Another Tricky Day (part 3)
Title: Another Tricky Day
Author: singingduck2
Rating: PG13/T
Characters/Pairings: Winchesters, Gabriel, Castiel - Gabriel/OC
Spoilers: Up to 6x09 'Clap Your Hands If You Believe'
Warnings: None
Disclaimer: Don't own Supernatural
Summary: While working on a case, the Winchesters find an old friend they thought was dead, but he isn't quite the same.
Word Count: ~15200
Notes: It's my first fanfiction in English, so please be kind (no flames). Huge thanks to my beta The Dreaded Female. She's amazing, and without her wonderful help I would never have posted this fic. By the way, all remaining mistakes are mine.
Another Tricky Day (part 3)
The sun had already set when Gabriel came back home.
The discussion with the Winchesters had replayed all day in his head, and had raised questions he wasn't sure he could face. If they were right, he had really hurt those people, and probably others before his amnesia. He didn't quite like the kind of guy that would make him.
There was another fear, a deeper one, that had slowly grown in the back of his mind. Sam had confirmed he could manipulate reality - and it was certainly true since he could make things appear out of nowhere - but did that mean he could influence others' feelings as well? That he could have influenced Clara so she would love him? The mere idea made him sick.
And underneath it all, a feeling of emptiness, of something amiss, was eating at him. He just knew that there had to be more to him than this, that an entire part of his being - and a very important one - was still hidden, buried in the depths of his memory.
As soon as he got inside the house, Clara put her arms around him. He hesitated before returning the embrace. Tension radiated from her body. He hugged her tighter, burying his face in her hair.
"Where were you?" She complained, trembling. "I called the shop but they said you weren't there. I was so worried."
"I went to the hospital to see Jack, and then I... walked."
That was true, he had walked the whole day around the city. He withdrew a little from her and looked deeply into her eyes. They stayed like this for a minute before Clara started to talk again.
"Are you ok?"
"Why do you love me?" Gabriel asked abruptly.
"Excuse-me?"
"I mean, what made you fall in love with me in the first place?"
"I don't know, it's a weird question."
She seemed to ponder it for a while, and then lifted her head to meet his gaze.
"You're... kind." She slipped her fingers sweetly in his light brown hair. "And funny. And so unpredictable!"
Clara giggled, causing a slight smile to spread on his face. She then got on her tiptoes, so she could whisper in his ear.
"And I shouldn't say this, because you might get big-headed, but... you're so hot."
Gabriel chuckled this time, and she kissed him lightly before leaning in his arms.
"You know, some people seem to think that I'm not as kind as I look." He said with just a hint of regret in his voice.
"Who told you that? The Winchesters? Don't listen to them, they have no idea what they're talking about."
She gave him a bright smile and went to kiss him again, but a sudden realisation hit Gabriel.
"How do you know about the Winchesters? I didn't say anything about them."
"Gabe, don't be silly, we met them yesterday."
"They said their names were Daltrey and Townshend, yesterday. I just learned their true identity this morning."
Clara continued to smile at him for a second, and then her face became cold and a deep sigh of disappointment escaped her pretty lips.
"Damnit! Guess the cat’s out of the bag." Her eyes suddenly turned black. "And I was having so much fun playing with you."
Gabriel stumbled back at the sight of his lover's face deformed by dark eyes and an evil grin. His retreat was stopped as two men came from behind, each grabbing one of his arms. Their eyes were black too.
"Poor little trickster." The thing inside Clara mocked as it came closer. "So afraid his sweetheart doesn't love him in return. You're really pathetic, you know. So much power and you're wasting it to seduce a little slut?! Do you know how hard it's been to find you?"
"Let her go." He asked pleadingly.
"Oh, but I will." It answered, grabbing his jaw with a grip too strong for Clara's little hand. "Now that we've found you, I'm gonna take this nice body of yours, and combine your incredible powers with mine. And then I will test my new abilities on sweet little Clara."
"No, plea-"
Gabriel was cut off as the thing pressed Clara's lips against his, and he felt something thick invading his mouth and going down his throat. He tried to spit it out but only ended choking. His vision began to go dark and he felt consciousness slipping away.
Suddenly there was a flash of blinding white light. Clara and the men flew through the dining room. Gabriel was thrown in the kitchen. He bumped hard against the worktop and fell on the floor, completely dazed.
Before he could fully recover, his assailants were already blocking the door and advancing to corner him.
"You're going to pay for this." Clara groaned. "I'm gonna make you watch while I tear her apart!"
Gabriel barely managed to stand up, his eyes franctically scanning th room. He needed a weapon to defend himself, and since the kitchen knives were out of reach, he had to create one. He snapped the first thing coming to his mind, and ended brandishing what looked like a long silver dagger, reflecting bright beams of light.
