Sam Winchester gives up on trying to reach Castiel, and goes back to his hotel room. The door, he realizes, is open just slightly. It was probably Dean's doing, but he goes into red alert anyway, pulling out his angel blade, while keeping a hand over the demon knife in his pocket, just in case.
He enters the room and his heart stops. What kind of sick twist of fate is this?
"Honey, I'm home." Gabriel says in his cocky voice, full of fun as ever. He opens his arms wide to Sam, tilting his head slightly, but drops them when Sam doesn't move. "Oh come on, Sammy, don't be like that."
"Gabriel." He finally manages to spit out. "What the hell?"
"No, not hell, Sammy, heaven."
"You're alive?"
"I know I know, I should have called. But you know that works both ways, or did you forget you could pray to me?"
"I thought you were dead."
"Ah, but that didn't stop you at first." Sam says nothing, but stares unbelievingly at Gabriel. "Oh Sam."Gabriel finally says in a serious tone of voice, coming closer to the taller man. He places a hand on Sam's cheek. "The years have been hard on you."
"I've seen a lot of crap."
"And had so many people in that body. Luci's vessel and that little shit Gadreel too, I see." He slides his hand down Sam's cheek to rest on his neck. "And the trials of heaven. You've been worn so thin. Sammy, when was the last time you were whole?"
Sam feels an ache in his heart but says nothing.
"There was a girl? And a dog? Sammy, you had a normal life for a little while?"
"Gabriel, don't do that."
"I'm just trying to see what I missed."
"Why did you miss it? Where were you?" He pushes Gabriel away from him. "If you were alive this whole time, why weren't you here?"
Gabriel looks at his feet, but then back up at Sam.
"I'm here now."
The silence washes over them for a long time, in which Sam slides down next to the bed and sits on the floor leaning against it, and soon after allows Gabriel to sit beside him.
"You asked when the last time I felt whole was." Sam finally says sometime later.
"Yes."
"It was... The last time you were here with me." Gabriel smiles warmly, making Sam feel butterflies in his stomach. "Gabriel." He whispers the name as he leans over, his forehead about to meet that of the archangel. "I wish you were really here. Just for a minute."
The figment of the angel sighs.
"Yeah Sammy, I wish I were too."
Sam Winchester goes through the empty space and lies down on the floor of the dark hotel room, alone, like always.