Chapter Six: Finding and Kicking the Asses of the Horsemen of the Apocalypse Really Shouldn't Be As Difficult As It Is (So Let's Blame It On the Winchesters Being Involved)
Of course, running away from problems had never really worked for me. You would think I had learned my lesson by now. But no. I just kept proving to be an idiot, didn't I?
Anyway, when I finally made my way back into the house it was to find that Sam was sitting at the kitchen table in front of his laptop with a furious look on his face. I could hear Castiel's voice and figured he was probably talking to Dean. I frowned and sat at the end of the table.
"What happened?"
Sam didn't look up from his computer. "Dean's being a dick, that's what," he replied lowly. "He doesn't know when to shut his mouth."
Ah. So Dean was taking older brother prerogative and picking on his baby brother for getting some action. I should have known. "So what, he just gave up?"
I almost laughed when Sam chuckled and got a mischievous look in his eye. Hey, it was either stopping myself from laughing or stopping myself from jumping him. I had been a Trickster, after all.
"Nah," Sam replied conspiratorially. "I just might've mentioned that he's just mad because Cas hasn't kissed him yet."
I couldn't help it. I barked out a laugh. "You don't even know the half of it, kiddo," I chuckled.
I watched as his mouth twitched. I noticed that it was something he did when he was nervous. Damn. I was spending so much time around the Winchesters I was starting to notice their mannerisms. "Um…about earlier – "
I shook my head. "Don't worry about it," I said before flashing him a grin. "I know I'm irresistible."
His eyes narrowed and I was suddenly on the receiving end of an infamous Sam Winchester Bitchface. Yes, it is infamous. Shut up. You think I can't find you puny humans reading this?
"You're really not," he retorted before turning back to his laptop.
I glared. "I didn't hear you complaining before."
He shrugged. "Never said I didn't enjoy it. Just that you aren't irresistible."
"You know, I might not smite you, but I could definitely make you miserable."
"Can't be worse than when Dean put Nair in my shampoo when I was a kid," he replied. "Even you have higher standards than that."
I raised an eyebrow. "Nair? Really?" I whistled lowly. "Damn, I never would have thought I'd have to out-prank Dean Winchester."
Sam chuckled. "If you stick around long enough, then you'll find out first-hand. Dean's an idiot and doesn't know when to quit. Especially when he's bored."
I snorted. "Yeah, like you're gonna keep me around when all this blows over," I replied with a laugh. "I know we're not friends, Sammy. You don't have to treat me like one."
He looked up with a frown. "Is that what you think? That you're just…just something to help us get out of this mess?"
I looked away for a moment in disbelief before looking back at him. "That's 'cause it's what I am. Here to help out how I can, but not expected to stick around afterwards."
His mouth started twitching again and he pulled his hands off of the laptop and turned so that he was facing me. "Damn it, Gabriel, that's not…" He shook his head, looking down. "You are more than that."
"Why?" I asked with a frown. "I haven't even done anything yet other than ask some friends for help."
He closed his eyes and took a deep breath. "You don't…you don't understand how much you've done. For me. I just…you're the only person that hasn't made me feel like…"
"Like what, kiddo?"
He met my gaze. "Like I can't fix this. Like…like I can't be saved."
I sighed and leaned forward on my chair. Sam's hands were folded between his knees and his fingers were twitching slightly. After a moment's hesitation, I covered them with mine.
"I'm going to tell you something and it's going to be ridiculously and horribly touchy-feely. Just so you're warned," I started. "There isn't a human in this world more worthy of being saved than you. Yeah, you've made mistakes, but that's part of being human. And I have never met a human that has tried to do as much good as you, Sam."
Sam stared at me with wide eyes. "I don't understand," he murmured. "I'm not…I mean, you can't mean that."
"I do mean it," I replied seriously. "You are a rarity. Even after all the shit you've been through, you still have faith." I laughed derisively and leaned back. "Frankly, kiddo, you've got more faith than most of the Heavenly Host. Except for maybe Castiel." I shook my head and met his gaze. "All the things you regret the most aren't really you're fault. You were just part of a plan. And you deserve more than a life of getting pulled around my angels and demons."
He blinked and swallowed. "Gabriel…I can't…" He closed his eyes and swallowed again and I ignored the fact that I could tell he was going to cry. "Thank you."
I smiled and squeezed his hands. "Not a problem, Sammy." I sighed and stood. "Well, I'm going to have to go pull Castiel away from your brother. We're still not any closer to finding Famine or Pestilence."
He nodded silently, pinching the bridge of his nose. I grinned and clapped his shoulder on the way by. I had to stop myself from laughing when I saw Dean and Castiel. Castiel was standing close to him and they were just looking at each other. They really didn't have a concept of personal space, did they?
"Hey, bro," I greeted loudly. Dean jumped and turned. "Say goodbye to your boy toy, we've got work to do."
Dean glared. "I'm nobody's toy," he growled.
I rolled my eyes. "Yeah, yeah, I get it. It's not just a river in Egypt." I turned to Castiel. "I need to make a quick stop. Have a favour to cash in."
Castiel nodded and he followed me as I flew off to Raven's corner of the world. Raven was an expert at finding people. Especially ones in hiding. She would be able to help us find Famine and Pestilence since we weren't having any luck at all.
Raven was one of the few Tricksters that didn't move around too much. She liked to keep to herself and liked having a place to call home. She got along well with everyone. She had a little island carved out for herself in the Gulf of Bothnia – between Finland and Sweden.
Castiel and I appeared at the doorway of her rather spacious house. He frowned and looked around in confusion. "Gabriel, why are we in Finland?"
