We walked a million hills - Chapter 20
Title: Trinity Verse II. - We walked a million hills (20/?)
Author:
scyllaya
Rating: R
Character(s)/Pairing(s): Dean/Castiel/Gabriel,
Warning(s): cursing, (mentions of child-abuse)
Spoiler(s): AU (characters up to S5)
Word Count: ~ 3 500 (this chapter) WIP
Summary: Dean, Castiel and Gabriel live the life they wanted to have. Their biggest problem should be synchronizing their crazy schedules, unfortunately life is never that simple.
Disclaimer: Nearly all names and characters in this story belong to CW/WB and Kripke. I’m making no profit whatsoever. It’s just for fun! Most places and establishments in the story are real, but I’ve never visited any of them, so I have no true knowledge about them. People (OCs) in the story are not real! Any resemblance to real life is just a coincidence.
AN: Second story of Trinity verse. Title from: Nirvana - The Man Who Sold The World
Unbeta-ed. Trinity Verse I: Broke our Mirrors
Trinity II - Chapter One
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Chapter XX
Brother. Gabriel could never forget any detail about Michael. Not his deep green stormy eyes, the strong lines of his face nor his voice and the stiff way he used to form the words. He was tall, always standing straight, his shoulders wide and his tone commanding. His face was always stern except when he was very young, but Gabriel didn't remember much of that brother, the kind brother. He remembered the Michael he feared.
The man standing before him was undoubtedly Michael, but not exactly. His hair was longer than ever Gabriel remembered his to be, he had thick stubble on his face that soon would turn into a beard ,while Michael always used to be clean-shaven. He was still taller than Gabriel, but he didn't look that tall, in fact, he looked a lot smaller than his height would've indicated now that Gabriel managed to grab a hold of his brain and stop it from riling uncontrollably into panic. His shoulders were hunched, not much, but it was visible. He was a lot thinner. His chin was not up straight, his pose was not strong and commanding, on the contrary. He looked edgy and twitchy and looked like he would want to be anywhere but here. And if Gabriel was good at something, it was picking up on somebody being vulnerable. It calmed him down and the next time he spoke his voice was a lot more steady.
'What are you doing here? How did you find me?'
Michael licked his lips before he spoke up again and only now did Gabriel notice that he was not making eye-contact.
'I'm no fugitive, I didn't escape or something,' he said. 'I'm free, got out 2 months ago... don't call the cops.'
Gabriel was tempted to do so, but even if Michael looked like a shadow of his former self, he didn't wanna risk anything acting too inconsiderately.
'What are you doing here?' he asked again, a bit more sternly. Michael looked pained for a second before he opened his mouth again.
'I didn't wanna do this, Gabriel. I swear I didn't. I wanted to contact you... maybe later, but not this. You gotta believe me I didn't wanna do this.'
Gabriel frowned and a sharp feel of dread gripped his chest at the words.
'Do what?' he asked.
'Tsk tsk tsk. Always with the dramatics, Mikey,' a third voice interrupted them and Gabriel's head whipped up to look in that direction. This guy stepped out from behind the corner of the hallway, so no wonder Gabriel didn't see him. Short dirty blond hair, faded jeans and shirt and he was of course way bigger than Gabriel, just fantastic.
'Nick, please lets just go,' Michael asked the other guy and that unpleasant feeling was growing inside of Gabriel.
'After I've been listening to you whining and bitching about little brother for years, you just wanna turn tail and run away? No, not happening, Mikey.'
'How do you even get here?' Gabriel asked, because they shouldn't be standing here, on his floor of all places dammit.
'Oh, you'd be astound how much information they give out to immediate family-members,' the Nick guy said in a musing tone as he landed a hand on Michael's shoulder. He flinched, fuck this was bad. He had no idea what was going on, but it was absolutely not good.
'What do you want?' he asked and congratulated himself for still being able to keep his voice even and steady.
'Why don't we discuss that inside?' Nick asked.
'Here's good,' Gabriel replied right away.
'We don't want to disturb your neighbors, now do we?' he asked. The tone was still light, but Gabriel could see through it, and it was anything but friendly. His mind raced, trying to figure out what to do. He could yell, some of the neighbors had to be home, right? He had nowhere to run, with both Michael and Nick standing between him and the rest of the hallway, he wasn't even sure Michael was a treat, he looked thoroughly freaked out, so maybe not. It's not like he could run far, the elevator would take too long to open.
