Title: Clue
Author:
viviantannerArtist:
rubystandish ARTWORKRating: T (for Sam’s mouth when he’s mad)
Characters: Sam Winchester and Gabriel
Warnings: Contains mentions of clowns, circuses and LOTs of balloon animals. Avoid if you have a fear of any of the above.
Word Count: 2,829
Notes: This was made for
loveinstars's Birthday Prompt: A circus, a chocolate apple, balloon animals and the date that almost failed. Over at
sabriel_bday,
Summary: While working a case at a circus Sam makes the offhanded comment about wishing that they could go to a circus just for fun one day, not because of someone dying. This gives Gabriel an idea for a possible date to take his hunter on. However, since this is the first time the Archangel has ever asked someone out he goes about it in a very trickster way. Luckily for the pair Castiel is there to step in before things get out of hand and go horribly wrong.
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Sam should have known something was up, he should have figured out before it went as far as it had. Really, he was the smart one after all according to Dean, but no, on this he remained painfully oblivious. Oblivious to the point that he almost ruined everything he’s worked to get with his angel.
Sam and Gabriel had been … well … something to each other off and on since the Archangel had almost sacrificed himself to Lucifer for them. In fact if Dean hadn’t suddenly decided that the trickster angel was part of his weird family and turned the impala around to go back for the “winged idiot” Sam had no doubt that Gabriel would be dead.
It was that night in a heated argument between Sam & Gabriel about how hypocritical the Winchesters were, how they could make stupid suicidal moves to protect those they loved but the ones who loved them were not allowed to do the same to protect the brothers, which the feelings of the two came out. Within a matter of minutes the passionate argument between the two turned into passionate love making. The pair had been so focused on each other they failed to notice when Dean entered the hotel room and then quickly left to get his own room for the night with a smirk on his face.
That had been six months ago, since then they’d found Cass, got Bobby the use of his legs back (with some help from Crowley, though Dean won’t admit that in a conversation) and stopped the apocalypse with the help of Death and a few rings. Now Team Freewill was back to hunting things, saving people, the family business with a few angels in tow. Things had been a close to perfect as they could get for the quartet till Sam decided to develop a case of stupidity.
They’d been hunting a Djinn who had set-up shop as a fortune teller in a local circus. They’d been on the job for three days when Sam had made the comment about wishing just once they could visit a circus just to have fun not because someone had died. He should have thought before he made the offhand comment, that was his first mistake and apparently when the stupidity hit. The thoughtful look followed by a smirk on Gabriel’s face should have also been a warning … once again Sam claim’s instant stupidity on missing it.
It was no secret to everyone who knew the four that there were very few times the boys and their angels got to spend quality time together. The idea of a date was almost foreign to them. That also had added to the disaster that nearly cost Sam his angel. The hardest part for Sam to believe was that whole thing started with a damn apple … an apple!
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“Hey Sammy, whatca doing?” The Archangel cold see that the younger Winchester brother was researching something, but since they weren’t currently on a case he had no idea just what Sam was researching.
“Hmmm? Oh hi,” Sam seemed surprised by the appearance of the angel; apparently whatever was on the screen was interesting enough to make an always on alert hunter oblivious to the world around him. “What’s up Gabe? Did you need something?” The hunter seemed to be more interested in his laptop then Gabriel’s answer since his attention was already turned back on the screen.
“Can’t an angel just want to see his guy once in awhile?” Gabriel had dropped into the chair across from Sam and munching away on a Twix bar. When it was clear that computer had won the battle for Sam, the Archangel decided to try another technique. “I brought you a gift my love.”
With an oh so familiar snap of fingers Sam found himself staring at an apple now sitting on his keyboard, and was suddenly seeing red, in more ways then one. There on the keyboard of his laptop sat a beautiful red apple, covered in caramel and chocolate; caramel and chocolate which were now oozing off the apple onto the laptop.
“Gabriel! What the hell?!”
“Sammy I wanted to ask you something, but thought we could make a game of it. Here’s a clue about my ques-“
“I don’t care what it is Gabe get the apple off of my laptop before it’s ruined!”
“But Sam I-“
“NOW Gabriel!”
The archangel knew he was in trouble when that tone appeared, that was the Sam Winchester he hadn’t seen since the Mystery Spot event. That was the voice of Sam Winchester, monster hunter, man who took shit from no one, especial the people he knew best. That was the Sam Winchester who once upon a time would have done anything to see Gabriel, the Trickster, dead.
