Title: Fair Enough
Author: OpheliacAngel
Pairings: Gabriel/Dean
Genres: Romance/Family
Rating: Teen
Summary: Dean will put up with Gabriel's pouting or grouchiness or his dark looks just as long as he's safe.
A/N: Just a little something to motivate me. Nothing else to see here.
When the door closed Gabriel's hands were immediately on Dean, small but warm hands that cupped Dean's face and slid up under his shirt with simultaneous need and reverence, like he had been touch-starved while Dean was gone and the hunter was the only remedy. There were no callouses like there were on Dean's palms, no scars or wrinkles or imperfections of any kind. Dean wondered how Gabriel could be so perfect even in a human vessel. Dean wondered how Gabriel could be so perfect period.
Gabriel chuckled and Dean shot him a glare at the intrusion, though he was shut up quickly by Gabriel's darkened gaze as it examined the long cut on Dean's face running from his upper brow and disappearing into his hairline. The sting was barely noticeable, already faded into the background long before Gabriel had his hands on him, but that didn't stop the archangel's fingers from brushing over the cut, about to heal it with his grace out of habit.
Dean jerked away, fingers traveling up to his face and coming away sticky with his own blood before he could breathe a sigh of relief. Gabriel's gaze went just a touch darker but he didn't recoil as Dean had.
The hunter sighed, "Cut the crap, Gabriel. We've talked about this. Over and over. And I sure as hell ain't in the compromising mood today. It's just a scratch. Hell, maybe if my guts were hanging out of my chest then we could talk again, but until then, save the sulking for Sammy. He's much more equipped to deal with it."
True enough, as often as Sam complained about Dean shoving Gabriel on him and taking off when Dean wasn't in the mood to talk. Which was often. Gabriel was, unfortunately, a chatterbox. Sometimes Dean liked to listen to him ramble on and on about everything and nothing, demanding the silence of the noise in his head and filling up the remaining nothingness with familiar and intensely concentrated warmth, but most of the time Dean just wanted to suffer alone.
Dean took a breath. Then again, sometimes even he topped the archangel. It always amazed him how he could just ramble on and on with Gabriel, like he was more comfortable with the archangel than with anyone else. Even his own brother. Gabriel had his ways to weasel words out of him, but this wasn't Gabriel's working. The smirk on his face said as much now, and Dean's startlingly infinite amount of trust in the guy proved it the rest of the time.
"How about I draw you a bath then?" Gabriel offered.
The smirk was still there for Dean to attempt to ignore, but to be honest he'd rather think about that than the dark look previously in the archangel's eyes. It would be an understatement to say that Gabriel was pissed he couldn't use his grace on Dean, or on anyone or anything else for that matter, but especially Dean, which Gabriel made note of every chance he could get and then some. Dean supposed it wasn't fair, not giving up the hunting gig and putting himself into out of his control life-threatening situations which would inevitably someday require healing, all while Gabriel was trying to stay under the radar.
Yet Dean reasoned that he couldn't give up hunting; whereas, Gabriel could more than live without his powers, most of which were annoying and entirely unnecessary save for the select sweet few.
Sure, it wasn't fair, but Dean hadn't gotten his way that much in the past few years, hell, his entire freaking life. So far be it from him to give himself the opportunity now.
"Nah, I'm beat."
"Not even if I do all the work? You owe me at least that much, kiddo." Yeah sure, Gabriel could make him, but that would be possibly giving himself up to all those out there who wanted to string up and deep-fry a sugar-coated archangel, and with the lack of allies they had it didn't sound all that worth it to Dean. The hunter wouldn't be able to hold things over the archangel's head forever, yet he'd be damn sure that he would enjoy it while it lasted.
"Tempting." Dean winced at the cramp starting to gnaw at his leg, bidding him to sit down. It was no use hiding it from Gabriel so he didn't even try, instead collapsing back on the plush bed which Gabriel had managed to outfit with even more layers, not to mention pillows. As heavenly as the pillows looked, if Dean tilted his head a certain way then the bed looked like one giant, squishy pillow. Not like Dean could say anything when this was Gabriel's supposed attempt at stir-crazy nesting.
Dean still had to be careful. If Gabriel thought he was too beat-up then he would go ahead and heal Dean anyway while he slept, Dean having no knowledge of the fact until the morning and until it was too damn late to get a head-start. It scared him lately how reckless Gabriel was getting, all tied up in his damned possessiveness and twenty-four seven mother-henning.
"Dean...," Gabriel warned again.
The hunter sighed and punched the pillow, or rather, pillows behind him into shape, stretching out once he was satisfied. "Cut on my forehead, kink in my neck, cramp in my leg... or starting, anyway, and that's all you need to know, kay?"
"Kay," Gabriel grouched.
Dean patted the bed beside him until the archangel sat down, huffing all the while. He leaned over then, unable to hide an indulgent smile as he wrapped an arm around the tight set of Gabriel's shoulders and placed a kiss over the ever-growing furrow in his forehead. "I wake up tomorrow to find out you healed me and I'm putting you on candy restrictions for a week. Maybe even a month."
"Ok," Gabriel relented.
Dean was finally able to shut his eyes then, completely content and reassured with Gabriel small and snug and safe in his arms. One day they would get caught, one day Gabriel wouldn't be here anymore, Gabriel's recklessness or Dean's own costing them, but Dean would be damned if that day wasn't a long way away, and hopefully when he was long dead and gone.
Hell, Dean could be protective too. When it came to Gabriel he could be anything.
"Fair enough."
FIN