There was a house on the side of a mountain. An old, but pretty house with shingle roof and siding. A small porch welcomed visitors off of the dirt path leading to it, and looked out onto the populated land below. A small, depressed coal mining town spread across the land at the foot of the mountain, with only the simple joys in life to keep its inhabitants happy. The house was always still and peaceful, and it got to feel the first rush of breeze that came off of the mountain in the spring and fall. On this particular spring day, the sun was out and beating, but the heat that sweltered in the pocket of the downtown area wasn't present in the house resting on the mountain's curve. Even though no one was home, all the windows were open, allowing the house to breathe and its pulse to beat.
A pair of feet beat the dirt as they came down the path. They moved quickly, wanting to reach the house as soon as possible, and wanting to run away from it at the same time. The feet passed through the gate, which was left open behind them. Their pace quickened, flying the rest of the way down the path and onto the porch.
Sam paused his steps for a moment to turn around and glare behind him. "Go away. It's not funny anymore," he scolded as quietly as he could. He turned back to the house and warily opened the front door to peer in. "Dean? You home?" he called out. He tried to sound as calm and normal as possible, but his heart was hammering as his brain tried to conjure up a plan for what he would do if a voice answered him back. After one did not, he breathed out, instantly relieved and collecting himself. He stated in a normal voice, "Stop following me."
Gabriel strode down the path behind Sam, in a far more calm tenor than Sam had. The dust that seemed to float off the ground didn't blemish his impeccable white suit in the slightest as he stood against the afternoon sun that made his hair glow gold. The suit was a bit old-fashioned, but with his hair combed back just right and the confidence in his step, he looked perfect – so who cares?
Everything below Sam's knees, on the other hand, was covered in a fine layer of dust that he had kicked up in his rush to reach the house and avoid Gabriel. The slightly too large suit he wore looked a bit more disheveled now, especially with his overgrown hair falling at awkward angles around his face. He hadn't cut his hair in a while. His entire ensemble seemed to look like it would be better suited for someone twice his age.
Gabriel looked over the fence out onto the town below. "Such an ego, Sammy. You naturally assume I'm following you." He continued to stroll off the path to get a better look.
Sam glanced down the path looking for any sign of someone coming. "You are."
"Maybe I'm just out for a stroll."
"Up here?" Sam crossed his arms.
"The strip mine's lovely in the spring."
Sam glared at the back of Gabriel's head. "Go. Away."
Gabriel smiled just a bit. You've missed me," he said, with the slightest bit of jovial fondness.
"You wish," Sam barked out a laugh.
"You have."
Sam furrowed his brow, wondering every question he could ever think about Gabriel at the same time as Gabriel continued to stare out at the town that Sam so detested. He marveled at Gabriel's gall, "You are so conceited, you know that?"
Gabriel broke his stare, and turned back to face Sam for the first time since they arrived at the house, his hands resting in his pockets. He looked at home, completely relaxed. It disconcerted Sam, as Gabriel sent him a cocky smile. "Never had time for fake modesty." He winked.
"Go away," Sam practically growled.
"Don't you even want to know where I've been?" Gabriel whined, feigning hurt.
"No." Sam looked away, peering in through the front door window. Maybe Dean was inside after all. His heart sped up again.
Gabriel practically bounced over to Sam. "Yes you do. You're dying for a good story," he said playfully.
Sam snapped, "I'm serious – go away. You always get me in trouble."
Gabriel pulled back at this, and leveled Sam with a knowing look. "You need me," he said simply.
"What for?" Sam scoffed.
"You know." Gabriel's words hung heavy in the air. The wind had stilled for a moment. There was no breeze, just silence.
Sam stared right back at Gabriel, breathing to calm himself once more. In the end, he broke his gaze and moved past Gabriel, avoiding him again. "I don't need you, and I don't want you here," he breathed quietly. "And don't ever come to school again," he called over his shoulder. The town looked like a scale model from where he stood. He wished he could flood it all away, like a God.
Gabriel wasn't quite finished yet, however. "Who was that little mouse with whom you were having such a serious conversation at the bus stop?"
"She's not a mouse," Sam countered almost involuntarily.
"Jess, that's her name. Isn't it?"
"I hate it when you play games like this." Sam had fallen into Gabriel's trap, and he knew it. He forced himself not to turn around and face him.
"Does Jess have a skin condition?"
"She has a pimple," defended Sam. Another foot into the hole he was digging for himself.
