Superman Tonight... (6/?)
Title: Superman Tonight (6/?)
Author: lonelyphoenix85
Rating: R, for a few foul words, and more sure to come in subsequent parts.
Genre: Songfic, Pre-slash, h/c
Pairing:Sam/Gabriel pre-slash, implied Dean/Cas
Spoilers: through to Changing Channels (5x08)
Warnings: None
Word Count: 3209 (this part, 11836 total so far)
Disclaimer: It only belongs to me when I'm dreaming! Bon Jovi owns the song, and the rest is property of the almighty Kripke!
Note: I killed my writer's block on this! Yay!! Still looking for a beta if anyone's interested by the way...
Previous chapters: Chapter 1 Chapter 2 Chapter 3 Chapter 4 Chapter 5
Cas was still resting when night came, although he looked less pale which reassured the brothers slightly. Sam swallowed back a chuckle as he wondered what the Angel would make of all the hovering Sam knew his brother would be doing when Cas finally awoke - Dean could mother-hen it with the best of them when he was worried about someone.
Sam had done the dinner run when Dean had refused to leave his Angel’s side - there was no doubt in the younger Winchester’s mind that Cas was his brother’s Angel, even if Dean was living in the land of denial - and the brothers had spent the day quietly researching, Sam at the desk on the laptop while Dean leafed through some of the books they’d borrowed off Bobby.
Sam made a note to go over the books again at some point since Dean’s attention had been more often on the sleeping Angel than the page in front of him.
He flipped the laptop closed with a sigh - it felt like he was going around in circles, never finding anything new, or helpful. Glancing over at Dean he grinned when he saw that his brother was asleep in his chair, feet propped up on the bed by Cas and book resting open on his stomach. If even Dean had crashed it was probably past time he tried to sleep too, but he hesitated.
He knew why he was hesitant - it was the same reason he should have been eager to get to sleep. He needed to know what Gabriel had been about to tell him earlier. Going to sleep would give him the chance to find out, but it would also mean seeing Gabriel, speaking to Gabriel - giving Gabriel the chance to manipulate him. He wanted so badly to trust the Archangel, because they really needed his help - he really needed his help - but he couldn’t afford to screw up again.
Not telling Dean already had been a mistake, perhaps, but at least once he had the whole story that particular conversation would be easier. With that thought, Sam rose from his chair and grabbed a pair of old pants and t-shirt to sleep in.
It wasn’t until he was changed and led in bed that it occurred to him that he might not even be able to get to sleep after how much sleep he’d gotten the previous night. The thought was short-lived as a ridiculously large yawn split his face, and the hunter curled up into a more comfortable position and closed his eyes.
*~*~*~*~*~*
Gabriel felt the faint tug against his Grace that signalled Sam falling asleep, and quickly went to the hunter’s motel room, being sure to remain unseen in case Dean or Cas were around.
The sight of his brother as unconscious as a human on one of the motel beds sent a spike of worry through him - he might not know Castiel all that well, but he respected the younger Angel. His Grace might slowly be failing him, but in a way he was stronger than Gabriel. While the Archangel had run away and hid for thousands of years, his youngest brother had openly defied the Host, and continued to do so even as he became more and more human.
The Winchesters had had one hell of an influence on him, just as they did on everyone who met them - even Gabriel himself. He only hoped they didn’t all end up dead for it. The hunters inspired people to attempt the impossible - they were like the human equivalent of turning up with a knife at a gun fight, if the knife you had was one of those plastic toy ones you’d give a two year old, and the guns the other guys had were nuclear missiles.
Really, it was a miracle they hadn’t died more or permanently yet, when you thought about it - perhaps Dad was looking out for them a little after all?
Turning towards the other bed, he sat beside the younger hunter - still invisible, it wouldn’t do to have Dean or Cas wake up and see him, not when he wouldn’t be in a position to explain or defend himself - and rested his hand lightly on his forehead.
