Chapter 4: Absolute Beginners
Gabriel sat in the backseat of the Impala on the edge of the seat, leaning forward with his arms folded around Sam in front of him in the passenger side. His chin rested the worn leather giving him a strong whiff of the texture and the faint lingering smell of metallic blood stains that neither of the humans could probably pick up with their weak senses.
"What's taking Dean so long? I don't even understand how you humans need to eat so much." He grumbled, his olive eyes flickering to the door of the convenience store they had stopped by to grab some lunch, waiting for Dean to walk through them any second now so they could get back on the road.
Usually he wouldn't be hanging around doing nothing while the Winchester brothers traveled from state to state; he'd be off doing his own thing. But ever since Dean had found out about his little extra-curricular activities, he'd been put on 'probation', and had to stay where Dean or Sam knew where he was at all times.
Pfft, an Arch Angel on probation. As if. No one controlled him or made him do anything and it'd be easier than snapping his fingers to make a clone of himself to wander around wasting time on the trip to Chicago while he went off and made the world a better place by eliminating one scumbag at a time. But for the time being, he'd decided to try turning over a new leaf, becoming a new being that was neither Gabriel or Loki so it was easier to just let Dean think he was getting his way.
So what did that make Gabriel now? Gabeki? Lokriel? Frank?
Sam rolled his eyes. "Because humans don't have supernatural metabolisms and we'll die if we don't eat."
"But still? Three times a day? It's ridiculous." He muttered. "On a different note, which do you like better? Gabeki, Lokriel or Frank?"
Sam twisted in his seat to look at Gabriel like he was crazy for a moment. "What?"
"Just out of curiosity." He shrugged, planting an innocent smirk on his lips. "If I were to change my name."
"Why do you need to change your name? I like Gabriel just fine." He turned back around in his seat, stretching his long legs out on the floorboards.
Gabriel jerked his head back as his face was assaulted by Sam's fluffy chocolate hair.
"Heeey watch where you're putting that mop of fluff." He joked and blew on the strands causing Sam to twist back around and swat at him playfully.
"Stop being in my personal space bubble then."
Gabriel easily caught his wrist and leaned forward to whisper in Sam's ear.
"Maybe I like being in your bubble. It's cozy." He nipped gently at the human's neck and let out a purr.
Sam nudged the red-head, nuzzling him to look at up him. Gabriel raised his head and looked up, olive eyes flecked with brown locking onto hazel eyes that seemed more on the green side today. Their lips brushed together and Gabriel felt Sam shudder, a sign that the human could feel his energy pulsing through him at the intimate act.
It'd taken a long time to get to the point where Sam let Gabriel kiss him so easily. Months of poking and prodding him into submission were finally paying off, as the angel leaned into the kiss, pressing his lips firmly to Sam's and he didn't resist or jerk away insisting that they shouldn't be doing this.
To the contrary, he willingly parted his lips, making room for Gabriel to deepen the kiss. Gabriel had never been much of a coffee fan before he met Sam. But after discovering the sweet joys of kissing a human who constantly tasted like coffee, he found himself craving the caffeinated beverage whenever they touched. At least Sam liked his coffees with flavor and whipped creams unlike Dean who preferred his black. The sweet loving angel probably wouldn't be able to take the bitter taste and would have to resort to sneaking sugar packets everywhere.
"Oh for the love of-"
Sam jerked himself out of Gabriel's grasp so quick he almost landed on the floor boards of the classic car as Dean slid into the driver's side with a plastic bag and a look on his face that crossed in-between amusement that his little brother was getting the moves put on him and frustration at who it was he was kissing.
"Can't I leave you kids alone for 5 minutes?" He grumbled as tossed Sam a plastic wrapped sandwich and dug his keys out of his pocket.
"More like 5 hours. What on Earth toke you so long?" Gabriel retorted, bringing him back full circle to the topic he had been complaining about earlier.
Dean chose not to respond about the elderly man that had paid in nickels and dimes in front of him as his baby purred to life and he shifted her into gear, ready for the road again.
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Phil was sitting in a motel room in Washington looking over everything he had gathered about the Trickster. Papers, pictures and notes covered the bed and were pinned up to the wall as he paced back and forth trying to find one single thing that hinted at the despicable creature's true identity.
Frustrated, he slammed his hand down on the table by the door, causing his briefcase to fall open and spill its contents all over the floor.
