Author's Note:
One more week until we get a new episode! I can't wait to see it. In the meantime, have a new chapter!
Thanks to hellraven-ovo, Emelia124, SPN Mum, Akatsuki Child, 1983Sarah, and love toshiro dragon for their reviews on chapter 36!
Chapter 37 - I Can't Escape This Now
Gabriel really hadn't been in touch with all that many angels since he'd been in Heaven. Hannah was one, obviously, but she was so busy with all the administration stuff she'd been doing for Castiel that she'd mostly been ignoring Gabriel. Jedidiah was another, but the younger and overly nervous angel had made himself scarce after the record shredding incident, and Gabriel barely knew him anyway. He wouldn't have known enough about Gabriel's plans to be able to do any damage in the first place. Metatron had to have known, and he knew what the ritual was, but Gabriel had hardly told the former scribe when and where he was planning to perform it. Kansas had been kind of a spur of the moment decision anyway, so nobody could have been plotting against him without being especially light on their feet.
Much as Gabriel wanted to blame Metatron for his current state of entrapment, it didn't really make sense to. He wished he had Castiel at his side to help with all of this. Especially since all of Heaven had decided they were following Castiel in the first place, making Gabriel kind of a problem as the sudden head of Heaven just because he wasn't Castiel. Maybe the saboteur wouldn't even exist if Castiel were still in Heaven. Gabriel really didn't know, and not knowing made him wary.
Thinking had caused Gabriel to lose track of time, and he refocused on the earth until he had reestablished a sense of equilibrium. It had been close to four hours since Sam had left the bunker, so hopefully the younger Winchester would be arriving soon. As if on cue, a faint rumbling sound caught his attention, causing him to look up. The engine of the Impala was fairly unmistakable, and as the noise grew louder, Gabriel was certain. Sam was finally here - it was about time! He stood in anticipation, listening as the engine cut off, then a car door slammed. A beat later, Sam appeared in the doorway, an eyebrow raised at the archangel's predicament.
"Wow, you weren't kidding," Sam observed, taking in the scene and hiding a grin at the irritated look on Gabriel's face. The church was practically falling apart, and the flickering flames had cast it in an especially creepy light, giving the whole building a bizarre vibe it certainly wouldn't have had in its prime. Shaking off the sensation, Sam held up the gallon of water he'd brought with him, shaking it for emphasis. "Don't worry, I've got you covered."
"Well get on with it then," Gabriel groused, crossing his arms and waiting while Sam moved forward, unscrewed the cap on the gallon, and started sloshing it over the flames. It took a moment to thoroughly douse the trap, but finally it was done and Gabriel could cross over the now useless circle of holy oil.
"So, any idea who trapped you?" Sam asked, recapping the gallon and tucking it under his arm.
"Suspicions at best," Gabriel admitted. "Whoever it was, they stole the ritual ingredients too."
Sam jerked a thumb over his shoulder and said, "There's a pile of flowers and weeds or something right outside the door. Are those not yours?"
Gabriel's head whipped towards the door. "They left the extras?" He strode to the doorway, looking out to see the extra ingredients right where he'd left them. "Wow, my saboteur sucks at their job."
"So they only took the stuff you'd prepared?" Sam asked for clarification. That didn't seem like especially good planning, but there was always the chance that whoever was trying to screw with Gabriel wasn't well trained. If that was the case, then mistakes were to be expected. Everything that had happened so far spoke of desperation to Sam, not any of the actual skill needed to connive. With the way he'd been raised, Sam was an expert at a lot of illicit things. He recognized amateur actions when he saw them.
Gabriel shrugged. "Apparently. That probably means I'm right though - it had to have been another angel. They appeared in the church, set the trap, stole the bowl, and vanished, not realizing I hadn't used up all my supplies. I mean, I don't have enough to make another batch right now, but it's not going to take me long to gather what I'm missing." That didn't really narrow down who had done this in the first place, but Gabriel would take any hints he could get as to who was trying to mess with his attempts at fixing his home. Just because it hadn't been his home in too many years to count didn't mean he didn't still care.
"That's good," Sam allowed. "What do you want to do first though? I mean, weren't you going to come back and wake Cas up when you were done here?"
Gabriel hesitated. "That's true," he muttered. "He'll probably still be a little weak, so he'll need my attention for the first few days until he's up to snuff. I probably can't investigate and take care of him at the same time, although there's a chance the sabotage may stop once he's back anyway."
"So, what, this is just a personal attack on you?" Sam asked, raising an eyebrow again. "Who'd you piss off?"
Gabriel rolled his eyes. "Nobody knew I was still alive until I took over for Cas, which I only did because he was incapacitated," he pointed out. "Maybe this is an attack on Heaven itself, a vendetta against me, or just someone who thinks I'm trying to replace Cas. I won't know until I investigate."