As soon as he was inside he threw up every wall and ward and charm he could conceive of, putting as much of his power into them as he dared within the confines of Sam’s fragile human mind. That done, he opened his eyes and took in his surroundings. He was in a house - it could have been any house in any nice normal American suburb, except for one thing.
Two enormous hellhounds growling at a closed door.
And then the door was open, and the hounds bounded inside to the command given.
The screams that followed were horrible, but it was Sam’s shouts, Sam’s begging and pleading, that told Gabriel where they were, when they were.
This was the night Dean went to Hell.
There’s no cabin to relax in tonight, Sam’s stuck in what is probably his worst nightmare, and that thought spurs Gabriel into action.
With a thought he’s in the room with Sam, grabbing his arm, and then they’re gone. The ceiling replaced with sky, the walls with trees and rock. In the near distance a cabin lay down a winding path, and Gabriel led the shaking sobbing hunter slowly towards it.
When he still hadn’t acknowledged the Archangel’s presence after a few minutes except to allow himself to be led down the path, Gabriel began to worry. He tried speaking to Sam, urged the hunter to look at him, please? The complete lack of reaction was unnerving. It was as if Sam had just shut down, and done so so completely that Gabriel couldn’t even find any stray thoughts to pick through to figure out what the problem was.
Gabriel hoped that perhaps the familiarity and safety of his cabin would help, and with that thought continued to lead Sam by the arm, ignoring the stifling silence that grew as the man’s pained sobs faded into nothing.
They had reached the edge of the clearing when Sam suddenly froze.
*~*~*~*~*~*
When he’d been pulled from the house before Dean was dead, Sam had been confused. It didn’t really matter though - he knew what happened next, had seen it enough times for his mind to fill in the blanks. Dean’s screams as claws and teeth ripped into him, his blood pooling on the ground beneath him, his empty, glassy eyes when all was done...the confusion faded and Sam retreated into himself.
If he couldn’t hear Lucifer then he couldn’t be tempted by him. It would be threats tonight, he knew. Saving him from nightmares always meant threats.
He couldn’t listen to Lucifer describing the monsters he would send after Dean and Bobby and Cas if Sam didn’t say yes. He didn’t trust himself enough.
He curled into a tiny ball inside his mind, put his hands over his ears, and closed his eyes. He felt his body being led slowly along a path, aware enough not to stumble, but little else. There was a familiar feeling to the place which grew as he walked, and Sam’s sense of dread grew with it.
He wondered what he’d have to watch destroyed this time - last time Lucifer had felt he needed an extra push he’d made him watch as Bobby’s house burned to the ground, the older hunter screaming in one of the windows. The time before that he’d watched Cas and Dean get torn apart by demons too numerous to fight.
Gabriel was right. He was wearing down. He’d considered killing himself before he could give in, but didn’t know if Lucifer would be able to use his corpse, and couldn’t find a way to ask Cas without arousing the Angel’s suspicion. Gabriel might tell him, but then again Gabriel had said he’d be here when Sam slept - he wondered briefly if perhaps Gabriel had tried, and been overpowered by his brother, then shook the thought off. He couldn’t afford to worry about anyone else right now, not when Lucifer could use it against him, use it to weaken him further.
When they reached the clearing Sam froze. It was his cabin. His one refuge, even in his own mind, and it wasn’t his anymore, Lucifer had found it last night, and now he meant to destroy it. Sam felt awareness returning to his body, raised his arms in front of him and took a step backwards before he could stop himself. He didn’t look to the side, didn’t want to see the triumph on Lucifer’s face at his reaction. Now the Devil would know this place meant something, and it would be used against him just like everything else.
*~*~*~*~*~*
“Sam! Sammy! You need to calm down Sam, you need to breathe, okay, calm down! Sammy!”
His words were having no effect; it was as if Sam couldn’t even hear him.
Gabriel stepped quickly in front of the hunter, who didn’t even appear to notice him, his gaze still fixed on the cabin. He couldn’t figure out why somewhere that had been a place of safety the night before was having this effect, but that was not important right now. What was important was getting Sam’s attention and focus, getting Sam to calm down.
