Chapter 15

John woke up the next morning in a bad mood. His argument with Sam still on his mind. Why the Hell would he want to talk to the Trickster before killing it. It was a monster, it should be killed, end of that. Even that Angel was a problem in his mind, and he still doesn't understand how his oldest can sleep with that thing in his room. No matter how peaceful and friendly the thing may seem, he could just be biding his time.

With a tremendous groan, he rolled out of bed. He was going to need to find some alcohol soon in this place. The stress was bad, and he was starting to crave the release. Maybe Dean carried some in the bags or something. If not, he'd just go to the bar.

Looking over at his oldest, PreDean was still asleep, he sighed. He was surprised at how much that boy will grow up in the next several years, and how beat down he becomes. He doesn't even seem to want to talk to him anymore. But by God, he could channel Mary in a heartbeat with that righteous anger.

He quickly collect his clothes, careful to not wake his son, and went into the bathroom to take a quick shower. He started the water before stripping down. He methodically cleaned himself off, then stopped the water. He dried quickly and dresses. Buy the time he had finished, PreDean was up and watching out the window. His face puzzled.

"I think I've told you before, it's rude to stare." John admonished.

"There's something weird." PreDean said, pointing out the window.

"What is it?" John asked, walking over to look for himself.

What he saw was a bit unusual, even when he's years in the future and nothing is really recognizable, especially after he saw Dean's cell phone, which looked like something off of Star Trek. Three men and a woman were standing on the grass, in different patches, all staring at the sidewalk with death in their eyes. One of them took a running start and tried to jump over the sidewalk, but seemed to hit an invisible barrier and fell back down to the earth.

"What is going on?" PreDean asked to no one, but John heard it, and found he couldn't come up with an answer either.

"I don't know." He admitted. PreDean turning to walk into Dean's room. John followed him with a frown.

"Hey, Cas, what's going on outside?" PreDean asked, walking into the room, pausing when he found his on the floor, in a pair of boxers and his t-shirt. Castiel standing over him, telling him to hold still while helping untwist from the sheets.

"Nightmare." Was all Dean gave in way of explanation.

PreDean just nodded, deciding it was better to not ask.

"Right. But what is going on outside?" He repeated. Dean getting to his feet just before John could walk into the room.

"What are you talking about?" Dean asked, putting a pair of jeans on. Castiel walked over to the window to look outside. John hearing a small snort of laughter coming from the usually stoic man. Dean walking over to the window to check for himself.

"What's the big deal?" Dean asked, looking at Castiel who was still smiling an a self-satisfied kind of way.

"Oh, nothing really. I may have just replaced a few of the key ingredients of cement and pavement with salt, you know, preventing any Demons moving from where ever they called out of. Looks like this city also had quite a Demon problem to begin with, cause their not looking for you guys." Castiel explained.

"You didn't." Dean said, big smile spreading across his face.

"I may have, yes." Castiel answered, still smiling as Dean let out a howling laugh, running out of the room, yelling for his brother. Returning, pulling a very disgruntled Sam into the room.

"Sammy, look what Cas did." Dean said, pointing excitedly. "Look it, look it. The Demons are stuck because Cas put salt in the sidewalks and roads."

Sam rolled his eyes walking to the window, and stooping down to look through the window. He looked outside for a solid minute, his face blank, then looked up.

"They...They're stuck there, huh?" Sam asked, lip twitching.

"Yeah." Dean said happily. Sam no longer able to hold in his laughter, he laughed louder.

"I say that would pretty much trap any Demon close to here who has any knowledge what-so-ever of our little predicament." Castiel stated, rolling up his sleeves and opening the door. "I'll be back once they are all dispersed." He said before he disappeared.

John watched as his adult sons walk away from the window. Dean's smile bigger then anything he had seen in years.

"Oh, that guy." Dean exclaimed with a laugh. "You know, he hides it well, but he does have a bit of a prankster in him somewhere."

"Really, cause I think he just spends way too much time with you." Sam teased.

"He can do stuff like that?" John asked, looking out the window, finding no one left in the grass. "And when did he have the time?"

"He can move at the speed of light, he can exist between the planes of the physical and spiritual. There's also the fact that after you guys got back from the store yesterday, he went ballistic with the warding, all over the city. Everywhere." Dean explained.

"Wait, why would he do that?" Sam asked, looking at Dean in alarm. "The rooms are already protected, why would he do more?"

