Sam couldn't decide if he hated his job or not, it was one of the things he pondered sometimes, when bills needed to be paid, or his co-workers wanted to go to the bar and he couldn't, or he was mad, angry, alone in the stupid little apartment he called 'home'.
And sometimes he wonder as he slip into his uniform, said goodbye to the day crew, locked up the museum, and wandered the halls alone, the entire night.
Some nights he almost decided he hated his job, he was going to quit, and other nights he loved it.
Sam had always been the smart guy, the nerd, the history buff, all that, so looking at these exhibits, no one judging, no one bothering him, no one around, was nice.
Even though Sam felt lonely, he knew deep down he didn't want anyone around him, it was better to be a lone.
But then he'd see a couple walking down the street after a date, hands entwined, smiling happy, or a group of friends heading to the bar, all grins, raucous, funny.
Or families, and Sam would suddenly feel unreasonable pangs of loneliness in his ribcage.
So then he'd go to the inner corridors of the museums, which currently housed the stone age exhibit, because there was certainly no one there, and he couldn't see anyone either.
And that's exactly not why he was standing in front of a model of a camp, glaring angrily at one sleeping wax figure.
His brother had called, where are you Sammy, I'll find you Sammy, I won't give up, come back, we miss you, we don't care, it's ok.
He hated those calls, they nursed a small, mad hope that lived next to the loneliness in his ribcage. So he stood there, all angry and brooding over his stupid, wonderful brother, when the wax figure sneezed. And then it swore. "Oh shit, I thought you died Goliath."
Sam had his taser out and zapped the not-wax figure so fast the guy didn't even finish yelling his excuses before he got zapped.
And Sam dragged him out of the exhibit, down the hall, and set him up in a swivel chair in the conference room. It's not like not-wax figure could over power Sam, the guy's tiny, short, well built, but nothing near Sam's raw power. Sam was a night guard for a reason after all.
^0^
The not-wax figure twitch, and Sam immediately pulled his hand out of the man's soft brown hair, the tasing had messed it up, Sam was just straightening-ok, he had been petting and straightening out the guy's dark hair.
Sam never sat down in a swivel chair that fast and silently ever before in his life, hands squeezed between his knees as the man came to, flashing amber eyes with each blink.
"Hey." The man croaks, "Is there coffee?"
Sam nods, wanders over and pours one little paper cup of the stuff, he marches back over stiffly, handing the man the coffee like a robot in serious need of some maintenance on his joints.
"Sugar? Creamer?" The guy mumbles, turning those eyes on Sam, and something in Sam crumbles in the middle of that dark conference room as the guy squints in the poor lighting, trying to get a better look at Sam.
Sam gets the creamer and sugar, the entire little black plastic container of them. The man giggles. "You must be a vampire, eh? Night vision or something? Well, I am not, could we turn on the lights?"
"No and no." And Sam is surprised by how husky his voice is, "Hold still, I'm going to pour creamer into your coffee." And the man freezes, not a single movement, and then he opens his mouth.
"Firstly, I'll inform you I do not have the gift of gab, so don't ask, secondly, I'm homeless, I didn't damage anything, I just needed somewhere to sleep, ever since that new pack of pixies came into town the streets haven't been safe at night, thirdly, I think thats not enough creamer, oh, and my name's Gabriel, but my friends call me Gabe." And then the man adds in a quieter tone, "Or they would if I had any, would you like to be my friend?" He adds in a childish tone.
"I think you don't need the sugar in your coffee." Sam informs him, the man laughs and nods "But I have to inform you you can't sleep in the museum, it's against the rules, and I believe you when you say you didn't damage anything, if you had the spells would have triggered, but you only slept in the exhibit, so it ignored you as nothing more than a rule breaking visitor, not a thief."
And suddenly the man is grabbing his arms, "Then where am I going to go?"
And maybe it's the empty, hopelessness in his voice, or how desperate he sounds, like Sam just killed his last inkling, his last hope, maybe it's that Sam can't remember the last time a person willingly touched him since he left.
"You can stay at my place," And he says it in that same, dead calm voice, but Gabriel sighs all the same, slumping back down in the chair.
"Wait, you aren't a vampire... So... What are you? Human? Witch?"
And a part of Sam aches to say 'Hunter', to hear his voice say that word, to be that again, but he knows better, he's not stupid. "Human." He tells the man. "Did you have anything with you?"
"Homeless!" Coos Gabriel as he gulps down the coffee.