'Gabriel, don't make this messier than it has to be,' Nick told him lightly with raised eyebrows, like he was silly for not doing what he was told already. The guy was seriously giving him the creeps now, but he didn't move. He sure as hell won't get behind close doors with these two, not on his own free will. God, he was in so much shit right now. Why him? Why couldn't he have peace in his godforsaken life for once? Nick sighed dramatically and moved one of his hands. Gabriel couldn't see him properly, because he was half standing behind Michael still, but Dean brought enough guns home for him to recognize the metallic click that reached his ears. Fuck.
'Now open the door, before I happen to find myself wanting to add some fresh warm colors to these dull walls.'
God, he wished he knew what was happening, but right now he was only sure that he didn't wanna end up as fingerpaint on the wall, so he reached to the lock again and turned to key to open the door. Nick shoved a little at Michael and pointedly looked at Gabriel too, so they walked inside.
'Feel free to explain it to me what the hell is going on here,' Gabriel said after a little while. Nick was strolling around the apartment like he owned it. Of course he had the key to the locked front door now and he was never too far from the living room, where he told Gabriel to sit down. Michael was just standing by the wall silently ever since they got inside, and Gabriel hated not knowing what was happening. He hated that he was fucking threatened with a gun in his own home and that he knew that no one will be coming home for a long while. That piece of information he kept to himself, they didn't have to know who lived here with him, nor when they will be back. He was stupidly happy that they were not the “hang photos of ourselves” everywhere kinda guys. They had paintings and framed rock posters on the walls, but nothing personal.
'Oh, Mikey and I were roomies in that luxury hotel everyone calls “Colorado State Penitentiary”,' Nick supplied helpfully as he walked back into the room. He really was never far away from them. 'Such a disadvantageous name, but I guess it should be, not like anyone wants to end up there.'
Nick walked back in to his line of vision until he was standing right next to Michel at the wall.
'Like two peas in a pod, weren't we Mikey?' he asked, his voice dropping down a little lower, a little quieter. 'Sharing space like that for so many years, it brings people together you know?' he added and looked at Gabriel, but he just stared back at him without answering. Nick kept his cold blue eyes locked on his face for one more second before he turned his head back to Michael. 'Yes, all the BFF things one could imagine. Watching out the other doesn't get stabbed in the yard, or bent over in the showers... hmm... my-my, yes I had to pay close attention to watch out for our little Mikey.'
Michael kept his gaze pointedly at a random spot and he didn't seem like he wanted to say anything unless he had to.
'We even got a matching tattoos,' Nick said almost cheerfully and he grabbed Michael's wrist to raise his arm, the other man was not fighting him. Said “tattoo” was two deep, long scars and nasty burn on the inside of Michael's forearm and Gabriel did his absolute best not to react, because Nick's eyes were locked on his face the entire time. After a long tense second he dropped Michael's arm and walked past him. Gabriel didn't know whether he was trying to intimidate him or was plain crazy, but either way he was already more than a little anxious about his situation. He was really proud of himself for keeping calm, he needed a clear head, he needed it, if he lost it he was done and over with, he knew for sure, he had to think. Nick walked into the bedroom casually, fucking bastard.
'Michael,' Gabriel hissed in a low, quiet tone. 'Talk!'
'I'm sorry, I didn't want to come here.'
'You told me that already, it's not helping shit. What is going on?'
'I've been sending you postcards,' Michael said after a pause. 'But then suddenly, the post sent them back, you moved away... I kept writing them, even if I couldn't send them anywhere... I just, I tried... but I had nowhere to go when I got out, just to Nick. He's been out for a year. I wanted to meet you, or just talk to you... something, just to send a letter at least, but I didn't know where you were...' he hurriedly reached in his pocket and pulled out a crumpled peace of newspaper. 'But then I saw you in the paper,' he said. 'I recognized you, y'know. I didn't even need to check the name, I knew it was you, even if the last time I saw you--' he bit his words and fell silent abruptly.
'I was thirteen and you were beating my face into a pulp,' Gabriel found himself saying without a conscious thought. His voice a lot more detached than he would've expected it to sound. Michael winced again and his shoulders slumped as he kept staring down at the crumpled paper in his hands, his fingers never stopped moving, he was smoothing out the newspaper piece again and again in a nervous gesture.
'Christ, I'm not like that anymore, I swear I'm not, you gotta believe me that.'
'I don't care. I have your psycho cell-mate holding me hostage in my own fucking apartment for whatever reason, and I'm pretty sure he wants to blow my brains out. So excuse me, if I'm not glad we're catching up.' Michael looked up at him, but only for a moment, he had that pained expression on his face again. Good, it should hurt, should hurt a lot more. Gabriel didn't really know where all this anger was bubbling up from within, but it was there. Anger made him stupid and reckless, so it really was not good.
