Title: I Melted Wax To Fix My Wings
Author: TardisIsTheOnlyWayToTravel (aceofannwn on LJ)
Pairings: Sam/Gabriel, Dean/Castiel
Setting: Set across season 4 & 5. AU.
Summary: After four torturous months Sam has his brother back, but Dean is accompanied by an angel with a terrible task for them both: help stop the impending apocalypse, or see the world destroyed. Sam has no idea what to do next when the Trickster turns up, blonde and female this time but as maddening as ever, promising assistance. As time Sam finds himself slowly coming to depend on the pagan Trickster god, but just when it looks like the apocalypse can be averted, the Winchester luck kicks in and threatens to ruin everything - including Sam's friendship with Loki.
Notes: This was written for the Sam/Gabriel and Sam&Gabriel mini-bang over at sabriel-mini on livejournal. It was betaed by theblackrose16 on LJ. The title comes from a line in the song Dumb Things by Paul Kelly and the Coloured Girls, which in my mind is kind of the anthem for this fic. Because season 4 and 5 is all about people doing dumb things because someone has to.
Also, at 26,000+ words, this is far and away the longest thing I've ever written. What can I say? I love Gabriel, and this story is one I've wanted to write for a long time.
I Melted Wax To Fix My Wings
Chapter One
It had been four torturous months, but Sam finally had his brother back: changed, troubled, but still the Dean that Sam remembered.
The problem was that he'd been accompanied by an angel – yeah, an angel – which had made dire pronouncements and burdened them with something that was so out of their league that Sam had no idea even where to begin dealing with it.
Dean was moody and suspicious and unexpectedly hostile, too, and while Sam probably should have expected that, the fact remained that he hadn't.
Sam sighed to himself.
There was so much to work through. Having Dean back did make it all worthwhile, but Sam wished that he had some kind of clue what he was supposed to do next, about any of it.
"Hey there, Sam."
Sam spun around.
There was a woman sitting on Sam's bed who hadn't been there a second ago. She had straight, honey-blonde hair and dark, green-flecked amber eyes, and was watching him with an impish expression.
"Who the hell are you?" Sam demanded, grabbing his gun. "How did you get in here?"
The woman just raised her eyebrows, not in the least intimidated.
"Aw, come on Sam, don't you recognise me?"
She snapped her fingers with a slight smirk, and ripped open the wrapper of the chocolate bar that had just appeared in her lap.
There was only one person Sam had ever met with that particular ability and that infuriating smirk.
"Trickster!" Sam snarled.
He hadn't seen the supernatural being since the Mystery Spot, and had only met him – her – once before that, but he would never forget her. After what she'd done to Dean…
"Hey, so you do remember me." The Trickster smiled sunnily at him.
"What do you want?" Sam hissed.
"I want to help." The Trickster munched on her chocolate bar.
"Excuse me?"
"Look, the End of Days is coming, right? Right now, you're seriously outclassed, and it's going to take some serious power on your side if you want to stop the apocalypse. That's why I'm here."
She crumpled the empty chocolate wrapper.
"You," Sam said disbelievingly, "want to help us prevent the apocalypse?"
"Duh. Sure, this world isn't perfect, but it's the only one we've got, and it's not like I can get chocolate or cable TV anywhere else. This thing goes forward, I'm going to be all dressed up with no place to go, so it's really in my best interests to help you knuckleheads."
The Trickster proffered a bag of Skittles in Sam's direction.
"Want a Skittle?"
"What? No!" They were discussing the end of the world, and she was offering him Skittles?
Like he'd trust anything she gave him, anyway.
"Suit yourself." She shrugged and ate one. "You know, if you and your brother had just learned to let each other go like I said, we wouldn't have this problem. But what's done is done, I guess."
"Wait, you knew this would happen?" Sam asked sharply.
"I know a lot of things," the Trickster told him. "I hang with all the cool people, means I get to hear a lot of interesting things. Plus I'm nosy, and I'm good at sneaking around. No one expects the janitor to be a Norse Trickster god in disguise."