"Right." Sam sighs. "Well, I have to finish my shift, so, stay here, I'll be back, and we'll go to my place, and talk."
The man's smile just gets brighter. "You know I love these little moments."
"Hmm?"
"The ones that change everything."
^0^
As Sam walks up to his apartment complex, Gabriel's hand in his, he can't help but think perhaps this is a terrible idea, perhaps he should have followed protocol and turned the man in?
But Gabriel's fingers are tangled in with Sam's, desperately, tightly, like he's holding on to a safety line, and that safety line is called Sam Winchester.
Sam knows he'd never forget the time he kicked a homeless man out on the street after promising him a place to stay.
^0^
The moment Sam swings the apartment door open Gabriel starts gushing. "Oh! How lovely! Did you pick the colors? I love the browns, so homely and warm!" Sam shucked off his shoes. "Where's the garbage, oh! Here it is." Gabe empties his pockets of trash. "Oh, the fridge, and look at the fruit, I love bananas! They're the best, so cheap and nutritious." Sam sighs, and pulls Gabe's six coats off, and throws them in the dirty cloth pile. Gabe starts shedding his extra shirts, a couple button ups, a long sleeve, and a t-shirt, until Gabriel's in a muscle shirt. "Oh, do you have your own washer? And a dryer? How wonderful, oh, you're so sweet. Here let me do that." Gabriel hangs up Sam's coat with a little hop, he's so short. And small. All the same, Sam senses he's stronger than he looks. "So... What's you're story?"
"Story?" Sam murmured, as he started the washer.
"Well... You clearly don't get out much, and now you're letting me stay here? Hey, how long am I staying? Is this a one night deal? Can we turn on the lights?"
"Umm..." Sam paused momentarily, he hadn't thought about it really, "I guess you'll just stay for today, and we'll talk tomorrow night." He turns on a few lights quickly, blinking as his eyes adjust to the light. He'd prefer to talk about Gabriel, his 'story' isn't one he plans on telling.
Gabriel peers at him, "You.. You really have your days reversed, don't you?" Sam nods, and for a bit Gabriel is quiet, and then he touches Sam's elbow, which is certainly an odd spot to touch a person. "Have you...When did you last seen sunlight?"
Sam shrugs awkwardly, "I've seen dusk and dawn, a few times in the last couple years." He's quieter this time, a ridiculous amount of embarrassment muffles his normally rough, low voice, making it soft.
"Well, that's cool, I like sunlight, it's warm, well, I suppose you know that, man, you are pale." Gabriel taps his nose gently, standing on his tip toes to do so. "So, what do you want me to do next?"
Sam lets out a breath, "Um... Shower? I guess?" And as he leads Gabriel to the bathrom, showing him the shampoo, soaps, explaining the showers, and getting him a towell and a pair of Sam's pajama pants, he starts to plan dinner.
Grill cheese and ham? He likes that, it's a good meal.
^0^
Sam didn't quite notice the homeless aurora Gabriel radiate at first, that he moves, always looking for where they're going to be next, keeping an eye out for food, using as little of anything as possible, being fast. Gabriel keeps turning the shower off and on, and then Sam gets it, conserving water, probably hot water, and he considers telling Gabriel there's no need to worry.
But that'd probably embarrassed the small man.
By the the time Gabe is done showering, Sam has five grilled cheese and ham made, he even uses colby cheese and white bread. He pulls out salad and dressing and the milk.
Gabriel trails out of the bathroom then, hair hanging wetly against his neck, a few pieces curl out slightly, and the water makes his hair darker, and his skin tone lost some of it's brawniness, which Sam realizes now was probably dirt.
Sam also has to admit has never seen anything cuter than the small guy standing sheepishly in his bathroom doorway, hand to his neck, Sam's pajama pants are ridiculously huge on Gabriel, the cords pulled so tight it dangles down to Gabriel's knees, and the legs are rolled up so Gabriel's little toes, pink from the hot water, can peek out. And Sam finds Gabriel, fresh out the shower, in green and blue flannel pajamas that are way too big for him, to be the absolute definition of adorable.
"Yes?"
"Um.. Well, like... Where do I put the towel? Do you hang it or what here?" Sam smiles, wanders into the bathroom and picks up the towel, and slings it over the shower curtain.
"That's what you do."
"Oh, ok, good, is that grilled cheese?" Gabriel chirps, racing out into the kitchen with an awe expression on his face as he stops in front of the plate stacked with said sandwiches. He then turned to Sam looking him right in the eyes. "You must be God."
