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It was an entire week before he came back to the bunker, asking the boys to help him track down the pagans who had sold him to begin with; well, ask wasn’t really the right word for it, in Sam’s opinion.
“Like hell,” Dean had snarled, angel blade gripped tightly in his hand.
“Dean- “Sam warned, seeing how on edge the archangel already was just by coming back.
“Give us some of your mojo, then we’ll talk.” Dean said, staring the shorter man down.
It was the wrong move. Within seconds, Gabriel had him pinned against one of the bookshelves which broke on impact, scattering books in haphazard piles around the two of them. Dean made a choked off sound as Gabriel tightened his grip around the hunter’s neck.
“You listen to me, you arrogant dick,” he snarled, sending a piercing glare at Sam as he tried to move forward to help. He stopped.
“You are going to help me hunt down the SOBs who decided it would be a good idea to screw with an archangel. They will all be reduced to shreds of flesh confetti, and ONLY THEN will I even consider giving you some more. Got it?”
At this point, Dean’s face was nearly purple, and Sam knew Gabriel wouldn’t let go until they agreed.
“Alright. We’ll do it.” Sam said. Gabriel looked at him briefly, loosening his grip only slightly as he turned to Dean.
“Like – hell,” he choked out once more, a horrible squeak leaving his throat as Gabriel tightened his grip once more. After a few seconds of Dean clawing at the archangel’s hands, he was finally released, coughing and gasping violently. Gabriel backed up, turning to look at both of them darkly.
“St. Paul, Minnesota. Abandoned junk lot on 23rd avenue. Be there by 6 tomorrow.” and with that, he was gone, the telltale rustle of wings signaling his departure. Sam instantly crouched at Dean’s side, giving his brother a stern look as his hands were slapped away.
“What – what the hell, Sam…” he said between gasps, glaring at the taller man, “Why the hell did you agree to it?”
“Because he would have killed you, Dean! And honestly, I wouldn’t blame him!” Sam huffed angrily, pulling Dean off the floor. He eyed Sam dangerously.
“What’s that supposed to mean? He’s a dick! We saved his ass, he owes us this much!”
“No, Dean, he doesn’t.” Sam said, sitting down and scrubbing his hands over his face. “WE didn’t save him; Ketch did. You weren’t even here when he finally snapped out of it! Did you really think threatening an archangel for his grace would go smoothly?” he snapped, glaring at his now furious brother.
“We. Are. Not. Going, Sam!” he growled, punctuating each word before stomping off, slamming the door to his room. Sam sighed once more, getting up to get himself a beer.
It was going to be a long night.
In the end, Sam had the upper hand; he was going, whether Dean wanted him to or not. Obviously, he knew Dean wouldn’t let him go alone. So here he was, sitting in the passenger seat of the impala reading a book about angel lore. They got about 50 miles before Dean finally gave in to his curiosity, despite still being pissed at Sam.
“Why’re you reading that?” he mumbled, turning the music down. Sam looked up, eyeing his brother hesitantly before answering.
“I’m trying to see if there are any other ways to open a portal.” he said simply, not wanting to tip Dean off to what he was thinking. It didn’t work.
“You mean as a backup for if that son of a bitch uses us to get his petty revenge and then leaves us high and dry?” Dean muttered angrily. He had clearly been thinking about that possibility as well, based on how quickly he picked up on the reasoning behind the research. Sam glared at Dean, even though he knew it wouldn’t do much good.
“Yes. Because SOMEBODY decided it would be a good idea to threaten to use him first. He’s not actually okay Dean, you realize this, right?”
“He’s fine.” Dean muttered, hands gripping the steering wheel so tight that they turned white.
“No, he is not! Because he is just like you!” Sam snapped.
That was it for Dean; he stopped sharply, causing Sam to nearly hit his head on the dashboard. He was grateful that they were the only car on the road at the moment.
