The first thing Gabriel remembers is Raphael's smirk as the blade hit Gabriel's ribs.
The next thing he remembers is a lot of noise and his name being shouted urgently.
He remembers flashes of the roof of a car that was going faster than it should
He remembers Sam's face; the tears making their way down and off his chin; his mouth forming incoherent words as Gabriel fought for consciousness.
Gabriel finally awoke on a bed in a motel room that he didn't recognise. The only other occupant of the room was currently sat with his feet propped up on the bed, head lolling slightly as he slept. Sam Winchester looked like he hadn't slept properly in days.
Gabriel became aware of a stinging sensation in his ribs combined with an itch he needed to scratch. He moved slightly trying not to wake the younger Winchester but ended up kicking Sam's feet to the floor. Sam awoke with a start.
"You're awake!" said Sam. The shock that registered on Sam's face surprised Gabriel.
"I'm not dead?" The statement came out as a question directed towards Sam instead.
"No." Sam edged forwards his arms stretched; he looked out of place and unsure of his actions. Gabriel made to sit up and was stopped by the pain in his side.
"What happened?"
Sam's face dropped, his head drooped and his eyes filled with tears.
Sam and Dean were on the trail of some rogue demons and had traced them to an old abandoned warehouse in the middle of nowhere. They had gone in the back way covering each other's backs the way they always had. It had seemed like they had miscalculated when Sam had heard raised voices coming from a room just off the main corridor.
He signalled to Dean to cover his back as he went to investigate. A quick look into the room and Sam had discovered that instead of the demons he was expecting, it was two angels; two archangels to be specific. It seemed that Raphael and Gabriel were just talking, when Sam saw the flash of the blade aimed towards Gabriel's stomach.
Without thinking, he burst into the room and tackled Raphael. Dean followed him wrestling the blade out of Raphael's hands and turning it on the archangel himself. A flash of white and the vessel lay still.
Dean looked around, looking for Sammy and found him knelt over the Gabriel cradling his head in his lap, hands over the stab wound.
"Dean, we gotta go, now".
Dean and Sam wasted no time getting the tiny archangel into the back of the impala. Luckily for them, there were only one set of wing imprints on the ground of the warehouse and they belonged to Raphael.
"Drive faster, Dean" was all Sam had said in response to his unusual behaviour. The last Dean had known Sam disliked Gabriel as much as he did. Sam's expression and worried glances into the rear view mirror had Dean rethinking.
As soon as they pulled into the motel parking lot Sam had flung open the back door and had pulled Gabriel carefully but urgently into the motel room, seemingly not stopping to open the door. Dean followed making sure that Sam hadn't attracted any unwanted attention to them.
He closed the door to the motel room and locked it, pouring salt at the door. Dean moved over to the bed that Sam had laid Gabriel on and helped Sam move the cotton of Gabriel's undershirt out of the way.
Sam carefully cleaned the wound before reaching for the needle and thread. He sewed the archangel up with small precise stitches, never saying a word. When the stitches were to his satisfaction, Sam cleaned the wound, and put a clean bandage on it. If Dean hadn't been watching closely, he'd have missed the way Sam's fingers slightly stroked Gabriel's wound before he pulled back. Sam pulled one of the chairs over to the side of the bed and sat down facing Gabriel.
Dean knew Sam's stubbornness would beat his own and laid down for the night in the other bed. He awoke earlier than normal, aware that Sam hadn't slept at all, preferring to watch the archangel and wait for him to wake up. As he suspected Sam hadn't moved an inch all night; he didn't even move when Dean laid a hand on his shoulder and mentioned that he was going for breakfast.
Alone in the motel room aside from the sleeping (Sam refused to think of him any other way) archangel, Sam allowed tears to finally fall from his eyes.
"Come on Gabriel, wake up, it's barely a scratch. I know we don't always see eye to eye but please. I know you've been helping us. The demons in Nebraska? I know that was you who got me out of that one. I know we ended badly when you told me you were Gabriel, but I never stopped loving you. Please, just come back to me"
Sam heard the lock snick and quickly wiped his face. Dean entered the room quietly, placing the bags of food on the table.
"Breakfast Sammy?" said Dean. It was clear Dean was just trying to get things back to normal, despite the presence of an incapacitated archangel. Sam shook his head, but accepted the coffee cup that was passed his way.
The day passed in silence, Dean getting more and more agitated as the day went on. He stayed in one position for about an hour before moving. His research accumulated to nothing and it seemed that the demons had moved on from the town. Night fell, and Dean left to find the nearest bar. Sam didn't move a muscle.
Dean had been gone half an hour before Sam let his eyelids win out and he fell into a light sleep.
"And that's it" Sam trailed off pathetically. He chanced a look at Gabriel, whose face did not betray his emotions.
"You should be fine in a few days, with rest" whispered Sam as he made to move away from the bed.
"Wait." Gabriel's voice made Sam stop in his tracks.
"Look Sammy" Sam tensed at the nickname "Sam... Whatever you think, I'm still me. I'm still the person you had a relationship with, and whilst I may have not told you I was an archangel, I didn't lie about anything else."
Sam turned around to face Gabriel fully. The archangel had managed to sit up awkwardly leaning on his good side so as not to agitate the stitches. It was unusual seeing an archangel so human, so injured.
Gabriel rolled his eyes at Sam's blank look, and moved himself so there was space left on the bed for another person.
"Come on then big boy, come play nursemaid"
There was a moment's hesitation before Sam moved towards the motel bed and climbed in to the side of Gabriel.
"Now you get some sleep, you need it more than I do. Angel remember"
Careful of the still healing wound, Sam wrapped himself around his angel, burying his nose in the hair on the back of Gabriel's neck.
"I love you" Sam whispered, his eyes dropping and his breath becoming even.
"I love you too kiddo."