God willing, I'll see you on the other side

[hunter_returns]

Sam had been driving most of the night, energized by a combination of caffeine and elation. He knew how to do it. After two, nearly three years, he finally knew how to repay a very old debt. Dean was taking care of things with Benny and frankly, the less Sam thought about that, the happier he was going to be. At least this time it was an amicable

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[hesnoangel]

"How... how did you know

[hunter_returns]

Sam swore under his breath. Leftover bones were easy enough to deal with. But bones in a car that was set on killing them?

"It's not good." He kept his voice even, watching the car start to get closer. Turning the car down a country road, he glanced back at Gabriel. "You did the right thing for him. But sometimes when people die violent deaths, they get.. stuck. They forget where they need to be. But it's okay. We know how to make sure he gets his rest."

"Whatever happens, you need to stick close to Gabriel, okay? He'll take care of you." Sam glanced over his shoulder. "Gabriel. I need you to make me up a molotov. There should be a bottle of whiskey and a rag in my gun cleaning kit."

The Impala lurched forward as the car smashed into their rear. "Really fast."

[hesnoangel]

Not good, yeah. Worse if they had to burn all the bones, but Gabriel wasn't sure about that one. Whichever way it was, the bones trapped in the car currently trying to run them off the road had priority, Gabriel had to agree there. Besides, this was a real learning experience. You didn't get so many of these anymore as a being older than the earth itself

[hunter_returns]

Sam would answer, but keeping the car on the road was currently taking all of his concentration. There was noise and movement from the back seat; he was going to take that as a good sign for the moment. The demon car had rammed the back of the Impala hard enough to bounce his head off the glass and he swiped his hand across his forehead, trying to keep the blood out of his eyes

[hesnoangel]

Gabriel didn't like Sam playing army of one, but leaving the woman alone was about the same as putting her on a silver platter with an apple in her mouth and some parsley on top. Besides that, his arm hung broken and useless to his side, wrist at a rather odd angle (and it hurt like a bitch, really, he got why humans could be so cranky sometimes), so who knew how much use he'd have been

[hunter_returns]

His ears were still ringing and he was pretty sure that he'd managed to screw up his shoulder when he landed. But otherwise, he was alive. The fire had done it's job and the vengeful spirit was at rest.

Which is good because he was in no shape to go gravedigging. Staggering to his feet, Sam froze when he saw the unnatural angle Gabriel's arm and wrist were sitting at. His injuries forgotten, he loped towards the archangel, brow furrowed in concern. "Jesus Gabriel, your arm.."

"Come on, it's over and that fire is going to draw attention pretty fast. We need to move."

Circling around the front of the Impala, Sam winced. Raising Gabriel didn't kill him. HUnting the ghost didn't kill him.

Dean, however, would. The car was a mess of dings and scrapes, a cracked windshield and a blown out headlight.

[hesnoangel]

"That?" He grinned. Hey, he wasn't going to whine in front of a human. Especially not in front of this one. "Just a flesh wound. It'll heal. Bad weeds grow tall, yadda yadda." With annoyance, he noted that he was short of breath from the pain raging through his arm and stretching out trendrils into chest and side. It wasn't like the cold fire of the angelblade, but it was still pretty damn uncomfortable. Perhaps getting his powers back was moving a little higher on his priority list right about now.

"So this is your day job, kiddo? I gotta say, it's not boring."

The wince he misread as a sign of pain. From the sound of it, Sam had taken a bit of a beating.

"I think you need Dr. Sexy again once we find a place that's not a ghostie killing ground." After checking on the unconscious woman and loping two seat belts around her body, he slid into the passenger's seat.

[hunter_returns]

"Just a flesh wound? Dude, your arm is a wreck. Heal yourself, I'm fine. I've had worse." Gabriel might be a nearly invulnerable archangel, but that didn't stop a spike of worry as they slid into the car.

"Yeah, this is what I do," he confirmed with a nod, grimacing at the sudden wave of pain. Nodding was off the list. Check. "Let's get her back to the motel. Then we'll take care of your arm." Sam rubbed his forehead. "Then Dean can murder me for what happened to the car."

He flashed him a wry grin. "Hope your batteries are recharged by then."

