For the first few weeks after Dean died along with Dick Roman, Sam felt numb. He felt like it hadn't really happened and that somehow Dean was going to show up. It was much different than the first time his brother died. There was a period of numbness then, but it didn't last long, maybe because Dean's death wasn't so unexpected. They'd known for a year that he was probably going to die. This time, he was just gone in an instant. There wasn't even a body. It made it seem less real.

Sam wished that long period of numbness could've stayed with him. Ne would relish feeling nothing right now. But it faded, just like it had the first time. It just took longer. Now, all he felt was pain. It was worse than anything he'd felt. It even seemed worse than the cage. His brother was dead and it hurt so much that he felt like it would destroy him, that it would literally rip his body to shreds.

Again, this wasn't like the last time Dean died. When Dean went to hell, it hurt Sam badly, but he was able to captivate more on anger. He had a target to go after, someone who was responsible that he could try to hurt. He had Lilith. Finding and making her pay helped him get through that. It probably would've gone away if he'd managed to kill her before Dean was resurrected, but thankfully, he never had to find out.

This time, there was nothing else for Sam to focus and no one left to even help him grieve. Dean was it. Not only was he the most important person in Sam's life, he was the last one. Now he was gone. Everyone was gone. There was no one left for Sam to turn to. There was no reason for him to go on.

That was what had Sam sitting on the bed of a motel room with a gun in his hand. He knew Dean would hate him for even contemplating this, but he just couldn't do it anymore. He literally had nothing left to live for and the pain was just too bad. He couldn't do it anymore.

Sam looked up at the ceiling and did something he hadn't done for a while. He prayed. "God, I'm so sorry. Please forgive me."

With that, Sam raised the gun to his head and prepared to pull the trigger. Before he could though, he felt the gun slip out of his hands. He opened his eyes in surprise and looked around the room. When his eyes reached the door, he saw someone he never thought he'd see again. Gabriel was standing there with the gun in his hands looking less than pleased.

"Have you lost your mind?!" Gabriel asked with a slight growl.

Sam couldn't bring himself to respond. He was too shocked by the presence of a dead archangel having interrupted his suicide attempt.

Gabriel didn't wait for a reply anyway. He swiftly walked to Sam's side and placed a finger to his forehead.

Sam's eyes rolled back into his head and he passed out.

Xxxxxxxxxxx

Gabriel appeared with Sam in a bedroom in his house and situated him on the bed. He couldn't believe what had just happened. He'd seen a lot of things, but Sam holding a gun to his head, about to pull the trigger, shook him. He could only thank his father that Sam had prayed right before he tried to end his life.

Gabriel had been paying attention to Sam's prayers, not that he really ever prayed anymore. The only time either Winchester prayed now was to get help from Castiel, and that had stopped awhile ago too. But tonight, Sam had prayed for forgiveness. The way he'd done that hadn't sat well with Gabriel, so he'd come immediately. He had been shocked to see him in the state he did. If he'd arrived seconds later, Sam would be dead. Sure, Gabriel could technically bring him back, but that wasn't the point. The point was that someone Gabriel cared about, for reasons he didn't even understand, had almost killed himself.

The thing was that Gabriel didn't even understand why this happened. What had had Sam in such a bad state that he was considering killing himself. Gabriel kept an ear out for Sam's prayers, but he didn't really pay much attention to what the boys were got up to. He of course knew of the big things going on in the world, like Cas idiotically thinking he could take Daddy's place and releasing the Leviathans, but he didn't know anything specific about the boys.

Gabriel decided he needed to know the answer to that if he was going to help Sam, so he brought a hand to the hunter's forehead and started sifting through his head. It wasn't long before he saw the final scene with the Leviathans. It appeared that Dean was gone. "I'm sorry, Sam.

It was no wonder Sam had lost it so badly. Sam was deeply attached to his brother. He never handled Dean's death well. He always self-destructed in one way or another. The last time was with Demon blood and going after Lilith. This time was apparently by ending his own life.

Gabriel shook his head. No way in hell was going to let that happen. Sam would not get to hurt himself with him around. The problem was, in order to stop Sam from hurting himself, he was going to have to take some pretty extreme measures, measures Sam would not like in the slightest. But it wouldn't be the first time he took such an action. In fact, this would be mild compared to Mystery Spot.

Gabriel snapped his fingers and padded restraints, the same kind they had in mental hospitals, attached themselves to the bed and to Sam's wrists. He had no idea how Sam would react when he woke up, and while Gabriel was sure he could stop the hunter from killing himself, he didn't want to take the risk of him hurting himself in an attempt before he could stop him. "Sorry, kiddo. You didn't really leave me a choice."

With that said, Gabriel turned around and left the room.