Fic: Everything to Nothing (Dean/Gabriel)
Yes, more, God.
Written as a pinch hit for ru_salki99 in the spnrarepairs exchange.
I got this prompt the other day and apparently it clicked. Recipient wanted cuddling, hurt/comfort, humour... I don't think I got any of the actual prompts though. I meant to do 'washing the dishes' and then Dean decided the same result of Gabriel cutting his hand could be achieved by...well... ;) 'Stuck like glue' kind of inspired. I hope this works okay.
Also, I really want to continue it in a Dean/Gabriel/Castiel threesome but couldn't for this challenge. ;) So maybe look for more later on.
Summary: Instead of killing Gabriel, Lucifer rips his grace out. It turns out Gabriel and humanity don't really mesh that well.
About ~2900 words. Thanks to slartibartfast for the quick beta.
Everything to Nothing
**
Dean is the one that insists they head back. Sam says it's stupid. Even if Gabriel is still alive, he's only alive as bait. And maybe Gabriel came through in the end but what about all the times he didn't? No one can blame Sam for holding a bit of a grudge. Hell, even Dean holds one. He might not remember being killed repeatedly but he does remember just how spooked Sam looked when it was finally over. Still. Gabriel came through in the end and Dean's not gonna turn his back on a member of a team whose people keep getting cut down with surprising speed. Besides, it's not like they have a better plan.
The Elysian Fields hotel is dark and abandoned, rotted and barely standing. The illusion of the gods has faded and Sam and Dean trade looks before pushing into the rubble. The bodies are all gone, evidence of Lucifer's arrival wiped clean. They make their way up a dubious staircase, flashlights sweeping beams across their path and the whole way back to the conference room, neither of them hears a thing.
Not until they're standing in the doorway and then erratic breathing reaches Dean's ears. Gabriel is still very much alive and for a moment, Dean thinks very much hurt. He's curled over himself, his forehead touches the ground and his arms are tucked under his chest.
Dean taps Sam on the shoulder, a gesture to stay while Dean half-jumps the stride it'll take to bring him to Gabriel's side where he drops down to one knee. He rests his flashlight down so it spills light across the floor and across Gabriel's form, which is drawn tight as a bowstring.
“Can you sit up?” Dean asks and he reaches to touch Gabriel's shoulder which Gabriel jerks under violently enough to throw Dean's hand off. It occurs to Dean that this might just be a vessel they're dealing with for as long as it takes Gabriel to speak.
“Fuck off,” Gabriel spits and aims a venomous glare upwards.
“Yeah... You're fine. Get up.”
Gabriel sways as he gains his feet, glaring at Dean the whole way and Dean has to fight not to roll his eyes. But he can see the tremble to Gabriel's hands, even if a sweep of the flashlight over his body doesn't show any blood or breaks or anything else obviously wrong. Which doesn't mean a thing when dealing with angels.
“What did Lucifer do to you?”
“Put the fear of the Devil in me,” Gabriel snarks and then looks between Dean and Sam. “The hell are you two doing back here?”
“Saving your sorry ass. Now come on.”
It's a testament to something being wrong when Gabriel actually listens.
They make it down to the car in a slow way, where Gabriel keeps tripping over the rubble or over his own feet, like he's never had to walk in them before, but he won't accept help. He jerks away when Dean or Sam try to offer a hand and looks so pissy about it that neither of them offers more than once. But they make it and Gabriel piles into the backseat without a word, staring back at Dean in a stoney way that rivals Cas when Dean raises questioning eyebrows at him. Okay then. Guess Gabriel is with them for awhile.
Dean takes them as far away as he can, the car tense and silent. Gabriel stares out the window and Dean stares at the road and Sam switches his gaze between the both of them and the window. Eventually they reach a motel and the tension isn't any better. Gabriel locks himself in the bathroom and leaves Sam and Dean staring at each other in the middle of the room.
“He sulks better than you do,” Dean comments just to break the silence and Sam pulls a sneer.
“Maybe Lucifer really did put the fear into him.”
Dean glances at the closed bathroom door and the entire lack of noise coming from the other side. “He did something.”
