[SPN Crossover Big Bang] Check Yourself Before You Wreck Yourself - Part Three

[slowsunrise]

“Hello there, handsome.”

Sam opened his eyes slowly, blinking away the grime that made it hard to focus properly. It didn't help all that much; the edges of the room remained blurry. He gave it a guess that it was because of some medication, because despite his fuzzy eyesight, he was clearly in some kind of hospital. His head was throbbing and his right arm was feeling wrong, out of place. When he glanced down at it, it was covered up to his elbow in a cast. Broken then, or at least cracked. That explained the odd feeling and the blurry edges were indeed because of the medication because he didn't feel any pain at all.

It came back to him then, not as a sudden realization, but more in a matter-of-fact way. His mouth formed a silent 'oh'. They had been in a car crash, he and... Gabriel. He turned around then, remembering the voice that had woken him up. It was Gabriel, of course, sitting by his bedside, one of his eyebrows cocked. The first thing that crossed Sam's mind was that for once, he wasn't smiling.

“You alright?” Sam asked, looking him over. Unlike himself, who was dressed in a starched hospital gown, Gabriel was dressed in his own plaid shirt and jeans, the green jacket hanging on a hook by the door. His temple was bruised and there was a small bandage sticking up from just above the collar. Apart from that, Sam couldn't see any injuries.

“Yeah,” Gabriel said after he had finished staring at Sam. “I am alright. I'm not the one who’s been under for over eight hours. You had me worried there for a second, kiddo.”

The last sentence was hardly more than a mutter, but Sam heard him clear as daylight. It caused him to smile, despite his best efforts. He blamed it all on the drugs they had fed him with.

“Why are you here though?” Sam asked when he finally managed to fight off the grin.

Gabriel was the one with the wallet and the driver's license. If he was unhurt enough to be wearing his own clothes and not be constricted to a bed, he should be able to drive too. Eight hours was a long time and he would have been able to cover quite a distance. Instead he sat by Sam's bedside, looking at him as if he had grown a second head.

“Really?” The word was sharp and Gabriel kept staring at him. “I'm not that big of a douchebag to leave you stranded in the middle of nowhere, you know.” He leaned back into his chair. “Insurance covered the rental and I got a new one for free too. Same make and model though, so you'll still have to cram in with me. If you still want to ride with me, that is. Maybe the crash set your head straight?”

“No,” Sam responded, not exactly sure as to which question.

They had made a deal of some sort back in New York, but Sam didn't have anything to hold him to it. If Gabriel was to leave him there and then, all it would cause him was some bad karma, and he didn't really seem like someone who believed in such a notion. Yet he had remained here, waiting for Sam, when in truth it was Sam who had acted like, as Gabriel had put it, a douchebag.

“If it's okay with you, I'd like to go on. I mean, it's your car and everything, but if it isn't too much trouble, I'd like to tag along the rest of the way.” He knew he had said the right thing when Gabriel's smile grew.

“Oh, please,” he responded. “Trouble is my middle name.”

And wasn't that the truth.

* * *
Gabriel was behind the wheel again, what with Sam not allowed to operate heavy machinery with the medication he was on. Speaking of the medication...

“Are you sure it's, you know, safe for me to eat these?”

A new rental wasn't all that Gabriel had gotten while Sam had been under. A new paper bag with dubious contents had been procured and Gabriel had already downed three of the sugar bombs. Right now, he was trying to coax Sam into sharing the experience with him. Sam himself wasn't as thrilled to be mixing the chemicals in his medication with whatever it was in Gabriel's treats.

“Aww, come on, Sam,” he said, reaching his hand out to offer Sam a chocolate covered ball that didn't smell the least of actual chocolate. “It's just a piece of candy! What could possibly go wrong?”

Never in the entire history of the world had something good ever followed the words 'What could possibly go wrong?'. And when those precise words left Gabriel's, Gabriel's, mouth, Sam should have known. Because this time? There was no exception to the rule.

All he said though, was a grumbled 'fine' as he accepted the ball, throwing it back and biting down on it, hard.

“Woah,” he said, his face scrounging up with the overwhelming sweetness of it. “How can you even stand these things?!”

Gabriel just laughed at him, taking one just like Sam's for himself. At least he kept his eyes on the road, and there were no gigantic trucks as far as his eyes could see. No other cars for that matter. They had left the highway sometime during Sam's drug-induced sleep. Gabriel had claimed traffic jams and that as long as they were heading west, they would reach their goal, no matter how small and deserted the road they were taking.

Sam begun to wonder about that. He hadn't seen another car since he woke up and the scenery outside didn't change much unless you counted the setting sun and the darkness that started to cling to the trees that surrounded the road. Except the headlights from the Prius, no lights were visible and there was no sign of civilization.

“Are you sure you know where we are?”