He reached up and gripped the taller man’s head between his hands, and forced him to look down at him.
He watched as Sam’s eyes widened even further in shock, his frantic pushes against Gabriel’s arms stilling as quickly as they’d begun.
“You’re not...”
He watched in silence as Sam took a breath and swallowed sharply, the fear in his eyes fading to be replaced with a warily hopeful expression.
“Gabriel...?”
“Yeah Sammy, it’s me.” He watched as tears filled Sam’s eyes again, and held still as the hunter brought a hand up to his face, apparently still needing some sort of confirmation that the Angel was real. He didn’t know why Sam had freaked out so badly - aside from having just watched a rerun of his brother’s brutal murder, that is - but it could wait a few minutes.
“You’re here...you came, just like you said.” Sam’s voice was barely above a whisper, but shock and disbelief coloured it sharply. “I thought...I thought...”
Sam broke off to gulp in another deep breath, his voice unable to hold steady. When his legs began shake, Gabriel decided it was time to get them moving again. Explanations could wait until they were somewhere Sam could rest, although Gabriel was beginning to get a pretty good idea what might be going on as Sam’s thoughts slowly became clearer.
The depths his brother had sunk to made Gabriel’s heart ache. He remembered Lucifer, bright and shining and pure, his brother had been so filled with love and kindness before the fall. Gabriel had known that the brother he remembered was gone, of course he had, but to see this proof of how far gone - it was different. More real.
Lucifer had been torturing Sam for months now. Not just tempting him and making him offers as they’d all assumed, but actually torturing him. Making him relive his worst memories, showing him his worst nightmares, and then saving him from them before threatening to do it all again, but this time not only in dreams.
His brother’s Grace was so twisted it sickened him to his very core.
“Come on Sammy, let’s go somewhere more interesting, I’m bored of trees!” He said with a grin, taking care to make it look as unforced as possible, “Oh, I know!” He took his hands from Sam’s face and gripped his arm tightly with one hand while snapping the fingers of the other.
Sure, they were technically still in Sam’s dream, but Gabriel prided himself on his ability to make realistic replicas of almost anything - he never could quite get the hang of pie though, for some reason...the flavourings were never what they ought to be.
The forest disappeared to be replaced with his favourite cafe. Martin’s Chocolatier had the best hot chocolate ever made - and twenty different flavours to choose from. They also did the baby marshmallows and whipped cream on top too, it was just what Sam needed!
“Where is this?”
“A small cafe in Wales - I’ll have to take you there for real one day, but for now, try the gingerbread hot chocolate - it’s awesome!”
*~*~*~*~*~*
Sam stared at the small cafe in...shock? Confusion? Relief? Gabriel had come for him. Had pulled him from the nightmare before he’d had to see his brother’s lifeless corpse again, before Lucifer could come and use it against him...
And now they were apparently getting hot chocolate.
The sheer normalcy of it was too much for Sam, and he felt a giggle welling up in his throat as he watched the Archangel ordering their hot chocolate. He dimly recognized that the building laughter was closer to hysteria than humour, but figured it was still his head, and if you couldn’t have a minor breakdown in your own head, then where could you?
His body shook with laughter, and he bent over to clutch at his stomach as it began to ache. After a few moments he felt a hand on his arm, and looking to the side saw Gabriel staring at him in wide-eyed concern.
“You okay there, kiddo?”
Another round of laughter had Sam struggling to catch his breath, but finally he managed to get himself under control enough to respond.
“It’s just...a few minutes ago I was waiting for the Devil himself to torture me, and now we’re getting hot chocolate? And what does it say about my life that this isn’t even the weirdest thing that’s happened to me in the last few days?”
“That you’re probably never bored...?” Gabriel offered with a smile, holding out one of the mugs of hot chocolate to Sam.
Sam was surprised to find himself returning the smile as he accepted the drink.
“Is ‘something sugary’ your answer to every problem?”
“Hey, inventing sugar and giving it you guys to play with was one of Dad’s better ideas, Sammy. And I have never regretted showing those Indians how to grow cacao plants,” he replied with a grin.
