Dean Winchester was not a morning person. Having to start a new day was bad enough, but to be startled from peaceful sleep by an alarm, or being shaken awake by his annoying little brother? He hated that shit. When his sleep was taken away, Dean morphed into a bear; pissed and ready to fight. From the moment he opened his eyes to when he finished drinking his coffee, there was no dealing with the grizzly hunter.

But Cas… Cas had cracked the code of how to wake Dean up without provoking his inner bear.

It always started with a warm caress. Dean would feel Cas's hand on his back, chest, or even the side of his neck, tracing just enough of his flesh to let him know he was being touched. Then came the lips. Dean could feel them pressing gently on certain parts of his face. He knew those lips belonged to Cas because the angel's stubble would sometimes scrape his skin. The sensation made Dean twitch and a tiny smile often spread across his mouth. Damn. Being kissed like that first thing in the morning, before he even opened his eyes, was comforting and somewhat nostalgic. It was sweet and subtle; reminiscent of the way his mother used to wake him when he was only a toddler…

"Good morning, Dean."

The depth of Cas's calm voice greeted him early one morning. Dean knew it was early because he blinked one eye open long enough to see the glowing numbers '6:34' on his bedside clock before realizing that the angel who spoke was hovering over him. Usually, Cas woke up in bed next to him – naked, of course, just the way Dean liked. But on this particular day, Cas was standing fully dressed next to Dean's bed in the bunker, leaning down so that their faces were close in the dark. Dean blinked toward the outline of his boyfriend's eyes, nose, and mouth, unable to think about anything other than Cas's scent filling his lungs with each breath.

"Mmm… Mornin'," Dean eventually mumbled.

"I made coffee for you and Sam. Your cup is waiting for you in the kitchen," the angel said lowly, "I plan to check on Gabriel and did not want you to worry about my absence, which is why I woke you. Forgive me. I know it is early –"

"No," Dean interrupted groggily, shaking his head a little as he reached out to play with the end of the angel's dangling blue tie, "'S alright, baby. I understand."

The compassionate response seemed to mean a lot to Cas. The angel smiled a little in the glow of the nearby clock before leaning down to capture Dean's open mouth with a kiss. Though he was half asleep, Dean reciprocated with some tongue and a deep 'mmph.' Feeling Cas's kiss was great, but tasting Cas's kiss was practically cosmic…

"I shall meet you in the kitchen," Cas whispered.

He disappeared after that, leaving Dean's hand hanging in the air and his lips tingling. Well, shit. He couldn't go back to sleep now, especially after hearing that he had coffee waiting on him. Despite the early hour, Dean sat up, yawned, stretched, looked down to make sure he was wearing underwear – he wasn't, and had to fish a pair of boxers off the floor to slip on – and yawned again before tossing on his robe and heading for the hall.

When Cas mentioned Gabriel, Dean knew exactly what he was talking about. A few weeks earlier, the Winchesters learned about a massive asshole named Asmodeus. The dude was some kind of Knight of Hell who had tried to take over Crowley's throne once or something. Crowley recruited their help in hunting down and killing the bastard, but when they raided his little corner of Hell, all they found was a bunch of destroyed spell books about making a portal – and a severely traumatized archangel. Not only was Gabriel – the trickster who died helping the Winchesters stop the apocalypse – still alive, but he had been trapped, tortured, and daily drained of his own grace by Asmodeus. When the Winchesters found him, Gabriel's mouth had been sown shut and he had such terrible PTSD from his ordeal that he didn't talk for days. It took a lot of warming up and pep talks from Sam, but Gabriel eventually started to come around.

Now that Gabriel had gained some strength and vocalization back, he was adamant that they find Asmodeus so that he could exact some revenge. Though he barely knew the trickster apart from a few conversations, Dean was a little leery about letting Gabriel dish out his just-deserts. Revenge was something he knew from experience, and it almost never worked out the way he expected. Cas and Sam both seemed equally concerned for Gabriel's well-being – which, upon reflection, Dean found sort of odd. Sam was rarely so invested in someone else's revenge. Seeing Gabriel in that pitiful state must have struck the kid a certain way; made him feel sorry for Gabriel or something. Regardless, the Winchesters' current focus had shifted from solving supernatural cases around Kansas to tracking down a rogue Knight of Hell.

