Something to Remember Me By
Gabriel knew he was going to die.
He knew it the moment he met the Winchester brothers. Hell, they had tried more than once to kill him. Death followed them where ever they went, yet Gabriel found himself following them, helping on occasion. He found them amusing. At least that's what he told himself. That's what he told them. He messed with them to get them to accept their roles. Nope.
He did it because of Sam.
Of course, the brothers had been fun to mess with when they first crossed paths, when Gabriel was playing the Trickster. But after they had "killed" him, Gabriel found himself watching them, watching Sam. He watched as Sam died, watched as Dean sold his soul for his brother to live. He watched Sam trying to find a way to get his brother's soul back. Gabriel couldn't stand watching Sam go through all that when he knew there was no way to save Dean's soul. He made Sam go through Dean's death over and over, to get him to accept that they couldn't keep sacrificing themselves for each other. Of course, Sam had only gotten bitter and depressed. Gabriel hated seeing him that way, so he set things back. Just to see Sam happy again. But Gabriel didn't know why that had made him happy.
Then he had sent the brothers into TV Land, to try to get them to "play their roles", to convince them to say yes to his brothers, to be the vessels of the Apocalypse. Gabriel was just tired of the arguing, the fighting. Michael and Lucifer had never gotten along, and that was why he had left Heaven in the first place. Then Lucifer had risen from the pit, and brought all the fighting back. He just wanted it to be over. He wanted the Winchesters to say yes. He told them to say yes. Say yes to Michael. Say yes to Lucifer. It was only after they had (unwillingly) released him and left that Gabriel realized that he didn't exactly want that. Lucifer's vessel would be locked in the pit with him. He didn't want that to happen to Sam. Because Gabriel… Gabriel was in love with Sam Winchester.
And that was dangerous.
Gabriel kept watching the brothers. He messed with Dean simply because it was fun. He helped them from time to time, even. And now he was dying, betrayed by someone he thought was a friend, stabbed with his own angel blade. He could feel his Grace draining out of him.
Sam sat next to him as he lay bleeding, blue light seeping from his wound, revealing his Grace.
"There's got to be some way to fix it. I mean, can't you heal it?" Sam is on the verge of panic. Gabriel chuckles painfully.
"Nope. Sorry Sammy. You're gonna have to live without me. Impossible, I know." If Gabriel was going out, he was going out laughing. Sam shoots him with one of his bitch faces, and that makes Gabriel laugh harder, albeit very painfully. Sam's face immediately switches to concerned.
"Isn't there anything we can do? Anything I can do?" Sam asks again. Gabriel hesitates, debating something in his mind. What the hell, he's dying anyway.
"Give me your arm," he says. Sam gives him a confused look.
"What?"
"Shut up and do it." Sam holds his arm out, and Gabriel grasps it. He places two fingers on the inside of Sam's forearm. Shutting his eyes, he draws on his waning power and concentrates hard. Gabriel opens his eyes to see two tawny gold wings spreading out from his fingers. The mark had taken a lot, but he wanted Sam to see his wings.
"What's this?" Sam asks. Gabriel smiles faintly.
"They're my wings. Consider them something to remember me by." Before Gabriel can change his mind, he reaches up and pulls Sam down, their mouths meeting. To Gabriel's surprise, Sam isn't pulling away. Instead, he's pushing closer, the kiss becoming steady and sweet. Gabriel can taste tears, and he doesn't know if it's him crying or Sam, but he doesn't really care.
He pulls away, eyes opening to see emerald green eyes, red rimmed from the tears. He smiles again.
"Always wanted to do that," he says.
"Please, there has to be-"
"No, Sammy. There isn't. Just take my wings and remember me. And tell Dean-o to ball up," Gabriel says with his normal smirk. Sam gives a slightly confused look but nods any\way.
"Thanks, Gabe." Tears are falling from his face again.
"Close your eyes, Sammy."
Dean sees the bright flash of light and knows that Gabriel has died. He could be a prick sometimes, but he was a good ally. A few minutes later Sam walks out. His face is red, and he is clutching his forearm to his chest.
"Gabriel's dead." Sam's voice is lifeless. Dean knows something happened, but he decides to leave it.
"Did he say anything before, ya know…?"
"He wanted me to tell you to ball up." Dean looks down and tries to hide a blush. Even dead, Gabriel was a prick.
"What the hell does that mean?" Sam just shrugs his shoulders. Sam's definitely got something to talk about, but Dean knows that his brother has to be used to a person being gone before he will talk about it. "Whatever. Let's go, Sammy." Sam nods and moves to get in the passenger side of the Impala. As he does, Dean sees what looks like two gold wings on the arm that Sam had been holding, but he doesn't mention it. But it leaves Dean wondering just what happened between them.