The Trickster's Tale
If there was one thing Gabriel – Loki, The Trickster – had learned over his long, long life, it was that nothing good ever came from doing things for others. Putting faith in people was opening the door for vulnerability and betrayal, and Gabriel had suffered more than his fair share of them both.
That was why, despite the circumstances, fleeing into witness protection – he rather liked the term, it spun a tale of danger rather than cowardice – was something he had quickly come to love. Because he didn't have to do things for other people anymore. Every single thing he did was selfish and self-serving and he loved it. After the mess his family had become, freedom from rules was the greatest thing in the world.
The Trickster thing? Mostly for his own amusement.
He'd been Heaven's Messenger once. So he'd broadened his definition of messenger somewhat since then, who cared? He was a trickster, he sent messages either to people he didn't like, or who had committed some crime he found particularly offensive. Sure, that basically meant death, and occasionally mental torture, but it was still a message. To those left behind at any rate.
oOoOo
The first time Gabriel encountered the Winchester family was interesting, to say the least. They came in, guns blazing, and had the audacity to actually kill him.
Of course, something as minor as a stake to the heart wasn't actually going to take him down, even if it did hit his actual body and not an illusion of himself.
Up until then he hadn't really run into too many hunters. But he'd been bored, maybe gone a little bit overboard, and had gotten himself on their radar – and immediately back off it again, with his supposed death.
It was eye-opening though. He'd always known hunters were a bit dysfunctional, but they were a whole other bag of crazy. The co-dependency? So not healthy.
So yeah, they'd caught his interest.
After they left, he decided to keep an eye on them. Not so that he could step in with a heroic blaze of grace if they ever got in over their heads; not only were they not worth it, but he was nearly convinced that they were always in over their heads. Those two brothers were more reckless than Gabriel had ever been, and that was saying something. No, he decided to keep an eye on them because they amused him. He wanted to see what made them tick.
Gabriel still spent most of his time playing Trickster and tormenting the scum that littered Dad's Green Earth, but every now and again he'd check in on the brothers, noting what sort of messes they'd gotten themselves into before going off to plan his next trick.
It was during one of his random check-ups that his non-intervention policy was tested.
Despite not identifying as an angel much anymore, that didn't make his senses any less potent. Death surrounded the brothers in a whole different way than usual. Samuel's soul had been stuffed haphazardly back into his body – no doubt the work of a demon, given the lingering essence of death that hovered around the edges, even if it was barely noticeable even to him. He'd been dead, while Gabriel wasn't looking, and of course his stupid brother had done something drastic to get him back. It wasn't hard to figure out. They'd switched places. Dean was dying now.
But fuck, didn't those two know anything? One brother dies, the other sacrifices themselves to bring them back, and the cycle repeats over and over until circumstances get the better of them and no one will aid them any longer.
Their dedication to each other was disgusting. And yet, it tugged at his heart just a little. Because at least they were fighting the inevitable. Gabriel? He'd just run away from his family when things got too much for him.
And hell if he didn't hate those two for reminding him of his own flaws.
oOoOo
In the end, Gabriel just couldn't help himself.
At least he wasn't putting himself on the line for this stupid endeavour. He was lending a helping hand (in his own, messed up sort of way) that possessed no chance of backfiring on him, and he would get to torture Dean Winchester as much as he liked. They were still a rather large annoyance, those two, even if he was trying to soothe the transition from two to one. That was selfish, wasn't it?
So Gabriel lured them in with a disappearance in some odd little town with a Mystery Spot, and wove his magic.
With the immense grace he possessed as an archangel, Gabriel barely even needed to think about it to stick the earth into a time-loop. He'd done it before, once or twice, for his own amusement, though never for long – it was just no fun when no one realised they were being messed with.
Controlling everyone was simple. Controlling everyone but, not so much. It required a much larger amount of concentration and control to keep only Sam aware, and the rest of the world oblivious.
And though it would take him a while to notice, he messed up.
oOoOo
After a few weeks, Gabriel became aware of a sort of tug on the edge of his consciousness. A blip on the radar, you could say.
Though he was certain nothing could be going on, Sam was still mostly in denial about what was happening, and it was fairly boring. So he went to investigate.
