What if it had've been Sam and Dean that found Max, not Hannah? How much would that one little difference have to Max's life? Warnings listed inside. Slightly AU 'The Pulse'

Things seem to be running smoothly here at the Collective, but how long can that last? And the troublesome Logan could put a kink in the well-oiled machine that is Max and Alec. Will Castiel get his Grace back? Remember, this isn't exactly like Supernatural. It might not all go the same way.

Warnings: Trigger warnings: PTSD, flash backs, abuse, violence, torture. Swearing, loss.

One Little Difference

Chapter 53:

It was too late. Cain had gone on a killing spree and Dean was forced to kill him with the First Blade. After that, Gabriel refused to do the spell, stating that fulfilling it would release something worse than Dean's tendency to go agro. However, Gabriel had found Castiel's Grace in his search for the idol and the fruit, something that the fallen angel had long since given up on finding. Gabriel also left the idol and the fruit at the Bunker for safe keeping. The archangel stated that there had been some uprisings in Heaven, making the stores of weapons and other precious objects unsafe. Followers of Bartholomew and followers of Metatron were still wreaking havoc.

"You'd have thought they would've given up by now. Their leaders are as good as dead, one of them actually is, and me, one of the four archangels, is back in business, and yet they still fight me. I don't get why. I'm not trying to control them or anything. I'm not trying to take away their not so god given free will. I'll just have to give them time, I guess." Gabriel had said in passing before heading back to Heaven.

Dean was angry. Not just the normal Mark of Cain induced anger. True, honest to God, anger. And it was his own this time. The moment Castiel regained his Grace, the room exploded with light and books and chairs were thrown against the walls. But this wasn't what Dean was angry about. If anything, Dean was incredibly happy about Castiel getting his Grace back. It meant that Dean might not accidentally hurt him, at least, not as badly as he might when Castiel was human. The thing that pissed Dean off was that as soon as the light show was over, Castiel collapsed to the ground, exhausted. He was near powerless and his Grace was completely drained. It was still in one piece, but Castiel couldn't move, he was so weakened. He called out to Gabriel, but of course, the son of a bitch wouldn't respond.

Sam and Dean had carried Castiel back into the room that he shared with Dean and placed him gently on the bed. Dean looked at Sam helplessly.

Sam nodded. "I'm going to go and see if there is anything in the lore about this or if there is a way to heal him. It would help a great deal if Gabriel would just show up."

Dean looked down at the unconscious angel. "I hope Max gets back from the supply run soon. She and Gabriel are pretty close. Maybe he'll come down for her."

Sam shrugged, leaving the room and headed for the library. He was slightly miffed by what Dean had said. Over the last few months, Sam felt like he and Gabriel had grown pretty close as well, all the stuff with the Mystery Spot and TV Land put behind them. Especially when the archangel died for them fending off Lucifer. Sam sighed. He must not be as important. He's not special like Max or interesting like Dean and Cas. The idea that the archangel would come just because Sam called him was even more ridiculous than anyone else calling for him.

Sam pulled out all the information the Bunker had on angels and began to read through them, trying to see if he could save the love of his brother's life.

Max was about to enter the Bunker when she saw Crowley stumble towards the entrance. She rolled her eyes and helped him inside before going back to her car to grab the groceries.

When she got in, Crowley was sitting on the step, his head in his hands.

"Drunk a bit much, eh Crowley?" Max joked, moving past him down the stair case.

All she got was a groan in response. Max chuckled softly. "Why don't you crawl your way to the nearest bathroom and throw up?" Max said, walking down the stairs and down the short passage to the kitchen. She quickly put the groceries away and went back into the library where she had seen Sam doing research.

"What are you reading?" Max asked, walking up to him. "Got something new we're hunting?"

Sam shook his head morosely. "Something is wrong with Cas. When he got his Grace back, he collapsed and we can't wake him up. Gabriel won't answer any of our calls so I'm trying to find something in the lore that can help us."

Max frowned. "Gabriel?" Max called. "I know you're probably busy up in Heaven dealing with the uprisings and all that, but there's something wrong with Cas and we don't know how to help him. Could you just spare us a couple of minutes, please?"

Suddenly, there was a fluttering of wings and Gabriel appeared behind them. "So something is wrong with Cas, eh?"

Sam looked up and glared at the archangel. "Yeah, something is wrong with Cas. And I've been praying to you for the past hour to come help, and yet with one prayer from Max, you're down here quick as a flash?" Sam snapped, rising from the table. Gabriel didn't say anything.

Sam rolled his eyes. "Whatever. Cas and Dean are in their room," He turned to Max. "Call me when it's all over. I need to get out of here." And with that, Sam snatched the Impala keys off the table and headed for the garage, slamming the outer door loudly.

Max turned and looked at Gabriel with a raised eyebrow. "Are you trying to piss Sam off and/or break his heart? Or are you just being deliberately obtuse?"

Gabriel frowned. "I don't understand what you mean."

Max glared at him. "So I guess we're going with obtuse then. You do know that Sam has feelings for you, yeah?"