'I was trying to think of the best way to contact you,' Michael said after a pause. 'Nick saw me looking at this,' he said holding up that damned Denver Post front page, then he glanced up at the bedroom door. 'And he got mad,' he said very quietly.
'Great,' Gabriel muttered. So he had a pissed pscyho in his apartment, with a gun. Fate was a bitch and she damn well hated him to no end, he was sure of it. His mind trailed to the gun Dean kept at home, but it was locked away, no way could he get it. They had knives in the kitchen, but that was a lousy weapon against someone with a gun.
'Really... I would've expected at least a few fluffy handcuffs or something,' Nick said as he showed up at the bedroom door. 'You looked like the kinky type,' he observed. Gabriel ignored him. 'So, are we expecting a Mrs. to show up anytime soon?' he asked then. Gabriel didn't answer. 'You are a young doctor, working at a hospital ER. I'm sure you cannot afford this place on your own, even if I know that Grandma Morgenstern was loaded. So tell me, girlfriend, fiancée? Who are we expecting?'
Gabriel didn't answer.
'Ok, we can get to the end of this differently,' he said and went to Gabriel's bag that was dropped down at the end of the couch. He was searching for a while before he got Gabriel's cellphone out. 'Am I gonna find a “Sweetie” a “Baby” or a “Darling” in this?' he asked. 'No, you don't look like a guy who would put those in as contacts... lets see the emergency numbers then.'
Pissed pscyho, who was not a complete moron. Awesome.
'Dean... and Castiel. Well, I remember hearing the second name before... still being buddies with childhood friends?' he raised an eyebrow to look at Gabriel again. 'Why so silent Dr. Morgenstern?'
'Nick...'
'Shut up, Mikey,' he said without looking at Michael. 'Which one lives here?' he asked then, Gabriel didn't answer. 'When will he get back?' He walked closer this time until he was standing right in front of Gabriel. 'Still no answer?' he asked.
This time Gabriel had a way too good view of the gun as Nick pulled it out of the back of his jeans and raised it. Suddenly, he felt very cold.
'Nick!' Michael exclaimed, pushing himself off the wall.
'I said, shut up!' Nick barked at him. 'You are not trying enough to make my stay here entertaining, Gabriel,' he said. 'So how about we play the game where you answer when I ask you a question, hm? Sure you don't want me to get too annoyed, right?'
Gabriel slowly looked up at the guy. The gun barrel just inches away from his head, that was new. And yet, he just felt... not sure. He wasn't scared, he knew how it felt to be scared, this wasn't it. Maybe he was angry, it almost felt like that, but it was a slow burn. He was sure as hell that he won't tell a single thing about Dean or Castiel to some crazy bastard, not ever. So he let his eyes land on the gun before he looked up at the sharp eyes that were looking back at him.
'Fuck you.'
The gun barrel got pressed to his forehead, it was cold, and very unpleasant. The gun oil would leave a smudge on his skin, Nick used too much of it, Gabriel could smell it. He found himself in the strangest staring contest of his life with the way he and Nick were still looking at each other.
'You know, when Mikey was telling me about you... I would've expected you to be curled up in the corner in panic at this point. Would've seemed in character,' Nick remarked. 'But no... interesting. So very interesting. You know that eyes tell a lot of things about a person? I'm pretty good at telling quite much if I can look someone in the eyes. You know what I see right now, Gabriel? Something particularly similar to what I see when I look into a mirror.'
Gabriel didn't let the words get to him, fucking bastard was playing with him, and he would not allow that.
'Maybe Michael hit too hard one time too many,' he said calmly. How was he calm? So strange.
'Maybe,' Nick chuckled and pulled the gun back, finally breaking eye-contact. 'Alright, I think I'm entertained now.'
Kali was perfectly content with working in St. Anthony's. For starters, even if it was a public hospital it was a lot cleaner than the private clinic she was working at back in India. The relief from the constant nagging of her parents about marriage and grandchildren was also like a breath of fresh spring air. It was not like she couldn't get along on her own without them. She also enjoyed being able to see Gabriel, even if they could never be what they have been before. She had the opportunity, and she took it. Never before was she so glad about her dual citizenship than in this situation. God knows how long it would've taken to get a work visa otherwise. Like this? She didn't even think about getting on the plane back home. She had all of her stuff shipped to her, not even her parents could prevent that. They were furious, suits them right.
