Title: Waiting For My Love to Come Back Home
Author: OpheliacAngel
Pairing: Gabriel/Dean
Genre: Romance/Family
Rating: Teen
Summary: Gabriel does nothing but patiently wait as Dean heals.
A/N: Because I have issues and need some Gabriel taking care of Dean, okay? I wanted to make this longer but didn't have the attention span, so uploading it just as it is.
...
Gabriel wanted to get Dean released from the hospital two weeks ago, but sometimes his fears for Dean's fragile mortal body, as well as his psyche, take over his wants for a reunion in the settings he's created.
At least he was being taken care of, because if Gabriel says he knows anything about prescription drugs or anything else medical related for that matter, then he'd be lying. Though really, if the nurses were any sweeter to Dean, enough to make his teeth clench in jealousy and frustration, then he'd be hightailing it out of there with the human, consequences be damned.
It's taking Dean a long time to heal, and it's probably because he hasn't had a decent reprieve, let alone night of sleep for ages. The human's definitely making up for lost time now, every time Gabriel comes into the room he's asleep, and even if he's awake it isn't long enough for Gabriel to say much to him.
He's missed having someone to rant to. Dean's always been that person that will listen to just about anything he says, including his long list of complaints, and manage not to blow up at him or ignore him.
So maybe he needs Dean out of that damn hospital for his own selfish reasons.
But at least he's decent enough to let Dean sleep for nearly a month and a half.
"Hey." Dean's eyes open at that and Gabriel smiles, because that right there is all the hope in the universe that Gabriel needs. "Today you get released. Good timing too, cause I've got a few new recipes I want to try out, and yours is the only opinion that I want to have." Gabriel figures Dean will merely close his eyes again like he's made a habit of doing lately, too exhausted to even figure out what the archangel's talking about, but today his eyes light up in recognition slightly, and he smiles and nods before letting his eyes slip shut.
They told him Dean was depressed, barely able to function and not having the energy to do much but keep his eyes open and hold onto consciousness for a few minutes at a time. They asked Gabriel if anything had happened before the accident, something traumatic enough to make him deny it existed until he literally imploded.
They told him that he was in it for the long haul, that Dean might not ever be the same as he was again, as Gabriel knew him to be. So bright and full of life, even despite the dark moments.
They told Gabriel to let go of his expectations.
He tangles his fingers in Dean's hair and waits for the doctor to come back to formally release Dean. He's waited this long, so he can wait another half hour or so, right?
...
Dean is more or less awake an hour later when Gabriel rolls him out of the building in a wheelchair. He has half a mind to just carry him outside, but so as not to permanently damage his manhood, he's not gonna push it that far.
He still needs a bed with warm sheets, not to mention an even warmer Gabriel, as well as round the clock care until he gets back up on his feet again, which could be another week, but Gabriel has other plans than to just settle him down in a lavish room and let him sleep off the remainder of his little hunting accident.
If anything, Dean needs fresh air from staying cooped up in that hospital for so long.
Gabriel is planning to set him up outside, raking the ground around him of most of its leaves before snapping his fingers to have the mattress placed securely on the ground. There's a tree already positioned perfectly above the mattress; its long and thick branches will sufficiently shield its soon to be occupant from the harsh rays of the sun. He concentrates on adding another couple of branches just to be on the safe side, then steps back from the scene to admire his handiwork.
The wind is merciful and not in the slightest a concern, merely brushing back the overgrown hair of his vessel for a moment before settling down. It's well considered though, given that one gust could probably wipe the recuperating Dean right off his feet.
"This okay, or do you want to go inside?"
Dean shakes his head as Gabriel settles him down on the mattress, piling several thick blankets on top of him; Dean doesn't even protest at the help. "Nah. Feels nice outside."
"Good, the sun should go down in a little while."
Dean nods again, scooting over to allow the archangel to settle down on the mattress beside him. Gabriel doesn't lay down initially, he leans back against the tree with Dean's head in his lap, his fingers naturally finding themselves tangled in his hair again.
He dozes for a while until Gabriel wakes him up for something to eat: homemade rice and tomato soup with only a hint of garlic and then cinnamon to add just a little something extra. Better to ease him into eating then give him something heavy when his body still might not be able to handle it. Dean's appetite is voracious, even though Gabriel has been sneaking food in for Dean whenever possible, to make up for the terrible hospital food, and he serves him another bowl of it, hot but not enough for him to burn his tongue with, and smiles. "Good?"
"Yeah. Are you kidding me? I would marry this soup if I could, this is just amazing."
