Author's note: Thanks a lot to Ghastly Eternity for beta-reading and to Maknatuna, Mello18, Larkafree, MaddyLoveCastiel, L. Greene, keacdragon, Kid'sDarkWolf, AzzaBby and midnight0211 for last chapter's reviews.

True to word, a little warning. The second part of this chapter (after the break) doesn't really have much of a plot. It's by no means graphic (no more so than the last part I warned about) but if you're uncomfortable with that sort of thing then you might prefer to skip it. I suggest to take a look at the last line of the chapter, though.

37

Bobby's place was getting crowded once more. Balthazar and Gabriel's three children had shown up shortly after the Harvelles did and they all had discussed when and where they should try to pull this off. Of course, they had to make sure that no innocent bystanders would be caught in the crossfire and they had to be prepared for the possibility that Lucifer might not show up alone.

There also was the question if all of them should be present, or rather if all of them should be present right from the start. They surely would need the help of the pagan gods, but them standing there for Lucifer to see right from the start didn't sound like the best idea. Then again, the devil would be prepared for their possible interference, anyway.

All the talking about strategy had given Sam a headache in no time and he had decided to slip from the room and just catch some fresh air at the first convenient moment that had presented itself.

It was hard to come to terms with the thought that this might be the last time he ever saw a sunset, but he had chosen this for himself. Not that there had been many options to choose from. Well, he wasn't going to complain about that now. He was glad that there was a possibility to stop Lucifer, at all.

"Father will miss you greatly," Hel spoke in a gentle tone. She had given the younger Winchester a couple of minutes of privacy before she had made her presence known. This might be one of the last chances she would ever get to talk to the human and she wasn't going to miss it, however.

Sam looked at the dark-haired woman surprised, but didn't say anything. He knew that Gabriel would have a hard time dealing with everything, but there was nothing he could have done about that. He nearly had felt sorry for ever stopping to push the archangel away when he had first decided that he would sacrifice himself for their cause. Then again, Sam couldn't honestly say that he regretted anything that had happened.

"He will be okay with time," Hel added after a moment and gave the tall human a small smile, "We will make sure of it."

Sam gave a small smile of his own back at that. It was nice to know that Gabriel would not be completely on his own. He seemed to have a good relationship with his children and they were obviously willing to keep an eye on him. The younger Winchester just had to believe that a being as old and as powerful as his partner was wouldn't be kept down forever by losing a loved one.

He also knew that Dean had Bobby, Ellen, Jo and Castiel to get him through and they were the best safety net Sam could ever imagine.

The younger Winchester figured that he would be a lot more panicky at this point if he didn't know that his loved ones would be cared for. As things were, he was oddly calm. There were things that felt strange to him, like knowing that he wouldn't be walking the Earth anymore in less than twenty-four hours, if everything went as planned, but he wasn't stressed out about or scared because of them.

"It's a pity we never got to get to know you better," Hel finished, putting a hand on Sam's shoulder, "I think you would have made a great addition to the family."

That was probably one of the greatest compliments the goddess was capable of and the human really appreciated it.

"It would have been an honor to be a member of your family," Sam replied honestly.

Hel nodded with a small smile and turned to go back to her brothers and the planning that was still going on.

The younger Winchester wasn't alone for long after the woman had left, however.

"Bobby says he'll break out the shotgun if I don't stop being an idjit and talk to you," Dean snorted and leaned against the porch railing next to his brother, "So, I'm talking. Not that I know what to say, other than what I said already."

Sam gave his brother a crooked smile for that little speech.

"What do you think I should be doing, if not search for a way to get you back out?" the older Winchester finally pressed through his teeth. He honestly couldn't think of an alternative and he didn't want to, either.

"I don't know," Sam admitted meekly, "Hell, I don't know what I would do, if our roles were reversed."

There was silence between them for a little while, but it wasn't completely uncomfortable. The taller man knew that his brother was hurting, but there seemed to be some acceptance in his behavior and general posture, at least.