"Actually, we're on an island between Finland and Sweden," I corrected. "And we're here to talk to a friend of mine. She might be able to help us find Famine and Pestilence."
He frowned. "One of your friends lives here?"
"Yep," I replied with a nod. "A trickster by the name of Raven. She's got a knack for finding people that don't wanna be found."
Castiel frowned. "And you believe she can locate the horsemen?"
Before I could answer, the door opened violently. Raven stood in the door with a raised eyebrow. She was as tall as I was and had dark hair that was pulled out of her face. "Were you ever going to knock or was I going to be left waiting all day?"
I grinned slyly at her. "Good to see you too, Raven. How's it hangin'?"
She glared before rolling her eyes and stepping to the side. I glanced at Castiel and followed her inside. Raven was like me. Well, at least in the fact that she enjoyed living lavishly. Her house was more of a mansion and it was filled to the brim with everything imaginable.
"So, who's your friend?"
I opened my mouth to reply, but Castiel beat me to it. "I'm Castiel."
Raven turned around and raised an eyebrow. "Heck of a name. I was more thinking what you are and why Loki saw fit to bring you here." She sat down on a very plush looking chair and looked at me. "Are you calling in your favour, Loki?"
I sat across from her pulling Castiel with me. "You told Coyote that you would help me against Heaven and Hell."
She nodded shortly. "I did," she replied. "Though I can't imagine you are quite ready for battle yet." Raven smiled and leaned back. "Even the archangel Gabriel can only do so much in such a short span of time. Unless your friend is more powerful than I think."
Castiel frowned. "I am not more powerful than an archangel," he replied lowly. "We wish your help in seeking the remaining Horsemen of the Apocalypse."
"The Horsemen? Why?"
"We need their rings," I replied. "If we can get them, we can open up the Cage down on in the Pit."
Raven sighed and, after a moment, she stood. "Follow me, I will find your Horsemen."
I won't give you the gory details on Raven's ritual to find Famine and Pestilence. It was a pretty strange ritual, even as far as rituals go. In the end, she managed to give us two locations.
"This is where you'll find them," she replied when the ritual was over and handed over a map of the US with two cities circled. "You'll have to find Death on your own. As far as I can tell, he is nowhere to be found yet."
I grinned and folded the map up. "I can still count on you for help, right?"
She rolled her eyes. "Yes, yes," she grumbled. "Now get out of my house. I am sick of your face, archangel."
"Please, you know you love me, Raven."
"Oh, just get out already, will you?"
I grinned and dragged Castiel with me back to Singer's. We appeared right where we left Dean, but it was hours later because the sun was actually up and Sam was lounging on the couch with a book in his lap and Singer was sitting at the desk.
Sam looked up and straightened when he saw us. "Did you find something?"
I grinned and whipped out Raven's map, throwing it down onto the coffee table. "Famine's here," I said, pointing at one location, "and Pestilence is here."
He looked up with wide eyes. "Really? How'd you find out?"
"We visited a friend of Gabriel's," Castiel replied. "She used a ritual to find the Horsemen."
"So what now?" I turned to see Dean in the doorway.
I went over and lifted Sam's legs so I could sit and prop my legs up on the coffee table. Sam rolled his eyes and moved his legs off my lap. "Now, we go after the bastards," I replied. "We get their rings and lock my brother back up in his box."
Dean frowned and folded his arms. "And how do we do that? We had a hard enough time getting the jump on War, but we're supposed to go after Famine and Pestilence?"
I rolled my eyes, but Castiel replied. "Gabriel and I will help this time," he replied. "It will not be so difficult with our help."
"I hope you've got some sorta plan then," Bobby said with a disbelieving look.
I raised an eyebrow. "I do, actually. Can't say it's a very good one, but it's all we've got."
"So what is it?" Sam asked, throwing the book down on the table.
"Famine won't really care about what you did to War or what we plan to do to Pestilence," I explained shortly. "Pestilence will, though. He'll get mad and trust me – we do not want him mad."
Sam blinked. "So – what? We take them out at the same time?"
I grinned. "Exactly, kiddo. One of you will come with me to waste Pestilence and the other will go with Cas to take Famine out." I turned to look at Singer. "And you'll be our voice on the ground in case anything goes wrong."
He rolled his eyes. "Yeah, yeah, I get it. Old man gets to stay at home."
"C'mon, Singer," I said with a grin. "Compared to me you're a spring chicken."
"Well, then, what are we waiting for?" Dean asked, pushing off of the doorframe. "Let's go get the sons of bitches!"
I shrugged and stood. "All right, then," I replied. "You're coming with me, hotshot. Get your gear together."
He glared, but turned around and headed out to his car. Castiel watched him go and I rolled my eyes, touching my grace to his and giving him a nudge to go and follow Dean. He met my eye before following him out. I turned to Sam and saw that he was frowning. I sighed and nudged his boot with my toe.
"C'mon, Sasquatch," I said lightly. "Wanna have a word with you before we leave."
Sam continued to frown, but he followed me into the kitchen. I leaned against one of the counters and Sam came in looking uncomfortable. "Yeah?"
"You okay?"
He rolled his shoulders slightly and avoided my gaze. "Yeah, I'm fine."
I rolled my eyes, but let it drop. "All right," I replied. "Famine shouldn't give you too much trouble. He hasn't had much time to gather his strength yet. He shouldn't be able to affect you."
"Affect me?"
I shrugged. "It's what he does. He's Famine, after all. He makes people hungry for…well, everything. Food, sex, drugs, money – the whole shebang. But Castiel should be able to keep you protected from whatever power he is able to muster up."