“I am not like that winged dick, Sam.” he said, and Sam could almost swear there was steam coming out of his ears as he spoke, tone strained with anger. “I don’t kill people for fun – I save them! I don’t run from the fight, or from my family – I stay! He’s a coward, and he doesn’t deserve our help!” Sam stared at his brother calmly for a long moment before speaking, the silence after his response almost deafening;
“Are you saying I’m a coward? For running off to college all those years ago?”
They stared at each other in silence for a moment, and Sam wanted to say more, but he didn’t want to make the situation worse than it already was. Instead, he exhaled slowly, leaning back into his seat and staring out the window. Dean muttered some curses, pulling back out onto the road and driving almost 15 over the speed limit the whole rest of the way there.
They didn’t stop once from there to St. Paul.
When they finally pulled up to the warehouse the next evening, it was quiet. They opened their doors carefully, looking for any signs of supernatural activity.
“’Bout time, boys.” they both whipped around to look at the archangel leaning casually against a stack of worn tires. Well, not casually, per se – Sam could see how tense the outline of the smaller man was. He looked like he was waiting for an ambush of some kind. Luckily, there was none.
“So? What now?” Dean said, grumpily shoving his gun back into the waistband of his pants.
“Weeellll, you two muttonheads are gonna go around the outside and take off all the angelic warding and replace it with these.” he gestured over to a large piece of plywood, which suddenly had two different sigils burned into it. “They’re essentially the pagan version of holy fire - no one goes in, no one goes out.”
“Then how are you going to get in?” Sam asked, frowning at the archangel. Gabriel turned to him, raising an eyebrow.
“I’m not one of them, Sam - never was. Why do you think the stake never worked on me?” he walked up to the plywood, knocking on it lightly with two knuckles before turning back to them.
“Best get going, boys. They won’t be in there forever.” Whoosh.
“Bastard.” Dean muttered, staring at the symbols for a moment. Once he had memorized them, he grabbed the spray paint from the trunk, throwing a few bottles to Sam before grabbing a few for himself. “Alright, let’s get goin’.”
Sam nodded, looking around one last time before jogging after Dean towards the large, rusted warehouse. It struck Sam as odd; after all, weren’t pagans known to be vain? It explained why the Elysian Fields Hotel had been where they’d ended up the first time – a four-star hotel on a no star highway, as he had called it.
So why had they all gathered here?
He tried to brush off the uneasy feeling in his gut, focusing instead on getting the sigils just right.
It took about 20 minutes for them to ward the entire exterior of the warehouse, powering down the angel warding as they did so. Once they were finished, they met back at the car, waiting.
“Why’re you so ready to jump in and help him, huh?” Dean asked out of the blue, tossing the still somewhat full cans in the back of baby while throwing the rest into the junk piles surrounding them. Sam leaned against the hood of the trunk, lips pursed as he thought of a way to explain it.
“What you said…. about running away- “
“Sam, I wasn’t talking about you, okay? You’ve MORE than made up for it.” Dean said, slamming the trunk closed and looking at his brother seriously. Sam shook his head.
“It’s not just about that, though. What I said about you two being similar – that was the truth.” he got a glare from Dean which he quieted by raising an eyebrow. Dean knew what he was referring to, and Sam was not about to have an entire argument over that particular topic right now. “But….so am I. What he went through…I understand it, Dean. With Lucifer, and the cage…”
“So, what? You pity the guy?” Dean snorted. Sam just shrugged.
“I don’t know, Dean. The point is, he needs this. If we help him, he might be more willing to give us the grace.” Dean huffed but didn’t say anything – Sam counted it as a win.
“Nice job on the warding.” Gabriel whistled appreciatively, a dark smirk tilting the corners of his lips. Sam shivered at the implications of the expression.
Before he could rethink it, he was opening his mouth to speak.
“Are you sure you want to go alone?” he tensed under the disbelief and scrutiny of both pairs of eyes now on him. He shrugged helplessly at Dean, who was currently giving him the dude, what the hell is wrong with you? Look. Gabriel, though…well, there was a glimmer of something underneath the surface, something that told Sam he was grateful. He continued, fumbling for a decent explanation.