Something bad enough to keep Gabriel in there for over an hour, still no noise, and Dean starts suspecting that Gabriel got over it, pulled a fast one on them and popped out in typical angel fashion. He approaches the door cautiously and knocks on the wood.
“Uh...Gabe?”
It takes a minute for the sound of the lock clicking over and Gabriel swings the door open, giving Dean a patented raised eyebrow look complete with a slow once over. “Can't a man enjoy some peace?” And is it Dean's imagination or did Gabriel's voice break a little on 'man'? “Come on, kiddo. Since you're obviously bored, lets watch some porn.”
Gabriel brushes by Dean and Dean stares after him as Gabriel lays himself out casually on one of the beds.
“Uh... What?”
“You kept the movie I gave you, right?” Dean nods dumbly. “Well pop it in!”
Dean does, unsure what else to do and he and Sam sit on one bed while Gabriel sprawls on the other in just about the most tense way Dean has ever seen anyone manage. Not that Dean isn't tense as well. He's about to watch porn with an angel and his brother. Awkward. Even more awkward that Gabriel comes onscreen and Dean tosses him a look which Gabriel shrugs off.
“What? I thought for sure Lucy was gonna shiv my ass..”
Sam turns the DVD off abruptly when Gabriel - as always - goes too far.
“So what did Lucifer do?” Dean finds himself asking because what's on the DVD - trapping Lucifer back in a box - feels too big and too far and Gabriel is sitting right in front of him.
Gabriel gapes. “I just handed you the biggest easter egg in existence and that's your response?” Dean stares at him, Sam a quiet support by his side until Gabriel rolls his eyes. Dean is pretty sure he's trying too hard. Gabriel's bravado matches Dean's own a little too closely and Dean thinks he can see through it. Something's got Gabriel massively spooked and Dean wants to know what it is. Gabriel is a stubborn son of a bitch though. “So about these rings.”
So they talk about that and in the end, the only thing they can agree on is to get back to Bobby's and figure it out from there. For now, sleep comes first, something Dean can't say he's comfortable doing in Gabriel's presence. Even if he's turning out all right, Dean's not so sure he trusts the guy enough to be that vulnerable around him. He is an angel after all and he was a trickster.
Dean lets Sam take the first shift in sleeping and kicks Gabriel off the bed. Not like he needs it. Gabriel sits in one of the chairs instead, leaning back and kicking his feet up onto the table. He tips his head back and closes his eyes. Dean wonders if he sleeps because he's pretty sure Cas never did. But if Gabriel is content to be silent then Dean will let him be, flicking through the motel's dozen TV channels and keeping one eye on the angel.
After an hour of mind numbing television, Dean finds himself watching the angel more. Gabriel is definitely sleeping. His head has sagged to the side and his chest is moving in deep breaths. He's in serious danger of falling if he tips to the left any more. Dean just kind of watches it happen. Gabriel tips over a bit more and then the whole chair is crashing down to the floor, Gabriel's kicking out hard and taking the table down with him.
The noise wakes Sam with a jolt, bolt upright on the bed and a knife in his hand. Gabriel looks even more startled and for a moment, Dean actually thinks he's having a seizure, the way he twists his back and kicks his legs but no. He's just trying to get the table away from him and get out from under the chair. Every mask he ever had is wiped away when he clambers to his feet, eyes wide and breath fast, staring at Sam and Dean still sitting on the beds and watching him.
“Tell me what Lucifer did to you,” Dean says again. This time, Gabriel isn't getting a chance to change the subject. “You're kind of a liability if you don't tell us. So?”
Gabriel grits his teeth and clenches his hands.
“Are you human?” Dean's been hanging around angels long enough to know when one isn't anymore. Even one as well adjusted to humanity as Gabriel.
Gabriel's sharp gaze cuts into Dean and then he's turning and stalking from the motel room, door slamming in his wake. Dean looks across to Sam.
“Now what do we do?”
Dean runs a hand over his face. “Take him to Bobby's.” Dean really doesn't have another answer.
They find Gabriel walking a mile down the road and Sam bullies him into the car. They haul to Bobby's and the whole trip, Dean thinks even Sam couldn't pull off the prolonged sulk Gabriel is managing. It doesn't help that they have to pull over so Dean can pester Gabriel into food (which he suddenly doesn't want to eat) and drink (which just doesn't taste the same apparently) and bathroom breaks (which are highly inappropriate). Dean's not sure how they manage to make it to Bobby without strangling Gabriel's newly fragile neck.