Sam continued to frown and glanced up at me furtively. "And you and Dean are gonna take Pestilence down?"
I nodded. "Pestilence is harder to deal with than Famine," I replied shortly. "He likes to give people diseases. Lots of diseases. Castiel wouldn't be able to protect you or Dean from him even if it didn't affect him."
He put his hands on the back of one of the chairs. "Why send me with Cas? I mean, he won't want to take me with him, will he?"
I frowned. "What makes you say that?"
He snorted. "Well, it's not like Cas particularly likes me," he replied. "I'm pretty sure he only puts up with me because of Dean."
"You can't be serious," I replied in disbelief. Sam couldn't really think that Castiel didn't care about him. I mean, yeah, he was in love with Dean. But he cared about Sam too.
He shrugged. "I mean, we get along all right now, I guess," he replied. "At least he doesn't want to smite me anymore."
I pushed off of the counter and leaned on the table so that Sam had to look at me. "Sam, Castiel cares about you. He likes you. Not as much as he likes your brother, but I don't think Castiel likes anyone as much as he likes your brother."
"He told you that?" Sam asked with a frown.
I sighed. "He didn't have to."
He scoffed. "What? You can just tell?"
"No, I can't just tell," I replied with a glare.
"Then how do you know? I mean, he has plenty of reason to hate me or think I'm – "
"Don't," I interrupted. "Don't you dare finish that." Sam blinked at me and I took a breath before I continued. "I know because to recharge Castiel's grace, I had to use mine to do it."
Sam glanced away in confusion before meeting my gaze again. "And? What does that mean?"
I chuckled shortly. "Well, it gives whole new meaning to the term 'soul sharing,' if you catch my drift." He still looked at me in confusion and I rolled my eyes. "You know about our grace, right?"
He nodded. "Anna said that it's…it's what makes you an angel."
"Well…kind of," I replied. "It's the closest thing we have to a soul, basically. Even when an angel falls and becomes human, they don't really have a soul. It's a sliver of their grace that couldn't be ripped away." I paused and sighed. "Back home, it's how we communicate. Or…how we used to communicate. I don't think they've used it in a while by how Castiel reacted."
Sam looked away and blinked. "So you can tell…from that?"
I nodded. "Yeah, kiddo. Castiel considers you a friend." I chuckled and moved away from the table to lean against the countertop again. "He interrogated me about the Mystery Spot mess after I got back from talking to the pagans. He wanted to make sure I wouldn't hurt you two again."
"I…I didn't realise," Sam replied.
I smirked slightly. "Well, as the only older brother that doesn't want him dead, it's my duty to tell you to be nice and not make him cry out on the playground."
Sam laughed loudly for a moment before smothering the noise with a chuckle. I wished he hadn't. Sam had a good laugh. A really good laugh. Which wasn't good for me, because it just made the urge to jump his bones all the more difficult to suppress.
"Well, I would tell you the same about Dean, but he's more likely to try and stab you if you annoy him too much," Sam replied with a grin.
I smirked. "Well, he would try."
"All right, can we get this show on the road?" I turned to see Dean with one duffel bag over his shoulder and throwing another one on the table for Sam. I noticed that his face was red and when I glanced at Castiel, who was just behind him, I saw that he was looking equally flushed. Let me tell you, it was hard to hide my glee in that moment. It took a lot of self-control not to start teasing them there and then.
I grinned widely. "Sure thing, bucko." I glanced at Castiel and brushed my grace against his. He met my gaze and returned the gesture with a small smile on his face. He knew now that I was worried about him and Sam going up against Famine. Sure, he probably wasn't powerful enough to do much harm yet, but...
A tendril of Castiel's grace wrapped around mine in comfort. I had to resist the urge to smile. I pushed against his grace gently, letting him know to look after Sam. I received Castiel's humour and a push of his own, making sure I looked after Dean.
I brushed against him again before pulling away. I glanced at Sam and he was looking between the two of us with a knowing look. I threw him a grin before I turned to Dean and clapped a hand on his shoulder, taking us to the hospital that Pestilence was holed up in.
Dean looked around in confusion before glancing at me. "Pestilence is here?"
"Yep," I replied. "He enjoys making people sick a bit too much. What better place to do it than a hospital?"
"That's great and all, but how are we going to waste him if he's in a freaking hospital?"
I rolled my eyes. "Oh, Dean," I replied with a grin. "Have some faith."
He scoffed. "In you?"
"There are about a dozen demons in there along with Pestilence," I replied, ignoring him. "He's on the fourth floor somewhere."
Dean frowned. "How the hell do you know that?"
I didn't look at him. "Humans are dying there," I replied roughly.
Fortunately, Dean didn't say anything. I wasn't sure what I would say if he did say something. "Okay, so we break in and try to avoid getting seen. Then what? We hope we don't get spotted by a demon or completely miss the son of a bitch?"
I rolled my eyes. "I'll know him when I see him, bucko. All we have to do is get in and then I can find him. We just have to be careful. He'll be on the watch for anything…suspicious."
"Meaning angel mojo powers, right?"
I chuckled. "Right."
"Well, then, let's get this show on the road."
I followed Dean into the hospital. He was used to doing things the human way, so I'd let him get us in. What? I could let other people take control. Occasionally. When the situation called for it.
Anyway, Dean managed to sweet talk the receptionist with the help of a fake badge. He spun some crazy story about how I was cooperating in an investigation with the Federal Marshals and that I had demanded to see my sister before being taken into protective services. A good story, really. Especially considering that he made it up on the fly and wasn't even dressed the part of a marshal.