“It’s just…. they captured you the first time, and you’re not up to full power…” he muttered, silently cursing himself for ever speaking. Gabriel just studied him, the cocky grin on his face not quite reaching his eyes.
“You worried about me, Sammy?” the hunter huffed, but Dean beat him to the next words.
“You’re the only archangel we got, Chuckles.” Dean muttered in annoyance. Gabriel glared at Dean darkly, but decided that it wasn’t worth his time.
“Fine. Stay if you want – but wait here. Don’t get in my way.” he ordered lowly, eyes flashing blue.
Deciding against heeding the warning, Sam grabbed his smaller bag from the backseat the second Gabriel vanished from sight. The bag contained a handful of guns in addition to some blood-dipped wooden stakes.
“Oh, c’mon!” Dean growled in exasperation, but followed Sam anyway, both jogging toward the entrance. The sigils they had just painted were glowing, and they both quickly learned why.
The first thing that hit them as they snuck through the door were the screams; they echoed off the walls, sounding like they were coming from everywhere even though it was only one voice at a time. Sam cringed as he tried to block out the sound of bones snapping, of limbs being ripped off, of voices choking on their own blood as they begged for mercy. He looked at Dean, who was giving him the look of why?
Sam just glared back stubbornly, sneaking along the wall and promptly staking one that ran around the corner.
They worked their way around the outer edge of the warehouse, taking down the deities who ran. They only got maybe 30 feet before the mass panic began to taper off, most of the demigods already dead.
Sam turned the corner and was abruptly pulled back by Dean, both plastered against the wall as they listened.
“Please, just let me go! I was only- “a terrible snapping sound, followed by a scream. Sam shut his eyes, swallowing down nausea as he tried not to envision what had just happened.
“I don’t care what you were trying to do, Syn,” the voice was unmistakably Gabriel’s but the utter fury behind his words, the pure venom in his tone shook Sam to his core. “You are going to pay, for what you and your little friends here did to me.” a heavy thud, the sound of something sharp, and a brief flash of golden light later, and both brothers knew that the goddess was dead.
Sam froze as he heard laughing coming from their room of the warehouse. They quickly backed away from the door as Gabriel stomped through, eyes still glowing. It was surreal, seeing how red the rest of the warehouse was and realizing that Gabriel himself didn’t have a single drop of blood on himself. Sam assumed he had snapped it away; he couldn’t blame him.
Probably spent enough time covered in blood, he thought vaguely. Sam watched intently as the archangel rolled his shoulders, showing the silhouette of his wings to the stranger who was across the warehouse. The man was still chuckling, no worry showing whatsoever. Gabriel stalked forward purposefully, and the brothers slipped behind some stacks of wooden shipping crates, watching through the cracks.
“Loki, my old friend. Or, should I say – “he leisurely strolled up, tilting his head somewhat, “Gabriel.”
“Phobos.” he snarled, voice ringing unnaturally. Every muscle in Gabriel’s body was tensed, ready to fight at any moment. Phobos just smirked.
“Ah, you remember me! Well, how could you not, after all…” he trailed off, taking a couple steps back as Gabriel took a few forward, “I am the one who broke you.”
“You didn’t break me, you asshole.” he snarled, the warehouse shaking slightly at his barely contained righteous fury, “I’m here, aren’t I?”
Phobos just smiled, ignoring the first statement. “Yes, yes you are. I see you brought some pets, also! Terrible idea, but I’ll have fun breaking them as well.” he turned towards the pair, eyes flickering with fire as they stepped out from behind their makeshift shelter. He smiled devilishly, and with a flick of his wrist, Gabriel was trapped in a circle of holy fire. The light immediately died from the angel’s eyes, his shoulders lowering as the fire dampened his abilities. If looks could kill, the other deity would have been dead more times over than Dean was in the mystery spot.