He tries not to wonder if Cas is laid up somewhere in the same situation. Human and not having any clue how to adjust to it.
Ten minutes after they get to Bobby's, Gabriel shuts himself in the spare room upstairs. Sam and Dean are forced to take the broken sofa and the floor. Dean gives Gabriel the day to get over it and then he's heading upstairs while Sam and Bobby go over plans. This is Armageddon. Gabriel might be the master of dramatics but they don't have time right now.
“I'm coming in, Gabriel,” Dean announces before he's picking the lock and stepping into the room.
Gabriel is ready for him, standing by the window and turned to face the forcing of the door with crossed arms. “Is this the part where you tell me it's okay and we share hugs?”
“This is the part where I tell you to get over yourself because we don't have time for this.”
“You don't just 'get over' have your grace ripped out anymore than having your legs cut off. Ask Bobby how he feels about that one.”
Dean punches him. Just like that, takes a few steps across the room, hauls back and punches Gabriel in the face. Gabriel goes down with a short noise, hands cupping his nose, and Dean doesn't think he's ever seen anything sweeter. He's been wanting to do that for a damn long time. He shakes the sting from his knuckles and waits for Gabriel to start yelling at him or to get the superior 'stupid human' look in his eyes.
Neither comes. Gabriel stays bent over with his hand cupping his nose and starts trembling so badly Dean's afraid he'll fall over. Dean sighs.
“Come here, let me see. You're taking all the fun out of this, you know.” There's a bit of a glare as Dean forces Gabriel to straighten up and wraps his fingers around Gabriel's wrist to pull his hand down. Dean inspects his nose, which is bloody. “Big baby, it's not even broken.” Then Dean slides his thumb along the bridge of it and Gabriel hisses through his teeth. “Maybe a little broken. You deserved it.”
That seems to startle a laugh out of Gabriel and he sniffs hard at the blood. “This is pain?” Gabriel asks, much to Dean's shock. “You can keep it.”
“Sit down,” Dean says, pushing when Gabriel doesn't immediately comply. He leaves Gabriel waiting and goes across to the bathroom to wet a washcloth, bringing it back to hold against Gabriel's nose. Gabriel flinches away and Dean cups the back of his head to hold him, settling onto the edge of the mattress as well. “Stay still. Stop sniffing.” He tips Gabriel's head back to stop the blood and they sit like that in silence for a few minutes. “I thought you were all about luxuriating in the decadence of humans,” Dean says after a minute just to stop feeling so much like he's hugging Gabriel, something that's not easy since Gabriel's started resting his weight into Dean's side.
“Oh sure, the decadence. You know, eating junk food and drinking margaritas. The ladies. Sleeping because I wanted to. Not because I couldn't keep my eyes open. And the food you eat tastes like crap.”
“Yeah, well then it's about time you got a taste of the hard side. Figure out what you're really fighting for.”
Gabriel snorts and immediately regrets it, groaning and grimacing. Dean's not wrong though. All this picking humans apart, it's about time Gabriel's arrogance got a taste of what it was like. Dean's not entirely sure how to feel. Celebrate Gabriel getting taken down a few thousand pegs, or feel guilty that it's Dean's insistence that's got another angel in trouble. Another angel who's quickly going in to shock against his side, Dean can feel the shallow breaths against his wrist while he keeps holding the towel in place.
“Gabe?”
Dean lowers the towel, lowers his other hand to the back of Gabriel's neck and presses his fingers under Gabriel's jaw for a pulse. Never felt pain before. Right. And Gabriel does like to take things as far as possible so naturally, Dean thinks, he'd go into shock over it. The bastard still deserves it, even while Dean has to carefully lower Gabriel down to the bed. For a moment, Dean stands back, staring down at Gabriel looking none too comfortable splayed over the bed and with a sigh, Dean bites back any embarrassment or resentment and kneels on the bed to get Gabriel's shoes off.
