that which families are made of

Disclaimer:

Supernatural belongs to The CW Network. This story takes place post-S10 finale and will contain spoilers. There is implied Destiel, though it is not the main focus of this story. Feel free to hit the back button if it's not to your tastes. I only own this little plot idea. Thank you!

Full Summary:

[Oneshot – Post-S10 Finale] [Part 2 of the 'Deus Ex Machina' series] Castiel had imagined seeing Heaven back in harmonious accord as it once was millennia ago. But he'd known that it was a fanciful dream, because Father had long since left and clearly did not want to be found. So it was with much surprise to be not only reunited with God, but also to witness the four archangels alive and, most importantly, without conflict tearing them apart. It seemed like, given enough time, dreams do come true.

After the Darkness had been safely locked away, the four archangels and God had returned to the bunker. All of them had looked a little worse for wear, which on them, signified that a good amount of damage had been done. When they'd first showed up again in the middle of the TV room, and consequently interrupting a viewing of Game of Thrones, Castiel was sure that Dean was on the verge of demanding them to leave. But then they'd all taken a good look at the five beings – Castiel getting a clearer look than the two humans – and Dean's unvoiced protests subsided.

Castiel had then shown them to some of the cleaner bedrooms in the bunker. The fact that they'd all chosen to walk was testament to their exhaustion. Then when they reached the rooms, Castiel wasn't entirely surprised that all four archangels piled into one room without another word. They probably wouldn't be out in a while.

That left him and his Father standing awkwardly out in the hallway. Castiel knew that giving Father the silent treatment couldn't last forever. He squared his shoulders, consciously relaxed his wings into a neutral position before acknowledging God. Their subsequent conversation had Father telling him about how His talk with the archangels went, and Castiel realized that one reason why it had taken about four days for them to return was mainly because half of that time was spent resolving all the issues.

There were a lot.

His own issues with Father on the other hand, thankfully, did not take as long. Father also said that while He wouldn't be actively interfering, He also wasn't going to go radio-silent on them in the future. If the excited chorus over angel-radio was an indication, Father had also made that known to the rest of the Host. That and how Father had restored everyone's wings.

Honestly? Castiel really did miss flying most of all when he was human, and when he'd angel-ed up but still couldn't fly because of the extensive damage.

A couple of days later, which had been mildly entertaining in that Dean had been complaining rather loudly about freeloading archangels every so often even though they hadn't seen hide nor hair of any of the said archangels (Sam, on the other hand, had been not-so-subtly avoiding the corridor the archangels' room was in), Castiel had come out of Dean's room to find all four archangels in the bunker's kitchen.

Gabriel was happily popping sweets into his mouth, and the mountain of assorted candy on the dining table could only be a result of his doing. Every so often, Gabriel would wince or twitch, which would prompt Raphael to whack him – gently – on the head with a wing.

"Stop squirming and let me heal that wound on your wing properly, Gabriel."

"Nooo! Just leave it be! You've touched it long enough over the last few days!" Gabriel whined around a mouthful of candy.

"Let Raphael work, Gabriel," Lucifer chided.

"And don't talk with your mouth full," Michael added.

The eldest two archangels had mugs of hot tea in front of them. Castiel suspected that Sam's organic teas had gone into their making and briefly wondered what his friend would make of that. It was a rather surreal, domestic scene that Castiel doubted he was accidentally witnessing. The archangels definitely knew he was standing there. So it was surprising he was seeing this side of them.

The archangels in his memories never let their guard down. They never appeared approachable. Even though Gabriel's mischievous streak had been evident from the start, it was merely another mask. Besides, Gabriel's pranks had always tended to fall on the side of being just a bit too traumatic even before his days masquerading as a Trickster. Similarly, even as the Host were in awe of Lucifer before his Fall, he who was the brightest and most beautiful of all angels, it was an admiration that came from afar. Raphael, as the archangel of healing, perhaps mingled amongst the rank and file the most out of the four. But his style of caring was probably what humans would call "tough love" – as evidenced by how Gabriel was currently still getting smacked around and nagged. As for Michael… Well.

In short, the only ones who'd seen them relaxed were Father and the archangels themselves.

"Cassie! Save meeee!" Gabriel cried out suddenly, his hands, and some of his grace as well, flailing in Castiel's direction dramatically.

That caused a sort of chain reaction as Gabriel's wild movements jerked his wings out of Raphael's grasp, prompting Raphael to smack Gabriel again, and probably most importantly, it finally directed both Michael's and Lucifer's attentions to Castiel.

Castiel had faced down many dangers in his time as an angel, even before he met the Winchesters. But having the eldest two archangels put their full attention on him was still slightly unnerving.

"Castiel, it's heartening to see you're still alive and well," Lucifer said. "It seems like being around the Winchesters doesn't normally do favors for someone's lifespan."