She thought for a second.
"Mind you, they should, because I'm notorious for that sort of thing. But yeah, I knew. Didn't really want to get involved, but I knew. What do you think Mystery Spot was all about, huh?" She waved a finger in Sam's direction admonishingly. "You and your brother and your weird co-dependency thing you've got going. But like I said, not much we can do about the past. All I can do is try and stop you morons from doing anything else stupid."
Sam took a deep breath and ran a hand through his hair, trying to calm down and think this through.
Something the Trickster had said caught his attention.
"Norse Trickster god? You're Loki?"
She grinned at him.
"I knew you were the smart Winchester. Yup, I'm Loki. Trickster god, lord of fire, and purveyor of chaos. Much better to have me on your side than not, believe me."
Sam didn't like it, at all, but he had to admit that Loki had made a reasonable point. If he and Dean were going to help the angels prevent the apocalypse, they could really do with some help.
And Sam had to admit, the Trickster was powerful.
"How do I know I can trust you?" he asked the god.
Loki paused in her Skittle-eating to smirk at him.
Sam had always been enraged by that smirk; all the Trickster had to do was let the corners of his mouth twist up in smug amusement and Sam instantly wanted to kill him. On Loki's current face, however, Sam was dismayed and perturbed to find that the smirk was as alluring as it was maddening.
"You don't," Loki said simply, her eyes glinting. "You're just gonna have to trust me on this one, Sam. Should be an adventure, huh?" Her expression shifted into an amused grin. "Anyway, I'll let you think it through. But do me a favour? Don't mention me to your brother or the kid angel just yet. Feathers is waaay too uptight. Probably try and smite me, or something."
Before Sam could reply, the Trickster snapped her fingers, and Sam was suddenly alone in the motel room.
Sam thought about Loki's words for the next few days, without mentioning his encounter to Dean.
He still really didn't like the idea of joining forces with the Trickster; he – she was a nasty piece of work, and Sam hadn't forgotten the dull, crushing despair of being forced to watch her come up with new ways of killing Dean every single day.
But on the other hand, the possible destruction of the earth kind of took priority over Sam's issues, and he couldn't help thinking how helpful Loki could be if she genuinely tried to be, and she'd seemed sincere enough.
The reasoning she'd given certainly made sense: the Trickster was all about the good life, and there was nothing good about the possibility of Lucifer bringing the apocalypse.
"So, come to any decisions yet, Sam?"
Sam almost levitated from his seat, and glared across the table at the small blonde watching him innocently.
"What are you doing here?" Sam hissed.
Loki shrugged.
"I was wondering if you've decided whether to accept my help."
She peered at Sam's book.
"Does your brother know you sometimes get distracted by epic poetry when you're supposed to be researching?"
Sam slammed the book shut. Loki smirked.
"I'm having some trouble with the idea of trusting you," Sam said sarcastically, "although I'm sure that comes as a total surprise to you."
"Not really. I can swear an oath, if you like. They're binding for gods, you know." Her mouth curled up at one corner. "Well, if you get the wording right."
"Go away," Sam growled. "If I decide to accept your offer I'll, I don't know, call out or something."
"Suit yourself." Loki stood. "Although, a piece of advice? That demon girlfriend of yours, Ruby? She's a Lucifer groupie hoping to manipulate you into breaking the final seal. She's well on her way to getting what she wants. You might want to cut back on the demon blood before it damns you."
Before Sam could snarl at her to mind her own damn business, Loki vanished.
Sam seethed quietly.
Two weeks later and Sam was mentally swearing to himself as he left the bar.
Ed Brewer had been the perfect distraction, he had to admit – creepy, kinda reclusive, and slightly obsessed with Jamie. That didn't make Sam any happier that he'd failed to notice the real killer.
Dean was out there somewhere at the mercy of a murderous shapeshifter – and generally speaking, shapeshifters weren't real merciful.