“Of course I don't know where we are. I don't know every small shit town in America. But,” he said, pointing at the setting sun before them, “we are heading west and that's good enough for me. Hopefully, we'll get there tomorrow."

“We better,” Sam shot back. “The wedding is tomorrow night!”

Gabriel nodded, but Sam could see how he rolled his eyes. In return, Sam did the same. Gabriel must have noticed because he huffed out a laugh.

“Calm down,” he chuckled, his hand diving into the brown paper bag again. Retrieving it, he gave Sam another piece of candy. This time it was a caramel square wrapped in gold foliage. “We're gonna make it. It's not like we can get into more trouble than we've already been through, right?”

Sam chose not to reply. He was hardly superstitious, but he didn't exactly feel like jinxing it, considering how the road trip had gone so far.

“We'll make it,” Gabriel repeated, and flipped on the radio.

Sam marvelled that they were actually able to get reception out in the middle of nowhere, but before he could make a comment about it, the intro to a familiar song started to play. It took a second before he could place it, but it came to him eventually: Pink Floyd's rather trippy Hey You. Dean had made a point of playing as much classic rock as possible during their childhood, 'educating' Sam.

They had moved around a lot back then, John having trouble keeping one job for a long period of time. More than once they had been living in their car, the old Chevy Impala that was now in Dean's possession. Sam had loathed every second of those times, but his brother had never stopped attempting to make it at least a little more sufferable.

They had gone on road trips long before Dean actually got his driver's license and always, always he had been blasting classic rock through the car's poor speaker system. It had been the only thing Sam had enjoyed back then.

“What's the matter, kiddo?”

Gabriel's eyes left the road long enough to shoot a look at him, a slight frown creasing his forehead. Sam shook his head, returning to the present.

“Nothing,” he claimed, looking out the car window at the scenery outside. “Just being a bit nostalgic, that's all.” When Gabriel waved his hand, gesturing for him to elaborate, he did so. “I told you that my brother practically raised me. Well, sometimes life was shitty and to get away from it, we borrowed, or well, stole dad's car and just drove around aimlessly. This kind of reminds me of that.”

Gabriel was quiet then, just acknowledging Sam's comment with a nod. Sam cocked an eyebrow, expecting a little more from the man who didn't seem to know the meaning of silence.

“What?” Gabriel finally asked, laughing a little when he caught sight of Sam's expression. “That sounds nice, despite the circumstances. I wish my brothers had done something like that, back when I cared.” The last part seemed to slip out involuntarily as Gabriel's face hardened slightly as he set his eyes back on the road. “It's not that I hate them,” he said, but not long after his head rolled on his shoulders and he groaned a little. “Or well, I hate them a little. Really, the only family I cared about is in a coffee pot in the backseat. I can't go back to my old family, so I'll just have to go without. But hey...” He smiled weakly. Sam was turned towards him, but Gabriel kept his eyes on the road, almost avoiding him. “Family can be a true pain in the ass sometimes, no?”

“It's not that I hate my family,” Sam responded. “I mean, Dean is the only family I have with dad off dead in a ditch in Texas or something. I just really don't want to end up like the old man. That's kind of why I became a lawyer, to be sure that the same thing wouldn't happen to me. It might be a shitty job, but it brings in the money.”

“You became a lawyer just for the money? You have no, like passion for your line of work? Man, learning to dig sugar isn't the only thing you need help with. You need to learn how to enjoy life.”

Gabriel was flabbergasted at his comment, the earlier conversation about family seemingly forgotten. The man even took his eyes off the road for a moment to give him a proper stare. And yeah, maybe he didn't enjoy his work as much as he had when he graduated law school, but it put food on the table and paid the rent to his apartment. Even if it wasn't what he had hoped for, at least it was better than what his father had managed.

“I do like it, it's just that I work for a douchebag firm that sucks my soul out,” he explained, because that was something he could admit. Of course, Gabriel had an easy solution for that.

“Quit. Move to California and get a new job closer to your brother. Or start your own law firm, I don't know. Los Angeles is a place for dreams to come true, isn't it?”

Sam had thought about that, thought about it more than once, but each time he did so, he dismissed the idea as stupid. He had spent years working for the firm, and all that time couldn't be for nothing, surely. Eventually, they would recognize what he had done for the company and then all his work would pay off. Eventually...

“I can't just quit. I can't just give up!” he protested. Gabriel didn't understand. He worked for himself, and he actually followed his dreams by taking his scripts to Hollywood. He had surely worked hard on them, but he hadn't been forced to fight his way up a career ladder, groveling for some stuck up New Yorker just because they might be the next step. Not that Sam had managed to climb very far yet himself. “I've worked for them for years now. Soon, they are gonna see that I do good for the company.”