"Sub-standard personal hygiene?" Gabriel questioned with a hint of disgust and self-righteousness.
"Everyone gets them once in a while."
"Not me," stated Gabriel proudly, smirk evident.
Sam rolled his eyes. "Well you're perfect."
"After all these years, you finally admit it," sang Gabriel. He sighed in content, "I should go away more often."
Sam had had just about enough of Gabriel's poking and prodding, and moved to walk past him again. He just wanted to go inside, eat something, and do his homework in silence. Do anything that would make stop thinking about last night. But Gabriel easily side-stepped, effectively blocking his way to the porch.
"Get out of my way," Sam told him. He was working hard not to let on just how shaken up he actually was, and fixed Gabriel with his best glare.
But Gabriel was not in the least intimidated. "So what were you and little-miss-shut-in talking about?"
"None of your business." Sam successfully moved past Gabriel. "Goodbye, Gabriel."
"You need me." This stopped Sam at the door again. He debated whether arguing further was worth it, but before he could say anything Gabriel interjected. "Someone was here last night."
Sam schooled his emotions and tried to come off as confident in his response as possible, but the words still seemed like a lie hanging on his tongue. "No there wasn't."
"Then why was I called away from such a fabulous party?" Gabriel swept his arms grandly, being overdramatic as usual.
Sam imitated his grandiose gesture in a mocking quality. "Nobody's stopping you. Go back to your party," he said exasperatedly, at the same time moving the topic of conversation off of its path.
Gabriel squinted in that mischievous way that made him look like a fox that had caught a rabbit. He hadn't been distracted from his purpose one bit. "Didn't you hear someone laughing? Right around midnight?"
"That was the TV."
"Don't lie to me, Sammy. I know you too well," he chided. "Dean had that smile this morning."
Sam rolled his eyes, trying to reject the truth that Gabriel was trying to press into his consciousness. "What smile?" he sighed. He knew exactly which smile he meant.
"You know." Sam could hear Gabriel's delighted taunt in his voice. "That Scarlett O'Hara-the-morning-after-Rhett-Butler-carried-her-up-the-stairs smile. Lollipop?" Gabriel held one out to him. Sam shook his head. "Now think. When was the last time Brother Dear had anything resembling that smile…" Gabriel began to circle Sam until he was behind him. The voice in the back of his head, pretending to consider the history of his brother's "morning after" smiles. "Ah, yes! Four years ago: The ceramic tile salesman with a penchant for country music. If it wasn't for me we'd still be listening to songs about trucks."
Sam's blood was beginning to boil, and his brother wasn't even the reason why. "I got rid of him. Not you." He tried to walk as far away from Gabriel as he could without falling off of the cliff. He tried to ignore the fact that Gabriel was closer to the mark than Sam cared to admit.
"You're an amateur – " Gabriel stated.
"No I'm not!" Sam turned on Gabriel.
"Me!" said Gabriel, "I'm the one who did it. I'm the person who saved you from having to ride in a car with large red dice hanging off the mirror."
Sam took a deep breath again, trying to calm down. He extended his hand to Gabriel. "It's been a pleasure, Gabriel. Stop back again in four years." Or don't, he thought.
However Gabriel just wasn't taking the hint, or refusing to. "What were you and this Jessica talking about?"
"You're so smart, you tell me," Sam sighed, dropping his hand in defeat.
"She was making some sort of indecent proposal, wasn't she?"
Sam gaped at Gabriel. "You can't be serious."
"This is when they start, Sammy."
Sam scoffed and began laughing at the same time. Through his laughter, Sam said, "You're jealous, aren't you?"
Gabriel scoffed right back, "Please…"
This made Sam laugh harder. "You are."
"Of her?" Gabriel looked offended, "She's a twig!"
"No she's not." Sam cut off his laughter. There was a pause, as Gabriel cocked an eyebrow at him. "She had an early growth spurt."
"She's taller than the Empire State Building – "
Sam rushed past Gabriel again. He wanted this conversation to end. "Get out of my way."
"I adore you." The words were carried to Sam by the breeze that passed easily between them, and he stopped in his tracks right beside Gabriel. The sincerity of the words held far more weight than all of the jokes and barbs Gabriel had thrown at him up until now, and it hit hard somewhere inside of Sam. He looked at Gabriel.
"I know."
