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Sam scrubbed his hands through his hair, glancing at his watch. Almost time. He was settled in another nameless motel, somewhere south of Kentucky but north of the Gulf, and conveniently close to a large university library. His laptop rested on his lap, open to the blogging website where he’d first found Gabriel and their brothers.
The trickster still posted regular updates and answered civilians’ questions - all of whom thought he was just an unusually enthusiastic role-player - but he’d set aside this time to speak privately with Sam, to hear about his research. As much fun as Gabriel was having trying to push Dean and Castiel together, everyone knew that getting home was their first priority.
Sam’s watch chimed softly, both hands centered precisely on the 12, and a video window opened on his laptop’s screen. The hunter leaned forward, already smiling a greeting, but his friend’s words cut him off.
“Sorry, Sammy, but if you’re seeing this, we’re a bit busy down here - ”
“Gabe, get over here! We gotta - ”
“I will take the kittens, brother. Sam, we have been forced to seek another shelter. We will contact you - ”
Castiel placed a restraining hand on each of the kittens’ heads, pushing them deeper into his trench coat’s pockets. Shadow’s lisping complaint was overridden by the end of his message. “ - as soon as we are safe again. Gabriel, we must go now.”
Gabriel blew a kiss before cutting off the recording and leaving it for Sam. Cas took his shoulder and steered him to the front of the cave, where Dean was standing guard against the predatory eyes outside. “I’m on point. Let’s head to those trees first, try to scrounge something for Dean and the kiddos.”
Dean rolled his eyes but didn’t object. Food was hard to find in the perpetual gloom of Purgatory, but he and the kittens still needed to eat, and regularly. His one attempt to diet to save them the effort had resulted in near fatal weakness during an ambush, and the hunter had - however begrudgingly - bowed to necessity after that. Besides, the angels were both gaga over their “kids”, so it wasn’t like they’d escape foraging anyway.
Steve had taken to riding in Cas’s pockets surprisingly well, often falling asleep in its dark shelter. Shadow, however, found it restrictive and enervating, always trying to play or stick her head out at the worst times. They hadn’t met a monster yet who found a lisping, hissing kitten terrifying, although many heard her and thought she’d make a good meal. Those were always dispatched in a protective fit by Gabriel while Shadow whined that she just wanted to play.
Damn talking cat didn’t know a monster when she saw one.
Gabriel reached the trees first, beheading a few monsters who thought jumping an archangel was a good idea, and scanned the foliage for anything edible. “Berries, ahead and to the left. Still got the cats?”
Cas grunted, trying to thread a black paw back inside his heavy pocket. “For the moment.”
Dean flicked the paw sharply and ignored Shadow’s hiss. “Would be yours that acts up,” he teased Gabriel, watching the underbrush as he approached the berry bushes. “Damn, blackberries.” He began piling the berries into his sacrificed t-shirt, now stained by dozens of similar harvests, trusting the angels to guard him. Something squelched on an angel blade behind him as he pulled the last of the semi-ripe berries from the thorny branches. “Got ‘em. Any chance of meat tonight?”
“Bastard hydra?” Gabe suggested, holding up something with far too many heads. “Might not be poisonous.”
Dean shrugged. “I’ll take my chances.”
The three moved on, their spoils slung over backs or tucked into pockets. Groups were dangerous in Purgatory, where numbers attracted unwanted attention, and the scent of fresh blood brought hungry predators.
Sam vented his impotent worry on the smuggled library books, reading by the light of the bedside lamp and his laptop’s screen. Gabriel’s blog showed no new updates, and Sam skimmed through several books of mythological monsters, foraging tips, and survival techniques before dawn. He left a chiding message in the trio’s inbox before repacking his backpack and leaving the hotel again.
He would have just enough time to buy some coffee before the library reopened.
Gabriel sprawled across the floor of the cave, chuckling as the two released kittens scampered around Castiel’s feet.
“We eats naow?” Shadow implored, attacking the hem of his coat. “Steve’s an’ I hungurry.”
Castiel paused to untangle her claws from the heavy fabric. “Dean is dressing the meat now, Shadow. It will be cooked soon.”
“Us hungurr NAOW.” She sat stubbornly, attempting to stare him into submission. Meanwhile, Steve waited at Dean’s elbow, begging for a scrap.
“Hey babe, want a berry?” Gabriel caught Shadow with a hand under her belly and tucked her against his chest. He snagged one of the half-ripe blackberries from Dean’s shirt and pushed it into her mouth.
