A beeping sound pierced through Dean's clouded mind, signaling the beginning of a new day. With a groan, he reached over to his bedside table, feeling blindly for the alarm clock until he finally managed to turn it off. Heaving a sigh, he lied back again, opening his eyes to stare at the ceiling, waiting for his vision to clear.

After a few minutes, he forced himself to sit up and looked out the window by his bed, running a hand through his short hair with a long yawn. Mumbling tiredly, he stepped out of bed and walked towards the bathroom.

"God, I hate Mondays."

He didn't stay long in the shower. He only allowed himself that luxury when he was off duty, which was mostly on the weekends – not even. Glancing down at his watch, he nodded to himself. Still had an hour to spare. He smiled. More than enough time to get some nice coffee before Bobby called him with new promises of kicking his ass.

He put on his usual clothes; jeans, undershirt and open button up shirt. Not like he needed to wear his uniform in such a small town. Everyone knew him anyway. Dean's father had worked for the town's police department as well, and he'd been adamant his son followed his example. Not that Dean had ever thought of doing any different. He'd always dreamt of being a police officer. His younger brother, however…he'd managed to slip past their father's tight grip and actually succeeded in becoming a lawyer. Ah, Sammy…his pigheaded little brother. Dean never quite mentioned it to him, but he was actually very proud of the Sasquatch. The few tears that had misted his eyes during Sam's graduation were to stay a secret between Dean and his manly pride. He snorted.

Finally ready, and clearing the thoughts from his mind with a smile and a shake of his head, he grabbed his gun and badge and swiftly made it out the door. His girl shined beautifully under the morning sun. One of the good things of working in a small town was that he got to use his own car, because everyone knew everyone there, and it wasn't like anyone else owned a black '67 Impala. When Dean drove down the road, the people knew who he was. Detective Dean Winchester. Didn't sound bad, did it? Wasted talent, according to the many people who had tried to hire him in bigger (and better, as they saw it) cities. But Dean loved his hometown, and working anywhere else just wouldn't be the same.

As he drove down the familiar road, he finally found his destiny. Now, one other thing about living in a small town was that, after some time, people got used to your schedule…and Dean always went to the same place every morning: Gabriel's Café, on Enochian Street. The guy might talk like he had four mouths, but his apple pie was fucking delicious. Parking his baby at his usual spot, Dean walked through the door, a small bell informing everyone inside of his arrival.

"Deano!" Gabriel's voice reached him from behind the counter, and he looked over to see the short man straighten up, making himself visible, his usual grin on his face. "I thought you'd gotten tired of my pie."

"You might be annoying as hell, Gabe," he grinned back, "But your apple pie's still a gift to my mouth."

Gabriel put a hand to his chest, his face scrunched up in mock pain, "You hurt me, Winchester. I thought we were friends." Dean chuckled, sitting on a stool with a sigh.

"Only as long as you keep the pie comin', man." He clicked his tongue, "That was the deal."

Gabriel sighed dramatically, placing a plate with delicious looking apple pie in front of him, "Ah, well, one does what one can." The man's lips curled up into his usual smile while Dean closed his eyes in bliss as he brought a piece of pie to his mouth. "So, what's the verdict, boss?"

Dean hummed, nodding as he chewed and swallowed, already going for another piece, "Yup. We're still friends." Gabriel laughed.

"Good." He raised an eyebrow, "Coffee?"

Dean nodded, too lost in the taste of his Heavenly treat to bother with any other response. The pie maker chuckled, walking to the coffeemaker while the detective finished his pie.

"So," he started, placing a steaming cup in front of Dean and leaning on the counter, hand on his chin. "Any bad guys that need spanking lately?"

Dean breathed out, playing distractedly with the few crumbs left on his plate as he reached out for the mug, "Nope. All calm and boring so far." He looked up into the dark golden eyes of the shorter man, raising an eyebrow as he took a sip of his coffee, "How about you?" He hissed slightly as the coffee burnt his tongue, letting out a breath before bringing the cup to his lips again, "Anything new 'round here? You tried those weird muffins you'd been rambling about?"

Gabriel breathed out a chuckle, "Actually, my little brother's coming over to live here."

Dean raised his eyebrows, letting the mug down on the counter, "You got a brother?"

The man smirked, but somehow, it didn't reach his eyes, "Four, actually. And a little sister."

Dean frowned, "Wow. How come I've never seen them before?"

"Well, for starters, they've never been here." He made a face, "You know the deal, family all tight and close, all working for the family business…" he popped a cookie from the pocket of his apron into his mouth, "I guess I'm the only one that was weird and wanted to get a life of my own."

Dean winced sympathetically, not saying anything for a minute as he stared at the black surface of his coffee, "So, this brother of yours," he looked up at him, "He tired of the tight family life too?"

Gabriel's eyes were dark with worry, and while he was still smiling, Dean recognized the expression in those golden eyes as one he'd seen on his own green ones when he looked in the mirror while thinking of Sam.

"Well, you could say he's going through a rough time." He ran a hand through his hazel brown hair, "I asked him to come down, and around the thirtieth time, he agreed." He sighed, "I'm…well, I'm kinda worried about him."

Dean felt sympathy form in his chest, something that he tended to do without even noticing. He hid it much better than Sam, at least. "How come? He in some kind of trouble or something?"

Gabriel's dark chuckle made Dean frown, "You could say that, yeah." his grin was dark when he looked at him, "Let's just say I would sleep much better if I could keep an eye on him. He's too naïve to take care of himself." He laughed, fondness warming his eyes in a way that Dean had never seen in his friend, "Guy's 32 and still thinks like a child sometimes, I swear."

Dean chuckled, "Yeah, Sam used to be that way before." After their father died, Sam had matured in ways that Dean wasn't sure he liked as much. Sometimes he missed his naïve little brother.

"How is he, by the way?" Gabe asked, "Sasquatch doesn't quite go for my "unhealthy treats", so I don't get to see him as much."

The detective laughed, "Still in love with salads, I'm afraid." Gabriel made a face, and he smiled, "He's doing pretty well, actually. Bought a house around a month ago with his girlfriend."

"Oooh," Gabriel wiggled his eyebrows, "So Sammy's no longer the solitary nerd of the family, huh?"

"Nope." He took a sip of his coffee, "Found himself a pretty awesome chick, the bastard."

Gabriel wiped a fake tear from his eye, "They grow up so fast…"

Dean grinned around his mug, and threw his crumbled napkin at the pie maker. Glancing down at his watch, his eyes widened slightly, "Shit!" he finished the rest of his coffee, reaching into his pocket to leave a few bills on the bar, "Gotta run. Bobby will have my ass if I'm late again."

The short man chuckled, "Ah, Chief Singer. There's a law enforcing figure you can count on."

"You keep laughing'," Dean warned, already walking towards the door, "But if he asks, I'll blame you."

"Well, he might not have told you this, but the old man actually loves my muffins as much as you love the pie." He clicked his tongue, "Afraid you're on your own, Deano."

Dean scowled, "Bastard." He opened the door before turning to the pie maker again, "Hey. When's your brother coming?"

Gabriel raised his eyebrows at his question, "Today, actually. Why?"

He shrugged, "Just thought I might drive by later, get to know the guy. I'm sure he'd very much rather meet people who're not…" he grinned, "you know, you."

The pie maker gasped in mock hurt, "I resent that."

Dean laughed, giving him a mocking wave before walking out the door.