One thing she didn't appreciate was the bureaucracy of the US medical system. She was fed up dealing with paperwork over lunch every day. At least she was not alone in her misery as Gabriel was always doing the same thing. This time though, she cursed his name, because she was pretty sure Gabriel screwed up something. She preferred him being there in person when she wanted to chew him out, but they ended up in different shifts again this week so Gabriel already left a couple of hours ago. She waited for one of the nurses looking through the folders to find the right ones. She really hated standing around doing nothing.
'I'm sorry Dr. Surendra,' Becky said as she got back. 'I really don't know where Dr. Morgenstern might've left those. He definitely didn't bring them back here.'
'Wonderful,' Kali sighed. 'Keep looking, I will check in the doctor's lounge,' she told the nurse and headed back. They had a lazy night, not many emergency cases so far, she could always appreciate that. She searched the room, ignoring Dr. Reed who he was sipping coffee at the couch. Gabriel had a bad tendency to leave stuff around, the only bad thing she could tell about his work. She got out her cellphone from her coat and turned it on, calling him. It rang for an awful long time before it switched to voice-mail.
Kali stared down at the phone with a frown, it wasn't that late. She turned it off again and went back to the nurse desk.
'Becky, beep Dr. Morgenstern, please,' she asked right away.
'Yeah, I don't think he's gonna answer,' Becky said. 'His brother's in town visiting.'
'What did you just say?' Kali looked at her.
'That his brother's in town, maybe they went out.'
'What do you know about his brother?' Kali asked and her voice dropped down a little while she frowned at the nurse, and Becky immediately looked uncertain.
'Just... Anna told me he was here today, he asked when Dr. Morgenstern's work-shift will end,'
'Shit,' she cursed right away, already fishing out her phone.
'But, Anna asked him for an ID, what? It was really his brother... what is wrong?'
Kali ignored her and rushed out of the door while she turned on the phone again and scrolled through her contact list. She was so grateful she asked Gabriel for numbers. She just knew she would need them.
She dialed Dean first, and she got really annoyed when she immediately got voicemail. She waited until the beep.
'It's Kali, Michael's out, call me back!' she hung up and went to Castiel's number. Maybe they were all home already, maybe they don't even know about this. Gabriel not picking up his phone unnerved her, he never muted it in case someone wanted to call him in for an emergency.
Castiel's phone rang and Kali found herself repeating 'come on' over and over again, just wanting to get in contact with somebody.
'Yes?' Castiel picked up.
'Finally. Castiel, it's Kali.'
'Kali, how do you have my number, why are you calling this late?'
'Shut up, not important. Michael's out of jail, he was here today.' There was a second of stunned silence on the other end.
'What? How did he escape?'
'Count those years.'
'He's free, why didn't I think of this sooner?'
'We all had more than enough on our plates to not really think of him of all people,' Kali said then. 'Gabriel's not picking up his phone. Michael came here to ask when Gabriel will be finished with work. I'm worried.'
'Ok, I'm already in Denver,' Castiel said. 'I'll be home soon and we'll know what's going on.'
'I can get out of here,' Kali said. 'I'm going to your place.'
'No, I'm almost there, no need.'
'But what if he's dangerous?'
'It's been fifteen years, lets not think of the worst,' Castiel said, but Kali could hear in his voice that his calm was forced.
'Shouldn't we call the police? Dean's not picking up either.'
'Dean's on field, he won't pick up for a long while,' Castiel told her. 'And maybe there's no need for police, we'll see after I get home.'
'Alone?'
'I can take care of myself,' Castiel answered.
'I think we should call the police,' Kali insisted. She had a very bad feeling about this.
'Don't call 911, do you know Dean's work number?'
'Yes,'
'Ask there for Lt. Ellen Harvelle, but only if I don't call you back... in an hour.'
'Fine,' Kali said. 'Call me.'
They hung up without saying goodbye and Kali took a large breath, this conversation didn't manage to calm her down one bit.
Castiel just turned the corner to their street when he got to Dean's voice-mail.
'Hey, it's Cas. Listen, Kali probably left you a message already. I don't know what's going on, or whether Michael actually went to our place, but I'm almost home now. I can't wait, whatever is happening, Gabriel just can't be alone, so you can call me stupid for this later. Please call me as soon as you get this and if I don't pick up... we're probably in trouble. Hopefully, I'm just being too worried and nothing's up, but I wanted to make sure you know anyway. Call me paranoid. So... bye.'
He pocketed his phone and parked down the car to get in the building.
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_____________________________________________________________________
AN: Ok, guys tell me. Were you surprised? Are you excited? Tell me! Leave a comment.