“Those Indians? You mean the Olmec Indians?” Sam asked in disbelief.
“What can I say? You were taking too long to get to the really good stuff and I wanted chocolate - although that Prophet’s description of it was seriously inadequate...”
“You invented chocolate.”
“No, I just gave it a jump start Sammy...and I still had to wait three and a half millennia for a chocolate bar then. Some of those early drinks were nice though - the Aztecs especially had a talent for it.”
Sometimes Sam forgot how old Gabriel was. It was excusable, he reasoned, since the Archangel tended to act like a five year old on a sugar high a lot of the time - one with an extreme sense of humour at least.
He took a sip of his hot chocolate and had to swallow down the groan that threatened to escape - he had to hand it to him, Gabriel was right about the gingerbread hot chocolate - Sam didn’t think he’d ever tasted anything quite so perfect.
“C’mon kiddo, let’s get comfy,” Gabriel said, tugging gently on Sam’s sleeve as he headed for a sofa in the corner.
They sank in to opposite ends of it and settled in to a comfortable silence. There were things they needed to discuss, but for now both were happy to enjoy the brief respite.
*~*~*~*~*~*
Gabriel watched as Sam slowly became more and more relaxed, the square of his shoulders softening as he sank further into the over-sized sofa, the lines on his forehead smoothing out slowly.
He would need to talk about earlier, but Gabriel refused to push him just yet. As long as he was keeping his brother out, the hunter was in no immediate danger, and so he could afford to give him some time. Hopefully Sam would broach the subject himself, would come to trust Gabriel enough to let him help.
The more pressing issue, right now, was something which could destroy that trust before it even had chance to form.
He still hadn’t explained to Sam about his little patch-job on the hunter’s soul, and what exactly it meant. It was well past time for him to bite the bullet, to steal a human phrase.
“Sammy...?”
He placed his mug on the table beside the sofa and leaned forward slightly, resting one arm along the back of the seat and the other on his legs as he twisted to face the hunter directly.
“What did you do?” Sam’s voice was soft, his words calm and measured.
He’d been waiting for this, Gabriel realised. He’d been waiting for the rest of the explanation, giving the Archangel chance to offer it up freely in a show of trust that Gabriel hadn’t earned.
“Okay, so you remember I said I got distracted...?”
“Yeah, you said you were praying.”
“Right - hadn’t done it in a while, so it took a bit of concentration, and everything else just kind of went on auto-pilot, so to speak. When an Angel prays - when they’re on earth, in a vessel, I mean - they have to...open their Grace up, I guess is the closest I can explain it. I’ve had a very tight lid on my Grace for a very long time, and while I was distracted the auto-pilot found a problem and decided to fix it...”
“I don’t understand...”
“That’s probably because I’m giving you a crappy explanation in my attempt not to freak you out too much, kiddo. You need to understand, you were hurting, badly, you had been for a very long time, and my Grace could sense it.”
“It decided it needed to fix me, didn’t it?”
Sam’s voice was barely a whisper, but Gabriel heard it and nodded in reply. He didn’t expect Sam’s bitter response.
“It sensed the abomination, sensed the demon blood in me, and decided I was a problem it needed to fix.”
“No, Sam! I felt your pain, your hurt...I could see the damage your life had done to your soul, and I tried to help. The part of me that would have realized the side-effects was otherwise occupied, and I owe you an apology for that - but like I said before, I’m not sorry I did it. I’m sorry you had no say in it, but it’s made you safer, and with time, it’ll make you stronger as well - it’s not a bad thing Sammy, I promise.”
“And I’m supposed to trust you on that? You haven’t even told me what the fuck you did!”
Gabriel flinched at the anger in Sam’s tone. This was quickly going very badly, and he needed to fix it. He shouldn’t have beat around the bush so much. Perhaps if he’d just blurted it out and explained later, the hunter would’ve been too confused to get angry. Time to stop dancing around it...
“I used my Grace to heal the wounds on your soul, and accidently bonded us together.”
