Nothing much to say to this one. Slash, season five spoilers and so on. Will make more sense if you read "Whisper a Sunset" first.
Dean knows it might have been a good idea to do this in a church or something. He's the one asking for favours here (much as that grates at him) and it'd probably help to show some respect, but hell if he's going to pretend at something he doesn't feel.
Instead Dean is sitting on a motel bed. He pulls his boots off and drops them to the floor.
Well, he might as well get it over with. It's not like he thinks it will do anything anyway.
"God," he says. "You better be listening. Look, this isn't my idea, but… shit, could you bring Gabriel back?"
An angel appears in front of him.
"That was easy."
Gabriel sticks his hands in his pockets in an oddly defensive gesture.
"Yeah, maybe not," the angel says.
"Gabriel?"
"Look, this isn't my idea."
"Gabriel, what the hell are you talking about?"
The angel is trying to look casual. Dean's seen that look before, that tired, resigned glint under the bravado and casual unconcern.
"Dad has me doing the messenger gig for this. It's temporary."
"God sent you to tell me he won't bring you back?" He'd like to say he can't believe it, but his opinion of God isn't that good.
"Not exactly," Gabriel hedges.
"Gabriel…" Dean starts, irritated. He looks at the archangel and sighs. "Just tell me," he says tiredly. "I won't blame you, okay."
Gabriel gives him a sceptical look. "You better not."
The angel fidgets a bit more. "Okay, first things first. Sammy's out."
"What?" Dean yells. "How did… where…?" He tries to ask.
Sam. Sammy's alive.
"Calm down kiddo. All I know is, baby bro is out and he's all Sammy again. And you can't run of to go look for him yet."
"The hell I can't," Dean shouts, without really thinking. All he hears is someone telling him he can't see his brother.
"Because there's more, you idiot," Gabriel snaps back.
Dean would argue back, he really wants to argue back, because this is Sam they're talking about. Except that he's looking at Gabriel and he catches a brief glance of what's hiding under the angel's annoyance and the words die in his throat.
Gabriel is fucking terrified.
It's gone fast enough that Dean almost doubts what he saw, all the angel looks like now is annoyed and a bit fidgety. There's no gut clenching blind terror, but Dean's seen that look too many times (he's avoided too many mirrors just so he won't see it in his own eyes) not to recognise it and it was there. He's sure of it.
"Yeah," Dean says and has no idea what to do about it. "Okay."
"So you're going to listen now?" Gabriel asks, sounding angrier than the situation really warrants.
"I'm listening."
"You sure?"
And there's something more than wrong here. Sure, Gabriel is more or less an asshole most of the time, but not like this. For one, Gabriel sure as hell isn't having any fun here.
Dean's first reaction would be to demand to know what the fuck Gabriel's problem is, but there's something so off with this whole situation that Dean bites back on it. "Yeah, I'm sure," he says instead and can't really help it if he still sounds a bit pissed.
"Well, then… If this," Gabriel spreads his hands to indicate himself, "is what you want for a reward, then Dad's giving it to you."
"So what's the catch?" Things don't happen just like that, someone doesn't just give Dean everything he wants. His brother and the angel back alive, just like that. No, it just doesn't happen.
Gabriel takes a deep breath and looks like he's readying himself for a blow.
"You go see Sam and I stay human, or you stay away from Sam and I get my mojo back."
"What the fuck?" Dean finally explodes. "What kind of fucking choice is that?"
"Sorry kiddo, them's the breaks," Gabriel shrugs and gives him a shadow of his usual grin. "At least I'm alive."
That's when Gabriel's words register. "Stay human? You're…?"
Gabriel shrugs again. "I guess I'll get used to it. And it is better than the alternative."
Okay that's it. Dean gets up from the bed and pulls Gabriel into a hug. It suddenly registers how damned small he is in Dean's arms. Small and fragile and fucking human.
Gabriel was never small before.
Gabriel doesn't hug him back, he just leans into Dean and goes all limp until Dean's pretty much all that's keeping him up.
"Gabriel?"
"Dad's pissed," Gabriel mumbles against Dean's shoulder.
"Fuck Gabe, I'm sorry."
"Well I didn't think he'd be happy."