically threw back her head and blew out a long breath. "This place give me the heeby jeebies. Can we go yet?" She whined piteously.

Even though Sam was grateful that she ended the awkward silence, he chose to ignore her comment, like everyone else. But she rolled her eyes at the silent crew and tried a different tactic to get people talking, "So, what are we figuring? Preacher man's got some kind of connection with the Garrison?" She asked innocently, eyes roaming over to Dean to see his reaction.

Dean had frozen mid pace, rubbing a clammy hand over his face, "I know what it looks like. I've got fifty different scenarios as to what he could be. Ninety-five percent of them ain't good. I say once they finish with him and he's on the road to recovery and shit, then we ask for an explanation. We'll go from there. I'm not making any calls until I know for sure what his story is."

It seemed fair enough, and the crew nodded in agreement. All of them wanted to believe that the affectionately grouchy Sheppard had not been lying to them, even if it was only for a little bit longer.

Meg was shaking her head, "See, it's my whole problem with picking up tourists. They're never what they claim to be," she stated sounding incredibly annoyed. She adjusted herself to lie down on the bench, but she didn't close her eyes, still keeping an eye out for any threats.

Sighing heavily, Sam had to agree with her there, "Seems like everyone has a story to tell." He mumbled under his breath.

Dean resumed his pacing.

Missouri had left them after lunch to go back to the hospital. She said with the cold weather coming and no generator to keep the hospital warm, she had to keep a constant fire going that took up far too much time out of the day.

That thought in mind, Gabriel set back to work. The project itself was intense; enough to even make Chuck moan more than usually. The tools being what they were, few and ungainly, made the job even harder. But it felt good to be working this hard. The physical labor was enough to keep his mind off of more troubling thoughts as he lost himself in the machinery. He had tried to get Castiel to join him again, hoping his brother would get the same kind of therapy out of it as the pilot, but instead his little brother chose to sit with the old rose bush.

Apparently it had quite the story to tell if the look of concentration on his brother's face was anything to go by. At least Cas wasn't seeking out sharp objects anymore like he had been back at the store. Knowing the state of mind that the kid was in at the moment, self harm wasn't out of the question in Gabriel's figuring. And that truly terrified him.

CHAPTER 11

Gabriel had been working steadily all afternoon, glancing to where his brother was every few moments like a pot of pasta that the instructions said to stir occasionally. He had been sitting there with the bush the whole time, seemingly calmed down from his hysterics earlier that morning.

Wiping the grease from his hands on a provided hand-weaved cloth, he spotted Missouri coming from the hospital.

"Come on you two, time for you to come in. Not much you can do by this light. Yes, you too Castiel. Whatever that plant has to say, it can wait till tomorrow." She called, gesturing for them to follow her back to the clinic, muttering to herself about skinny boys who needed to be fattened up.

Gabriel had to practically drag his brother away, pulling him up forcefully by the armpits in order to get him to move.

The kid was still talking like the bush was still there as they walked back. Sadly replying to whatever voices he was hearing, "Can't leave….Can't grow….They can't see….what really lurks below."

After Missouri had fed them a dinner of hearty stew, Gabriel sat down in a chair next to the fire while Missouri puttered around the finally quiet hospital room. It seemed all of her patients had fallen asleep.

There was a light knock on the door that startled Gabriel from where he was beginning to dose off. Missouri went to answer it, tip toeing to the door. She exchanged hushed whispers with the man at the other side and then turned back to Gabriel.

"I have to step out for a bit. It seems the Elson's grandmother has fallen ill and didn't want to come all the way over here. I should be back soon enough. You just relax. If there are any problems you just come find me, but I'm pretty sure you can fix anything that might come up. It's the third house form the end." She whispered while grabbing some supplies and then going out the door.

Gabriel sat up straight in his chair. For a moment it seemed like she knew what Gabriel and Castiel were capable of, and his heart started to beat sporadically. That she might have known that they could heal. Maybe she noticed that Gabriel's wound had healed up miraculously that day. He calmed himself by thinking that she hadn't reacted poorly, yet. Once again his mind betrayed him by flickering to Sam. He had seemed okay at first too.

He decided that He and Castiel would have to be more careful. As much as he would love to help heal the injured in this hospital, to do so would be the end of the illusion in this town. They would know what they were.

He glanced to where Cas was looking out a window. He still looked troubled, but hopefully that would go away with time. Gabriel was pretty sure he looked troubled as well. Gabriel turned his attention back to the fireplace, eyes unintentionally drifting shut as the warmth wrapped around him.

He awoke suddenly, shooting up from where he was reclined back in the old chair. Frantically he looked around for the source of what had woken him up. He immediately spotted it. Missouri had just come back and was unwrapping the scarf from her neck.

"Sorry it took so long. The poor old miss was half delirious with fever. But we got her cooled down for now. I'll be going back in a few hours to see how she's doing….Honey what's wrong?"

Gabriel had only been half listening to her. The fireplace had died down considerably, indicating that a few hours had passed. The low light made it hard for Gabriel to spot Castiel. Or maybe it was because Castiel wasn't there that was making it hard to see him.

"Castiel. Where is he?" Gabriel asked frantically, jumping up from the chair to peer around the corners of the room and tossing himself to the floor to look under the beds. Not finding him he looked to Missouri, begging with his eyes for her to have the answer to where his little brother had gotten to.

Missouri looked like she was about to say something, but she stopped mid breath and looked to the door. Not a second later, Castiel appeared at the doorway. Smiling softly and holding a large gathering of roses in his hands.

"Cassy?! Are you okay? Where did you go? Do you know how worried I was?! Where did you get those?" He ran up to his brother, running his eyes all over his form, looking for any sign of injury or trouble like he had seen Balthazar do a million times before.

