I was browsing through Tumblr a few weeks ago and came across a complaint that there are only a few jobs ever mentioned in fanfics, and there should be a greater diversity when people write AUs. I agreed, and so I decided to try writing some AU fics with different jobs in. This is the first one – Sam as a personal trainer, because I think the job rather suits him. If anyone has some more suggestions about jobs they think AU characters should have, PM me, because I'd love some inspiration! They don't have to be for this fandom, or this pairing, but bear in mind I may not be part of the fandom you refer to. (Yet...). Please review this so that I know how I did, and I'm sorry if either Sam or Gabriel is too OOC. Enjoy!
The gym in this fic is based on one that I'm a member of and don't use nearly as often as I should. It shall remain nameless for privacy reasons.
Disclaimer: I don't own Supernatural or any of the characters, I only own my overactive imagination.
Sam grinned at the petite, blonde girl as she stepped off the treadmill, running her fingers through her slightly sweaty hair.
"Great job! Keep that up and you'll be ready for the half-marathon in no time!"
The girl grinned back. "Thanks, Mr Winchester, you've helped so much! Should I go and stretch off now?"
"I'd recommend going for a quick swim, it'll stretch your muscles and relax you more. If you have time, that is. And please, call me Sam, Mr Winchester makes me think of my dad."
"Alright, Sam." Her eyes twinkled flirtatiously. "In that case, call me Jess."
Sam sighed as Jess walked away, giving him a small wave as she walked out of the gym. He loved his job as a personal trainer – he had always liked to keep fit and eat healthily, and helping others to do the same always left him feeling great. But sometimes he did wish that his customers would flirt with him slightly less – he understood that he was a fairly attractive, muscular guy, but it wouldn't be professional of him to date a client. Although that resolve was sorely tested by certain customers of his.
Grabbing a towel, Sam quickly cleaned off the small traces of sweat that Jess had left on the treadmill before wandering back past the other people in the gym, greeting them all cheerfully as he did so, to check who he had next on his rota.
It wasn't a name he recognised – he would have remember a client with a name like 'Gabriel Loki Speight'. What sort of a name was that anyway? An archangel and the Norse god of mischief... his parents had certainly had a sense of humour.
Right on cue, the gym door swung open and a man walked in. He was just under average height – which meant that Sam towered over him – with brilliant, shining golden eyes that just radiated cheerfulness. He was quite stocky, but Sam could tell from experience that the stockiness was more from a slight excess of fat than muscle – presumably the reason why he had joined the gym in the first place.
"Hello, I'm Sam Winchester, and I'm the personal trainer of this gym." Sam held out his hand in greeting.
The man turned and, seeing Sam's outstretched hand, chuckled before firmly shaking it. "Gabriel Speight, but you can call me Gabe. This place is rather swanky, isn't it?"
Sam laughed. "I guess you could say that. Now, we'll just start off with a quick fitness assessment and a talk about what you want to achieve, and then I can have a programme prepared for you. Would you mind taking your shoes off and standing on the scales, please?"
Gabe shrugged, before kicking off his slightly scuffed trainers and wandering over to the scales. "I'm not sure I have any goals," he commented, "I just have a really sweet tooth, and my brother was worried about my health. So I joined a gym. It's more to shut him up than anything else, you know?"
Sam knelt down and pressed a couple of buttons on the scales, making a quick note of the weight.
"Overprotective older brother syndrome?"
"Younger. But he acts like he's older. According to him, I have the mentality of a hyperactive five year old."
Sam laughed again. "I can sympathise. My brother, Dean, I know he was just looking out for me, but he was always making me do things I didn't want to do. I love him and all that, but I was quite glad when I could escape off to college and just get away from it."
Straightening up, Sam stepped back and gestured for Gabe to step off the scales, before grabbing a measuring tape.
"Right, could you just stand against the wall there please?"
Gabe smiled. "I'm 5"7, you don't need to measure me."
"Humour me." Sam replied.
A twinkle came into Gabe's eyes. "You just want to press me back into the wall, hmm?"
Honestly. Sam just couldn't catch a break from the flirting today.
He rolled his eyes. "I'm starting to get what your brother meant with the mental age thing."
Gabriel opened his mouth in mock horror. "You think five year olds make those sorts of innuendos? What kind of kids are you around?"
Sam didn't dignify Gabe with a reply, instead just holding up the measuring tape and reading the number off. Gabe had been right – he was exactly 5"7.
"That's all done. Now, would you mind lifting your t-shirt up a little so that I can take your waist measurements?"
"First pushing me against a wall, now asking me to strip? Why, Sammy Sam, you're definitely coming on to me." Gabe looked quite smug.
Deciding not to retort – there were other people in the gym, after all, and he had to be professional around clients – Sam simply held up the measuring tape expectantly, and watched as Gabe winked before lifting his shirt up so Sam could measure him.
Sam had to admit, Gabe had a much more toned stomach than he was expecting. No, he definitely was not thinking that. That was not what you thought about your clients.