"Great. Just- Just freakin perfect." He muttered to himself as he bent to scoop up the papers that it had contained that his friend Luke had sent him about the whole heaven vs. hell apocalypse. He had faxed them to him a couple of states over in a different motel and Phil hadn't felt the need to look at them yet, as he focused his complete mind and energy on hunting down and killing the Trickster for good.
But now as he scooped up the fallen papers something caught his eye. It was just a few notes that he been pieced together about angels that hunters had run into wandering around with names like Uriel, Castiel, and Zachariah. He rushed to his bed to compare the notes to the Tricksters abilities.
Shape-shifting manipulation, altering reality, erasing memories, teleportation, putting people to sleep with a touch...
"Holy shi..." Phil scrambled to dig his phone out of the mess and quickly called Luke, listening to the phone on the other end ring endlessly.
"Luke. It's Phil. Look, listen to this...what do you think about this theory? That...What if the Trickster is an Angel?"
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Sam leaned back in the Impala to watch the scenery outside flash by. He carefully braced himself to not lean too far back, although Gabriel had been un-characteristically quiet in the backseat for the past half hour. But that was only 30 minutes. Who knew how long the limit was for the talkative angel to keep his lips sealed and that time limit was probably close to being up.
Maybe not though, he thought as he risked a glance in the rear view mirror at the angel that was currently sprawled out in the backseat, his legs crossed across the entire backseat as he leaned his back on the door and crossed his arms across his chest, looking deep in thought. However as soon as Sam peeked back at him, bright olive eyes snapped up and he grinned at catching Sam spy on him and threw him a wink.
Sam swallowed hard and quickly returned his attention out the window. When did that damned angel manage to get him so wrapped up? When did he stop resisting Gabriel's advances?
When he didn't give up and you stopped trying to deny how badly you wanted him to touch you... a little voice inside his head whispered and Sam leaned his head against the window, relaxing into the cool glass on his forehead. There had once been a time that Sam would fall asleep from exhaustion of trying to force the angel out of his bed just to wake up irritated that he was still there. Now it seemed like Sam couldn't fall asleep without olive eyes watching him and the feel of soft fingers running through his hair. He should probably be creeped out but no part of him could keep resisting something that felt so right.
At least he had finally gotten his breathing back under control. Part of why he'd practically jump up and bolt as far from Gabriel as he could get every time he was close was because Sam was scared he couldn't handle that much energy. Gabriel was electrifying- quite literally. Probably just a side-effect of being a powerful creature that harnessed so much energy in its body. But Sam was worried that someday he was going to let him kiss him for too long and end up having a heart attack. After all, it couldn't be that healthy to open your body or mind up to a creature that powerful, could it?
Probably not, but it was well worth it. Sexuality and species be damned, even the slightest touch from Gabriel was better than anything he'd ever felt in his life.
Dean was visibly irritated at Sam's relationship with the creature that had tormented them both so much over the years, if you could even call it a relationship, but he was thankful that his older brother was no longer in a complete rage over it.
Guess when the world is crashing down all around you, you've got to grab what you can that makes you happy and hold on tight. Sam just happened to grab hold of an Arch Angel that was more than willing to let him hold on for the ride.
In the backseat, Gabriel was cursing the thick leather seats that were currently separating him from his lover. He used the term lover quite loosely considering he hadn't been able to get any further than kissing with Sam. Sure he'd gotten close. He could feel Sam's body temperature rise and his breaths come in quick gasps as he shivered and arched his body into Gabriel's touch but then he'd always push away and deny them both what they craved. Some silly human worry about having a heart attack or something. While it was flattering at first that Gabriel could make him feel THAT good, after the 20th or so time it got to be a bit sexually frustrating.
So now here they were. Sam trying to pretend nothing had happened before Dean came back and Gabriel was silently pouting in the back and trying to clear his mind from the heated train of thoughts he'd been having before he jumped over that stupid seat and climbed into Sam's lap to have his way with him wither he liked it or not. Sure Dean might pull over and light him on holy fire for it, but at this point it was worth it. He bit back a groan and looked up just in time to see Sam glance at him in the rearview mirror. He smirked and gave the kid a wink, thriving at flustered look he got out of him before he turned back to the window. Maybe Sam was suffering from this just as much as he was.
The most irritating part was Sam's hair. It was right there, hanging down over his neck, so silky and inviting. It was no secret that one of Gabriel's most recent favorite past times was playing with that hair. Running his hands through it and twirling the brown locks between his fingers. Sometimes gently pulling on it to expose that tanned neck and Adam's apple.