[hesnoangel]

"Don't play the hero with me or I'll read all your embarrassing wet dreams while I sift through your thick skull for your pain centre," Gabriel threatened. Now, the mind reading wasn't working much at all at the moment, but Sam looked like he'd competed in a hardcore wrestling match, half-dried blood that had gushed from his forehead covering his face, and you didn't need to read minds to understand that this must hurt.

"Not a bad show. I think I could get into this. Just need to work on my human weapon skills, or I'll get showed up by a twentysomething civilian again." Despite the edge of hurt to his voice, Gabriel sounded - felt - rather merry.

"So you should watch out. I'm gonna snatch all the best monsters away from you two knuckleheads. Provided you survive your brother's wrath." Smirking, he put his good hand against the window. "Maybe I'll try my hand at fixing the car. Think Deany would like some angel magic on his baby?"

[hunter_returns]

The levity in Gabriel's voice made the pain diminish and Sam can't help but crack a smile at him despite the throbbing in his head. "Shown up? Dude, you didn't get shown up. We did it together." Together. He really shouldn't have that ridiculous giddy feeling in his chest when Gabriel mentioned hunting. It was just adrenaline, right?

A pass of his sleeve helped to scrub at least some of the blood from his forehead. "Nothing bleeds like a head wound. Really, it's not as bad as it looks." He flashes him a half smile. "Trust me, been doing this since I was a kid, remember?"

"Dude. Only if you're sure you can fix it and not make it worse. If I'm lucky he'll only try and kick my ass over this."

[hesnoangel]

"I guess we made a good team, Brother Samuel," the angel joked and leaned forward, rapping his knuckles against the windshield. Like a video on reverse, the cracks in the glass retracted. Maybe he shouldn't waste his 'battery power' on this, but if Sam was already driving through a head injury, he should at least be able to see the road. Would be kind of a bad joke if they got iced in a car crash after surviving this.

"Alright, but the ghost of Pikachu here still got your pretty good and eff-why-eye, I'm literally older than dirt, so if I say it needs healing, then it does need healing

[hunter_returns]

"I wouldn't chance it Mr Older Than Dirt. Dean has access to holy oil and he wouldn't hesitate to use it if you did that to the radio," Sam answered wryly. "And I don't know if I can pull off raising you twice in the same week."

He glanced into the backseat. "Let's get her back to the motel, get her situated. Then we'll worry about things like healing, the car and where we're going from here."

Taking Gabriel hunting. He'd like that. Dean could have his.. whatever in the fuck it was with Benny. Sam could hunt with Gabriel. Maybe then they could stand to be around each other without everything spiraling into yet another argument.

[hesnoangel]

"I was just about to say your brother wouldn't deep-fry me in the chip pan over something petty like that, but then I remembered who your brother is," Gabriel said with that ususal impish smile of his, trying to rearrange his mangled arm that had slipped off his lap like a tacked-on appendage

[hunter_returns]

"Are you kidding? He'd deep fry both of us in holy oil for scratching the car," he snorted.

Sam doesn't expect Gabriel to stick around, but he hopes that he will anyway. They're a good team, and the banter they've been firing back and forth has been relaxed and easy in a way Sam's almost forgotten. The eyeroll doesn't go unnoticed either and he had to bite his bottom lip to keep from chuckling.

"It's okay. As long as he's laid to rest. The parts that got left behind, that's what was causing the problem. It's all right. It's over. We're gonna get you back to the motel, get you situated okay?"

Then they can do things like take care of their own injuries and figure out what exactly comes next.

[hesnoangel]

"I... I see. I guess I'll call my husband. He can get me. And we're in no more danger

[hunter_returns]

Amateur hocus pocus, little brother.

His knuckles went white on the steering wheel as Sam resolutely stared out at the road. It doesn't exactly take a rocket scientist to figure out who he was talking about. When he'd been possessed and fighting for control, Sam had been forced to claw through Lucifer's consciousness and he'd heard that echo of sorrow when it came to his baby brother and how he'd met his end.

But his explanation to the woman is enough, enough to mollify her into checking in again and contacting her family. She begged Gabriel for a blessing before going back into her room and Sam fell back with a vaguely amused look.

So much for witness protection.

Back in the quiet of their shared room, Sam found a clean towel to mop the dirt, grit and blood from his forehead. "You're not hurt anywhere else, are you?"