[ficlet] To Have Faith Is to Have Wings (Dean/Gabriel, PG)
Title: To Have Faith Is to Have Wings
Author: tiptoe39
Rating: PG
Pairing: Dean/Gabriel
Summary: Gabriel comes back. Dean deals with it. Title from J.M. Barrie.
“You are a huge dick.”
Those were Dean’s first words. He’d stayed silent as Gabriel appeared on the other side of the window, winking at him like Peter Pan at Wendy’s nursery. He’d kept his lip buttoned as he opened the window to let Gabriel in, as Gabriel had explained that he’d never been dead dead, that he was back now, that he was thinking of coming to spend some quality time with his favorite ghost-hunting siblings, and what did Dean think, could he drop in every so often or were they completely off angels now?
Yeah, Dean kept quiet through all of that. But at the end, he looked Gabriel in the eye and declared, “You are a huge dick.”
Gabriel leaned back on the sill. “I’d use a different verb in that sentence, but whatever you say.”
“I’m serious. You’re a huge, huge dick. You faked your death? You faked it?”
“Either that or you’ve been clapping your hands real hard wishing me back to life. But I’m pretty sure those months in the Caribbean only felt like heaven.”
Every casually tossed-out word just pissed Dean off more. “Why the hell would you do that? Why would you put us through that?”
“You seem to have this misconception that I give a crap about your peace of mind.” Gabriel’s eyebrows were arched, and his lips were pursed in a defiant pout.
“You were playing with us?” Dean’s incredulity hit fever pitch and burnt itself out. “Of course you were. What else have you ever done but play with us. Jesus.” He shoved his hands in his pockets and looked down at the floor.
“Well, don’t pout about it, Golden Boy.” Gabriel hopped off the windowsill and took a few steps into the middle of the room. “Look, if it helps, I did have a reason. Beyond just getting you all riled up.”
“Right. “ Dean locked eyes with him. “Well, this ought to be good.”
Gabriel extended his index finger and poked Dean squarely in the chest. “That,” he said, and nodded. “That’s my reason. Your attitude. Think about it, Dean. Would you really have believed me if I hadn’t made it my parting shot?”
Dean eased away from the painful poke of Gabriel’s finger. His mouth opened, but no sound came out.
“See, that’s what I thought.” Gabriel shrugged briefly and backed off. Dean thought he caught a glimpse of something like regret, or sadness, in his expression. But he knew better than to trust his own eyes and ears when the Trickster was involved. Doubly so now that he knew that the only time he’d really felt Gabriel was being honest with them -- God, it was embarrassing now to remember the surge of hope in his heart when Gabriel reappeared in that room -- had been a huge lie, too.
Irritation surged up through his throat. “You know what, screw you. I’m glad you had such a good time pulling one over on us, you son of a bitch. We could have used your help.” A frantic hand combed through his short scruff of hair. “Did it ever occur to you that we could have iced Lucifer for good with an archangel on the team? I can’t believe--” He gave a broken laugh. “I can’t believe I actually thought you were taking this seriously.”
“You’re upset about this.”
“Damn right I’m upset! You screwed with us. Again. And I thought--”
He broke off, laughing at himself, frustrated and red-faced.
Gabriel remained quiet, looking at him, his eyebrows angled down in the middle. It took Dean a few minutes to realize he was being scowled at and scrutinized, and the realization raised his hackles further. He felt like an alley cat scared by its own shadow. It was all so humiliating. “Just get out of here,” he mumbled, turning away.
He got no respite. Immediately Gabriel was in front of him again. “I can’t believe this! You’re actually upset! Aw, Dean, my man, I didn’t know you cared.”
“Shut up.”
“And go away, right? That’ll make things so much easier? Look, kiddo, I told you the truth. I did it because you’d never have believed me otherwise.”
Dean met his eyes. “You should have tried me.”
“Yeah, I should have--” Gabriel stopped, frowned, and for an instant looked completely out of his depth. “I should have?”
Dean just glared.
“Are you telling me that you believed me?” Gabriel’s face, as the syllables spilled from his mouth, was blank.
He looked so vulnerable that Dean’s protective instinct began to kick in. Even though the dim voice in his head still screamed don’t trust him, don’t trust your eyes and ears, it was muffled, fading. Dean stepped forward unaware that Gabriel was moving as well, and they ended up too close, staring at each other with mixed disbelief and concern.
“Course I believed you,” Dean said, unsure where these words were coming from. “We were talking about killing your brother. That’s not the kind of thing people lie about. Even you.” He was looking at Gabriel’s face, eyes roving from chin to lips to strange blunt nose, and the thought came to him, This is a human body. A human face. Some poor sucker Gabriel’s been riding around in for centuries. Hiding from his family, Hiding from his own brothers. What’s that like, to have to hide from your own family?
