It happened when Castiel and Dean had been together for almost a year.

Mary Winchester had invited Castiel and his older brother over for dinner one night, a weekend when Sam and Jessica would be there. Castiel had been surprised, but he agreed that it might be fun for the entire family to meet what was left of his.

And so, Gabriel came into town.

Despite Mary's protests, he booked a room in a local hotel, and no one saw him until the time came for them to all eat together. Sam nearly dropped his plate on the floor when the older man walked into the room, and Dean gave him a look.

The man that had just walked into the room was Gabriel Potestas, but both of the Winchester brothers recognized him as Gabriel the Archangel, also self-named Loki.

Dean took in the suddenly uncomfortable look on his face and felt his anger seeping away from him, like sand through his fingers.

It seemed like Gabriel knew who they were too.

When Mary hustled over and wrapped the man in a warm hug, then dragged him to the table to sit next to his brother, everyone in the room became a little less tense. Dean felt brave enough to lean around his boyfriend and talk to what was almost essentially his brother-in-law.

Gabriel became less worried after that, speaking to everyone in the room. He was funny, he was sarcastic, and he was a little strange, but they had gotten used to that with Castiel. He talked to Mary about the garden she had outside, and the lovingly restored cars with Bobby, Dean and John. He joked with Jessica about the world of fashion and they got into a discussion about law degrees versus any other type of degree. He praised Mary's cooking and he teased his brother.

In short, he fit in with everyone in the house, except Sam.

No matter how much he tried, Sam couldn't get the other man to look at him, much less talk to him.

Which was how they were here now, Dean having trapped Gabriel in a hallway with him. Arms crossed over his chest and face set in a frown, Dean knew he must be looking more than a little intimidating.

"So why are you avoiding talking to my little brother? Did you guys have an arguement in the five seconds he managed to get you to talk to him?"

Gabriel looked ashamed, eyes focusing on a spot just over Dean's left shoulder. "No." biting his bottom lip and running a hand through his hair, Gabriel sighed. "I just...I've seen him before."

"What, like a one night stand or something?" Dean raised an eyebrow.

Gabriel laughed, sounding almost bitter. "No. Hell No. Kiddo's been in a few of my dreams lately, and I hadn't even met him before tonight. Sounds crazy, but I-"

"-Have been having weird dreams of a life that isn't yours." Dean finished for him, eyes going wide now. "Like...'You saved his ass from Lucifer' kind of dreams."

Gabriel was meeting his eyes now, disbelief, anger and a small amount of fear rushing through his eyes. "How did you know?"

Dean hesitated, licking his suddenly dry lips. "Because that's how I met Cas."

The other man looking at him like he was crazy, Dean sighed. "I kept having these dreams about this amazing guy, blue eyes and dark hair. Trench coat that was too friggen' big for him. I kept seeing him fighting at my side. There was a handprint on my shoulder because he dragged my ass out of Hell."

"The righteous man who spilled blood in Hell." Gabriel whispered. "I had dreams where I heard whispers about him, but I never...Never saw who it was."

Dean winced. "What the Hell is going on?"

A door slammed upstairs, and they both heard Jessica's voice, the vent above Dean's head acting like a speaker.

"-am, I was willing to share you with him when he was just something in your head. I could do that. I could deal with him being in your head as long as you were mine. I think-"

"Jess-"

"No, Sam."

She didn't sound angry, and Dean guessed that Sam must have been the one to slam the door.

"Jess..."

"Sam. I love you. You know I do." she must have hugged his brother or something, because now her voice was muffled. "But we both know that you don't love me nearly as much as you love the man who walked into this house tonight."

"I..." Sam seemed to be struggling for words. "I do love you."

When she spoke again, Jessica's voice was coming from further away. "I know you do. But if you love me more than you love the dream guy who gave up his life to save yours, come with me to the roof."

Seconds passed, then a few minutes. Dean was sure his brother had followed his girlfriend, but then Jessica started talking again.

"See? I'll still be your absolute best friend, Sam. I'm just not the on you're in love with."

A door opened somewhere above them, then shut quietly. Dean chanced a glance at Gabriel. The shorter man was looking up at the ceiling like he was entranced, and his eyes were wide. His hands were braced against the wall, and his entire posture spoke of a man who had been saved from a Hell of his own making.

"Gabriel?"

The golden-brown eyes swiveled towards him, and he nearly choked. The man in front of him was human, but in that moment, Dean would swear that he was looking at the Archangel from the world of his dreams.

"He's had the dreams too."

Frowning, Dean almost spoke, until Jessica walked past them. She stopped in front of Dean, smiling at him.

"When you see your mother, please tell her tonight was lovely. I'm sorry I can't tell her myself." she shrugged, her normally fluffy long blonde hair was up in a braid and so as a result her face wasn't hidden from his sight.

She looked sad, but resigned, like she had known this was coming for a long time, but had stuck around anyways.

Gabriel was looking at his feet, cheeks flushed red in embaressment. Jessica set her suitcase upright, then took the few steps towards the man. When he finally looked at her, she put a hand on his shoulder, leaning in to kiss his cheek.

"Take care of him, Gabriel."

With that, she smiled, grabbed her suitcase, and went down the stairs.

Both of the men in the hallway watched her go. Heavy thudding steps came rushing down the stairs behind them, the ones leading up to the next floor. Within seconds, Sam came into sight. He had a look of terror on his face, and his chest was heaving. He wasn't out of breath, but he was panicked.

And then it was all calm.

Dean followed his little brothers line of sight, and saw his eyes were fixed on Gabriel.

"I'm going to go find Cas." he muttered, passing his brother and heading to his room. His boyfriend had mentioned wanting to read and curl up in bed for a while. Now was probably a good time to go join him.

Cas liked it when he stroked his spine and shoulders. It made him almost purr.

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