"Well hey there, Winchester!"
Sam spun around.
There was a familiar blonde woman standing in the street behind him, munching on a twizzler and grinning at him.
Sam felt a weird mix of exasperation and relief as he made a split-second decision.
He got straight to the point.
"You want to help us, right?"
The Trickster peered at him curiously.
"Sure."
Sam didn't hesitate.
"A shapeshifter's got Dean somewhere, I dunno exactly where, and I don't have time to figure it out. Can you take me to him?"
Loki's eyes lit up with pleasure.
"Sure!" she chirped, and shoving the rest of the twizzler in her mouth, twined one of her hands with Sam's while her free hand made a snapping motion.
There was a dizzying rushing feeling that gave Sam a moment of vertigo, and the next moment Sam and Loki were standing in the middle of someone's house.
Loki let go of Sam's hand and pointed at the nearest door.
"You'll find him downstairs in the basement," she said casually, like it was no big thing.
Sam didn't spare another moment, opening the door cautiously and beginning to creep down the stairs.
"You're welcome, Sam," the Trickster's voice drifted down behind him, sounding both amused and vaguely peeved.
Sam just blinked as he walked into what looked like a giant dungeon, where Dean was strapped to a generator and – what the fuck? – dressed in lederhosen.
Sam wasted no time in crossing the room to untie his brother, and Dean's face lit up in relief.
"Oh, thank God," he told Sam. "Just in the nick of time. That guy was about to Frankenstein me."
Just as well Sam had asked the Trickster for help, then.
Pushing aside the thought of what might have happened if he hadn't, Sam finished untying Dean, and paused to properly survey the ridiculous sight that was his brother.
"Hey there, handsome," he said blandly.
God, it really did look ludicrous.
Dean scowled as he remembered what he was wearing.
"Shut up!" he barked, trying not to look embarrassed.
And hey, not only had Sam been in time to save Dean, he got to mock him for wearing lederhosen. Bonus.
"Let's go," Sam said, kicking down the door.
It all went basically as expected after that – Sam and Dean confront monster, monster dies, girl is saved, Dean takes girl back to motel room and sexiles Sam because he is a giant dick.
Yeah. Sam wasn't exactly happy about that last one.
Sam scowled and tried to make himself more comfortable on the back seat of the Impala, and pretty much failed.
He let out a frustrated sigh, which was interrupted by the sound of someone rapping on the glass.
He opened his eyes in surprise, just in time to see the Trickster appear out of nowhere, slouched back in the front passenger seat with her feet resting in the driver's seat.
Sam stared: she was wearing baggy denim overalls and a – he squinted in the dim light from the street lights – pink t-shirt decorated with a print of old-fashioned candy in clear plastic twisted wrappers.
It was unexpectedly cute.
"What are you wearing?" he asked blankly.
Loki cheerfully threw a malteaser at him. It bounced off his forehead and rolled down off his chest onto the floor. Dean would kill him.
"Screw you," she said amiably. "Dean sexiling you?"
Sam didn't ask how the heck she knew that. Goddamn god was probably watching them when they didn't know about it.
"Yeah." He cleared his throat. "Thanks for earlier, by the way. If I'd been any later... well, it would have been too late."
Loki smirked at him and dug around the malteasers packet for a handful of candy.
"You're welcome, sasquatch. Glad to be of service."
There was a moment's silence, while Loki chewed noisily and the malteasers packet made rustling noises, and Sam thought about what he wanted to say.
"So, I've been thinking about what you said."
The Trickster didn't need to ask what about. She raised her eyebrows.
"Yeah?"
"And I've been looking at oaths," Sam continued, "and if you really do want to help, well..."
Loki grinned widely and shoved the malteasers into one copious pocket, and wiped her hands off on her pants. She bounced a bit as she sat up and folded her legs underneath her, and Sam had to crush the errant thought that it was adorable.
She was a Trickster god, for crying out loud. Having those kind of thoughts about her was definitely a bad idea.
