Chapter Three
The night passed slowly for Sam who was camped out on the living room floor. If sleeping was difficult for him before it was next to impossible with the angel in the room. Every so often he was awoken by a whimper or a moan that stabbed at his heart. Even if he was kept up all night he wouldn't leave the archangel alone.
Eventually when the sun started to rise Sam dragged his exhausted body off the floor and into the kitchen. He put on some coffee and stood in a daze, blinking his eyes and trying to force his brain awake.
He glanced out the window at the spot they had found Gabriel and sighed, rubbing his face.
Dean walked into the kitchen. "Damn, you look awful." Sam forced a smile and nodded to his brother.
"You're up early."
"Speak for yourself. It looks like you didn't sleep at all."
"That's because I didn't." The coffee finished brewing and Sam poured himself a cup and took a sip of it, completely black.
Dean was silent as he poured himself his own cup.
"So….where's Cas?"
"I gave him the bed in the panic room. He was exhausted last night. It kind of worried me…"
Dean snorted. "Aw, he'll be fine. He's tough."
"You have a lot of faith in me Dean, thank you." Both brothers jumped and turned to find Castiel standing in the doorway. Sam raised an eyebrow at him. The angel had taken off his overcoat and suit jacket. He looked odd in only the white dress shirt.
"Cas. How you feeling today, man?" Dean sat down, setting his mug on the table.
"Better, actually." The angel paused "Something occurred to me last night. You said you found Gabriel in the yard. Were his wings already broken?"
"No, Cas, we broke them ourselves after we brought him in the house." Dean said sarcastically. The angel ignored the comment.
"He can't fly with his wings in that state. What puzzles me is how he got here." Cas glanced at Sam who furrowed his brow and stared at the dark haired angel.
"Couldn't he have just zapped over?" Dean asked before taking another sip of his coffee. The angel sighed at this.
"Dean. That's flight."
"What, you mean when you guys just pop in out of nowhere that's you flying?"
Castiel nodded. "Yes. It's hard to explain in terms-"
"That we'll understand. We get it." Dean gave his friend an irritated glace. "But wait. You're wings aren't broken. Why couldn't you just zap over here?"
"Flight take a certain amount of…'angel mojo' even though the action still very physical. I've been cut off from heaven for a few weeks now and have been slowly losing my power. Now that I'm completely drained and essentially human my flight was just the last thing to go." The angel looked from Dean to Sam. "That isn't the concern right now though. How did Gabriel get here when he can't fly?"
Sam put his mug down on the counter and walked over to the front door. "Maybe we missed something…" He opened the door and stepped outside. The sky was tinted pink and orange with the rising sun but Sam didn't notice. He walked directly over to where Gabriel had been laying. Sure enough, weighed down by a rock, was a letter.
The younger Winchester frowned. They must not have noticed it before because they had been so concerned with helping the archangel.
Sam picked it up and examined it. Scrawled across the front in fancy hand writing was 'Sam. W.'. Quickly he darted back inside and into the kitchen.
"What is that? A letter?" Dean stood when his brother entered.
"Yeah…" Sam said, deep in thought. "It's addressed to me…" He opened the letter and started reading aloud.
'My brother made it very clear that he's one of your ally's, therefore, as a favor to you Sam, I'm going to let him live. Hopefully in the future you will do me a favor. –Lucifer"Holy CRAP." Dean got up and took the letter from his brother, reading it again himself.
"That makes sense. Lucifer was the one who brought him here." Cas crossed his arms.
"That's not a good thing." Dean looked up from the letter.
"I told you." Sam looked at his brother.
"Told me? Told me what?" Dean sat back down dropping the letter on the table, a confused look on his face.
"That he's on our side….and it almost got him killed." Dean only grunted and stared into his coffee mug as Sam stepped out of the kitchen and into the living room.
The younger Winchester was shocked to find a set of eyes staring at him from the couch.
"Sam….what's going on?" The angel's voice was stronger. He almost sounded normal.
"Gabriel!" Sam rushed to the angel's side. "How are you feeling?"
"Better…Less of that mind crushing pain." The archangel awkwardly sat up, all the while being careful not to bang the broken wings. His face contorted in pain. "Nope! It's still there." He sat for a minute fighting it off.
"Well looks who's finally with us!" Sam turned to see Dean leaning on the doorframe.
"It's nice to see you too, Dean." Gabriel glanced quickly at Dean before squeezing his eyes shut again.
"It's never nice to see you, Gabriel."
The archangel shot the man a sarcastic smile. "It's great to know we're still on such good terms!"
"I liked him better when he was catatonic." The older Winchester grumbled before turning and walking back into the kitchen.
"You certainly are feeling better…" Sam sat down on the coffee table, eyeing the smaller man. "I honestly thought we'd still be dealing with an unconscious, half dead angel for the next few days."
Gabriel swallowed and looked down at the floor. "Thank you for all this…." The angel's words trailed off.
"Hey…" Sam patted the man on the shoulder. "You saved our ass's back there. I always knew you'd help us out. This is the very least we could do."