Ignoring the sea of questions, Castiel held out the bouquet of flowers proudly. Each fist had a handful of the spectacularly red roses. He gave one handful to Missouri who took them graciously, then held out the other to his big brother who had yet to take them.

"For you." He said shyly, blushing heavily and looking at his feet.

Looking at the flowers awkwardly Gabriel could only muster a weak, "Oh."

"I picked them," Castiel said, lifting his head to smile proudly and tried to give them to Gabriel again.

"Um, here. Let's get those in a vase or something before you cut your hands on the thorns," he muttered, still in shock at the sudden disappearance/reappearance of his brother.

Missouri had pulled down a tall jar from one of the dusty shelves and was filling it with water, motioning to the brothers to bring their flowers over. After the flowers are settled in the water, Missouri moves of silently to check on the patients, giving the brothers time alone.

"I thought you would want to look upon something beautiful." Castiel admitted, fiddling with the sleeve of his coat. Gabriel was looking upon him, shit eating grin on his face. Could Cassy get any cuter?

"These roses look like the ones from your old garden." He said fondly, softly running his hands over one of the petals. Then, "Do you remember that time that Balthazar fell into your rose bush, practically flattening the whole thing? I didn't know whether you were going to cry, blow up, or wet your pants in laughter as he ran around trying to pull thorns from his ass." He smiled at the memory, but then caught his brother's face. It looked sad.

"Well, that was a long time ago." He said turning back to the flowers. They were truly magnificent roses.

"You lost your new home because of me," his brother stated guiltily.

"No! Cassy, I told you that…"

He was cut off, "I know I did. You don't think I do, but…I get confused. I remember everything. I remember too much and… of it's made up, and…some of it can't be quantified, and there are secrets…." He peeked up at Gabriel, as if waiting for his brother to finally remember to be mad at him. When all he saw was Gabriel's encouraging smile he continued.

"But I understand. You gave up everything to keep us safe. Even left your first home to do so. And you were ready to give up your second home when I came out of the box…even when I'm broken."

"Oh, Cassy-bear. I don't care that you're broken. I just want to help fix you." He said tenderly, reaching out to cup the side of his baby brother's face, soothingly rubbing a thumb over his cheek bone. That's when the tears started to fall, making Gabriel's hand wet.

"You gave up everything for me. I don't deserve it. I don't deserve your love or this life." He sobbed quietly, his breath hitching.

"Oh, Di-di. Everything I have is right here." (Little brother)

Nodding frantically, Castiel scrunched his eyes closed and put his hand over Gabriel's as if he were scared his brother would suddenly let go.

"I'll get better. I'll get better." He promised in between hitched breaths as he got control of his emotions.

Smiling softly, Gabriel patted Cas' face gently when the crying had stopped and then reached over the table to fiddling with the flowers again. Truly entranced by the beauty.

"Jeez Cas. These roses are friggin amazing! Where did you find these?" He asked incredulously.

"Hmm, they are amazing. They were troubled too, until I burnt up the bones." He said casually, petting one of the roses that was leaning too far out of the jar.

Gabriel sputtered and did a double take. "Wait. What? What bones? Cas, where did you get these roses?" He asked, trying to keep his voice from sounding too serious as to not frighten Castiel into hiding. Missouri also looked up from where she was bent over the sick child.

Castiel smiled. "He's interested. Made a face. I'll show you."

Both Gabriel and Missouri followed after Cas as he led them down the empty and dark street to where the old rose bush was, his constantly bare feet padding softly through the dirt. Even in the dead of night they could see that the bush was blooming like it was the middle of spring and not a few weeks from winter. The once empty branches were in full bloom, each holding multiple bloomed buds and more magnificent than the one before.

Beside him Missouri gasped, "Sweetheart! You're an angel. No one's been able to get that thing to even bud in ten years! It's a miracle! I haven't seen it like this since the old mayor tended to it. That man had a magic green thumb when it came to plants. How did you get it to grow?" She asked Castiel, her eyes wide.

"We talked it over. Found the skeleton."

Gabriel was used to Cas' special connection to plants, but this was something new. And the talk of skeletons and bones was starting to freak him out.

"Castiel. What bones? Where are the skeletons?" He asked seriously.

"I took care of them." He said proudly. Gabriel and Missouri exchanged worried glances.

"That's great honey. But can you show us what you did?" Missouri asked gently.

"Of course." And Castiel led them past the tree line about fifty yards where there was a smoking pile of…

"Cassy, what is that?" asked Gabriel cautiously.

Castiel was looking sadly at the pile of ash, "It was the old mayor's bones. Seemed that he didn't want to leave until the one who cut him from the bush was dealt with. I promised him that I would take care of it. Then I exorcised him."

"Honey, you mean to tell me that the mayor's ghost was haunting the old rose bush? And that you burned his bones to send him on?" Asked Missouri looking for confirmation to her own gathered ideas.

Nodding, Castiel smiled happy that someone understood him. "I'm sorry that I used up most of your salt from the table." He adds shyly waiting to be scolded.

"Don't worry it on it darling. Let's just all get back to the hospital. Now." Her voice didn't sound sharp, but both brothers felt the direct order in there and rushed with her to comply.

Once they were back in the hospital, Missouri started to rush around the room, drawing curtains closed and making sure all the patients were still asleep.

"I knew it. I knew you two were special but I was having a hard time getting a reading. Such strong walls, especially your little brother. But if he found out what happened to the old mayor…there could be serious trouble. You two have to go!" She muttered urgently.

"Wait, what? What do you mean special? What happened to the old mayor? What is going on here?"

She took a deep breath to calm herself and then she moved up to Gabriel so she could speak as quietly as possible.