"So tell me," I said as we made our way to the elevator. "What exactly were you and Castiel…discussing while out getting your gear?" I grinned at him as we crammed into the otherwise empty elevator.
He glared. "You're doing this now?"
"What? Is this a bad time?" I asked, feigning confusion.
He jabbed the button on the elevator impatiently. "You're an asshole. You know that, right?"
I grinned and shrugged as the doors of the elevator shut. "I realised a long time ago that it was better to embrace what you are and take full advantage of the benefits."
"And one of those benefits is pissing people off?"
"Are you kidding?" I asked in disbelief. "That's the best perk there is. Especially you and your brother. You get so mad at the tiniest little things."
He glared. "Letting you know now, dude, you touch my car and you are dead. I don't care if you're Cas' brother. I'll deep fry you if you touch my baby."
I raised an eyebrow. "I find it interesting that you're threatening me over your car and not your baby brother. I'm taking that as permission to grope him whenever I please."
"Shut the hell up," Dean growled. "I don't want to hear about that. At all."
"What, can't handle that your little brother's gonna get some action and you're not?"
He glared, but didn't reply. I grinned and followed him out as the elevator doors opened. "What? It's not like Castiel knows anything about sex," I said and turned to throw a smirk at him. "Of course, that means you get to teach him all sorts of naughty things."
Dean glared. "Don't you know how to shut up? That's your brother you're talking about."
I laughed lowly, but didn't reply. A nurse came up and looked up at Dean. "This ward is quarantined," she said icily.
I stepped forward. "Really, sweetheart?" I could see the demon inside of her. It had already eaten away the human's soul. "Because I don't think it'll matter to you in a minute."
I stepped forward, putting my hand on her head and letting my grace reach out to purify the demon's soul. Her body fell to the ground and I glanced at Dean. "Let's move, Winchester."
Dean pulled out a knife from his duffel and I rolled my eyes. "That won't help you with Pestilence. He might not be a demon, but a common knife isn't gonna cut it."
He frowned. "Well, what am I supposed to use? I left Sam the demon-killing knife!"
I rolled my eyes and snatched it out of his hands. I put two fingers on the flat of the blade, running it over it slowly and burning sigils into it while I did. I did the same to the other side before handing it back to him.
He looked at the sigils with a frown. "What do they do?"
I led him down the hall. I could feel the humans getting sick and dying. I could feel where it was happening. Pestilence would be there. "Not much," I replied. "Not heavy duty enough to kill a demon, but it'll hurt 'em. It'll be enough to cut off Pestilence's ring."
He followed me, keeping pace with me. I didn't want to alert anyone that we were here. If Pestilence knew we were coming, he might try to run. The last thing we needed was another wild goose chase. "Yeah, and how are we going to do that again? Because I'm not really seeing how this is going to work."
I rolled my eyes. "It's simple, dumbass. I'm going to distract him with my oh-so-awesome powers and you're going to get the drop on him and cut his finger off."
Dean shrugged. "Sounds good to me."
Pestilence was at the end of the hallway. We didn't encounter any other demons or people at all. I could feel the humans in the rooms we passed. They were suffering. Sick from a hodgepodge of the most deadly diseases on the planet.
Oh, Pestilence was going to pay.
He was in the last room on the ward. I made sure to go in before Dean. Pestilence looked up as soon as we entered. There was a young girl on the bed. A really young girl. Pestilence was giving her a cocktail of diseases that could take down entire nations.
"Well, look what we have here," he said with a grin, standing up and away from the girl on the bed. "The pagan Trickster that thinks he's going to stop destiny and the asshole who stole my brother's ring."
I grinned. I loved when they couldn't tell who I really was. It made the reveal oh so much fun. "What can I say? I've got a soft spot for these humans."
He smirked. "Well, you've got some work cut out for you, Loki," he replied. "You won't find me easy to deal with."
"Well, we'll have to see about that."
I leapt forward before Pestilence could respond. I whipped him against the opposite wall. I didn't throw him hard enough to go through the wall, but hard enough so he knew that I wasn't messing around.
He stood and looked at me, cracking his neck. "It'll take more than that to scare me," he growled.
That's when it really started. I lost track of all the damage Pestilence and I did to each other. It had been a long time since I had really had to tear into someone. I was out of practice. And unlike Pestilence, I didn't want to hurt the humans in the room.
So he managed to do some damage. A lot of damage.
He threw me to the ground and I felt him trying to get past my defences. After a moment, he was finally able to sense my grace. His eyes widened almost comically and he pulled away slightly. "You're…?"
I smirked. "That's right," I replied.
That's when Dean grabbed Pestilence's arm and wrenched it around. He sliced off his finger easily. Pestilence screamed and fell to the side, giving me room to move again. As soon as his body hit the ground, he vanished.
"Nice job," I muttered, wiping blood off my face. Yeah, that's right. Angels can get injured. Usually, we fix ourselves up pretty easily, but it can happen if we're up against a tough enough opponent. It doesn't happen very often, but every once in a while it does.
"Yeah," he replied, holding out a hand. "You too." I took his hand and let him pull me to my feet. Sure, I could've done it myself. But Dean Winchester helping you up? That wasn't something that was offered – especially not to angels.
Once I was on my feet, I walked past Dean to the hospital bed. The little girl looked up at me with bloodshot eyes. I smiled down at her. "Hey, sweetheart," I murmured. "You're not looking so hot."
She sniffed, but didn't reply. I smiled and put my hand on her head, letting my grace burn away the remnants of Pestilence's diseases. The actual diseases would have vanished as soon as Dean cut off Pestilence's ring, but some symptoms would still be left behind.
