"Dean! Cas!" Sam hollered as soon as the front door closed on him.
Running footsteps sounded as he carefully descended the iron staircase.
"Sam? What's... Holy shit! Who's that?!" Dean called, quickly standing next to Sam.
Cas was hot on his trail and stopped dead.
"Sam?" he asked, his gravelly voice trembling.
"Yes, Cas. Can you..." he motioned with two fingers.
"Heal him? I certainly hope I can. Who is it, and what happened?"
Sam carried the curled up Archangel to his own room, lowering him on the bed.
"Dean... could you get warm water and a sponge? I doubt he can stay upright long enough to shower."
Dean sighed, but turned around.
"As long as you're sure you can trust him... whoever he is." he grumbled before leaving.
Cas hovered at the foot of the bed.
"Sam... who is he? Is he Reynard? Did someone attack him?"
Sam stopped unbuttoning the dirty, ragged blouse to stare at Cas.
"You can't tell?" he asked, astounded.
"No. As far as I can tell, he's human, very emaciated, dehydrated, and probably tortured. Look at his mouth... it looks like it..." his voice bled out in disgust
Sam rubbed a thumb carefully over the punctured bottom lip.
"I know. It was..."
Cas looked nauseated.
"Poor guy... Shall I..."
He lifted his two fingers to indicate healing.
Gabe shook his head violently, startling them.
Sam looked into those amber eyes, seeing how haunted they looked.
"You were just faking it, weren't you? You're scared, hungry, thirsty and half convinced this is a dream."
Gabriel nodded slowly.
Sam sighed, stroking a strand of dirty hair behind Gabe's ear.
"I won't say anything, yet. First we clean you up, ok? Then we can see if you feel ok with Cas healing you." he whispered into that ear.
Mutely, Gabe nodded again.
With a sigh, Sam turned to Cas.
"Let me use human methods first... I think he might trust us better afterwards."
Dean came in with a bucket of warm water, a sponge and a fluffy towel.
"I brought the baby shampoo too, but.. oh God his mouth... really?"
Sam nodded solemnly, his eyes fixed on Gabe while his fingers gently probed at the lacerations on his scalp.
"Shit... poor guy. Hey, buddy? We got you now, ok? You're safe. Sammy here will clean you up nicely. Or will you..." He wriggled his hand at Cas.
With a sad sigh, Cas shook his dark head.
"No. It seems he is wary of... otherworldly methods."
Dean looked at Gabe again.
"Shit... so, so sorry pal. Sam..." He turned his green eyes on his brother. "... you got this?"
Sam nodded. "If you two could see if you can find some clothes... male, medium I think."
Dean took Cas by the elbow and tugged him towards the door.
"We're on it, right Cas?"
Cas didn't look away from Gabriel, but nodded.
"Yes. Clean clothes. I know how that perked me up."
Sam didn't turn around, but he could see Gabriel's golden eyes follow their brothers out.
"Gabriel..." Sam whispered.
The golden eyes flashed in panic.
"Sssshhhh. It's ok. You know the Men Of Letters?"
A tentative nod.
"Turns out Dean and I... we're legacies. You're in the Lebanon quarters."
Gabriel started shaking.
"Ssshshshsh." Sam shushed, carefully taking the slender body in his arms again.
"Samshine... I'm safe.. I'm finally safe... aren't I?"