"Will Cas be okay if you leave him for another day or two?" Sam checked, shifting his weight a little as he spoke.
"He should be fine," Gabriel replied, thinking it over. "In fact, if I wait a day or two to give him his grace it may be strong enough for him to not need me quite so close."
"So you should go investigate," Sam said firmly. "Find out what's going on, open Heaven back up if you have time, then come back to the bunker and give Cas his grace."
Gabriel chuckled. "You interested in a job as my personal assistant, Samsquatch?"
Sam rolled his eyes this time, but quirked a smile at the comment. "Will that work or not?"
"It'll work," Gabriel agreed. "What will you be doing in the meantime? Hopefully not summoning your brother again by yourself." He gave Sam a stern look as if daring him to say that's exactly what he was planning.
"I actually had an idea," Sam announced, narrowly avoiding the temptation to stick his tongue out at the aggravating archangel.
"Do tell," Gabriel replied, walking outside the church and gathering up the ingredients, snapping his fingers to summon a satchel bag from who knows where to put them in. He pulled the strap over his head and adjusted the bag so it hung behind him.
"The biggest problem last time was the surprise," Sam began. "I didn't know what to expect, and I certainly wasn't expecting Dean to go homicidal on me. I didn't realize Crowley had been brainwashing him."
"Your point being...?" Gabriel prompted.
Sam made a face at him. "This time I know. I know that when summoned he'll go nuts and try to kill me, so I can plan accordingly. I want to do the same thing I did before, only with better precautions. Also, I want you and Cas with me this time, out of the way so he doesn't sense you and stay away, but able to come in and help in an instant. This is Dean's life we're talking about. I'm not taking any chances this time."
Gabriel thought about it for a moment before nodding. "I assume one of us takes care of Crowley while the other helps you subdue Dean?"
"I figured Cas could help me with Dean," Sam added, nodding in answer to Gabriel's question. "If he'll respond to anyone, it'll be one of the two of us."
"I could try and annoy him so much he comes back to himself just to smack me," Gabriel suggested, waggling his eyebrows with a grin.
Sam rolled his eyes again. "You're more powerful," he pointed out. "It makes the most sense for you to distract Crowley."
"Fair enough," Gabriel allowed. "One question, then. With Cas still being unconscious and my Heaven stuff to take care of, it's probably going to be another two days at least before we can try this. Are you really willing to wait that long?"
Sam sighed heavily. "I hate the idea of leaving him to Crowley and whatever brainwashing crap is going on down there right now, but if I go at this half cocked then it may all just blow up in my face and I might lose him entirely. It's better to be prepared, even if that means waiting a couple days."
"We definitely wouldn't want you to be half cocked," Gabriel agreed, trying and miserably failing to keep a straight face.
Sam glared at the archangel, but without any real heat. A smile touched his lips after a moment and he couldn't help but laugh.
Gabriel raised an eyebrow. "What?"
"Nothing, it's just..." Sam trailed off, sighing. "That's what Dean would have said." A sudden desire struck him to get this over with. He needed to save his brother from Crowley, remove the Mark, and cure him of his demon nature. It was damn well time things got back to normal. At least, normal for them.
"You're going to get him back, kiddo," Gabriel said firmly. "I'm not letting any of this play out any other way. Cas will be fine, we'll save Dean, we'll reopen Heaven, and then all go on our merry ways defeating evil and being awesome." He grinned broadly.
Sam had to laugh at that, shaking his head at the archangel. "Sounds like a plan. I don't suppose you could snap me and the Impala back to the bunker before you head back to Heaven?" When Gabriel made a face at him, Sam threw up his hands. "What? It's a long drive!"
With a snort, Gabriel snapped his fingers, transporting them instantly to the bunker's garage. "Happy now?"
"Thank you," Sam replied sarcastically. In a lighter tone, he added, "Seriously though, you did just save me like a four hour drive."
"My pleasure," Gabriel said wryly. "Call if anything happens. I'll let you know what I find out in Heaven." With that, he vanished.
Sam turned and made his way inside, setting down the now empty gallon container he'd been carrying and heading for Dean's room to check on Castiel. Once satisfied that the angel was fine, it was back to research. Having an angel and archangel helping to subdue his brother was going to help, but he couldn't rely on them to do everything. He needed a more concrete plan than that.
Peeking into Dean's room, Sam was relieved to find that nothing had changed. Castiel was still unconscious, but doing no worse. It was a relief to know that the extra day or two Gabriel was delaying wasn't going to cause the graceless angel any extra harm. Closing the door, Sam moved towards the library, walking into the old room and sitting down heavily in the chair he'd abandoned earlier to go save Gabriel.
"Back to the books," Sam muttered to himself. Hopefully, everything would turn out just fine, and soon.