“Now, how would you two like to know EXACTLY what I did to this little tree topper?” he drawled, hands behind his back as he sauntered forward. Sam quickly looked to Gabriel, who had gone from absolutely furious to downright nervous in a split second. He nudged Dean, who quickly raised his gun. Phobos stopped advancing, but his smile never wavered.
“WELL, I’m going to take the silence as a yes. It started just like this, actually – him not thinking we knew that he actually had wings, ending up in one of those delightful little holy fire circles.” he looked at Gabriel, gaze piercing as he continued to talk. “We considered just burning him to a crisp at first, but we weren’t sure that would actually work – after all, we don’t know too much about the hippie from Bethlehem and his choir of angels. So, we decided on another tactic – a way to take out our anger and make some profit while we were at it.”
“You sold him. To Asmodeus.” Sam said, anger prickling at the edges of his voice. He feared looking over at the archangel, but he had to do something. If he could just get to the circle to break it…
“Ah, we did. Stupid idea, based on our current situation.” He looked around the warehouse, seemingly unphased by the massacre. Sam supposed he wouldn’t be – after all, he was a god of war, and one look at Dean told Sam that his brother knew this as well.
“But we did something else first. After all, we couldn’t have him putting up a fight for whoever our client-to-be was, hmm?” he said, kicking the closest body to him, presumably to check if they were still alive. “No, we had to make sure he wasn’t gonna give anyone any trouble anymore.” A cruel grin marred Phobos’s features as he picked up a blade from the body, and Sam heard a loud exhale from the circle. He dared to glance over, noticing that Gabriel now almost looked ASHAMED as the other deity talked.
“Do you want to tell them, messenger? Or should I?” he taunted. When he got no response, he quickly turned back to the boys, looking almost giddy at the prospect. It unnerved Sam, but he was too curious to attack immediately. He could tell that Dean felt the same way.
“Do you boys know how truly easy it is to break an angel’s spirit once their wings have been bound? Or perhaps felt the satisfaction as said angel screams, begs for mercy? Pathetic, really.”
“Stop.”
“Anyway, that was just the beginning. Oh, yes, were not even to the good part yet!” he crowed.
“Stop it.” Gabriel growled, part of his true voice leaking through the words. He put up a good front, but Sam could hear the desperation behind the exclamation.
“Oh, but I’m sure these two would love to know the things you did, the things you said just to get the pain to stop, even for a moment. My brother Deimos and I found it quite amusing.” Sam was still curious, but the knowledge wasn’t worth the pain and embarrassment it would cause the archangel, he could see that much.
With one swift movement, he slammed his shoulder into the nearest shipping crate, hoping that it wasn’t as heavy as it looked. He got lucky, and it tipped just far enough to fall and catch part of the holy fire circle, breaking it. The look on Phobo’s face was priceless, his complexion paling considerably as Gabriel flickered out of existence from the circle, reappearing in front of him. Phobos shouted in surprise as he was grabbed by the collar, being slammed onto his knees by the archangel in front of him.
“I’ll show you pathetic, boy.” he growled dangerously. Sam huffed a breath of surprise as Dean yanked him behind the nearest pile of boxes once more. Heavenly light flashed past Sam’s eyelids, and after what seemed to only be a few screams and snapping noises later, it faded away. After another minute, Sam slowly stood up, jumping in surprise as he met Gabriel face to face.
“I told you to stay.” he growled, glaring dangerously at both of them. Sam could tell Dean was tempted to pull the “we saved your ass” card, but luckily he seemed to have enough wits about him not to. Within seconds, they were back in the bunker’s garage, baby in her usual parking spot. Dean looked at Gabriel intensely; Gabriel responded by snorting in disgust.
“Don’t worry, Winchester, I’m still going to hold my end of the bargain. Tell me when you need it, and I’ll deliver.”
“How about now?” Dean stated, holding out a vial. Sam could immediately see the flare of both annoyance and anxiety in Gabriel’s eyes before he glared at Dean.
