"I don't understand how it even works with you two," Dean teased, looking between Sam and Gabriel and shaking his head at them. "You have Gigantor over here who could probably pick up radio stations out in California if you attached a coat hanger to the top of his head, and then you have you," he pointed at Gabriel, who was currently sitting in Sam's lap with a sucker stick hanging out of his mouth, "who could pass more for a lawn gnome more than an all powerful archangel."
Gabriel rolled his eyes at the older Winchester, letting out a small, barely audible sigh, not wanting to comment right then. If it were any other day, Dean would have been shown right then and there how much of an all powerful archangel he could be when he wanted to, but right now… he just wasn't feeling all that up to it. Gabriel had been doing some thinking lately, about his home and how much he really did miss his brothers and sisters and all around feeling, for the first time in forever, homesick. Not to mention the fact that he was really the last of the archangels alive on Earth. That really had a tendency to put a damper on things.
So, instead of commenting on Dean's observations, he just flipped him the bird and curled closer to Sam, letting the quite larger man wrap him up in his arms and shield him from Dean.
"Just remember that my true form is a lot bigger than Cassie's, Dean-o," he said weakly. "And you know how big he is."
A chuckle sounded from the other side of the room and Dean turned his attention to the window, where Castiel was sitting in the middle of the yard with a book and a whole hoard of bees buzzing around him. "Yeah I do, and I gotta say, you wouldn't really think it looking at him. It was a shock." He shook his head and a loving smile lit up the elder Winchester's face.
Sam just rolled his eyes and tapped Gabriel on the shoulder, signaling that he wanted to get up, and left the room for a moment to get something to drink.
Gabriel curled up in Sam's spot, bringing his legs up on the couch and making himself as small as possible. "Whatever, Dean-o. I'm sure I could probably give Cas a run for his money. What I lack in size I make up for in length. I made sure of that when I created this thing." He gestured to his body and waggled his eyebrows.
Dean shot him a confused look. "Thought angels had to take vessels? I didn't know you could make 'em. And even if that's true, why'd you pick something so tiny? As cocky as you are, I'da figured you'd pick something more like Sam."
"Seraphs have to take vessels. I'm an archangel. I have a loooot more power than Cas does. And on top of that, I'm the Trickster. I can do whatever the hell I want." Gabriel fell silent for a moment, thinking about his reasoning for creating such a small vessel for himself, and felt another pang of sadness in his heart. "S'far as the vessel size goes… I had to be inconspicuous. I thought that nobody'd take somebody like me as the Messenger of God."
"Aren't you usually pictured in a female vessel, too?"
"Part of the witness protection," Gabriel shrugged and repressed a sigh of relief when Sam came back and moved so the other man could sit down and crawled back up into his lap. "I prefer male over female, anyway." he told Dean after a moment. "Although, I'm so used to this body, I'm probably being a little biased…" He chuckled although it held little humor in it and closed his eyes, hoping to let Sam take over the conversation from this point on.
Sam's arms were around him then and Gabriel leaned into the embrace, a small, genuine smile on his face. "I'd love Gabe no matter what he decided to be. He's still my angel,"
"Still, you'd think he'd make himself a little taller. If only so you didn't have to strain yourself every time you tried to kiss him." Dean snorted.
Gabriel was laying on his back on his and Sam's bed, his heart heavy and his mind racing with regrets about leaving home. Not to mention, a whole new load of insecurities about himself and Sam. What if Sam decided to leave him because he wasn't bigger or more built or just everything he wasn't? He sighed and turned over onto his side, curling up into a small ball, the covers up over his head and burrowed as deep into the blankets as possible. He didn't want to imagine his life without Sam in it.
He heard the door open and somebody sit down beside him, laying a hand on his hip. "Gabe?" They whispered, the voice soft and instantly recognizable. He pulled the covers back just enough so he could look at Sam and curled close to the taller man. "What's up?"
Gabriel shook his head and closed his eyes, not really wanting to get into the issues he was having with his own cowardly self. "I'm fine, Sammy." He mumbled, his arms wrapping around Sam under the blankets.
"No you're not. Gabriel, I've known you for almost four years now. I know when you're not fine. Now what's wrong?"
Gabriel took a deep breath and pulled the covers down a little more, and his eyes filled with sadness. "I miss home," he said after a moment. "I miss my brothers and I'm the last of the archangels left alive. I'm all alone. And you're gonna end up leaving me for somebody better. Somebody taller. Somebody that's perfect."
Sam dipped his head and sighed, pulling Gabriel out of his cocoon of blankets and making him look at him. "You know that if you wanted to go back, you can. Don't feel like you've got to stay here because of me." He had no idea what to say about Gabriel being the last archangel, so instead, Sam pulled the shorter man into his arms, cradling Gabriel's head under his chin and holding onto him for dear life. "I'm not going to leave you, Gabe. You're who I want to spend the rest of my life with. And so what if you're not extremely tall? If you were, I wouldn't be able to do this,"
He stood then, holding the angel against him and smiling up at him. Gabriel wrapped his legs around Sam's waist, his arms around his neck, and leaned down and kissed him. "I like when you do that," he mumbled, feeling a little embarrassed with himself.
"Don't worry about what Dean says, babe. He's just being an ass. I love you just like you are. You're the perfect size."
Sam put him down and Gabriel wrapped his arms around Sam's waist, his head resting on his chest, and closed his eyes, not believing that he deserved somebody as perfect as Sam was. "I won't ever leave you, kiddo," he promised. "You're my new home, and as much as I miss it up there, I'd miss you twice as much. I love you, you stupid moose."
Gabriel leaned up on his tiptoes and kissed Sam, trying to covey as much love into the gesture as possible, and in return, the taller man met him in the middle so it wasn't such a stretch.