Gabriel clenched his jaw at the memory but nodded. "yeah…"
"Um…Will you…tell me what happened? We want to help you out but some things are still a bit of a mystery…" Sam's eyes drifted down to the cuffs on Gabriel's wrists.
The angels' breath caught in this throat as he looked down at the cuffs himself. "I'm sorry, kiddo….I…I don't think I can…" He shut his eyes and took a deep breath, tugging absentmindedly at one of the cuffs. "It's just don't think I can explain it in words…" His voice trailed off.
"It's ok." Sam looked sadly at the man. For a second he had thought that the former trickster would jump right back to being his old self. "And….there's something else….It will be hard but…" Sam paused and Gabriel frowned at him.
"Spit it out, Sam."
"There are still open wounds on your wings that need stitches. We were going to do them last night but…" Sam remembered how painful it was last night just trying to mend the breaks.
Gabriel's eyes widened and he started shaking his head. "Ah…..um…."
"Gabriel…" Sam said sternly trying to catch the angels gaze. "You can't just leave them like that."
After a minute the smaller man ran a shaking hand over his face and then gave a small nod.
Sam stood and retrieved the med kit from the table he'd tossed it on. "It would be easier if you sat on the coffee table…" Sam gave the angel a small smile when he shifted from the couch to the table showing his back and tightly folded wings to the younger man.
Gabriel spoke just as the younger Winchester reached for one. "Sam….be gentle…."
"Of course." Sam reassured the man and reached out again. He gently touched the top right wing, one of the largest, causing the archangel to shiver. "Could you…open this one…?"
Sam watched the wing slowly unfold giving him a better view of the bloody wound it donned. As gingerly as he could he moved the blood caked feathers aside trying to get a better look. It appeared to be a stab wound. The blade had pierced straight through the wing.
"Ok. I'll be right back." Sam stood and left, returning shortly after with a bucket of warm water and a cloth. "I'm going to clean it. I can't see past all of the dry blood." He watched the back of the angels head bob with acknowledgement.
He worked slowly and carefully, trying his best to clean each tarnished feather and moving closer and closer to the wound. The younger man relished each and every touch, he felt lighter, the weight on his soul removed.
It was only when he finished and dropped the cloth into the now pink water in the bucket did he notice how tense the archangel had become. His hands gripped the table until his knuckles were white.
"Gabriel. You can relax. I promise you, I won't hurt them. I swear. You can smite me if I do." He heard the angel snort.
"It's not that I don't trust you Sam but….well…." He took a deep breath. "I wouldn't trust anyone with them. No offense."
"None taken, from what Cas tells us you're right not to." The younger Winchester threaded the needle as he spoke. "I'm stitching it now. Hold on to something."
Sam worked as quickly as possible trying not to listen to the tiny sounds that escaped the archangel.
"Finished." The younger man tied and cut the thread. "Next one."
Mending the other wings went in much the same way the first one did and by the last one Sam could tell the smaller man was at his last straw. They both sighed in relief when it was over.
"Ok! Well…I'm done. Hopefully that will get them on the mend."
"And it looks like I won't have to smite you." Gabriel said trying to overcome the shakiness in his voice. He moved from his seat on the table to lying face down on the couch. "I'm just going to pass out for a while."
The younger man smiled a little, collected his things and left.
~~~~~
Sam sat in the kitchen surfing the web. It had been four hours since he mended Gabriel's wings and now he found he had nothing to do.
There was still the matter with the devil to discuss but whenever the issue was brought up Dean refused to be rational. Sam sighed. He felt like banging his head on the table, his brother could be impossible.
He stood and peered out the window. Dean and Cas were currently sitting on the Impala's hood talking about god knows what and had been for the past two hours.
He stretched and sat down again his thoughts suddenly turning to Gabriel. For some reason he had this morbid curiosity about what Lucifer had done to the former trickster. He frowned. The archangel would probably never tell him…..A thought suddenly donned on him. He had said he couldn't tell him. What if he could show him?
Sam jumped up and darted into the living room.
"Gabriel!"
"Whoa. Where's the fire?" Gabriel propped himself up on his elbows, eyes focused on Sam.
"Well…I…uh…" Now that he was standing here he suddenly felt awkward about asking. The angel raised his eyebrows.
"Well…I would still really like to know what happened…" Gabriel looked away from him, his eyes haunted.
"Sam, I…"
"Just hear me out. You said it was too painful to tell and that you couldn't talk about it. But….what if you could show me?"
The angel shook his head a pained expression on his face. "Sam…why is it so important for you to know?"
The younger man looked down. "It's just…whatever happened changed you…you were so powerful, and strong; a force to be reckoned with….I have to know what could have been so horrible to…." His sentence trailed off.
"Oh, gee Sammy, that really boosts my self-esteem." The words were sarcastic but the archangels' face was still pained.
"I'm sorry, I just….never mind….It was just an idea." The younger man turned to leave.
"Wait, Sam…" Gabriel took a shaky breath. "How would you pull this off? Normally I could do it but….." He frowned and raised a hand off the couch, showcasing the cuff.