The little girl smiled when I pulled my hand away. "Who are you?" Her voice was still small and weak, but it was out of shock and a little fear. She wasn't sick anymore. When an archangel does a healing, it's not half-assed. This little girl wouldn't have trouble with hospitals anymore.
"Gabriel," I replied with a grin. "Now I've gotta go, but I expect you to stay healthy, all right? I don't want to see you back in here."
She frowned. "But I'm sick," she said quietly. "I've been here a long time."
I smiled. "It won't be a problem anymore, sweetheart. Just keep yourself safe, all right?"
I stood and turned back to Dean. He was looking at me in confusion. "C'mon. I've got some miracles to work and I'd like to get them done before dessert."
What? Did you think I was just going to leave an entire floor of people deal with the after-effects of Pestilence's cocktail of diseases? These people had dealt with quite enough. Of course, it meant that I might have difficulty in dealing with Death and trying to get his ring (he probably wouldn't be happy about being cheated out of so many human souls), but I would deal with that when it came to that.
It wasn't until we had gone through most of the floor that Dean said anything. "Why're you doin' this? They'd be okay, wouldn't they?"
I shrugged. "Probably," I replied. "But they've had a hard enough time without having to deal with the after-effects of the Bubonic Plague or whatever else Pestilence stewed up."
He was quiet as I finished up with the last patient. "You were good with that girl," he muttered. "I didn't expect…"
"Didn't expect what?" I asked defensively. "That I could be nice?"
He shrugged. "Well, you aren't exactly the easiest guy to get along with."
I rolled my eyes. "The only angels older than me are Michael and Lucifer," I replied. "You think I didn't spend most of my life looking after those kids?"
Dean blinked. "Never thought of it that way," he murmured. I shoved my hands in my pockets and went out to the hallway. I leaned against the wall and watched as Dean looked at me sideways. "You mentioned that you knew Cas…back then."
I raised an eyebrow. "You wanna know what Cas was like when he was a kid?"
He folded his arms across his chest and didn't meet my gaze. "So what if I do?"
I shrugged and took pity on him. If there was one thing that Dean Winchester had a problem with, it was asking someone for something. Especially if it wasn't for a job. "He wasn't much different," I replied. "He followed me around like a lost duck or something. Always asking questions." I shook my head. "He's pretty young by our standards. Most of the others didn't really pay attention to the fledglings." I laughed slightly. "They were more fun than everyone else – even with the wide-eyed looks of awe."
Dean was quiet for a minute. "You know, you're not all bad, Gabriel."
I chuckled. "Finally come around, then? What changed your mind?"
"We're not that different, I guess," he replied simply. "Now can we get back to Bobby's and make sure our brothers didn't get side-tracked by a book or something?"
"They would, wouldn't they?"
He nodded and I grinned before putting my hand on his shoulder again. I made sure we were right where we left – in the kitchen of Singer's place. It was later than I thought. We had left in the middle of the day and it was evening now.
That wasn't what was troubling, though. The most worrying thing was Singer. He was sitting at the table with a half-empty bottle of alcohol. Dean was immediately worried. "Bobby, what happened?"
He didn't look up. He took a long drink and shook his head. "All went to hell," he muttered drunkenly.
That's when I felt Castiel. His grace was all over the place. He wasn't even reaching out to me – he was projecting all over the place. He was afraid. And worried. Shit was he worried. I turned to Singer.
"What's going on?" I growled. "What happened?"
Singer didn't reply. "Gabriel. Leave him be."
I turned to see Castiel in the doorway. He looked worse than I've ever seen him. He wouldn't meet anyone's eye and I could still feel how worried and scared he was. I went to stand in front of him. "Castiel," I said seriously. "What happened?"
Suddenly, Castiel's grace went from all over the place to locked up tight. He looked down before speaking. "Famine was more powerful than we imagined," he murmured.
Then I knew. I knew what had happened. And damn if I didn't hate myself for sending Sam to Famine instead of taking him with me to Pestilence.
I could help Sam in a moment, but first I had to get Castiel to calm down. I put one hand on his shoulder and the other on his cheek, forcing him to look at me. I wrapped my grace around his, ignoring the fact that he was trying to cut himself off from me.
"Castiel," I said lowly. "Let me in. Now."0
He swallowed and had a look of complete fear in his eye. He did, however, open up so that a sliver of his grace was open for me to reach. I made sure that he knew I understood what had happened and that I didn't blame him. I made sure he knew that I still loved him and would kick the ass of anyone who did blame him.
He looked up at me with wide eyes and he shook his head slightly. "Gabriel – "
I tightened my grip on his shoulder. "It's not your fault, little brother. Downstairs?"
He nodded and I turned to Dean. "What's going on?" He asked. "Where's Sammy?"
"Listen to me carefully, Dean, all right?" I said calmly. "Famine was more powerful than he should have been. He was able to screw with Sam's head."
Dean shook his head. "You don't mean – "
I nodded. "He made Sammy crave demon blood."
"Son of a bitch," he swore lowly.
I stepped towards him. "Now you listen to me, all right?" I met his gaze evenly. "This wasn't his fault. It wasn't Castiel's fault. There aren't gonna be any blame games, all right? I'm not cleaning up that mess."
Dean blinked, but finally nodded. "Yeah," he muttered. "Okay." He paused for a moment. "I wanna stay with him. I don't want him in there alone."
"No," I said firmly.
He frowned. "Excuse me?"
"It's too dangerous for you to be in there," I explained. "When he starts detoxing, he could hurt you. I won't let that happen. I'm not putting any of you in that position."