Gabriel found himself in London. The disturbance was abundantly clear now that he was closer, and actually thinking about it. So he made himself invisible to human perception and tracked it back to a London flat.
What he wasn't expecting was the brooding, dark-haired man sprawled out across a couch, complaining to himself about the injustice and unfairness of the whole situation. Frankly, it was fascinating.
Gabriel would have expected a bit more panic at this point, but the man was awfully calm about the whole situation. Maybe it just hadn't been long enough for him to start freaking out?
Now that he knew of the anomaly, Gabriel could have brought him back into the collective memory scramble without much effort, but he found that he didn't want to.
This was different. And he kind of loved a good mystery.
oOoOo
The fifth time Gabriel popped over to London, the time-loop had been in place for three and a half months.
He didn't visit too often, since he did tend to feel a bit creepy watching people when he was invisible like that, but each time he felt more and more compelled to keep coming. There was something so damn mystifying about the man, and Gabriel wanted to pick him apart.
His prized anomaly was watching daytime television, and he mouthed every single line in sync with the show, never faltering once. Obviously he'd seen the same thing so many times over the past weeks that he'd managed to memorise it all. An impressive feat, and not at all a good coping mechanism. But he was still totally fine!
Gabriel couldn't keep doing this. He needed to see and be seen. He wanted to interact.
oOoOo
Gabriel stared at his reflection in the mirror, several months later, trying to decide on a disguise.
He was going to go visit his current favourite human again, only this time he wasn't going to be invisible.
Maybe it was vanity, but after spending so much time around the Winchesters he wanted to be taller than someone again. The form he eventually decided on was taller than his anomaly was, with pale skin, plain features, red hair and blue eyes. He didn't want to be too much like himself, in case he came to London when all of this was done and the man recognised him in the street or something.
Once he was satisfied, he flew to London, snapping up a pizza as an afterthought as he stood outside the flat belonging to his fascination. Offerings were good, right? A tiny bit less suspicious than a random stranger at the door, surely.
Shifting closer to the door, Gabriel knocked a few times, patiently holding on to the pizza.
He could hear the footsteps, and the pause before the door was opened.
"Pizza?" Gabriel offered immediately, obviously startling the man. He used his confusion to rake his gaze down his shirtless torso, faintly amused by the tense set to his body. Gabriel had seen him like this before, but there was something much more satisfying about checking the guy out when he could see Gabriel doing it.
"I didn't order any pizza," the man protested stiffly. Gabriel met the emerald gaze head-on as the man scrutinised him. If he hadn't been suspicious, Gabriel would have worried, but this, this was good.
"It's on the house," Gabriel retorted. He shoved the pizza box towards the dark-haired man, running his other hand through the shaggy red locks of his chosen disguise.
They stood there in a sort of silent stalemate for a moment, before Gabriel felt a wash of strange energy emanate from the man. Gabriel couldn't identify the energy, but whatever it was it apparently reassured the man, because he reluctantly accepted the box.
"Um, thanks?"
Gabriel smiled, his lips curling up in his signature devilish grin. The man started to smile as well, almost against his will, before he stiffened, taking a sudden step back into the flat. Gabriel's smirk widened as green eyes flickered to his bare chest and back up again.
The door was hastily shut in Gabriel's face.
He blinked at the door, a little startled by the speed of his reaction, before chuckling. He was right, that was one interesting guy.
oOoOo
If Gabriel truly wanted to, he could dive into the man's mind and find the answers to all his many questions with ease. But for once that didn't feel right. For once Gabriel felt like he wouldn't mind if it took years to figure out what made that man tick.
So he spent the next month coming up with a game plan.
oOoOo
For his second visible visit, Gabriel adopted a shorter frame, with blond hair and hazel eyes.
He'd thought long and hard about what to do, and in the end he was more or less winging it. That was the trickster way, most of the time.
He snapped up a DVD, one of those popular action movies – he didn't know if it was any good, he didn't watch movies – and flew to London once more.
The door was answered with a little less hesitation this time, but Gabriel couldn't completely hide his disappointment when the door swung open to reveal that his anomaly was wearing a shirt today. Still, he recovered quickly, not letting it get to him.
"Hi," Gabriel greeted, waving his empty hand slightly and smiling, "We're running an advertising promotion for the new Video Store that opened a few blocks away. Free rental?"