"When you two got here yesterday I tried to read you like I do any newcomer. Just to see if you would be trouble. Castiel knew the moment that I entered his mind and greeted me. But he didn't like it when I asked him to introduce himself again. And he put up a wall around his mind as well as yours." She smiled at that, silently apologizing to Castiel for that. He only shrugged, apology accepted.

Continuing her face grew serious, "I'm psychic you see. I came here about fifteen years ago. I too was on a journey to try and find a place that someone like me could get along. Here it was quiet enough for me to not be overwhelmed by people, even if I had to keep my talents a secret in order to stay."

"Why would you stay if you had to hide?" Gabriel asked.

"I was desperate for a home. And things weren't as tense here fifteen years ago. Everything was fine until the old mayor died and the new one took over. Things have changed, and I wasn't able to leave. Not with the spirit of the old mayor floating through town lost. I never did find a way to send him on….until your brother took care of that."

"So, why do we have to go then? What's the big deal with this mayor?"

"Because as grateful as I am, the town won't be as happy about the whole situation. They don't like anything unnatural. And the mayor…."

BANG

The door to the hospital burst open and five men stepped forward.

"There he is. Grab him!"

CHAPTER 12

Sitting there in the dark shuttle, Balthazar had ample time to let his mind wander. Mentally he was engaged in a back and forth argument with himself, trying to justify him leaving behind his two brothers and the other side reminding him what a horrible person he was. Part of him was scared for when Castiel finally got his mind back together, if he ever did, because the little voice in Balthazar's head told him that there was no way that Cassy could ever forgive him for what he had said and done in the past, and here he was leaving him behind to some unknown fate again. It was enough to make him feel ill.

Six Years Ago

"I'm here for Castiel Novak." Balthazar stated wearily leaning across the desk at the public safety station. He couldn't believe that he was here of all places to find his little brother. His innocent, reliable, responsible, goody-two shoes brother. The stern looking lady at the desk pointed to one of the hallways. And there was Castiel being escorted forward by the chief.

"I understand that this belongs to you? I also understand that he is a Novak, so we didn't book him, but I would make sure that this doesn't happen again." The chief said as a greeting. The whole planet knew of the prestigious name of Novak, and lucky for Balthazar and Castiel the name held enough power that those in law liked to avoid dealing them. So in any case that one of the Novaks might have been caught doing something iffy…..the police were kind enough to overlook it. Like right now.

"Yes, thank you. I will send you a gift for your help." Balthazar said in dismissal, all of his attention settling on his brother in front of him. Firstly he looked him up and down, checking for any injury or distress. Finding none he simply crooked one finger for Castiel to follow and they headed out of the station in silence and got in the waiting vehicle.

The ride home was incredibly awkward. Castiel knew that his brother was angry, furious even. A few years ago Castiel wouldn't have been sure that his brother was even capable at being angry at him but, here they were. Then again, Castiel never thought that him family would be falling apart like this either. Or that he might be as equally mad with Balthazar.

Clearly waiting for them to arrive in their house before blowing up, Castiel tried to slow his steps to draw out the walk from the vehicle to the door, but Balthazar seemed impatient and hurried his little brother along by grabbing his arm. As soon as they were inside and the door was shut behind him, Balthazar's face turned red with rage.

"ARE YOU OUT OF YOUR MIND!?"

That was enough to get Castiel to break his normal calm, "I'm getting there!" He screamed back.

Balthazar got right up in his brothers face, a finger pointing harshly, "I got the wave while I was at Andy's party! I had to leave everyone there to go pick up my delinquent brother!" He spat.

Castiel spat right back, a finger jammed at his brother's chest. "Oh, I'm so sorry dear brother! You know I would never have tried to save Gabriel's life if I had known there was a party at risk!"

"Don't you dare be flippant with me. I just had to go pull you out of a bloody police station! Who knows who might have seen us! This could have lasting effects on the company! Are you trying to destroy this family?" Balthazar spat.

Cas stared back incredulous, "Destroy our…? It's already destroyed! Gabriel is being held against his will somewhere, or worse and you haven't lifted a finger to find out! And our father is missing as well, but you just chalk it up to abandonment. There are bigger things happening here, Balth! We need to figure it out and save our family!"

Balthazar covered his face with both hands, not wanting to go through all of this again."Cassy, I have told you time and time again. They are gone. Get over it. Move on. Don't go traipsing around blackout zones begging to be killed or arrested!"

Castiel made a disgruntled noise, almost like a growl, "I walk talking to someone who might be able to help us find Gabriel. And I'm going to go back there! If there is a chance to help Gabriel, I'm taking it." He glared at his brother, as if daring him to argue with it.

Balthazar was shaking his head, "This is stupid. You have no idea how far down you can go, and you're not taking me with you."

"Meaning what?" Castiel asked, and Balthazar looked him straight in the eye, speaking calmly.

"I won't come for you again. You end up locked up somewhere, you're on your own. I will not come for you."

Castiel was stunned. The last family member he had left was telling him that he wouldn't save him. He would let him rot where he landed. Just like he was doing with Gabriel. "So that's it? You're done with us?"

"Get a grip Cassy! As far as I'm concerned, you and me? Nothing's changed. We're still brothers. But please open your eyes! They're gone! Gabriel probably found a better place that doesn't have rules for him to follow and he can play around all day without a care in the world. And Dad's gone, he's done with us and he isn't coming back! You might as well blow coke and jump on the bed!"

Castiel didn't respond. He just moved to the stairs to walk up to his room, and Balthazar just let him go. The kid would probably need some thinking time on his own, to absorb the idea that this was it. They were all that was left and it was time to move on.

The next day Balthazar went up to Castiel's room to check on him. All he found was a note. Castiel had gone to the program.

