Chapter 10 - Faith

When Sam woke up the next morning, the only thing he was aware of was that he was very, very comfortable. More comfortable than he had any right to be. Confused, he allowed his eyes to flutter open, taking in the casual motel room around him. How had he ended up in a motel? He glanced down and saw that he was wrapped in a sheath of feathery appendages, and a tickle of air on the back of his neck answered his question.

"Gabe?" He asked tentatively, starting to roll over.

"Woah there, Samsquatch. Let's not move too quickly. I healed you, but I don't want to take any chances." Gabriel ran a soothing hand over the back of Sam's neck to calm him.

"What...I can't remember what happened." Sam frowned, trying to put together any memory after his last time falling asleep in the cage. "You saved me," he suddenly realized. "I was out of it, I can barely remember anything."

Gabriel nuzzled Sam and sighed, kissing the nape of the hunter's neck. "You're safe now, Sam, that's what happened."

"How did you escape?" Sam asked curiously, turning until he could see Gabriel's face.

The archangel gazed into his mate's eyes and smiled softly. "I was able to escape because of you." When Sam looked confused, Gabriel clarified. "I was praying every day, always for you, and for Cas, and even for Dean. God allowed me a chance at escape as a reward for my improved behavior, I guess you could say. I used to be a selfish bastard, Sam, but you've made me better."

Sam smiled, pleased in spite of himself, and pressed a chaste kiss to the archangel's lips. "I am so glad you found me," he whispered.

"I wish I could have come sooner," Gabriel said, his voice broken. "I can't even imagine what you've been going through."

Sam gestured down to his pristine body and raised an eyebrow. "I'm fine now, Gabriel. Please don't worry about me. No demon can do any worse than Lucifer, and I survived that. I'm more worried about you. What sort of tortures can befall an archangel?"

Gabriel shifted his wings uncomfortably at the question, leading Sam's gaze to the massive scar in the center of each wing.

"What did they do?" Sam asked, horrified as he lightly traced the holes with his pointer finger.

"Angel blades," Gabriel replied solemnly. "I will always have scars. My wings are a manifestation of my grace, and the blades kept me from being able to hide them away. They will always bear those marks. Thankfully, you bare no such trauma of your ordeal."

"God, Gabe, what ordeal? You had your wings pierced, don't you dare play the comparison game with me. Are you otherwise healed? Will you be okay?" Sam felt his eyes threatening tears, and hurriedly forced them away.

"Hey, Sammy, hush now." Gabriel pulled Sam in closer and cuddled the bigger man, rubbing his hand soothingly along Sam's back. "I'm absolutely fine, and you're absolutely fine. We're going to perfectly alright, and we're going to rescue our brothers."

Sam took a deep breath before replying. "Thank you, Gabe."

"For what, Sammy?"

"Being someone I can have faith in."

After managing to convince Gabriel that he was up for angel travel, the archangel flew them to South Dakota to regroup with Bobby.

"Hey, Bobby, sorry-OOF." Sam's comments were cut off by Bobby's bone crushing hug.

"Don't you dare do that to me again, boy," Bobby demanded. "I near enough had a heart attack." Releasing Sam, he turned around and pointed at Gabriel. "I'm not gonna hug you, angel, but know that I'm damn grateful."

Gabriel nodded and smiled weakly at the older hunter. "Of course. What did you find in India?"

Nodding and jumping onto business matters, Bobby began laying out computer print outs for everyone to see. "This is what I've found so far. There's basic demon stuff all over India, a lot more than we see here in a given week, but the biggest concentration is here, in the middle of nowhere. I don't know how many to expect though."

"I would guess around fifteen," Gabriel mused. "There were twenty guarding me, and Cas isn't as big of a threat as I am."

"Geez, twenty? How'd you manage to get out of that?" Bobby asked, impressed in spite of himself.

Gabriel smiled wryly, glancing at Sam. "I was highly motivated."

Turning slightly pink, Sam changed the subject. "What about Dean? Do we have any idea where to look for him?"

"Not yet, but if we interrogate the demons guarding Cas, we may be able to find him. Interrogating my captors was how I learned where you and Cas were supposed to be." Gabriel ran his fingers through his hair and sighed. "I need at least a general location to have a prayer of finding him."

"We'll find them both," Sam stated fiercely. "We are not letting some stupid demonic crusade to capture us break this team apart. If we stopped the damn apocalypse, we can stop some freaking demons."

"That's the spirit," Bobby said, rolling his eyes. "I guess we're going to India then."

"Uh, Bobby, are you sure you want to come?" Gabriel asked cautiously. "Sam and I can handle it if..."

"Shut up, idjit," Bobby said irritably. "Believe it or not, I happen to like both you and Cas, and I'll be damned if I let that angel that seems to have Dean all in a tizzy rot in India of all places."

Sam let his lips twitch and nodded. "Sounds about right. Well, are we going then?"

"Hold up, Sam." Bobby gestured towards the closet outside the room and said, "We're going to need to back some heavy duty gear for this one."