"Apparently he had a close call with Crowley of all Demons yesterday and decided it was necessary." Dean answered.

"So, he went nuclear because Crowley got a bit close to them?" Sam asked, gesturing at PreDean and John.

"Pretty much yeah." Dean stated. "He says Crowley didn't see anything, but he wanted to be safe just in case. He also said something about putting salt circles under a thin layer of dirt every five miles up to a certain point." He elaborated. Castiel returning no long after.

"Every Demon within the city is taken care of." Castiel reported.

"So it's safe to walk around now?" PreDean asked.

"In a manner of speaking. You are safe from Demons. There could be other things in the city, after all the Trickster is still at large. Then again, are you ever really safe. I have not witnessed anything as cruel of what humans can do to each other." Castiel answered.

John thought on that, and the Angel had a point. Human where crazy, and the Trickster, who knew what that thing could do to them. His thoughts where cut off when Castiel spoke again.

"By the way, I took a moment to look for the Trickster in the city while I was out." Castiel told Dean. "I'm not sure we're working with the usual, or it's moved on. I could not find or sense anything." He finished as Sammy entered the room out of curiosity.

"So this thing can hide from you?" Dean asked. Turning on Castiel in concern.

"It appears so." Castiel answered, looking at Dean and Sam with a look. John be damned if he knew what it meant. But it obviously meant something, because Dean groaned and collapsed onto the bed.

"What does that mean?" Sammy asked, turning to his older self.

"It means that we have a good idea on what we're hunting, and maybe what brought you here." Sam answered, rolling his eyes up to the sky, as if asking if everything was necessary.

"Damn it." Dean exclaimed, sitting up. "Can't we just gank the mofo and be done with him?" Dean asked, throwing his hands up to the air. "You know what, I need some air and I'm hungry. I'll be back." He said, grabbing his keys and walking out the door.

"What's wrong with him?" PreDean asked.

"He's just irritated." Sam said, shaking his head.

"But why would Dean be upset? He spoke like you guys know him, and can't kill him. It's a Trickster, just dip a steak in to the blood of one of it's victims and stab the thing." John said.

Sam sighed, looking as if he was about ready to start explaining to a child that they had to throw away his favorite toy.

"It's not that simple." Sam said. "We can't just kill him, this is one we need to talk to."

"Why's that. It's a monster, it gets killed." John argued.

"No it doesn't, and I wouldn't call him a monster, just very bored with a malicious streak." Sam reasoned.

"It's killing people." John pointed out.

"No, just pulling little pranks here and there, taking people off their pedestals and making them realize they need to change. A couple of the people have ended up in jail, or the hospital, fully alive. But they deserved it. That's the thing with Tricksters, they attack dicks and jerks." Sam explained.

"Be that as it may Sam, it's probably gone too far in the past, and needs to be put down." John stated.

"It's not that simple Dad, and he's not a dog who's getting old and cancerous, he's a kinda friend of ours. We owe him." Sam argued back.

"What do you mean you owe him?" John asked in confusion. Why would his children owe a monster anything.

"Because he helped us stop the Apocalypse. He got me and Dean out of a pretty tight corner, putting himself at great risk, and he's generally pretty reasonable. Tack on the fact that he's pretty much impossible to kill, except by his own kind, yeah, I wanna try talking to him first. Otherwise, he could make our lives a true living Hell." Sam fumed.

"That's why you kill them. There is no such thing as an indestructible monster." John snapped.

"Unless of course the Trickster is not your average Trickster and just pretends to be one because he ran away from Heaven when things started to get too dicey." Dean said, walking in and passing a breakfast sandwich to eveyone, once he had their attention.

"What?" Sammy asked.

"Gabriel." Castiel answered simply.

"Correct-a-mundo little bro." They heard from the door left open by Dean. John turned to find a short man leaning against the door frame, hands in his pockets, seemingly unconcerned that he was in a room with hunters.

"Oh, come on man, what the Hell where you thinking?" Dean said, turning to the Archangel with a glare.

"It's been awhile since I messed with you guys." Gabriel offered. "I needed a distraction for you guys while I made my grand re-entrance. I was bored and it sounded like fun. I wanted to see if I could make someone's head explode, namely yours. I needed some way to get hunters to take interest in this town, because Demons have been running a muck around here for decades. Pick your favorite, cause they're all right." He continued, walking further into the room. Climbing on the bed, he began to jump up and down for a couple of moments before settling down and watching each of them for a moment.