Present

Balthazar let out a choked sob. He prayed that Bobby was alright, and he prayed that they might soon be on their way. He prayed that his brothers might still be alright, and he prayed for redemption.

"What are you doing!? Let go of him!" Gabriel was screaming himself horse as he was held back by several men. Castiel was being led to the center of the town by two burly looking men who had him held roughly by his arms, and Cas' face was one of pure terror. On all sides of him the town had gathered to see what the commotion was about.

"Stop this foolishness! What right do you have to scare the boys like this?!" Missouri was yelling while trying to beat her way through the thickening crowds.

"What is going on Stewart? Why do you knock us from our beds at this hour?" Asked a sleepy looking woman.

The leader of the group whirled on her. "This man was found doing witchcraft out in the woods! One of the boys saw him burning the old mayor's bones in some kind of heathen ritual. Clearly he is a follower of Satan!" He shouted loudly so that the entire town could hear. Soon the confused noises became accusatory ones, all directed to a cowering Castiel.

"Come now, surely there is a reason for what he did," Missouri tried to sooth the growing fire in the mob, but they weren't hearing her.

"No! He is evil, a demon! Everyone saw him around the old rose bush yesterday. That thing has been barren for years! Just now I saw it bursting with life and in full bloom! Clearly there is dark magic being used! It is wrong! An abomination! Thou shalt not suffer a demon to live!"

"He isn't a demon!" Pleaded Gabriel, trying to throw off his captors to get to Castiel who was now on the ground folded in on himself, trying to hide.

"Now now, everyone calm down. Let's hear his side of it." An impressive looking man came forward.

Missouri froze, fear, hatred and disgust in her eyes at the arrival of the man. Gabriel decided that this guy was probably the new mayor that kept on being brought up. He knelt in front of Castiel and lifted the trembling man's chin.

"Now tell me nyen ching duh, can you tell us what happened tonight? It's okay to tell me, I'm the mayor and I can help sort this out." He spoke gently, pushing back Cas' hair from his eyes. (little one/youngster)

Castiel's face scrunched up in disgust at the touch, "The old mayor, he was sick. He was getting better, told the flowers that he would be able to tend them soon, but then you visited him alone. The flowers withered." He whispered, but the town had quieted enough to hear his words.

Gabriel was stunned, Missouri had known all these years what had happened, that the old mayor had been murdered by this guy, and now Cassy had spilled the beans. This could not be good. There is no way the townspeople would believe Cas over the word of the mayor, and he had the final say here. Definitely not good.

"This boy reads minds and spins falsehoods. He's a demon, and we must purge the devil from him, with fire!" The mayor shouted as he stood up and backed away from Castiel, finger pointed at him accusingly.

The crowd roared and raised their fists and ran off to one of the side streets. Probably to grab their pitchforks, thought Gabriel wryly.

"Please, stop this! He's just a troubled boy! There is no need for this!" Begged Missouri.

The mayor gestured to two of his men who stepped forward and grabbed hold of her arms. "Calm down woman. He must have seduced your mind. Once he is taken care of the spell on you shall fall. Take her back to the hospital and watch her." He ordered them and they dragged her off.

The mayor looked over to where Gabriel was still being held by the goons. "You hold him tight. And don't worry son, whatever hold he has over you shall also be broken." He assured him, a dark look in his eyes. He walked off with the rest of the mob and the thugs holding the two brothers moved them along.

They were all back in the Impala….well, almost all of them. They had patched Bobby up right proper with no questions asked. The crew was able to leave as soon as the docs okay-ed him for transport. They now had the preacher back in the cargo ship's infirmary and Balthazar had emerged from Anna's shuttle, eyes suspiciously puffy and red.

Dean was sitting there beside the table that held Bobby. He was thinking about everything. It wasn't right for him to have to deal with all of this in two days. This emotional overflow…it was like the ship was spiraling down getting caught on each and every gust and set of turbulence. It made him want to upchuck.

He started off wallowing in self-hate and guilt, but then it would move on to suspicion and betrayal. But really it all boiled down to fear. Fear of losing what he had, be it by his own hand or by another.

So wrapped up in his thoughts, he almost didn't notice when next to him, the Sheppard started to wake up.

"Hey. Looks like you're going to be just fine. Garrison patched you up lickety split." He said in a dead voice. He wasn't sure who he was talking to at this point. The Bobby he knew, trusted and thought of like family, or some Garrison skinwalker.

Bobby was trying to shake off the cobwebs from his head, clearly still clinging to the last of the drugs, "Garrison?" He asked confused.

"Yes, indeed! They let us come, and then they let us go. But it's been kind of bugging me…I mean, what kind of ident card gets us that kind of reception and send off?" He asked, trying to not sound accusatory.

On the table, Bobby half shrugged, "Maybe it's 'cause I'm a Sheppard. Some folks like a man of God."

Dean couldn't just let it rest at that, "No, they don't. Men of God make everyone feel guilty and judged. That's not what I saw. You like to tell me what really happened?" He added a bit of force behind his words this time.

Bobby gave a weak chuckle, "I would love to. And maybe someday I will. But I'm going to ask you to this once, have faith. Have faith that I am worth your trust still."

Dean remained silent.

Right before Bobby drifted off again, the captain heard him murmur one last thing, "It's damn good to be home."

CHAPTER 13

Gabriel was mildly impressed with the speed the town had when it came to assembling a post and pyre. He was more absorbed in trying to break free from the men holding him back as they hauled a practically limp Castiel over towards it. It was like a sick sort of witch burning. Wasn't this shit gone and done with thousands of years ago?! Gabriel watched in horror as they tied his precious baby brother to the pole with his hands behind his back and ankles strapped down as well. Even more tragic was seeing that Castiel wasn't even trying to fight back. He just stood there looking resigned to his fate, like he deserved it. Like he desired it.

