Disclaimer: Supernatural and its characters are the property of Eric Kripke. Sadly, I do not own any of these guys.
"Meow."
Sam groaned and turned over in bed, pushing the cat away from him when she tried to rub against his face. "No, Bells."
"Meeow." Bells was undeterred, returning to her place against Sam's neck and face immediately. Sam yawned and glared at the cat without any actual anger. He was still in complete shock that his brother had allowed her to stay in the bunker, especially indoors, but he wasn't about to complain. She might not be a dog, but the kitten was downright adorable, and extremely affectionate to everyone from the second she met them. Speaking of which…
"No, Bells," Sam said with a tiny smile, pushing her off again and watching as the cat seemed to try to puzzle out the concept of "no." Then, just when it seemed she'd gotten it, she went right back to rubbing on him, and he groaned and flopped back on the pillow. "Fine. Do what you want, then."
"No way, Sister," a voice said from beside Sam, and the hunter's eyes shot open immediately. "That's my Samsquatch you're gettin' all friendly with." Bells gave Gabriel an indignant hiss at being pushed away from Sam, and the Archangel scowled at her. "Yeah, well *hiss* to you too!"
Sam chuckled, sitting up and giving Gabriel a peck on the cheek when Bells had strode out of the room with what could only be described as a cat's version of a huff. "'Morning, Gabriel."
"'Morning, Sammy. You miss me?"
"Nah. I got my new girlfriend Bells to keep me company," he said with a teasing smile.
Gabriel rolled his eyes and pulled Sam into an embrace. "Yeah, right. She's not your type."
"Mmm… Welcome back…" Sam mumbled sleepily, leaning against Gabriel while the angel gently teased his long hair, pressing a kiss to the top of his head.
"Glad to be back. Oh, and I heard Dean and Cas talking about a 'pageant' earlier. That mean anything to you?"
Sam's eyes popped open and he turned around look at the clock. "Oh, man, it's already noon! Why'd you let me sleep so late?"
"Because you're really cute when you're asleep," Gabriel said with a shrug.
Sam blushed. "Oh. Well, uh, anyway, there's a Christmas pageant at the local school at one o'clock today that we're all going to see." Gabriel cocked an eyebrow, and Sam backtracked a little. "Long story, but Cas made friends with some lady and her kid at the grocery store a few months ago, and he got invited to the pageant at the school. We figured we'd go along too, since only Kevin's actually seen one of these before. You're welcome to come, too, if you want."
"Sure," Gabriel said with a shrug as he conjured up a bar of chocolate and took a bite. "Sounds like it could be interesting."
"Okay, well," Sam said, pulling on a pair of jeans and a long-sleeved plaid shirt while he talked. "Just promise me you won't pull any pranks on the kids."
"Oh, don't worry, I –"
"Not their parents, either."
"Aww, man…"
Just before one o'clock, everyone from the bunker piled out of the Impala, heading single-file into the small school auditorium. It was dimly lit, just bright enough so that people could see the aisles between their seats while still giving most of the light to the stage. Aside from a few people coughing and sneezing every so often, it was almost completely silent. There was a woman standing up on stage, and as soon as everyone had taken their seats – Cas and Dean sitting side-by-side like Sam and Gabriel while Kevin sat on the end – she began to speak.
"Welcome to the Lebanon Elementary Christmas Pageant," she said warmly, addressing them all with a sweep of her arm. "Today we tell the story of the birth of Jesus Christ, the reason for the holiday we call Christmas. So without further ado, let's begin."
The curtain rose behind her, and a young boy stepped up to the microphone. He began to tell the story of how Jesus' birth came to be, and how it was prophesied long before it happened. Three "prophets" walked up onstage, and relayed the message that a Messiah would soon be born, and the townspeople rejoiced. Then the narrator began again.
"And one day, when Mary was alone, God sent his angel Gabriel to appear before her."
Gabriel perked up in his seat, watching in amusement as a tiny child wearing a white robe and fluffy wings approached the girl playing Mary.
"Hail, Mary," the Gabriel-boy said. "The Lord is with thee. Blessed art thou among women." Dean snickered and Gabriel and Castiel both elbowed him in the ribs. "Be not afraid, for you are special in my Father's eyes. And behold, he has chosen you to bring forth a son. His name shall be Jesus, and he will be called the Son of God. And his Kingdom shall have no end."