Chapter 7
Author: lonelyphoenix85
Rating: R, for a few foul words, and more sure to come in subsequent parts.
Genre: Songfic, Pre-slash, h/c
Pairing:Sam/Gabriel pre-slash, implied Dean/Cas
Spoilers: through to Changing Channels (5x08)
Warnings: None
Word Count: 3209 (this part, 11836 total so far)
Disclaimer: It only belongs to me when I'm dreaming! Bon Jovi owns the song, and the rest is property of the almighty Kripke!
Note: I killed my writer's block on this! Yay!! Still looking for a beta if anyone's interested by the way...
Previous chapters: Chapter 1 Chapter 2 Chapter 3 Chapter 4 Chapter 5
Cas was still resting when night came, although he looked less pale which reassured the brothers slightly. Sam swallowed back a chuckle as he wondered what the Angel would make of all the hovering Sam knew his brother would be doing when Cas finally awoke - Dean could mother-hen it with the best of them when he was worried about someone.
Sam had done the dinner run when Dean had refused to leave his Angel’s side - there was no doubt in the younger Winchester’s mind that Cas was his brother’s Angel, even if Dean was living in the land of denial - and the brothers had spent the day quietly researching, Sam at the desk on the laptop while Dean leafed through some of the books they’d borrowed off Bobby.
Sam made a note to go over the books again at some point since Dean’s attention had been more often on the sleeping Angel than the page in front of him.
He flipped the laptop closed with a sigh - it felt like he was going around in circles, never finding anything new, or helpful. Glancing over at Dean he grinned when he saw that his brother was asleep in his chair, feet propped up on the bed by Cas and book resting open on his stomach. If even Dean had crashed it was probably past time he tried to sleep too, but he hesitated.
He knew why he was hesitant - it was the same reason he should have been eager to get to sleep. He needed to know what Gabriel had been about to tell him earlier. Going to sleep would give him the chance to find out, but it would also mean seeing Gabriel, speaking to Gabriel - giving Gabriel the chance to manipulate him. He wanted so badly to trust the Archangel, because they really needed his help - he really needed his help - but he couldn’t afford to screw up again.
Not telling Dean already had been a mistake, perhaps, but at least once he had the whole story that particular conversation would be easier. With that thought, Sam rose from his chair and grabbed a pair of old pants and t-shirt to sleep in.
It wasn’t until he was changed and led in bed that it occurred to him that he might not even be able to get to sleep after how much sleep he’d gotten the previous night. The thought was short-lived as a ridiculously large yawn split his face, and the hunter curled up into a more comfortable position and closed his eyes.
*~*~*~*~*~*
Gabriel felt the faint tug against his Grace that signalled Sam falling asleep, and quickly went to the hunter’s motel room, being sure to remain unseen in case Dean or Cas were around.
The sight of his brother as unconscious as a human on one of the motel beds sent a spike of worry through him - he might not know Castiel all that well, but he respected the younger Angel. His Grace might slowly be failing him, but in a way he was stronger than Gabriel. While the Archangel had run away and hid for thousands of years, his youngest brother had openly defied the Host, and continued to do so even as he became more and more human.
The Winchesters had had one hell of an influence on him, just as they did on everyone who met them - even Gabriel himself. He only hoped they didn’t all end up dead for it. The hunters inspired people to attempt the impossible - they were like the human equivalent of turning up with a knife at a gun fight, if the knife you had was one of those plastic toy ones you’d give a two year old, and the guns the other guys had were nuclear missiles.
Really, it was a miracle they hadn’t died more or permanently yet, when you thought about it - perhaps Dad was looking out for them a little after all?
Turning towards the other bed, he sat beside the younger hunter - still invisible, it wouldn’t do to have Dean or Cas wake up and see him, not when he wouldn’t be in a position to explain or defend himself - and rested his hand lightly on his forehead.
As soon as he was inside he threw up every wall and ward and charm he could conceive of, putting as much of his power into them as he dared within the confines of Sam’s fragile human mind. That done, he opened his eyes and took in his surroundings. He was in a house - it could have been any house in any nice normal American suburb, except for one thing.