Sam shakes his head, putting out plates and cups, "Nope, I'm just Sam."
Gabriel chuckles, sitting down, "Do you want milk?"
"Sure, half glass please." Sam mumbles, making his salad before he wanders back over with the salad, pushes the grilled cheese and ham towards Gabriel and starts eating, so does Gabriel, with some hesitance at first.
One salad, eight grilled cheese and ham, and half a gallon of milk later Sam decides it's getting light out and definitely time to sleep. Gabriel insists on the couch, until Sam informs him that is where Sam sleeps, the bed is too short for him. They have to move Sam's books off the bed, another thing Gabriel tries to stop him from doing. Sam asks him to go do dishes, then he shoves the books off the bed with a bang.
Sam also finds a never used toothbrush for Gabriel, and gives him a quick tour of the house and a quick run down of the establishment rules, which is pretty much, don't damage property, don't piss off other people, and pay up.
And then, they go to sleep.
^0^
Sam wakes to a crashing sound in the kitchen, and almost picks up his gun, until he hears Gabriel mumbling.
"Gabriel?" He mumbles, swinging his legs over the side of the couch. "What are you doing?"
"Um..." Gabriel's head pops up from behind the counter. "Scramble eggs?"
Sam lumbers over slowly to survey the damage, it looks like Gabriel had a war with eggs on the tile floor. Everywhere. "How did you do this?"
"Um, well," Gabriel scratches his head, "I was taking the eggs out of the fridge and I open it up, and I grabbed an egg, and it broke, and I stepped on it and went sliding."
Sam plucks an eggshell out of that messy brown hair of Gabriel's. "I believe this calls for another shower."
Gabriel blushes, "Sorry."
"It's fine, you must not cook much." Gabriel freezes for a moment.
"Um, nope, caught me red handed." Gabriel smiles breezily, taking Sam's hand to pull himself up. "Can't cook to save my life!" Gabriel shakes the rest of the egg off. "Sorry about your pants..."
Sam shrugs, "Just go shower, I'll make breakfast. Oh, and I'll put some clean cloths outside the door."
Gabriel looks down at his feet, clearly embarrassed, "Thanks." He mumbles, then he wanders into the bathroom, after a bit Sam hears the squeak of the shower and the spray of water. He sighs, and starts picking up the eggs best he can, then he washes it up with a rag.
Sam is half certain, no, he's certain as he opens the door, setting now clean clothes inside the bathroom, Gabriel is singing in the shower, it sounds suspiciously similar to church hymns. The kind with trumpets and organs playing in the background, perhaps a little more jazzy, a little more Gabriel to it.
And Sam tries not to laugh, but in the end settles for a grin as he starts up some toast.
Then comes the search for breakfast food. Sam is fairly certain there's oatmeal around here somewhere, old oatmeal. Nasty oatmeal, but there isn't really much of anything else around here to eat.
Sam peaks in the cupboard, yep, oats to be precise. He needs to get groceries, Sam sighs, he hates getting groceries, being seen... But instead of brood over the impending grocery trip Sam gets to boiling water for the oatmeal with a healthy dash of salt.
Gabriel skips out sometime while Sam boils the oatmeal, decked out in his muscle shirt and shorts with a sheepish look in his eyes as Sam scoops out oatmeal. "Thanks. Um, sorry about the eggs..."
Sam gives him a smile and takes two bowls over, Gabriel pulls out a chair quickly. Sam smiles setting down the bowls. "It's just eggs, it's alright, just sit down and eat, okay."
"Thanks. I just, I'd like to helpful." Gabriel splays his hands out as Sam gently pushes him into a chair, and moves the oatmeal in front of him, while listening, and sits down himself. "Not smashing eggs."
"It's fine, I said it's fine." Sam waves his spoon dismissively, "And I pay the rent so what I says goes, I said you stay here and you can, so eat your oatmeal, then we're going to get groceries. Alright?"
"Alright." Gabriel smiles, and pick up his spoon.
^0^
Grocery shopping with Gabriel is odd, especial when you have to drag a puppy eyed, child-like adult who won't leave the candy aisle. "Gabriel." Sam sighs. "I said essentials, this is not essentials."
"But it's candy!" Gabriel waves his arms around like wings, "Do you have no heart?"
"Fine..." Sam groans, "One ba-" Gabriel hands him a bag of Twixs, with the biggest smile on his face, and Sam tries not to smile back, he can't be buying candy for a random homeless guy. Even one who has that sort of smile the sun would envy, the kind that makes you feel all warm and light.