The demons - because he was perfectly aware they were demons now, although he didn't know how - stepped back at the sight, and Clara's eyes widened in fear and recognition.
"No." She muttered. "That's impossible, you can't be an an-"
She was interrupted by the sound of the frontdoor opening and somebody's calling joyfully,
"Clara, Gabe, I'm home!"
Gabriel recognized Bill's voice and wanted to warn him, when he noticed the demon possessing Clara was grabbing one of the kitchen knives, grinning malevolently.
"Maybe I'll have a little payback sooner than I thought." She said before going to the hall, followed by her accomplices.
"No!"
Gabriel tried to stop them but was too late to save Bill as Clara stabbed him in the stomach with a sadistic laugh. All he could do was catch the man as he slumped on the floor. The demon continued to mock him from across the street.
"I'll see you soon, little trickster! Wait for me!"
Gabriel gently laid Bill on the ground, pressing his hands against the wound to stop the hemorrhaging.
"What- Why?" His friend asked feebly.
"Don't talk, keep your strength." Gabriel commanded softly, hands now covered in blood. "It's gonna be okay."
"Clara..." Bill insisted.
"It wasn't her! She didn't do this!"
Apparently reassured, the man closed his eyes and his whole body relaxed.
"No, stay awake!" Gabriel started to panic. "Don't you dare die on me, old man!"
Damn, he was a fucking god and he couldn't even heal a stab wound.
Gabriel tried to calm down a little and clear his mind. Bill was losing too much blood, and he would soon bleed to death if not treated. An ambulance would be too late. He had to take him to a hospital by himself.
So Gabriel gathered Bill Burns up in his arms, feeling warm blood coating the front of his shirt and jacket, and went to the door. Suddenly the world began to spin and he had to close his eyes against a wave of dizziness.
When he opened them again, he was standing outside Henry County Hospital. Without thinking twice, he strode inside and called the first doctor he saw.
"Please, I need help!"
He was soon joined by a nurse and a doctor who began to check Bill over, while two other nurses brought a stretcher.
"What happened, Sir?" The nurse asked.
"It's my father, he was stabbed in the abdomen."
"Who did this?" The doctor inquired.
His own daughter, Gabriel thought brieftly.
"I don't know... He was in our house..." He answered.
"Okay, stay here Sir, we're going to take care of your father." One of the nurses told him kindly.
He watched, stunned, as Bill disappeared through a set of swinging doors. He continued to stare for a few moments until all of a sudden the urgency of the situation slammed into him full force. In the last twenty minutes, he had been attacked, Bill had been seriously injured and could die at any moment, and Clara was still missing, possessed by a demon. Gabriel needed help, and he needed it quickly.
He then remembered his earlier conversation with the Winchesters. They were hunters, they chased demons, they knew how to find them.
Gabriel concentrated on the address he had memorized when Sam had given Clara one of his cards. He tried to find again the sensation he had felt while bringing Bill here. The dizziness came back and he let it pull him.
Nobody noticed when he disappeared from the hall.
After their discussion with the archangel at the hospital, the Winchesters had decided to continue their investigation on the demonic omens, but so far they hadn't found any significant results. At the end of the day, they had settled for a relaxing night, Dean watching TV shows on one of the beds while Sam played on his laptop on the other.
It would be an understatement to say that Sam and Dean were surprised when Gabriel crashed into the small dining table on the other side of the room. They both jumped up, ready to fight.
"What the hell?!" Dean exclaimed.
Gabriel stood up and grabbed a chair for support, swaying dangerously.
"I need... help."
"Are you alright?" Sam asked, pointing at the blood.
"'s not mine." Gabriel dismissed abruptly. "Demons-"
"You found some demons?"
"No! They found me..."
He stumbled back and leaned heavily against the wall behind him, his face strained.
"Gabriel, you should sit down. You look terrible."
"'m fine! Got to find Clara!"
"Gabriel." Dean insisted. "There's some blood on-"
"I told you it wasn't mine!" The trickster shouted in exasperation.
Then Gabriel noticed the brothers weren't staring at his hands or his clothes, but at his face. He felt something sticky running down his nose, and when he wiped it with the back of his hand, he realised it was blood. His blood.
"Oh, crap." He muttered before collapsing on the floor, unconscious.
Gabriel came awake to the sound of voices. He immediately recognized two as belonging to Sam nd Dean, and the third was vaguely familiar.
"... has not been harmed... think he should wake... any moment now."
He kept his eyes closed, unsure whether to let them know he was awake yet. He tried to focus on what they were saying.
"His grace is still here, I can feel it, but it is very dimmed, almost imperceptible." The low voice went on. "He cannot possibly have full access to his powers."
