Title: Waiting
Character(s)/Pairing(s): Nick/Adam, Nick/Adam/Gabriel
Rating: PG-13
Warnings: Canon character deaths, angst, violence
Spoilers: General Season 5
Summary: After saying yes to Lucifer, Nick's soul ends up in Purgatory. Eventually, he meets someone else who said yes, and an archangel murdered by his own brother.
Purgatory is a lonely place for humans, and there is nothing to do but wait for something that will never happen.
It's filled with the souls of supernatural creatures who are violent and ravenous, who while away their time feeding, fighting and fucking. There are no human souls. Nick learns early on to hide himself away, because the worst thing about being in Purgatory is that everyone is already dead, so being ripped apart into tiny shreds is not only excruciating, it can happen over and over again. It's impossible to reason with these creatures – Nick had tried, multiple times, and always regretted it afterwards – so he finds himself a little corner of Purgatory where he talks quietly to himself and recites whatever he can remember of the Divine Comedy, smiling humourlessly at how right and how wrong Dante was.
He first discovers Adam's existence when he hears a human voice screaming in the distance. The desire not to be alone, to actually talk to someone who can respond intelligently, drives him from his hiding spot. By the time Nick locates his fellow human, Adam is a bloody mess and the monsters have already lost interest. Nick sits with him, waiting for his soul to reknit itself and regain consciousness, and when he finally does, asks his name and brings him back to his little corner of Purgatory.
Things are a little better from then on. It's selfish, but Nick is glad that Adam is there. Adam is young, but sarcastic and witty and makes for a good conversation partner. They huddle together, not for warmth because Purgatory is neither hot nor cold, it just is, but for human touch and contact. They talk about how they got there and laugh bitterly for a long time when they hear the other's story about the archangel who sweet-talked them into becoming vessels. Nick tells Adam about his wife and daughter, and Adam tells him about his mother.
Eventually, when they run out of things to talk about, Adam boldly slides his hand into Nick's hair and kisses him. Nick reaches out to tug Adam closer and kisses him back, and things go from there. It's comforting and reassuring, and it keeps them both sane.
Gabriel arrives a little after that. Nick and Adam watch as he materialises in front of them, cursing with pain. His soul looks human, but he sports six bronze wings that are tattered and torn, and he takes one look at them and flees. The archangel spends a long time avoiding them. Nick and Adam try to track him, at first, but after finding nothing but a trail of feathers and cowering creatures – apparently, archangels are not to be messed with even when dead – they give up.
In the end, the loneliness brings Gabriel back to them. He stares at them for a while, then says abruptly, "I'm sorry for what my brothers did to you. They're assholes." Nick and Adam tell him there's nothing to forgive, and it's true. Gabriel isn't Lucifer, who lied to Nick and whose corrupted grace sent him down here. Gabriel isn't Michael, who overestimated himself and burned Adam's soul right out of his body and into Purgatory.
Gabriel is Gabriel, who chases the monsters off whenever one ventures too close to their little corner. He tucks the two of them close to him, wrapping them up protectively in his ragged wings. Nick and Adam groom his feathers with affectionate touches while Gabriel hums soothing lullabies to dispel the gloom of their surroundings. They spend an endless amount of time just snuggled close together, because time passes differently here. Adam will press a kiss into the archangel's mouth, and Gabriel will open up to him with a soft sigh as Nick touches them with gentle hands.
In Purgatory, they still wait for something that will never happen, but at least it's not lonely anymore.