"Okay then," Loki said, her expression falling into something more serious, although the brightness in her eyes remained. "You know how this works?"
"Sort of," Sam replied, not really wanting to admit that the information he'd been able to find on Norse oaths was incomplete.
The Trickster seemed to understand what he wasn't saying. She rolled her eyes.
"All right, kiddo, this is how it works. I'll start off by telling you who I am and what I've done. Then I'll make the conditions of the oath, list off the repercussions should I break any of them, and then we seal it in blood. That sound alright to you?"
"Yeah, sounds good," Sam agreed, starting to feel nervous – binding oaths and pagan gods, not a good combination.
He reminded himself that it was the god being bound here, not him.
It did nothing to shift the nervous feeling.
"Better not do this inside the car, though," Sam added loyally. "If I get blood on the upholstery, Dean'll kick my ass."
Loki smirked.
"We'll get a hotel room, then," she promised.
Sam swallowed as the suggestion conjured up fleeting images he instantly banished.
"Okay."
The two of them checked into a room, Sam resolutely ignoring the check-in clerk's wink and thumbs-up behind Loki's back. He was pretty sure she'd seen it, though, because she'd suggestively waggled her eyebrows at him with an amused expression.
No. Just – no.
He followed Loki into the motel room and sat on the floor opposite her when she waved him down.
A snap of the fingers, and the god was holding an ornate dagger that hadn't been there a moment before.
Shit, Sam felt nervous.
"So, normally the thing would be to do this at a temple, but there aren't any temples left, and anyway, I'm a god, so it doesn't matter so much where we do this. You good to go?"
Sam stared into the Trickster's eyes, unusually-solemn and almost golden as they reflected the light slanting in through the louvers from the street light right outside the window.
"Yeah."
Loki nodded, and sat back on her heels.
"I am Loki the Trickster, Loki the Lyresmith, who is Lord of fire and of chaos," she intoned, holding the dagger loosely in her left hand. "I am Loki of the Aesir, born of the Jotun, who is all things hidden and known, who pricks the pride of gods and men alike and who sees that all receive their just desserts."
Loki's eyes had lit up like lamps, smoky-gold and glowing in the half-light. The sight was weirdly mesmerising.
"I have done both good deeds and evil, brave deeds and cowardly, and many have cursed my name across the ages. But here, now, I make this oath: that I will lend my aid to Sam Winchester and to his brother, in their efforts to prevent the apocalypse; that I will never betray either of them; never let their secrets be known; nor allow the enemy to seize victory over them where my efforts might prevent it; and should I break this oath, let my powers as Trickster God be stripped from me, my followers desert me, and all my secrets be laid bare. But Trickster though I am, my cause is just, and I am true to my word."
The Trickster held out her right hand, and slashed across the open palm without flinching.
Sam took the offered dagger.
"I accept your oath," he said, and awkwardly slashed open his own palm.
Loki slipped her hand into his for a moment, gripping lightly, so that their blood mingled.
Then, with a small sigh, she let go.
With a snap of the fingers, both their injured hands were bandaged.
Sam let out a breath he hadn't known he was holding.
"That's it?"
Loki smirked.
"That's it. What were you expecting? Lightning and rainbows?"
"I don't know." Sam climbed to his feet, and offered her a hand up without thinking. "Something more impressive, I guess."
"Tough luck, Goliath. That was it."
"Right," Sam said. "Uh, I'm going to have to try and think of a way to explain this to Dean."
Loki snorted.
"That's gonna be fun."
Sam scowled, but didn't disagree.
"Well, now we've got that out of the way, I'm going to skedaddle. Tricks to play, people to punish, you know the drill. Oh, and Sam?" She reached up to flick him on the forehead. "Enjoy the room."
With one last, pleased smirk, Loki disappeared with a quiet snap.
"Well, I'm not gonna complain," Sam murmured.
A free motel room to himself beat being sexiled to the Impala any day.