"So what, he's practically human?" Dean grew impatient.
"Mostly, yes."
"That would explain why he fainted when he got here." Sam concluded.
"I so did not faint." Gabriel snapped before he could stop himself.
He realised his mistake as three pairs of eyes turned to him. Deciding to stop pretending, he struggled to sit up and groaned when his body painfully protested.
"Whoa, take it easy." Sam came to his side. "Don’t want you to collapse on us again."
"Where am I?"
"In our room. Remember, you crashed here yesterday." Dean reminded him.
"Crashed here...? Damnit, Bill! How is he? Did you see him? Did you find Clara?"
"Hey, calm down!" Sam exclaimed.
"You do not need to worry about William Burns." The third man, clad in a trenchcoat, responded with calm. "He will undoubtly recover and I made sure he was safe at the hospital you brought him to."
"Oh, good... That’s good. And who the hell are you?"
"I’m..."
"It’s Castiel, a friend of ours. Came here to help us."
"Ooookay."
Gabriel took a better look at the man, with his straight posture, dark hair and strange blue eyes.
"Do we know each other?"
"Hum... yes." Castiel answered, glancing at Dean.
He searched for the right words, words that wouldn't tell too much, Gabriel suspected.
"We were... close, at a time."
"But not anymore?"
"We had... differences."
"Gabriel, you need to explain what happened last night." Sam interjected.
"But I already told you when I got here."
"You weren’t exactly making sense at the time." Dean remarked.
"I came home, and I talked to Clara about Jack Simms- Hey, do you know how he is, by the way?"
"He’ll live." Sam responded darkly. "Please, continue."
"So, we talked, and next thing I knew, she was attacking me and two guys came out of nowhere to hold me. Their eyes were all black. I think they were possessed by..."
"Demons." Castiel finished.
"Yeah, demons."
"How do you know that?" Dean questioned.
"I... don’t know, I just do..."
"And then?"
"Then, Clar- the demon kissed me, and there was something that came out of its mouth and tried to come into me. But right then there was a big flash of light, and we were thrown into different rooms."
"Of course, it could not have succeeded, a demon cannot stand the power of grace." Castiel nodded slightly.
"Of what?"
This was the second time that Castiel mentioned this ‘grace’, and Gabriel still didn’t understand what he was talking about, but he felt like it was really important.
"Ignore him, just continue." Sam urged.
"Well, after that the demons were pretty upset, and I was cornered, so I made myself a blade to resist them. When they saw it, they were even more angry and... pretty scared, I think. But then Bill came and the demon possessing Clara stabbed him before it left, so I couldn’t follow them."
"Fuckin’ bitch." Dean snarled.
"I didn’t know what to do, I just wanted to get help. I started to panic, and suddenly I was in the ER with Bill in my arms, and doctors surrounding me and asking what happened. I gave him to them, and then I was left alone. I still needed help, and I remembered you were at this motel. I tried to concentrate about this place and the feeling I’d just had, and then I just... teleported here."
"Well, so much for having only one power." Dean snorted.
The trickster pulled a face at him, but didn't argue.
"Gabriel?" Sam was still perplexed. "This... blade, you made to protect yourself.... What was it like?"
"Oh, I can show you."
He produced the same weapon he had created a few hours ago and handed it to Sam, wincing as the effort caused a little headache. The Winchesters looked at it in awe, seeming to recognize it.
"Crap, this is-"
"An angel blade." Castiel finished once more.
"Excuse-me again but, a what?"
"Nothing." Dean said at the exact same time Castiel repeated "An angel blade."
Sam’s eyes narrowed while Dean glared at Castiel. Gabriel stared at them, his gaze questioning. There was an awkward moment of silence before Sam broke it.
"Okay, enough lies." He turned to Gabriel. "Cas, here, is your brother. And this is an angel blade." He showed the piece of silver. "It’s the weapon angels use when they fight. Castiel is one of them, and... you’re one too."
"Angels? Really?" Gabriel sounded more than sceptical.
"Cas, show him, please." Dean rolled his eyes.
"Show him what?"
"I don’t know, a proof, something that won’t burn our eyes out. Try your wings, like in that barn."
Castiel sighed, but relaxed his shoulders. The lights flickered, and the shadows of big black wings appeared on the wall behind him. The Winchesters looked slightly impressed, but Gabriel gasped at the sight. He observed his supposed brother in awe while the shadows faded.
"Soooo, okay. Castiel is an angel. But me?! You told me I was a trickster, I can't be like him!"
"No, you’re right." Castiel confirmed, straightening his back. "You’re not like me."
"Ah, see?!"
"In fact, you’re much more powerful. Or... you should be." Castiel continued.