“Yeesh,” Gabriel whistled. “You don't exactly sound convinced about that. Good luck winning other people over then. Hey now, before you go all bitch-face on me, just listen to this: quitting that job isn't giving up. It's letting go. Do something that makes you happy instead.”

Sam was about to fire a retort back at the man, but he closed his mouth again when he realized that he was right. Damn Gabriel. He of all people was not supposed to make sense. The predicted bitch-face made its appearance and he let out an offended huff of breath. Still, the lack of response from Sam caused a wide grin to splay over Gabriel's features.

* * *
They drove on like that for a while, both of them quiet but the radio playing in the background. Pink Floyd had been replaced by The Stones and then Fleetwood Mac. During one of Led Zeppelin's earlier songs, Sam drifted off to sleep again. When he woke up, it was Peter Gabriel's Sledgehammer that sounded, but it was soon disturbed when Gabriel spoke up again.

“It doesn't seem like we'll reach a motel in at least a few hours, but I'm getting a bit drowsy. Falling asleep at the wheel and crashing into a tree isn't on my to-do-list today.”

Sam hid the yawn that threatened to break through his jaw. “So we'll bunk in the car again. Not the greatest thing, but I guess we'll live. Gonna get one hell of a hotel bed when we finally get to Los Angeles though.”

“We could do that,” Gabriel agreed, shifting forward slightly in his seat. “Or we could knock on the door to that farm over there,” he added, one hand leaving the steering wheel to point through the windshield. Squinting, Sam could indeed see a group of buildings further down the road. “Ask them if we could rent out a room for the night. I mean, there's no way they can say no if I switch on the charm.”

Sam wasn't as sure as Gabriel. Or well, he didn't really doubt that somehow the man would be able to talk, charm or just smile himself into getting a total stranger to rent out a room to two unknown travelers. It was just part of who he was. It was more the 'total stranger' part that put Sam off. He had spent a fair amount of nights in various dodgy places and a farm in the middle of nowhere was not somewhere he wanted to be. He actually preferred to sleep in the small car.

“Come on,” he said, keeping his eyes on the farm as they drove closer. “Let's drive on, put a few more miles behind us. Then we'll sleep in the car, start driving when we wake up. It's better.”

“You scared?” Gabriel grinned as he made a show of turning on the blinkers, signalling his turn into the farm's driveway. “We'll rest better in a proper bed. And hey, if they don't have a room, we'll go with your idea.”

Putting the car in park, Gabriel looked around the courtyard where they had stopped. The buildings making up the farm were run-down. Even then, they didn't seem abandoned with laundry hanging out to dry and a large, black pick-up truck standing parked by the side. Sam had secretly been wishing that the place was empty, but no luck.

“Come now, Sam,” Gabriel laughed as he put his bag in one hand and the pug under the other. “There are kind people out there. Not everyone is an asshole like you. And,” he added before closing the car door, “I say that with love. Now sit here and sulk until I've gotten real beds for us tonight.”

Any protests Sam was going to utter were useless, Gabriel already cutting himself off by closing the car's door. And so he sat with his arms crossed as he watched Gabriel round a corner in search of a door to knock on.

Not ten seconds after Gabriel had disappeared, the door to the rundown barn opened and a muscular man stepped out. The man frowned when he saw the Prius and it was exactly this Sam had wanted to avoid. He threw a glance at where Gabriel had wandered off to, but he didn't seem to have heard or noticed the new man in any way as he wasn't returning. Sighing, Sam opened the car door, stepping out to greet the stranger.

“Hello, we're a bit off our planned route,” he begun, not quite sure how to proceed to the 'Can we sleep here?' point. “We've been driving for quite some time and...”

The man held up his hand, effectively cutting Sam off mid-sentence. “I'm sorry,” he said, and Sam had to struggle to keep a straight face at the sight of his black teeth. He was glad he wasn't close enough to smell the man's breath.

“Excuse me?”

“'m sorry,” the man repeated as his grin and Sam's uneasiness grew. “Because that is gonna hurt like a bitch.”

His eyes left Sam then, looking up behind him. Not at all liking the implications of that, or the look on the man's face, Sam turned around. He barely had time to register the second man who had somehow managed to sneak up behind him, before said man swung a shovel like a damned baseball bat, knocking Sam out cleanly.

* * *
When Sam returned to consciousness after having been knocked out for the second time that day, he wasn't exactly thrilled. Part of that might be because he was tied up in a chair in a dark barn with three less than pleasant-looking men glaring down at him. The two younger ones he recognized from the attack, but now there was an old man too, with a dirty beard and dark eyes.

“What a welcome,” Sam said, trying and probably failing to keep the panic out of his voice.

He looked around himself, trying to focus on something. His head was still throbbing from the hit it had received earlier, and his forehead was sticky with what he suspected was blood, probably mixed with sweat. His hands were restricted by the coarse rope so he couldn't check on himself. What he could do instead, was to look around the barn and at the three men who stood and grinned down at him like wolves on a sheep. What ever their plans for him were, Sam was not thrilled to find out.

