"I'm not sick," Sam insisted as he and Dean were preparing to leave for their hunt. "I'll be fine, Gabe. I promise." The younger Winchester resisted the urge to cough after he spoke and quickly wiped at his nose with the sleeve of his jacket when Gabriel turned his attention to Dean and Castiel.
"You two better not let anything happen to him, you hear me?" He threatened, even though the archangel knew nothing bad would befall his hunter when Dean was around. Their co-dependency, while still annoying as hell, came in handy most of the time when Sam was off on hunts where Gabe couldn't watch out for his ass.
Gabriel hated being separated from Sam when it came to things like this. He knew his hunter would be fine, he knew Sam knew how to handle himself on a hunt, but he still worried for him and his safety when he wouldn't be out in the field with him, watching him and making sure he looked out for himself rather than Dean or Castiel.
The archangel turned back to Sam with worry in his eyes and wrapped him up in a tight hug. "Be careful, okay?" He whispered, looking up at the taller man and raising up on his tiptoes to kiss him. "Come back to me in one piece."
Sam failed to completely cover up a cough and nodded his head, leaning down and pressing a kiss to the top of his boyfriend's head before following Dean. "We'll be fine, Gabe. Don't worry too much."
Gabriel just sighed, waving goodbye to the Winchesters and his baby brother, and waited until the Impala was out of sight before taking off back for Heaven to answer some less than comfortable questions about why he went AWOL all those years ago and went to party with the pagans.
"Gabriel, I swear to you, I'm fine!" Sam said around the thermometer in his mouth. It had been two days since they'd last seen each other, and Sam's health had dwindled a little since then; he now had a fever and could hardly stand up on his own, and the dumbass still insisted on going hunting with his brother.
Gabriel shot him a cool look and took the thing from his mouth, raising an eyebrow when he saw how bad off Sam really was. "Sam, your temperature is a hundred and three. You're staying right here," he set the thermometer on the table and pushed Sam back down onto the motel bed, sitting on his lap and calling on his true strength to hold the other man in place, "even if I have to make you."
Sam stared up at the angel through half-lidded eyes, wanting to protest but not finding the strength to do so. Instead he was sent into a coughing fit, which led to him retching, which led to him pushing Gabriel off of him and running to the bathroom as fast as his jelly-like legs could carry him.
"See?" Gabriel sighed once Sam emerged, "There's no way in hell I'm letting you go out when you're like this, Samsquatch." He guided the moose of a man back over to his bed and, after making sure he wasn't going to throw up again, tucked him in and pressed a soft kiss to his forehead.
Sam just shook his head and sniffled, trying to make himself look as much like a puppy as possible. "But what if Dean needs me out there?"
"He has Cassie. You know as well as I do the little feather head ain't gonna let anything happen to your brother."
"I miss your snark," Sam pouted.
Gabriel chuckled and rolled his eyes at his boyfriend, getting to his feet and giving his shoulder a small squeeze. "I'll make it up to you once I know you're feeling better. It's no fun to pick on you when there's no gettin' it back." He smiled down at Sam, love for the other man filling his eyes, and started putting together an idea on how to make him feel better. "Go ahead and rest for a little bit, okay Sammy? Dad knows you need it,"
Sam, who was already starting to lose the battle with consciousness, nodded his head slightly and closed his eyes, his breathing becoming even in minutes.
Just as an added precaution, Gabriel made it so the blankets were a lot heavier than they should have been as a means to keep Sam held in place while he worked on making the other man something to eat.
Four hours later, Sam stirred and cracked one eye open, seeing Gabriel standing over the stove in the kitchenette in their room, and smiled over at him. "What're you doin' over there?" He asked sleepily. "You should be here, with me, cuddling."
Gabriel chuckled to himself but didn't turn around, "I'm making you lunch," he explained, snapping a bowl into existence and pouring Sam a bit of soup into it. "Tomato rice,"
He walked over to the hunter, who was now sitting up in bed, and handed him the soup with a proud grin on his face. "There's tea, too if you want some in a little bit." Gabriel took his place beside Sam on the bed and curled up against his side, his head resting on the other man's shoulder, and closed his eyes.
"You didn't have to do all this, you know,"
"Yeah I did, kiddo,"
"Why?"
Gabriel smiled up at the other man, honesty shining bright in his eyes, "Because I love you, you dumb moose. It's my job to look after your dumb ass."
Sam returned Gabriel's smile, and fell silent until he finished off his food, hating to admit that he was starting to feel a little better under Gabriel's care. "I love you, too."
Gabriel snuggled up against Sam again, wrapping his arms around the taller man and pressing a kiss to his shoulder. "Go ahead and go to sleep a little more, okay? If you're feeling better when you get up, I'll go get you some Sprite or something."
Sam yawned and settled himself down onto the bed again, laying on his side and holding Gabriel against his chest, and kissed the back of his head once before slipping back off to sleep.
Gabriel stayed curled up in Sam's arms, content with just watching the other man sleep and occasionally smile at something he'd whisper to him, and play with his hair some.
He was relieved that Sam finally allowed him to take care of him for once, finally listened and took a couple of days off from hunting and just take the time to get himself better. It felt like a weight was lifted off Gabriel's shoulders, knowing that he wouldn't have to worry about Sam getting himself killed because he decided to go out killing monsters when he could hardly stand up straight. Here, he was safe, and warm, and Gabe was able to keep an eye on him and protect him from any danger that could come after them.