Yep. It's official, Sam has some serious social deficiency if a smile makes him feel like this. "No more." Sam warns, Gabriel just keeps grinning. Somehow by the time they make to the check out, there's five bags of chocolate, and all the greens have mysteriously disappeared.
Gabriel just pinches his nose fondly as Sam reads the receipt, and notes the candy and lack of greens. Sam wonders what happen to the shy Gabriel from this morning.
^0^
Two nights later was a normal night at work, no homeless people. See, the museum housed a lot of... More powerful artifacts and texts, the sort of things people like to steal. Or burn, sell, whatever the case, the alarm spells went off.
Sam ran down the halls, to the outrage screeching of the magic, this is why the museum hired him, he was fast, he was big, and he could fight.
And he barreled into the idiot as the glass protecting the angel sword broke. Sam bashes the guy's head on the floor once or twice, until he's limp as a noodle. So then, naturally, Sam rolls him over. And sighs, "Damnit Garth."
He picks the tiny man up, then again, everyone's tiny compared to Sam, and carries him down to the entrance, and as protocol states, rings up the police.
"Hello Moose, what fool did you step on this time?"
"Officer Crowley, there was a break in, I handled it of course. Could you send someone to pick him up? Quickly?"
Crowley chuckles. "Why, you sound worried. Why?"
And for a moment Sam considers hanging up, but he knows then that Crowley won't send anyone. "A Hunter broke in."
"Ah yes, you know, you never told me why Hunters bother you so."
"We both know you know!" Sam snaps.
"Yes, but its fun to hear a little more than irritation in your voice,an officer will arrive shortly. Hang in there Moose, hunters generally have a partner."
"I know, just make sure that officer arrives."
"Mm, buh bye Moose." And with a click the demon hangs up.
And that's when something hits Sam over the head.
^0^
Sam holds the ice to his eye, which will definitely become blacker than a pair of demon peepers. The officer fills out his paperwork, Garth and his partner blink awake over where the officer has them handcuffed up in his cruiser. One thing Sam has to admit makes Supernatural beings good police officers is how easily they can subdue others.
"Sam?" Garth gasps, eyes wide. "Is that you?"
Sam just backs into the musuem, nursing his eye.
^0^
Sam pauses, hand on the door knob, Garth knows where he is, and Garth will probably tell Dean. So naturally, he needs to leave.
But what happens to Gabriel? If Sam leaves, where does Gabriel go? Sam sighs, he's not responsible for Gabriel, and Gabriel will understand that Sam's leaving and... Sam takes a breath and opens the door.
"Sammy?" Gabriel comes running out of the kitchen wildly, that green apron the lady down the hall gave Sam as a welcome gifts hangs terribly large, "I thought you'd be gone longer. I-Oh my god! Your face!" All the sudden Gabriel is right in his space, fingers tracing the start of nasty bruises and raised flesh as Gabriel stands on his tip toes to get a better look.
"It was a rough night." Sam whispers, and Gabriel suddenly plops down flat on his feet, hands hanging at his sides.
"Is this...Normal?"
Sam smiles. "Oh yeah." He nods his head towards the kitchen. "What are you up to?"
"Not important." Gabriel drags Sam into the kitchen, shoving him into a chair. "Who did this?"
And Sam blinks at fierceness in Gabriel eyes as they rove over every little welt. "Um, just a hunter."
Gabriel sighs, "You'd make an excuse for a Demon trying to eat your soul, wouldn't you?
"Ah, I'd fight back Gabriel." Gabriel shushes him and grabs a washcloth, wets it, and starts dabbing at his face.
"There's some blood." Gabriel explains, placing a hand against his sternum, holding him still. "Um, I think a little ice and you'll be good."
"Gabriel?"
"Yes?" Gabriel wraps ice up in the cloth and presses it against Sam's eye easily as he sits on the table.
"I think something's burning."
"What?!" Gabriel dashed to the stovetop. "My soup!"
^0^
Gabriel's soup has floating charred bits, and the chicken is salty and dry, but Sam chokes it down anyways. Gabriel burned his one hand pretty badly trying to save the soup, so he can't really use his right hand and just drinks the soup out of a cup instead.
"Um.." I need you to leave. "It's good."
"It's terrible." Gabriel moans. "I wanted to do something nice for you. And look at what I did to the kitchen!"
