Author's note: Thanks so much to Larkafree, Maknatuna, Maddy Love Castiel, FireChildSlytherin5, RachelPhobia, Keefer, CherylB1964, Pizzapig, Lovely Rain Dancer and Impala67-Ilana for last chapter's reviews! You are all awesome!
12
"I am the one who gripped you tight and raised you from perdition," the man, demon, monster, whatever he was in the trenchcoat said in a casual tone like they had been talking about the weather.
Dean realized that he should probably be scared of the guy – possibly even fucking terrified – but he had always been good at masking that sort of feeling, especially when he felt annoyed at the same time, anyway.
"Yeah, and I'm the one who'll kick your ass, if you hurt him in any way!" the older Winchester replied in as much of a threatening tone as he could manage before he crouched down next to Bobby's crumpled form to check his vitals. It seemed like the older hunter was merely unconscious, however. It was worryingly enough that Mr. Trenchcoat had managed to knock Bobby out with a single touch to his forehead, though.
"Your friend has not been harmed," the dark-haired man replied, cocking his head in confusion over the human's choice of words.
The puzzled look on the creature's face made Dean wonder if there were special needs demons around. Great, he had been raised from the dead by a demon who was not all there. This really was getting better and better!
Not only had Pamela not been able to say anything about Sam's whereabouts, her try to find out which demon or creature had gotten Dean out of hell had ended with an emergency trip to the hospital, too. The older Winchester had seen a lot of horrible things in his life, but watching the woman scream and writhe in agony as her eyes burned out of their sockets was pretty damn high up on the list of shit he never wanted to witness again.
At least, they had learned the name of the creature that most likely had pulled Dean from hell in the process. Summoning it probably hadn't been the greatest idea ever – Bobby had repeatedly said so, too – but the older Winchester had been adamant that they weren't going to get any answers in any other way. This thing was clearly their best shot for finding out what had happened to Sam, as well.
"Who the hell are you?" Dean asked in an all too clearly resentful tone. The demon was the reason why Bobby was currently unconscious and most likely the reason why Sam was missing. He could act as casual and somewhat nonthreatening as he wanted, he still was bad news.
"I am Castiel," the man replied in that perfectly neutral tone he had used before as well. He also didn't change anything about his posture and didn't try to get closer to the older Winchester, either. The human had to admit that he was a little grateful for that.
"Let me rephrase that," Dean groaned, hiding his nerves behind all the somewhat faked bravado he could muster up, "What the hell are you?"
He had known that he had to be talking to Castiel before the creature had confirmed it. They had summoned it by its name, after all. Talking all brave was much easier than admitting that he was freaked out by the man, too.
"Hell has nothing do to with it," Castiel answered, "I am an angel of the Lord."
"Since when do angels burn the eyes out of people?" Dean asked, crossing his arms in front of his chest defiantly.
"I warned her to look away. Very few people can stand looking at my true form without suffering great damage," Castiel explained.
The older Winchester simply snorted, looking at the 'angel' with clear disbelieve. The flash of lightning that lit up the barn all of a sudden was a surprise in and of itself, but seeing the shadows of two big wings sprouting from Castiel's back was what made Dean gape and step back in shock.
"Holy shit," the older Winchester couldn't help exclaiming. It clearly wasn't one of his proudest moments, but it wasn't every day that someone claimed to be an angel and had some sort of proof to back it up, too. Of course, the thing could just have tricked him, as well. It couldn't be that hard to conjure up an illusion like this. Hell, ordinary magicians might be able to do it!
"You don't believe me," Castiel spoke with a slight frown. It looked like the human's reluctance to just accept what he had been told and what he had seen puzzled him, yet again.
"Where is my brother? Where is Sam?" Dean asked instead of getting into a theological discussion about what he did and didn't believe in. He actually didn't care what kind of creature was standing in front of him, anyway. What he cared about was finding his brother and getting him back.
"I don't know anything about his whereabouts," Castiel replied honestly. The younger Winchester's disappearance had been noticed by his superiors and they clearly hadn't been happy about it, but there had been no indication that anyone had ever found as much as a trace of the human.