"Well, it's my job to get your weight back up again...," he hands the human a thick, creamy vanilla smoothie, with small chunks of cherry pie thrown in. "So eat all you want. There's plenty where that came from," he nods at the smoothie, which Dean is slowly working his way through, but he can't help but finger Dean's belly, which is pretty much non-existent, through his shirt.
He loved it when Dean had some weight on him - he wasn't picky - and the rapidly thinning Dean he's seen over the weeks has been scaring him to the point of becoming obsessed with cooking. He has dozens of recipes lined up to try because he genuinely wants to get the human interested in food again, specifically good food.
Gabriel's always liked cooking, actual cooking too, not just snap his fingers and it's there. He's just never found the time or the energy to commit to it much. Now he has all the reason in the world.
Dean doesn't jump back, merely swats his hand away. "Stop. I'm fine. How many times do I have to tell you...?"
"...You're fine," Gabriel finishes. "Except for the part that you're actually not. You told me the hunt was easy as pie, Dean, except for the fact that you've been working yourself into the ground and trying to hide it from me with offerings of candy and blow-jobs."
"What?" Dean asks innocently-like, his mouth full of the vanilla and cherry pie concoction Gabriel feels like a genius for thinking up. "They weren't up to par?"
Gabriel rolls his eyes and leans forward to kiss Dean, getting a mouthful of cherry pie chunks. When he pulls away his lips are covered in vanilla ice cream, which he licks off. "Not when you get laid up in the hospital for more than a month. Seriously, kiddo, I don't care that much about the sex, not if it means you're hiding things from me. You've gotta stop doing this to yourself and to me, Dean. If I had my way, you'd be taking the next ten years off. But I guess a year will have to do."
Dean nods at that, leaning in to kiss Gabriel. "Yeah," he admits, sighing heavily, "maybe even more. I'm tired, Gabe, and it took me this long to realize it and it's gonna keep me down for a while. Hell," he rubs between his eyes, "I'm exhausted, I can't even think straight anymore..." Dean lays back down and Gabriel follows his lead, pulling Dean into his arms and kissing his forehead.
He clears a branch away, allowing them to have an unobstructed view of the full moon hanging low above them. Gabriel looks down at Dean, watching as the shadows of the nearby branches dance lightly on his face, made paler by the moon.
They must lay like that for hours, Dean refusing to sleep until his body finally demands him to. It was worth waiting, to have this moment, to have...
WHITE
Dean's eyes are open but they're motionless. There's a dark pool spreading out from underneath him. If Gabriel was a wolf he would keen, if he was a human he would beg. His eyes are big and hurt and pleading - archangels aren't even known to be capable of that.
'Dean.'
If he moves right in front of him, puts himself in that specific angle, it looks like Dean is looking at him, looks like Gabriel is the last thing he ever saw. That's a lie though, Dean didn't see Gabriel before life came crashing down around him.
'Hey.'
His cheek is cold when he reaches out with his hand, and there is no life left within his eyes.
'I'm sorry, okay? The trick's over, I get it. Just reverse it.'
No response, never a response.
'Just reverse it.'
WHITE
"What do you think you're doing?"
Gabriel grins, he was wondering when he would catch on. "Counting your freckles. Unfortunately, kiddo, you've got way too many to count."
"I do not."
"Yep, you really do."
Dean just snorts, turning away from Gabriel in order to stop him, only, it doesn't even hinder him. He focuses on the back of his neck instead, eventually giving up and rubbing the tense skin there. Dean moans in relaxation and leans back further into Gabriel. "Nice night."
The human starts shivering a little while after that, and instead of piling more blankets on top of him, Gabriel brings him into the lavishly decorated room he mentioned earlier. He turns the mid-afternoon day of where they've moved into night, and mutes the vibrant gold of the walls and red of the furniture. He'll bump it back up later when Dean's feeling better, but right now he doesn't need a vast array of bright colors assaulting his eyes.
"You know, I've gotten pretty used to shitty motel rooms by now." Dean's joking like he always does, because ever since Gabriel came back into his life he's never expected anything less than this five-star, suite-size room. Gabriel won't have it any other way.
"Be quiet and rest. There's a burger with your name on it when you wake up later." Dean smiles in anticipation, holding his arm out to get Gabriel to come to bed with him. Gabriel sighs lightly and crawls in beside him, grinning when Dean snuggles into him, arms and legs wrapping around him like an octopus' tentacles and face burrowing into his neck.
"There'll be a little something waiting for you too," he mumbles, "if I'm up to it." Gabriel's eyebrows lift in shock, and he pulls his mate closer as he listens to Dean's breathing evening out.
Waiting... Gabriel's getting used to waiting.
FIN