Fic: Too Close to the Ground (4/?)
Summary: In 1983, Gabriel the Archangel fell, and lived a life among the humans, not knowing anything of his true identity. When he's sixteen, he meets Sam Winchester, a boy who will change his life forever.
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
“Yeah, no, Sam, that’s definitely weird. Keep an eye on this guy, okay?”
John folded and tucked the drawing into one of his bags.
“Yessir.”
Sam looked up at his father, searching for a smile of approval, or a wink, or something that told him he’d done well. He scowled when John left the room, probably not to come back for a few days at least, without as much as another word to Sam.
How was that fair? Dean got winks and ‘Nice one, son’s all the time.
Sam wrinkled his nose and gladly twisted open the root beer Dean tossed him from the mini-fridge. He would never get the hang of opening them quite as smoothly as Dean did, and often he got little nicks in the skin between his left thumb and forefinger.
Maybe I could write my assignment on sibling rivalry, Sam wondered idly, drinking from the brown bottle.
His random wonderings continued in that same vein, as he thought about what he would write. He considered picking up a notebook and jotting down the odd sentences that popped into his head but couldn’t really be bothered to move.
He’d ask Gabriel about it, he decided. He realized he didn’t know much about the guy, and his ambling thoughts led him to wonder if he had any siblings. While he was at it, he’d probably ask him if he was a vegetarian or not. Or what his opinion was on country music.
Sam fell asleep in the chair with weak winter sun pouring in through the blinds, thinking about how awesome it was to finally have someone to spend the weekends with.
_______
“This is not acceptable. I don’t get sick!”
Sam leant against the ugly lockers, books in arm, laughing to himself at Gabriel’s reaction to the common cold he’d caught.
“It’s not funny, Sam.” He slammed his locker shut. Ever since the day he met him, Sam had respected his privacy and stood so he could never see what was inside his locker. “Illness,” he began stabbing a finger to prove a point, “is for weak people.”
Sam smiled, wide and toothy. “It’s not that bad, Gabe…”
Gabriel glanced at him, exasperated. “It is that bad! You don’t understand: I never get sick. Literally, never.” He sneezed into his sleeve. It was so endearing and Gabe looked so pissed at himself for doing it that it just made Sam laugh more.
Gabriel sniffled, and looked up at Sam, looking very forlorn. Sam offered him a Kleenex from his pocket, and Gabriel grimaced and took it reluctantly.
Sam couldn’t resist letting out an ‘Aww’, knowing it would annoy him even more. He grabbed his shoulders and turned him, pointing him towards his next class. He watched Gabriel walk away, shaking his head and smiling.
He only noticed he was a little late for class when the hallways began to empty of people. He picked up his backpack, which he had left on the floor by Gabriel’s locker. When he turned back around, the hallway was almost empty, except for a group of people by the lockers on the other side of the hallway, a little closer to the Philosophy classroom than Sam was.
It was a group of football jocks, sporting green and white jerseys and surrounding someone, who they’d pushed up against the lockers. It only took Sam a few seconds and a handful of steps up to them to realize that that someone was Gabriel.
“Hey!” shouted Sam, suddenly full of rage as he walked up to them. “Leave him alone!”
He thought he heard Gabriel say ‘Sam, don’t get involved!’ but he ignored him. Gabriel was silenced by a punch to the stomach, anyway.
Sam walked up to the biggest one and grabbed him by the shoulder. He turned round to look him in the eye. Sam had already gained enough motivation to punch the guy from what he’d seen, but as he lifted his fist to what would have been the perfect hit to the jaw, hands from behind stopped him.
The big guy relaxed his grip on Gabriel and turned his attention to Sam instead. Sam himself looked him defiantly in the eye, despite being held fast by a number of strong hands.
He laughed. “So who’s this, huh?” he addressed Gabriel, the arm across his collar pressing him further into the lockers. “Who is he? Your boyfriend?”
Gabriel yelped, and watched Sam in horror as his eyes widened. “What?” Sam asked, truly puzzled.
“You heard me,” the big guy - if forced to, Sam would say his name was Dan - laughed.
He looked pointedly at Sam, who still looked bemused and lost. “You mean to tell me you don’t know?”
“Don’t know what?”