Gabriel’s eyes opened wide, and he took a soft breath. “Thank you,” he said.
“For... for what?” Dean’s lips felt leaden, heavy.
“For believing me. Not many people do.” Gabriel shrugged and tilted his head. “I don’t exactly know how to react to it.”
“Just-- stop messing around with us, Start giving a crap.” Dean paused. “We could use you.”
Again, bright eyes blinked and went round. “So you’re not kicking my ass out after all?”
As surprised to hear the words come from his own mouth as Gabriel was, Dean pressed his lips together, then cracked a smile. “I guess not.”
“Good to hear it.” And all of a sudden Gabriel’s thumb was on Dean’s face, tracing the curved line of his lips. “I always did like that grin of yours.” The touch was electric, but paralyzing. Dean couldn’t do more than try to look down at it and end up crossing his eyes, which brought a riff of subdued laughter from Gabriel’s lips. “You always seemed to get the joke. Even when you were pissed about the upshot.”
“”Yeah, well--” When Dean’s mouth opened, Gabriel’s thumb very nearly slipped inside, and that was just weird. He waited for Gabriel to pull his hand back before going on. “I told you from the start I liked your style.” His voice was muted, and he recognized the intimacy in his tone. They were standing close, like hesitant lovers. Dean’s pulse was beginning to race. He chalked it up to leftover frustration, anger that had dissipated in the face of Gabriel’s strange thank-you. The mood in the room had swung so completely and quickly around that he was still trying to catch his breath.
“Don’t think I’m gonna stop screwing with you completely,” Gabriel said. His voice was breathy, husky. He might have gotten closer. His grin stretched across Dean’s field of vision.
“Kind of counting on that.”
It was only for an instant, but Dean’s head was dipping forward to meet Gabriel’s eyes, and their foreheads brushed in a moment of communion. And then Gabriel’s lips were there, and Dean’s lips naturally pouted outward, and only for an instant, something happened that was tender and unprecedented, something that could have been a kiss.
Then Gabriel pulled back, light in his eyes, “For the record,” he said quietly, “I do give a crap about your peace of mind. That’s why I figured I should come clean.”
Dean smirked. “You little angel.”
“That’s one word for it. Give your little brother the good news, huh?” And with a wind-gust of beating wings, he was gone. Dean shook his head, smiled to himself, and closed the window.
Author: tiptoe39
Rating: PG
Pairing: Dean/Gabriel
Summary: Gabriel comes back. Dean deals with it. Title from J.M. Barrie.
“You are a huge dick.”
Those were Dean’s first words. He’d stayed silent as Gabriel appeared on the other side of the window, winking at him like Peter Pan at Wendy’s nursery. He’d kept his lip buttoned as he opened the window to let Gabriel in, as Gabriel had explained that he’d never been dead dead, that he was back now, that he was thinking of coming to spend some quality time with his favorite ghost-hunting siblings, and what did Dean think, could he drop in every so often or were they completely off angels now?
Yeah, Dean kept quiet through all of that. But at the end, he looked Gabriel in the eye and declared, “You are a huge dick.”
Gabriel leaned back on the sill. “I’d use a different verb in that sentence, but whatever you say.”
“I’m serious. You’re a huge, huge dick. You faked your death? You faked it?”
“Either that or you’ve been clapping your hands real hard wishing me back to life. But I’m pretty sure those months in the Caribbean only felt like heaven.”
Every casually tossed-out word just pissed Dean off more. “Why the hell would you do that? Why would you put us through that?”
“You seem to have this misconception that I give a crap about your peace of mind.” Gabriel’s eyebrows were arched, and his lips were pursed in a defiant pout.
“You were playing with us?” Dean’s incredulity hit fever pitch and burnt itself out. “Of course you were. What else have you ever done but play with us. Jesus.” He shoved his hands in his pockets and looked down at the floor.
“Well, don’t pout about it, Golden Boy.” Gabriel hopped off the windowsill and took a few steps into the middle of the room. “Look, if it helps, I did have a reason. Beyond just getting you all riled up.”
“Right. “ Dean locked eyes with him. “Well, this ought to be good.”
Gabriel extended his index finger and poked Dean squarely in the chest. “That,” he said, and nodded. “That’s my reason. Your attitude. Think about it, Dean. Would you really have believed me if I hadn’t made it my parting shot?”
Dean eased away from the painful poke of Gabriel’s finger. His mouth opened, but no sound came out.