"Ok, stand with your legs shoulder width apart so I can take a thigh measurement."
Fortunately, Gabe didn't comment this time, instead simply complying with Sam's request. Sam sighed slightly in relief, reaching out and wrapping the tape around Gabe's thigh. Once again, he was surprised by the firmness – he couldn't believe that this guy never exercised at all.
"Do you do much exercise outside of the gym?" He asked.
Gabe snorted. "You're kidding, right? I work 8.30 to 6 every day, Monday to Saturday – I have better things to do with my remaining time than exercise. The only exercise I do is running around after my scatterbrained brother when he forgets things."
"You're in quite good shape all things considered. How often are you planning on coming to the gym?"
Gabe grinned at the comment about his shape. "Are you saying you think I'm fit?"
"Just answer the question." Sam finished measuring Gabe's thighs and wrote the numbers down on his paper.
Gabe shrugged. "I don't know. Mondays I'm always with Cas, Tuesdays I go down the pub with Balthazar. I can go Wednesdays, probably Fridays, and Sundays I never do anything, but I like relaxing then. Only until Cas stops bugging me about it though, then I might not come at all."
Sam smiled. "I get a lot of customers saying that to me, but it's quite rare that someone quits after less than a few months. People are surprised how much they enjoy it. Now, would you mind holding your arms out and tensing, please? I need to measure your arm muscles."
"Trust me, Sasquatch, exercise is not something I enjoy. I learnt that during school PE lessons."
Sam paused. "Sasquatch?"
Gabe just stared at him like he was thick, so Sam dropped the subject.
"That's all the measurements done. So, do you have any areas you would particularly like to improve – strength, stamina, flexibility – or do you just want a general fitness programme?"
"Do I look like I care?" Gabe replied.
Sam shrugged. Gabe was certainly irritating, but t least his noncommittal attitude meant that Sam wouldn't see too much of him.
"Fine. I'll probably assign you some typical exercises then – treadmill, bike, rowing machine, cross trainer. Do you have any preferences of where to start?"
Gabe looked around appraisingly. There were only two other people left in the gym – a balding guy slowly cycling on an exercise bike, and a woman doing sit ups on a gym mat in the corner.
"Cross trainer. I've used that thing before, it's easy enough."
"Great!" Sam smiled encouragingly and wandered over to the cross trainer. Reaching into his pocket, he pulled out a key and put it into the machine.
"All the machines here require a key to work. Once I've designed your programme, it will be loaded onto your key and the machines will follow it automatically. For now, I'm just going to select a random mode and you tell me if it's too hard or too easy."
"Too hard or too easy? Sounds like a lot of guys I know." Gabe smirked at the expression on Sam's face.
Deciding he'd had enough, Sam knocked the difficulty level of the cross trainer up a few notches.
"How's that for you?" He asked, trying to keep his frustration out of his voice.
Gabe seemed to consider for a moment. Surprisingly, he didn't appear to be struggling much with the higher level. "Fine." He paused. "It would be better if you were leaning over and helping me though." The suggestiveness was obvious.
Sam rolled his eyes. "I'll plot in a warm-up on the cross trainer then. I think you should go on the bike next."
"Whatever you say, Sasquatch." Gabe grinned mischievously at him before wandering over to the exercise bikes. Somewhere in his mind, Sam noted that the man who had previously been using one of the bikes was gone, so aside from him and Gabe, only the woman in the corner who was now doing press ups was left.
"Um, Sam? I think this might be a little too high for me."
Glancing over, Sam had to contain a chuckle at the sight of Gabe attempting to clamber onto one of the bikes. The saddle came almost up to his shoulders – Sam had a feeling that that was the bike that he himself had been using earlier.
"Ahh, yes. Well, if that happens, you just use the yellow leaver under the saddle and move it down the level that's right for you. If you see, there are numbers on the side, so you just remember which number is yours. I would estimate that you would be about an 8."
Gabe looked confused, so Sam reached over to demonstrate, brushing Gabe's chest as he did so. He ignored the satisfied sigh that Gabe let out at the touch.
"That better?" Sam asked, stepping back.
"Oh, much." Gabe grinned at Sam, and Sam had a sneaking feeling that he wasn't just talking about the saddle height.
Gabe reached forward, and almost fell off the saddle in his attempt to grab the handlebars. "I don't suppose these things are adjustable too?"
"Yellow lever at the front. Anything that can be moved is shown by a yellow lever. Handlebar wise, I would expect you to be a 2. I can write the numbers down for you if you think you'll forget."
"Can you write down your number?"
Sam had to admit that that was quite smooth.
"The gym will provide you with my business card, but that's only for fitness related matters. I don't give my personal number to clients."
Sam was sad to internally admit that he was actually slightly tempted to make an exception.
Gabe winked. "Well, they say that sex is one of the best ways of burning calories, so it's definitely a fitness related matter."
