" I was only gone for half an hour. What the hell happened?", Dean shouted.

" I don't know. He was fine a few minutes ago", Castiel replied, looking down at the little retriever puppy dog on the floor. His fur was a light brown, not at all like a chocolate lab, but more of a rich milk chocolate, and soft brown eyes.

" Great. The Apocalypse starts and Sam picks now to become a different animal?", Dean said.

" I believe it's a curse", Cas supplied.

" Oh, and what gave you that idea?", Dean asked, sarcasm dripping from his voice.

Cas looked at him sharply, which quieted Dean, just as it always had. Cas looked down at the puppy, who was Sam, and the dog looked just like he had been kicked. That was Sam alright.

" At least he's cute", Cas said.

Dean chuckled. " What did you expect? A Basset hound?", Dean asked, grinning as Sam barked disgruntled.

" I was going to say a poodle", Cas replied, quietly, but smiling. When Dean didn't say anything, Cas looked up to find him with his jaw hanging open.

" Aw, are you admiring your little lover, Dean?", a voice asked from the doorway of the bathroom.

" Gabriel", Dean growled.

" Good to see you too. Where's Sammy?", Gabriel asked.

Dean looked pointedly to the puppy on the floor, who looked up at Gabriel with big brown eyes.

" And to whom do I owe the honour?", Gabriel asked, clearly amused.

" Gabriel, meet Sam. Remember how everyone always said he had puppy eyes? Well, I guess someone decided that the whole dog look would suit Sam better", Dean replied.

" Wow", Gabriel said. Then he squatted down on the floor and held his hand out to Sam, who walked towards it very slowly. Sam leaned forward once he was close enough and smelled Gabriel's hand. Once he decided the archangel wasn't dangerous, he let himself be pet. Gabriel sat down on the carpet and crossed his legs as he pet Sam.

" So, who did you piss off, Sam?", Gabriel asked gently as Sam sat down in front of him and stared up at the archangel. He barked softly.

" Yeah, it figures", Gabriel muttered, as Sam crawled into his lap and laid down on Gabriel's thighs. Gabriel continued to pet Sam as Dean and Cas watched in sheer amazement. When Gabriel looked up, Dean looked surprised and Cas looked thoughtful.

" Why is he letting you pet him? He wouldn't let Cas near him", Dean asked.

" Maybe it's because I'm his favourite angel", Gabriel replied, smirking. Sam barked softly, almost as if in agreement. He looked quite comfortable with Gabriel, which only served to confuse the hell out of Dean.

" Whatever, dude. Can you fix it?", Dean asked.

" No. Sadly, I can't. But hey, now we're all bigger than Sam for a change", Gabriel answered. Sam barked, got up, and bounded over to Dean. " Hey, what's this? I thought you liked me."

Sam barked, wagging his tail. He looked up at Dean, who felt more confused in his whole life, but shrugged down at Sam.

" Sam. I was joking. Come on, you know I was only kidding you", Gabriel pleaded.

Sam looked at the archangel, and studied his face, looking for any sign of the Trickster. Sam wagged his tail and plodded happily over to the archangel and lay down beside him, curling close to Gabriel's body. He settled into sleep with Gabriel's hand petting from his head down to his tail again and again. It wasn't long before the puppy was snoring gently in his sleep.

" At least some things never change no matter what species he is", Dean muttered. " I'm going to bed, we'll solve this in the morning." He headed off to the bathroom with his duffel bag.

Castiel laid down on Dean's bed reverently, not sure if he would be allowed when Sam was there as well as Gabriel. But when Dean came out and just looked at the archangel and dog laying on the carpeted floor, and shook his head before laying down next to Cas and throwing as arm around him, Cas decided he was. They both were soon asleep.

When Sam awoke the next morning to find himself back to being human and laying next to Gabriel, who had thrown an arm around him, he wondered what the hell happened the night before.

He stilled once he remembered. He had been turned into a dog, probably by the witch he had met earlier in the day and who just didn't like him. At least it was only twelve hours, he could live with that. But then he remembered Gabriel showing up and going to curl up in the archangel's lap, and later by his side.

He wondered briefly why he wasn't freaking out. It came to him that Gabriel had pet him gently, and almost in a caressing way, and furthermore that Sam had liked it, had pushed into the archangel's touch. He snuggled closer to the sleeping archangel and decided that Gabriel was right, he was Sam's favourite angel, whether he was a puppy or not.