The breeze felt so nice, especially under the shade of the house's overhang. The front gate that Sam had left open swung with each gust of wind, making a light chink against the lock every time it came to a close again. The air was so sweet, and for just a moment, Sam thought of his father. What his father would have been like when his mother was around, if he had been old enough to remember such a thing. He just drew on what Dean had told him.
"I'm taking Latin now," Sam said softly. The mood was calm and comfortable as they simply looked at each other.
"Really?" Gabriel responded just as softly and happily. Sam nodded.
"You know how you say 'I adore you' in Latin?" Gabriel shook his head. "Adoro te," Sam smiled as he looked out over the town once more. Those beautiful words were a breath of fresh air in and of themselves, making the miniscule town not look quite so awful.
"Adoro te," Gabriel repeated quietly. "Tell me you've missed me."
"Once in a while," Sam said with the smallest of smiles.
"Because I've missed you." Sam's smile fell. It hurt to know that as much as he had truly missed Gabriel, he had to get him out of here. He shut his eyes tight, silently wishing for Gabriel to vanish.
"Now go away," Sam tried wishing aloud. "Please? He'll be home soon." Hoping his commands were clear enough, Sam walked by Gabriel undisturbed and started opening the door.
"So this is how it ends." Gabriel's old dramatic flair was back, the brief moment of understanding they had just shared gone with the passing breeze. "Abandoned for a female giant with a growth on its face," Gabriel sighed dramatically.
Sam couldn't help himself and burst into laughter all over again. "You're a terrible martyr," Sam explained at Gabriel's confused look and giggled to himself.
Gabriel smiled just a little bit with him, and restated gently, "I'm around whenever you need help getting rid of the midnight laughter." Sam quieted down. "All you have to do is whistle. You do know how to whistle, don't you?" he joked to lighten the mood.
Sam raised an eyebrow. "Get an original line, okay Gabriel?" From inside the house, Sam heard the phone ring. He knew exactly who it was and why they were calling, and knew he could afford to keep them waiting.
Gabriel sighed dramatically again. "You're right. It's better when Bacall says it." He winked and blew a kiss Sam's way. "I'm around."
Sam nodded and with a little difficulty, turned away from Gabriel and rushed toward the kitchen to grab the phone before it stopped ringing.
"Hello Mr. Gadreel," Sam said, putting on his fakest, nicest voice. Gabriel could hear every bit of Sam's distaste for the man on the other end from the porch, with the door still open. He sat on the bench outside, taking it all in.
"…I just knew it was you…" Sam continued. "No, I told you I wouldn't know anything until after four…the latest offer still stands at thirteen hundred dollars…" Sam sighed, "I can't tell you who the other bidder is…No, Dean isn't home yet…" Some of his annoyance began to shine through. "My brother never talks business that's why he had me…" Gabriel smiled at the same time Sam did. "Okay. Get back to me with a figure." Then Sam hung up. He smiled wider and with even more pride. He had enjoyed that. Gabriel pulled out a lollipop and sucked on it happily. He had enjoyed that as well.
Sam walked back into the kitchen to return the phone, and on his way back he noticed something on the bulletin board. A note that hadn't been there when he had left for school this morning. He plucked it from the tack, took one look at it, and then sighed in disgust.
"I said whistle, not sigh," piped up Gabriel from the porch. Sam walked straight out the front door and directly in front of where Gabriel was seated. He held up the note.
"Someone's coming to dinner," Sam said simply. Gabriel tried incredibly hard to hold back his "I was right" smirk. He succeeded, but just barely.
He managed, "Really?" He got up and steadily walked to the door. This was welcome enough. Sam wasn't fighting him anymore, not after this.
"He wants me to set the floor."
"Who's the honored guest?" Gabriel could venture a guess, but he wanted to hear Sam say it.
Sam glanced sidelong at Gabriel, and followed him through the open door. "Doesn't say." He shut the door behind them.
Gabriel wandered through the living room, looking at the many paintings hanging on the walls, most of them moonscapes. They looked right, stars of blue on the golden wallpaper sky. The whole house was furnished with antique pieces that had either been passed down by the Winchester family or acquired by Dean at a later time, including the paintings that were not moonscapes. The old style house created a naturally homey vibe, but it felt even artsier with the first hand artwork and supplies scattered across the place. The house certainly looked lived-in, thanks to Dean. The centerpiece of the main room, however, was a sculpture resting on the small dining table in the corner. It was no more than a foot high, but it was beautiful and crafted impeccably down to every detail. It was carved from cedar and stained cherry red. From all sides of it, curved pieces of metal protruded, polished and rounded until they glowed. Symbols were carved intricately through the wood's surface. Pentagrams and other symbols with various different meanings. It was breath-taking.