Two enormous hellhounds growling at a closed door.
And then the door was open, and the hounds bounded inside to the command given.
The screams that followed were horrible, but it was Sam’s shouts, Sam’s begging and pleading, that told Gabriel where they were, when they were.
This was the night Dean went to Hell.
There’s no cabin to relax in tonight, Sam’s stuck in what is probably his worst nightmare, and that thought spurs Gabriel into action.
With a thought he’s in the room with Sam, grabbing his arm, and then they’re gone. The ceiling replaced with sky, the walls with trees and rock. In the near distance a cabin lay down a winding path, and Gabriel led the shaking sobbing hunter slowly towards it.
When he still hadn’t acknowledged the Archangel’s presence after a few minutes except to allow himself to be led down the path, Gabriel began to worry. He tried speaking to Sam, urged the hunter to look at him, please? The complete lack of reaction was unnerving. It was as if Sam had just shut down, and done so so completely that Gabriel couldn’t even find any stray thoughts to pick through to figure out what the problem was.
Gabriel hoped that perhaps the familiarity and safety of his cabin would help, and with that thought continued to lead Sam by the arm, ignoring the stifling silence that grew as the man’s pained sobs faded into nothing.
They had reached the edge of the clearing when Sam suddenly froze.
*~*~*~*~*~*
When he’d been pulled from the house before Dean was dead, Sam had been confused. It didn’t really matter though - he knew what happened next, had seen it enough times for his mind to fill in the blanks. Dean’s screams as claws and teeth ripped into him, his blood pooling on the ground beneath him, his empty, glassy eyes when all was done...the confusion faded and Sam retreated into himself.
If he couldn’t hear Lucifer then he couldn’t be tempted by him. It would be threats tonight, he knew. Saving him from nightmares always meant threats.
He couldn’t listen to Lucifer describing the monsters he would send after Dean and Bobby and Cas if Sam didn’t say yes. He didn’t trust himself enough.
He curled into a tiny ball inside his mind, put his hands over his ears, and closed his eyes. He felt his body being led slowly along a path, aware enough not to stumble, but little else. There was a familiar feeling to the place which grew as he walked, and Sam’s sense of dread grew with it.
He wondered what he’d have to watch destroyed this time - last time Lucifer had felt he needed an extra push he’d made him watch as Bobby’s house burned to the ground, the older hunter screaming in one of the windows. The time before that he’d watched Cas and Dean get torn apart by demons too numerous to fight.
Gabriel was right. He was wearing down. He’d considered killing himself before he could give in, but didn’t know if Lucifer would be able to use his corpse, and couldn’t find a way to ask Cas without arousing the Angel’s suspicion. Gabriel might tell him, but then again Gabriel had said he’d be here when Sam slept - he wondered briefly if perhaps Gabriel had tried, and been overpowered by his brother, then shook the thought off. He couldn’t afford to worry about anyone else right now, not when Lucifer could use it against him, use it to weaken him further.
When they reached the clearing Sam froze. It was his cabin. His one refuge, even in his own mind, and it wasn’t his anymore, Lucifer had found it last night, and now he meant to destroy it. Sam felt awareness returning to his body, raised his arms in front of him and took a step backwards before he could stop himself. He didn’t look to the side, didn’t want to see the triumph on Lucifer’s face at his reaction. Now the Devil would know this place meant something, and it would be used against him just like everything else.
*~*~*~*~*~*
“Sam! Sammy! You need to calm down Sam, you need to breathe, okay, calm down! Sammy!”
His words were having no effect; it was as if Sam couldn’t even hear him.
Gabriel stepped quickly in front of the hunter, who didn’t even appear to notice him, his gaze still fixed on the cabin. He couldn’t figure out why somewhere that had been a place of safety the night before was having this effect, but that was not important right now. What was important was getting Sam’s attention and focus, getting Sam to calm down.
He reached up and gripped the taller man’s head between his hands, and forced him to look down at him.