Sam glances at the disaster zone, a perfect excuse to kick Gabriel out, like he has to, "Oh, it's okay. I never liked that tiling anyways." But everytime Sam starts to tell Gabriel to leave, he looks at the guy and immediately feels a fridge load of guilt deposited into every pore of his being, twice.
"God, you're such a nice guy." Gabriel exclaims, and now Sam knows he'd jump into Hell before kicking out the brown eyed man. "And I can't thank you enough for letting me stay."
"Nope, but you can make breakfast tomorrow. Now, you get ready for bed, I'm going to do dishes, don't argue with me." Sam shakes his toast at Gabriel. "I still own this apartment."
"Yes, you do Sammy." Gabriel runs his fingers around the edge of Sam's black eye, "Which is why, as the free loader, I should do them, you go shower up. Alright." Sam nods slowly, and Gabriel drops his hand. Very slowly, and stares at his fingertips for a bit. "I wish I could make you feel better."
"It doesn't even hurt." Sam tells him, and Gabriel gives him a tiny smile. He can wait a bit, give Gabriel time to find a place.
^0^
Four days later Sam finds he has a very important question for Gabriel when he gets back from his shift. He knows Gabriel did the laundry once, and cleans, organizes and crap, like a guilty housewife buying shoes and not telling her husband.
Except Gabriel's homeless, and not buying shoes... To Sam's knowledge. Actually Sam wouldn't put it past Gabriel, it's crazy, and therefore very Gabriel like.
Like asking Mrs. Abbadon to teach him cooking, and Sam's half certain she thinks Gabriel is his lover or something. Apparently Gabriel had smelled her pie from down the hall and decided she clearly knew how to cook and cooking was something Gabriel should do for Sam as he's living with him.
So naturally Gabriel bursted into the room, giving the lady a heart attack and begged her to teach him her ways.
And informed her that it was all for Sam, so naturally Sam understands why Mrs. Abbadon might think that.
And as Sam opens the door, and Gabriel bounds up to him like a tiny, light brown haired, yip yapper dog full of puppy kisses and rainbow glitter and gives him a big, big, ridiculous hug right in the doorway where all the neighbors can see.
Sam just accepts it, like he has the last couple days. And stares at the ceiling, and eventually, pats Gabriel on the head. "Hi." HOw do you tell such an adorable guy to leave?
"Hello big guy," Gabriel releases him with one more squeeze and rubbing his head against Sam's chest like he's wiping his face off, knowing Gabriel, he is.
Gabriel is the same guy who looks at Sam like he's a big hero, uses Sam like a wet wipe, acts like a housewife to try and 'earn his keep', and acts like he's lived here forever, and keeps trying to pin the candy wrappers in between the couch cushions on Sam. Sam knows for a fact that Gabriel puts them there while watching tv.
"Gabe." And Gabriel's grin gets bigger, and Sam feels this odd euphoria sweep over him, "What do you do when I'm gone?"
"Eh," Gabriel shrugs, still grinning, "Mostly I just wait for you to come back."
And Sam, decked out in his night guard uniform, weapons on his belt, all intimidating looking, blush like he's still in second grade. "Oh, um, alright."
Gabe, who's now smirking, leads him over to the dinner table, loads up a plate and passes it over to Sam, "I already ate, and... I apologize in advance if the macaroni kills you."
"Thanks."
"Yep." And with that Gabriel wanders over to the TV, looks like Castle's on. Gabe likes Castle, something about the character's snark lures Gabriel in. Which makes Sam wish, just a little, that he was snarky like that.
^0^
It's all Gabe's fault, Sam was going to work, he was in uniform, he was almost out the door, when Gabriel stopped him to ask where the tv remote was, he couldn't find it.
Sam didn't know.
So with a little convincing, Sam start to move back in the apartment to help look, and he can't quite remember it all, he was moving, and all the sudden Gabriel was yelling, and there was a terrible noise as the ceiling above him just broke, and then Sam can't remember anymore.
Then again, the doctor says the immense pain probably knocked him out.
Having fighting hellhounds break through the ceiling and smash your leg does that.
The owner had immediately agreed to pay medical fees, which was odd... Dick was, well, a dick. The most caustic, contentious man in the building. But Gabriel had talk with him and tada!
THings like that were very Gabriel, but there was a whole new issue.
Sam couldn't go to work on the leg, and sure, he had a lot of vacation days piled up, but not enough to heal his leg up. So, his main concern was money, and he was just vacantly staring at his leg, as Gabriel stroked his hair... What? And Sam forces himself to remain relaxed, and tries to recall when Gabriel started... Touching his hair like this, and the more he thinks about it, the more certain he becomes that Gabriel has been at least holding his hand since he woke up.