But Gabriel wasn't about to let this happen, "No! Please, just take me instead! My life for his!" He pleaded, but it fell upon deaf ears.

"The demon must die! God commands it!" Came the shouts from around the pyre. One of the men holding a lit torch moved forward to light it up.

"No! Get away from him!" Gabriel finally pulled free of his two captors only to be caught by two more. The adrenaline that was pouring out in response to the threat made to his little brother gave him a burst of strength to punch out the new captors. Maybe it was adrenaline, maybe it was remnants of his time at the Host, but Gabriel was able to get through to Castiel. He turned, his eyes burning molten gold.

"He has done nothing to you! If he dies tonight, it won't be God's will that killed him, it'll be you! Your lunacy! Your Ignorance! You have no idea what it took to get him here, to be like this. None of it was his fault. God didn't make him this way, men did! Evil ignorant men like you!"

There was no change on the sea of faces. They all remained impassive to his plea, they just kept looking at Castiel like he was the embodiment of evil, and perhaps now they were looking at Gabriel in the same light.

"Gabriel." Castiel's quiet voice drew his attention.

"It's okay. They see the monster. It must be there. It made Father and Dean leave, so it must be there. It'll be better this way." He said gently, almost soothingly.

"There is nothing you can do to stop us. Your brother will burn whether you agree or not." The mayor voice only barely registered to Gabriel. He was too caught up in looking at his little brothers peaceful face as he leaned his head back on the post eyes closed, almost like he was going to sleep. Right there, Gabriel's heart broke for the second time since he saw the Impala fly off. Castiel was all he had left, everyone else had left. In his fit of despair at seeing his brother so prepared for death, he truly believed that the crew, and Sam had left them behind intentionally. Got rid of the freaks. Got rid of the trouble makers.

"Post-holer. Digging holes for posts…."

Gabriel looked up into Castiel's smiling face, seemingly content where he was. He couldn't bear it. He rose the last step onto the pyre and wrapped his arms around his bound brother and rested his head on the warm shoulder.

"Light it." He ordered.

The town's people all looked startled at his actions. They all hesitated and fell completely silent, looking to the mayor for an answer. The man seemed frozen, completely stunned at the change.

"Light it." He told the man with the torch, choking out the words.

Missouri was trying to keep herself appearing calm. There were two men standing in the doorway leading out of the building, making sure that she stayed put and didn't interfere. The mayor knew that Missouri had a strong influence over the town's people and might have been able to dissuade them from the burning. He was smart to send her away. But the men watching her….she knew they weren't too bright. She was psychic after all.

Under the guise of preparing a tonic for one of the patients, so pulled out the chemical she needed. She pretended to sniff at the contents, making a face and turning to address the two thugs at her door.

"Here, you two. Don't stand there being useless. If you're going to stand there all night you might as well help me with something. Come here and sniff this. Tell me if you think it's gone bad."

She waited until both were in front of her before she held out the bottle for them to sniff together. Obediently they leaned over, taking deep whiffs. And not a few seconds later they were on the floor, drugged into unconsciousness.

"My goodness boys. Didn't your Daddy's ever tell you to not go sniffing at strange chemicals?" She shook her head and laughed.

"Now you too just stay right there. There are some people that I need to guide." And with that Missouri snuck out of the hospital and into the woods.

As soon as Sam had touched the Impala on the ground, Dean was tearing out of the hold with the rest of his crew armed and ready to go.

It was a daunting task ahead of them. When they had stormed weapons drawn into the sheriff's office, all they could get out of the trembling officers was a general idea of where the hill folk were settled. They had lived for years with the understanding that if they didn't bother the hill people, the hill people wouldn't bother them. There was about twenty square miles of forest that were uncharted and unexplored, the tree tops too thick to search by sight or radar.

This was not good news. Dean had a sick feeling that time was running out. He didn't know where the feeling came from, but it was eating away at him. He knew that the feeling wouldn't abate until he could see Castiel for himself, see that he was safe and unharmed.

It was dark out, and searching by ship was useless anyway, so the crew tore into the woods. Dean was tempted to split them up, but he wasn't ready to let anymore of his crew out of his sight less they also disappear.

He could see the same panic reflected in Sam's eyes as they stumbled through the bushes and brush. Dean wasn't sure if Sam would forgive him if Gabriel was dead or seriously hurt. Hell, Dean didn't think he could forgive himself.

Balthazar was frantic. He seemed to also be picking up on the urgency that Dean was exuding. He looked to be seconds away from a mental and emotional beak down, and Dean was right there with him.

Anna had stayed on the ship to keep an eye on the Sheppard, but the elder Winchester silently wished that she was here to offer some sort of support to Balthazar. She was good at that sort of thing. Usually Chuck could also be of some help with that, but at this point the mechanic was too busy just trying to keep his footing in the thick brush.

They were chopping through the brush for at least two hours, no idea where they were, or if they were getting any closer to one of the suggested areas by the sheriff when they heard it. A rustle in the bushes.

Signaling to his companions, Dean and his crew all drew up their weapons, ready for anything. They held their breath as the rustling grew closer.

"Put those damn weapons down, all of you! I'm not going to hurt any of you."

The whole crew were confused as a short dark skinned woman came from out of the bushes looking mighty pissed at them. But the Captain had a mission and wasn't going to forget what he was here for. He wasn't about to leave anything to chance. He kept his gun up and cocked.

"Who are you? Are you from the hidden town?" He demanded.