"Gabriel, I know it seems crazy, and believe me, I don’t understand how it’s even possible considering the dick you can be sometimes, but it’s true. You’re a fuckin’ angel."
"Hum, an archangel, actually." Sam clarified.
"But... Aren't archangels supposed to be Heaven's greatest weapons? I can only create things, I just learned how to teleport, and I can’t even stay awake after that."
"You forget the just deserts for the bad guys while you’re asleep." Dean added.
"Like I said earlier," Castiel cut the discussion, "I believe that your grace is trapped deep inside of you, leaving you practically human. It’s only leaking a little, allowing you to use some of your lower abilities. But the amount of power you can access is limited. That’s why you fainted when you got here after teleporting, because it took a lot more of energy and drained you."
"So, you think he can have his grace all back again?"
"I am confident that I will be able to release it completely. If you allow me to do so, of course."
"Will I be able to help Clara, then? Could I get my memories back too?"
"With your grace, saving your friend will be a formality. But for the memories, I cannot say for sure."
"Well, okay. Just do it."
"We will need to be in... contact." Castiel informed awkwardly as he came closer.
He sat on the bed next to Gabriel, and advanced one hand tentatively towards his chest. It was only then that the archangel realised his clothes had been cleaned. His shirt and jacket weren’t covered in blood - Bill’s blood - anymore, and the scratches from the fight had also disappeared.
"Hum... When...?"
"I did this when I first arrived." Castiel explained.
"Yeah, it’s one of the ‘perks’ of being an angel." Dean continued. "Can get you cleaned or healed up in a sec’."
Castiel ignored him and locked gaze with Gabriel.
"I'm going to search for your grace inside your very being, so I need you to relax and concentrate. It may hurt a little when I will try to free it."
Gabriel propped himself up against the headboard of the bed, and inhaled deeply, never breaking eye contact with his newfound brother.
"Ok." He said. "Let’s go."
"Close your eyes." Castiel advised as he gently laid a hand on his chest.
Gabriel did as he was told, trying to stay as calm as possible.
He could feel warmth spreading from Castiel’s hand just over his pounding heart, eventually making it slow to a steady pace. A gentle heat seemed to envelop him, and Gabriel found himself in a state of pure communion with the powerful being next to him. He could feel Castiel's power sliding and searching deep inside, but not really invading. Gabriel let himself drift in the brightness of what he supposed was his brother’s grace.
Sam and Dean had stopped talking when the angels had closed their eyes, not wanting to disturb or interrupt them. They were also pretty surprised at the closeness that soon settled between Gabriel and Castiel. During their previous interactions with the warriors of the Lord, they never had witnessed such a display of trust between two angels; just anger, disdain, fear, or at most some respect. In the mean time, they hoped Castiel would be able to ‘fix’ Gabriel, so they could finally smite those demons and close this case.
After a couple of minutes, Gabriel sensed Castiel's power quiver, and he felt it pull at something in his very core. The warm sensation that enveloped him became stronger, more focused. It started to burn just slightly. Gabriel winced as the burning feeling increased - apparently along with Castiel's growing frustration - until it became almost unbearable.
The Winchesters noticed something was wrong when the two angels tensed, but they got more than concerned when the celestial beings started to glow. Only instinct made them close their eyes and protect their faces with their arms, just before they felt a bright flash of light.
Castiel was thrown at the other side of the room and crashed against the wall while Gabriel bumped violently against the headboard of his bed. Sam and Dean cautiously opened their eyes again and stared alternately at the two angels.
"What happened?" Sam inquired finally as he turned to Gabriel. "Did you do this?"
"No." He protested vehemently, before hesitating. "Did I?"
Gabriel looked expectantly at Castiel, who dismissed Dean's offered hand as he stood up by himself.
"Yes. I think you did not mean to, but you rejected me. There is some kind of barrier that prevented me from releasing your grace. I cannot break it."
"You can't fix him?" Dean asked.
"I'm afraid not. Only Gabriel can suppress this barrier, and he subconsciously refuses to do it."
"So why don't you tell your subconscious to suck it up, and then we can take care of these demons once and for all." Sam snarled at the archangel.
"You know what, Sammy? Bite me!"
"Whoa! Calm down, both of you." Dean intervened. "We're not turning on each other, here. As I see it, we got a team of two hunters, an angel, plus an almost-recovered trickster. We should be able to manage a couple of demons, right?"
"I think Dean may have a point." Castiel assented.
"And how do we find them?" Gabriel asked, casting a dark glare in Sam's direction.
"Cas, can you locate them?"
"No, I unfortunately cannot detecte their presence from here. I would need to be pretty close to them."
"Guess we're back to the old tried and true, then." Dean concluded. "Research and study the omens."