The amazing kraehi made a smoking fanart of Dean and Gabriel in Chapter 17! Check it out >>> HERE
Author:
scyllaya
Rating: R
Character(s)/Pairing(s): Dean/Castiel/Gabriel,
Warning(s): cursing, (mentions of child-abuse)
Spoiler(s): AU (characters up to S5)
Word Count: ~ 3 500 (this chapter) WIP
Summary: Dean, Castiel and Gabriel live the life they wanted to have. Their biggest problem should be synchronizing their crazy schedules, unfortunately life is never that simple.
Disclaimer: Nearly all names and characters in this story belong to CW/WB and Kripke. I’m making no profit whatsoever. It’s just for fun! Most places and establishments in the story are real, but I’ve never visited any of them, so I have no true knowledge about them. People (OCs) in the story are not real! Any resemblance to real life is just a coincidence.
AN: Second story of Trinity verse. Title from: Nirvana - The Man Who Sold The World
Unbeta-ed. Trinity Verse I: Broke our Mirrors
Trinity II - Chapter One
<< Previous Chapter || Next Chapter >>
Chapter XX
Brother. Gabriel could never forget any detail about Michael. Not his deep green stormy eyes, the strong lines of his face nor his voice and the stiff way he used to form the words. He was tall, always standing straight, his shoulders wide and his tone commanding. His face was always stern except when he was very young, but Gabriel didn't remember much of that brother, the kind brother. He remembered the Michael he feared.
The man standing before him was undoubtedly Michael, but not exactly. His hair was longer than ever Gabriel remembered his to be, he had thick stubble on his face that soon would turn into a beard ,while Michael always used to be clean-shaven. He was still taller than Gabriel, but he didn't look that tall, in fact, he looked a lot smaller than his height would've indicated now that Gabriel managed to grab a hold of his brain and stop it from riling uncontrollably into panic. His shoulders were hunched, not much, but it was visible. He was a lot thinner. His chin was not up straight, his pose was not strong and commanding, on the contrary. He looked edgy and twitchy and looked like he would want to be anywhere but here. And if Gabriel was good at something, it was picking up on somebody being vulnerable. It calmed him down and the next time he spoke his voice was a lot more steady.
'What are you doing here? How did you find me?'
Michael licked his lips before he spoke up again and only now did Gabriel notice that he was not making eye-contact.
'I'm no fugitive, I didn't escape or something,' he said. 'I'm free, got out 2 months ago... don't call the cops.'
Gabriel was tempted to do so, but even if Michael looked like a shadow of his former self, he didn't wanna risk anything acting too inconsiderately.
'What are you doing here?' he asked again, a bit more sternly. Michael looked pained for a second before he opened his mouth again.
'I didn't wanna do this, Gabriel. I swear I didn't. I wanted to contact you... maybe later, but not this. You gotta believe me I didn't wanna do this.'
Gabriel frowned and a sharp feel of dread gripped his chest at the words.
'Do what?' he asked.
'Tsk tsk tsk. Always with the dramatics, Mikey,' a third voice interrupted them and Gabriel's head whipped up to look in that direction. This guy stepped out from behind the corner of the hallway, so no wonder Gabriel didn't see him. Short dirty blond hair, faded jeans and shirt and he was of course way bigger than Gabriel, just fantastic.
'Nick, please lets just go,' Michael asked the other guy and that unpleasant feeling was growing inside of Gabriel.
'After I've been listening to you whining and bitching about little brother for years, you just wanna turn tail and run away? No, not happening, Mikey.'
'How do you even get here?' Gabriel asked, because they shouldn't be standing here, on his floor of all places dammit.
'Oh, you'd be astound how much information they give out to immediate family-members,' the Nick guy said in a musing tone as he landed a hand on Michael's shoulder. He flinched, fuck this was bad. He had no idea what was going on, but it was absolutely not good.
'What do you want?' he asked and congratulated himself for still being able to keep his voice even and steady.
'Why don't we discuss that inside?' Nick asked.
'Here's good,' Gabriel replied right away.
'We don't want to disturb your neighbors, now do we?' he asked. The tone was still light, but Gabriel could see through it, and it was anything but friendly. His mind raced, trying to figure out what to do. He could yell, some of the neighbors had to be home, right? He had nowhere to run, with both Michael and Nick standing between him and the rest of the hallway, he wasn't even sure Michael was a treat, he looked thoroughly freaked out, so maybe not. It's not like he could run far, the elevator would take too long to open.