After living in the Men of Letters bunker for a few years, Dean was totally comfortable strolling to the kitchen in his robe and bare feet. His footsteps clacked on the stone floor as he walked down the tiled corridor, as well as announced his arrival when he made it into the kitchen. He expected the light to be on, since Cas mentioned that he made coffee. What he didn't expect was Sam's hunched figure sitting at the table. Dean flinched a little when he looked over to see his brother. He was tempted to ask Sam why the hell he was up so early, until he saw the dark circles around the kid's eyes. Sammy was almost glaring at his computer screen, typing so forcefully that the poor keyboard quaked. Sam wasn't just up early. He had been up all night.

"Dude," Dean called, gaining his brother's attention, "Have you been to bed at all?"

The harsh seriousness that had been plastered on Sam's face faded into innocence. The kid's weary eyes glanced between his computer and Dean before he leaned back to put his head in his hands with a sigh.

"… No," he eventually stated.

Dean searched his brother with suspicion as he walked over to grab the steaming mug off the counter. He couldn't remember the last time Sam was so intrigued by a case that he lost sleep over it. Come to think of it, Sam had been acting differently ever since they found Gabriel and brought him to the bunker. Dean wondered if the archangel was making Sam feel something; a certain emotion that Sam was far too stubborn to admit to having, right now. Maybe Sammy liked the trickster. Of course, Dean didn't want to point it out yet, just in case he was wrong. Besides, it was far too much fun to watch Sam deny his feelings. Dean knew all too well what it was like to come to terms with falling in love with an angel...

As if Dean's thoughts had summoned him, Gabriel entered the room. The short archangel was now slightly more timid than his former, pre-tortured self. His hazel eyes darted all over the kitchen, as if he was making sure there were no traps that he might stumble into as he walked slowly up to the table. Dean noticed that a huge smile filled Sam's face when the kid looked up to the trickster. Yep, Sam was smitten for sure.

In the meantime, as Dean took his first sip of perfectly brewed coffee, his attention was drawn back to the kitchen doorway, where Cas walked in behind his brother. Now that they were in the light, Dean's eyes were treated to Cas's familiar form. Backwards tie, tan trench coat, delicately swept raven hair, plump lips, deep ocean eyes… Dean could have happily stood there all morning just staring at his boyfriend while sipping his coffee. Cas noticed Dean's stare and smiled sheepishly, lowering his head as he made his way to stand at the metal island near Dean.

"G – Gabe, hey," Sam stuttered, running a hand through his messy hair as he stood up from the table, "Are you feeling okay? Do you want some coffee? Er, I – I know you don't need to drink coffee, but –"

"Eh, don't worry about me, kiddo. I'm an archangel. We rebound faster than hot chicks after a breakup," The trickster replied, though he carefully sat down on the seat across from Sam like he was still anxious about his surroundings. "Did you find anything?"

A look of pride flashed on Sam's face as he grabbed his laptop and spun it around to face Gabriel. Dean glanced at the screen for himself and found two tabs open; one with a map and one with Latin texts.

"I used some of the pieces of the spell books we found to trace the text back to its original source, in ancient Europe. Someone named 'Kendrick' made a deal with a demon to secure blueprints for making a portal to –"

"Blah, blah, blah, blah," Gabe interrupted, waving a hand in aggravation, "Nobody cares about the history lesson, kid. Just tell me where Asmodeus is so I can rip his Kentucky-fried ass apart."

Though he was a little bummed about not being able to finish his story, Sam gulped down the rest of his research and pointed to a specific spot on the map on the screen.

"Eunice, Louisiana," Sam answered.

"He's on Earth? Not in Hell?" Cas asked.

"Yeah. See, it sounds like the portal he's trying to make has to be built in a specific location, so that it will join the other side in the exact same spot," Sam explained.

"In Louisiana? What, did he want to join a quick Mardi Gras parade first?" Dean scoffed. He was attempting to lighten the mood with a joke, but as usual, no one found it funny.

"What does he need this portal for?" Cas asked, "Where is he planning to – ?"

"It doesn't matter," Gabriel blurted, glaring at the screen, "None of it matters, because we're going to kill the bastard. Today. Right now. Let's go."