"Who are you?" John asked, looking up at the man.

"Don't you listen dude?" Gabriel asked, tilting his head in John's direction, John reminded of Castiel when he was confused about something as well. "I'm Gabriel, you know, messenger of God, Archangel extraordinaire, only guy in Heaven with a sense of humor." He introduced.

"Gabriel." Castiel admonished, sending a reproachful look to his brother.

"You are no fun little brother." Gabriel wined, pulling a pastry cake from his pocket and taking a bite. Castiel sending him a look of unbelieving offence.

"It is civil war in Heaven. Raphael is attempting to restart the Apocalypse, the only thing keeping that from happening is my retaliation and sabotage in his plans. Which I have had to leave in order to protect this lot from possible Demon or Angel attacks. You could have potentially destroyed the current time events that saved the human race, and all of this for a joke." Castiel fumed.

"Okay, I know. In hindsight, I probably should have checked what was going on in Heaven before I went ahead with my plans." Gabriel surrendered. "But in my defense, I've been pretending to be dead for awhile and I lost track of everything." Castiel stared at his brother for a full minute before grabbing a flask of Holy Oil out of his coat, and taking a lighter out of Dean's pocket. "Okay, okay.." Gabriel said, before Castiel could go through with his threat. "I'll take them back. I'll erase their memories. I'll put everything right, just don't oil me."

"Whoa, wait a second. I don't approve of having our memories erased." John said, grabbing a gun from the table.

"Well sorry pops, but you're not getting a choice in this matter." Gabriel said, snapping his fingers, the room suddenly empty of four of it's occupants.

"You think he actually did it?" Dean asked, turning to Castiel.

"He better have." Sam huffed, walking out of the room.

The first thing he felt was a small, throbbing pain in his head. Followed by a stinging pain in his eyes as he opened them. Sitting up slowly from his cot, he began to work out the stiffness in his back and neck. The details of the dream he had had trickling away, every detail no longer recognizable. But the strong sarge for a drink very noticeable.

Rubbing his hands over his eyes to help himself wake up more, he looked over at his children. They where both still asleep, tucked under the blankets. The bruising from the last hunt a startlingly contrast to their pail skin. Deciding to let them sleep for a bit longer, he got up to quickly get his shower. He'd wake them up when he was done, if they weren't already. Then they would start their exercise.

Dean was awoken by the sound of a door closing and running water. He opened his eyes and looked up to find the cot his father was on empty.

Deciding it would be best to get out of bed, he sat up and let out a long yawn, stretching out his arms and back. He swung his legs out to the side of the bed and slowly stood up. He went to his bag, collecting his work-out clothes, deciding he'd wait until after to get his shower.

When pulling his pants out of the bag, a shirt fell to the ground. Green, and button down, with small flecks of yellow in lines in a plaid pattern. He picked it up and turned it over.

'When did I get this?' He thought to himself, turning it over. Shrugging to himself, he rolled it up and put it back into his bag. He liked it, and may as well wear it. Maybe he'd just forgotten he'd had it. It did look familiar, and he felt like it was gotten specifically for him. Like it was given to him from someone he knew and liked, but he just couldn't remember from where or who.

Looking over to his brother, he decided he should probably get him up as well.

"Come on Sammy, wake up!" Sammy heard, pulling from his dream. It was bizarre to say the least. He opened his eyes to see his brother standing over him. He sat up and looked around the room. Were where they, Texas, no Wyoming. "Rise and shine short stuff, Dad's bound to get out of the shower soon, then it's time to exercise."

"I'm up, I'm up." Sammy said sleepily. His mind working furiously to hang on to and recall the details of the dream he'd been having. Thinking he would remember better if he talked about it, he turned to his brother. "Hey, Dean. Do you believe in Angels." He asked.

"No, why?" Dean asked, sending a perplexed look to his brother.

"Just a dream I had." Sammy said, getting up and getting dressed.

Dean sat in the motel watching television, and sipping on a beer. Sam had gone to the library to look up some information on the thing they where hunting. The deaths seeming the same as any other hunt, but at the same time, completely different.

He felt a weight press into his side and put an arm around his Angel.

"That war must be going pretty well." Dean said, looking to his side, catching the blue eyes of Castiel. "I mean, if you can take the time to come and cuddle."