'Gabriel, don't make this messier than it has to be,' Nick told him lightly with raised eyebrows, like he was silly for not doing what he was told already. The guy was seriously giving him the creeps now, but he didn't move. He sure as hell won't get behind close doors with these two, not on his own free will. God, he was in so much shit right now. Why him? Why couldn't he have peace in his godforsaken life for once? Nick sighed dramatically and moved one of his hands. Gabriel couldn't see him properly, because he was half standing behind Michael still, but Dean brought enough guns home for him to recognize the metallic click that reached his ears. Fuck.
'Now open the door, before I happen to find myself wanting to add some fresh warm colors to these dull walls.'
God, he wished he knew what was happening, but right now he was only sure that he didn't wanna end up as fingerpaint on the wall, so he reached to the lock again and turned to key to open the door. Nick shoved a little at Michael and pointedly looked at Gabriel too, so they walked inside.
'Feel free to explain it to me what the hell is going on here,' Gabriel said after a little while. Nick was strolling around the apartment like he owned it. Of course he had the key to the locked front door now and he was never too far from the living room, where he told Gabriel to sit down. Michael was just standing by the wall silently ever since they got inside, and Gabriel hated not knowing what was happening. He hated that he was fucking threatened with a gun in his own home and that he knew that no one will be coming home for a long while. That piece of information he kept to himself, they didn't have to know who lived here with him, nor when they will be back. He was stupidly happy that they were not the “hang photos of ourselves” everywhere kinda guys. They had paintings and framed rock posters on the walls, but nothing personal.
'Oh, Mikey and I were roomies in that luxury hotel everyone calls “Colorado State Penitentiary”,' Nick supplied helpfully as he walked back into the room. He really was never far away from them. 'Such a disadvantageous name, but I guess it should be, not like anyone wants to end up there.'
Nick walked back in to his line of vision until he was standing right next to Michel at the wall.
'Like two peas in a pod, weren't we Mikey?' he asked, his voice dropping down a little lower, a little quieter. 'Sharing space like that for so many years, it brings people together you know?' he added and looked at Gabriel, but he just stared back at him without answering. Nick kept his cold blue eyes locked on his face for one more second before he turned his head back to Michael. 'Yes, all the BFF things one could imagine. Watching out the other doesn't get stabbed in the yard, or bent over in the showers... hmm... my-my, yes I had to pay close attention to watch out for our little Mikey.'
Michael kept his gaze pointedly at a random spot and he didn't seem like he wanted to say anything unless he had to.
'We even got a matching tattoos,' Nick said almost cheerfully and he grabbed Michael's wrist to raise his arm, the other man was not fighting him. Said “tattoo” was two deep, long scars and nasty burn on the inside of Michael's forearm and Gabriel did his absolute best not to react, because Nick's eyes were locked on his face the entire time. After a long tense second he dropped Michael's arm and walked past him. Gabriel didn't know whether he was trying to intimidate him or was plain crazy, but either way he was already more than a little anxious about his situation. He was really proud of himself for keeping calm, he needed a clear head, he needed it, if he lost it he was done and over with, he knew for sure, he had to think. Nick walked into the bedroom casually, fucking bastard.
'Michael,' Gabriel hissed in a low, quiet tone. 'Talk!'
'I'm sorry, I didn't want to come here.'
'You told me that already, it's not helping shit. What is going on?'
'I've been sending you postcards,' Michael said after a pause. 'But then suddenly, the post sent them back, you moved away... I kept writing them, even if I couldn't send them anywhere... I just, I tried... but I had nowhere to go when I got out, just to Nick. He's been out for a year. I wanted to meet you, or just talk to you... something, just to send a letter at least, but I didn't know where you were...' he hurriedly reached in his pocket and pulled out a crumpled peace of newspaper. 'But then I saw you in the paper,' he said. 'I recognized you, y'know. I didn't even need to check the name, I knew it was you, even if the last time I saw you--' he bit his words and fell silent abruptly.
'I was thirteen and you were beating my face into a pulp,' Gabriel found himself saying without a conscious thought. His voice a lot more detached than he would've expected it to sound. Michael winced again and his shoulders slumped as he kept staring down at the crumpled paper in his hands, his fingers never stopped moving, he was smoothing out the newspaper piece again and again in a nervous gesture.
'Christ, I'm not like that anymore, I swear I'm not, you gotta believe me that.'
'I don't care. I have your psycho cell-mate holding me hostage in my own fucking apartment for whatever reason, and I'm pretty sure he wants to blow my brains out. So excuse me, if I'm not glad we're catching up.' Michael looked up at him, but only for a moment, he had that pained expression on his face again. Good, it should hurt, should hurt a lot more. Gabriel didn't really know where all this anger was bubbling up from within, but it was there. Anger made him stupid and reckless, so it really was not good.