Dan laughed, throwing his head back in utter glee. Sam simply glanced at Gabriel for an explanation, but his head was bowed, cheeks red. “Your little buddy here,” he said, picking Gabriel fully up from the ground and slamming him into the lockers. Sam struggled against the hands holding him. “He...uh…let’s just say he bats for the other team.”
Sam could’ve sworn he heard Gabriel growling. He was pissed, but powerless to do anything.
“You’re…”
“Yes, that’s right,” laughed Dan, who seemed to take extreme pleasure in outing Gabriel. “Our little Gabe’s gay.”
Sam scowled, gazing at Gabriel’s bowed head. “That true?” he asked softly, to no reply.
“Sammy, would I lie to you?” Dan asked with a sneer.
Sam’s expression turned from one of confusion to one of what could only be described as pure anger.
“Don’t…call me Sammy.”
With the combination of a strong stamp to the foot and a militarily precise backwards head butt, Sam was free of the guy behind him.
Before the other two - who were holding his arms on either side - could blink, he had freed his arms with a basic maneuver Dad had taught him when he was about ten.
In the next blink, he’d smashed their heads together, leaving them dazed and confused, and leaving Sam free.
Dan looked impressed, if anything. That was, until, Sam had a grip on his throat.
“What were you saying?”
“I…uh…”
“What I thought.” Dan cowered under Sam’s harsh stare. “Now…back. Off.”
He did.
With a smile, Sam watched him release his grip on Gabriel and walk away with what ounce of dignity he had left, tail between his legs. He didn’t look back, and the other footballers followed like loyal, shamed soldiers.
He turned back to Gabriel, who looked utterly pathetic with a swollen lip, and a hand clutching his stomach. Sam’s immediate instinct was to put an arm around Gabriel, and take the weight of his injuries - he’d done it plenty of times for his brother and dad - but Gabriel tensed at his touch.
“Come on,” he pleaded, not letting go and trying to get some sense into him. If Gabriel didn’t like human contact he’d have to deal with it. “Let’s get you to the nurse’s office.”
“Mmm…Sam,” Gabriel mumbled, finally relaxing in Sam’s arms as he tugged him down the hallway. “You didn’t have to do that.”
Sam simply laughed. “’Course I did. Don’t be stupid.”
There was a moment of silence, before Sam asked quietly: “Is all that true?” He looked down at Gabriel, still slung over his shoulder. Gabriel’s gaze was elsewhere, steadfastly refusing to meet Sam’s eyes.
“Is all what true?” he asked snarkily back, despite knowing exactly what Sam was referring to. Before he had the chance to reply, he spoke. “Alright. At the risk of totally freaking you out and losing you as a friend…” he sighed, tensing when the deep breath made the muscles in his torso ache. “…then, yeah it’s all true.”
There was a moment of silence, Gabriel fully expecting to be dropped and told to go to the nurse’s office on his own.
But he wasn’t. In fact, Sam’s grip on Gabriel tightened for a second, in a sort of pathetic half-hug.
“Dude, it’s not like I’m going to stop being your friend just because you like guys.” Sam laughed, and Gabriel smiled, just about as happy as he’d been in a while.
There was a silence that was only slightly awkward. “So…” Sam began. “You like guys?”
Gabriel coughed. “Ahem…let’s just say I like to eat from both sides of the cheesecake.”
“…I wasn’t aware that there was more than one side to a cheesecake.”
“Oh, Sam,” Gabriel laughed. “So much to learn.”
_____
When Sam arrived at school the next day, he was greeted with a tidal wave of laughter.
They weren’t laughing at him, but rather the posters that had been put up all over school early this morning. On every other locker, on all the notice boards, on doors, in bathrooms - everywhere.
All photoshopped pictures of Dan in a very compromising homoerotic position.
It was, Sam had to admit, freaking hilarious. And he had a pretty good idea who was behind it.
“You’re awful,” he said, smirking, as he walked up to Gabriel. He smiled.
“I have no idea what you’re talking about,” he replied with a wink. “But…” he said, leaning in closer to Sam so he could hear his whisper, “…bastard had it coming.”
Sam couldn’t help but laugh. Sure, he felt sorry for Dan, but it was true that he did deserve it. Needless to say, he probably wouldn’t be bothering Gabriel or anybody else for a while.
With a malevolent smirk, Gabriel pulled down the nearest poster, folded it up small and slipped it into his front pocket.