Dean and Sam shared a concerned glance with each other as the archangel got up from the table. The trickster was so set on his revenge that he was willing to walk blindly into danger. Dean was guilty of doing the same in the past, but he had learned from his mistakes.

"Gabriel, we need to talk about this first."

The look the archangel gave Dean was nearly lethal.

"Sorry, did you say something? I couldn't hear you over the sound of my own screams still echoing in my mind," the archangel almost shouted, voice tainted with acidic sarcasm as he scowled at Dean, "Every. Day. I was tortured, beaten, humiliated, drained of my own grace. Every day. For five years. You can't even begin to imagine the amount of rage coursing through my veins right now. I am going to kill that son of a bitch with or without your help! So if you're not going to help, then get the hell out of my way!"

Gabriel's voice rang in Dean's ears and made him flinch. He felt terrible instantly but was unable to come up with any reasonable response. How was he supposed to reply to that? Even Cas, Gabe's own brother, seemed at a loss for words. Sam, however, was able to calm Gabriel down with the slightest gesture. He stepped over to carefully rest one of his large hands on Gabe's shoulder, and the physical contact eased the archangel's tension. Gabriel's posture lowered, his jaw released, and his eyes flickered toward Sam.

"Gabe," the kid gently hummed, "We're going to get him. Cas can fly us to Eunice, we'll track him down, and then you'll get to fry him… But we have to find him first, okay? Please, let us help you."

Dean gulped, knowing there wasn't anything else he could add. Luckily, Sammy had done a pretty good job on his own. For some reason, Gabriel only wanted to listen to Sam anyway. Though he was still visibly pissed, the archangel shrugged out from under Sam's hand and plopped himself back at the table. Both Winchester brothers took a deep breath afterward, sharing a look of relief. Gabriel was still healing from his half-decade long ordeal, so his grace wasn't strong enough to fly or cause much damage yet. But, damn, he was scary when he was pissed…

"I'll, uh, go suit up and pack some essentials," Dean suggested, taking a quick sip from his coffee before putting it down to start for the hall, "Sammy, get your stuff together. Be ready to roll out of here in twenty minutes, okay? Gabriel's got a point. We can't let that demon finish whatever he's doing."

Sam nodded, looking like death warmed over. Dean hated knowing that the kid was exhausted, but Sam appeared willing to get on with the day despite his sleepless night. He even offered to get Gabriel food as Dean was on his way out of the kitchen. Dean watched their interaction – noticing that Gabriel's voice was warmer when he spoke to Sam, and that Sam lingered around Gabe's side for much longer than necessary – before ducking down the hall to head back to his bedroom.

The distance between Kansas and Louisiana might have been huge on a map, but the Winchesters could get there in the blink of an eye with Cas's grace. And that made packing a little difficult. Would Dean need overnight clothes? Would they be traveling back and forth to the bunker if they needed things? What if they got stranded and didn't have the Impala? Maybe they needed to take the Impala just in case. Dean thought about all of this as he made it to his room to get dressed. It wasn't until he was halfway through changing his underwear that he noticed Cas had followed him in. The sight of the angel standing so close surprised him.

"Geez, babe," he huffed, shaking his head with a smile, "I didn't even hear you come in… What's wrong?"

When Dean properly looked into his boyfriend's eyes, he noticed the seriousness in them. Cas glanced down at the floor before stepping closer to reach out and take Dean's hand. The sensation of Cas's finger's intertwining his own gave Dean goosebumps and made him squeeze back.

"Dean, I… I just want to… Thank you," Cas nearly whispered, finally raising his head to meet Dean's stare, "I know that you have never been on good terms with my brother. But the fact that you have put aside the past to help him through this traumatic event… I can't properly state how much it means to me… How much you mean to me…"

Dean's heart tingled in his chest. Even though he and Cas had been in an intimate relationship for going on a year and a half, Dean would never get used to the sentimental and loving things the guy said to him. Cas was so good to him that it was almost unbelievable. The man reached up to cup angel's cheek with his free hand and Cas tilted his head to kiss the edge of Dean's thumb, which caused even more chills to race over his body. He might have been holding Cas, but Dean was the one turning into putty.