"You're lying! He made a deal with you, didn't he?" the older Winchester demanded to know. Not knowing was what was worst that very moment. Whatever had happened to his brother as soon as he knew he could do something about it, as long as he had no idea he couldn't even begin to come up with a plan!
"I have told you, I am an angel, not a demon," the angel answered. He also had told the human that he didn't know where his brother was, but it looked like the older Winchester wasn't exactly ready to listen to anything, yet.
"Where is Sam?" Dean basically yelled at the man, taking a few steps toward him, even though he knew that he would hardly appear threatening to a powerful creature like Castiel. Especially since he already knew that they didn't have any weapons on them that could harm him. Both Dean and Bobby had tested the rock salt rounds on him when he first appeared and the older Winchester had also given the demon killing knife a try, after all.
"You still don't believe me," Castiel pointed out matter-of-factly which did nothing for Dean's mood, either. He could admit that he was getting by far more worked up than was reasonable. He should have kept a level head and made sure that he and Bobby got out of the place unharmed and with the information they needed. Instead he had lost his temper.
"It doesn't matter what I believe," the older Winchester huffed.
"That is where you are wrong."
So, the angels had finally gotten involved and Dean Winchester had been raised from hell.
Gabriel had to admit that he really wasn't content with the changed circumstances. Keeping Sam with him had been reckless before, but adding a bunch of angels who'd start looking for him soon enough to the mix made it insanely dangerous.
Not to mention that Dean would do everything in his powers to get his brother back, as well. Granted, there was nothing much the human could do against the archangel. However, looking at how much the angels were going to need the older Winchester's cooperation, it was very likely that they would be searching even more thoroughly.
"I thought you wanted to watch this," Sam pointed out with a silent chuckle, running his fingers through Gabriel's honey colored hair. It was quite obvious that the other man wasn't paying attention to the movie at all.
If the younger Winchester was being honest he had to admit that he had spent a lot more time watching Gabe's face than he had watching the movie as well, however. Gabriel's head resting in Sam's lap just gave him the perfect opportunity to just look though and he hadn't been the one who had insisted on yet another Disney movie, anyway.
"I am paying attention," the shorter man insisted, looking up into the younger Winchester's amused face for a few moments before he randomly started to sing along with the song Arielle was singing on screen, "I don't know when, I don't know how, but I know something's starting right now. Watch and you'll see, someday I'll be, part of your world."
Sam couldn't quite decide if Gabriel's very over the top demonstration of his singing voice or the fact that he apparently knew the movie well enough to sing along was funnier, but he couldn't help laughing either way.
The archangel gave a small, obligatory pout at being laughed at, but actually he quite enjoyed hearing the human laugh. Happiness made him look younger and softer, too. Like Gabriel really needed any more reasons to feel drawn to him.
"You are a pretty damn big part of my world, already," Sam commented with a gentle smile after he had calmed down, running his fingers through the archangel's hair some more. Sometimes it surprised the younger Winchester how easy it had been to forget the problems they had had at the start and just establish this easy and comfortable relationship they were having. Helen had definitely been right when she had said that it shouldn't be that hard to figure out, if he felt attracted to the other man.
"Wait, wait, wait," Gabriel stated, amusement apparent in his voice as he sat up so he could look into the other man's eyes better, "This is the movie that gets you all sappy? No comments on how the relationship isn't going to work out anyway, 'cause she fell in love pretty much only based on looks and is giving up everything for the guy while he gets to lean back and just go on living his life? No snarky outlook on their future together in which she'll keep misunderstanding all sorts of human things and he's inevitably going to get embarrassed and annoyed about it?"
True, the archangel liked the movie, but he had expected that the younger Winchester would find a few choice words about how unrealistic the entire scenario was. In a way he had gotten used to hearing those comments and he found them rather entertaining, especially because he knew that Sam understood that he was taking everything too serious. 'Beauty and the Beast' might have been the exception to the rule there, but Gabriel had put that DVD away after seeing what sort of effect it had had on the younger Winchester, anyway.
