A/N: Enjoy... not much to say... again, I'm on tumblr and twitter. aleishapotter on tumblr, aleisha_potter7 on twitter. Follow if you want!
Long Journey
Chapter Two
Sam sat at the small table in the motel room he and Dean had picked for the night. They were following the trail of what they believed was a nest of vampires. It was tedious, everyday hunting, and a blessed break from world ending issues. He was staring at a map of the area, each body found was signified with a mark, when he felt his eyes start to droop.
Sam glanced around. He was in a room, a room familiar for what it was, if not for where. He was very obviously in a library. An old library.
"The Library at Alexandria," a familiar voice intoned.
Sam turned to face Gabriel, resplendent in white robes with the most delicate gold edging. Sam gaped when Gabriel's words penetrated his surprised brain.
"Wait, what?" he asked, looking around the massive room in awe.
"The Library at Alexandria. The most comprehensive collection of ancient and holy texts in the physical world. Magic and mysticism, history and lore, it can all be found here," Gabriel explained.
"And it no longer exists," Sam whispered, eyes taking in every detail possible.
Gabriel gave a sad sigh.
"Yeah, I remember that part," he agreed softly.
"So... what are we doing here?" Sam asked.
"I've read every text in here. You're searching for something, something important. I can remember that much. Since I've read everything here, and angels have picture perfect memories, you can search the texts... at least I think," Gabriel explained. "I... I could feel you, before you showed up. I focused on this and here we are. I just wish I knew what we were looking for," Gabriel muttered, walking off down the central aisle.
Sam followed Gabriel. It was easy to keep up with the shorter man, which made Sam wonder if Gabriel's physical form was a manifestation of Sam's mind, or the angel's.
"Wait," Sam called out, focusing on what Gabriel had said earlier, "you focused on this place? Meaning you can control the environment? So, are we actually in your mind, not mine?" he asked.
Gabriel stopped walking and turned to face Sam.
"I don't know where we are. Maybe we're in some shared dream space," he offered with a shrug before turning and walking off again.
Sam followed, but just as they were approaching a table with several unrolled scrolls, Gabriel spun back to face him.
"You're going to leave," he stated.
Sam opened his mouth to ask what he meant, but before the words could come out, he was jerked awake.
"There's been another body, completely drained of blood," Dean told him with a grim look when he came to. Sam rubbed a hand over his face. Great.
"Alright, give me a minute and we can head out," he said, scrambling to throw his papers and maps and laptop into his bag. Gabriel and that dilemma would have to wait.
Dean threw himself down on the bed. Another dead end. He couldn't figure out how the vamps were moving so damn fast. They would literally hit a town, kill one person, and then disappear, showing up a few hundred miles down the road a few days later. They were two steps ahead of Sam and Dean and it was driving him nuts.
He felt Cas before he saw him. A slight tingle through the bond just before the soft flutter of wings broke the silence of the room.
"Hey, Cas," Dean greeted, not bothering to open his eyes.
"Hello, Dean," Cas greeted. He felt the bed dip as the angel took a seat next to him on the bed.
"Missed you," Dean mumbled, moving closer to the warm body.
"You're upset," Cas whispered wrapping an arm around Dean.
"People are dying, Cas, and we're stuck two damn steps behind," Dean muttered angrily.
Cas carded his fingers through Dean's hair.
"You shouldn't blame yourself for the actions of monsters. You and Sam will figure it out, you always do," Cas told him.
"Yeah, but how many more people have to die before we figure it out?" he asked, feeling the angry guilt growing.
Cas sighed and Dean felt a soothing peace flowed through the bond. The angel leaned over and pressed his lips to Dean's.
"Stop carrying the world on your shoulders, Dean. You do the best you can, no one can ask more of you," he told him, a slight growl to his words.
Dean swallowed and nodded. He knew better than to argue with Cas about this.
Cas pulled him close, wrapping his body around Dean's.
"Sleep," the other man ordered. Dean closed his eyes, giving in to his exhaustion.
Dean was just on the edge of oblivion when a flare of panic and pain shot through the bond. Cas shot up from his place beside him, a hand gripping his chest. He was panting, hard, a look of fear on his face.
"Claire," he whispered fearfully. Cas looked at him with wide eyes. "I have to go."