"There's nothing I wouldn't do for you, Cas," Dean suddenly said, verbalizing his thoughts, "Besides, your brother has earned the right to some justice. No one should go through what he went through… And, for the record, if anyone deserves some appreciation for helping brothers, it's you. You've fought beside me and Sam and saved him so many times – I'm the one that should be saying 'Thank you.' So… Thank you, babe. It's time for me to return the favor."

For a second, it looked like Dean had slapped Cas rather than gave him a compliment. The angel's blue eyes were wide, his mouth was open, and he didn't blink once. Dean quickly cycled through what he just said in his mind to make sure he didn't accidently say something offensive, just in case he needed to apologize. Luckily, Cas lunged forward to seize his mouth with a kiss, confirming that he was grateful. Dean closed his eyes and enjoyed the lustful embrace, dropping his hands to grab hold of Cas's hips while their tongues swam laps together. He tugged Cas's front against his own, feeling the pulse of arousal shoot to his own dick. If Dean was a poet, he could write thousands of sonnets about Cas's hips alone...

As Dean started to seriously debate tossing Cas on the bed to have his way with him, a few anxious knocks came from Dean's bedroom door. Dean groaned in irritation as he forced himself to pull his tongue out of his boyfriend's mouth.

"What?" he nearly barked.

"Gabriel's threatening to take the Impala for himself. Just wanted to warn you," Sammy's muffled voice called.

Dean closed his eyes to keep from rolling them. Gabriel may have been the victim of some unspeakable things, but his trickster side had clearly remained intact.

"Hide the keys. I'm almost done," Dean replied.

He looked back down into Cas's sapphire eyes afterward, briefly swaying with him as they stared at each other.

"I was gonna lay you down on the bed and slide between those heavenly thighs of yours, but I guess it will have to wait until later," Dean admitted softly.

Cas's smile lit up the whole room.

"Perhaps we can make it a rainy day fund," the angel said.

It took Dean a second, but he eventually realized –

"You mean a raincheck?"

"… Um… Yes," Cas muttered bashfully.

Dean tossed his head back to laugh for a second, enjoying the hilariousness of Cas's lack of human knowledge. Afterward, he leaned down to kiss the angel again, pecking his moist lips over and over.

"I love you so much, Cas," he slurred.

Cas pressed a kiss to Dean's lips, embracing them for several seconds while he circled both arms around Dean's neck to hug him.

"I love you too, Dean."

To get ready for the possible faceoff with Asmodeus, Dean armed himself with an angel blade, his favorite 9mm pistol, the demon knife, a small vial of holy water, plus one of his thickest jackets. The Winchesters weren't sure what to expect when they arrived, so Dean tried to prepare for anything. Gabriel might not have been able to use his grace much, but Cas had full range. Dean's boyfriend became the most valuable team player by default – which would probably make him the biggest target, and Dean was not okay with that. So, to counter the inevitable target placed on Cas's back, Dean made sure to keep himself out in front of the group when they arrived on the scene.

When Cas flew Dean, Sam, and Gabriel from the bunker to Eunice, the four of them popped up in front of a corner theater that had the words 'Liberty Center' wrapped around the front. The town itself was mostly dead, which made sense as it was still super early in the morning. A few cars puttered by as Dean turned to face his hunting party. Cas was already keeping an eye out, scanning the area with narrowed sight. Gabriel, still impatient as ever, instantly spun in circles with his head down and angel blade drawn, ready and willing to jump at the first opportunity to kill his former captor. Sam was looking down at his phone, studying the map he had transferred from his computer.

"Where is the bastard? Huh? Speak up, Sam. Where is he?" Gabriel hissed.

"Uh, should be in this area," Sam answered, wandering closer to the theater, "The map doesn't have specific coordinates. We'll probably have to look around and ask some locals if they've seen anything."

"There's no need."

Dean joined his brother in looking to Cas, who was pivoted toward the left. The angel raised his hand to point toward the alley between the theater and the building next to it.

"I sense a demonic presence," Cas explained.

Before Dean could even open his mouth to ask a question, Gabriel took off running with his blade drawn. Dean and Sam instantly sprang into action, chasing after the trickster to stop him. Sammy was able to reach him first. The tall kid grabbed the collar of the archangel's jacket and yanked him against the nearest brick wall, pinning him there with one long arm.

