A/N- There's a saddening lack of Hallucifer being Gabriel to mess with Sam. First Supernatural fic. It seemed like a good idea at the time.
Lucifer is quiet, but Sam knows better by this point. He knows exactly how this game is played. He'll start to drift, so close to the sleep he desperately needs, and Lucifer will return with some bright new torture.
The room starts to blur. Sam's eyes close, but his body is tense, knowing any minute this will end. The seconds crawl by without any startling events, and slowly, slowly, slowly his muscles start to loosen. A hand strokes his hair, and part of Sam knows it's about to start again. Most of him is too close to sleep to care, and it feels nice. Comforting.
"I got you, kiddo. Sleep."
Sam throws himself out of bed. If he'd been coherent enough to try guessing what Lucifer would try next, this would never have occurred to him. Gabriel sits on the bed, looking confused, one hand still raised, hasn't lowered it from where Sam's head used to be.
"Sam, what's wrong?" he asks, all innocence, like he didn't die years ago on a stormy night in Indiana. Like he's not another trick of Lucifer's.
Sam shakes his head, as if the motion will banish the illusion. "No. Stop it."
Because he can deal with Lucifer. He can accept that the Devil is going to screw with him until he dies in a few short days. Sam has come to terms with that. But this is crossing a line.
Gabriel laughs, but it's not his voice. Sam blinks and Lucifer is back.
"I thought you deserved a break," he says with a shrug.