"Care to venture a guess, Old Sport?" Gabriel loved playing the part, especially with the white suit that he knew looked oh-so-good on him. "The midnight laughter, perhaps?"
Sam just stared contemptuously down at the note. "Who knows."
"My they move quickly," Gabriel wondered. "Isn't it customary to dine together first, and then spend the night?"
Sam snapped at him, "Gabriel!" Gabriel had the good grace to look sheepish.
"That was uncalled for," Gabriel said, trying to make amends. Sam continued to glare at him in anger and frustration, though.
"You always find the dirt in things." Sam shook his head at Gabriel, and began clearing the coffee table and couch of Dean's messy art supplies.
"Everyone needs a hobby." Gabriel continued scanning the various projects laid out across the table that was meant to be eaten off of. He didn't touch any of them.
As Sam gathered bottles of paint, brushes, and tools into his arms, he muttered viciously, "It was the TV…I heard the TV."
"Whatever you say…" Gabriel sighed.
Sam brought his haul to the wall behind the couch, removing one of the many moonscapes from the wall to reveal his brother's supply cabinet. He began unloading. "If someone was here why didn't I see something this morning? We always knew when Crowley stayed."
Gabriel snickered, "Perhaps this one doesn't use Aqua Velva."
"It's just a dinner – that's all," Sam continued to just talk to himself, disregarding Gabriel's snide comments.
"Doesn't he ever get tired of moonscapes?"
Sam didn't look up from his cleaning. "Why should he?"
"Kind of limits your use of color." Gabriel caught sight of a small canvas covered up on the table. "This the new one?" Gabriel asked Sam, pointing to the miniature easel on which it was resting.
Sam looked up from his cleaning to where Gabriel was pointing. "Yes," he said.
"May I?" Sam walked over and gently uncovered the half-finished painting. The lines weren't well-defined yet, and it was hard to tell exactly what it was supposed to be of – besides the prominent moon at the top. He lifted it up to where Gabriel could see it over his shoulder, and they both gazed at it for a while. "What part of town is that?" asked Gabriel.
"I don't know." Sam had to think about that. He couldn't tell immediately from looking at the painting, and there weren't many places in town that couldn't be seen from the mountain perch Dean used as his place to paint. "Looks like he's facing…Beertown." He noticed something familiar in the foreground. "See?" He pointed. "There's the brewery."
"Beertown," Gabriel said like the word was acid in his mouth. "He's slumming."
As Gabriel walked away, Sam continued to look at the work-in-progress his brother was making. He smiled. "I like it." He set it back on its canvas and carefully re-covered it.
"I really don't enjoy being a pest," Gabriel began. Sam rolled his eyes and resumed cleaning. "but we should start plotting some sort of strategy."
"What for?" Sam said slightly, with a hint of warning in it.
"Our dinner guest," Gabriel stated like it was the most obvious thing in the world. "It's been a few years – we're out of practice."
"Stop it," Sam warned, fumbling with more bottles and spilling some on his hands.
"We're a team here Old Sport. And when it comes to intruders we're batting a thousand. Now I suggest ground glass in the ice cream."
Sam lifted his messy, paint-covered his hands, effectively stopping Gabriel from talking and coming any closer to him. He knew how much Gabriel hated getting dirty.
"I've got paint on my hands."
They stared each other down, neither moving. Gabriel broke the silence first. "How many have there been, anyway?"
Sam gritted his teeth, struggling to maintain his composure. He grabbed more things off the coffee table to bring them to the cabinet.
"I don't know." He did know.
"There was that one when you were much younger. You know…the queen of short-shorts…what was her name?" He knew her name.
Sam paused. He didn't want to admit defeat, but he did want Gabriel's antics to end. "Jo?" he offered reluctantly.
"Right, Jo!" Gabriel exclaimed. Sam hung the picture back up and moved for the stairs. Gabriel stepped onto the landing, preventing his escape. "How could I forget such an exotic name. Then there was Lisa."
"You're in my way again."
"Remember Lisa? The 'dancer' who fancied a drink? Lovely girl as long as she was sober."
"Gabriel –"
"And Crowley, the country music fan. A lover of women who sing through their noses."