"Well…A few years back Dean and I ran across this thing called African dream root. It lets you walk around a person's dreams. I bet I could use it to walk around memories."
The archangel rolled onto his side to face Sam. "So…you're asking me to…." He paused, squeezing his eyes shut. His hands balled into fists. "You're asking me to….relive the experience…" The angel took a deep breath trying to stop himself from hyperventilating.
The younger man frowned. "I…I guess I never really thought about it that way…"
"I want you to know."
"What?" Sam stepped toward the angel and seated himself on the edge of the coffee table. "…why?"
"I can imagine…." Gabriel looked up at Sam. "That it would be easier….to handle if someone else knew, you know?" Sam squeezed the man's shoulder and nodded, his eyes sympathetic.
"Are you sure you're ok with this? I don't want to push…"
"Yes."
"I need to go and have a consult with…a certain person first. Dream root isn't an easy thing to come by…"
"You better hurry up before I chicken out." The angel gave him a sad smile. Sam nodded and got up, slipping out the door.
~~~~~~
The Sun was high in the sky when the younger Winchester stepped out and rounded the house, making his way to the auto yard. Sure enough Dean and Cas were still there. Both of them held a beer.
"You guys are drinking at noon?" Sam said as he walked up to them.
"Yeah, well. If it's going to be the end of the world, we might as well get as much drinking in as we can." His brother took another sip of his beer.
"What he said." Cas chimed in. "Also, these pills the hospital gave me go surprisingly well with it." Both brothers gave the angel a look.
"What you need, Sammy?" Dean reached into the cooler sitting beside the impala's wheel and offered the younger man a beer. Sam shook his head.
"What I need is Crowley's phone number."
Dean furrowed his brow. "What do you need that for?"
"Well….I think he can get me something I need…"
"And what is this you 'need'?"
Sam sighed. "African dream root."
Dean's face turned serious. "What do you need African dream root for, Sam?"
"I'm going to take a dive into Gabriel's memories to see what happened to him."
"Sam, are you sure that that's such a good idea?" Castiel frowned. "Having to relive the experience could do serious damage to his mental state."
"OR. My knowing what he went through could give him support enough to overcome it." Sam raised his eyebrows at the angel who took another sip of his beer.
"I guess it could work."
Dean looked at Sam for a second before pulling out a rumpled piece of paper and handed it over. "Whatever you do Sammy, don't make any deals with the guy."
"Yeah, yeah." Sam darted back inside to the kitchen phone and dialed the number.
"Hello?" A British accented voice answered.
"Hello, Crowley? I'm Sam Winchester."
"Ah! Sam! What can I do for you? And before you ask, No, I will not give back Bobby's soul just yet."
"Thank you for bringing that up…" Sam said irritably, leaning on the counter. "I have a favor to ask."
"Oh? What kind of favor?" The demon sounded interested.
"I need to you get me something, African dream root."
"Oooo, that's some rare stuff. What, may I ask, do you need it for?"
"Well…uh...I need to see inside someone's head to help him overcome some stuff…I really think if he gets over this he can help us beat the devil." Sam tried to make it temping for Crowley.
"And who is that person that needs some dream walking." Sam spun around to find the demon standing right behind him, an intrigued look on his face. He raised an eyebrow. "hm?"
"Just a friend…"
Crowley paced the kitchen. "You're obviously keeping something secret here Sammy boy, I won't even consider helping until I know what that is." Something out of the room caught the demons eye and he stepped back peering at the couch. "AN ARCHANGEL, You're 'friend' is a bloody archangel!" Crowley was hysterical. "Why in the world would I want to help you put a bloody archangel back in the game!"
"He's on our side. He's not going to turn on you if that's what you're afraid of."
"That is what I'm bloody well afraid of. I already don't like the fact you have one angel on your side….even if he is as powerful as a kitten…"
"Crowley. This could help us defeat Lucifer."
"And how do you know he's not going to turn around and switch sides? Hm?" The demon peered out of the kitchen at Gabriel again.
"Believe me, he won't. He's the one that tipped us off about the rings. And if it helps, he's just about as powerful as Cas is right now."
"Oh?" The demon became interested again. "What happened to him?"
"That's why I'm asking you for dream root. Now are you going to help me for not?"
Crowley thought for a second, his eyes darting back and forth between Sam and the angel in the other room. "Ok, I'll get it for you. But I want a guarantee that that archangel will never come after me, or I'm going to come after you. Do we have a deal?"
Sam nodded. "Yes, deal."
"Ok. I'll be back in a two minutes." The demon suddenly vanished, leaving Sam still holding a beeping phone.
Almost before Sam hung up the phone the demon reappeared and handed a jar to Sam.
"That was fast." Sam said, surprised as he took the jar.
"I know the right people." The demon smiled and winked at him. "Have fun!" With that Crowley was once again gone.
Sam stepped into the living room and raised the jar so Gabriel could see.
"Now all we need to do is wait until you fall asleep."