"Gabriel showed up the day after he took you, Sammy, and your father back to their proper time. Most of the other Angels have calmed down, deciding he was a more stable leader." Castiel explained. "Last I heard, Raphael had been tied to picket over some Holy Fire until he learns his lesson. I'm sure Gabriel will take him down when he feels he had."

"So the runaway decided to finally come home." Dean said. "Well I'm glad. That means you can come and spend more time here and I don't have to worry about you too much." He said, leaning over and giving the Angel a small kiss on the temple. Then thought. "Have you heard any word from Crowley again?" He asked.

"Once, I went to see him and let him know I was not interested in his offer. He seemed a bit more upset that I just left him there. Who knew that spot was on one giant Demon trap. I certainly did not." Castiel smirked. Dean laughed for a moment then thought of something.

"You do pretty well in covering up our relationship. You don't think my dad found out anything do you? I don't want my past self to get the brunt of his anger from any kind of residual anger or homophobia he might have." Dean inquired.

"Your father; no. Definitely not." Castiel answered. "You on the other hand, or rather PreDean. He most likely did. With the souls trying to sink up, he probably felt your feelings toward me. He did ask about it, and I may have let something slip."

"I don't remember it, what did you let slip?" Dean asked.

"I may have said we 'are not currently sleeping together'." Castiel explained.

"You lied to him? Wow, Cas, I'm surprised. You don't like to lie." Dean praised.

"I did not lie." Castiel defended. "I simply omitted the fact that we have previously done so and we where taking a break while they where here."

Sam came home later that evening, going straight to bed. He was drained, and just a bit put off.

He heard a small noise, lifting his head to look, he found a sheepish looking Gabriel standing in the corner. Rolling his eyes, he layed back down, and closed his eyes.

"Go away Gabriel. I'm still mad at you." Sam stated, making his irritation with the Archangel obvious.

"Would it help if I said I was sorry?" Gabriel asked, taking a step closer. Sam thought for a moment before answering.

"Gonna need a bit more then 'I'm Sorry'." Sam said, still not moving. "You pretend to be dead for almost a year. I was so angry and guilty. If you had told me you where going to go in there and get yourself killed, I wouldn't have let you go in alone. You made me think that I could have stopped you, I could have helped. Would it have been so hard to send me a message, or a note to say your alive."

"I'm sorry." Gabriel started. "I know I should have let you know, but at the time if you did, then Lucifer would have. Then he would have tracked me down and killed me before going after Micheal." He explained. "Then you would never have gotten out of that cage."

"Then why didn't you tell me after you got me out? Instead of, oh i don't know, just leaving me there." Sam argued.

"I heard someone coming. I thought it would be best to stay dead until everything calmed down again." Gabriel defended. "Trust me, it was not my first idea. I had every intention of sticking around and thanking you for stopping the Apocalypse."

"What about after that?" Sam said, finally sitting up to look at him.

"Trickster." Gabriel said, by way of an answer. "I had work to do. People to take down from their high horse." He sighed when Sam didn't respond, walking over to him. "Look, I'm sorry. But I'm here now. Heavens under control, apparently Crowley is stuck in a huge Demon trap in Europe, and you have no memories of what happened when you where a child. By the way, adorable."

"Actually, I think that might have been the time I started getting into religion and praying." Sam admitted.

"Well, look at that. I converted someone who otherwise would have never found a way." Gabriel teased, putting his arm around Sams shoulders. Sam giving him a glare.

"Look, Gabriel, I get it. I understand." Sam stated. "But I'm still mad, and I just need a couple of days to figure everything out. Dean doesn't even know about us, and I don't think he would be very happy with me if he found out. So I also need to have some time to talk to him. With Cas being around more and more, it's gonna be harder to hide it, and you know he'll tell Dean. After all, they have their own little thing going."

"Okay." Gabriel appeased. "You got my number, I still have some stuff to do up in Heaven. When your ready, just call me. In the mean time, I'm gonna go pour some marinade on Raphael."

"Sounds good." Sam said, watching the Archangel vanish.

Fin.

Well, there you have it. This story is complete. Finished, fineto, done.

I hope you enjoyed it. Sorry if you don't like the ending, but that was what I had in mind when I started writing it. I've never actually finished a story before, so this is an achievement.

Be sure to keep an eye out. I've been writing a Destiel, so I should be posting it soon. I want to make sure it's mostly done before I post it. If your bored and like Gundam Wing, you can read my other fic Supernatural Pilots.

Thank you all for reading!

Lots of Love!