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“So get this.”
Sam nearly fell out of bed. First, there had most definitely not been anyone else in his bed when he went to sleep. Second, this was not the bed he’d gone to sleep in. Whatever had him had taken Dean, too, he confirmed with a quick glance over to the other… not a motel bed. Dean was still asleep, which was odd enough, but Sam was sure that his brother would wake up if he were in danger. Everything that had gone wrong from the last two years, they’d worked through. With the Apocalypse successfully averted, there was hope that things could stay fixed.
The Apocalypse… Sam had said yes, was on his way to Stull, but as soon as the Impala pulled up, he felt Lucifer being ripped out of him. He’d watched as Lucifer and Michael were shoved in a hole in the ground, in their true form – and hadn’t that been a surprise, being able to see the true form of two archangels without pain or even temporary eye or vision damage. Dean hadn’t see what happened, just the ground opening and closing beneath them. Castiel had confirmed that Sam wasn’t going crazy, that Michael and Lucifer had gone into the pit together.
Next thing he knew, he and Dean were in a golden room with a bunch of hamburgers and salad fixings, and a whiteboard with a list of Things to Discuss and Get the Fuck Over. It had been surprisingly long, and while he shared Dean’s reluctance to get started, it became obvious they weren’t getting out of there until they cleared the whiteboard. It had been a long, difficult conversation with many a break for food.
When they were finally allowed out, air cleared and behind them, the Impala was waiting for them, along with directions to a motel. Dean took that as a personal insult and threw them out, driving until he got to town and very pointedly picking a different place to stop and sleep and figure out where to go from there.
And now Sam was here. Wherever this was, it was far too nice to be the kind of motel he or Dean would ever have gone to, or expected to end up in. Leaving that aside, secondly, Gabriel was in his bed.
Gabriel was dead. His failure to stop Lucifer at the conference of the gods had been a devastating blow, which had led to the desperate plan that had somehow gone wrong in all the best ways. Gabriel could not be in Sam’s bed, and yet, there he was. Right there. Looking at him with a mixture of concern, resignation, amusement, and curiosity. “You okay there, Samsquatch?”
“I’m fine,” Sam said automatically. A quick check of himself confirmed his words. “How are you here? What happened at the hotel, with Lucifer?”
“Oh, I faked my death. Planned for it to take with you and Deano, I was too badly weakened to help out with Luci and Mike even if I could somehow find the courage to try again, but Dad had other ideas. Got me away from Kali, hauled me up to Heaven…” Gabriel paused and rolled his eyes dramatically. “And put me in charge. With Dad involved, Raphael’s going to work with me instead of against me, and we’re deputizing Cassie and Anna to temporarily be the butts on Mike and Luci’s thrones until they get their shit sorted and can come home. Lots of angels grumbling about that, Raphael most of all, but what Dad says goes up there.”
“That’s… great? So what brings you here, specifically… is this the motel we had directions to waiting for us?”
Gabriel shook his head. “This is my base of operations on Earth. Where I hung out when I needed a pad for a Trickster cover. I can connect it to any door on Earth, unless it’s warded against magical invasion. Incidentally, there’s at least some folks in most world governments who know how to do this. Fort Knox, for example. The doors are warded. Not against an archangel, but you know what I mean.”
“So if I got up and walked out…”
“You’d be right back at your motel. Go try it, if you like, because when you walk back in it’ll take you here.”
Sam glanced between the door and Gabriel, deciding against it. He needed more answers right now. “Okay, then I guess that technically answers the question of why you’re here. Why are Dean and I here?”
“Well, Dean’s here because if he woke up and you were gone, he’d steal my angel blade and use that instead of a wooden stake.” Sam rolled his eyes and glared at Gabriel – although, he certainly couldn’t argue with Gabriel’s point. “And you’re here because I need to talk to you about one of Dad’s reforms of Heaven.”
“Okay, look, while I appreciate the delay on my entry, I’m going to Hell eventually. I know that. No need to break the news gently. After saying yes to Lucifer, I don’t think your father’s salvation still applies.” It wasn’t Heaven that had the good intention pavement, he’d once told Dean, and it was still true.