Gabriel sighed. "Yeah, I know."

"Then why are you being a royal douchebag?" Max asked him angrily.

The archangel sat down on the wooden chair and rubbed his eyes, looking more tired than he had in a very long time. "I'm not good enough for him. And as much as being an archangel is a perk, there are a lot of downsides."

"Such as?" Max asked.

"You know how Cas and Dean are mated, not just the transgenic way, but also the angel way?" Gabriel asked.

Max nodded.

"Well, it's not so easy as an archangel. Firstly, an archangel can only mate with their true love. And I don't just mean in the hokey human way, I mean that our essences need to match up perfectly for the mating to work. Secondly, an archangel mating with a human for realsies? It has never happened before. And most likely, it will kill the human. Cas and Dean are different because he is more than human and Cas isn't as powerful as me.

If I tried to Bond with Sam, I'm afraid of what would happen and I love him too much to let anything happen to him." Gabriel said, looking down at his hands.

Max's eyes widened. She opened her mouth to speak, but before she could, she heard keys being put down on the table, making both Max and Gabriel look up.

"You love me?" Came Sam's strained voice. "That's why you wouldn't answer my calls? Because you were trying to push me away?"

Gabriel gulped. "Sammy, look-," Gabriel began.

"I'm just going to go see how Cas and Dean are doing." Max said, sneaking out of the room.

"What Gabriel?" Sam asked, not even noticing Max leaving or her exiting comments. "You love me but you don't want to be with me because you don't think you're good enough for me?"

"Sam, that's not just it, but yeah, it's a part of it. I have killed so many people over the centuries. Thousands, possibly millions. How can you want to be with someone who is practically swimming in rivers of blood? Not to mention that being with me could potentially mean your death!" Gabriel near ranted.

Sam gripped Gabriel's face between his own big one. "I don't care, Gabe. I don't care. I love you." Sam said, leaning down and pecking Gabriel softly on the lips before pulling away. Gabriel's eyes had fluttered shut.

The sound of a clearing throat pulled them apart. "Sorry to break up the moment, but I think Cas's situation is a little more dire than your 'should we, shouldn't we?' drama." Dean said, raising an eyebrow at his brother and the archangel.

Sam snorted. "Like you're one to talk! You and Cas danced around each other for years. Me and Gabe have only been doing it for about 8 months."

Dean rolled his eyes. "Can you come and help Cas already? He could be dying for all I know!" Dean exclaimed. He turned to Sam. "And since when are you calling Gabriel 'Gabe'?"

"Oh, only as long as you've been calling Castiel 'babe'!" Sam retorted with a smirk.

"Okay, put them away boys. I gotta go save my little brother now," Gabriel said. He turned to Sam. "We'll continue this discussion later."

The two hunters followed Gabriel into Dean's room. Max was sitting at Castiel's bedside, holding his hand.

"I was wondering when you guys would finally get around the actual reason Gabriel is here right now." Max sassed.

"Now, now Cassie. What have you done to yourself?" Gabriel said, walking over to Castiel, ignoring Max's comment.

Gabriel rested a hand on Castiel's forehead before sliding his fingers down to check his pulse. Then, without warning, Gabriel moved his hand and slid it inside Castiel's lower torso, causing the younger angel's back to arch. After a few seconds of nearly blinding light, Gabriel slid his hand back out.

"Well, the good news is that Castiel isn't dying." Gabriel stated, turning to the others.

"And what's the bad news?" Dean asked urgently, moving towards Castiel rather than Gabriel.

"He's sort of in an angel coma. He's been human for so long, his body doesn't know how to handle it. He's sort of emphasising. He might come out of this exactly the same, or maybe even weaker. But on the other hand, he might just become as powerful as me. It's kind of unpredictable. An angel isn't supposed to have their Grace removed in the first place." Gabriel replied.

"How long will he be in this coma?" Sam asked, looking at the archangel.

Gabriel shrugged. "It can be anywhere between three days, three weeks or three months. I'll do what I can to speed along the process, but there still isn't a lot I can do for him. We need to give him time to adjust."

Dean breathed a sigh of relief. "At least he's going to be okay. He can take all the time he needs, as long as he's alright."

Gabriel smiled slightly at Dean before walking back over to Castiel and pressing two fingers to his forehead. A bright light shone out of Gabriel's fingers and into Castiel. Castiel's somewhat ragged breathing evened out and his body seemed to relax.

Gabriel looked at the others. "This is all I can do, really. Keep him comfortable during this time." Gabriel took Sam's hand in his. "We need to talk. Let's leave them to it."

With a flutter of wings, Sam and Gabriel were gone and Dean and Max were left with an unconscious Castiel.

Sorry it's taken me so long to post another chapter. Everything has just been so hectic with me starting university. I promise, once everything settles down, I'll post more frequently.

So how did you like this chapter? I hope you enjoyed. It sort of didn't end up the way I thought it would. My muse ran away with me. Plus it's nearly 3:20am, so don't hate me too much. Please review! :D