"You think I fucking care? I'm not leaving my brother alone in there and there's no way in hell you're gonna stop me!"
I shook my head. "It's not to protect you, moron," I told him harshly. "Do you want your brother to have a nervous breakdown? If Sam finds out he hurt one of you while detoxing he will never forgive himself."
Dean shook his head. "So what? I'm supposed to leave him down there by himself? Again? No way, Gabriel. No fucking way."
"He won't be alone, idiot," I said, turning and heading towards the basement. "I'm going to stay with him. He can't hurt me."
I didn't wait for a reply. I made my way down to the panic room and didn't listen to Castiel try and apologise to Dean. I knew Dean wasn't going to blame him. If anything, Dean would blame himself. There was no way he would let it go so easily.
When I opened the door to the panic room, Sam looked up. He was huddled in a corner, his arms wrapped around his legs. If he wasn't so tall, he would have looked like a little kid. "Get out," he said weakly.
I stepped inside and closed the door behind me. "Sorry, kiddo," I replied. "No can do."
He looked up and glared. "I could hurt you," he replied angrily. "Gabriel, just get out already!"
I rolled my eyes and sat on the bed (even though it looked like it was carrying about twenty infectious diseases) so that I could look at him. "You can't hurt me, Sam. And we're not leaving you alone in here."
Sam avoided my gaze and looked down at his knees. "You don't have to say 'we,'" he grumbled. "I know they're all up there trying not to kill something."
I leaned back on my hands and shook my head. "No one's mad at you," I said calmly. "In fact, I almost had to tie your brother down so he wasn't the one to come and keep you company."
He looked up with a frown. "What?"
I shrugged. "He didn't want you down here alone."
Sam scoffed. "You can't be serious."
I sighed. Damn these Winchesters and all their issues. Of course I had to like the humans that were the most difficult, didn't I? I got off the bed and knelt in front of Sam, forcing myself into his line of sight. "I'm only gonna say this once so you better listen up," I said seriously. "No one here blames you. If anything, it's my fault. I'm the one that sent you after Famine."
He shook his head. "You're not the one that drank demon blood, Gabriel! That's on me."
When he tried to look away, I grabbed his chin and made him look at me. "No, it isn't," I retorted. "Sam, there was no way you could have resisted Famine's influence."
"So? I still craved it," he argued. "It could've been anything – anything at all – and it was demon blood that he made me want."
I shook my head and moved my hand to his cheek and inched my way closer. "Famine looked inside you and found the thing that would hurt you the most."
He held my gaze and I could see how scared he was. Damn it. It was my fault. I should have been there. Or I shouldn't have sent him there. Either way, it was my fault. Sam shuddered with a tremor and I could tell that his detox was going to start soon.
"You'll stay with me?"
I grinned and nodded. "Course I will, Sammy."
He smiled slightly before leaning forward slightly and kissing me chastely. When he pulled away, I grinned before sliding over to sit next to him. "I guess you wanna know what happened, right?"
I shrugged. "I can get the story from Castiel if you don't want to talk about it."
Because I was pressed against Sam's side, I could feel that he was starting to shake. "It started out all right. Cas was having a hard time pinning him down – couldn't figure out where he was hiding out. By the time we had…it was already too late for me." He turned to look at me and shifted slightly. "I made Cas lock me up in the bathroom, but…Famine sent demons after me. They unlocked me and I – "
I leaned over and nudged him gently. "You can skip that part, Sammy."
He nodded. "When I got there, he had Cas trapped in holy fire. Famine had a dozen demons with him. He wanted me to drink them too."
"Sam – " I started. He interrupted me, though.
"I didn't do it."
I blinked. "What?"
"I exorcised them," he replied. "Famine uh…he swallowed their souls or something so I killed the souls. It hurt him and I cut off his ring and let Cas out. Then we came back here."
I shook my head. "You just keep surprising me, you know that?"
He frowned. "Why?"
I raised an eyebrow. "Sammy, you resisted a direct temptation from Famine. If he wanted you to drink those demons down, then he was pulling out all the stops. The fact that you used the craving to take him out? That's big."
Before Sam could reply, he started shaking violently. I grabbed his head before he could bash it against the wall. "Gabriel – "
"S'okay, kiddo," I murmured. "You'll be okay."
The fit didn't last very long. It was only the beginning, though, and we both knew it. "I hate this," Sam murmured. He was slumped over and his head was sagging against my shoulder. I sighed. He sounded like a kid. It reminded me of how things were back home before I left. When all my little brothers would come crying whenever Zachariah or Uriel or Raphael had been too rough on them.
I sighed and put a hand on his knee. "I know," I murmured. "I can help, if you want."
I could feel him frown even though I couldn't see his face. "How?"
"I can use my mojo on you and make you sleep through everything," I replied. "You interested?"
There was a long pause. "No," he replied. "No, I'm good."
I rolled my eyes. "C'mon, Sam, just let me put you to sleep."
Sam pushed away from me and sat up straight. "No, Gabriel. I'm not just going to sleep."
I shook my head. "Fine. Have it your way."
We sat quietly for a few moments and Sam shifted back over so that he was next to me. "Wanna tell me about angelic physiology now?"
"What?"
The corner of his mouth twitched slightly. "When we first got here, you said something about knowing Cas when he was a fledgling. You told me to ask you about angelic physiology later."
I rolled my eyes. "Well, what d'you wanna know, Curious George?"