'I was trying to think of the best way to contact you,' Michael said after a pause. 'Nick saw me looking at this,' he said holding up that damned Denver Post front page, then he glanced up at the bedroom door. 'And he got mad,' he said very quietly.
'Great,' Gabriel muttered. So he had a pissed pscyho in his apartment, with a gun. Fate was a bitch and she damn well hated him to no end, he was sure of it. His mind trailed to the gun Dean kept at home, but it was locked away, no way could he get it. They had knives in the kitchen, but that was a lousy weapon against someone with a gun.
'Really... I would've expected at least a few fluffy handcuffs or something,' Nick said as he showed up at the bedroom door. 'You looked like the kinky type,' he observed. Gabriel ignored him. 'So, are we expecting a Mrs. to show up anytime soon?' he asked then. Gabriel didn't answer. 'You are a young doctor, working at a hospital ER. I'm sure you cannot afford this place on your own, even if I know that Grandma Morgenstern was loaded. So tell me, girlfriend, fiancée? Who are we expecting?'
Gabriel didn't answer.
'Ok, we can get to the end of this differently,' he said and went to Gabriel's bag that was dropped down at the end of the couch. He was searching for a while before he got Gabriel's cellphone out. 'Am I gonna find a “Sweetie” a “Baby” or a “Darling” in this?' he asked. 'No, you don't look like a guy who would put those in as contacts... lets see the emergency numbers then.'
Pissed pscyho, who was not a complete moron. Awesome.
'Dean... and Castiel. Well, I remember hearing the second name before... still being buddies with childhood friends?' he raised an eyebrow to look at Gabriel again. 'Why so silent Dr. Morgenstern?'
'Nick...'
'Shut up, Mikey,' he said without looking at Michael. 'Which one lives here?' he asked then, Gabriel didn't answer. 'When will he get back?' He walked closer this time until he was standing right in front of Gabriel. 'Still no answer?' he asked.
This time Gabriel had a way too good view of the gun as Nick pulled it out of the back of his jeans and raised it. Suddenly, he felt very cold.
'Nick!' Michael exclaimed, pushing himself off the wall.
'I said, shut up!' Nick barked at him. 'You are not trying enough to make my stay here entertaining, Gabriel,' he said. 'So how about we play the game where you answer when I ask you a question, hm? Sure you don't want me to get too annoyed, right?'
Gabriel slowly looked up at the guy. The gun barrel just inches away from his head, that was new. And yet, he just felt... not sure. He wasn't scared, he knew how it felt to be scared, this wasn't it. Maybe he was angry, it almost felt like that, but it was a slow burn. He was sure as hell that he won't tell a single thing about Dean or Castiel to some crazy bastard, not ever. So he let his eyes land on the gun before he looked up at the sharp eyes that were looking back at him.
'Fuck you.'
The gun barrel got pressed to his forehead, it was cold, and very unpleasant. The gun oil would leave a smudge on his skin, Nick used too much of it, Gabriel could smell it. He found himself in the strangest staring contest of his life with the way he and Nick were still looking at each other.
'You know, when Mikey was telling me about you... I would've expected you to be curled up in the corner in panic at this point. Would've seemed in character,' Nick remarked. 'But no... interesting. So very interesting. You know that eyes tell a lot of things about a person? I'm pretty good at telling quite much if I can look someone in the eyes. You know what I see right now, Gabriel? Something particularly similar to what I see when I look into a mirror.'
Gabriel didn't let the words get to him, fucking bastard was playing with him, and he would not allow that.
'Maybe Michael hit too hard one time too many,' he said calmly. How was he calm? So strange.
'Maybe,' Nick chuckled and pulled the gun back, finally breaking eye-contact. 'Alright, I think I'm entertained now.'
Kali was perfectly content with working in St. Anthony's. For starters, even if it was a public hospital it was a lot cleaner than the private clinic she was working at back in India. The relief from the constant nagging of her parents about marriage and grandchildren was also like a breath of fresh spring air. It was not like she couldn't get along on her own without them. She also enjoyed being able to see Gabriel, even if they could never be what they have been before. She had the opportunity, and she took it. Never before was she so glad about her dual citizenship than in this situation. God knows how long it would've taken to get a work visa otherwise. Like this? She didn't even think about getting on the plane back home. She had all of her stuff shipped to her, not even her parents could prevent that. They were furious, suits them right.