The woman didn't look the least bit impressed. "Yes, I'm from the town. And yes, I'll take you there. And yes, your friends are unhurt…at the moment anyway, but we have to get going. Now!" And she moved back into the bushes, gesturing impatiently to the crew to follow.

Sam and Dean exchanged a look, silently asking with facial expressions if the other thought that this could be some sort trap, luring them into the town.

"It isn't a damn trap! Get your butts moving!" Came a shout from up ahead.

A shrug and the Impala crew all moved to follow. Even if it was a trap, at least they might find their missing members.

Gabriel kept his face buried in the crook of Castiel's shoulder, unable to watch as the flame drew nearer. The torch was only inches away from lighting this pile of sticks up and making burnt marshmallows out of them, and Gabriel squeezed his arms tighter around the still form of his little brother.

Somehow over the roaring in his ears, he heard Castiel's surprised voice, "Oh! Time to go!"

Thinking that Castiel meant that the flame had finally reached them, he braced himself. But then he heard something else. Gunfire. Raised voices.

He opened his eyes, seeking out the source of the commotion. He spotted it right away. Like wolves from the forest, the Impala crew came out, Missouri right with them, guns raised and shouting at the town's people to move the hell out of the way.

A goofy grin opened up over Gabriel's face as he spotted Sam coming forward, a look of pure fury on his face as he lookup upon the townsmen.

The giddy pilot then dragged his gaze to Castiel, seeing if he had spotted Dean also there with a wrathful look upon his face. But Cas wan't looking out at the crowd, he was looking down at the bottom of the pyre…where the flames were licking up the logs towards their feet. Seems that it had gotten lit somewhere in the commotion. Not good.

Immediately Gabriel dropped down and started to tear at the bindings around Castiel's feet, trying to free those before he had to start in on his hands. But damn, those ropes were tied so tight that his brother's feet had gone blue in the short time he was bound.

Dean watched satisfied as most of the hill folk ran away like scattering rats, finally clearing the way to where Gabriel and Cas were. He was so close to getting them back. But then he noticed Gabriel's frantic tearing around Castiel's ankles….and then he saw the flames.

God damn, no.

The rest of the world fell away as Dean raced forward, dropping his gun on the ground and pulling out one of his knives without breaking stride. With a great leap he was upon the pyre, not caring that the flames were now tasting the bottoms of his shoes, melting away the heels quickly. He didn't feel any pain as his hands joined Gabriel's down at the bindings by their feet. Dean absently noted that Gabriel's hands were now partially burned along with his feet as the flames rose higher. He took only a second to shove Gabriel off of the pyre and into Sam's waiting arms beneath them, away from the flames.

Castiel's perpetually bare feet were starting to blister and crack as the fire crackled around him. Above the roar of flames he heard Cas' cries of pain as he was burned alive. Skillfully Dean cut away the bindings inhumanly fast to release the first set of ropes. Then he moved his hands up to where Cas' wrists were bound behind him. Slicing through them with a flick of the wrist, he didn't pause for a breath before he scooped up Cas in his arms bridal style and leaped away from the flames.

His landing was less that graceful, but he was able to make sure that Castiel's blistered and bloody feet didn't hit the ground. Once he finally got his bearings back He was able to see Cas' face. He looked shocked, scared and in pain, and his heart lurched. But Cas's eyes just sought out Dean's, seemingly not too concerned with the rest of the chaos around them as he just stared at Dean in disbelief. He moved a trembling hand to Dean's face, "Are you real?" he whispered in awe.

Dean choked back a sob, "Yeah. I'm real."

His face didn't light up like Dean thought it would, instead Cas dropped his gaze from Dean's and then started to look around concerned. "Where is Gabriel?" he asked, a slight panicked not to his normal gravelly voice.

"Right here, bro." Came the content voice of Gabriel from where he was sitting on the ground as Sam fretted over his feet, but at least Sam was smiling. And Dean couldn't help but smile in utter and pure relief.

Then he spotted his crew as they came back from emptying the streets, each of them looking quite satisfied. The lady that led them to the town was with them, looking very pleased herself.

Dean called to them. "Well, look at this guys! It appears we got here just in the nick of time. Sam, what does that make us?"

"Big damn heroes, Dean." Sam said smirking, unable to look away from Gabriel.

"Ain't we just. Looks like we got back what belongs to us. I gotta say though Cas. It's really amazing the effect you have on some people." Said Dean, partially breathless now that the adrenaline was wearing off.

"Yes, I'm…I'm very proud." Replied Cas awkwardly.

From behind them all the mayor came forward, "You can't do this! You have interrupted a holy cleansing. That man is a demon!"

"Whatever he is, he's our whatever! Now back the fuck off!" Shouted Dean.

"Don't worry about him Dean. He won't hold any power anymore. The seed of doubt has been planted. Soon it will grow and overtake the town, and they will have to finally cut off the poisoned branch." Cas said darkly. Whatever that meant, it seemed to scare the mayor and he finally backed off and ran back into one of the houses.

All that was left in the clearing was the reunited crew. Balthazar couldn't hold back any longer. Mindful of Castiel's injuries, he threw himself at the startled young man crying in pure joy at finding his brother mostly alright. Cas seemed to be overwhelmed with this reception. He kept on glancing around him with wide eyes, touching faces and arms, like he wasn't truly believing what he was seeing or feeling.

Dean's heart shriveled. Cas must have thought that they weren't coming.

Gabriel was also looking a bit shell-shocked. He even looked more confused when Balthazar then moved up to hug his older brother before his face melted into joyful sorrow. All of the pilot's thoughts of abandonment dissipated as he looked upon Sam's and Balthazar's tear stained faces.

He could only pray that Castiel felt the same.