Sam and I spent over two days in the panic room. Whenever he wasn't hallucinating or seizing, he would ask me questions. And let me tell you – damn is the kid intuitive. He would only stop asking when the pain got to be too much. Whenever that happened, he would curl up on the bed or on the floor and try to make himself smaller. A feat – let me tell you. Oddly enough, he would always try to get me closer too. He'd latch on to my arm or knee or whatever was closest to him and refuse to let go.
I won't go into specifics of what happened. Sam would get embarrassed if I revealed too much. Let's just say that when the door to the panic room opened, things were better than the last time Sam had to detox.
Castiel, Dean, and Bobby were on the other side of the door. I went first, a hand on Sam's elbow to pull him along with me. When he saw our brothers and Bobby, I felt him stiffen up. Before I could do anything, Dean was moving towards Sam and had his arms wrapped around him. I watched as Sam blinked and returned the embrace.
Dean pulled away, but kept a hand on Sam's shoulder. "You okay, little brother?"
Sam blinked and nodded. "Yeah, I'm okay," he replied. He glanced at me before looking back at Dean. "Gabriel took care of me."
He nodded and looked at me. "Good. Now I don't have to kick his ass."
I laughed. "Yeah, I'd like to see you try, Winchester."
He rolled his eyes and Castiel shifted nervously. "Sam. I – I'm very sorry."
Sam shook his head. "It's not your fault, Cas. Don't worry about it."
Castiel nodded and Bobby rolled my eyes. "All right, all right," I said. "Can we get this show on the road? We've got three of four rings, but we still need Death's."
I nodded. "Yep. And let me tell you – Death is not going to be easy."
Dean scoffed. "Please, how hard can it be after Famine and Pestilence? And War?"
"You're an idiot," I said, making my way upstairs. Sam was right behind me and I knew that the others wouldn't be far behind. I flung myself on the couch and stretched as Sam moved my feet so he could sit down. Bobby sat at the desk – per usual – and Dean stood next to Castiel with his arms folded.
"So why am I an idiot?" Dean asked.
I scoffed. "You think you can kill Death? Please. Guy has got an ego bigger than mine and that's saying a lot."
"So what do we do then?" Sam asked. He still looked rough. He was pale and had dark circles under his eyes. In short, he wasn't looking too hot.
I shrugged. "Try to bargain with him."
"Bargain with Death? You're crazy, idjit."
I rolled my eyes. "Thanks for the vote of confidence, Singer."
He glared. "It's Death. What've you got that he's gonna want?"
I shifted and sat up straight. "Look, he's Death. And soon he's going to be forced onto Lucifer's payroll. I can't see him being too happy about that." Dean and Bobby looked suspicious and I rolled my eyes. "Don't worry about it. Castiel and I can handle it."
"How you gonna find the son of a bitch anyway?" Dean asked.
I leaned back. "Well, he's not even around yet. He's locked up like Lucifer was and has to be let out. Lucifer hasn't gotten around to it yet." I stood and grinned at my brother. "We'll get to it. After we get some sleep, of course."
Before Bobby or Dean could protest, I grabbed Sam's arm and pulled him up. I dragged him into the room I had created for them. Of course, I created a door and a wall between the two beds while I was at it.
"Gabriel, what are you doing?"
I flopped onto the oversized bed and smiled genially. "What do you mean?" I asked innocently.
Ah, there it was again. The infamous bitch-face. "Gabriel."
I rolled my eyes. "Well, I was hoping you'd get a good night's sleep."
He laughed. "I think you were hoping for something different."
"What can I say?" I asked with a shrug. "You are a hot piece of ass, kiddo."
I had to resist the urge to grin when he blushed and avoided my gaze. "I'm not gonna sleep with you," he replied, sitting on the bed. "Not yet, at least."
I frowned. "And why's that?"
He came over and sat on the bed next to me. "Aside from the fact that my brother's on the other side of that wall?"
"Oh, please. As if he could hear us if I didn't want him to."
Sam shook his head. "Doesn't matter," he replied. "Call me a girl, but I'm not jumping into a relationship with you. Yeah, I like you and you're making up for all the stuff you did. But I'm not really a one-night stand kind of guy, Gabriel, and you can't fool me into thinking that you'd be interested in staying after this mess is over."
I blinked. I'm going to be honest here – that? It was a swift kick to the gut. Yeah, I knew logically that he had a point. I knew that there was no reason for him to think I would stay. I had already said that I knew they didn't expect me to stick around.
But I wanted to. Even then, I wanted to stay. I didn't want to go back home even if we managed to take care of Michael and Lucifer and the Apocalypse. Not right away, at least.
I wanted to stay with Sam and his stupid brother and Castiel.
I brushed it off though. I was still me, after all. I wasn't going to let on that what Sam said hurt. "All right, Sammy. I can take a hint." I hopped off the bed and made for the door. "I'll leave you alone. All you had to do was ask."
"Gabriel, wait – "
I didn't wait, though. In retrospect, it probably would have made things easier in the long run. Would have fixed the whole misunderstanding right away. But I'd never been a "big picture" kind of guy. So I ignored him and went back into the living room to find Castiel sitting with Dean on the couch. Close. Very close.
"Sorry to break up the make-out session, baby bro, but we're going to see Death now."
Castiel turned to look at me. He didn't move away from Dean and I could feel him reaching out with his grace. I tried to block him out, but I couldn't. No matter how much I wanted to keep it to myself, I couldn't block him out. I wanted that contact. I couldn't resist it for anything.
I felt his grace twist around mine. After a moment, the simple brush turned into comfort. "Gabriel," he started.
"Later," I said, shaking my head. "Can we go?"