“Yeah, well… what has been given once can be given again, you know, but.” Gabriel held out a hand, back toward Sam. The ring pulsing with turquoise and gold light drew Sam’s attention. “One of the things Dad decided is that all of us in charge of Heaven need earthly consorts to keep our minds on the humans. He arranged marriages for us all.”
“Wait. Is…” Sam ripped his eyes away from the ring to stare at Gabriel. “Is this why I could see Lucifer and Michael’s true forms and Dean couldn’t?”
“Possibly, but Dean’s in this, too. Anna’s got a few more things to sort out with being alive, free, and in charge, but she’ll be along when she’s ready.” Gabriel gave an exaggerated shrug. “So yeah. It’s weird. Dad has a twisted sense of humor. You went from the most hated person in Heaven aside from the few who had the sense to look past the prophecy to see the man to the consort of the angel in charge.”
Sam tried to collect his thoughts. It was not easy. His head was definitely exploding right now, and every time he grabbed hold of one thought all the others just scattered. “I don’t understand what this means for me. I mean, I get that we’re… we’re mates? I’m supposed to…”
“It means absolutely nothing you don’t want it to mean,” Gabriel said with surprising force. “Unless you decide on reincarnation, I’m gonna be assigned a new consort every century or so anyway to keep me tied to the Earth, so you do not have to have sex with me, you are not allowed to use me as an excuse to keep yourself away from happiness if you find someone else you want, I’m gonna be popping in once in a while for a chat or if you need serious help, and beyond that you don’t owe me a damn thing. I know I’m not exactly your favorite angel.”
“What, because of Tuesday?”
“More importantly, because of Wednesday, but yeah. Among other things.”
Sam scoffed. To his own amazement, he meant it when he said, “Bygones. You were doing what you thought you needed to, and I don’t know if it’s the big chat with Dean and moving on from so much else or what, but it’s done. Don’t do it again, mind you, but what are the chances of a situation where you’d need to – and where Anna wouldn’t murder you for messing with her consort?” Gabriel didn’t respond. Fair enough. Sam tried to catch on to the next answer he wanted. The only thing he could come up with was, “Can I kiss you?”
Whatever Gabriel had expected, that wasn’t it, if the wide-open eyes and suddenly sitting up straight were anything to go by. “Huh?” Before Sam could respond, Gabriel was cursing. “I’m going to find a way to kill him, I swear. Sam, I’m so sorry.”
“For what?”
“For… he did something to you. Made you…” Gabriel cut off, glaring out the window.
Sam reached out and put a hand on his shoulder. “If you mean the interest in kissing you… that’s been there. I’ll admit that Tuesday kind of quashed it, but it never really went way. After our romp through TV Land, Dean started teasing me about you having a crush on me because of the interest you seemed to have in my bits.” Off Gabriel’s blank look, Sam reminded him, “The Nutcracker, and then you put me in a genital herpes commercial, and set me up to get fisted by Dean? Anyway, whether you meant it that way or it was just coincidence that those all happened to me and not Dean, the thought that you might have a crush on me kinda made me wonder what it would be like. And now… well… maybe that’s why God chose me for your mate. I mean, Dean and Anna have already had sex…”
“That really doesn’t explain why Raphael ended up with Bobby,” Gabriel said, voice still somewhat strained but at least looking at Sam again. “And Castiel got someone I don’t think he even knew. Sheriff Jody Mills.”
“Huh. Interesting.” Sam glanced at his phone. “I wonder how long it’ll take Bobby to call and complain about his new mate.”
“First Raphael has to stop stalling.” Gabriel gave Sam a tentative smile. “So… still want that kiss?”
“Absolutely.” Sam leaned forward, letting Gabriel close the last bit to press their lips together. It confirmed everything Sam had suspected, and if it weren’t for Dean being so close… well, this was going to be an interesting thing to wake up to if Anna didn’t spirit him off somewhere in his sleep. He was not stopping.