Gabriel held the DVD up, making sure to catch the man's attention. Wasn't this the sort of thing that humans did sometimes, for dates? Dinner and a movie? He wasn't opposed to the idea. He was a very attractive man after all, and had captured so much of his attention lately that Dean might even survive a few days death-free (and wouldn't that just confuse the hell out of Sam?).
"That's curious, I've never heard of anything like this before," he commented lightly, leaning towards Gabriel in order to retrieve the DVD case. He gave Gabriel an odd look as he pulled away, one that Gabriel couldn't determine the cause of. He shrugged it off.
"I'll be back for that in three days." Gabriel winked at him and, seeing that the door hadn't yet been slammed in his face like the previous time, decided to make a semi-dramatic exit, marching off into the London foot-traffic and disappearing in the crowd.
oOoOo
Gabriel was almost at his wit's end with the Winchesters, so he was actually immeasurably thankful for the promise he'd made to mister mysterious. It meant he could take his mind off of them for a while – depending on what happened anyway.
He once more donned a disguise – this time keeping his regular height and giving himself grey eyes and black hair. Gabriel was 99.99% sure that he hadn't missed anyone else, but just in case he had missed someone – or if an angel or two actually decided to pay attention to the earth for once – he'd decided it wouldn't do for them to see his vessel hanging out in London.
Gabriel didn't bother bringing offerings this time. He simply flew to the flat and knocked on the door, trying to gauge just how surprised the man would be. It might have been sort of mean to use a different disguise each time, but he couldn't help it.
The door swung open without hesitation this time around, even if his appearance seemed to throw the man off for a moment.
"Hello again," he greeted after a moment, before Gabriel could think of something witty to say. Gabriel's eyes widened in surprise at the greeting, before his usual grin spread across his face.
"I knew you were perceptive," Gabriel admitted freely, impressed once again, "but I didn't think you'd be able to tell I was the same person."
"You focus so much on changing your appearance," the man explained hesitantly, "that you didn't try and do anything about your scent."
Gabriel's grin widened at that. His scent huh? Now that was positively flirting. It was interesting though. Did he really have such a distinctive scent?
"Well, I suppose I should take notes then. If dear Samuel was half as crafty as you I would have been caught out by now."
The man frowned, but stepped away from the doorway and beckoned Gabriel into the flat. He readily obliged, examining the place as though he hadn't already spent hours inside the flat.
"So, what's your name?" the man asked, sitting down on the couch. Gabriel picked one of the armchairs and sank into it. "I'd rather not keep calling you 'the man' in my head, it's a bit odd, even for me."
Gabriel chuckled. That was exactly what he'd been calling the black-haired man too. That and 'anomaly', but he guessed that was something better kept to himself. This was good though. They were talking. He might get some answers this way.
Something told him he wasn't really looking for answers anymore.
"Well," Gabriel began, spreading his arms as though he were about to make an important announcement, "people mostly know me as The Trickster."
The man rolled his eyes at Gabriel, though there was a ghost of a smile on his lips.
"That's just a title," he protested from the couch, folding his arms across his chest and leaning back against the cushions, "Like The-Man-Who-Defeated-Voldemort."
"I suppose you have a point," Gabriel admitted, tucking that odd title away for further scrutiny at a later date, "but how about a trade instead? You tell me your name and I'll tell you mine."
"What is this, speed dating?" the man blurted out sarcastically, immediately flushing crimson.
Gabriel burst into laughter. "Oh I like you! Now I think I'm actually glad you're aware of the time-loop. My name's Gabriel."
"Harry," the other offered up immediately.
Gabriel could just about hear the cogs whirring in his head. He leaned back, getting comfy in the armchair, his smile losing some of its enthusiasm but none of its potency.
"Go on then," Gabriel prodded, nodding gently, "I can tell you've got questions. Ask away."
Harry slumped against the couch, a bewildered expression jumping onto his face. It didn't last for long. He leaned forward, chin in hand and elbows on knees, a determined look replacing it.
"Okay then. What do you know about the time-loop?"
"Everything," Gabriel said flippantly, "I made it."
Harry blinked in confusion.
"I get the feeling I wasn't supposed to be aware of the distortion, correct?"
Gabriel nodded, resting his elbow on the arm of the chair and leaning his head against his fist.