He forced himself not to try to read into any hidden meanings that Lucifer's words may have. If God hadn't seen it necessary to have Lucifer put away again, then all should be fine.

"I've been luckier than most."

"Indeed," Michael acknowledged. "Father has resurrected you a few times."

Then Michael suddenly narrowed his eyes. A tendril of Michael's grace reached out towards Castiel, and Castiel had to fight the urge to put up urgent defences. He didn't sense any malicious intent, but well… He did molotov Michael with holy fire that one time at Stull…

…and called him an assbutt.

Michael's grace prodded at him with surprising gentleness. Angels as a whole were not gentle beings, the archangels even more so. Then Michael seemed to have found what was bothering him and his grace moved with clearer intent. Castiel immediately realized what Michael had picked up on and tried to hide it away. It was, however, a moot point by then.

"You have a fledgling bond with Dean Winchester," Michael stated, surprised.

"It's a little more than just a fledgling bond, Michael," Lucifer said, also staring intently at that particular spot of Castiel's grace. Castiel tried not to squirm. "Honestly, Michael, did you not know?"

"I, well," Michael seemed at a loss for words, and that was answer enough.

Lucifer smirked. "I guess that's one trait you and Dean share: obliviousness."

"Oh Father, really, Mikey?" Gabriel piped up, laughter coloring his tone. "Did you really not notice the intense eye fucking between Dean-o and Cassie? I mean, maybe you didn't get what it meant totally, but a bond shouldn't have been surprising at all!"

"Gabriel!" Raphael snapped. "Am I going to need to tie you down before you'll keep still?"

"Kinky, bro." Gabriel gave an exaggerated wink. "But you aren't my type, sorry!"

Raphael's interruption appeared to have given Michael enough time to recover his poise.

"It may have slipped my notice," the eldest archangel acknowledged. "Nevertheless, I know about it now. So I have to ask. Castiel, are you sure?"

"Yes, I'm sure."

"And does he know about the bond?"

"…I have mentioned that we did share a more profound bond once."

"And that means Dean probably took it figuratively," Lucifer concluded. "You'll have to let him know the truth soon, Castiel."

"Yeah, very soon. The two of you have been busy," Gabriel added.

Perhaps it was a side effect of having been human for a substantial period of time, but Castiel felt his vessel's blood rushing to his face. He should be able to control such bodily responses, but it was more difficult that he expected.

"Awww he's trying not to blush!"

"Gabriel," Michael chided. "It's not nice to tease."

"Just make sure you be absolutely clear, Castiel," Raphael said, though his eyes were still concentrated on Gabriel's slowly healing wound. "Dean Winchester has an astounding capacity for denial."

Castiel supposed all of that was the angelic equivalent of getting approval from his family over a romantic interest. It was all rather surreal.

"Thank you for your concern."

"Oh don't thank us so soon," Lucifer interjected with a little smirk. "We'll need to talk to Dean too."

"Make sure he knows to treat you right," Gabriel added.

"…are you referring to what humans call "the Shovel Talk"?" Castiel asked slowly. He hoped that that wasn't what his brothers were referring to.

"We sure are!" Gabriel confirmed enthusiastically. Maybe too enthusiastically for Castiel's peace of mind.

"Gabriel, you are not going near Dean with that in mind," Castiel said, trying to sound stern instead of fearful.

He had learnt about how Gabriel had, in a roundabout bid to prevent the Apocalypse early on, made Sam witness Dean dying a hundred over times. It was not something he wanted to experience, or anything remotely like it… Not when he could now remember killing thousands of copies of Dean as part of Naomi's brainwashing procedure.

Castiel was startled out of his reverie by a wing embrace. Though his vision was partly obscured by the wing, its golden color let him know that it was Gabriel who was hugging him. Apology and comfort radiated from Gabriel's grace. It was very nice. Castiel didn't remember this level of familial warmth in a long time, nor did he remember getting a wing hug in even longer.

Well, not a real one at least. When he'd hugged the Gabriel that Metatron had conjured up, he had felt a reciprocal hug. But it wasn't the same.

"I'm not going to do that again, Cassie. I swear," Gabriel promised. "Also, I do kind of remember that thing with Megadouche."

"You do?" Castiel asked, pushing aside some of the feathers from Gabriel's wing so he could look at the archangel in question.

"Kinda?" Gabriel shrugged. "It's hazy, like a dream. But I guess it must have happened to you. Megadouche probably got a hold of some stray piece of my grace and used the angel tablet to power up a construct that looked like me."

"I asked you back then, if you were still alive. You didn't answer. I had hoped…"

"Well, I'm alive now. Don't look so sad, Cassie."

"Father has dealt with Metatron," Raphael added, a cold satisfaction coloring his otherwise calm tone.

