Ch.4

When Sam didn't return to the motel room for quite some time, Castiel and Dean left to find him. "Where could he be?" "It's only 8:30, Dean. Maybe he's hungry." Dean mulled the thought over, and it agreed with the rumbling in his stomach. "Yeah, lets check the nearest diner."

The sky was dark and gray. For 8 in the morning, it was rather dark an ominous. Dean raced by the window of the nearest diner, and spied his overgrown little brother sitting in a booth. "He's here, let's go."

"Good morning, Sammy!" Dean chirped, falling into the cushioned seats of the booth. Sam blushed furiously as Cas slid into the seat next to Dean. "G-good morning. Library wasn't open, so I picked up the paper and came here."

Castiel picked up on Sam's lack of eye contact right away. "If you'll excuse me a minute, I am going to gather information." "But Cas...food. You don't wanna try?" "N-no, that is unnecessary, but thank you." he said, excusing himself from the table. Sam turned and watched the angel scamper out of the restaurant before quickly snapping his head around to Dean.

"I can't believe you!" He hissed, scolding the older Winchester with a whisper. "Believe what?" Sam huffed, giving Dean his best bitch face. "I leave for...30 minutes, and come back to find you getting frisky with Cas." Dean put a finger to his lips hastily, hoping none of the other patrons heard Sam. "Listen, I wasn't getting frisky with Cas. Something...happened." "Somethingsexy happened." "No, something supernatural happened." Sam sat back, tapping his fingers on the waxed wood table, throwing Dean a look.

Dean knew that face. It was the "Are you going to let me in on this?" face. The face that Dean gets when he leaves out certain details of his story...details that usually make Sam pissed. The blonde pinched the bridge of his nose, exhaling loudly. He was damned if he did, damned if he didn't. Might as well let Sam in on the fun.

"Gabriel showed up at the hotel room shortly after you left an indent on the top of the door frame." "Gabriel? We've been looking for him for weeks! Why the hell would he just show up in our motel room-with Cas in the room?"

"I know, he pulled a fast one on us. Made it so Cas couldn't hear us talking in the other room." The two stopped as the waitress came over with a tray of food. "Ah, there you are,Hun. Your brother here ordered for you, saved you a wait." Dean smiled at the waitress. She wasn't at all young or pretty, just one of those old diner charms with the raspy cigarette induced voice. "Well thank you...Muriel." he said, quickly tagging on the name pinned to her grease stained work shirt. "No problem, sugar. You boys eat up. You'll need a full belly before that hurricane hits."

The waitress disappeared behind the counter, and Sam leaned in over his coffee. "Ok, so Gabriel just shows up after being M.I.A for weeks, and Cas suddenly loses his clothes?" Dean shoveled a forkful of eggs and bacon into his mouth. "Nofffhh, Ifffs kinduh feee oppo-" "Swallow the food." "...ah, It's kind of the opposite." The brunette raised his eyebrow. "This is where things get freaky. Cas came flying in crying something about a ghost trying to rape him, or something, so I gave him some old clothes."

"That makes absolutely no sense. Ghosts don't haunt angels. And what does any of this have to do with Gabriel?" "Gabriel was hiding under a table when Cas' clothes decided to split-"

"Like a five-year-old?"

"He prefers hooker in a horror movie"

"Ah"

"Anyway, I say 'Once a Trickster, always a Trickster'. He may have wings but he's still the same sick son of a bitch we've tangled with before." Sam took a long sip of his coffee, thinking over the information. "It all checks out." Dean grumbled, working his knife into the short stack of pancakes.

"Almost checks out. What did Gabriel talk to you about?"

Dean shoved the pancakes into his mouth. He really didn't want to say. It was embarrassing...not to mention extremely gay. Not that he didn't like Cas...he just wasn't sure what the hell he was anymore. Gay, straight, bi...something... Dean had hooked up with lots of women, but as far as men go he's only ever been attracted to Cas. And who wouldn't...not with that nice-

"DEAN."

"What, woah, what...what..."

"I asked you about Gabriel. What did he tell you?" Dean fiddled with his fork. "The pervert thinks I stripped Cas." From the corner of his eye, Dean could clearly see Sam sit back in shock. There were a few moments of silence before Sam spoke. "Th-that's impossible. Castiel was scouring heaven for Gabe. You can't physically walk up there and start taking what you want." "I know, Sam. But he thinks its more of a psychic thing."

Sam snorted. "A psychic thing. You. really..."

"Yeah, Yeah, I know. I'm preaching to the choir."

"Yeah Dean, you are. You are not in the least bit psychic. You can't even see that you'll get heart burn after that third burger-and it happens a lot. On what grounds could you possibly muster up enough energy to strip an angel who is technically not even on earth?"

"Profound bond."

"You've got to be fucking kidding me. Again with this bond stuff? Sure, Cas can help us with our problems...uh...exorcise a few demons, smite stuff, but I don't think he willingly signed up to be your Ken doll."

"Believe me he is not a ken doll..."

"Did...not..need to be reminded. So now what? You can just strip him at will? That makes no sense." Dean pushed his food around on his plate. He was uncomfortable talking about this in such a public place. "I know it doesn't. But apparently its here to stay. Its not like I'm here wishing away shoes and stuff."

Sam sighed. His food had remained untouched throughout the course of the conversation. He poked his fork into a strawberry and orange slice mingling in his fruit salad. "Ok, so we get our hands on Gabriel...demand he spill all about the details, find a way to get this all cleared up. Maybe he's just screwing with us. You know, trying to keep Castiel preoccupied and embarrassed so he could find a new hiding spot."

"Maybe"

There was a knock on the glass by the window adjacent to their booth. The Winchesters looked in disbelief as Cas stood outside the window, now barefoot.

"Dean. I lost my shoe."

"Son of a bitch stole my line..."

"When I get my hands on Gabriel I;m going to rip his lungs out!"

Happy Birthday, Mariya! This is the chapter I post before I give you the link :D

I hope you're enjoying this work in progress.

~OVL.