“When.You.Need.It.” he enunciated each word, mocking the other man. “I’m not all that comfortable with you knuckleheads carrying around a piece of my very essence while you wait to open your portal.”
“Dean.” Sam said sternly, knowing his brother would continue to argue if he didn’t put an end to this. With a huff of annoyance, the other hunter stormed off, slamming the bunker door behind him. He went to look back to Gabriel, but he was gone as well.
“Dammit.” Sam muttered, rubbing his temples. WHY couldn’t they just be civil around each other just once?
He grabbed his bag and followed Dean inside, taking one last look around the garage before closing the door.
It was a long night of Dean stomping around the bunker angrily, back and forth from the fridge to get a new six pack. Sam was in his room or the library most of the time, researching more on parallel universes and Nephilim. He REALLY didn’t want to traumatize the archangel any more than necessary, but so far he hadn’t found an alternative. Sighing, he closed yet another book, standing up from his bed to stretch.
His clock read 1:26, and while he knew he should get some sleep, he didn’t feel all that tired. So, he decided to see what they had in terms of movies.
He quietly padded down to the den (not like it would matter; Dean was drunk off his ass, he wouldn’t hear a thing). When he got there, he jumped as he noticed somebody already there, whipping out his gun to point it at the stranger.
“Relax, Sam. Don’t you know it’s not nice to shoot the messenger?” Gabriel drawled, biting into a half unwrapped dark chocolate milky way.
“Gabriel, what- “he looked at the small tv in front of him, and snorted. “Disney? Really?”
“Hey! Don’t you judge, Samsquatch!” he huffed, throwing a scrunched up wrapper at the taller man. “It’s one of the best things your kind has created.”
“Disney?” Sam said, disbelief coloring his tone. He couldn’t help but smile, though – it was a bit more than surreal seeing an archangel of the lord chowing down on candy while watching Mulan. Gabriel just rolled his eyes, standing up and brushing the wrappers of his lap.
“Well, this was fun, but…I’m gonna go.” he said, moving to saunter past Sam and out the door. Instinctively, Sam shot his hand out, grabbing Gabriel’s arm. He promptly let go in shock as Gabriel whimpered, quickly pulling his arm away and looking at Sam with wide eyes. There – that same look of panic, of fear on the archangel’s face as when Phobos had been taunting him.
“Gabriel...” he trailed off, unsure of what to say. The archangel must not have liked his tone though, because he glared, trying to move past Sam once more. Sam blocked him, opening his mouth to say something, but Gabriel quickly cut him off.
“NO.” he snapped. Sam flinched at just how furious he looked, eyes flashing blue briefly as he stared down the hunter. “I will NOT have you pitying me!”
“I’m not- “
Yes, you are!” he countered, cutting Sam off. Sam swallowed nervously but refused to break eye contact, despite his fear of being smote. “Did you think I wouldn’t hear your little conversation back at the warehouse? I don’t need your pity, and I sure as hell don’t want it!”
“What did they do to you, Gabriel? The demigods - Asmodeus?” he asked, voice almost a whisper. Gabriel clenched his jaw, looking at the ground. He hesitantly reached out towards the archangel again, who stepped back quickly, looking back up with angry amber eyes.
“You don’t want to know, Sam.”
“YES, I do!” he insisted, huffing in frustration, “I can’t help you if- “
“You can’t help me anyway!”
“And why not?!”
“Because you don’t know what it’s like, Sam,” Gabriel snarled, “to be touched without consent!” he is almost yelling at this point, face twisted into a mask of pure pain and shame. “To be broken, humiliated, to have your very being violated! They – he….” Gabriel huffed in frustration, rubbing at his eyes in an attempt to stave off the tears forming.
In that moment, Sam understood.
“I do know, Gabriel.” he said, voice softening unconsciously. “Lucifer…. when I was stuck in the cage with him and Michael…. Death himself had to put up a wall to keep the memories out, and even that didn’t hold forever.” He dared to look back up at Gabriel, but the archangel had his head down.