He clears his throat, and Gabe drops his hand to his shoulder, "Do you need some water?"
"No." Sam mumbles, "But, um... You... You don't think this is your fault do you?"
And he glances over at Gabriel, and is met with sad brown eyes, and Gabe's hand tightens a little, "Yes." He whispers tightly, "Because if I hadn't been there you would have just gone to work, the dogs would have come through the ceiling and you would have been long gone."
"Gabe, that's not true, and besides, everything's fine," Sam lies, because everything's not fine, and he's already drumming up ways to cover rent. A few ideas ping lamely in his head, nothing he's too eager about. Gabriel runs his hand up and down Sam's arm nervously.
"Really?"
"Yep." And Sam gives him a nice big smile. And Gabriel smiles back, brushing his knuckles down Sam's forehead and temple to rest his hand against the jut of Sam's cheek bone, and Sam shuts his eyes at the feeling of Gabe's cool hand, it's calming, and he even leans into it, just a little.
"You know, there was a time where I could fix all of this." Gabe whispers quietly, and Sam opens his eyes just a little, just for abit, to take a quick look at Gabriel, who looks utterly dejected.
"You don't have to." Sam reminds him.
Gabriel sighs, running his fingers along the curve of Sam's jaw, which Sam finds strangely comforting, "Yeah, but I really want to."
^0^
When shit happens in Sam's life, it all goes down at once, and it all started with his broken leg. Once Sam had returned from the hospital, Gabriel had doted on him, constantly, baking, reading, because Sam had to rest, which included his eyes. Sam had already tried arguing this out with Gabe, only to have a candy bar shoved in his mouth.
Gabe even took to sleeping in a chair next to Sam, which generally ended in Sam waking up to the smaller man splayed across him, barely on said chair.
It was still sweet though, and it was one of those clear morning that bore a new pile of shit that is called feelings.
The feely, feely, feelings.
All Sam had want was to go to the bathroom, that's it, so he shook Gabe a bit, until the man groggily mumbled something about condoms, and Sam just rolled with it, because Gabe never really made complete sense and this was even more so true in the morning hours.
Then Gabe had turned his head to look at Sam with those eyes of his, the ones that couldn't quite be described with the word brown, they were warmer than brown, more special than that, and Sam mentally slapped himself for thinking like that. Brown, Gabe's eyes were brown. ANd his cheeks were flushed and his eyes drooped with sleep and he had this ridiculous little half smile as he gazed at Sam.
Sam's spine tingled warmly, and he smiled back. And then, in an abnormally coherent way, Gabriel spoke. "God, I love you."
"Love you too." Sam smiled, and then Sam's whole face dropped, what had they just said, but next thing he knew a little kiss was placed on his lips, and he just tingled again. And smiled.
And Gabe, pulled away, triumphantly . And Sam just stared into the distance and contemplated if it was too late to pretend he was a sleep. Another thought wander into his mind, could he kiss Gabriel again?
Yes, he could, and he did, and he slid his hand up Gabe's cheek and into his hair as he pulled him into the kiss, and it was slow, and very sleep addled, but it made Sam buzz, and grin stupidly.
And so did Gabe, and that started a glorious day of snuggling, kissing, and hand holding.
^0^
Sam was finally moving around on crutches, so, he very excitedly propelled himself, Gabe behind him, down the sidewalk to a small diner a few locks down. For their first date as a couple.
Thank god Dean wasn't here, Dean would be furious.
Dean would be whining about chick flick moments, and gayness.
Gabriel opened the door to Subway for Sam with a little bow, "Ladies first."
Sam snorted. "Gabe."
"Well, I clearly wear the pants in the relationship." Gabe declared with a naughty waggle of his eyebrows, slipping around Sam to get in line. "After all, a man listens to his lady, even when she wants to have her first date at Subway because his lady just can't wait to have a real, official date." Sam glared at him. "Not that I want to wait," Gabriel backpedaled, "I just want it to be special. Oh look, they have provolone cheese, isn't that delightful?"
"Charming." Sam told him before informing the worker he'd like a foot long, italian bread, cold cut combo. Gabriel watched with mild disgust.
"How can you eat that?"
"How can you eat two bags of twix every six hours and not be fat? How do you pay for that?" Sam blinked and turned to Gabe. "Is that why you're homeless? Candy?"