“Time for class, Sam?” he said, unable to wipe the insane grin off his face.
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
“Yeah, no, Sam, that’s definitely weird. Keep an eye on this guy, okay?”
John folded and tucked the drawing into one of his bags.
“Yessir.”
Sam looked up at his father, searching for a smile of approval, or a wink, or something that told him he’d done well. He scowled when John left the room, probably not to come back for a few days at least, without as much as another word to Sam.
How was that fair? Dean got winks and ‘Nice one, son’s all the time.
Sam wrinkled his nose and gladly twisted open the root beer Dean tossed him from the mini-fridge. He would never get the hang of opening them quite as smoothly as Dean did, and often he got little nicks in the skin between his left thumb and forefinger.
Maybe I could write my assignment on sibling rivalry, Sam wondered idly, drinking from the brown bottle.
His random wonderings continued in that same vein, as he thought about what he would write. He considered picking up a notebook and jotting down the odd sentences that popped into his head but couldn’t really be bothered to move.
He’d ask Gabriel about it, he decided. He realized he didn’t know much about the guy, and his ambling thoughts led him to wonder if he had any siblings. While he was at it, he’d probably ask him if he was a vegetarian or not. Or what his opinion was on country music.
Sam fell asleep in the chair with weak winter sun pouring in through the blinds, thinking about how awesome it was to finally have someone to spend the weekends with.
_______
“This is not acceptable. I don’t get sick!”
Sam leant against the ugly lockers, books in arm, laughing to himself at Gabriel’s reaction to the common cold he’d caught.
“It’s not funny, Sam.” He slammed his locker shut. Ever since the day he met him, Sam had respected his privacy and stood so he could never see what was inside his locker. “Illness,” he began stabbing a finger to prove a point, “is for weak people.”
Sam smiled, wide and toothy. “It’s not that bad, Gabe…”
Gabriel glanced at him, exasperated. “It is that bad! You don’t understand: I never get sick. Literally, never.” He sneezed into his sleeve. It was so endearing and Gabe looked so pissed at himself for doing it that it just made Sam laugh more.
Gabriel sniffled, and looked up at Sam, looking very forlorn. Sam offered him a Kleenex from his pocket, and Gabriel grimaced and took it reluctantly.
Sam couldn’t resist letting out an ‘Aww’, knowing it would annoy him even more. He grabbed his shoulders and turned him, pointing him towards his next class. He watched Gabriel walk away, shaking his head and smiling.
He only noticed he was a little late for class when the hallways began to empty of people. He picked up his backpack, which he had left on the floor by Gabriel’s locker. When he turned back around, the hallway was almost empty, except for a group of people by the lockers on the other side of the hallway, a little closer to the Philosophy classroom than Sam was.
It was a group of football jocks, sporting green and white jerseys and surrounding someone, who they’d pushed up against the lockers. It only took Sam a few seconds and a handful of steps up to them to realize that that someone was Gabriel.
“Hey!” shouted Sam, suddenly full of rage as he walked up to them. “Leave him alone!”
He thought he heard Gabriel say ‘Sam, don’t get involved!’ but he ignored him. Gabriel was silenced by a punch to the stomach, anyway.
Sam walked up to the biggest one and grabbed him by the shoulder. He turned round to look him in the eye. Sam had already gained enough motivation to punch the guy from what he’d seen, but as he lifted his fist to what would have been the perfect hit to the jaw, hands from behind stopped him.
The big guy relaxed his grip on Gabriel and turned his attention to Sam instead. Sam himself looked him defiantly in the eye, despite being held fast by a number of strong hands.
He laughed. “So who’s this, huh?” he addressed Gabriel, the arm across his collar pressing him further into the lockers. “Who is he? Your boyfriend?”
Gabriel yelped, and watched Sam in horror as his eyes widened. “What?” Sam asked, truly puzzled.
“You heard me,” the big guy - if forced to, Sam would say his name was Dan - laughed.
He looked pointedly at Sam, who still looked bemused and lost. “You mean to tell me you don’t know?”
“Don’t know what?”
Dan laughed, throwing his head back in utter glee. Sam simply glanced at Gabriel for an explanation, but his head was bowed, cheeks red. “Your little buddy here,” he said, picking Gabriel fully up from the ground and slamming him into the lockers. Sam struggled against the hands holding him. “He...uh…let’s just say he bats for the other team.”
