A/N: Sorry this took so long, guys! I've been feeling kinda ill, plus NaNoWriMo just started up. This might not be my best work, but I figured I have to keep trying to get stuff out.

Chapter 14: Monkey See, Monkey Do

Gabriel walked through the buzz of the crime scene in his well-pressed black suit, hands behind his back. He made a practice of not studying any one thing too carefully, but instead projecting an air of superiority. His eyesight far exceeded that of any human's anyway, so it wasn't as if he ever would need to lean in or squint unless he felt like doing so.

He cocked his head to the side as the diner's bell jingled, and caught movement out of the corner of his eye. Right on time. Gabriel counted their steps. One. Two…

And on three, he spun in a graceful but understated arc to face them, to catch the startled looks in their eyes.

"Agents," he greeted, flipping out an FBI badge with his left hand and offering his right to shake.

"Agent," Dean replied gruffly with a barely-troubled brow, giving Gabriel's hand a firm shake.

Sam pulled a face, so quick it was almost imperceptible, and shook Gabriel's hand as well.

"Agent," he repeated.

Gabriel's lips quirked up. Sam's mouth had closed around the words uncomfortably, as if it had been said once too many times and he was no longer precisely sure it was a real word. The archangel swung an arm out a bit to gesture to the scene around them.

"As you can see, the local forensic team is still working on gathering evidence from the scene," he explained. "But from a precursory examination, they have suggested the victim's death was the work of a wild animal. Claw and bite marks on the neck and chest area. Heart missing. It's also a robbery, the cash register's empty."

Gabriel feigned looking forward at the scene, but from the edge of his vision he could see Sam and Dean giving each other a meaningful look. Oh Dad, were those muttonheads the cutest. Werewolf, they were surely thinking. But they had no idea the crazy case Gabriel's creative mind had in store for them. Not one single clue.

"Thank you for the update, Agent…" Sam said calmly, fishing for a name.

"Page," he replied. "You must be Agents Forester and Brady. My superior told me you'd be coming."

The boys shared another absolutely adorable and naïve brotherly mind-meld glance. Dean's posture relaxed first, if only slightly, and Sam followed his lead. Gabriel let a little smirk roll over his lips. He followed them around the scene, commenting on anything that seemed out of place.

"Witnesses?" Dean asked gruffly.

Gabriel shook his head.

"Nada."

"Security tapes?" Sam suggested, tilting his head to motion to the slightly-conspicuous camera in the corner of the diner.

Gabriel smirked. Running a hand through his golden-brown hair, he nodded.

"You'll have to see those for yourselves, I think," he said cryptically. "There'll be a copy of them back at the precinct."

The two hunters nodded, gave the diner a last once-over, and turned to go. Placing his hands behind his back, Gabriel sauntered after them. Of course, to be more inconspicuous, he needed a car. Either luckily or unluckily, the Winchesters had parked right next to him. Dean gave a little scoff at the beat-up blue Taurus, but Sam shot his brother a look that stopped him from commenting.

Gabriel just looked at them and shrugged before climbing into his car.

Of course, by the time the boys made it to the police station, the archangel was already there. There was no look of surprise on their faces, but it was likely because his car stood out so much in the small parking lot that there would have been no missing it.

"Officer Blake," Gabriel said, gesturing, "these are my associates, Agents Forester and Brady. They'd like to look at the security footage now."

Officer Blake adjusted her glasses, tucking a lock of hair behind her ear as she took in Sam and Dean. Gabriel couldn't really blame her. The boys cut a nice figure in suits, though wearing one made Gabriel himself a bit uncomfortable. He was used to more casual, background-character clothes. But, when situations called for it, an archangel never backed down from a challenge.

"Uh, right this way, gentlemen," Officer Blake managed at last, after Sam had given her a particularly soft, reassuring glance.

Gabriel tried to memorize the younger Winchester's expression as the four of them walked to a viewing room. But Sam, as usual, was like a mirage. Always moving. Never quite the same. It was only the sound of Officer Blake opening the door that shook him out of his, admittedly sappy, thoughts. Back on the case, then.