His feeling about the place was getting worse by the second as his mind started to register what was around him. There was a cage in the corner, a rusty, busted cage seemingly built for a large dog or something more... human. Whoever the last occupant had been, they had left a large pool of dried blood on the floor. Those dried away splotches seemed to somehow be the theme in the space that seemed less and less a barn for each passing second and more like a hunting cabin doing some extra time as a slaughter house.

The last part Sam took from the chopping block, that too covered in old blood, as well as the less than pleasant looking meat-hooks and chains that dangled from the ceiling. They were not the only things hanging up there but Sam had to blink a few times before he realized that those other things were decorations fashioned out of various bones. He decided quickly not to guess what beings the bones came from, too nauseous already. The only good thing in this whole scenario was that he couldn't see Gabriel anywhere. He hoped that they hadn't noticed the other man

“We are welcoming you, boy,” the old man laughed, his teeth just as terrible as the younger man's. “We are inviting you to play a game and everything. It will have to wait until tomorrow night, 'cause you see here, my boys were not ready to go hunting tonight.” His grin grew wider as he motioned to the two younger men. “And we want the hunt to be good, so we're gonna give you a chance to rest up before we start. Tomorrow sunset sound good to you?”

Sam didn't think that telling him that he had a wedding to attend around that time would get them to release him so he kept his mouth shut, settling for glaring at the men. He hoped that he didn't look all too ridiculous, because this whole situation? This was simply not happening. They hadn't spelled out what they were planning to do, but Sam was smart and unfortunately, he had good imagination too. Suffice to say that he didn't look forward to tomorrow's sunset.

“You sit tight,” the man who had smacked him with the shovel laughed. “We're gonna head out and do some... target practice on that ugly ass car of yours. Don't want to be too rusty for tomorrow's big game.”

They left Sam alone then, in the darkness. It didn't take long though before he heard shots ring out, the loud bang of them deafening even with the walls separating Sam from whatever weapon they were using to massacre the poor Toyota. Say what you want about Hollywood, gunshots were a lot louder than pictured in movies. In fact, they were so loud that at first, Sam didn't hear the barn's larger backdoor open, nor the engine of the car that drove in through it. Only at first though, because it was kind of hard to miss when a gigantic, black pickup truck sped towards you, all but looking like it was gonna run you over.

It didn't. Instead it geared up to his side where Gabriel leaned out the window on the driver's side. He had donned up in sunglasses and, was that a bandana? When talking about Hollywood...

“Get in loser, we're getting out of here,” Gabriel said with a smile.

“Bit preoccupied here,” Sam shot back, sending worried glances at the smaller door which the men had disappeared through, because really, they shouldn't have missed the sound of the car either. He had to give Gabriel some credit though, because even in his ridiculous outfit, he kept his mouth shut as he got to work.

“Fuck,” he muttered as his fingers slipped on the hard knots securing Sam's limbs. “Should have brought a knife.”

“Gabriel,” Sam deadpanned, too stressed to be properly annoyed. “We're in a fucking murder house. There are knives everywhere.”

Gabriel blinked once, looking around himself. His lip twitched slightly and Sam swore that he could see his eyes widen behind the sunglasses. “Shit,” he mumbled. “What is wrong with these people? This is like the set of a horror movie. You know, Benders from 2005?”

“Time and place, Gabriel,” Sam reminded him, the panic in his voice urging on. “Movie references later, getting the fuck out of here now. We're not in Hollywood quite yet.”

Gabriel nodded at that, but he couldn't do more than standing up before the door opened again. Another curse slipped out of both Sam and Gabriel, because the three men coming in through the door, one of the younger holding a heavy shot-gun in his arms and the other one once again armed with the shovel, it was not something you wanted during a rescue mission, or whatever this was.

It didn't take more than one or two seconds before the men took in what was happening before them, and then maybe another three before the barrel of the shotgun was aimed at them. Sam squeezed his eyes shut, every muscle in his body tensing, as if that would protect him from a bullet wound. The shot came, even more deafening close-range, but instead of the excruciating pain that getting shot must mean, Sam was experiencing a falling sensation.

“Fuck, fuck, hell, shit, god-damn-it,” Gabriel swore in rapid succession, his hands on Sam's chair as he dragged them to relative safety with the car acting as their temporary shelter. It wasn't a big barn however, and in a few precious moments, the man with the gun would walk around the car and put two portions of lead in their brains. Or capture them, and do the very same thing only tomorrow night. Neither sounded like a good option in Sam's mind.

Then again, the idea Gabriel more or less forced on him wasn't the best either. Sam was still tied to the freaking chair without any chance to escape and just run the hell out of there. He was left to Gabriel's device, and apparently the man had a stroke of genius in the pressed time.

