A/N: I don't own Supernatural, but I do own four seasons' worth of DVDs, and two fringe-canon novels.

Anyone think I should change the genre? I keep promising that it'll get funnier, and it will, but I'm not exactly sure that humor is one of the main focuses anymore. Sam and Gabe have a lot of serious shit to work through, after all.

This one is shorter than usual, since I realized the chapter 6 I wrote yesterday would make a better chapter 100…

By the way, Belle Plains is the name I made up for the Tall Tales college, since I couldn't find one anywhere.

As usual, AU suggestions are welcome, I've only got 35 or 40 right now, so less than half.

Chapter 6: Hanging with the Help

Gabriel rolled his shoulders, getting accustomed to his old janitorial uniform again with a slight smile. It had been too long. Whistling aimlessly, the archangel pushed his cart down the college hallway. So. Stanford. To be honest, he preferred the small-town Midwest campus of Belle Plains Community College to sprawling bigwig universities like Stanford. But Stanford meant Sam.

The hallway lights were still on, for the most part, but it was midnight on the dot. And, as a dutiful member of the janitorial and security staff, Gabriel had to make sure all the good little law students were out of the building before he locked up, didn't he? Gabriel left the hall and entered one of the library rooms.

Sam wasn't hard to find.

The bluish technological glow of his laptop lit up the darkened area around him. Leaning on his mop's handle, Gabriel watched Sam sleep. He looked peaceful, in a way that Gabriel had never seen him be firsthand. His head rested at the elbow juncture of his right arm, which was sprawled in front of him along with the left one. Soft, fluffy brown hair haloed his head.

"And I'm supposed to be the angel," Gabriel joked to himself.

Shaking his head, he tapped Sam on the shoulder. The law student shifted his head slightly and made the most adorable sleepy noise.

"Five more minutes, Dean…" he mumbled.

With a snort of laughter, Gabriel tugged on Sam's hair. He finally sat up with a start, looking around wildly. After blinking hard a few times to get used to the glare of his laptop in the dim room, he met Gabriel's eyes with his own. They were a little red-rimmed, and the bags under his eyes sent a bit of a twinge into Gabriel's chest, just above his heart.

"Hey, kiddo. I'm locking up, so unless you wanna sleep here for the night…"

Sam nodded, then covered his mouth as he let out a yawn.

"Yeah… Yeah, sorry," he said, closing his laptop and shoving it into the backpack lying next to his chair. "That's the third time this week, isn't it?"

Gabriel smiled and waved the apology away, shrugging his shoulders.

"No problem. I'll walk you out."

Sam nodded, slipping on the backpack and following the clatter of Gabriel's janitorial cart out into the lit hallway. The two of them walked in silence for a long ways. Gabriel kept glancing over at Sam, but the brunette kept his eyes on his large shoes.

"What were you working on?" the janitor asked quietly.

"Hm? I uh… Just studying."

"You study a lot. Not a party guy?"

Sam chuckled under his breath, then shook his head.

"Just, uh…" he carded a hand through his hair. "Just nervous, I guess. I only got into the program recently."

"Dunno why you're so worried," Gabriel said with a shrug of his shoulders. "You're the talk of the town, Sambo."

Sam blinked, looked at Gabriel, and then promptly tripped over his own feet. Thankfully, the big lug caught himself, landing on his forearms, so his head didn't hit the floor. He lay on the floor for a few long seconds, as if he wasn't quite sure how he had ended up so low to the ground. Gabriel thought about mentioning that the air was a bit thicker than Sam might be used to, but didn't. Abandoning his cart instead, he crouched down.

"Um," said Sam as they locked gazes.

Rolling his eyes but with a small grin, Gabriel locked a hand around Sam's right bicep.

"Up you get, Winchester."

Thanks to his archangel strength, it was nothing to haul Sam back to his feet. The law student looked a bit startled, but didn't comment. Just nodded his head.

"How, uh… What did you mean, talk of the town?" he asked Gabriel quietly.

"All the professors that come through here talk about you. When they think no one's listening, of course. But then again, nobody takes much notice of me, I'm just the janitor after all."

Sam looked slightly green under the fluorescent lighting as Gabriel continued to ramble. He pressed a large palm to his forehead.

"Oh, god."

"All good things, I promise," vowed Gabriel, placing a hand over his heart.

"That might actually be worse," Sam admitted.

Gabriel bumped his shoulder against Sam's arm gently, and smiled when the brunette looked down at him. Sam's tired eyes softened a little.