"No one was except for Sam. I thought it was flawless, really, but I guess I miscalculated."
"What did this Sam guy do to make you do this to him?"
Gabriel frowned slightly at the question. He'd been hoping to avoid the topic of the Winchesters for a while.
"He and his brother have been making a nuisance of themselves, so I decided to have some fun with them, messing with his head."
For a moment Gabriel paused, rerunning that through his head. That probably wasn't making the best impression. Oh well. He snapped a lollipop into existence, unwrapped it and shoved it in his mouth.
"Alright," Harry said eventually, "good." He shuffled awkwardly, settling back against the couch and falling silent.
Gabriel relaxed into the armchair, allowing his disguise to disappear, showing his vessel's actual body. He stretched out, and shifted the lollipop around in his mouth. He could tell Harry was watching him out of the corner of his eye, and it sparked an odd little warmth in his chest. Gabriel slouched, slinging a leg over the arm of the chair and sprawling across it.
They didn't speak again after that.
Gabriel spent the whole day there, eating candy, relaxing, and basically just basking in the presence of someone who didn't hate him. It was a nice change.
When the sun began to set out the window, Gabriel peeled himself out of the armchair – he needed to get one of those, it was great – and vanished his candy wrappers, stretching tall and rolling his shoulders.
"Ah, it was good to get away from those Winchesters for awhile," he sighed happily.
"Glad to be of assistance," Harry offered up weakly, stubbornly staring out the window. "It's not like I have anywhere to be, so you know, you can come back whenever. If you want."
"That sounds nice," Gabriel muttered quietly, that warmth fluttering softly in his chest at the thought. He smiled softly for a moment, before his Cheshire grin returned.
He thought about it for a moment, before deciding what the heck, and he flew out of the flat without warning.
He only wished he could have seen the look on Harry's face at his exit.
oOoOo
After that, Gabriel just couldn't stay away. It was a convoluted mix of frustration and anguish over the Winchesters, and the undeniable feeling of belonging that filled him whenever he was around Harry.
His visits increased until they were just about every single day. His tension just seemed to melt away in Harry's presence, and he basked in it, coming in disguise as his paranoia dictated.
They talked. A lot. It was surprising, because Gabriel wasn't one for talking, and certainly not about himself.
They never talked about the time-loop. It was an unspoken agreement, and he was glad for it.
Once, Gabriel asked Harry how he managed to keep track of the days – because it was obvious that he was counting them somehow. Harry had showed him the lines gouged into the ceiling of his bedroom, and Gabriel learned for the first time that his Father had created humans with magic in their veins.
When Gabriel cursed the powers that be, they talked about God, no matter how uncomfortable the topic was on a personal level.
In small snippets, Gabriel learned about Harry's childhood. He sympathised, truly, but he couldn't help but wonder a little if being an orphan was better than having an absent father. He didn't voice those thoughts. Instead, he offered a brief overview of his own family – absent father, bickering siblings, the constant fighting. Talking about the happier times, before Lucifer fell, was too hard, and would have been impossible to translate into a human equivalent.
They shared just about anything and everything that came to mind. Soon enough they knew everything about each other, while still somehow knowing nothing at all. What mattered to them wasn't the past, but the present.
Gabriel gave up on the Winchester debacle at some point during those months, but Harry never once commented on the fact that time started flowing as it was meant to once more. It simply meant that Gabriel was pickier about when he popped in, always making sure to avoid Harry's flatmate.
oOoOo
One day Gabriel popped in while Harry was cooking lunch. He stood in the kitchen for a moment, simply admiring Harry's back and the warmth that always filled him in his presence. He stepped forward silently, and pressed himself up against Harry's back, wrapping his arms around his waist. Harry didn't comment, he simply hummed happily and continued cooking.
Their relationship wasn't a spoken one. They didn't talk about it, didn't try and label it. They just let themselves go with the flow.
The first time they kissed was just shy of a week later. It lit a brilliant fire in Gabriel's grace, and he decided in that moment that he never wanted to be anywhere but in Harry's arms.
Harry had been what was missing in his life for so very long, and he was never going to let him go.
Author's Note: I changed the end up a little bit from the original, but only because I became suddenly disturbed by how very long I had the Mystery Spot time-loop stretching out for. I hope you liked it.