“This might hurt a bit, but probably less than getting shot,” he said, but before Sam could question him further Gabriel renewed his grip on the back of Sam's chair and hoisted him up on the bed of the truck.

His face smashed against the cold metal and a loud scoff

He could hear Gabriel move about quickly, and then the car door slamming shut. The sound of yet another shot rang out, but since the engine roared to life just a second afterward, Sam hoped that Gabriel still was uninjured. It took him about five more seconds before he changed his mind about that.

With a sharp turn that caused Sam to slam into the side of the bed, Gabriel exited the barn with the three men shouting rather obscene things after them.

The night sky was dark above as the car continued to drive on, the sound of fading gunshots in the background. The sound caused Gabriel to press the gas further, pressing the car to go even faster. Not liking it one bit, Sam had about his share of it when they hit a speed bump that sent him flying up and down again.

“Gabriel!”

* * *
“Fuck,” Sam laughed as he finally had taken a place inside the car again. They had left the farm and the more than a little disturbed men behind with no means of transportation but the wrecked Toyota, and Sam couldn't be happier. He was sore from his rather bumpy ride tied to a chair in the back of the pick-up but the adrenaline flooding his blood wouldn't quite allow him to take his bruising into account.

“I can't believe you did that! That we did that, that this whole thing happened! I mean, people like that shouldn't exist in real life!” He was laughing rather manically, and the grin didn't fade away as he kept on talking.

“You were awesome,” was the next thing he shot out, but it was closely followed by: “I could kiss you, you know that?” The statement was simple, but after he let the thought bounce around for a second between the walls of his head, he nodded firmly once. “I'm gonna kiss you now.”

“I am driving, Sam. One car crash per week is usually my limit, but I don't know about you,” Gabriel responded, but Sam was all but ignoring him

He unbuckled himself and started to crawl over, at least minding the gear switch. Gabriel laughed at him, until he realized that Sam wasn't just playing. Sam could see how his fingers tensed around the steering wheel, how his eyes darted between the road and Sam who came closer. His hand was on Gabriel's shoulder now, prying more and more attention from his road focus.

“Oh fuck this,” Gabriel hissed, pulling over to the side of the road and putting the car in parking. Sam smirked at his victory, but he didn't have long time to do so before Gabriel's lips were on his.

“You're impossible, Sam,” Gabriel muttered between the kisses. “Do you know that? Just awfully impossible. You're supposed to be this douchewad, this great big bag of dicks, but in truth, fuck, you're just impossibly wonderful.”

Sam just nodded, not wanting to stop to talk right now. He had other plans in mind. “You're...” he breathed. “not so bad yourself.”

Sam didn't quite know how he had ended up back in the passenger seat and he didn't quite know how Gabriel had ended up in his lap. What he was aware off was Gabriel's hands unbuttoning and removing his shirt, moving to do the same with his pants. Always the quick learner, Sam shrugged Gabriel's own shirt over his head without bothering to stop to buttoning it down first.

Somehow - once again, he wasn't quite sure how, his mind too busy singing praise to Gabriel's naked body before him - they removed their pants too. The tight space of the car pressed their warm bodies against each other and Sam's head rolled against the back support when Gabriel grabbed a hold of him, giving a few strokes with that shit-eating grin of his firmly in place.

“Gabe,” Sam whined, shortening the man's name without even thinking about it.

“Hey now, Sam,” Gabriel responded, leaning forward to claim his lips again. And maybe it was better for the man to kiss him stupid than have Sam rambling the things that crossed his mind at that moment.

A wallet was fished up from somewhere and out of it, a plastic wrapped condom was produced. Sam couldn't do anything but wide-eyed look at Gabriel's deft fingers as he opened it. Licking his lips, Gabriel never once broke eye-contact as he once again took a hold of Sam and put it on.

Still transfixed, Sam watched as Gabriel moved in ways the car hardly allowed, up and down. He didn't speak again, not until Gabriel snapped his hips in a way that sent Sam over the edge. His head thrown back and Gabriel's mouth on his pulse joint, he once again exclaimed the shortened version of the name, even more out of breath this time. Gabriel himself muttered a string of curses mixed with both the affectionate 'kiddo' and 'Sam' as he spent himself over both their stomachs.

They rested for a while, both of them spent. Gabriel's forehead was nuzzled in the dip of Sam's neck and he could feel the absent-minded soft-pressed kisses on his collarbone as Gabriel came down from the high. Sam's heart was still beating like a locomotive, and he couldn't stop grinning. This road trip had certainly been memorable, in more ways than one. He couldn't remember the last time when he had smiled this much.

Somehow they managed to get dressed again, easier this time as they actually bothered to get out of the car to move their legs freely. They were soon back in the car though, the adrenaline starting to fade, and Gabriel's earlier tiredness came back to him, his eyes drooping.