Gabriel laughed, ordering his food, "Caught me red handed, no you dummy, a Demon scammed me, and I may or may not be cursed to never hold down a job by a witch who was in love with my devilish looks and thought making me dependent on her would guarantee my love." Gabriel scowls before muttering pettily, "Jerk."
The line moved and Sam had vegetables piled on his sandwich and a very unhealthy amount of mayo drizzled over it. Gabriel had lettuce and tomatoes added to his grilled chicken breast after Sam glared at him pointedly.
And then Sam, before Gabriel could say anything, bought two of every single cookie, double chocolate chip, white macadamia, chocolate chip, raisin oatmeal, and m and m.
Gabriel said something stupid, and Sam tried to not make a face as he shelled out the appropriate change and a twenty.
Gabriel picked the table.
"Wait, you're cursed?"
"Um, yes?" Gabriel unwrapped a sandwich, took a peek at it's contents and slid it across the table to Sam. "Does it matter?"
"Kind of… How can a curse keep you from keeping a job?"
Gabriel flushes and looks down awkwardly. "Well.." He coughs. "If I manage to work for a month straight I just start speaking random languages without realizing it."
Sam grinned. "So you get fired for speaking Chinese."
Gabe scratches his head. "Ah, yeah." He smiles at Sam, "You look nice."
"You too."
"Yep." And then Gabriel shoved his sub into his mouth, clearly, for once, at a loss for what to say.
And Sam had to admit he was too, and that he found the silence, eating across from Gabe, their feet touching, nice.
^0^
Sam can get around pretty well on the crutches, and honestly? Everything is going great! Money's good, Gabe's good. Gabe's actually been picking up stray jobs, little quick things, which Sam doesn't think is necessary, but he can argue against extra money.
Who can argue against that?
But now that Gabe is always around, Sam's taken to walking the halls, over and over. Round and round. With occasional stops in the apartment, just in case Gabriel's back early, or forgot something.
Sam hums as he opens the door, only to be hit with a rush of heat, and smoke, and Gabe in a circle of fire with Dean standing on the outside, arms crossed, snappish looking.
"Sammy." Gabriel's face falls for a moment, just barely, before going back to a big, false smile. "Welcome home, I met your brother."
"Shut up," Dean shakes a knife at him, before turning on Sam. "Why are you living with a freaking angel."
"Archangel." Gabe corrects.
And Sam is glad the crutches are under his shoulders to hold him up, "What?" He hisses.
"Archangel." Gabriel mutters, suddenly finding his shoes interesting. "You know, six wings, fierce, absolute, that sort of thing."
"Heaven's most terrible weapon." Dean snarls. "So why are you, a Winchester, living with an Archangel?" He takes a disdainful glance around the apartment, clearly not liking the domestic air of the place. "Playing house isn't Winchester style."
"Winchester?" Gabriel squeaks, "But…" Sudden apprehension drains Gabe's face of color. "Snickers, so.. Um, are we equal or am I still in the metaphorical dog house?"
"You're worried about our relationship while trapped in a circle of holy fire?" Sam exclaimed, make his way over to the cupboard on crutches. Someone had to put out the fire before the floor gave out.
"Relationship?!" Dean yelled.
"Yes!" Gabriel screamed, Sam wasn't sure who he answering, but it gave him a warm feeling. Then he fished a bowl out of the cabinet, and start filling it with water at the sink.
Someone knocked at the door. "One minute!" He glares at Dean. "Go answer it."
Dean mutters some colorful language under his breath as he storms over to the door to bite off the poor fool's head. Sam pours some water on the flames, extinguishing enough for Gabe to hop out.
"Um, are you mad at me?" Gabriel scratches his head.
"Yeah, but I lied to you too." Sam sighs, getting more water, "So, um, as you said, equal." And he glance into Gabe's eyes as he said that, and he smiled at the warmth in those golden eyes.
Gabe grins back, and snaps his fingers, the fire goes out with a hiss, the scorch marks vanish, Sam raises his eyebrows. The Archangel shrugs. "Well, I figure, since you know now, might as well put some of my mojo to use."
Dean stamped back over, "Yeah, so, what I gather from… Your boyfriend," Dean sent Gabe a look of pure malicious for daring to date his little brother, "And Garth, you work at a museum, night shift, live in an apartment, play house-spouse with an Archangel, and broke your leg." Dean takes a deep, slow breath, his head quivering with rage. "So, you wanna tell me why?"
