Author's note: Thanks so much to Larkafree, Maknatuna, MaddyLoveCastiel, kb18142, PercyJfan1802, Nicolene B, AnninaSA, CherylB1964, eiahlaie, Nyx Ro, QuietCrash, BritishSweden, Chichi-10018, LeeMarieJack, Turtle Kid the Woolgatherer, random yet lovable and Sorry-I-Wasn't-Listening for last chapter's reviews!
Special thanks to Treeni for beta-reading!
35
At the first glance, the house Gabriel transported Adam and Tarot into was exactly what one would expect of the archangel. It seemed to be spacious and furnished in a way that looked a little tacky, but expensive. However, the papers and alcohol bottles -in various stages of emptiness- stashed on every available surface didn't exactly scream Gabriel. Granted, if there had been more candy wrappers and soda bottles strewn about, Adam wouldn't have doubted that this was a place the archangel lived in every now and then.
Adam was just about to pull the curtains aside to get a better look at the neighborhood and the -rather dim- inside of the house, when Gabriel shook his head and brought his index finger to his lips, indicating that Adam should be quiet. The youngest Winchester raised an eyebrow at the archangel, but complied.
Gabriel grinned to himself as he approached the couch. It was the prophet's own fault that he got pranked, if he always fell asleep in the middle of the day like that.
It was Adam's turn to shake his head, as the archangel conjured up a can of whipped cream to play a very immature prank on the sleeping man. The youngest Winchester was tempted to cough or otherwise warn the guy, but then saw Tarot's puzzled expression. The seraph obviously didn't know where this was going. Adam had little hope that his friend would find the prank very amusing, but it would be a good lesson in slapstick regardless.
After the archangel was done coating Chuck's palm in whipped cream, he exchanged the can for a long feather and started to tickle the prophet's nose. Chuck scrunched up his nose and turned his face aside. Gabriel shook his head, still smirking and got ready to tickle the prophet's nose again, when Chuck -faster than most would think he was capable of- smacked his palm against the archangel's face, covering it in whipped cream.
"Chuckles, I had no idea you had it in you," Gabriel stated, a little baffled. The whipped cream prank wasn't one of the most refined gags admittedly, but it hardly ever failed. However, the archangel could appreciate a good joke, even if it was at his expense. At least it got Adam to chuckle, even the corners of Tarot's mouth twitched.
"I saw it coming," Chuck shrugged a little awkwardly as he sat up. The prophet had to admit that his latest vision confused him a little. He had seen himself in his dreams before -every time his path crossed with the Winchesters to be exact- but it was the first time Chuck saw something he was rather certain wasn't meant to go into one of his books.
"Leave us all hanging on the Apocalypse, but ruin my pranks, you've really got your priorities straight, dad!" Gabriel commented, looking toward the heavens, even though he knew that God wasn't there. In a way, the archangel was happy that his father was still sending messages to someone, even if those messages interfered with Gabriel's plans. It was a sign that God was still out there. Besides, God interfering with something minor like this, but not sending out any signs or messages that would foil Gabriel's plans to stop the Apocalypse was a sort of message to the archangel too. Gabriel had delivered his father's messages long enough to know how to read the old man.
The archangel snapped his fingers making all traces of the whipped cream disappear. Gabriel loved whipped cream -in fact, he made a mental note to combine two of his most favorite things next time he got Sam alone and naked- but having a serious conversation with the stuff dripping from your chin was damn near impossible.
"I see you've settled in nicely," Gabriel commented, looking around the room demonstratively. There wasn't as much of a difference between the state of Chuck's old living room and this new one as there had been a couple of months ago.
"Uh... I was going to... but..." the prophet mumbled, scratching the side of his head in embarrassment. In his defense, it was pretty damn hard to find the energy to clean when a new vision might floor him any time. The Winchesters had sure been busy lately!
"No need to explain it to me," Gabriel laughed, before looking toward the two men he had brought with him earlier, "But your two roomies might insist on a cleaning rota."
Judging by the disgusted face Adam pulled earlier -apparently not only moodiness and yelling, but bitch-faces were also part of the Winchester DNA- and knowing how assertive the youngest Winchester brother could be, Chuck was in for the spring-cleaning of his life. It was questionable if the prophet would adapt to a new lifestyle easily or willingly, but there was no doubt that Adam would try to establish cleanliness and order in the household. Gabriel wasn't sure if he should pity Adam or Chuck more, so he settled for pitying Tarot who'd be stuck in the middle.
"My two...?" Chuck asked, frowning. The prophet felt like he missed a part of the story, which was an unusual occurrence for him. Apparently God thought that both Chuck and Gabriel needed a surprise that day.
"Adam, Tarot meet Chuck," Gabriel introduced, "Chuck, you already know those two."