As the security footage started up, both of the Winchesters leaned in. Gabriel, who already knew what they would see, leaned against the wall with one arm and tilted his head. The video feed was grayscale, a little fuzzy. To be expected for a cheap place like that. The diner, or what could be seen of it, was empty for several minutes. Then a man entered the screen: the victim. He began readying the diner for opening, unlocking the cash register, checking the grill.

Then, for a split second, there was a loud commotion.

The camera went dark.

Sam frowned and motioned Officer Blake closer.

"Can we get that last few seconds again?" he questioned.

"Sure thing!" she answered, but it apparently was something easier said than done.

Officer Blake spent three minutes fumbling with the remote and trying to get the feed to slow down or pause in the right place before Dean eased it from her hands and took over. The bespectacled cop stammered through an apology, but the boys were quick to reassure her that it was fine. Nodding along, Gabriel shot Officer Blake what he hoped was a comforting smile.

Sam and Dean's gasps, though subtle, cut through the air. Gabriel pushed between them to get a good look. The video had been paused at a single frame. A woman's face was pressed close to the lens, and as she grimaced in frustration, a set of long, needle-like teeth peeked out from beneath her upper lip. In the background, fuzzy, the victim had reared back from a second figure who stood with arms up.

"Someone needs to see a dentist," Gabriel quipped, to cool the tension in the room.

Sam cleared his throat.

"Uh, officer, if you could give my… Associates and I, a uh, moment alone please?"

Officer Blake nodded and backed out of the room, eyes still locked on the television screen.

Once the door had clicked shut, the Winchesters turned to form a circle with Gabriel, though he noticed that they were more angled towards each other than him.

"A vamp?" Dean demanded, as if someone else would have an explanation for what they had all witnessed.

"Two," Gabriel corrected, just to see what they would do.

Sam immediately shook his head.

"No, the posture of the one in the background… That didn't look vampiric. Actually, it almost looked more like a werewolf. And… That would explain our vic's missing heart."

Dean pulled a face.

"What, we got some sorta whacked-up Twilight duo here? When have vampires and werewolves ever gotten on?" he demanded quietly.

"The real question," Gabriel interrupted, "is how are we gonna catch these yahoos? We've only got one victim so far, so it isn't like there's a pattern to go on. Unless they got turned recently. Maybe Jack and Sally here knew each other before they went monster movie?"

Feeling Sam's eyes on him was almost more than Gabriel could handle, for some reason. Even though he knew he was right, even though he knew the case inside and out because his brain had been the one to concoct it, there was a little squeamish part of his brain that worried Sam would think he was stupid.

"I'll look up the town's missing-person record," the brunette volunteered. "You two can take the vic. If this guess is right and they singled him out, it could be they knew him before they were turned too."

Dean and Gabriel glanced at each other, both clearly not very comfortable with that setup.

"Maybe we ought to introduce ourselves before we go Scooby-Doo?" the archangel said. "I'm Gabriel. Bobby sent me out on this one since I was closest."

"Dean. And this is my brother Sam."

"Ah, the famous Winchesters," Gabriel teased, sending Sam a slight wink. "Nobody told me you were pretty."

Dean grimaced, but Sam hid a half-laugh in his hand, pretending to clear his throat.

"Anyway," the older Winchester pressed.

It wasn't hard to see the conundrum. Being the protective big bro, Dean didn't want to leave Sam alone. He also, as a good hunter, didn't want to leave a strange hunter to work an important half of the case without supervision. But, leaving someone he didn't trust looking after dear Sammy probably wasn't in the cards either. The trickster in Gabriel brought a teasing little smirk to his lips.

Sam tilted his head and studied his brother's eyes for a moment.

"Or, uh… Gabriel could come with me?" he suggested.

Dean's frown persisted.

"Sounds good to me, Sambo!" Gabriel said cheerfully, just to tease the green-eyed man. "… But I'm sure we can all research in the same place."

With that compromise, the three of them ended up in one of the reading rooms at the town's public library. Much to Dean's apparent chagrin, Gabriel spent most of the time reading missing-person records over Sam's shoulder.