CHAPTER 14

It had taken quite a while to get back to the Impala. Dean had wanted to send Sam back to fly it over so that Gabe and Cas didn't have to move their injured feet, but his brother seemed very reluctant to leave Gabriel so soon after finding him. He also pointed out that with the tree cover, they couldn't really do that either.

So instead Castiel decided to heal both his and Gabriel's feet to avoid any issues with walking….only the healing took a bit more out of Cas than he had planned on, and half way back to the ship Cas had to take a ride on Dean's back. Dean grouched plenty to all those who would listen, but inside he was happy to help Cas in any way. It was his fault that he was in this condition anyway. And maybe Dean liked to be able to feel the other man's warmth on his back, soft breaths of sleep puffing at his neck. It assured Dean that Cas was indeed still with them, alive and healed up. If not a little sleepy.

Missouri, as Dean had finally learned her name and story from a happily chattering Gabriel, followed them to the town before she parted ways with them. Gabriel had been concerned that she wasn't going to come with them, thinking that he had found another crew member for the Impala. But Missouri shook her head.

"Don't worry about me boy. I've still got patients back there. And like it or not, the town will need help getting rid of the mayor. I want to make sure all things are settled there before I start a new journey. Besides, I have a special place in mind that I wish to go to once I'm all finished up here. Maybe I'll see you all again there." She bid all of them goodbye, kissing Castiel's forehead as he continued to sleep on. And then she left, walking back to the town to set it straight.

"Oh, and boys? Take care of each other and mind your brother." She didn't look back as she said this, so no one knew which boys she was addressing, so each of them, Sam, Dean, Gabriel, Balthazar took a mental note. They would never think of crossing her. She just had that aura of listen to me or pay the price about her. Cas mumbled into Dean's neck something that sounded like, "Of course." But he was still asleep, so Dean couldn't be sure.

Now back in the ship, Cas was still sleeping away on the other bed in the infirmary while Gabriel did the best he could with Bobby until Cas was recovered enough to finish it up. Dean and Sam stayed nearby, keeping an eye on each of them from the doorway as Gabriel worked.

Once the pilot was sapped of energy and Bobby was blissfully asleep, he shuffled over to where Cas was and hopped up on the same bed, lifting up Cas' head and plopping it down on his lap so there was more room for Gabriel. As soon as he leaned his head back, he was out light a light. It was a cute scene. Cas contently snoozing on his "big" brother's lap, and Gabriel's hand resting on top of Cas' unruly head of hair. Bobby snoring so loudly it was a wonder that either Novak could sleep.

Dean snorted and whispered quietly to Sam, "Aww. Aren't they the little angels?" He joked.

Sam half grinned, not looking away from the scene himself, "Yeah, but I usually think of Gabe more like my little devil", he replied smugly, getting a disgusted look from Dean.

"Dude. TMI. Now you ruined the moment. Get back to flying the ship you pervert before you wake up Mr. Comatose over there." He said and pushed a grinning Sam away.

Once his brother was out of sight he looked back into the infirmary. There in front of him were three very much alive people. The vice that had been around his chest for the last two days loosened a small bit. At least the choices that he had made didn't result in a death. They might now have been the best choices, and things could have turned out better where no one got hurt, and no one was almost killed, but for now Dean could be satisfied that they were all still here.

He quietly moved further into the room and to the foot of Castiel's bed. He lifted up the thin sheet that was draped over the slumbering man to see if he could get a glimpse of his feet. It had been dark when Cas had first healed him and Gabe, and Dean wasn't sure if everything looked okay.

Inspecting the soles of his feet that a few hours ago were raw and leaking blood and pus, Dean saw healthy new skin that looked soft. Too soft, Castiel had lost all of the callous from his feet when he healed them. Dean took a mental note to start trying to get Cas to wear at least socks around until some sort of padding came back.

Lightly he ran a finger over one of the soles, not enough to even tickle, testing the new skin and getting wrapped up in the touch. He had almost lost it back there when they stormed into the town. As soon as he saw those flames near Cas….he almost had gone back to the past where he had stood and watched as flames twenty two years ago ate away one of his loved ones. It had almost happened again. Those short moments in the inferno, when he had been racing against the fire to free Cas, he had felt fear that almost paralyzed him. It reminded Dean far too much of the moment when he lost his mother...and that other moment when he almost lost Sam a few months ago, and of how he had almost lost Bobby a few hours ago. Had Cas really become that important to him?Had Bobby become that important to him? When had these people wormed their way past his defenses?

Didn't they know that he kept people at arms length for a reason? Why would they ever want to be part of his life when all he did was hurt the ones he cared about? People who got close to Dean ended up hurt, or worse...

But that didn't happen this time, Dean reminded himself. He didn't fail this time, not completely anyway. But Dean still wasn't sure how he was going to ask Cas' forgiveness after this. It was too late to push them away. Hell, he didn't think he could push either of them away at this point, even if he wasn't entirely sure of Bobby at the moment. They were too much apart of Dean's life now, and he would hold on to them in a death grip.

Castiel mumbled, frowning a little and shifting in his slumber, as if sensing Dean's deep thoughts. The captain reached over the stroked the sleeping man's cheek, feeling the gentle stubble along his jaw, trying to sooth him back into a peaceful rest. He watched as Cas' face smoothed back out, seemingly relaxed again at Dean's touch. It brought back an image to the Captain's mind from a few hours before, when he had touched Dean's face, as if in reverence, and then asked if Dean were real…it was just….wrong. Of course the poor guy had just found out that he had been abandoned by his father, and then Dean had to go and disappear. Who knows what he had been thinking.

Never again, Dean promised himself, and he promised the sleeping man in front of him, he would never let go again. He could not fail again.