The prophet finally acknowledged the other two men in his living room, waving at them sheepishly. Chuck indeed had seen them both before and knew much more about them than their names.
"Perks of being a prophet, I presume," Adam huffed. He wasn't going to admit it, but knowing that somebody had seen even parts of his life was freaky. Depending on what Chuck had seen exactly, it was pretty damn embarrassing too.
"There... uh... there are free rooms upstairs... I only use the bedroom on the left," Chuck stated, pointing toward the staircase for good measure. Gabriel simply nodded. The archangel would leave Adam and Tarot to find their things already waiting for them in two of the bedrooms.
"Awesome," Adam replied with a curt nod, "C'mon Terry, let's see what the other rooms are like."
The youngest Winchester only hoped that Chuck never used the spare bedrooms. If he did, chances were they'd have to clean them before they could use them. Judged by what little Adam had seen of Chuck -and going by what Gabriel told him- the prophet was a nice enough guy, but he sure as hell needed a few cleaning lessons, especially if they were going to live in the same house for any length of time. That thought made Adam chuckle humorlessly. If only his mother could see him now. It wasn't that long ago she used to complain about him leaving his stuff lying around. Tarot gave his friend a quizzical look as they started to walk up the stairs. Apparently, Adam wasn't ready to tell him what made him chuckle though. Instead he wrapped an arm around the seraph's shoulder and squeezed slightly.
"You'll get used to them. Tarot's quiet," Gabriel shrugged, letting his voice get louder toward the end of his statement, "and Adam's very polite... on occasion."
Right on cue Adam called back down the stairs, "It was nice to meet you, Chuck!"
The archangel chuckled and shook his head fondly. It took a few moments before Gabriel realized that Chuck looked anxious, like he was waiting for something. Apparently, what he was waiting for was the sound of a door closing behind Adam and Tarot.
"Gabriel, I... I have a couple questions about..." Chuck sputtered, looking around nervously. The prophet already knew he was walking on thin ice. If his new guests heard any of what he wanted to say and drew conclusions from it the archangel didn't want them to draw, Chuck would be in deep shit.
"Don't ask," Gabriel replied in a hard tone, fixing the prophet's blue eyes with his own golden ones. The archangel couldn't blame Chuck for questioning the things he was seeing, especially now that he had a more personal connection to everything than before he knew the characters from his books were real people. Gabriel didn't intend to let the prophet know any more than he already did, though.
"Uh... I... I probably don't want to know... before I know, I mean, but..." Chuck stammered, trying not to sound as nervous as he felt,but failing miserably. The prophet had the strong feeling that they needed to talk about this. He knew the archangel's intentions were good, but what Chuck knew of his methods hadn't sounded too promising.
"I know what I'm doing, that's all you have to know... before you know, I mean," Gabriel stated in a tone that didn't allow for any objections, "And don't you forget, not a word to anybody, especially now."
The archangel knew he was tempting fate by putting a lot of trust in Chuck's ability to keep his mouth shut, when he decided to relocate Adam and Tarot to his place. However, there was no safer place for them.
"Yes, I got that... but... from what I've seen already, Sam and Dean will kill me, if I don't..." Chuck objected weakly. Truth be told, the prophet wasn't sure if he was more intimidated by the archangel or the Winchesters. Both parties had the potential to be very scary, especially if their anger was directed at him.
"Chuckles, let me put it like this," Gabriel replied in a clearly fake, sweet tone, "The one protecting you from all greater harm that might come to you is me. Now, let's say you did something to make me very angry. I'm not sure how willing I'd be to save you from my wrath."
"Gotcha," Chuck swallowed heavily. That moment the prophet had no doubts that he'd take the Winchester's wrath over Gabriel's.
Bobby seemed determined to act like nothing happened, except for more than doubling his whiskey intake. Neither Sam nor Dean stood on any moral ground to tell him to stop. Drinking copious amounts of alcohol -as Castiel called it- was part of the Winchester way of dealing with bad situations. Both brothers agreed that they couldn't leave Bobby alone as long as he didn't get more of a grip on himself. Knowing the old hunter, he'd find a way to turn his heartbreak into another reason for fighting all the sons of bitches out there, but until he did, it couldn't hurt to keep an eye on him.
The brothers were sitting on Bobby's couch, watching a re-run of Baywatch, giving the old hunter some space without leaving him to his own devices. If they were lucky, Bobby would eventually join them, though probably not for a Baywatch re-run.
"Did you know Gabriel relocated Chuck?" Dean finally asked in a forced casual tone, watching his brother's reaction closely. The older Winchester could read his younger brother like an open book, so the bitch better not even try to lie to him. If he was honest, Dean didn't know what answer would be a good one in his case. Sam not knowing meant that Gabriel was keeping things from both of them and Sam knowing meant that Sam was keeping things from Dean.
