Skin (ON HOLD)

Chapter Eleven

Hello! So, uh, yeah. Hi! It's been a hot minute, that is if a hot minute meant 6ish months... yeah sorry about that. I'm going to try to get back into writing, but until I can this will officially stay on hold with occasional updates. Maybe. I can't promise anything. Also, this chapter is hella unedited. So expect changes!

Gabriel

"I think that went pretty well." Lucifer commented to the six others in the car.

"Yes it did." Charlie agreed, but something in her voice said she wasn't satisfied, her arms crossed in a brooding manner.

"What's wrong?" Garth asked, for once not pulling out his sock puppet.

"Dean Winchester is Cas' soulmate." She huffed.

"He seems like trouble." Benny spoke, making all eyes fall on him. It was unusual for him to speak out against people. "All of them do."

"See!" Charlie's hands went flying, narrowly avoiding Kevin.

"Hey!" The boy protested, setting down his book. "I will admit, there is something a bit off about them, but I can't put my finger on it. That Ash guy was pretty helpful though."

"Agreed." Charlie nodded a bit. "He's also pretty weird."

"I think you're overreacting Charlie." Now Samandriel was adding to the conversation.

Gabriel, Castiel, and Lucifer had been virtually silent, just observing.

"Overreacting? You didn't see the gash Dean had. Well, I technically didn't see it either. But I saw it on Castiel!" She turned to look at Samandriel.

"So? There's probably a lot of reasonable explanations for that."

"That's what I said." Lucifer chirped, earning a glare.

"Really? Name one." The challenging words were met with silence. "That's what I thought."

"What did it look like?" Kevin chimed into the conversation.

"It looked like the claws of a dog—a wolf actually—that just ripped into him," She said, her curiosity lacing her words as she spoke.

"Well then maybe he got attacked by a dog. There are like 4.5 million dog bites each year. Obviously not all of them are clawed and such, but maybe Dean was." Ever the voice of reason, Kevin looked up to meet the gaze of his friends, save Lucifer who had no choice but to look at the road, smiling shyly. "There's your reasonable explination."

Charlie was silent for a moment, eyes narrowed at Kevin like she was willing him to burst into flames. Which, she probably was.

"Is it still there?" Benny asked, his question directed at the daydreaming Castiel.

"Hmm?" Castiel was zapped out of his own mind by a flick on the ear from Charlie.

"I'm assuming Dean hasn't healed if it was recent. Is it still there?" Benny once again asked.

"Oh, I don't know." Castiel shifted in his seat, drawing up his shirt until it exposed the painted on wound.

It looked like it was healing well, though it was hard to tell since it wasn't actually on him.

"Wow," Kevin was shocked. "That's... that's no dog."

"I told you." Charlie smirked, though there wasn't as much smugness as she wanted there to be in her tone.

"There's something going on," Benny said softly.

"You can't reason that," Charlie glanced at Lucifer, daring him to try. He shrugged a bit.

"Alright, Mrs. Allknowing, you want to find out what's happening. Right?" He asked, already knowing the answer. "Figure out a plan."

She frowned and fell silent, completely lost in thought. She didn't even realize that Lucifer had dropped Kevin, Benny, and Garth until they were at her house.

She begrudgingly got out of the car.

"Seeya!" She took off into her house.

"You've been quiet Gabriel." Lucifer pointed out once Charlie was gone.

"I was just thinking is all."

"Is that why I smell smoke?" Samandriel piped up from the back.

"I'm not afraid to superglue you to your bed." Gabriel warned playfully.

Gabriel had been thinking, worried that his new partner in crime may be in deep with something Gabriel wasn't sure he wanted to get involved with.

But, he wasn't one to be gun shy by a little gossip. Especially Charlie's gossip.

The Winchesters seemed good enough, a little strange for sure, but they hadn't really given Gabriel a reason to be concerned.

"Earth to Gabriel," Samandriel snapped his fingers in front of Gabriel's face.

"Hmm?" Gabriel snapped his attention to his brother.

"I asked what you were thinking about." It was an honest question, not a trace of teasing in his tone.

"What if all this is, is Charlie's usual rather overprotective nature?" Gabriel posed the question.

"But what if it's not?" Lucifer asked. "Now, don't get me wrong, she probably is overreacting. But, how can we be sure?"

"We can't." Was Castiel's input into the discussion.

"I say we keep a careful eye on them. Yeah?" Lucifer proposed, glancing at his siblings.

"Yeah," Gabriel and Samandriel said in unison, making Lucifer grin.

His brothers trusted his judgement. Despite being a trouble maker, he tried to keep his brothers out of trouble. With their parents gone, and older brother often away, the fate of the younger boys often rested on his shoulders.

It was a lot of pressure, especially when the boy had his devilish appearance to uphold. Another thing he took up to protect his brothers, and a way to vent his frustrations. After all, if you're top dog, you make the rules.

Lucifer pulled into the driveway, catching Castiel visibly deflate at the sight of the house.

"Y'know, I'm craving movie theatre popcorn. Shall we go see if anything good is playing?" Lucifer suggested, already backing out. "Don't worry, no one is home tonight." He assured anyone who was about to protest.

"I'm down, as long as I can get some candy!" Gabriel chirped.

"You're going to turn into candy." Samandriel teased.

"That's one way to get eaten." He winked at his brother.

"I officially hate you."

Castiel looked at Lucifer, a smile tugging at his lips.

That's all Lucifer could have asked for.