He nodded and turned back to Dean. Before I could so much as move, Castiel had a hand on the back of Dean's head and was pulling him closer. And let me tell you something – I had no idea my little brother could kiss so well. He must have been a fast learner.
It didn't last long and when Castiel pulled away he stood and looked at me. I grinned at Dean who was futilely trying to hide his embarrassment. "You say a word and I – "
I rolled my eyes. "C'mon, bro. I've got some ideas on where we can find Death."
I led Castiel to one of the many deserts in Israel. He didn't even look around when we touched down. "Gabriel, I am sure he did not mean – "
"Can we talk about this later? We've got a horseman to find."
I tried to turn away, but Castiel grabbed my arm. "He cares for you."
I glared. "And he thinks that I'm going to jump ship as soon as the Apocalypse is over! I spent nearly three days in that panic room staying with him – I told him things I've never told anyone before. And he thinks I'm gonna leave! What am I supposed to do, Castiel?"
He smiled slightly. "You should prove him wrong."
I held his gaze for a few moments before rolling my eyes. When did we get so corny? That would have to stop. "All right, so here's the thing – there are about a dozen different rituals that can open up Death's cage. Our dear older brother, of course, is going to use the worst one."
Castiel frowned. "Why?"
"Because only one of the rituals will bind Death to his will," I explained. "It also happens to be the bloodiest. He's gonna have to kill an entire town of people where there was a lot of bloodshed in the past."
"Facing Lucifer is not a prudent thing, brother," he replied.
I shook my head. "We're not going to, baby bro. He hasn't done the ritual yet, so we have time to swoop in and foil his plan."
Castiel was quiet for a moment. Then his eyes widened. "You want to release Death first."
"Yep."
"You're insane."
I laughed. "Maybe," I replied. "Look at it this way – if we let Death out, then we're saving a whole town of people from getting killed."
"How can you be sure that we will complete the ritual before Lucifer?"
I smirked. "Well, that's the thing. Lucifer's ritual is a lot more…complex. His ritual has a lot more steps to it than the one we'll use. We're just letting Death out – we're not trying to bind him to our will."
Castiel sighed. "I don't like this."
I grinned. "I'll take that as consent. Let's get this show on the road, huh?"
Again, I'm not going to bore you with the details of our ritual. Because it really was boring. A lot of chanting and sigils and complicated circles and dead languages. Plus, the last thing we need is a bunch of average humans trying to use ancient rituals to summon Death.
To make a long story short, the ritual worked and Death stepped onto the Earth.
It took him a few moments to make himself up a human form, but when he did I wasn't surprised by the appearance. Older, thin, pale, and dark hair. He smirked when he saw us. "Now this, I didn't expect."
I could feel Castiel tense up next to me. I smirked. "Well, we didn't do it for free."
He raised an eyebrow. "Oh?"
"The way I see it, we just saved your ass from being bound to our brother's every sadistic, insane whim," I explained. "We just want one little thing in return."
He looked at me knowingly. "You want my ring, don't you?"
"That's right."
"And why should I hand it over? You've already saved me from your brother's clutches."
I rolled my eyes. "And you know that he's not going to stop now. He's going to keep trying to get his hands on you." I smirked. "You give us your ring; we can stop that from happening."
He paused for a few moments. "Very well," he said calmly. "But I have a stipulation."
My eyes narrowed. "And what's that?"
He smirked. "If you cannot find an alternative, you kill your brother yourself." He smirked. "Or I'll come after you, Gabriel."
I felt my jaw tighten. If I didn't agree, we wouldn't get the ring and everything would be shot to hell. If I did, then I might have to kill Lucifer. A contract with Death was binding. Even to an archangel. And I didn't want that. That's why I joined up with the Winchesters to begin with.
"Of course, if you don't find that agreeable, there's another solution." He raised an eyebrow again. "You could always let the vessels say yes."
"What would that accomplish?" I growled.
He shrugged and was forcing himself to appear nonchalant. "Even imprisoned, I have heard stories about those Winchesters," he said. "Rather incredible stories. I have no doubt that if they tried hard enough, they could regain control of their bodies."
"No," I said immediately. "If it comes to it, I'll fight Lucifer. I won't let them say yes."
He smiled and pulled off his ring. "As long as we have a deal." He dropped the ring and vanished. I sighed and picked it up before turning back to see Castiel staring at me.
"Gabriel – "
I shook my head. "I'm not letting them say yes, Castiel," I replied. "If I have to fight him, I have to fight him. I'm not gonna let Lucifer or Michael have them."
Castiel reached out with his grace. "I will help you," he said seriously.
I shook my head. "No."
He frowned. "I can help, Gabriel."
"You can't. Even if you could, I wouldn't let you." I sighed and turned to him. "Only an archangel can kill another archangel, little brother."
Castiel stepped forward and wrapped his grace around mine. "It doesn't mean I cannot help you."
I met his eye and realised just how lucky I was. What were the chances that Castiel would be the one that pulled Dean out of hell? What were the chances that he would want to stop the Apocalypse with the Winchesters? It had to be my Father's work. There was no other explanation.
"You're too good for me, Castiel," I replied.
He frowned. "Are you all right, Gabriel?"
I smiled and clapped a hand on his shoulder. "I'm fine, baby bro."
He continued to look at me suspiciously, but nodded. "We should get back to Sam and Dean."
I shifted and avoided his gaze. "Yeah, I guess."
"Everything will…work out between you and Sam, brother."
I rolled my eyes. "Didn't I say I didn't want to talk about it? Let's go."
"Very well," he replied before flying off. I sighed before following him. I wished I could get a market on his hopefulness. It would make things a hell of a lot easier.