"No, why would I?" the younger Winchester replied, frowning. Sam wasn't sure why Dean thought it was a big deal anyway. So, Gabriel had relocated Chuck. It wasn't like there was anything wrong with that. In fact, it probably was better for them all if the angels couldn't get to the guy who was writing about their lives.
"Doesn't it bother you at all that he's keeping things from us?" Dean groaned. The older Winchester could admit that Chuck's whereabouts weren't exactly vital for them to know. It was much more a matter of principle. Once Gabriel started to do things behind their backs, there was no way to tell where things would be going. Dean had learned that the hard way when Sam started to sneak around behind his back with Ruby. At least this time, Sam wasn't involved in whatever it was.
"Dean, he probably just didn't think to mention it. It's not like Gabriel lied to us," Sam insisted, "I mean, we haven't even talked about Chuck lately."
The younger Winchester was sure that Gabriel would have told them about Chuck's new address, if they had mentioned paying the prophet a visit or something alike. With the end of the world at the forefront of everyone's focus it was understandable for the archangel to simply have forgotten to mention it. The archangel never gave them any reason to doubt he was completely on their side. If anything Gabriel did much more for them -all of them- than was or could be expected. Sam was about to voice some of his thoughts on the topic when his older brother raised his hands in defeat.
"I hope you're right, Sammy," Dean stated in a reconciliatory tone. It wasn't surprising that his younger brother was willing to vouch for Gabriel. Actually, it was just one more reason why Dean would have to keep a close eye on everything, making as sure as he could that the archangel wasn't playing them all for suckers.
Sam shook his head and sighed deeply. The younger Winchester didn't get the chance to tell Dean that he wasn't the only one who could read his brother like an open book before the doorbell rang.
"Sheriff Mills?" the younger Winchester asked, clearly surprised to see who was paying them a visit. It didn't look like Jody had come to arrest anybody. The sheriff wore jeans and a flannel shirt instead of her usual uniform and she looked nervous. The look on her face reminded Sam a lot of Bobby's. A deep seated pain that was simmering just under the surface, barely concealed by the resolution to somehow go on.
"Just Jody... I'm not here as..." Jody let her voice trail off, before she took a deep breath and raised her eyes to look Sam in the eyes, "I just... I need someone to talk to."
Adam's new bed was bigger and more comfortable than the one he had at Bobby's house. He didn't want to know and wouldn't ever ask how Gabriel knew what kind of mattress Adam preferred, but he made a mental note to give the archangel a heartfelt thank you the next time he saw him. The youngest Winchester hadn't known how much he missed having his own room -one he set up himself, with his own things- but of course you never knew what you were missing until it was gone.
All in all, it simply didn't make sense why Adam kept tossing and turning. There was no reason why he couldn't seem to get rest. Adam knew that his brothers were as safe as they ever were. Nothing about their lives would change because he was gone. If anything, his absence would make things easier for them. Tarot's clocks -the ones he already repaired and the ones that still waited for repair- were in the seraph's room, giving the angel something to do. There was no chance Tarot would get bored over night while Adam slept. Besides, the angel never slept and Adam did for up to eight hours a day, so it wasn't like the human's absence would be new for the seraph. Everything else around was new though.
The youngest Winchester threw the blanket off his body with a groan. He wasn't going to get any sleep like this, no matter how comfortable the bed was!
Adam grabbed his blanket and a pillow and crossed the hallway to get to Tarot's room. The youngest Winchester knocked once, but didn't wait for an answer before he opened the door. It wasn't as if Tarot was likely to be doing anything inappropriate. In fact, Adam could picture his friend just sitting there -probably on the floor- tinkering with one of his clocks. The bad thing about the picture on Adam's mind was that the angel looked a little lost and wasn't concentrated on his clocks like he usually was.
"Hey, can I... sleep here?" Adam asked quietly, giving his friend a small smile.
Tarot blinked a couple of times, like he couldn't quite believe he heard right. Like Adam expected, the angel was sitting on the floor, clock parts spread out on the floor around him. Unfortunately, the parts the youngest Winchester feared were exactly like he pictured them too.
"Of... of course," Tarot answered, returning his friend's smile, even if it looked strained.
"Good," Adam stated, closing the door behind him. The youngest Winchester realized earlier that Tarot's room had all the same furniture his own had, including a bed the seraph was unlikely to ever use. However, Adam chose to put his pillow and blanket on the couch. Apparently, sleeping in another guy's bed was where he drew the line.
"First nights in new homes are scary," Adam mumbled, as he got settled on the couch.
Tarot looked at his friend, clearly surprised, before he nodded more vigorously than he meant to. First nights in new homes were scary indeed, but nothing was unbearably frightening when Adam was there.