Before things could get worst for the angel he decided to take the smart man’s way out, retreat and regroup before trying again. With a snap of fingers and flutter of wings both the apple and angel were gone before Sam could say another word. There was no sign that either had even been in the room. Sam, after calming down enough to realize that his laptop was back in perfect (no sugary substance attached) condition he went back to his researching. Within minutes he was so focused on his screen that he forgot that Gabriel had mentioned a question & game in the works, this was his second mistake.
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Four days after the “apple incident” Sam had forgotten his anger at Gabriel, and things were back to normal, though the Archangel hadn’t been around that much to really noticed. The group currently found themselves in Montana looking into a series of missing hikers and campers. Dean was thinking a Wendigo was behind it all, but something about the details made Sam and Cass feel it was something completely different. Gabriel, when he was around, agreed with the older Winchester, this was in part due to the fact that the hunt would be done quicker.
Since the mistake with the apple Gabriel had been thinking of ways to carry out plans with Sam, the problem was how do you asked a guy out on a date when one you’re relationship up until then has not really been a “dating” kind of thing, and two you were a millennia old Archangel who’s never had to ask anyone out on a date. He wanted to do something special for Sammy, and after his comment at the circus a few hunts back Gabriel felt he had the perfect plan. Of course Gabriel being Gabriel he couldn’t just come out and ask Sam to go with him he had to find a way to make the asking just has fun has the actually date would be. That was the theory behind the “guessing game to figure out my question” plan of his. Unfortunately phase one of the plan had failed miserably, hopefully phase two went better. So while the brothers and Castiel investigated the disappearances Gabriel worked on setting his next clue in place for Sam to find.
After camping out in the woods for a few days the Winchesters realized what they were dealing with, and it once again confirmed Dean’s belief that people were just crazy. The missing people were the result of a serial killer, a serial killer who had read somewhere about Wendigos and was for some reason trying to become one of the monsters. Though Dean wanted to handle the guy themselves Cass and Sam convinced him to leave it for the police. After tying the guy up on a well-used hiking trail, and calling the authorities the trio returned to their hotel rooms with plans of long hot showers and several hours of sleep in real beds.
After taking a shower and getting ready for bed Sam thought about calling Gabriel to see where the Archangel had gotten off to while the others had taken on the hunt, if he was being truthful he’d missed the angels jokes, never ending candy and arguing with Dean the last few days. Sam did know though that Gabriel had a lot of things he was trying to help with upstairs so it made sense that he couldn’t always be around right now. Sam heading to bed, deciding he could wait till the next day to call his … lover … boyfriend … angel?
The next morning Dean and Cass were awaken in their room by yelling coming from Sam’s. Thinking that younger hunter was in some sort of trouble, ‘cause it just seemed to find Sam, they raced to the next room to help out. When they got the room open using their spare key they were greeted with a sight that soon had Dean trying to breathe around his laughter. There struggling to get out of a room completely filled with balloon animals was Sam, it appeared that he’d gotten almost to the door before slipping on a red poodle and falling into a tangle of limbs, blankets and balloons on the hotel room floor.
A flutter of wings just a second later announced the arrival of the groups other resident angel. One look at Sam’s face, what he could see around the failing arms and balloons had Gabriel leaving has suddenly has he had arrived, without taking his clue to Sam with him this time. It took Cass, Dean and Sam almost an hour to figure out how to get rid of the balloons which seemed to have been charmed to not pop. By the time Sam could move around his room enough to pack he was in the process of planning his revenge against Gabriel. Cass had also decided after helping the brothers deal with the balloons to do something about Gabriel, so as soon as he could he headed off to find his older brother.
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“What are you trying to do to Samuel?” Castiel was, has always, straight to the point when he located his brother sitting on a beach somewhere looking out at the pacific.
“You wouldn’t believe me bro if I told you.”
“Try me, I’ve learned to believe quite a bit since I meet Dean.” The younger angel walked over to stand next to his brother. In the time Cass had spent with the hunters, he’s observed many moments like this with the Winchester brothers and usually the one who needed to talk was given a little comfort by a closeness of the other. He wasn’t sure if this was true for all humans, but thought it was something he could try. “What would I not believe you wish to do to Sam? Harm him in some way or anger him, because
Gabriel you have done both in the last week or so.”