Shocked at his bluntness, Sam glanced around to check that no-one had head, and was surprised to suddenly see that they were alone in the gym. Deciding that they were a little past professionalism at this point, and no-one else was around to see, he leaned in.
"And what makes you think I'd want to have sex with you?"
Gabe grinned at Sam's sudden reciprocating. "I don't know, my incredible wit? My sexy body?"
Sam leaned back. "In your dreams, Gabe, in your dreams."
"Oh trust me, Sasquatch, you definitely will be."
Sam ignored how that comment sent a wave of satisfaction through him.
"Whatever. Now, I would estimate that you should spend ten minutes on the bike, keeping your heart-rate up and exercising your leg muscles. I think I'm going to set you to start at level 5 or so and work up to level 7 or 8 – if that's not right for you, just tell me later and I'll change it."
"With you around, I don't need the exercise to get my heart rate up."
Sam frowned. "Do you spend your spare time looking up the cheesiest ever pick up lines or something?"
Smirking, Gabe swung his legs off the exercise bike and stood right in front of Sam, completely invading his personal space. Looking up, he practically purred,
"Cheesy they might be, Sasquatch, but I can tell that they're working."
Gabe's voice definitely didn't send shivers down Sam's spine.
"Don't be ridiculous." Sam replied, ignoring the way that his voice had clearly got lower in pitch in response to Gabe's advances.
Gabe chuckled. "Just admit it to yourself. You want me. I want you. Why shouldn't we have a little fun?"
Sam attempted to step back, but was thwarted by the wall behind him.
"It's not professional of me. I'm working. Besides, I don't do casual sex."
Gabe raised his eyebrows. "Neither do I! I'm not suggestion a one-time thing here. Trust me, I wouldn't let someone like you go that easily." His eyes raked over Sam's body.
Sam sighed. "What are you suggesting, friends with benefits? Personal trainer with benefits? Because sorry, but I don't do that either. I don't even know you, you don't even know me. Hooking up with someone based on appearance isn't something I would ever do."
Well, he was trying not to do it. Gabe was making it quite tempting. No, he wasn't allowed to think that, he wasn't allowed to think that...
"Of course that's not what I'm saying! You think that just because I like to joke around, this isn't serious? Why do you think I picked this gym?"
Sam paused, standing up straighter where he was leaning back against the wall. "What?"
"This isn't the first time we've met, Sasquatch. You come into my shop once a fortnight, normally on your own, but sometimes with a guy I presume is your brother. You always buy 200g of rainbow candy – one of my personal favourites, by the way – but he prefers to buy the mini pies. You've always intrigued me. Once you mentioned that you were a personal trainer here, and I remembered it. So when Cas said I had to join a gym, I signed up here, and requested you. So, shall I ask again? Are you interested in trying this thing?"
Sam frowned, thinking. "Wait, you run that sweet shop on the high street?"
"Bingo! Did it never register when you saw my name? That I might run Trickster's Treats? My middle name is Loki, for crying out loud!"
Meeting Gabe's gaze, Sam shrugged. "I just didn't think of it. Sorry."
Gabe sighed, suddenly looking much older. "I should've known this was a bad idea. You've a personal trainer, you could have your pick of beautiful, fit girls or guys. You're probably not even gay."
"You're right, I'm not." Sam paused. "I'm bi."
A flicker of hope crossed Gabe's features. "Seriously?"
"Seriously. My brother gave me a load of stick when I first came out, but I didn't really care. It's none of his business, anyway."
Gabe continued to look at Sam with an admiring and hopeful expression. Sam sighed.
"Alright. You're a client, and while we're here, nothing is going to happen. I'm not like that. But if you want, maybe I'll let you take me out on a date. To see if you're willing to do this properly. Ok?"
Gabe grinned, before lunging forwards and hugging Sam. Surprised, Sam froze for a moment before tentatively hugging back. Gabe was very warm pressed up against him – it was a sensation he thought he could get used to.
"You're the best, Sasquatch!"
Sam chuckled. "If you say so."
Gabe smiled, continuing to press his face into Sam's chest.
Sam cleared his throat. "Right, now that that's sorted, shall we sort out the rest of your fitness programme?"
Gabe groaned, stepping back. "Seriously? Right now? Couldn't I just press you up against that wall and kiss you instead?"
Sam fixed Gabe with what Dean had dubbed as his 'supreme bitch face'.
"I told you, while I'm at work, we act professional." He paused. "Besides, you're like half my size and half as muscular. Do you really think you could take me?"
A huge smile came over Gabe's face.
"Well, I guess we've found my fitness goal then, Sasquatch."
Sam dropped his head into his hands. What had he gotten himself into...
So was this good? Bad? Awful? Please leave your comments in a review, good or bad – constructive criticism is very welcome, I always love suggestions on how I can improve my writing! And as I said earlier, if you have any suggestions of jobs that you want characters to have in an AU, either for Supernatural or something else, please do tell me in a PM or a review and I'll give it a go!