“Didn't know you felt that way, Dean. If you wanted to get me in bed, you just had to ask.” Gabriel kind of slurs at him and Dean glares up. But Gabriel seems to decide it's time to take things into his own hands, so to speak, trying to finish the job of his shoes and he nearly kicks Dean in the head trying to fling them off.
“Christ, stay still. Just...here... Move a bit...” A bit of struggling and Dean manages to get Gabriel under the covers and by then, Gabriel's half-unconscious and Dean's starting to wonder if there's something a little more wrong here. No one passes out like this from a broken nose. But Dean doesn't know the first thing about fallen angels or grace being ripped away. Seeing someone who was so lively just over a day ago, lying unresponsive to his touch is more than a little disconcerting. He's already got Cas hanging over his head, he doesn't need Gabriel too.
Dean crosses the room and flicks the light off, heels off his shoes on the way back to the bed and Gabriel's back to not talking as Dean slips in next to him. Gabriel feels chilled through his clothes and even under the blankets, and Dean's not sure if it's residual angel cold or gone into shock cold.
“Don't say a word about this,” Dean hisses and pulls Gabriel across the space between them, pressing up close. And Gabriel doesn't say a word which is weird enough in itself.
It's still the best sleep Dean's had in ages. Even if he wakes up to an armful of warm ex-angel. Even if that angel is mouthing along the column of his throat and Dean's mind stutters to a halt at that realization. It feels so good that even then, he doesn't move, not until Gabriel's hand is pushing his shirt up and- Dean's mind doesn't even want to go there. He's falling out of the bed in a heartbeat and Gabriel's laughter is ringing through the room.
Dean staggers to his feet. “You are so full of it,” he snaps at Gabriel.
“Just wanted to say thanks, kiddo.” Gabriel smirks, flinches when it scrunches his nose and in the morning light coming through the window, Dean can see the impressive bruise forming across the bridge. It's going to branch out into a black eye. That Dean feels proud of. But Gabriel's face is expressive, his eyes too, and Dean can see the fear behind that smirk, now he knows to look for it.
Dean can still respect another person's need to hide and he can let this go. “Take a look in the mirror. Then get up and come downstairs, we have a suicidal plan to get on with.”
Gabriel's allotted time for freaking out is over. It's time to man up and get on with this fight that they can't win.
Written as a pinch hit for ru_salki99 in the spnrarepairs exchange.
I got this prompt the other day and apparently it clicked. Recipient wanted cuddling, hurt/comfort, humour... I don't think I got any of the actual prompts though. I meant to do 'washing the dishes' and then Dean decided the same result of Gabriel cutting his hand could be achieved by...well... ;) 'Stuck like glue' kind of inspired. I hope this works okay.
Also, I really want to continue it in a Dean/Gabriel/Castiel threesome but couldn't for this challenge. ;) So maybe look for more later on.
Summary: Instead of killing Gabriel, Lucifer rips his grace out. It turns out Gabriel and humanity don't really mesh that well.
About ~2900 words. Thanks to slartibartfast for the quick beta.
Everything to Nothing
**
Dean is the one that insists they head back. Sam says it's stupid. Even if Gabriel is still alive, he's only alive as bait. And maybe Gabriel came through in the end but what about all the times he didn't? No one can blame Sam for holding a bit of a grudge. Hell, even Dean holds one. He might not remember being killed repeatedly but he does remember just how spooked Sam looked when it was finally over. Still. Gabriel came through in the end and Dean's not gonna turn his back on a member of a team whose people keep getting cut down with surprising speed. Besides, it's not like they have a better plan.
The Elysian Fields hotel is dark and abandoned, rotted and barely standing. The illusion of the gods has faded and Sam and Dean trade looks before pushing into the rubble. The bodies are all gone, evidence of Lucifer's arrival wiped clean. They make their way up a dubious staircase, flashlights sweeping beams across their path and the whole way back to the conference room, neither of them hears a thing.
Not until they're standing in the doorway and then erratic breathing reaches Dean's ears. Gabriel is still very much alive and for a moment, Dean thinks very much hurt. He's curled over himself, his forehead touches the ground and his arms are tucked under his chest.
Dean taps Sam on the shoulder, a gesture to stay while Dean half-jumps the stride it'll take to bring him to Gabriel's side where he drops down to one knee. He rests his flashlight down so it spills light across the floor and across Gabriel's form, which is drawn tight as a bowstring.