He banged his head backwards onto the window to shake those kinds of thoughts out of his head again which had both the brothers looking back at him.
"Hey! No damaging my windows!" Dean snapped, knuckles gripping the steering wheel and a threat in his green eyes in case anything happened to his precious car.
Sam squeezed his arm in-between the seat and the passenger side door, and maneuvered it backwards past the seat belt. Gabriel smiled softly and relaxed, reaching forward to link the tips of their fingers together for the rest of the trip. It was a small gesture, but something about the slight touch between them calmed the both of them enough for Sam to drift off to sleep and to prevent Gabriel from any future head vs. car window fights.
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"Just stay in the car! What the hell is wrong with you?" Dean threw a glare at the ginger headed angel beside him that was doing it's best to look completely innocent.
"But Dean." He mocked confusion in his voice. "I'm on probation...you can't see me in the car."
"I swear to-"
"Swear to what? My dad?" Gabriel raised an eyebrow and cut off Dean's angry response as the door swung open to the house they were visiting.
A woman had reported seeing the flesh-eating ghoul raiding the graveyard the last week so after unpacking their things at the hotel they had decided to go by her house first thing to get her account of the details.
A middle-aged woman with curly dirty blonde hair that was graying around the edged opened her door in a red bathrobe decorated in cartoon cats as a real black cat skittered out the open door and between their legs.
"Oh Charlie." The woman sighed, watching the cats tail swish down the stairs. She looked up, seeming surprised to see three gentlemen on her porch instead of her cat. "Who are you?"
Sam cleared his throat first, he usually toke the lead when dealing with someone they needed to be gentle and polite to.
"Madam, I'm Elliot Reid and this is my partner Perry Cox. We're from the local newspaper, just here to ask some questions about what you reported seeing the other night." Sam pulled out an ID and resisted the urge to kick Dean for the names he'd chosen. Finally, he had gotten tired of his little brother complaining about always using old rock stars for personas and gone along with false characters from a hospital show he secretly watched. Unfortunately, Sam also secretly watched the same show and knew that he was named after a neurotic, blonde female doctor that constantly got harassed by Dean's smartass character. The last name 'Cox' was just an added bonus for his ego.
The woman, Meredith Edows, looked past them and spotted Gabriel. "And who's that fellow?"
Before Sam or Dean could respond Gabriel leaned forward, extending his hand to hers in a semi-coherent handshake. "Gabe Norsen. I'm an intern. Just along for the ride." He smirked at the way Sam blinked and furrowed his brows in confusion as if he was trying to remember where he heard that name from before.
Meredith nodded and put a hand to her throat, unconsciously stroking a cross necklace that hung there. "Yes, yes well...the police said they didn't believe me...just told me to lay off the wine."
"That may be so, but we'd still like to cover the details. You see, we like to let the people know what's out there even if the police don't agree." Dean smooth-talked the woman into letting them into her home where she lead them to a worn tan couch with faded floral designs on it in front of a glass coffee table that was covered in paw prints.
On the opposite wall Dean stopped to look at a painting.
"What's this?" He asked and Meredith beamed.
"My old Pastor gave that to me and my late husband as a wedding gift...it's a replica of Tobias and the angels. That-that boy right there-" She pointed to a young boy without wings holding the hand of an angel with a long sword and armor. "That's Tobias with Michael."
Dean pretended to show an interest and made an ahh noise as Sam cleared his throat behind him to try and get his attention.
"So, ah, who are the girly ones with the peacock wings and flowers?"
Meredith chuckled. "They're not girly young man, they're angels. The one with the peacock feathered wings is Raphael...although...it's usually Michael who's deciphered with them. And those flowers are lilies. Gabriel is quite famous for them."
Dean's shoulders went stiff from fighting back a laugh as Sam gripped his arm and pulled him back to the couch.
"That's interesting." His green eyes flickered to Gabriel who was leaning against the wall glowering daggers at the older hunter. "Very interesting. Thank you SO much for that."
"So Mrs. Edows?" Sam started, eager to change the subject before a raptor appeared in the poor cat lover's living room to maul his older brother. "You called the police last Thursday stating you saw a thing in the graveyard next to your house?"
She nodded, visibly paling as she clutched her cross and unknowingly moved closer to Gabriel; who rolled his eyes.