" Dean, I… I'm dangerous… I.. was drinking demon blood and I… You aren't safe around me, I mean-!" Sam swings his arms out. "Think of all the shit that's happened when we're together, someone always gets hurt! Maybe it's best if we're apart." And as Sam says that Dean's face falls, and that confident, sure way he holds himself just leaks right out, and anyone, in that moment, could see the tiredness in Dean WInchester.
"You don't mean that."
"I do." Sam sets his jaw, taking a step in front of Gabe, who grins like an idiot at the protectiveness in Sam's stance.
Dean shifts his shoulders, holding them back confidently, "But you aren't dangerous Sammy, at least not anymore than me."
"Oh really, Dean." Sam's voice gets a little snappish, sarcastic, "Do you kill demons with a thought now too?" Gabriel lets out a breath at that.
"No, but we're hunters, Winchesters," Dean growls, "We are dangerous!"
And suddenly Sam turns to Gabriel, "Pack up, we're leaving."
"No you are not." Dean hisses, grabbing Gabriel, whom simply transports himself to the other side of Sam and snaps his fingers to cause a couple duffle bags to drop unceremoniously at their feet.
"I'm an adult Dean, I can take care of myself." Sam swings a crutch about angrily. Dean snorts.
"Oh yeah, broken leg Sammy? So capable."
Gabriel clears his throat. "Um, sibling fights aren't new to me, and ah, well, you know, you two should probably make peace."
"Oh yeah?" Dean sneers. " You know how I knew what you were, Gabriel? Because Castiel told me, he told me how you ran because you couldn't handle your brother's fight."
Gabriel face darkens, his eyes burn blue. "Oh, I'm sorry I ran when my sibling started slaughtering one another, not like you wouldn't do the same!" And Sam has heard of Angel's having a true voice, and as Gabriel's grows louder and the room starts vibrating with his words. Gabriel seems to remember to use his normal voice when the window shatters. He looks at the ground for a bit. "No one wants to see the people they love fighting." And Gabriel glances at Sam, Dean, and then Sam, and he looks into Sam's eyes wetly. "So don't fight, please."
Sam sighs, and looks over at Dean. He just wants Dean safe, and when they're together something bad always happens. "You're going to die if we're together, you already have once."
Dean shrugs. "Everybody dies."
"But I don't want to be responsible for that." Sam mumbles, glancing up through his bangs. Gabriel sidles in next to him, putting a warm arm around his back.
"You won't." Dean promises.
Sam frowns. "You can't guarantee that."
Dean shrugs, "Unless you kill me, you aren't responsible, that simple, so unless you're planning on killing me…" Dean grins, "I think we're good there."
"I..I, Dean-" Sam says it so softly before Dean wraps him up in a gruff, manly, one arm hug. "I'm scared."
"You can't keep your head in the ground forever." Dean mumbles, wrapping his other arm around Sam in a proper hug.
"Yeah, cause you suck at it." Gabriel pipes up as he joined in the hug, Dean glared at him and Sam spluttered indignantly.
"I'm good at laying low!"
"Right." Gabe drawled, "Accidentally dating an Archangel, good job staying under the radar."
Sam just sighs, stares at his feet in wonder for a bit, and then looks over at Dean. "What now?"
Dean grins, because no matter how many times Sammy and him separate, they always come back together. "I was thinking we would hunt, and I guess… He can come with too."
Gabriel claps his hands, "Oh good, I'm glad brother."
"Brother?" Dean repeats.
Gabe waggles his eyebrows. "Why yes, brother-in-law."
Sam blushes. "We aren't married!"
And suddenly someone bangs on the ceiling. "Shut the fuck up!"
"Sorry!" Gabe yells back, "Good night." Then he turns to Sam, pulls out a wad of tissues and tosses it to him. Sam just raises an eyebrow, Gabe gestures at the tissues though so Sam turns his attention to the little wad, pulling it apart carefully until his eyes come to rest on the golden band rest in between a gum wrapper and a gummy bear.
"Gabe?" He whispers.
Gabriel shrugs, feigning confidence. "Well, I just figured, might as well?"
Sam just smiles, kisses Gabriel and nods. Dean rolls his eyes and mutters about chick filck moments and gayness.
R and R :) This is for the awesome guest who corrected me, thank you dear, I must have not been paying attention :( I meant Sabriel, Sabriel, opps... But thank you.
Also, this thing took forever s the flow isn't the best I'd imagine, I just wanted to be done X: And I am, and I couldn't find it in me to really edit hard core. Oh well.