Sam really hadn't meant for this to happen, and Dean sure as hell wasn't helping. The book he was reading to try and fix the problem had been discarded on the bed in favour of him rolling around on the floor, his hold on his laughter well and truly gone, tears streaming down his face due to how hard he was laughing.

"Dean! This isn't funny!" The most appropriate bitch face had been selected and thrown at the older brother, which only made him laugh harder. Sam threw his arms up in annoyance, turning away from the laughing mess on the floor to try and do some research of his own. Dean regained some of his composure, managing to sit back on the bed with only the occasional snigger sneaking past his lips. Sam tried to ignore the sniggers, managing long enough to find out that this sort of thing had never happened before or at least never recorded, and he slammed his laptop shut. Another snigger, and Sam sent daggers rather than a bitch face, actually making Dean stop.

"Sorry Sammy, it's just... It is a little funny. I mean, c'mon - how often does this sort of thing happen?"

"See, that's the thing, Dean. It isn't supposed to happen, ever! There is literally nothing on this, anywhere."

"...Oh."

"Yeah, oh." Sam huffed, getting more angry than annoyed, and leant back on the chair. As soon as his back touched it, he shot forward, yelping in pain. Dean shot him a worried look, then stood up, turning towards the bathroom then back towards Sam.

"I think it's time we asked Cas for help..."

"You think?" The words came out almost as a hiss due to the pain leaning back had caused him. "Well, go on then...!"

"Right, yeah." Dean paused, swallowing as he looked away from his younger brother. "Uh, Cas - something big came up and we could really use your help... If you can, that i-" Castiel appearing less than six inches away from him stopped him dead in his prayer, causing him to jump backwards and fall back onto the bed behind him.

"Seriously Cas! Personal space!"

"My apologies, Dean." He took a step back. "You required my assistance?" Dean just motioned to where Sam was sat, Castiel following where Dean was pointing. Castiel was not prepared for what he saw, his normally neutral expression replaced by one of shock. Sam was sat at the small motel table, leaning forwards after the pain leaning back had caused him.

"Cas? What is it?" The shocked expression on Castiel's face made Dean even more worried. The fact that apparently nothing was causing Sam so much pain didn't sit well with him. Castiel turned to Dean, placing two fingers to his forehead, allowing Dean to see what he saw. Now he knew why Sam had shot forward after just leaning on the back of the chair - sprouting from his shoulder blades was a huge pair of golden wings, spread slightly to help Sam keep his balance whilst he was leant forwards. Castiel removed his fingers, and the wings disappeared from Dean's view.

"Jesus, Sam..." Dean breathed the words out, Castiel giving him a look for blaspheming. He then turned to Sam, who had sat up slightly straighter, wondering how the wings were moving behind his brother.

"What?"

"Dude... You've got freakin' wings. Like, massive, freakin' gold... Wings." Dean paused. "Can you see them?" Sam shrugged, and Dean stared at the space just beyond his shoulders, wishing they were still visible.

"Can feel them... They're heavy." He turned his neck to look over his shoulder, and was met by a wall of gold. He blinked, then slowly turned back to Dean and nodded.

"Yep. Can see them too." Then Sam looked up, and swallowed. "Dean, they're huge." He could see Dean looking at him with a curious look on his face, and he sighed. "What?"

"Can you move them?" Sam shrugged again, finding it oddly comforting that they moved with him, noticing how they were almost hitting the ceiling due to the tips of them standing a whole foot above his head.

"I can try..." Castiel gave Sam a warning look, but Sam missed it.

"I would not recommend that, Sam." His words fell on deaf ears, as he watched Sam close his eyes in concentration, the wings quivering now that they were receiving some attention. They moved closer to his back, but were unable to close due to the back of the chair he was sat on being in the way. For someone who did not actually have wings in ordinary circumstances, Castiel found Sam to be very graceful with them, but he reasoned that it was due to Sam being Lucifer's pre-ordained vessel. He carried on watching as he carefully extended each wing slightly in turn, somewhat captivated by the way the light shone off them. Dean sniggering at Sam seemingly doing nothing caught his attention, as did the large expanse of gold that shot in front of his vision, making Dean slam into the bathroom door and Castiel to reappear a couple of feet backwards.

"Ow! What the hell, Sam?" He snapped his eyes open, noticing Dean sprawled on the floor, clutching his chest where the tip of the wing had caught him. It was Sam's turn to snigger now.

"Bitch."

"Jerk." Castiel just watched the exchange, wondering why it had any significance, but he let it drop.

"I did mention that I would not have recommended trying, Sam." Turning to Castiel, Sam's expression turned to shock as Castiel's had done earlier. He knew that the angel before him was indeed one, but he had never expected to see the wings that were resting together behind his back. Instead of the golden colour that was attached to his back, Castiel's were a brilliant black that seemed to absorb all the light around them. Sam was in awe of them, almost feeling the power of the angel's grace radiating off them.

"Sam. Please do not stare, it is..." Castiel shuffled, his wings puffing up slightly. "Uncomfortable." Sam looked at the floor.

"Sorry." Castiel looked back at Sam, almost a frown on his face as something about the wings began to shout out to him. He turned to Dean, a questioning look on his face.

"Dean. Were you attempting to summon an angel?" The abruptness of the question threw Dean off, until he blinked and he remembered how the whole thing had started in the first place.

"Uh, yeah."

"But the dumbass swapped out one of the ingredients. Summoning an angel in the middle of a prank war probably wasn't the brightest idea, in hindsight." Sam chirped in, leaving Dean grinning like an idiot. Castiel gave Dean another look, causing him to smile wider.

"Which angel? And which ingredient?"

"Swapped sugar out for salt... Which was funny at the time... And... Oh." Cue Castiel's head tilt. "Sugar for salt... We were trying to summon Gabriel..." Now Castiel looked positively fuming.

"Swapping sugar for salt when summoning Gabriel has never occurred before, for that reason!" He pointed at Sam as he spoke, the lights flickering as his voice rose. Dean was now nervous for the very real possibility of Castiel smiting his ass - luckily for him, there was a loud, angry knock on the door before the thought could cross his mind.

"Oi! Open this door before I blow it open!" Castiel motioned for it to open, to reveal a very dishevelled, pissed off Gabriel. He pointed at Sam, anger written all over his face.

"You! Give me back my wings, or I swear..."