“Hey, Sam,” he begun, and wow, he hadn't known that Gabriel actually could sound this insecure.

“Shut up, Gabriel,” Sam smiled. “Sleep now, and tomorrow, we'll be in Los Angeles. And I think I need to call my brother to add a plus one for me at the wedding.”

Gabriel licked his lips, a smile of his own claiming them then. He nodded and mumbled a 'yes sir' before he shut his eyes, his breathing evening out almost instantly.

“The things you make me do...” Sam trailed off as he once again took the wheel. Gabriel had curled into a ball in the seat next to him, sound asleep already. Sam reached over, tucking a stray strand of hair behind his ear before he turned the ignition.

* * *
Dawn was breaking over the horizon, the sun hitting the golden stones on the side of the road. It shone in through the side window, hitting the sleeping Gabriel's face. The light illuminated the man, giving his tan skin an almost bronze-like feature. Small, content noises escaped him, causing Sam to smile. His hands itched to reach out and draw his fingers through the red hair, but he kept his hands on the wheel, and, after some effort, his eyes on the road until he saw a place to stop.

Pulling up the car, Sam pulled the parking brake and took a deep breath. Outside, utter silence ruled. If it had been a movie, a lone eagle would have cried in the distance, but when Sam turned the engine off, all that remained was silence.

Gabriel was still sleeping in the seat next to him, and Sam thought for a second about doing the same thing. The sleeping man looked so at peace, a faint smile lingering on his lips and a few strands of hair escaping into his face. Now that the car wasn't moving, Sam allowed himself to reach out to tuck those strands behind Gabriel's ear.

Gabriel leaned into his touch, nuzzling his palm with a stubbled chin. He made a sound then, that caused Sam to smile. “Gabriel, wake up.” He nudged the sleeping man.

Sam was awarded with a soft hum and Gabriel who shifted in his seat, trying to go back to sleep. Sam wouldn't have it though. They were here for a reason, and Gabriel couldn't very well sleep through that. Throwing a glance to the back seat before attempting to wake Gabriel again, Sam could see that the coffee jar was still where it was supposed to be next to Crowley. The dog gave him the evil eye as usual, but Sam ignored him in favor of Gabriel who finally opened his eyes properly.

“Hrm,” he cleared his throat as he blinked repeatedly. As he sat up, his spine gave a row of small cracks and Sam couldn't help but twitch a little at the sound. Cars really weren't made for sleeping in.

“Wake up,” he repeated. “We're here.”

Gabriel rubbed the sleep out of his eyes, sitting up a bit more. “We're in L.A.?

“Not really,” Sam laughed. “Come on, I still have to get to the wedding in time. I just thought that this was a rather fitting place, as you said.”

Gabriel blinked, stretching slightly to look around himself. Sam was at the edge of his seat, waiting for the look on his face when he finally realized where they were. Sam had stayed up, driving most of the night to the tunes of classic rock and Gabriel's snores. He was tired now, but when their location finally dawned on Gabriel, Sam told himself that it had been worth it.

“Come now, Gabe,” he drawled, boxing him on the shoulder, “Don't waste away now. I thought you had something you wanted to do here.”

Nodding numbly, Gabriel fumbled for the door handle, unable to tear his eyes off the scenery that spread out before them. A Gabriel rendered speechless; wasn't that a sight for sore eyes. Though, even without Gabriel's shock, Sam had to admit that the view was breath-taking. He had parked on a plateau, just a few meters from what really looked like the edge of the world. Above them the sky was a clear blue and before them everything was painted in a sandy orange. All that was missing was that soaring eagle between the canyons.

“You drove to the Grand Canyon?” Gabriel exclaimed when he finally managed to step out of the car. He had his neck craned as he tried to take in everything, his head shaking slightly as he did so.

“You said it would be a good place for her,” Sam said, thinking back to one of their first conversations. “And I mean, this is the woman who had to put up with you. I think she deserves the best.”

He laughed as he slammed the car door closed before opening the back door. While keeping a steady eye on the dog, prepared to draw back his hand should he try to jump up and bite it off, Sam retrieved the coffee can from its resting place. Looking at it with an oddly fond smile he handed it over to Gabriel before stepping back, leaning against the car. He heard a muffled bark from Crowley inside the pick-up, but he ignored the animal in favor of watching how the rising sun hit Gabriel's features as the man stepped closer to the edge, his eyes fastened on the jar in his hands.

“Mom,” he begun. “You were like a mother to me. Yeah, I realize that it's stupid, but it's true, and really, I was never the clever one. That is Michael. I was the left-over kid with the crazy dreams who you took in, even if I probably was too much for you to handle. But look at me now, mom,” he chuckled. “Off to make those dreams come true, just like you said I would."