"That looks like her doesn't it?" he asked, jabbing a finger at Sam's laptop screen.

Sam's brow furrowed as he thought, then he nodded resolutely.

"Yeah, I think so. Jane Lott, disappeared three weeks ago. So we're looking for anyone she might have known…"

Meanwhile, Dean started checking for connections between their victim, Don Bluff, and Jane Lott. It took another couple hours, but the three of them finally pieced together an approximation of the facts. Jane Lott had been employed at Bluff's diner, until she missed one too many days at work and he fired her. The reason she had missed work was to look for her cousin, Jack Lott, who had disappeared into the woods a month and a half ago.

"So, Jack and Jane," Dean said. "But now that they've whacked the shitty boss, where would they go?"

"They've got money now," Sam pointed out. "Not much but…"

"Probably biding their time," Gabriel added with a shrug. "Until they can get out without being recognized. Maybe Jack had a place in the woods?"

Sam glanced at Dean, and Dean shrugged.

"Couldn't hurt to look."

Which was admittedly a bit easy, but Gabriel wasn't concerned with getting caught up in the details of the scenario. After all, the hunt itself wasn't the point. He glanced at Sam, trying not to go too doe-eyed, what with Dean in the immediate vicinity.

Gabriel and the Winchesters prepared everything they'd need, silver bullets and machetes, and set off into the woods, around the area the Lotts had supposedly disappeared. It wasn't long before they were set upon.

Teeth bared and snarling, Jane leapt at them from one side while Jack stalked out of the trees and tried to pen them in from the other. The hunters readied their weapons.

And then something dropped from above.

Sam was tackled, but didn't fall. He did, however, drop his machete as he tried to rip pale hands off his throat. Another vampire.

"Sam!"

But Jack took advantage of Dean's distraction and rushed him, knocking the hunter into the dirt. Jane lunged at Gabriel, the only one left standing, but he lopped her head off in one swing.

"Duck, Sam!" he ordered, and the brunette dropped, leaving the vampire on his back off-balance. Gabriel took her head off too.

By the time he'd turned back, Sam had already pulled Jack off Dean and shot him. The three of them looked around at each other, breathing hard, but not too much worse for wear.

"Thanks, Gabriel," Sam said, breaking the odd silence.

"No problemo, gigantor."

Gabriel could feel his vessel's heart pounding like a drum, almost painfully, and had to resist the urge to massage the area of his chest just over it. Even though it wasn't real per se… Seeing even an illusionary Sam in danger was something terrifying. Gabriel wasn't sure how he had ever managed to put him in danger of his own volition. But that had been years ago.

Dean gave a nod and the three of them headed out.

Gabriel found himself actually surprised when, as he opened the driver's side door to the Impala, Dean reached back for a handshake. He shook the hunter's callused hand a bit tentatively, but offered a pleased smile.

"We'll stick around another day," Dean said. "In case we missed any more."

Then he slid into the car, but Sam stayed for a moment longer.

"Really. Thanks, for having my back," the brunette said again.

The earnest look in his eyes was enough to send a pleasant chill down Gabriel's spine. He wetted his lips absently and nodded.

"Couldn't let that pretty face get hurt," the archangel joked.

Sam held out a hand. The thought of shaking it was both painful and sharp with longing. Gabriel stuffed his hands in his pockets and smiled as best he could. Sam furrowed his brow, eyes dimming a little, and dropped his arm.

He had just turned towards the passenger-side door when Gabriel cleared his throat.

With a gentle grip, Gabriel took Sam's right arm, the sleeve already helpfully rolled to expose the brunette's very nice forearms. With the ticklish press of ballpoint pen, Gabriel jotted down a number.

"You can reach me there. If you… Ever need anything. Alright, Sambo?"

Gabriel grinned a little, and pressed a kiss to Sam's wide palm before releasing him.

The look in his hazel eyes was indecipherable, but his lips lifted a little and Gabriel decided to be optimistic. Then, Sam got in the Impala and rode away with his brother. Gabriel watched the black car disappear over a hill. He shook his head, to clear it.

Then, with the slightest flourish, he snapped his fingers.