“See, that’s what I thought.” Gabriel shrugged briefly and backed off. Dean thought he caught a glimpse of something like regret, or sadness, in his expression. But he knew better than to trust his own eyes and ears when the Trickster was involved. Doubly so now that he knew that the only time he’d really felt Gabriel was being honest with them -- God, it was embarrassing now to remember the surge of hope in his heart when Gabriel reappeared in that room -- had been a huge lie, too.
Irritation surged up through his throat. “You know what, screw you. I’m glad you had such a good time pulling one over on us, you son of a bitch. We could have used your help.” A frantic hand combed through his short scruff of hair. “Did it ever occur to you that we could have iced Lucifer for good with an archangel on the team? I can’t believe--” He gave a broken laugh. “I can’t believe I actually thought you were taking this seriously.”
“You’re upset about this.”
“Damn right I’m upset! You screwed with us. Again. And I thought--”
He broke off, laughing at himself, frustrated and red-faced.
Gabriel remained quiet, looking at him, his eyebrows angled down in the middle. It took Dean a few minutes to realize he was being scowled at and scrutinized, and the realization raised his hackles further. He felt like an alley cat scared by its own shadow. It was all so humiliating. “Just get out of here,” he mumbled, turning away.
He got no respite. Immediately Gabriel was in front of him again. “I can’t believe this! You’re actually upset! Aw, Dean, my man, I didn’t know you cared.”
“Shut up.”
“And go away, right? That’ll make things so much easier? Look, kiddo, I told you the truth. I did it because you’d never have believed me otherwise.”
Dean met his eyes. “You should have tried me.”
“Yeah, I should have--” Gabriel stopped, frowned, and for an instant looked completely out of his depth. “I should have?”
Dean just glared.
“Are you telling me that you believed me?” Gabriel’s face, as the syllables spilled from his mouth, was blank.
He looked so vulnerable that Dean’s protective instinct began to kick in. Even though the dim voice in his head still screamed don’t trust him, don’t trust your eyes and ears, it was muffled, fading. Dean stepped forward unaware that Gabriel was moving as well, and they ended up too close, staring at each other with mixed disbelief and concern.
“Course I believed you,” Dean said, unsure where these words were coming from. “We were talking about killing your brother. That’s not the kind of thing people lie about. Even you.” He was looking at Gabriel’s face, eyes roving from chin to lips to strange blunt nose, and the thought came to him, This is a human body. A human face. Some poor sucker Gabriel’s been riding around in for centuries. Hiding from his family, Hiding from his own brothers. What’s that like, to have to hide from your own family?
Gabriel’s eyes opened wide, and he took a soft breath. “Thank you,” he said.
“For... for what?” Dean’s lips felt leaden, heavy.
“For believing me. Not many people do.” Gabriel shrugged and tilted his head. “I don’t exactly know how to react to it.”
“Just-- stop messing around with us, Start giving a crap.” Dean paused. “We could use you.”
Again, bright eyes blinked and went round. “So you’re not kicking my ass out after all?”
As surprised to hear the words come from his own mouth as Gabriel was, Dean pressed his lips together, then cracked a smile. “I guess not.”
“Good to hear it.” And all of a sudden Gabriel’s thumb was on Dean’s face, tracing the curved line of his lips. “I always did like that grin of yours.” The touch was electric, but paralyzing. Dean couldn’t do more than try to look down at it and end up crossing his eyes, which brought a riff of subdued laughter from Gabriel’s lips. “You always seemed to get the joke. Even when you were pissed about the upshot.”
“”Yeah, well--” When Dean’s mouth opened, Gabriel’s thumb very nearly slipped inside, and that was just weird. He waited for Gabriel to pull his hand back before going on. “I told you from the start I liked your style.” His voice was muted, and he recognized the intimacy in his tone. They were standing close, like hesitant lovers. Dean’s pulse was beginning to race. He chalked it up to leftover frustration, anger that had dissipated in the face of Gabriel’s strange thank-you. The mood in the room had swung so completely and quickly around that he was still trying to catch his breath.
“Don’t think I’m gonna stop screwing with you completely,” Gabriel said. His voice was breathy, husky. He might have gotten closer. His grin stretched across Dean’s field of vision.
“Kind of counting on that.”
It was only for an instant, but Dean’s head was dipping forward to meet Gabriel’s eyes, and their foreheads brushed in a moment of communion. And then Gabriel’s lips were there, and Dean’s lips naturally pouted outward, and only for an instant, something happened that was tender and unprecedented, something that could have been a kiss.
Then Gabriel pulled back, light in his eyes, “For the record,” he said quietly, “I do give a crap about your peace of mind. That’s why I figured I should come clean.”
Dean smirked. “You little angel.”
“That’s one word for it. Give your little brother the good news, huh?” And with a wind-gust of beating wings, he was gone. Dean shook his head, smiled to himself, and closed the window.