The child playing Mary smiled up at "Gabriel," nodding slowly. "I will gladly carry out God's will."
The narrator continued, telling of how Gabriel had come to Joseph and explained what would happen to Mary, and not to be afraid of what God had planned for them. The "Gabriel" exited the stage, and a bunch of little angels came out to change the stage props. When they had finished, there were several fake farm animals sitting around, as well as a manger with a silent Mary and Joseph standing over it, smiling.
While they stood still in their positions, the narrator told the story of Caesar Augustus, and of how Joseph had taken Mary from Nazareth to Bethlehem only to find that there was no room at the inn. "One innkeeper, feeling pity for them, finally allowed them to take shelter in the stable, and there Jesus was born and laid in the soft hay of a manger. Immediately afterward, the angel Gabriel came to the shepherds to share the news with them. But the shepherds had never seen an angel before, and they trembled in fear of him."
"And rightly so…" Dean mumbled under his breath.
"Shh!" Castiel hissed.
"Be not afraid," the child playing Gabriel said in a surprisingly strong voice. "For I bring wonderful news! Today, in the town of Bethlehem, a child was born. He will grow up to be the King of all Kings, and this world's Savior! You will find him lying in a manger, wrapped in swaddling clothes."
The "shepherds" thanked Gabriel and departed for Bethlehem.
The next part of the play went quickly – the shepherds gathered around the manger, and the three Wise Men, having followed the North Star for several weeks, brought their gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh. Immediately afterward, the entire cast began to sing "Silent Night," and most of the parents and relatives joined in quietly as well. Kevin sang too, since he knew the words, and Dean and Sam resolved to learn the words someday so they could actually sing at Christmastime. Then the narrator spoke one more time.
"And that is the story of Christmas, and the birth of our Savior. We hope you've enjoyed it, everyone. Merry Christmas!"
"Merry Christmas!" the audience echoed, and all the kids on stage joined hands and took a bow. Everyone clapped for them, and when Sam looked over at them, he saw that Castiel and Gabriel were both beaming while they applauded. Before long, everyone began to file out of their seats, but Castiel wanted to wait for the mother and son he had befriended to come away from the stage. Eventually they did, and Gabriel was shocked to notice that it was the kid who had played him.
"Good job up there, Brian," Dean said when the kid approached them.
"Yes," Castiel agreed with a warm smile. "You should be proud."
"Really?" the kid asked, his eyes shining with pride at the adults' praise.
"You bet," said Gabriel, surprising Sam when he knelt down in front of the boy with a bright smile. "You played God's angel very well. I bet he'd be proud of you."
"Thanks, Mister!" The kid stood up and rushed over to his mom, who had just broken away from a large group of women and come to talk to them. "Didja hear what they said, Mom? They said I was a really good Gabriel!"
"That's great, Sweetie," his mother said, giving him an affectionate hug and turning to the group of men. "Thank you all for coming. It really means a lot. Oh, but I don't think I've met you before," she said to Gabriel.
"This is my brother," Castiel said immediately. "He travels a lot, but he was in town so we invited him along."
"Oh, I see. Well nice to meet you, Mr…?"
"Gabriel. Just call me Gabriel."
"I can't believe she thought I was kidding!" Gabriel said with a sigh as he flopped down onto the couch. Sam chuckled and sat down beside him while Dean outright laughed. Castiel, who was feeling very tired all of a sudden, had simply sat down and decided to stay out of it entirely, as had Kevin.
"Well, I mean you angels don't exactly look the way people think you do," Sam said, patting Gabriel's shoulder sympathetically. "The first thing I think of when someone says 'Christmas Angel' isn't exactly a Trickster chowing down on chocolate, you know?"
Gabriel sighed again. "Yeah, I know. And I could do that whole 'white-robe, golden wings, playing the harp' thing any time I wanted, but that's not really me anymore. Times have changed."
"Yeah, and that's fine with me," Sam said, letting Gabriel lean on his shoulder and giving him a soft kiss on the cheek. "I don't really go for white robes and harps anyway."
"So you think we'll do this again next year?" Dean asked, returning from the kitchen where he'd gone to retrieve beers for everyone.
"I hope so," Gabriel said enthusiastically. "That kid was a better me than me!"
Sam smiled, hugging his angel tighter with a fond smile. "No one's a better you than you."
A/N: Yay, Gabriel's back! He should be around for most of the remainder of this story. I just like him too much to send him away!