Sam could’ve sworn he heard Gabriel growling. He was pissed, but powerless to do anything.
“You’re…”
“Yes, that’s right,” laughed Dan, who seemed to take extreme pleasure in outing Gabriel. “Our little Gabe’s gay.”
Sam scowled, gazing at Gabriel’s bowed head. “That true?” he asked softly, to no reply.
“Sammy, would I lie to you?” Dan asked with a sneer.
Sam’s expression turned from one of confusion to one of what could only be described as pure anger.
“Don’t…call me Sammy.”
With the combination of a strong stamp to the foot and a militarily precise backwards head butt, Sam was free of the guy behind him.
Before the other two - who were holding his arms on either side - could blink, he had freed his arms with a basic maneuver Dad had taught him when he was about ten.
In the next blink, he’d smashed their heads together, leaving them dazed and confused, and leaving Sam free.
Dan looked impressed, if anything. That was, until, Sam had a grip on his throat.
“What were you saying?”
“I…uh…”
“What I thought.” Dan cowered under Sam’s harsh stare. “Now…back. Off.”
He did.
With a smile, Sam watched him release his grip on Gabriel and walk away with what ounce of dignity he had left, tail between his legs. He didn’t look back, and the other footballers followed like loyal, shamed soldiers.
He turned back to Gabriel, who looked utterly pathetic with a swollen lip, and a hand clutching his stomach. Sam’s immediate instinct was to put an arm around Gabriel, and take the weight of his injuries - he’d done it plenty of times for his brother and dad - but Gabriel tensed at his touch.
“Come on,” he pleaded, not letting go and trying to get some sense into him. If Gabriel didn’t like human contact he’d have to deal with it. “Let’s get you to the nurse’s office.”
“Mmm…Sam,” Gabriel mumbled, finally relaxing in Sam’s arms as he tugged him down the hallway. “You didn’t have to do that.”
Sam simply laughed. “’Course I did. Don’t be stupid.”
There was a moment of silence, before Sam asked quietly: “Is all that true?” He looked down at Gabriel, still slung over his shoulder. Gabriel’s gaze was elsewhere, steadfastly refusing to meet Sam’s eyes.
“Is all what true?” he asked snarkily back, despite knowing exactly what Sam was referring to. Before he had the chance to reply, he spoke. “Alright. At the risk of totally freaking you out and losing you as a friend…” he sighed, tensing when the deep breath made the muscles in his torso ache. “…then, yeah it’s all true.”
There was a moment of silence, Gabriel fully expecting to be dropped and told to go to the nurse’s office on his own.
But he wasn’t. In fact, Sam’s grip on Gabriel tightened for a second, in a sort of pathetic half-hug.
“Dude, it’s not like I’m going to stop being your friend just because you like guys.” Sam laughed, and Gabriel smiled, just about as happy as he’d been in a while.
There was a silence that was only slightly awkward. “So…” Sam began. “You like guys?”
Gabriel coughed. “Ahem…let’s just say I like to eat from both sides of the cheesecake.”
“…I wasn’t aware that there was more than one side to a cheesecake.”
“Oh, Sam,” Gabriel laughed. “So much to learn.”
_____
When Sam arrived at school the next day, he was greeted with a tidal wave of laughter.
They weren’t laughing at him, but rather the posters that had been put up all over school early this morning. On every other locker, on all the notice boards, on doors, in bathrooms - everywhere.
All photoshopped pictures of Dan in a very compromising homoerotic position.
It was, Sam had to admit, freaking hilarious. And he had a pretty good idea who was behind it.
“You’re awful,” he said, smirking, as he walked up to Gabriel. He smiled.
“I have no idea what you’re talking about,” he replied with a wink. “But…” he said, leaning in closer to Sam so he could hear his whisper, “…bastard had it coming.”
Sam couldn’t help but laugh. Sure, he felt sorry for Dan, but it was true that he did deserve it. Needless to say, he probably wouldn’t be bothering Gabriel or anybody else for a while.
With a malevolent smirk, Gabriel pulled down the nearest poster, folded it up small and slipped it into his front pocket.
“Time for class, Sam?” he said, unable to wipe the insane grin off his face.