Chapter Text
Kevin rubbed his eyes, then looked at the clock. It was well past midnight. Sam and Dean had gone to bed not too long ago, telling him to do the same. Yet, here he still sat with the angel tablet. Dean had said they were family, and since then, he’d come to fear letting them down. He turned his attention back to the tablet. For the next half hour he read line upon line, with nothing useful jumping out. Then, just as he was getting ready to turn in for the night, he read something that made him stop. He read the line again.
“Whoa, Kevin, slow down. I just got up,” Dean said, pouring himself a cup of coffee.
“Dean, this is important. Do you want to hear it or not?” Kevin said.
With a sigh, Dean sat down and look at him, “Alright, shoot.”
“I was reading the angel tablet last night after you guys went to bed,” Kevin started.
“Wait,” Dean lifted a hand, “How late were you up? Kevin, you need to rest or you’re going to make yourself sick again.”
“You’re not my mom Dean,” Kevin snapped. They sat in an awkward silence for a minute.
“Alright, what did you find?” Dean asked.
“I found a spell,” Kevin said, “Apparently, God thought that if all the archangels were gone, Heaven would fall into ruin.”
“Right, which it kind of did,” Dean said.
“Yeah, so God left this spell that could revive an archangel,” Kevin said.
“What?” Dean and Kevin turned to see Sam in the doorway, his mouth hanging open, “You found a spell to revive an archangel?” Sam asked.
Kevin nodded, “It’s kind of complicated though. I don’t know if we’d even be able to do the first task.”
Sam walked up to him and grabbed him firmly on the shoulder, “Kevin, tell me what the trials are and I’ll do them. Please, what are they?”
Dean stood up, “Sam, take it easy.”
He didn’t even look at Dean, his eyes locked on Kevin’s, “Please,” he whispered.
“For the first trial, you have to find something that contains grace,” Kevin said.
“Grace?”
“Yeah, you need something that has angel grace,” Kevin repeated, “What’s all of this about?”
Sam acted as though he hadn’t heard the question. He headed off towards the back room without bothering to change or eat. Kevin waited until he was gone then turned to Dean, who ran a hand over his face and walked back over to where he’d left his coffee, “Don’t worry about it, Kevin,” he said, “I’ll take care of Sammy, you just find out what the next two trials are, okay?”
“Dean,” they turned to see Castiel sitting in a chair off to one side.
“When did you…” Dean trialed off.
Cas stood and walked up to stand in front of Dean, “The archangels, most of them wanted to bring about the apocalypse. They may still try to pursue that end. I believe we should proceed with caution.”
“Yeah, well, I don’t think that’s the case with the one Sam has in mind,” Dean said.
“Sam has an archangel in mind? Which one?” Cas asked.
Dean set his mug down and turn to Cas. He drew him in and kissed him long and hard. Kevin cleared his throat. When they parted, Dean rested his forehead against Cas’s, “You know, if something ever happened to you, I would do anything to get you back.”
“I know,” Cas said.
“Well, I think it’s the same for Sam this time,” Dean said. When Cas gave him a puzzled look, Dean said, “Please, Cas, just trust me on this.”
“I trust you, Dean,” he said.
“Alright,” Dean said, and headed off after Sam.
Sam already had a large stack of books in his arms, and he was currently reading one perched precariously on the top. He didn’t even look at Dean when he entered, so Dean said, “Sammy?”
“Yeah,” Sam said absentmindedly.
“This is about him, isn’t it?” Dean asked.
Sam look up and met Dean’s gaze, “Yeah, it is,” he said, a challenging look in his eyes.
“Alright, then let’s do it,” Dean said.
“What?” Sam asked, “I thought you hated him?”
Dean smiled wryly, “Sam, Gabriel was a dick, but you loved him, and I get the feeling you still do, so if there’s a way to bring him back, then I’m all in.”
Sam smiled, his eyes distant, as though he were remembering something, and he said, “Thanks Dean.”