“Can you sit up?” Dean asks and he reaches to touch Gabriel's shoulder which Gabriel jerks under violently enough to throw Dean's hand off. It occurs to Dean that this might just be a vessel they're dealing with for as long as it takes Gabriel to speak.
“Fuck off,” Gabriel spits and aims a venomous glare upwards.
“Yeah... You're fine. Get up.”
Gabriel sways as he gains his feet, glaring at Dean the whole way and Dean has to fight not to roll his eyes. But he can see the tremble to Gabriel's hands, even if a sweep of the flashlight over his body doesn't show any blood or breaks or anything else obviously wrong. Which doesn't mean a thing when dealing with angels.
“What did Lucifer do to you?”
“Put the fear of the Devil in me,” Gabriel snarks and then looks between Dean and Sam. “The hell are you two doing back here?”
“Saving your sorry ass. Now come on.”
It's a testament to something being wrong when Gabriel actually listens.
They make it down to the car in a slow way, where Gabriel keeps tripping over the rubble or over his own feet, like he's never had to walk in them before, but he won't accept help. He jerks away when Dean or Sam try to offer a hand and looks so pissy about it that neither of them offers more than once. But they make it and Gabriel piles into the backseat without a word, staring back at Dean in a stoney way that rivals Cas when Dean raises questioning eyebrows at him. Okay then. Guess Gabriel is with them for awhile.
Dean takes them as far away as he can, the car tense and silent. Gabriel stares out the window and Dean stares at the road and Sam switches his gaze between the both of them and the window. Eventually they reach a motel and the tension isn't any better. Gabriel locks himself in the bathroom and leaves Sam and Dean staring at each other in the middle of the room.
“He sulks better than you do,” Dean comments just to break the silence and Sam pulls a sneer.
“Maybe Lucifer really did put the fear into him.”
Dean glances at the closed bathroom door and the entire lack of noise coming from the other side. “He did something.”
Something bad enough to keep Gabriel in there for over an hour, still no noise, and Dean starts suspecting that Gabriel got over it, pulled a fast one on them and popped out in typical angel fashion. He approaches the door cautiously and knocks on the wood.
“Uh...Gabe?”
It takes a minute for the sound of the lock clicking over and Gabriel swings the door open, giving Dean a patented raised eyebrow look complete with a slow once over. “Can't a man enjoy some peace?” And is it Dean's imagination or did Gabriel's voice break a little on 'man'? “Come on, kiddo. Since you're obviously bored, lets watch some porn.”
Gabriel brushes by Dean and Dean stares after him as Gabriel lays himself out casually on one of the beds.
“Uh... What?”
“You kept the movie I gave you, right?” Dean nods dumbly. “Well pop it in!”
Dean does, unsure what else to do and he and Sam sit on one bed while Gabriel sprawls on the other in just about the most tense way Dean has ever seen anyone manage. Not that Dean isn't tense as well. He's about to watch porn with an angel and his brother. Awkward. Even more awkward that Gabriel comes onscreen and Dean tosses him a look which Gabriel shrugs off.
“What? I thought for sure Lucy was gonna shiv my ass..”
Sam turns the DVD off abruptly when Gabriel - as always - goes too far.
“So what did Lucifer do?” Dean finds himself asking because what's on the DVD - trapping Lucifer back in a box - feels too big and too far and Gabriel is sitting right in front of him.
Gabriel gapes. “I just handed you the biggest easter egg in existence and that's your response?” Dean stares at him, Sam a quiet support by his side until Gabriel rolls his eyes. Dean is pretty sure he's trying too hard. Gabriel's bravado matches Dean's own a little too closely and Dean thinks he can see through it. Something's got Gabriel massively spooked and Dean wants to know what it is. Gabriel is a stubborn son of a bitch though. “So about these rings.”
So they talk about that and in the end, the only thing they can agree on is to get back to Bobby's and figure it out from there. For now, sleep comes first, something Dean can't say he's comfortable doing in Gabriel's presence. Even if he's turning out all right, Dean's not so sure he trusts the guy enough to be that vulnerable around him. He is an angel after all and he was a trickster.
