Castiel picked up on the intense energy radiating off of Gabriel and noticed his strange inability to make eye contact (or even find Castiel's face), but once again was halted from asking what was wrong with him by simply the archangel talking. It was all Castiel could do but stand there and listen to his brother as he spewed out things that made less and less sense as he went on, trying to make heads and tails of what he was being told.

"What are you talking about?" His voice sounded honestly perplexed, because he was. If Gabriel could see Castiel's face, then he would have seen an expression of genuine confusion amongst his growing frustration. As it was, there was only the younger angel's voice for Gabriel to judge.

Castiel had immediately tensed up when he saw Gabriel's hands reach up and when the tap didn't leave him bleeding or dead or something along those lines, he couldn't help but wonder how close he had come to a third death. But it didn't matter -- Gabriel couldn't smite him and was apparently going to get to Cas another way. As though he were suddenly aware of the fact that Gabriel wasn't just bursting his personal bubble but was also definitely within attacking range, Castiel finally backed away a couple steps.

His voice was firm, but still touched with the same honest confusion from before, when he addressed Gabriel's accusations. "This isn't Purgatory, and I have never wanted the real one."