"Dammit, Gabe, are you crazy?! You can't just run in like that! It could be a trap!" Sam panted with fear.

"Get your giant moose paws off me," Gabriel grunted, struggling to pull himself out of Sam's hold, "That bastard is mine, do you hear me?! No one is gonna kill him but me!"

"Listen, pipsqueak. If you can't keep yourself in check, Cas is gonna fly you back to the bunker and leave you there," Dean warned. "I get it. You want to make him suffer like he made you suffer. But you're not the only person here. Running in like that puts everyone at risk. Do you want Asmodeus to take Cas?" Dean paused to point a finger to his boyfriend before spinning it to his brother. "Do you want him to take Sam?"

Gabriel's glare lightened instantly, and he stopped pushing against Sam's hold to give the kid a timid glance.

"Work with us, man. Use your head," Dean concluded.

The archangel huffed a breath but remained in place when Sam let him go.

"Fine… But I get to kill him. That's the deal," Gabe demanded.

"Deal," Dean agreed.

The man reached around to take the demon knife out of his waistband before nodding to Cas. At the signal, the blue-eyed angel stepped over to peer around the corner of the building.

"Five demons. Four keeping watch. Two on top of the building, two near the demon in the middle," Cas relayed.

"Is one of them wearing a dumbass white suit?" Gabe asked.

"Yes," Cas answered, "He is at the center, performing a spell or summons."

"That's him," Gabriel confirmed grimly, angrily setting his jaw, "The asshole that tortured me…"

Sam and Dean shared a look with each other, one that Dean recognized from childhood. Sammy was cool on the surface but scared underneath, probably worried that something would go wrong or someone would end up hurt. Dean did his best to assure his little brother with a confident nod.

"I say we go in swinging," Dean carefully suggested, "Cas, you take the lookouts on the roof. Sammy, you and I will get the bodyguards. Gabe," he paused to look directly at the archangel, "Asmodeus is all yours."

Gabriel lowered his head and finally smiled – a wicked smile, full of vengeance – as he raised up his own blade. With the plan set, Dean turned to look at Cas again. The angel seemed less than enthusiastic about the situation but agreed to go along with it. The two of them shared one last, loving look before Cas disappeared; flying up to take out the demons on the roof.

"Let's move," Dean called over his shoulder.

For Dean, it was almost a routine event. He rushed the nearest demon, shoved it up against the wall, and stabbed it before it even had time to alert the others. The life flickered out of its face in seconds as it groaned, and Dean made sure it was fully dead before letting it go. Sammy did the same behind him, clearing the way for Gabriel to charge at Asmodeus in the middle.

But just as the dead demon slipped off the end of Dean's blade, he caught sight of Gabriel flying through the air. Asmodeus had turned around and used some unseen power to fling him back, tossing Gabriel into Sam and knocking both of them to the ground. Though he knew that Gabriel wanted to kill the knight himself, Dean saw the opportunity to end the violence and took it; throwing his bloodied knife toward Asmodeus's back. The blade, however, stopped abruptly in midair and fell to the ground, leaving the knight to turn around and smirk wildly at Dean.

"I was wonderin' when you little boys would show up," the demon said, his southern accent so thick that Dean could barely understand him, "Tell me… Dean… Did y'all come all the way here just to kill me? Seems like an awful lotta work just for a little revenge, don't it?"

Gabriel suddenly hopped up and ran at the demon with a shout, raising his angel blade up in a stabbing position. Instead of tossing him away again, Asmodeus used his power to hold Gabriel in place instead, choking him. Gabriel dropped his blade, letting it clank on the concrete below as he struggled to breathe.

"Well, well. If it ain't my prized cow," the demon purred, "I broke you once, boy. Looks like I'll have to do it again."

The words must have outraged Sam, because the kid suddenly charged at Asmodeus. He was so quick that the demon barely had time to drop Gabriel and duck out of the way. Sam's lunge caught the sleeve of his white suit jacket and sliced it open, cutting him in the process… But then, Asmodeus was able to grab Sam and hold a knife to his throat.