He watched as Sam’s eyes widened even further in shock, his frantic pushes against Gabriel’s arms stilling as quickly as they’d begun.
“You’re not...”
He watched in silence as Sam took a breath and swallowed sharply, the fear in his eyes fading to be replaced with a warily hopeful expression.
“Gabriel...?”
“Yeah Sammy, it’s me.” He watched as tears filled Sam’s eyes again, and held still as the hunter brought a hand up to his face, apparently still needing some sort of confirmation that the Angel was real. He didn’t know why Sam had freaked out so badly - aside from having just watched a rerun of his brother’s brutal murder, that is - but it could wait a few minutes.
“You’re here...you came, just like you said.” Sam’s voice was barely above a whisper, but shock and disbelief coloured it sharply. “I thought...I thought...”
Sam broke off to gulp in another deep breath, his voice unable to hold steady. When his legs began shake, Gabriel decided it was time to get them moving again. Explanations could wait until they were somewhere Sam could rest, although Gabriel was beginning to get a pretty good idea what might be going on as Sam’s thoughts slowly became clearer.
The depths his brother had sunk to made Gabriel’s heart ache. He remembered Lucifer, bright and shining and pure, his brother had been so filled with love and kindness before the fall. Gabriel had known that the brother he remembered was gone, of course he had, but to see this proof of how far gone - it was different. More real.
Lucifer had been torturing Sam for months now. Not just tempting him and making him offers as they’d all assumed, but actually torturing him. Making him relive his worst memories, showing him his worst nightmares, and then saving him from them before threatening to do it all again, but this time not only in dreams.
His brother’s Grace was so twisted it sickened him to his very core.
“Come on Sammy, let’s go somewhere more interesting, I’m bored of trees!” He said with a grin, taking care to make it look as unforced as possible, “Oh, I know!” He took his hands from Sam’s face and gripped his arm tightly with one hand while snapping the fingers of the other.
Sure, they were technically still in Sam’s dream, but Gabriel prided himself on his ability to make realistic replicas of almost anything - he never could quite get the hang of pie though, for some reason...the flavourings were never what they ought to be.
The forest disappeared to be replaced with his favourite cafe. Martin’s Chocolatier had the best hot chocolate ever made - and twenty different flavours to choose from. They also did the baby marshmallows and whipped cream on top too, it was just what Sam needed!
“Where is this?”
“A small cafe in Wales - I’ll have to take you there for real one day, but for now, try the gingerbread hot chocolate - it’s awesome!”
*~*~*~*~*~*
Sam stared at the small cafe in...shock? Confusion? Relief? Gabriel had come for him. Had pulled him from the nightmare before he’d had to see his brother’s lifeless corpse again, before Lucifer could come and use it against him...
And now they were apparently getting hot chocolate.
The sheer normalcy of it was too much for Sam, and he felt a giggle welling up in his throat as he watched the Archangel ordering their hot chocolate. He dimly recognized that the building laughter was closer to hysteria than humour, but figured it was still his head, and if you couldn’t have a minor breakdown in your own head, then where could you?
His body shook with laughter, and he bent over to clutch at his stomach as it began to ache. After a few moments he felt a hand on his arm, and looking to the side saw Gabriel staring at him in wide-eyed concern.
“You okay there, kiddo?”
Another round of laughter had Sam struggling to catch his breath, but finally he managed to get himself under control enough to respond.
“It’s just...a few minutes ago I was waiting for the Devil himself to torture me, and now we’re getting hot chocolate? And what does it say about my life that this isn’t even the weirdest thing that’s happened to me in the last few days?”
“That you’re probably never bored...?” Gabriel offered with a smile, holding out one of the mugs of hot chocolate to Sam.
Sam was surprised to find himself returning the smile as he accepted the drink.
“Is ‘something sugary’ your answer to every problem?”
“Hey, inventing sugar and giving it you guys to play with was one of Dad’s better ideas, Sammy. And I have never regretted showing those Indians how to grow cacao plants,” he replied with a grin.