"You forgot to mention that she's obviously a hoarder," Sam added, the corners of his mouth twitching traitorously. He leaned in a bit, stroking the side of Gabriel's neck with the back of his fingers.
"Now you're just trying to mess with me," the archangel chuckled, shaking his head even as he leaned into the touch. There was no use denying that he enjoyed having the younger Winchester around and most of all having his affection far more than he should have. Screw the angels and screw destiny along with them, he wasn't going to give this up and he wasn't going to allow anyone else to get their hands on his human! Especially none of the many people who clearly didn't have the younger Winchester's best interests in mind!
"Whoever needs twenty thingamabobs?" Sam countered, pulling Gabriel closer by the back of his neck until he could kiss him comfortably.
The archangel immediately tangled his hands in the younger Winchester's hair, deepening the kiss until they had to part for some much needed oxygen. Gabriel took the opportunity while Sam was still trying to catch his breath to start unbuttoning the other man's shirt.
"Can we not do this while Arielle is watching?" the younger Winchester chuckled, throwing a side glance toward the TV. However far they were going to take this, a Disney movie really wasn't going to be the right kind of background noise provider.
Gabriel only took the time to hum his agreement before he quickly turned the TV off and carefully pulled Sam to his feet and toward his bedroom. A different location might be more comfortable as well while they were already taking a break.
It was only when the younger Winchester couldn't help the silent pained gasp that the archangel remembered why pushing him back onto the bed hadn't been a good idea, no matter how gently he had done it.
"I'm sorry, I forgot," Gabriel apologized immediately, following the human on the bed, careful not to jostle him too much just in case. It didn't look like he was still in pain, however. The way Sam grabbed him and pulled him closer for more heated kisses was a pretty good indication that he was feeling more than fine, too.
Unbuttoning the younger Winchester's shirt the rest of the way didn't take long since he had already done a pretty good job with the top buttons while they had still been on the couch. Sam had a bit of a harder time with Gabriel's shirt, but he had gotten a lot of practice in doing things with his left hand only over the weeks.
"Okay, I gotta ask," the younger Winchester stated seriously, even though his smile was wide enough to show off his dimples, "How does a sugar addict like you stay in shape like that?"
Gabriel didn't answer, but grazed his teeth over Sam's throat instead. He made sure not to use enough pressure to leave a mark or hurt in any way, but the human still shuddered noticeably under the touch. That was a detail that definitely needed to be filed away for further reference.
The archangel kissed his way down the younger Winchester's neck, over his collarbone until he reached the area of his chest where the previously broken ribs were located. Gabriel looked up for a moment, seeing Sam watching him with rapt attention, his pupils slightly dilated and his breathing a bit too fast to be normal. It was also quite obvious that the younger Winchester didn't quite know what to do with his hands that very moment.
"Lean back and enjoy, you can reciprocate some other time," the archangel grinned, waggling his eyebrows suggestively. Chances were that they weren't going to go quite as far as his words had just suggested, but the point that Sam should just kick back and relax still stood.
As soon as the younger Winchester gave in and got himself comfortable against the pillows, Gabriel continued his exploration of the body in front of him by trailing soft kisses over the human's ribcage. There was no way that Sam would actually notice that he was putting just a little of his grace into the touch to help the finale phase of the healing along some more, but his breath hitched, anyway. He also spent quite a long time tracing the younger Winchester's collarbones with his tongue, before he moved upward to nibble on his lower lip.
It should come as a surprise to absolutely nobody that Gabriel wasn't exactly the kind of guy who usually moved one step at a time, leaving some time between the single steps to make sure that he didn't rush into anything, especially when it came to sex. This case felt different however.
"Have a good night, Samsquatch," the archangel said after another round of heavy kissing, raking his fingers through Sam's hair even as he separated from him just enough to get the message across that it really was time to sleep now.
The younger Winchester blinked in confusion, but nodded dumbly when he saw how serious Gabriel was about this. He couldn't say that he had expected this turn of events. Then again he had never felt tempted to say that Gabe was predictable.