Dean lets Sam take the first shift in sleeping and kicks Gabriel off the bed. Not like he needs it. Gabriel sits in one of the chairs instead, leaning back and kicking his feet up onto the table. He tips his head back and closes his eyes. Dean wonders if he sleeps because he's pretty sure Cas never did. But if Gabriel is content to be silent then Dean will let him be, flicking through the motel's dozen TV channels and keeping one eye on the angel.
After an hour of mind numbing television, Dean finds himself watching the angel more. Gabriel is definitely sleeping. His head has sagged to the side and his chest is moving in deep breaths. He's in serious danger of falling if he tips to the left any more. Dean just kind of watches it happen. Gabriel tips over a bit more and then the whole chair is crashing down to the floor, Gabriel's kicking out hard and taking the table down with him.
The noise wakes Sam with a jolt, bolt upright on the bed and a knife in his hand. Gabriel looks even more startled and for a moment, Dean actually thinks he's having a seizure, the way he twists his back and kicks his legs but no. He's just trying to get the table away from him and get out from under the chair. Every mask he ever had is wiped away when he clambers to his feet, eyes wide and breath fast, staring at Sam and Dean still sitting on the beds and watching him.
“Tell me what Lucifer did to you,” Dean says again. This time, Gabriel isn't getting a chance to change the subject. “You're kind of a liability if you don't tell us. So?”
Gabriel grits his teeth and clenches his hands.
“Are you human?” Dean's been hanging around angels long enough to know when one isn't anymore. Even one as well adjusted to humanity as Gabriel.
Gabriel's sharp gaze cuts into Dean and then he's turning and stalking from the motel room, door slamming in his wake. Dean looks across to Sam.
“Now what do we do?”
Dean runs a hand over his face. “Take him to Bobby's.” Dean really doesn't have another answer.
They find Gabriel walking a mile down the road and Sam bullies him into the car. They haul to Bobby's and the whole trip, Dean thinks even Sam couldn't pull off the prolonged sulk Gabriel is managing. It doesn't help that they have to pull over so Dean can pester Gabriel into food (which he suddenly doesn't want to eat) and drink (which just doesn't taste the same apparently) and bathroom breaks (which are highly inappropriate). Dean's not sure how they manage to make it to Bobby without strangling Gabriel's newly fragile neck.
He tries not to wonder if Cas is laid up somewhere in the same situation. Human and not having any clue how to adjust to it.
Ten minutes after they get to Bobby's, Gabriel shuts himself in the spare room upstairs. Sam and Dean are forced to take the broken sofa and the floor. Dean gives Gabriel the day to get over it and then he's heading upstairs while Sam and Bobby go over plans. This is Armageddon. Gabriel might be the master of dramatics but they don't have time right now.
“I'm coming in, Gabriel,” Dean announces before he's picking the lock and stepping into the room.
Gabriel is ready for him, standing by the window and turned to face the forcing of the door with crossed arms. “Is this the part where you tell me it's okay and we share hugs?”
“This is the part where I tell you to get over yourself because we don't have time for this.”
“You don't just 'get over' have your grace ripped out anymore than having your legs cut off. Ask Bobby how he feels about that one.”
Dean punches him. Just like that, takes a few steps across the room, hauls back and punches Gabriel in the face. Gabriel goes down with a short noise, hands cupping his nose, and Dean doesn't think he's ever seen anything sweeter. He's been wanting to do that for a damn long time. He shakes the sting from his knuckles and waits for Gabriel to start yelling at him or to get the superior 'stupid human' look in his eyes.
Neither comes. Gabriel stays bent over with his hand cupping his nose and starts trembling so badly Dean's afraid he'll fall over. Dean sighs.
“Come here, let me see. You're taking all the fun out of this, you know.” There's a bit of a glare as Dean forces Gabriel to straighten up and wraps his fingers around Gabriel's wrist to pull his hand down. Dean inspects his nose, which is bloody. “Big baby, it's not even broken.” Then Dean slides his thumb along the bridge of it and Gabriel hisses through his teeth. “Maybe a little broken. You deserved it.”
That seems to startle a laugh out of Gabriel and he sniffs hard at the blood. “This is pain?” Gabriel asks, much to Dean's shock. “You can keep it.”