"Yes. I...I thought it was just some hoodlum. Some sick teenager digging up a grave...That would have been disturbing...disgusting enough. But..." She swallowed hard, a far away glassy look in her eyes. "It...It lowered its head and started eating the body... I...I didn't know what else to do so I ran back inside, locked all the doors and called the police. I haven't slept at night since..." She shivered and looked at Gabriel. "I haven't felt safe at all...I've been thinking about moving but...suddenly it feels like everything is going to be ok." She moved closer and Gabriel backed himself up flat against the wall. "There's something about you young man..."
Gabriel gave her a sarcastic smirk. "That's what all the ladies tell me. Ah...Perry buddy, I think I'll sit this one out in the car after all." He squeezed past Meredith making sure not to come into any contact with the woman and hurried out the door back to the Impala.
Dammit, this is why he stayed out of churches. There was just something about religious freaks...they seemed to be able to feel his aura and always felt drawn to him, like bears to honey. And he may like sweets but that didn't mean he wanted to let a bear get its claws into him. Normal humans were annoying enough. If he'd known she was a devout Christian he never would have gotten out of the car in the first place.
Dean and Sam followed him out to the Impala only a few minutes later, Dean grinning from ear to ear as he slid behind the wheel of his classic baby.
"So Gabe, are all women that clingy to you, or is it just because you have a soft spot for flowers?"
"Bite me. I had nothing to do with those crack-pot artists that painted those disasters." He fumed and silently struggled with the idea of turning Dean's beloved car into a rusted station wagon but decided against it since he wanted to get back to the hotel as soon as possible. Angels didn't need showers, but the water felt nice and he needed something to wash the dirty feeling off of him.
"So does Michael of Raphael have the peacock wings?"
Gabriel all but growled. "Neither. So what'd you find out about the ghouls?" He asked changing the subject.
Sam spoke up as Dean pulled out of the driveway, not wanting to give his brother another excuse to open his mouth.
"That it's not a Ghoul. It's a Vetala. A hostile spirit that can animate corpses, basically makes them their zombie slaves. The good news is that they can easily be killed just by administering funeral rites since their born from being trapped in-between the materiel world and afterlife. Bad news is, they only attack in cemeteries and that's where we've got to go to get rid of it."
"Yea plus if they attack a human, it drives them insane." Dean cut in, twirling a finger in the air. "So I'm willing to bet Merry Meredith back there left out that the thing got to her because she is ten kinds of whack job." He let out a low whistle.
As they pulled into the hotel parking lot and headed inside, none of them noticed the black Nissan Xterra parked a few spaces down.
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Sam was sitting on the bed deep in thought, blinking hard as if he was trying to make sense of something but every time Gabriel asked him what he was thinking about he'd just remain silent, shaking his head and ignoring the persistent angel.
He finally gave up when Dean emerged from the bathroom, rubbing a towel to dry his short hair.
"I'm gonna run back down to that corner store for some food. Want anything Sam?" He asked, ignoring the look Gabriel threw him that clearly asked 'again with the food thing?'
Sam just shook his head, staring at a spot on the floor so when Dean left and the roar of the Impala's engine died away in the distance, Gabriel headed to the bathroom to take a shower that he needed more mentally that physically. The idea of that woman inching so close to him, feeding off his aura, was still sending chills down his spine and leaving him feeling like spiders were crawling all over him.
He shook himself as he looked into the mirror. His brownish ginger hair was getting long and he could see it start to curl around the base of his neck. To anyone that didn't know any better he looked just like any other human. What was it about some people that made them feel like they needed to flock to him? Was it just the blind faith they had in his father that opened a spiritual window he didn't know about? He didn't like the idea of anyone opening any windows that had anything to do with him and let himself shudder again as the door to the bathroom opened.
He looked up slightly startled to see Sam in the doorway.
"I remember."
Gabriel tilted his head. "You're going to have to be a little more specific buddy..."
Sam scoffed, and Gabriel couldn't tell if he was glaring at him or not. He looked somewhat angry, but there was a flicker of different emotions through his hazel eyes that he was having trouble keeping up with.
"Gabe Norsen? Really? Haven't you already used that name? Although I get it now...Gabe-riel and Norse...God...not one of your more cleaver ideas." He bit out, crossing his arms and the reason for Sam's irritation sunk in with an uneasy feeling in the pit of Gabriel's stomach.