He paused then, his head dropping. “Fuck,” he cursed, and Sam heard how his voice broke with the single syllable. He thought about getting off the car and going over to Gabriel, but this was his and his mother's moment, and he was not about to disturb that.

“I was gonna be cool about this and not cry,” Gabriel begun again. “I miss you like nobody's business, but as you used to say: life goes on and you find new things to care about.” His eyes left the coffee can to glance over at Sam. Even from this distance Sam could see the glister in his eyes. “I really like him and here I am, crying like a sappy teenager because he drove to Grand Canyon for me, for you.

“He took a while to warm up, but it's not like most people love me right off the bat. I know how annoying I can be. But yeah, I really like him,” he trailed off as he looked straight at Sam, a fond smile playing on his lips. Eyes dropping, he returned to looking at the coffee can and the abyss before his feet.

“I wish you could meet him. I wish you could do a lot of things, the things you always wanted to do but didn't have time for. So, wherever you are, you better have one hell of a time. And you better know that I love you, because I do. Goodbye, mom.”

The last words where whispered as he pressed his mouth against the metal of the jar. Mumbling something more which Sam couldn't hear, Gabriel took a step closer to the edge as he unscrewed the lid. Taking a deep breath, he heaved the coffee can up in the air, as if to toast the sky, and the ashes spilled out in the wind.

It formed a gray cloud that seemed to float in the sky for a second before the wind carried it away, down towards the canyon below. Gabriel watched it fade away, his neck angled upwards. Even a while after it had disappeared, he just stood there. Sam remained at the car, letting him take the time he needed.

Eventually, Gabriel shoved his hands into his jeans as he turned around, trailing back toward Sam. His eyes were still glistering from his earlier tears, but none were falling down his cheeks. Sam pushed off the car to meet him.

“Hey,” he smiled. “I thought you were cool enough, considering it all.” When Gabriel didn't answer, but just smiled up at him, Sam cleared his throat for the second surprise that morning. “I uhm, I called my boss before, as he's always up before the Devil himself, and I... I told him that I quit.” He raised his hands, shrugging. “I'm a free man now.”

Gabriel blinked up at him, the last of his tears disappearing. “You what? That's awesome, kiddo,” he laughed, his voice almost back to normal. “I knew you had it in you. C'mere, you!”

He grabbed the front of Sam's shirt, pulling him down to his own level where he promptly placed a kiss on his lips. It was fast, over too soon, but Sam still found himself smiling like a fool.

“Now get that sweet ass into the car. I have to deliver you to your brother before he turns me into a pair of shoes to wear at his wedding,” Gabriel smirked, hand reaching out to pat Sam's behind. Rolling his eyes, Sam did as he was told, the sensation of the kiss still lingering on his lips.

And in the background, fuck if he didn't hear the cry of an eagle.

* * *
They were laughing about a story Sam had told Gabriel when the car was filled with a loud bang. Sam jumped up, luckily restrained by his seat belt. Cursing out loud, he turned to see what had happened. His eyes fell on the considerably paler Gabriel who stared down at his hip where trickles of blood had begun to flow.

And there in the back seat sat, as if nothing had happened, the black dog that, once and for all, Sam was convinced was the fucking Antichrist. Under his front paw was a shotgun, a fucking shotgun. The small paw was pressed on the trigger and all in all, Crowley looked like the happiest pug in the world. Never before had Sam wanted to make a hat of his fur as he did then. No time for that now though.

“We need to get you to a hospital! Fuck, you're bleeding like... Shit. I'm so sorry, Gabriel.”

Sam felt the words flowing out of his mouth without any way of stopping them. He could feel the color draining from his face with every stuttered word. He tried to pull himself together, but it was hard to tear his eyes off the hole in Gabriel's hip that wouldn't stop bleeding. The car seat soon stained red, as did the man's shirt and pants.

“Don't you have a wedding to attend?,” Gabriel said with a smirk. He gave a short laugh too, but stopped immediately with a pained expression on his face.

Sam mumbled another quick 'fuck' as he leaned back to find something to press against the wound. For once, Crowley didn't bother him as he snatched up his jacket, balling it together.

“Hold that tight against the wound, tell me if you feel like you’re going to black out and don't you dare say another word that isn't 'drive to the hospital'.”

“Oh, bossy. I like it,” Gabriel said, but the laughter that was normally in his voice came hard as he tried to breathe properly.

Sam glared at him as he took the wheel again, feeling his knuckles clench white. “Not now, Gabriel,” he muttered, trying to calm himself.

It took three attempts before he could turn the key in the ignition, getting the motor started and the car back on the road. Luckily enough, no one had rammed them from behind. If they still managed to maintain the same luck, Sam wouldn't crash into anyone either as he sped down the interstate.