"You're getting on my nerves."
"That's three. And all of them…gone. With my help, of course."
Sam put out his hands dangerously close to Gabriel's fabulous white suit. "Out of my way or I smear this all over your suit." It only took a beat for Gabriel to see Sam was not bluffing and move out of the way, bowing as Sam passed by to go wash his hands.
Gabriel wasn't ready to concede quite just yet, however. He called after Sam, "We're 3-0 Old Sport, and you know how I hate to lose." The beautiful sculpture on the table caught his attention. "My God, that's beautiful."
"What?" called Sam from the second floor.
Gabriel walked over to it. "This sculpture." He reached out to touch it.
"Don't touch it." Gabriel's hand recoiled. "That's my ticket to New York. I'm getting ten percent for it and I still need to get him up to thirteen hundred dollars."
"My God, who has that kind of money around here?" asked Gabriel.
"Guess."
"Gadreel."
"That's right."
"He is vile."
"But his checks are just fine," came Sam's voice over the sound of the water running. It turned off a moment later. "And as soon as I get him up to thirteen hundred dollars I'll take my percentage and pay for the school trip."
Gabriel grimaced. "I don't like the idea of something this lovely in his house. It's too big of a contradiction."
The slow, methodic, foreboding sound of Sam's feet coming down the stairs stopped on the landing. Gabriel didn't look up.
"Guess what I just found on the edge of the tub," Sam said slowly, as something dangled on the end of his finger.
"A Timex," Gabriel said.
"Do you believe that?" Sam said in shock and anger.
"Not even a top of the line Timex."
Sam plopped down on the couch in defeat. "How could he do this? Here I am, willing to give him the benefit of the doubt and…and he snuck someone in here. He's never done anything like that before."
"As far as we know."
"I mean, he always brought them home so we could go through the whole charade of meeting them and everything. But…" Sam was starting to actually get scared. "I mean – to sneak someone in here so he could…" His eyes met Gabriel. They both gagged.
"I think it's time you sat your brother down and had a very stern talk with him."
"It's so dishonest," Sam sighed, setting the watch down beside him on the couch. "I mean, I know he's a little goofy sometimes, but he's always honest."
"I think we may have a problem here."
Before, Sam would have had no problem brushing Gabriel off, but after finding the watch, he was paranoid and ready to listen to anything Gabriel had to say about this utter disaster that was occurring. "What?" he asked urgently.
"Let's face it," Gabriel said, moving behind the couch, wandering back towards all of Dean's art on the table. "When it comes to relationships, your brother is not exactly a gourmet. He's more into fast food."
Sam was willing to let that comment slide for now. "Get to the point – "
"Look at his resume, Sammy. It's a long line of losers and slobs – "
Sam shot him a look. "So."
"So…" Gabriel continued, "If he went to all the trouble to introduce us to the three stooges…why would he feel compelled to sneak this one in?"
Sam let the reality of this to sink in. "My God…you're probably right."
"Don't be at all surprised if our dinner guest turns out to be a leper in a bowling shirt."
"Hello?" Sam heard from outside the house. It was not Dean.
Hey, all. I usually won't do this in the future chapters but I wanted to say a few things about where this story came from. The story concept is from a play by Bruce Graham, called Moon Over the Brewery. In actuality the show is about a mother (in this case Dean) and her daughter (Sam). I entirely credit Bruce Graham with the story and dialogue, as it is fantastic, but for the sake of using Supernatural characters, I have modified some of the language and story plots to more accurately depict the characterizations of Sam and Dean as brothers.
This is not a Sam/Gabriel fic, but it is a Dean/Castiel situation, just to make that clear. In the original play, the imaginary friend named Randolph is supposed to represent the father figure that is missing in the daughter's life, so I will not be going down the Sabriel route with this one. And Sam is also not a psychopath trying to murder everyone who his brother sleeps with, which, I'll be honest, is what I thought when I first read the original script.
I am actually doing a performance of this show right now, which opens this upcoming Friday. I will be playing Sam's character, in the original known as Amanda. It is a really great show with a really great cast, so if you live in the Massachusetts area, let me know in a Private Message and I can send you info. Besides that, if you want an idea of what I imagine the house to look like, also message me and I'll send you a picture of our set.
I promise coming to see our show won't ruin some of the surprises of this story as I've had to change them somewhat, so come see it if you get a chance!
Hope you enjoy the chapters to come! :)