One thing she didn't appreciate was the bureaucracy of the US medical system. She was fed up dealing with paperwork over lunch every day. At least she was not alone in her misery as Gabriel was always doing the same thing. This time though, she cursed his name, because she was pretty sure Gabriel screwed up something. She preferred him being there in person when she wanted to chew him out, but they ended up in different shifts again this week so Gabriel already left a couple of hours ago. She waited for one of the nurses looking through the folders to find the right ones. She really hated standing around doing nothing.
'I'm sorry Dr. Surendra,' Becky said as she got back. 'I really don't know where Dr. Morgenstern might've left those. He definitely didn't bring them back here.'
'Wonderful,' Kali sighed. 'Keep looking, I will check in the doctor's lounge,' she told the nurse and headed back. They had a lazy night, not many emergency cases so far, she could always appreciate that. She searched the room, ignoring Dr. Reed who he was sipping coffee at the couch. Gabriel had a bad tendency to leave stuff around, the only bad thing she could tell about his work. She got out her cellphone from her coat and turned it on, calling him. It rang for an awful long time before it switched to voice-mail.
Kali stared down at the phone with a frown, it wasn't that late. She turned it off again and went back to the nurse desk.
'Becky, beep Dr. Morgenstern, please,' she asked right away.
'Yeah, I don't think he's gonna answer,' Becky said. 'His brother's in town visiting.'
'What did you just say?' Kali looked at her.
'That his brother's in town, maybe they went out.'
'What do you know about his brother?' Kali asked and her voice dropped down a little while she frowned at the nurse, and Becky immediately looked uncertain.
'Just... Anna told me he was here today, he asked when Dr. Morgenstern's work-shift will end,'
'Shit,' she cursed right away, already fishing out her phone.
'But, Anna asked him for an ID, what? It was really his brother... what is wrong?'
Kali ignored her and rushed out of the door while she turned on the phone again and scrolled through her contact list. She was so grateful she asked Gabriel for numbers. She just knew she would need them.
She dialed Dean first, and she got really annoyed when she immediately got voicemail. She waited until the beep.
'It's Kali, Michael's out, call me back!' she hung up and went to Castiel's number. Maybe they were all home already, maybe they don't even know about this. Gabriel not picking up his phone unnerved her, he never muted it in case someone wanted to call him in for an emergency.
Castiel's phone rang and Kali found herself repeating 'come on' over and over again, just wanting to get in contact with somebody.
'Yes?' Castiel picked up.
'Finally. Castiel, it's Kali.'
'Kali, how do you have my number, why are you calling this late?'
'Shut up, not important. Michael's out of jail, he was here today.' There was a second of stunned silence on the other end.
'What? How did he escape?'
'Count those years.'
'He's free, why didn't I think of this sooner?'
'We all had more than enough on our plates to not really think of him of all people,' Kali said then. 'Gabriel's not picking up his phone. Michael came here to ask when Gabriel will be finished with work. I'm worried.'
'Ok, I'm already in Denver,' Castiel said. 'I'll be home soon and we'll know what's going on.'
'I can get out of here,' Kali said. 'I'm going to your place.'
'No, I'm almost there, no need.'
'But what if he's dangerous?'
'It's been fifteen years, lets not think of the worst,' Castiel said, but Kali could hear in his voice that his calm was forced.
'Shouldn't we call the police? Dean's not picking up either.'
'Dean's on field, he won't pick up for a long while,' Castiel told her. 'And maybe there's no need for police, we'll see after I get home.'
'Alone?'
'I can take care of myself,' Castiel answered.
'I think we should call the police,' Kali insisted. She had a very bad feeling about this.
'Don't call 911, do you know Dean's work number?'
'Yes,'
'Ask there for Lt. Ellen Harvelle, but only if I don't call you back... in an hour.'
'Fine,' Kali said. 'Call me.'
They hung up without saying goodbye and Kali took a large breath, this conversation didn't manage to calm her down one bit.
Castiel just turned the corner to their street when he got to Dean's voice-mail.
'Hey, it's Cas. Listen, Kali probably left you a message already. I don't know what's going on, or whether Michael actually went to our place, but I'm almost home now. I can't wait, whatever is happening, Gabriel just can't be alone, so you can call me stupid for this later. Please call me as soon as you get this and if I don't pick up... we're probably in trouble. Hopefully, I'm just being too worried and nothing's up, but I wanted to make sure you know anyway. Call me paranoid. So... bye.'
He pocketed his phone and parked down the car to get in the building.
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AN: Ok, guys tell me. Were you surprised? Are you excited? Tell me! Leave a comment.
The amazing kraehi made a smoking fanart of Dean and Gabriel in Chapter 17! Check it out >>> HERE