“Sit down,” Dean says, pushing when Gabriel doesn't immediately comply. He leaves Gabriel waiting and goes across to the bathroom to wet a washcloth, bringing it back to hold against Gabriel's nose. Gabriel flinches away and Dean cups the back of his head to hold him, settling onto the edge of the mattress as well. “Stay still. Stop sniffing.” He tips Gabriel's head back to stop the blood and they sit like that in silence for a few minutes. “I thought you were all about luxuriating in the decadence of humans,” Dean says after a minute just to stop feeling so much like he's hugging Gabriel, something that's not easy since Gabriel's started resting his weight into Dean's side.
“Oh sure, the decadence. You know, eating junk food and drinking margaritas. The ladies. Sleeping because I wanted to. Not because I couldn't keep my eyes open. And the food you eat tastes like crap.”
“Yeah, well then it's about time you got a taste of the hard side. Figure out what you're really fighting for.”
Gabriel snorts and immediately regrets it, groaning and grimacing. Dean's not wrong though. All this picking humans apart, it's about time Gabriel's arrogance got a taste of what it was like. Dean's not entirely sure how to feel. Celebrate Gabriel getting taken down a few thousand pegs, or feel guilty that it's Dean's insistence that's got another angel in trouble. Another angel who's quickly going in to shock against his side, Dean can feel the shallow breaths against his wrist while he keeps holding the towel in place.
“Gabe?”
Dean lowers the towel, lowers his other hand to the back of Gabriel's neck and presses his fingers under Gabriel's jaw for a pulse. Never felt pain before. Right. And Gabriel does like to take things as far as possible so naturally, Dean thinks, he'd go into shock over it. The bastard still deserves it, even while Dean has to carefully lower Gabriel down to the bed. For a moment, Dean stands back, staring down at Gabriel looking none too comfortable splayed over the bed and with a sigh, Dean bites back any embarrassment or resentment and kneels on the bed to get Gabriel's shoes off.
“Didn't know you felt that way, Dean. If you wanted to get me in bed, you just had to ask.” Gabriel kind of slurs at him and Dean glares up. But Gabriel seems to decide it's time to take things into his own hands, so to speak, trying to finish the job of his shoes and he nearly kicks Dean in the head trying to fling them off.
“Christ, stay still. Just...here... Move a bit...” A bit of struggling and Dean manages to get Gabriel under the covers and by then, Gabriel's half-unconscious and Dean's starting to wonder if there's something a little more wrong here. No one passes out like this from a broken nose. But Dean doesn't know the first thing about fallen angels or grace being ripped away. Seeing someone who was so lively just over a day ago, lying unresponsive to his touch is more than a little disconcerting. He's already got Cas hanging over his head, he doesn't need Gabriel too.
Dean crosses the room and flicks the light off, heels off his shoes on the way back to the bed and Gabriel's back to not talking as Dean slips in next to him. Gabriel feels chilled through his clothes and even under the blankets, and Dean's not sure if it's residual angel cold or gone into shock cold.
“Don't say a word about this,” Dean hisses and pulls Gabriel across the space between them, pressing up close. And Gabriel doesn't say a word which is weird enough in itself.
It's still the best sleep Dean's had in ages. Even if he wakes up to an armful of warm ex-angel. Even if that angel is mouthing along the column of his throat and Dean's mind stutters to a halt at that realization. It feels so good that even then, he doesn't move, not until Gabriel's hand is pushing his shirt up and- Dean's mind doesn't even want to go there. He's falling out of the bed in a heartbeat and Gabriel's laughter is ringing through the room.
Dean staggers to his feet. “You are so full of it,” he snaps at Gabriel.
“Just wanted to say thanks, kiddo.” Gabriel smirks, flinches when it scrunches his nose and in the morning light coming through the window, Dean can see the impressive bruise forming across the bridge. It's going to branch out into a black eye. That Dean feels proud of. But Gabriel's face is expressive, his eyes too, and Dean can see the fear behind that smirk, now he knows to look for it.
Dean can still respect another person's need to hide and he can let this go. “Take a look in the mirror. Then get up and come downstairs, we have a suicidal plan to get on with.”
Gabriel's allotted time for freaking out is over. It's time to man up and get on with this fight that they can't win.