Broken

Summary: There's something wrong with Sam, but can the boys work it out before it's too late?

AU: None

Set: After Castiel's little dream/writer fiasco with Metatron

Sam was broken.

His insides felt like they'd been shredded, despite the obvious lack of physical injuries and his stomach seemed to be trying to scrunch itself into a ball.

"Sammy? You with us?"

"Yup" Sam managed to control his voice, ignoring the suspicious look Dean gave him.

"Good" Dean cleaned the blood off his knife before putting it back in his suit jacket pocket. They were stood in what seemed like the site of a small massacre. Bodies were carelessly strewn around a half-empty diner, with Sam and Dean stood covered in rips and tears.

The Winchesters were trying to find Castiel. He'd revealed his hope that Gabriel may be alive, and went off in search of the archangel, not returning since then. They'd tracked him to a town in the middle of nowhere, where the local drunk had assured them an unconscious man matching that description had been dragged into the diner. Upon arrival, the boys had been attacked by a swarm of demons, which they'd managed to fight off with a combination of luck and skill.

"You think the tipsy guy was lying about Cas?" Dean asked, nudging a body with his foot and searching for any useful weapons or cash.

"No. He seemed too scared of the FBI to lie. Besides, the demons were sloppy. They weren't expecting us" Sam softly approached the kitchen door, noticing movement through the small window.

"Dean" he hissed, grateful for the locked door that lead to the kitchen. He just hoped whoever was in there had been too busy to notice the commotion outside.

Dean nodded and made his way over to Sam, carefully avoiding the tiny square of glass in the door. They simultaneously mouthed a countdown, before slamming into the door, smashing it open.

There was a scream of surprise and the Winchesters tumbled through, blindly aiming their guns in front of them. Sam looked up to see a young woman with long, white hair and black eyes stumbling away from them. Gabriel and Castiel were chained up and both had symbols carved into their bodies.

"Don't move!" Dean insisted, moving away from Sam with his gun still pointed at the woman's forehead.

Sam felt a sudden increase in the weight in his heart and he struggled to keep the tears forming at the corners of his eyes from falling.

"Don't come near me or Sam dies" the woman's voice shook but she smiled, touching Gabriel's head. Gabriel tried to move away in reply, but only succeeded in shifting a bit.

"What the hell? Sam's right here y- Sammy?" Dean noticed the pained expression on Sam's face.

"Just kill her already" Sam hissed, ignoring the tears that rolled down his cheeks as the pain increased.

"What have you done to my brother, you bitch?!" Dean roared, taking a few bold steps closer to the cowering demon and the kidnapped angels, but retreating hastily as Sam gasped and fell to the floor.

"You don't even know what I am?" the demon tilted her head and raised an eyebrow in mock disapproval. Castiel tried to say something, but the strip of material around his mouth made him choke.

"You're a demon" Dean said, moving closer to Sam, who was able to stand, but hadn't stopped crying.

"I'm a special kind of demon, sweetie. I have special talents" she paused, waiting for Dean to ask more questions, but was met with silence "I control human emotions" she laughed, airily "I can heighten certain emotions until they become crippling"

"What kind of emotion in this?" Sam rasped.

"I have to admit, I'm a young one. I'm still in training" the demon stood up with a new sense of confidence inspired by Sam's confusion and the angels' helplessness "So I need something that causes the particular emotion I'm working on to really make it expand"

"Lady you are making zero sense here" Dean's gun was still aimed firmly at her head.

"When I stumbled across the archangel Gabriel, I couldn't believe my luck. That much power it's... almost unique" Gabriel rolled his eyes in response to this, making a noise against the cloth in his mouth "Then, one of his less mighty but still useful angel friends walked right into me, and I just had to have two" she chuckled "then, I noticed you fools on my trail, and I did some experimenting"

"In short," the demon continued, daring to reach forwards and caress and strand of Sam's hair as he knelt on the floor "what Sam's feeling is what he feels for Gabriel times a million"

"What the hell are you talking about?" Dean didn't dare move towards the demon, for fear of hurting Sam even more. Gabriel's eyes widened slightly and Sam had gone strangely silent.

"Not the brightest crayon, eh?" the demon rested her hand on Dean's shoulder "This is the feeling of losing someone you love. This is the feeling of missing someone"

"Sam doesn't- but..." Dean spluttered uselessly, oblivious to the fact that Sam had managed to drag himself towards the angels while the demon was bragging, and was in the process of untying them "Sam doesn't love anyone"

"The evidence says otherwise" the demon insisted, gesturing to the empty space where Sam had been. Dean's eyes widened and the demon swivelled to see what had made the pathetic human so surprised.

"No!" she screeched, noticing Sam's absence, but before she could punish Sam, Gabriel was free and throwing up a sort of protective shield around the group.

"The symbols mean I can't hold this for long" Gabriel admitted through gritted teeth "Hurry up and mess up the symbols"

Sam dragged his knife gently through the symbols the demon had made on Gabriel's skin, blinking through a haze of tears. Suddenly, there was a flash of light, and by the time Sam reopened his eyes, the crushing feeling was gone, and he laughed. Dean jogged over to his little brother, who was still hysterically giggling, before helping Castiel out of his chains.

Gabriel sat beside Sam, whose stream of laughter brought on by the sudden absence of emotional weight had died down to a soft chuckle, and grinned at him.

"Missed you too, Sasquatch" Gabriel said, pulling Sam in by his tie and pressing a soft kiss to his upturned lips. Sam pressed forwards, paying no attention to Dean's protests.

"Guys? On a case here? Surrounded by bodies?" Dean was helping Castiel with the symbols on his arms "I want to leave, like, now?"

"I'll drop Sam off" Gabriel said, breaking away from Sam for just a moment, before they were gone.

"Balls" Castiel said, earning him a confused but amused smirk from Dean.

"Too right, buddy" he mumbled and then they were gone too.

Something a little different this time, huh?

I have no idea where this came from. I just started typing, fully prepared for an angst-filled crap ball, but ended up with the mini-plot instead.

A few beauties have answered the poll on my profile already, so thanks a lot to you and all the wonderful people who've been reading, reviewing and following. I get a notification on my iPod every time people review, follow or favourite my stories, so I see each and every one of your names. I'm checking out your profile, guys, and I'll be sure to review and recommend (etc.) all those who review and recommend (etc.) me (:

I also have an all human law student/bus driver AU story on the go thanks to Allison Jalexa and Lady of Slytherclaw who reviewed and gave me ideas..

Adios x