“Daddy! Dat taste ew!” The kitten pushed on his hand with all four paws, resisting a new attempt.
A shred of hydra skin smacked against Gabriel’s head. “You wanna tell Sam we’re alive? Before trying to argue with a bitchy kitten?”
“Shadow is merely a picky eater, Dean. We do not know what her previous diet was.”
“Yeah, and that’s reassuring. Just adopting a talking mystery cat.”
“I naot ‘dopted!”
“‘Cause archangels have so many kids.” Dean’s eyeroll was audible, although Gabriel just shrugged.
“I wasn’t an archangel for a few millennia, you know. Or at least, not in a way that counted.” He glanced down to where his kitten purred in the palm of one hand, the other scratching behind her ears. “But I guess I can put my moose out of his misery.”
“Sam is not your anything you - ”
“PURGATORY TO SAMMY!”
Sam winced at the sudden noise, then scrambled to change windows on his laptop. He’d left the tab with Gabriel’s blog open in case they called, although he now realized that he should have turned his volume down. “Guys? You safe?”
“You don’t think there’s anything down here that could hurt little old me, now do you?” Gabriel’s face filled the chat screen, bright against the dark walls of another cave.
“Hello, Sam,” and the camera swung to show Castiel, crouched beside his brother. Dean was holding a knife over - something - and Sam really didn’t want to know about his eating habits anymore.
Dean grinned and held up a snake-like head. “Hydra for dinner, just like Bobby used to make.”
Sam groaned. “I don’t think he ever cooked that, Dean.”
“Nah, but I’m pretty sure he gave us snake at least once. Anyway, how’s life topside?”
Sam shrugged, not knowing if they’d see it. “Same old. I found a few things - ” He gave a quick rundown as Dean butchered the hydra and gave it to Cas to cook - interrupting that “you better not burn that, Cas, or I’ll make you eat it” - and Steve crept closer to the scent of cooking meat.
When he started to wind down, Gabriel chimed in, “Sam! You haven’t greeted our little princess yet!”
Shadow was perched on his shoulder, purring and rubbing her cheek against his ear, so Sam rolled his eyes and answered, “Hi, Shadow.”
“Yoo mai unca too?” she insisted, half buried in Gabriel’s hair. “‘Cause Daddy say Unca Cas an’ Unca Dean mai uncas, an’ Dean say yoo brudders.”
Sam started to smile until Gabriel answered. “He’s gonna be your dada, munchkin. Just as soon as he says yes.”
“No saying yes to archangels, Sammy!” Dean was waving a piece of cooked hydra at Gabe’s camera and scowling. “They’re all dicks. And this tastes like shit, you fucking trickster.”
Gabriel shrugged easily. “Not like I ever ate it, and your brother’s a big boy now, Dean. He can make his own decisions.”
“You’re both forgetting I’m straight,” Sam deadpanned.
“Yoo be mai daddy too? I get morre daddy?!”
Sam winced in guilt, but Gabe answered before he could find an answer. “You know, I’ve been watching you, Sam, and I’ve noticed that you never got serious about anyone until you’d had a few dates with them - and funny thing, you never went on dates with guys.”
“Yeah, ‘cause he’s not gay - ”
“ - so what I’m wondering, is if that’s ‘cause you don’t like guys, or because everyone’s always told you that you don’t like guys. ‘Cause if it’s the second, then we might just be in business.”
“What?” For all that Sam knew about monsters and hunting - and even dusty legal cases - this was a new one.
“Have you never dated guys because the idea grosses you out, or because you’ve never actually thought about it and you’ve never found one you wanted to date?” Gabe elaborated.
“Why are you trying to hard to date me anyway?” That, at least, Sam was sure about.
“Well, you’re easier on the eyes than Tall and Violent here, and more interesting than my sainted brother. Considering that you were smart enough to survive the apocalypse, I’d say you’re worth a second look.”
“DAAAAADAAAAA! I want yoo be ext’a daddy!” Shadow whined. “An’ yoo loves me an’ play me an’ FEED ME.”
Gabriel chuckled and lifted Shadow off his shoulder before she bit him...like last time she got cranky. “Think about it, yeah? ‘Cause I gotta feed this munchkin ‘fore she eats your brother.” The connection on Sam’s laptop winked out, and he leaned back in his chair.
“Huh.”