"You weren't kidding when you said you had family near here," Dean stated, looking at the clean white house the stood neatly among others in a quaint little neighborhood. It had turned out that Castiel's father lived only twenty minutes from Bobby's, and if he had to guess from the neatness of the place, they had a pretty decent life there too.

"I also have a cousin in town, but I wanted to see my father first," Castiel replied, a small smile on his face as the thought of seeing his father seemed to pull him from his normally stoic expression. He opened the door, getting out of the vehicle and heading towards a man that stepped out onto the porch from the front door, tears in his eyes as he ran down to greet the blind soldier. Unlike Dean, he had called ahead of time and told his father he was okay when they first woke up in the hospital.

Dean eventually got out of the car on his own when Castiel motioned for him, rubbing the back of his neck as the bearded man looked him over with a smile, reaching out and patting him gently on the shoulder.

"I wanted to thank you for taking care of Castiel..." Castiel's father said, unshed tears in his eyes and making Dean flush slightly in his awkwardness for being thanked. He nodded at the man though, looking to Castiel and finding a smile making his way onto his face as he gazed at the man.

"I'd be lying if I said that he hadn't saved my ass a few times," Dean replied, his eyes widening when he realized he was staring a little too much and glanced away from Castiel, clearing his throat and holding out his hand instead, "My name's Dean Winchester."

Chuck smiled, nodding as if he already knew, "You're brother is dating my nephew. Laura calls all the time and tells me about them, especially after...well...Richard," Chuck replied, looking a little forlorn as he motioned with his head for them to come in. Dean took Castiel's arm, gently guiding him into the house and in a living room that seemed to be washed in the same smell as Castiel. Dean took an instant liking to it, especially when it seemed to wrap around all of them as they sat down.

"You said something had happened, but you never explained," Castiel commented, letting his hand rest over Dean's, so he couldn't pull away. Chuck scratched his beard, letting out a sigh.

"He got into a car accident about three years ago...He lived through it, but he suffered damage to his frontal lobe and...became aggressive," Chuck explained, sighing and shaking his head. Dean could see the regret in his eyes and frowned, his brows furrowing.

"He abused them?" Castiel asked, voicing Dean's thoughts as if he were reading them directly from his head. Chuck nodded, his lip twitching.

"Yes. He got locked away when the police finally got wind of it...but...it really messed with Gabriel and Laura," Chuck replied, giving them a sad smile as he looked at the both of them, "If you wouldn't mind going to see them after this, I would really appreciate it."

"Of course," Dean replied automatically, nodding with a look of understanding in his eyes. If Gabriel had gone through that, maybe Dean could help him at least a little bit.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Dean was quiet throughout the ride to Gabriel's house, his jaw clenched in thought as the landscape around the car passed mindlessly beside them. Castiel wasn't speaking either, but he had a worried look in his eyes, and when they stopped at a red light, he reached up, letting his fingers dance across the dashboard absentmindly.

"Are you okay, Dean?" Castiel asked softly, pulling Dean from his stupor as he glanced over at the man, then the light, then back to Castiel. He let out a sigh, his hands tightening ever so slightly on the wheel before nodding.

"Yeah, I was just thinking about your cousins," Dean replied, pressing the gas a little too forcibly when the light turned green. Still, Castiel didn't seem to mind, just moving with the sudden pull and leaning his head back to rest against the seat.

"I'm worried for Gabriel," Castiel commented, his hands gripping into slight fists as he went into his own thoughts, "He may be resilient, but he takes family matters to heart. I'm worried that he would get overly stressed about it."

"Yeah, I don't exactly blame him though," Dean responded, looking at the worn aura of the house, despite the newness that surrounded it. It looked...tired, if that was a good word, as if it were struggling to keep itself standing, even with the support it had.

"We're here," Dean stated, looking at the address one last time to make sure it was the one Chuck had spoke about before switching off the engine and opening the door. He stepped out onto the gravel of the driveway, hearing Castiel follow suite. He walked around the car, taking his arm gently, only to stop when Castiel placed a hand on his chest.

"Can you kiss me?" Castiel asked, and Dean's eyes widened in confusion, his hand reflexively tightening on Castiel's arm.

"I would love to, but...why?" Dean asked, earning a smile from Castiel instead.

"Because you sounded like you were upset, and now you don't," Castiel pointed out, as if it were the most obvious thing in the world. Dean stared at him a moment before he let out a little chuckle, shaking his head and kissing Castiel slowly and gently until the man smiled against his lips in satisfaction.

"You are a strange person, Cas," Dean responded, but the constriction in his chest that he didn't even realize was there was gone, and he couldn't help but smile as Castiel's eyes sparkled with his small triumph. When they turned to go to the house, Dean found that he felt more sure of himself, and he couldn't help but wonder if this was what drove Castiel's faith so far.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Laura was a sweet woman, bustling around, trying to get as much food as she could cooked up in a small amount of time. Both Dean and Castiel tried to tell her it was okay, but she just shushed them ad started mumbling about how skinny they both were, and left them to do her own little tasks. Eventually, Dean and Castiel just let her go, watching from the kitchen table with a look of amusement on their faces at her motivation to make something good for her guests.

Gabriel was sitting across from them, a wide smile on his face as he talked to Castiel excitedly. It allowed Dean to watch, and although they seemed like a happy duo, he could tell that they both seemed tired, maybe even stressed, and he didn't overlook the faded scars that both of them tried to conceal from sight.

"-you use my letters about plants?" Gabriel's voice slowly intercepted his thoughts, bringing him back to the present. Castiel nodded, a warm smile on his face, and Dean smirked, nudging Castiel gently and looking at Gabriel with a warm expression on his face.

"Saved all of us from starvation when we escaped, that's for sure," Dean commented, earning a flushed expression from Castiel and a wide-eyed one from Gabriel. His face lit up, and Dean had to look away. There was a scar that he hadn't noticed under Gabriel's until the light hit it just right.

"Cassie, you owe me one," Gabriel said with a mischievous look, though it was clear he didn't really mean it by the way he spoke. They were drug from the conversation by Laura, who had begun pulling down plates to serve.

"Cas, can you come help me taste this? You always were a better cook than I was," Laura said, walking over and placing a gentle hand on his shoulder, helping him up. Laura guided him into the kitchen, leaving Gabriel and Dean to themselves.

It was silent for just a moment before Gabriel spoke.

"I'm sorry," Gabriel said softly, looking at Dean with hesitant eyes. Dean knew that look and gave him a sad smile in response. It was a lot like the look Sam gave him everytime he apologized too.

"You didn't have to good either, so don't worry about it," Dean responded, offering him a warm smile. Gabriel looked at him for a moment before turning his gaze away, staring at the grain on the table.

"Thank you," Gabriel replied, falling silent for another moment. From how he imagined Gabriel when he first met him, it was not this quiet boy sitting before him now.

"So...you and Castiel?" Gabriel eventually asked, pulling a blush to Dean's cheeks, a grin splitting the younger boy's face and making it clear why Sam had taken a liking to him in the first place.

"Yeah, what of it?" Dean grumbled, earning a light laugh from Gabriel as his grin turned into a wicked smirk.

"Nothing, just you two are so adorable," Gabriel stated teasingly, making Dean's blush turn into a glare. Castiel and Laura walked in about then, confusion littering Laura's face when she saw the strange stares of each of them.

"What did you do this time, Gabe?"