The signs called out their 'Welcome to Los Angeles', but right now, he only cared about the red cross on white background. Gabriel was getting paler and paler and when he glanced down, he saw the red seeping through the fabric of his jacket. That was a lot of blood. Or was it? He tried to think back at what they had been saying in pre-school, what about milk cartons and an adult human's amount of blood, but it was impossible to know how much Gabriel had lost. And so Sam pressed the gas pedal a little harder, making the turn to the hospital's parking lot.

He almost pulled the parking break out of its socket as he skidded to a halt, somehow making it into one of the pre-assigned parking spaces. Gabriel was making big eyes at the grand buildings around them, but Sam had no time for sightseeing now. Jumping out of the car, he ran around it to Gabriel's side. Opening his door, Sam carefully slid an arm under his to help him out and toward the hospital doors.

“See, I told you that we would make it to LA today, didn't I?” Gabriel muttered into Sam's shirt.

“Yeah, yeah, you did,” Sam agreed, only paying half attention to Gabriel's words as he scouted for a doctor or a nurse to come and help them. “Now shut up.”

* * *
“I am sorry sir, but I have to ask what your relation to mister Messenger is.”

The medics had shipped Gabriel off as soon as they reached the hospital. Sam had been running up and down the floors, trying to find the right room. When he had finally found it, the nurse wouldn't let him in. She was in her fifties, or a very rugged and late forties and just by taking one look at her, Sam was painfully aware of just how little crap she would take.

“He's my boyfriend. Of sorts.”

“I am sorry, but I can't let anyone but family in there right now. I am afraid I have to ask you to stay out here for the time being.”

He opened his mouth to protest, but after just one look from the nurse, he snapped it shut and dragged himself over to the waiting room.

Sam spent hours, long hours there. In the beginning, his phone had been ringing like crazy. Eventually, one of the nurses had to ask him to either answer the call or to please turn it off. The next time it went off, displaying Dean's name, Sam sighed deeply and pressed 'answer'.

“Sam, where the hell are you?”

Dean was stressed, his voice almost hissing into the phone. He had reason to. Sam should have been there hours ago, hours he had spent pacing back and forth, wearing down the hospital floor. His brother was getting married and here he was, waiting for an almost-stranger. Sam felt a bit guilty that he didn't regret his choice one bit.

“In the hospital,” he begun, but before he got a chance to explain himself, Dean went off, his voice a note higher than usual.

“The hospital?! Sammy, why the hell are you in the hospital? Are you hurt? Just tell me which hospital you're at and I'll be there as soon as I...”

“Dean!”

Sam cut him off. There was no stopping his brother when his protective instincts flared up. Dean had taken care of Sam almost his entire life and well, he hadn't exactly stopped. It wouldn't surprise Sam if his brother was shrugging on his leather jacket on top of his tuxedo as they spoke, just waiting for Sam to give him the name of the correct hospital before he bolted out the door.

“I am not hurt,” he said, making sure to pronounce every word very carefully. “Gabriel, the guy I rode up here with. He’s been shot. By a dog. I'm waiting in the hospital until he gets out of surgery. I'm really sorry, Dean, and I'm gonna be there soon, but I can't... I can't leave Gabriel.”

He stopped himself then, and for once, Dean remained quiet on the other end. Sam kept his voice down, not wanting to disturb the other people in the waiting room, but he did laugh. It was just a huff of laughter, a bit dry, but there was a smile on his face as he realized something. It was absolutely mad, and brilliant and obvious.

“Dean,” he begun again. “I think I've gone and fallen for him. I don't think I can leave him, as in...ever.”

“Good thing you won't have to then,” came an all too familiar voice from the door. It was Gabriel, the ever so impossible Gabriel in a wheelchair.

Sam didn't say anything, couldn't say anything, but it didn't seem to bother Gabriel all too much. He just rolled up to Sam and snatched the cell phone from his hands. Sam could hear the soft noise that was Dean talking on the other line, but that soon ended when Gabriel put the phone to his ear and begun talking, all while grinning widely at Sam.

“Hello, Dean-o!” he burst out. “Gabriel here again to tell you that I have kidnapped your brother on a more permanent basis. But don't worry, we'll show up at the wedding. Can't promise that I won't sleep with the best man though, but that's a hit you gotta take. See you later!”

Without awaiting an answer, he snapped the phone shut and tossed it over to Sam. Somehow, he caught it, but it didn't stop the dumbfounded look he aimed at Gabriel. The man entwined his fingers under his cheek, his grin never fading.

“Come on, kiddo,” he said, nodding towards the exit. “Let’s get me out of the wheelchair and the two of us out of here. No time to spare. We need to find a place that rents tuxes in moose-sizes within the hour.”

Winking, he spun around with the wheelchair, starting to roll down the hallway. Pocketing his phone, Sam followed after, shouting a: 'Wait for me, you asshole!'.

* * *
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