Gabriel was sick. For the first time in his monumentally long life he had somehow caught a bug. He was dying, he knew, so he did the only reasonable thing: he went to say goodbye to his boyfriend. Usually when Gabriel appeared in the Winchester's motel rooms he did so with flair, drama, or at least a very loud noise of some sort. Now however, he just showed up. As soon as his feet touched the grungy rug he swayed dangerously on his feet.
"Gabriel? Are you okay?" Sam asked, jumping up and steadying the archangel.
Gabriel rolled his eyes, then winced when it made his headache worse. "Obviously not, Samuel. I came to say goodbye."
"Why are you saying goodbye, exactly?"
"Because I'm dying." Sam gasped, Cas narrowed his eyes, and even Dean looked away from the T.V. for a moment.
Cas came over and placed two fingers on Gabriel's temple, then smiled when he pulled back. "You are not dying, Gabriel." he said. "You have something called the flu."
For some reason unbeknownst to Gabe, Sam and Dean started laughing.
"Why is this funny?" he growled.
"Because you really aren't dying, drama queen," Sam replied. "The flu doesn't last very long, but I don't know how it'll affect you, being an archangel and all, so you're going to stay with us until you're better."
Gabriel was about to argue, but then he saw the horrified look on Dean's face and smiled evilly to himself. "If you think that's best," he sighed dramatically.
"It actually is best," Cas said. "I once caught the flu and was unable to defend myself properly. It seems that angels can catch certain human illnesses, but they affect us much worse than they do humans."
Sam led Gabriel to the bed and made him lie down. Then, he put every blanket in the room on top of the confused archangel.
"What are you doing?" Gabe asked.
"The best way to get rid of the flu is to sweat it out. So we're going to make you sweat." He left, coming back fifteen minutes later with thermal and electric blankets. After ten minutes Gabriel decided that this was the stupidest thing he had ever done.
"It doesn't seem to be working. It's just making me want to shower for the rest of my life." Cas did something Gabriel had never seen him do and rolled his eyes. Gabriel gaped while Sam and Dean snickered at him.
"Do not be so dramatic, Brother," the younger angel said. He came up to Gabriel and put two fingers on his head. Instantly, Gabe's eyes closed and his breathing evened out. Cas looked at Sam. "Dean and I will get another room. It will be crowded with Gabriel here now." Without giving Sam time to reply, he had crossed the room, grabbed Dean and all of their stuff, and was gone. Sam rolled his eyes. Cas and Dean were coming up with lamer excuses than ever to get "alone time". Sam's eyes softened when he looked at his sleeping archangel and he sat down on the bed next to him and turned on the T.V.
After about an hour, Gabriel woke up, sweatier than ever, and decided that sweat was the single most disgusting thing that human bodies did. He changed his mind however, when his face suddenly turned green and he ran to the bathroom, sliding to his knees in front of the toilet. Sam sat next to him, rubbing soothing circles on his back while Gabriel expelled everything from his stomach. He flushed the toilet, brushed his teeth, and fell onto the bed, exhausted. Sam chuckled and lay down next to the passed out Trickster.
"Good night, drama queen," he whispered, kissing Gabe's sweaty forehead and falling asleep himself.
The next week was a blur to Gabriel, as he spent most of it asleep. He only woke to eat, puke, and shower, though when he was awake, he was plagued by dizziness and headaches. By the end of the week it was clear that Gabe was getting worse, not better, so a concerned Sam called for a little divine help. Castiel was more than happy to help his brother, but he didn't have the juice. So he left and came back with one very amused Balthazar.
"I never thought I'd see one of the archangels laid up in bed like some human," he cackled. Gabriel would have retaliated against his little brother, but he was too weak. All he could do was shiver and pull the blankets tighter around him. When the archangel didn't answer, Balthazar frowned. "He's sicker than I thought," he said mostly to himself. Him and Cas each put their hands on Gabriel and closed their eyes. At first, nothing seemed to happen. Then, after a few tense seconds, a slight glow came from the angels' hands. After another minute, the glow died down and Sam was relieved to see one healthy looking Gabriel, fast asleep under his blanket.
"Thanks, Balthazar," Sam said. After the angel left, the others went about researching the case they were working on. It was going great, until Castiel sneezed.