Here's a little fic I wrote for the birthday of pentaholic0214, my best friend and spectacular beta! Love ya, sweetheart!
Title: Nightmarish Neighbours
Author: otrera-kicks-ass
Gifted To: pentaholic0214
Word Count: 1487
Ship: Sam/Gabriel
Also on AO3 and
Nightmarish Neighbours
Sam woke to screams. At first he thought it was himself, but then he realized that it was too quiet to be him. He sat up, rubbing his eyes and blinking blearily at his bedside clock, which read 2:43 a.m. Groaning, he flopped back on the pillows and threw his arm over his eyes. The screaming started again, so Sam sat back up and listened. They seemed to be coming from across the hall. Sam tossed the comforter and blankets back and threw his legs over the side. He slipped his feet into his slippers and put on his robe, then shuffled to the front door of his apartment and out into the hallway.
It sounded like the screams were coming from the apartment opposite his, which belonged to Gabriel Novak. Sam felt a pang of worry. Sure, Gabriel played his music too loud and his dog barked too much, but that didn't mean Sam wanted him to be in any danger. Sam jiggled the door handle, but it was locked. He looked around to make sure no one was nearby - of course there was no one nearby, it was almost three o'clock in the morning - and took his lock-picking set (which he kept because of irrational paranoia) out of the pocket of his robe. He surreptitiously unlocked the door and slipped inside.
The apartment was a mirror of his own, so it was no trouble to find Gabriel's bedroom (the screaming also helped). He was greeted by the sight of Gabriel thrashing violently in his bed, limbs all tangled up in the blankets. Gabriel's Jack Russel Terrier, Dickie, was licking his face and whimpering. As soon as Sam entered the room, Dickie perked up and jumped off the bed to Sam, whimpering and pawing at his legs.
"Yeah, I know, Gabriel's not doing so great," Sam said. At the same time, he felt a wave of relief that the cause of his screams was only a nightmare, and it wasn't a serial killer or something.
He shook Gabriel's shoulder and said loudly, "Gabriel."
To his surprise, Sam realised that Gabriel was sobbing between his screams and saying, "No, please, he's your brother! Please!"
"Gabriel!" Sam shouted, grabbing him by both shoulders and trying to avoid his flailing limbs.
Gabriel's eyes shot open and his right hand hit Sam in the nose. Sam's eyes watered with the pain, but he ignored it.
"Gabriel, woah, calm down," said Sam. "It's okay, you're okay, you're safe."
It took Gabriel several large, gasping breaths before he was calm enough to choke out, "Sam?"
"Yeah, Sam," said Sam.
"How - how the hell are you in here?"
"You left your door unlocked," Sam lied. "You were screaming and it woke me up, so I came over to make sure you weren't being brutally tortured."
Sighing, Gabriel slumped back down. Dickie licked Gabriel's hand and wagged his tail when Gabriel lifted him up onto the bed.
"Yeah, yeah, I'm fine, you mutt," Gabriel grumbled as Dickie licked his face. He wiped his cheeks, but tear tracks remained.
"Do you, uh, wanna talk about it?" Sam asked awkwardly.
Gabriel buried his face in Dickie's fur. "It's - I don't usually tell people." His voice was thick, and it cracked a bit as he continued. "It's just - difficult."
Sam nodded. He contemplated in silence for a couple seconds, then he said carefully, "When I was six months old, my mother was killed in a house fire." Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Gabriel raise his head, but he kept talking. "The police said the stove must have been left on or something, and it was just an accident. But my dad didn't think so. He swore that he'd seen a man with yellow eyes when he tried to save her. He spent years trying to find the guy, dragged me and my brother all over the country. When I was accepted into Stanford, I told Dad that I didn't want to keep looking for him. Dad got really mad. He said," Sam swallowed, then continued. "He said 'If you leave, you don't ever come back.'"
Gabriel made a soft sound of disbelief. Dickie nudged Sam's hand with his nose.
"I left anyway. Went to Stanford on a full scholarship. I was studying to be a lawyer. I met this really amazing girl, Jessica. She was... she was perfect. I was going to ask her to marry me. But then... she died, in a fire. I had to -" Sam shuddered - "I watched her burn to death."
Gabriel put his hand on top of Sam's.
"I joined up with Dad and Dean again - Dean's my brother, by the way - because I'd seen a yellow-eyed man lurking around after the fire. It took us a long time, but we found the guy. Azazel. We put together a case, and the guy got a life sentence for arson. Dad didn't know what to do after that. Almost his whole life had been filled with revenge, and now he didn't have that anymore. So he got drunk. All the damn time. He died from liver failure."
"Sam..." Gabriel said softly. His thumb was gently stroking the back of Sam's hand.
"I still have nightmares," Sam said, "almost every night."
Gabriel was silent for a long time. Then he took a deep breath and said, "I have a lot of siblings. There were the twins, Michael and Lucifer - and yes, that is his real name - then Raphael, then me, and Balthazar, Castiel, Inias, and the baby, Samandriel."
"Nice names," Sam couldn't help remarking.
Gabriel chuckled. "Yeah, we were all named after angels. Dad was pretty religious. We never met our mom - actually, I'm pretty sure most of us had different moms, except the twins. None of us really cared, though, because our dad was the best dad in the entire world. And then, one day, he just disappeared. We never found out if he'd died, or if he'd just up and left, but our family kind of fell apart after that. Michael and Lucifer tried to stand in for dad, but they started arguing, sometimes about the stupidest things, and then they started fighting for real, throwing punches and everything. Me and Balthazar tried to hide it from the little kids - Raphael just kind of left after Dad did, I think he moved to England - but it was hard. Then Michael told Lucifer that he needed to stop acting like a dictator and that our family wasn't his to run, and Lucifer got so mad. He and Michael got into a fistfight, and it was worse than any they'd ever had. They were both a bloody mess, you couldn't even see their faces through all the blood, then Michael pinned Lucifer and just kept punching and -"
Gabriel let out a broken sob. Without really thinking, Sam reached out and pulled him into a tight hug, cradling Gabriel's smaller body against his own and jostling Dickie, who let out an indignant bark.
"By the time the police got there," Gabriel gasped out, "Lucifer was already dead."
Sam's heart clenched as he listened to this poor, sweet man struggle to keep talking.
"Michael was sent to jail, and the rest of us got sent to foster homes, and we got split up. I couldn't - it took years before I found all my siblings again, Sam. And I could never stop wondering if maybe I'd have been able to stop Michael somehow, or if Dad left because of something I'd done -"
"No, Gabriel, no," said Sam immediately. "You couldn't have done anything. You did the best you could with your situation, and for some reason the universe decided to screw you over. None of it was your fault."
Gabriel was full-out sobbing again. Sam held him, and Gabriel buried his face in Sam's chest. His whole body shook with his cries, and a damp spot began to form on Sam's robe from his tears. Sam rocked him back and forth, rubbing small circles between his shoulder blades. Dickie, too, offered Gabriel comfort, although his version involved a lot more licking.
When Gabriel stopped crying, his eyes were red and puffy, and tear tracks stained his cheeks. Sam didn't make any move to return to his own apartment, and when Gabriel lifted the comforter in silent invitation, Sam took it gladly and lay down next to Gabriel. Gabriel scooted closer until his head rested on Sam's chest again, and Sam wrapped both arms around Gabriel's waist. Dickie curled up at the foot of the bed. Sam hesitated for a few seconds, then dropped a light kiss on Gabriel's forehead.
"Sorry I made you listen to my sob story," Gabriel whispered.
"Don't be," Sam whispered back, and for the rest of the night they both slept soundly.