Castiel had slept another five hours before he woke up and snuck out of Gabriel's lap to finish healing Bobby where Gabriel had left off. He had done it before anyone could stop him, and the result was Dean and Balthazar walking in on Castiel on the floor, nearly completely passed out again and his nose bleeding over his shirt.

After some intense scolding from Balthazar, some cussing from Dean, a clean shirt, and a transfer to a real bed in the passenger's quarters, Cas slept a whole day away. Bobby and Gabriel were up and about like nothing had happened by the time Cas had finally emerged from his room the next day.

Shuffling around the ship, rubbing the sleep from his eyes, Cas accidentally bumped into Dean as he was sitting on the catwalk again, a beer in his hand.

"Hey there sleeping beauty. I was gonna send Chuck in there to give you a kiss to wake you up soon. We were beginning to believe that you would sleep away the week!" Dean said lightly, noticing the nervous stance from Castiel. Last time Dean had talked with Cas here, it had been because the guy felt guilty about something. Dean could tell that something was bothering Cas this time too, but it wasn't guilt.

"Pull up a space, Cas." Dean said. Castiel looked confused. "It means sit down." Dean said gently and gestured to the open space next to him, like he had done before.

And just as awkwardly as last time, Cas sat down stiffly. "I must apologize Dean. It seems I got everyone into trouble again." He said sadly.

Dean snorted into his bottle, "No way any of that was your fault Cas. You were too busy getting yourself lit on fire. It happens."

The other man nodded, not looking entirely convinced, but accepting of the leeway Dean was providing. Dean looked thoughtful, "Why didn't you fight back, Cas? I know you're strong. You could have blasted out the eardrums of all of those people and escaped easily. Why didn't you try to save yourself?"

Cas had started to fidget with the sleeve of his coat. "They saw something Dean. Just as Father had seen something. There could be a monster lurking under my skin. I can feel it sometimes, manifesting in me, growing bigger and feeling confined…pressure…I thought….I had thought that you saw it too, and that's why you had left me behind." Confessed Castiel, then he turned to Dean frantic, "I could be a cow!" He said loudly, sounding incredibly distressed at the thought.

That took Dean back. He blinked a couple of times dumbly at the other man, "Umm, a cow? Pretty sure you're not a cow buddy."

Cas shook his head frustrated at Dean's apparent ignorance."No. The cows, they were kept in the dark, but when they saw the light, they remembered what they were! What happens when I see that light? What will I be then?" Cas sounded close to tears and Dean turned to him, placing a comforting hand on his shoulder and squeezing tightly to get Cas' attention.

"Hey hey hey. Shhhh, Cas. What if you're not a cow, huh? What if you're a frog? Didja think about that?"

At Cas' bewildered look, Dean knew he had lost him. Sigh

"I seem to remember someone telling me a story about a dude who dreamed he was a frog. Well, are you a frog?" Dean asked.

Castiel actually looked like he was pondering it, "I don't feel like eating bugs." He checked his fingers, "They are not webbed…"

Dean gently grabbed Castiels hands, and made a big show at pretending to check as well. "Right. They look human to me. So for now, nothing to worry about then. Take things as them come. Don't throw your life away just because of a few idiots who couldn't see the light and good pouring off of you. For what it's worth, I think you might be one of the most delightfully obtuse, awkwardly sincere, disturbingly innocent, and hilariously absurd people I have ever had the pleasure of finding in a box. And you have too much heart for your own good." Dean poked at Cas' chest for each description, driving home each one.

A small smile formed on Cas' face as he continued to stare at his splayed fingers, "Do you find many people in boxes, Dean?"

"Only a few mail order brides, but anyway...Cas…I know how it feels to look in the mirror and hate what you see, but…whatever you see in your reflection…know that all I can see, all than any of us can see, is you. Awkward, nerdy, badass you."With that Dean stood up and clapped him on the shoulder ready to leave the other man to his thoughts, but he was stopped by Cas' voice.

"Dean…If I can no longer have faith in my father…I wish to have faith in you."He said, staring at Dean, his eyes, like always, so sincere.

Dean froze in shock. "What? Why? Cas there are so many better people to…."

"Dean. You came back. That's more than enough reason." The sincerity in his eyes and in his voice took Dean back. Mentally Dean again promised himself and Cas that he would everything in his power to never give Cas a reason to not believe in him, and that he would never let go.

Dean rubbed at the back of his head awkwardly."Well, you can just think on that I guess, even though I'm not entirely sure I deserve it…Anyway, I'm going to get washed up. Chow's in ten. No need to get dressed up." And he walked off.

Castiel walked slowly towards the dining area, still observing his hands with rapt attention like a man on acid. He could hear the laughter coming from the room where the crew had gathered.

He entered the room while Gabriel was in the middle of a joke.

"So the Sheppard says to the Companion, "Well, a good goat would do that for free!"

Then the room burst out in uproarious laughter and giggles. Even Anna and Bobby were slapping the table in joy, even though the joke was at their expense. Suddenly shy, Cas pulls back in the doorway a little bit, not sure about disrupting the happy atmosphere. But Dean spotted him before he got too far.

"Hey Cas, come join us. I got a chair right here!' And Dean kicked out the open seat next to him. Castiel moved fully into the room and sat down, giving Dean a grateful if not uncomfortable glance.

Then the Bobby started one of his own stories that immediately drew Cas' attention. If one of Bobby's stories ever started with, "I remember a time when Sheppard Brown…" Cas was all ears, eager to hear more of the amusing misadventures of the clumsy preacher from Bobby's old abbey.

He leaned forward on the table, not wanting to miss a single word from Bobby's mouth.

Dean watched Cas watching Bobby with a small smile on his face. Everyone was home. And even though Dean might only have six bucks to his name, he had his family and that made him rich.