"Hey, you know, it's always handy to have a janitor on your side," Gabriel pointed out. "If you ever need somewhere to hide from starstruck professors. And classmates."

"Starstruck?"

"Sure. I've found at least five love letters addressed to you just tonight," Gabriel joked, nodding his head towards the trash can on his cart.

Sam buried his face in his hands, long fingers inadvertently mussing up his bangs.

"It's too late at night for me to be able to tell if you're joking or not," he mumbled.

A bright laugh shot out of Gabriel's mouth.

"Nah, I was just messing with you."

The halfhearted glare Sam shot Gabriel, after letting his large hands fall to his sides, was enough to get the archangel to waggle his eyebrows mischievously. After that, a quiet sort of tension in Sam's shoulders disappeared. The law student shifted his backpack a little.

"Uh, hey… I guess I haven't asked the last few nights… What's your name?"

"Teddy Page, janitor extraordinaire, at your service," greeted Gabriel with a low bow. "I've been looking after the yahoos in the prestigious Robert Crown Law Library for… About three years now."

"You know, I think I have seen you around," Sam said thoughtfully. "Besides when you're kicking me out, I mean."

Gabriel returned a brilliant smile.

"Well, I do have an actual job to do besides babysitting you, you know. So, whadda ya say?" he offered. "Might be a little passé to hang with the help but-"

"Don't say that," protested Sam. "You… You do honest work, you know?"

Gabriel stared up into Sam's eyes, studying him. An awkward silence passed for a few seconds until Sam suddenly tore his gaze away and began walking down the hallway again. Startled, Gabriel grabbed his cart and rushed after him.

"Hey. Everything alright?"

"Yeah."

But the answer was too quick to be the truth, and Gabriel frowned.

"Hey, come on Sambo. We're pals now, right? You can tell me," he insisted.

"It's nothing."

Gabriel let out an exaggerated huff of frustration, and saw Sam roll his eyes a little. The two of them kept walking to the click-clack of Gabriel's cart's wheels.

"I was just thinking about my brother," Sam admitted half a minute later.

"Dean, right?"

Sam blinked, then looked at Gabriel with some suspicion.

"How did you know that?" he demanded.

Gabriel shrugged, keeping a leisurely, swaggering pace over the shiny tile floor.

"You mumbled about him when I tried to wake you up."

Sam's expression was still a little tight, but he appeared to accept the explanation at face value. He looked up at the ceiling, then down at the floor, and finally spoke again.

"I miss him."

Gabriel nodded.

"I miss mine too."

The two didn't speak any more after that, but shared a sad smile. When they finally reached the front doors, Gabriel paused. Sam continued walking. He opened the door, took half a step out, and then turned back.

"Hey, Teddy?"

"Yeah, Sam?"

"If I… Maybe… Stayed late tomorrow night…" Sam trailed off, shoving his hands in the pockets of his slacks.

"Yes?" Gabriel prompted, waving him on.

"Could we talk again?"

"Sure thing, kiddo," the archangel promised. "Should I be bringing you a coffee?"

Sam laughed.

"That might be nice," he agreed.

Gabriel grinned, leaning against his mop's handle.

"What do you take?"

"Just black is fine."

Gabriel gasped, contorting his features into a scandalized look and pressing a hand to his chest.

"Blasphemy," he exclaimed. "How could you possibly drink anything without sugar?"

Sam pulled a face, then shook his head.

"That's right, you're the janitor who's always eating chocolate bars," he recalled.

"If you bring me one tomorrow, I might tell you something interesting about the library," said Gabriel. "I know all its secrets, after all."

Sam perked up at that, hooking his thumbs through his bag straps. Gabriel's heart gave a heavy thud in his chest. Even when off the job, living a boring, everyday life, Sam was curious. The way the light hit his wide eyes when he was interested in something was a shock to the system for sure.

As Gabriel was still thinking, Sam took a full step out the doors, though still holding one open with his hand.

"I'll make sure to nab a Snickers from one of the vending machines," he promised.

"Yeah, that's the stuff, Sammy-boy!"

Sam grinned, nodded, and glanced away.

"Well. See you tomorrow, then," Sam called over his shoulder before walking off into the night and letting the door slide closed.

"Kids these days," Gabriel muttered to himself, placing a hand over his heart and shooting a mock-pleading look at the ceiling.

With a bit of a spring in his step, he turned and walked back down the hallway in the direction he and Sam had come from. As he pushed his cart, he whistled and danced a bit before lifting the fingers of his right hand.

With a final twist of his hips to his made-up beat, Gabriel snapped his fingers.