Dean opened his mouth to ask what was going on but Cas cut him off with a brief kiss. With a flutter of wings, the angel was gone, leaving Dean confused and worried.
Sam glanced around the cavernous room. He was back at the Library.
"Shall we try again?" a familiar voice sounded behind him. He turned and blinked at the archangel. Gabriel was standing behind him, wearing jeans and flannel shirt with a dark green jacket over it. He looked like he did the last time they had seen him, at the Elysian Fields hotel. "How do I look?" he asked, an eyebrow raised.
"Normal for once," Sam answered honestly.
Gabriel glanced down at his attire.
"This feels right," he muttered under his breath, then glanced back up at Sam with a smirk. "Well, let's get to it."
Sam followed the shorter man over to the table they'd been at previously. He fingered one of the old scrolls, reading the words scrawled across it.
"How can I read this?" he asked.
Gabriel shrugged.
"Maybe because I know what it says. Language means nothing to me. What I know, you know," he offered with an unsure look on his face.
"In other words, you have no idea," Sam said with a chuckle. Gabriel looked affronted.
"Of course I know, I know everything."
Sam laughed hard at that.
"Well, you're starting to act like yourself again, that's a good sign," Sam told him, watching the smirk fade.
"There's not a lot I remember. I'm dead, aren't I? Is this Purgatory?" he asked. Sam turned to fully face the archangel.
"You... we thought you died. But, you either left a bit of your grace, or it was taken, we aren't sure, either way, I have it now. That's what I'm looking for, a way to... bring you back," he explained. Gabriel blinked.
"How did I die?" he asked solemnly.
Sam paused, wondering if he should explain. How do you tell someone their own brother killed them, but only because they stood up against said brother, ready to kill as well?
A cold, chilling breeze blew through the room. The sinister weight of it seemed to settle into his very bones. Gabriel's gaze grew distant, a bit aloof.
"Oh," he muttered, as if remembering the story. "Well, let's see what we can find, then." With that, he pulled a scroll over and started to read.
Sam started thumbing through papers and scrolls, skimming each one for anything relevant, anything that might lend an answer.
He want sure how much time had passed when Gabriel stood up, apparently frustrated.
"I killed your brother," he blurted out, pacing in front of the table. "Why are you helping me?"
Sam sighed. That particular memory wasn't his favorite.
"Technically, you didn't," he argued.
"What do you mean?" Gabriel asked.
"I mean, it was an illusion. A very real one, but an illusion nonetheless," Sam explained. "You were trying to teach me a lesson," he added.
Gabriel's brow furrowed.
"Did it work?" he asked. Sam sighed.
"No. I wish it had, though," he finished in a whisper. "If it had, things... things might have gone very differently. And we might not be here, now. You probably wouldn't have died," he added, guiltily.
Gabriel shifted in place.
"You carry a lot of guilt," he stated.
"Oh? I do, huh? And, how exactly can you tell that?" Sam asked, annoyed at being called on it.
Gabriel looked confused. He closed his eyes and seemed to concentrate deeply for a moment before sliding his eyes back open.
"I can feel you. Here," he indicated at his chest. "It's how I know when you're about to arrive, or... when you're about to wake up."
"Is that... is that why I can access your grace?" Sam asked, finally bringing up the thing he'd been most curious about. Gabriel furrowed his brow.
"What do you mean?" the angel asked. Sam cleared his throat.
"I've been able to... to use your grace. When we're in trouble, when things have been bad, I've been able to use it," he explained.
Gabriel opened his mouth to say something, but a banging sound pulled Sam into consciousness. He sat up in his bed and glanced around the small, single room he'd taken for the night before realizing that the banging was coming from the door. Someone was knocking, insistently.
He got up quickly and made his way over to the door, opening it to find his brother, fully dressed and looking upset.
"Dean?" he asked.
"Get dressed, Sammy," his brother ordered.
"What..." Sam stared at his brother in confusion. They didn't have any leads, no where they planned to go. They had decided on research in the morning...
"Sam! Hurry, we may need to leave, fast. Get dressed," Dean stressed.
"Okay," Sam finally acquiesced.
"It's Cas," Dean added. "I think, I think somethings up. Don't know what, yet, but it seemed pretty big."
Sam nodded and through on his clothes. If Cas needed them, then they'd be there to help.