That was something Castiel did not know. But it was comforting to hear, because although Metatron was now human, he still possessed vast knowledge on how to incapacitate angels and he had also run off with the demon tablet.

Before he could enquire further, however, there was a sudden shift in the atmosphere in the kitchen. It wasn't anything very obvious, but he could feel that the attention of all the archangels – except maybe Raphael – was now directed outwards of the kitchen. A second later, he picked up on why.

Castiel turned around to see Sam appear in the doorway to the kitchen. Sam's eyes were still bleary, and he was halfway through a yawn. He took a step inside the kitchen, and then paused, probably finally realizing that the bunker's kitchen was occupied. And not by the usual inhabitants of the bunker for that matter.

"Hey Sammy!" Gabriel called out through a mouthful of toffee.

Sam turned to look at Gabriel, blinking a few times as if he was trying to clear his vision.

"Sam, it's been a while," Lucifer remarked.

Castiel was certain that Lucifer deliberately waited until Sam was looking at him before he took a long sip of his mug of tea. Sam opened his mouth, seemed to want to say something, before closing it soundlessly. Castiel's friend rubbed the back of his hand over his eyes and gave his head a little shake, as if trying to make sure he wasn't hallucinating – which was kind of unfortunate that Lucifer had appeared to Sam in hallucinations in the past… Although Castiel supposed this was the most benign Lucifer had ever appeared to Sam.

"I'm still dreaming, am I?" Sam muttered to himself before turning on his heel and walking away.

Castiel decided it was better to let Sam collect himself in private and so let his friend leave. Even though he could still hear Sam's mumblings about how he was definitely still dreaming and that he did not see the Devil drinking his organic tea, nope sir he did not, it wasn't happening.

"Looks like you have your work cut out for you, Luci," Gabriel commented.

Lucifer gave a miniscule sigh, his white wings drooping slightly. "I suppose I do," he agreed.

Michael's bronze-colored wings nudged Lucifer's white ones, and one of his lowest tiered wings wrapped itself around Lucifer. It was a show of quiet support that Castiel couldn't recall seeing from Michael, but it was in this that he could see how Michael and Dean were similar. It brought a smile to Castiel's face, and the hope that while his family was still too much on the side of dysfunctional to ever be normal, it would not be torn in such differing directions again.

They were interrupted a second time, and this time, it was by Dean. Dean stumbled into the kitchen, making a beeline for Castiel. Castiel was a little surprised to see Dean awake. For the past few days, Dean had been trying to catch up on sleep – a luxury most hunters did not have, much less those of the Winchesters' calibre. So it was surprising to see him up before ten in the morning when he didn't have to.

Before he could greet Dean with his customary greeting, he was enveloped in a sleepy hug. "Why did you leave?" Dean mumbled into his ear.

"I'm still here, Dean."

"You weren't in the room," Dean replied, sounding fondly exasperated that Castiel was, once again, not getting the point. "Thought this watching over me thing still stood?"

"It does," Castiel reassured him.

He would spend eternity watching over Dean Winchester, and even then, it would not be long enough.

"Then what are you doing out here? Come back to bed."

For a moment, Castiel was almost sure Gabriel was going to jump right in with a crass innuendo, because even he could see that that had been the perfect opportunity for one. But nobody else spoke, and so Castiel let himself be led out by a sleepy, clingy Dean, who was really adorable in his current state. But he knew Dean would not appreciate his choice of words, and so kept quiet even as he couldn't help but smile warmly.

Life was looking good now. He had his family, both sides of his family, actually. It wasn't something Castiel had expected, not in a long time. Even when his angelic hearing picked up the partially muted sounds of good-natured bickering breaking out in the kitchen again from Dean's room (and the bunker did have good soundproofing), he contented himself with snuggling into Dean's side.

"Mmm Cas?" Dean murmured as he slung an arm around Castiel's waist to hold him in place.

"Yes, Dean?"

"I'm glad you're happy. But your brothers are still dicks.'

Castiel laughed, a sound that was startled out of him by Dean's bluntness. "I know, Dean. Sleep now, we'll have to deal with all of them later."

Dean sighed, sounding put out. But he cuddled closer to Castiel and in a few short breaths, was fast asleep. Castiel smiled and closed his eyes to rest as well, even if he would not truly sleep as an angel. He needed to regain some energy. After all, he would have to play the mediator when Sam and Dean finally left the sanctuary of their rooms to face a bunker full of archangels.

And Castiel wouldn't have had it any other way.

So I'd sort of had in mind that I could continue Deus Ex Machina, make it into something like a mini series of oneshots. Took awhile to get this out because of RL. But at least it's up now! I have ideas for a bit more, like Lucifer and Sam having a chat. But no promises on how soon it will be written. Because RL. As usual.

Hope you enjoyed this! Angels bonding was surprisingly fun to write! :D

carzla