“Those Indians? You mean the Olmec Indians?” Sam asked in disbelief.
“What can I say? You were taking too long to get to the really good stuff and I wanted chocolate - although that Prophet’s description of it was seriously inadequate...”
“You invented chocolate.”
“No, I just gave it a jump start Sammy...and I still had to wait three and a half millennia for a chocolate bar then. Some of those early drinks were nice though - the Aztecs especially had a talent for it.”
Sometimes Sam forgot how old Gabriel was. It was excusable, he reasoned, since the Archangel tended to act like a five year old on a sugar high a lot of the time - one with an extreme sense of humour at least.
He took a sip of his hot chocolate and had to swallow down the groan that threatened to escape - he had to hand it to him, Gabriel was right about the gingerbread hot chocolate - Sam didn’t think he’d ever tasted anything quite so perfect.
“C’mon kiddo, let’s get comfy,” Gabriel said, tugging gently on Sam’s sleeve as he headed for a sofa in the corner.
They sank in to opposite ends of it and settled in to a comfortable silence. There were things they needed to discuss, but for now both were happy to enjoy the brief respite.
*~*~*~*~*~*
Gabriel watched as Sam slowly became more and more relaxed, the square of his shoulders softening as he sank further into the over-sized sofa, the lines on his forehead smoothing out slowly.
He would need to talk about earlier, but Gabriel refused to push him just yet. As long as he was keeping his brother out, the hunter was in no immediate danger, and so he could afford to give him some time. Hopefully Sam would broach the subject himself, would come to trust Gabriel enough to let him help.
The more pressing issue, right now, was something which could destroy that trust before it even had chance to form.
He still hadn’t explained to Sam about his little patch-job on the hunter’s soul, and what exactly it meant. It was well past time for him to bite the bullet, to steal a human phrase.
“Sammy...?”
He placed his mug on the table beside the sofa and leaned forward slightly, resting one arm along the back of the seat and the other on his legs as he twisted to face the hunter directly.
“What did you do?” Sam’s voice was soft, his words calm and measured.
He’d been waiting for this, Gabriel realised. He’d been waiting for the rest of the explanation, giving the Archangel chance to offer it up freely in a show of trust that Gabriel hadn’t earned.
“Okay, so you remember I said I got distracted...?”
“Yeah, you said you were praying.”
“Right - hadn’t done it in a while, so it took a bit of concentration, and everything else just kind of went on auto-pilot, so to speak. When an Angel prays - when they’re on earth, in a vessel, I mean - they have to...open their Grace up, I guess is the closest I can explain it. I’ve had a very tight lid on my Grace for a very long time, and while I was distracted the auto-pilot found a problem and decided to fix it...”
“I don’t understand...”
“That’s probably because I’m giving you a crappy explanation in my attempt not to freak you out too much, kiddo. You need to understand, you were hurting, badly, you had been for a very long time, and my Grace could sense it.”
“It decided it needed to fix me, didn’t it?”
Sam’s voice was barely a whisper, but Gabriel heard it and nodded in reply. He didn’t expect Sam’s bitter response.
“It sensed the abomination, sensed the demon blood in me, and decided I was a problem it needed to fix.”
“No, Sam! I felt your pain, your hurt...I could see the damage your life had done to your soul, and I tried to help. The part of me that would have realized the side-effects was otherwise occupied, and I owe you an apology for that - but like I said before, I’m not sorry I did it. I’m sorry you had no say in it, but it’s made you safer, and with time, it’ll make you stronger as well - it’s not a bad thing Sammy, I promise.”
“And I’m supposed to trust you on that? You haven’t even told me what the fuck you did!”
Gabriel flinched at the anger in Sam’s tone. This was quickly going very badly, and he needed to fix it. He shouldn’t have beat around the bush so much. Perhaps if he’d just blurted it out and explained later, the hunter would’ve been too confused to get angry. Time to stop dancing around it...
“I used my Grace to heal the wounds on your soul, and accidently bonded us together.”
Chapter 7