“It was HORRIBLE, dealing with the aftermath of it breaking. But…. I got through it, I DEALT with it, and I’m still here.” he said. He heard Gabriel let out a shaky breath, and he watched as the shorter man hesitantly looked up. Sam’s heart sank as he saw that Gabriel was crying, watery eyes scared and oh so human.
“Why won’t it go away, Sam?” he asked shakily, giving the hunter a look Sam couldn’t even begin to accurately describe, “The pain, the memories. Why do I still feel so damn scared?”
Almost impulsively, he stepped forward, wrapping the angel in a tight embrace. He inched backwards until he found the edge of the chair, and proceeded to plop down, Gabriel now sitting curled up in his lap. He kicked the foot rest out, situating Gabriel’s bent legs underneath one of his own as he stretched his other leg out.
They stayed like this, Sam humming soothing reassurances to the archangel as he pressed himself against Sam, soaking in the warmth and close proximity of the other man. The whimpers and sharp inhales died down, and Gabriel shivered, pressing his face into Sam’s neck. He got a huff of laughter in response, long fingers gently massaging his scalp.
“You’ll be fine, Gabe – just takes time.”
“Too much time.” Gabriel grumbled. He relaxed gradually, the scent of rain and gunpowder lulling him into a state of ease he hadn’t experienced in years. He tensed once more as the hunter shifted, a low whine leaving his throat.
“Easy, easy.” Sam shushed him, brushing a few more candy wrappers off the seat before settling once more.
“Sorry ‘bout that. Didn’t realize this was yours.” he murmured.
“Actually, we haven’t really had time to claim seats, so I guess this one is Dean’s now.” Gabriel snorted at the response, reveling in the soft grunt of surprise he got as he pressed his back to the hunter’s front, tipping his head back slightly to meet Sam’s hazel eyes over his shoulder. He watched in amusement as Sam studied him, gradually becoming more flustered at how close their faces were.
“Uh, Gabriel, I…” he stuttered. He flushed a slightly darker shade as Gabriel wet his lips, but didn’t look away. After another couple seconds, Gabriel rolled his eyes, lips twitching into a fond smile.
“You think too much, Winchester.” He mused, gently gripping the hunter’s jaw and pulling him into a timid kiss. Gabriel shuddered, a sound akin to a purr leaving his throat as Sam reciprocated, letting him deepen the kiss slightly. He teasingly ran a hand under Sam’s shirt, groaning softly in frustration as Sam pulled away.
“No, Gabriel,” he chuckled, laying his hands over the archangels and intertwining them before wrapping them around the shorter man. “not right now.”
“You’re no fun.” he pouted, although he couldn’t help but smile softly at the huff of laughter he got in response.
“Would Disney change your mind about that?” Sam countered, releasing Gabriel’s hand to grab the remote. Gabriel squirmed, twisting himself to get a better look at the tv.
“Better be a good one.” Gabriel said, trying and failing to snatch the remote from the taller man.
“Hunchback of Notre Dame?”
“Hell yeah.” he cheered softly. Sam just grinned, pressing a kiss to the archangel’s forehead as he pressed play.
“You sure about this?” he asked, fiddling with the vial in his hand. Gabriel nodded, although his eyes still shone with uncertainty. Sam sighed, setting the vial back on the table. “look, you don’t have to- “
“I think your brother would say otherwise. Besides, it’s the only way to get back over there, right? I’d kinda like to meet my nephew – just hope he’s not too much like my dick of a brother.”
“He’s not.” Sam chuckled, going over the ingredients on the table one last time. They had decided to let Gabriel stay at the bunker, in order to keep an eye on the rift while they were gone. They had some vials of their own blood, just in case the rift closed before they got back so that Gabriel could reopen it. Cas was on his way, adamant on going despite Dean’s protests.