“I know baby bro believe me I know how much I’ve screwed up the last few days. I just … I really want to …” Gabriel was at a lost, should he tell his little brother, who had less experience in this field than him what was going on, or should he just talk his way out of the discussion with Castiel and go wallow about his problems later. Castiel decided to make the decision for him before he could plan his move.
“You just want to what Gabriel? Brother it hurts me to see you sad, or see Sam sad. Let me help you.” The little angel had sat down next to his brother, and was doing his best to the “supportive brother ready to listen” look that Sam used on Dean so often.
“Remember when we were at the circus hunting that Djinn? Do you remember Sammy mentioning how he wishes just once we could be at a circus for fun not to investigate a death? That’s what I’ve been trying to ask him.”
“You want to take Sam to a circus?” Cass seemed confused but was trying to understand so that he could help his brother.
“Yeah, I’ve been trying to ask Sam out on a date to the circus.”
“If that was your intention Gabriel, why not just ask him? Why give him the apple or the balloon animals?” Cass was sure there must be more to this, it was obvious to him what Gabriel should have done. Of course Gabriel had much more experience with humans then he, perhaps this was a part of the process of ‘dating’ playing guessing games. Maybe this was way Dean never wished to go on a date, he would have to ask his hunter later. Right now he had to help his brother. “Sam is a smart, and he loves you deeply. If I were you I would just be clear with him about your question.”
“Be clear … like my clues have been too hard to understand … I need to be … Cass you are a genius! Thanks little bro, I know just what I need to do.” Before Castiel could inquire as to what his brother was talking about the Archangel was gone.
“I hope whatever you are planning Gabriel works for you, and does not cause Sam to get any madder.” Cass sat on the beach for a few minutes admiring the sunset before heading back to the hotel. He’d promised Sam he would help him clean and repack the weapons from the last hunt before they moved on to the next town.
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Sam and Castiel were finishing up cleaning the last of the weapons. Like normal with the two they were talking about the stupidity of their brothers. Castiel had come to enjoy his time with the younger Winchester, which at times shocked him given his past feelings about the boy. Where Dean was a steady strength, he did have the flaw of not really ever wishing to talk about anything serious. With Sam, Cass was able to ask those questions that would no doubt make the older brother uncomfortable, about emotions and human actions.
Today however Castiel was dong very little talking, he was instead allowing Sam to vent about the confusing actions about Gabriel. Castiel was trying to decide if he should try to explain the actions of his brother to the hunter, or if he should let his brother talk to Sam himself.
While in the middle of his ranting Sam stopped pick up the angel blade he’d just finished cleaning to place it back in the weapons bag it was stored in. Before Castiel knew what had happened Sam was pushing him out of the way while thrusting the blade forward to protect Castiel from the … clown that was now standing in their room. He sense a second after the clown ducked out of the way that it was in fact Gabriel standing there in that ridiculous costume. Sam swung the blade again but was stopped by Castiel before he could do any real damage to the Archangel.
“Cass let me go; we don’t know what that thing is.” Sam was doing his best to struggle out of the grasp of the angel.
“That thing is Gabriel, and I think he has some explaining he would like to do.” Castiel waited to make sure that Sam was not going to try and kill Gabriel once he was released before letting go of the hunters arm. “Don’t you Gabriel.”
“Sammy I’m sorry. See this whole time I’ve just been trying to ask you -“
“Gabriel stop, can you just get rid of the costume first. I really have this thing about clowns, so … um … could you maybe?” Sam instantly reminded the angels of a five year kid afraid to ask his dad to leave on the nightlight because he was afraid of the dark, but knowing that he really needed to ask.
“What?” Gabriel looked down at himself for a second has if just remembering how he was dressed, “oh yeah sure Sammy no problem.” With a snap of his fingers the clown outfit was gone. “Sorry I didn’t know you had a thing for clowns, I would have dressed up as a ring master or perhaps a lion trainer, that could have-“
“Gabriel.” Castiel could see that his brother was trying to stale by rambling on. “You had something you wished to ask Sam?”
“Yeah … see, the thing is Sam I was wondering if you’d like to go on a date?” The last word was whispered so softly that Sam had to ask him to repeat the question. “Would you like to go on a date with me?”
“A date, that’s what this has all been about, the apple, the balloons? Gabriel you could have just asked.” Sometimes Sam couldn’t understand his angel, how could someone who’d lived for so long seem so young at times. “Yes, I would love to go on a date with you, under one condition.”
“Anything Sammy, just name it.”
“No clowns!
The End