The fight stopped once the demon had Sammy hostage. Gabriel and Dean both froze, not wanting anything to happen to Sam. Cas appeared at Dean's side as they all paused, unable to do anything but glare at the demon who had one of their own.

"You boys listen here, and you listen good," Asmodeus began, "A portal is fixin' to appear behind me in less than a minute. I intend to go through that portal and never come back. I got dealin's on the other side. Now, you came here to get rid of me, right? So how 'bout this… You let me go through that portal, safe and sound, I'll let ya have your buddy back, and we can pretend none of this ever happened."

"Hell no! You die, here and now!" Gabriel shouted.

"Ah-ah-ah," Asmodeus said, tightening his hold on Sam's neck and making him squeak, "If you try to kill me, I'm takin' this young'in with me…"

A few seconds passed in which Dean tried to come up with a solution. How was he going to get Sam away from the demon? How was he going to stop Gabriel from overreacting? Would it be easier to let the asshole go through the portal like he wanted? What if he was lying, and intended to take Sam with him to God-only-knew where?

A flash of light came from behind Asmodeus, which Dean assumed was the portal opening, and he used the distraction as his chance to strike. When everyone flinched at the portal's arrival, Dean sprinted forward with a shoulder down, tackling the demon in the side. Asmodeus finally let Sam go as he collided with the ground and Sam was able to roll to safety.

But when Dean got close to the portal, he felt an orbital tug pulling him toward it. The portal itself was a huge floating crack in the middle of the air that seemed to be sucking everything nearby inward. Dean struggled to get away from the pull, digging his boots into the ground and flailing his arms. Shit, he was getting reeled in like a fish! He couldn't fight against it!

"Cas!" Dean called in a panic.

The worried angel – who had been in the middle of holding his brother back from Asmodeus – looked up just in time to see Dean being pulled away and flashed over to reach out his hand. Dean reached out for Cas's too, but they never found each other. They missed as Dean was yanked backward. Instead, Dean grabbed hold of the nearest thing he could grasp, which happened to be the strap from Cas's trench coat. It unwound from around the angel's torso as Dean was finally ripped away from his family in the alley.

The last thing Dean remembered was the look of terror on Cas's face and the sound of the angel desperately calling his name.

(Author's Note: Hey, everyone! If you are new, welcome to the party! I hope you like what's ahead! :D If you're one of the amazing people who always keeps up with me, long time no see! :D Wait, what? It's only been like a month? Geez, 2020 is taking its sweet time, isn't it? XD I hope you enjoyed this story's opening. (Do you know how strange and uncomfortable it feels to write Cas as Dean's boyfriend instead of his husband? Just one of the many ways that the Purpose Series has ruined me.) XD This story will be dealing with some dark subject matter, though I will try to keep it as light as possible. It's kind of a twisted take on the 'AU' territory. ;) It will be a stand-alone fic, so no extra parts are in the works. (You'll probably thank me for that later. Lol) ;D More of the characters' backgrounds will be explained in the next chapter. There's not much else I can say without spoilers, so, I hope you stick around to see the new chapter next week! :D

So, um, Shameless plug time. (Feel free to stop reading here if you aren't concerned. Lol)

In between writing fanfic, I have actually written and (finally) self-published my first book! :D It is called "The Cotton Candy Man," and it's available on Amazon now. If you couldn't tell from the title, it is HEAVILY inspired by Sabriel. There are many Sabriel/Supernatural easter eggs in the story, like the fact that Robbie's second job is being a Janitor, like Gabe's was in Tall Tales. (In fact, Dickie himself makes a cameo.) XD It's an emotional read, but totally worth it if you can make it to the end. :) Of course, it's not exactly Sabriel, but they were my motivation. If you're interested or want more information, you can search for it on Amazon. :D

I just wanted to let you guys know that it is a thing that exists. I'm pretty proud of it. If I could, I would give every single one of you a free copy, because you have been my biggest supporters and I owe you so much! Alas, I don't have the angel grace to do that. :( But I hope that if you get the chance to read the book, you can brag to others that you helped make it happen. Because you did! If it wasn't for your comments and encouragement, I probably would have stopped writing a long time ago and never realized my dream. :) I can't thank you enough! :D Love you guys! Chapter two of 'The King' will be out soon! :)