"You, ah...you were supposed to forget about that...situation..." He trailed off, not meeting the hunter's gaze and remembering one of the first tricks he played on the Winchester family where he played a thrilling duck-duck-goose game with John before enrolling in Sam's high school to stalk him around the hallways...and more importantly the gym locker room. Sure he had given the kid his first hickey and left his star wars shirt in his book bag...but he had also rescued him from a pedophile. Didn't that count for anything? He had fixed it so that after the Winchester family left town he would slowly fade from young Sammy's memory because after all, it would cause some issues in the future if Sam were to recognize him as the freckled teenager with spiked ginger hair when he was off re-creating urban legends or killing his brother 104 times in a row.
"So, you made me forget you just so you could weasel back into my life 12 years later?"
"Well I couldn't call it weaseling...more like...conveniently strolling." Gabriel put a hand to his chin and pretended to think. "And it's not like I MADE you forget. It would have happened anyways. Just side effects of being an angel...after awhile the people we meet forget we exist. I mean, Dean forgot when he was 8."
"Dean? When Dean was 8? What did you do then?" Sam was letting his voice raise in a slight panic at the idea that he was only 4 years old the first time he had met Gabriel.
"Nothing, nothing." Gabriel raised his hands in surrender. "Just...kidnapped you and put ya in a ditch to see if he could get you back out." He grinned as Sam tensed his muscles and bit his bottom lip in an attempt to control his anger. He was too cute when he let his emotions get the best of him.
"Anything else I should know about? Have you ALWAYS been screwing around with us?"
"Hey hey now. Don't get too flattered, I messed around with the other psychic kids too." Sam rolled his eyes and Gabriel continued to prove his point. "Remember Andy? He was my favorite...used to bring that kids TMNT toys to life. Most kids would freak out but he just loved it. Even stuck him on the top of his school once while he was in the middle of civics class. It was probably the best day of his life. He thought he was Harry Potter or something."
Sam closed the distance between them and pushed Gabriel up against the bathroom sink.
"You talk too much." He muttered.
"Only because you ask too many questions."
"Well, that's what Dean says I do." Sam's voice was lowering into a tone that Gabriel knew all too well as he felt the temperature in the room seem to rise and gripped the fabric of Sam's plaid shirt in his hands pulling them closer together.
"Sammy, you know I like it when you're all dominant." He mock purred and pretended to go girly, lifting himself on his tip-toes and fluttering his eyelashes, "But what's the occasion? This little scenario is usually the other way around." Sam was usually the innocent one minding his own business when Gabriel started climbing all over him. This was the first time Sam had come on to him on his own, provoking the first move.
"Exactly. Figured I'd see how you like it to be the one locked in a bathroom for a change." Sam hinted at the memory of him and Gabriel's first kiss when he had been 14 years old and trapped in the school showers by the trickster. He reached behind him and shut the door with his free hand, locking the small button into place and wrapping his other fingers through the ginger hair.
Gabriel raised both his eyebrows as he felt Sam's shy heart beating faster against his hands.
"I told you I'd never forget you..." He whispered, and it hurt Gabriel to hear the pain behind those words. He'd never considered before that the human may have actually feelings for him back then despite his young age.
"I guess that means you win then..."
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A few doors down Phil was pacing a hotel room, but this one was in Chicago, Illinois instead of Seattle, Washington. He had driven non-stop to get to the same city where he had a hot tip that the Winchesters would be investigating a new hunt and was now overwhelmed with the fact that he seemed to have caught two birds with one stone.
He was originally just going to wait to get Sam alone to question him about what had been going on recently. He was usually a level headed and rational man and the last thing he wanted to do was attack a fellow hunter. But then when he saw the Trickster, who he now suspected of being an angel of all things, climb out of that black car he quickly had to change his plans.
Even if Sam didn't have demon blood in him, if he was in the same league as the Trickster he needed to be taken out. They both did.
End Chapter 4
I was a bit stuck so I referenced back to one of my previous fics, High School Daze. Gave me something to write about to give Sam and Gabriel a bit more plot and background, and gave whoever liked that fic a semi-sequel. I was also a bit stuck on how to get Phil to realize Gabriel was an angel and then find them in Chicago so I just gave up and threw it in there. Then I was stuck on a chapter title so...well, who doesn't love David Bowie anyways? Hoping to get the next chapter going and up quicker. Sorry for the wait. Dark Angel has been side-tracking me. Blame Alec.