“Well,” Gabriel looked over at the angel blade on the table warily. They had elected to go with a blade to the throat, as Gabriel was still put off by needles of any kind. “just make sure to bring him back in one piece, ‘kay? Don’t want this to be for nothing.”
Sam nodded, finishing his inventory just as he heard the bunker door open. Without even glancing up, he could tell that Dean had already rushed in, ready to meet Cas at the bottom of the stairs. He heard Gabriel snort in amusement, bracing both hands against the table next to Sam.
“Is your brother seriously still trying to stop him from going?”
“Probably.” Sam sighed, raising an eyebrow at the two men quietly arguing in the map room. He rolled his eyes, straightening and turning to Gabriel. “Ready?”
“Not really,” he muttered, gaze fixed on the trench coated angel coming towards them, “but I’ll live.”
Cas acknowledged them both with a quick look, getting a small smile from one and a nervous twitch from the other. Picking up the blade and vial from the table, he nodded to Sam, who moved to stand behind the archangel, hand gently tangled in the other man’s hair as he tilted his head back. Dean walked past them towards his room, muttering incomprehensibly at the position, earning a smug look from Gabriel and a bitch face from Sam.
“Okay, Cassie. Bring it.” he gave the other angel a reassuring smile, although Sam could feel the tension through their aligned bodies.
Gabriel made a small, choked off sound of panic as the blade dug into his throat, revealing his grace. Sam tugged the angel’s head back gently, far enough for their eyes to meet, silently soothing the archangel as Cas tried to fill the vial as quickly as possible. Gabriel grabbed his other hand, squeezing it tightly. Sam reciprocated, blinking at Cas in relief as he reached forward, healing the other man’s throat.
“Done.” he mumbled, vial grasped firmly in one hand. Gabriel sighed through his nose, some of the tension leaking back out from his form as Sam released him. He turned, giving the hunter a grateful look as Dean walked back down the hallway, duffel in hand.
“We ready?” he said, still eyeing the pair suspiciously. Sam nodded, brushing past Gabriel to mix all the ingredients together.
“Do we know where to go?” Cas asked, looking between the two brothers. Sam gestured to Dean, who nodded.
“Yea. Got the location of the camp last time. All we need to do is make sure we get there and get everyone back before the portal closes.”
“And watch out for Michael’s mafia.” Gabriel drawled, a packet of skittles materializing in his hand. Dean glared at him, turning to Sam accusingly.
“Y’know, you never told me why you think we’re so damn alike.” Sam snorted, throwing the last of the ingredients in and looking up at Dean.
“Like I have to tell you.” he leaned his hip against the table, watching as the two had a brief staring contest. Gabriel smirked, popping a skittle in his mouth before speaking.
“You and I both know he’s right, Dean-o. An immovable object meeting an unstoppable force – same coin, different sides.” Dean just scowled, slamming his bag on the table.
“What are we waiting for?” he huffed impatiently.
Within 30 seconds, they had the portal open, the four of them staring at it solemnly. Dean gave Cas a stern look as he stepped forward to go through first. He vanished in a flash of light, Cas following closely behind. Sam turned to look at Gabriel.
“Go on, kiddo. I’ll be here, I promise.” he said, tone gentler than Sam had ever heard it. He knew the archangel was telling the truth, but he wanted to be sure he didn’t regret anything if something went wrong. Gabriel rolled his eyes.
“Nothing’s gonna go wrong enough for me to leave, Sa- “he cut off as Sam grabbed his crossed arms, looking at him intently.
“Shut up.” he muttered, tone only slightly annoyed as he pressed forward to kiss the archangel one last time. Gabriel let out a pleased hum, smirking as Sam stepped away, grabbing his bag.
“You better come back in time, Samuel, or I might just have to go through there myself to get another one of those.”
“Stay.” He said, pointing at the other man sternly. Gabriel just laughed, settling himself in one of the library chairs before tipping the entire bag of skittles into his mouth. With that last unspoken reassurance (and disturbing image), Sam turned, vision bathed in light as the portal took him.