"You could always…" Sam trailed off and then decided to start anew, "I've seen the way Lisa looks at you. You could always try to make things work with her. Be a real dad."

Dean huffed and didn't meet his brother's eyes, "I don't see that happening, Sammy."

Besides, he didn't know for sure that he even was Ben's father. He only knew that Lisa didn't know for sure that he wasn't. Of course, he might have found out and he might have tried to get closer to them regardless of the results, settle down and have a normal life. He just couldn't imagine even wanting to try, though.

"I'm sorry, Dean," Sam apologized quietly.

"And I'm sort of sorry for punching your boyfriend," Dean replied, although he didn't look sorry at all, "I can't honestly say that I wouldn't do it again, though."

The younger Winchester had to chuckle after that admission despite himself. It just was such a Dean thing to say. He had not counted on his brother and the archangel supporting each other after he was gone, anyway. Sam knew that they only tried to get along for his sake and that there would be nothing holding them together when he was out of the picture. It was a pity, really. The younger Winchester had always thought that the two of them had some things in common and might have made good friends. Then again, more often than not people were annoyed by character traits they themselves possessed in other people.

"I love you, bro," Sam stated seriously after a moment of consideration, "I know I've been an ungrateful brat more often than not and I know we've had our disagreements, but I've always loved having you as my brother."

"God, Samantha, go use some of that on your douchebag angel," Dean replied, hating how he was getting choked up and at the same time hating that he couldn't just show his feelings that one time.

"Wouldn't have traded you for anyone else, either," the older Winchester finally mumbled and patted his brother on the back, "I really need a drink right about now!"

Sam could wholeheartedly agree to both those things.

There had been no more big speeches, or anything close to a good bye for the rest of the evening. They still had some of the following day for that, so they all had chosen to ignore the elephant in the room in favor of getting into different stages of drunkenness. Having a couple of gods and two angels with their powers more or less intact around really had its perks. Especially since they had already announced that they could get rid of any hangovers the humans might experience in the morning easily.

Sam had made sure that he didn't get anywhere close to drunk, though. There were a couple more things he fully intended to do, after all.

Once it was clear that everyone else was occupied the younger Winchester grabbed his partner's hand and pulled him toward the stairs and the room they were sharing.

Gabriel smiled when Sam pushed his back against the door the very moment he had closed it behind them and leaned in for a slow, deep kiss.

"Are you going dominant on me on your last day on Earth?" the archangel asked a little breathlessly. He wasn't complaining by any means, but he was sort of used to being the pushy one.

"I'm not going to hell without taking that last step with you," Sam murmured against his partner's neck.

In a way it felt liberating that they could just talk about the facts as they were without sugarcoating or ignoring what was going to happen, but the younger Winchester was hoping that they wouldn't do too much thinking or talking in the near future, anyway.

Gabriel nodded. "Enough of that now," he stated in a gentle tone, tracing Sam's cheekbones with his fingers, "Let's just be sort of normal for tonight."

The younger Winchester smiled but didn't get to reply before the archangel's lips were already against his again.

The kiss was heated but not hurried. It took a while before Gabriel's tongue traced Sam's lower lip, begging for entrance which the taller man granted gladly.

With all the practice he had gotten in the past weeks, getting the archangel's shirt unbuttoned while his brain was focused on different things was no challenge anymore, so it wasn't long before the younger Winchester's hands were roaming over Gabriel's naked back. The shorter man smiled and pulled on the hem of the human's t-shirt as a signal that he very much insisted on Sam losing it as quickly as possible, too.

The archangel's hand traced the skin of the taller man's stomach right over the waistband of his jeans with one hand while he kept the other one pressed against Sam's spine as he walked him backwards toward the bed.

He chose to work his partner's jeans off before he guided him into a lying position for convenience reason. It wasn't like they would have stayed on for long, anyway. Besides, Sam wasn't complaining and the sight of the human stretched out on the bed in front of him in nothing but his – very much tented - boxers was really great.

"Uh… care to join me here?" the younger Winchester asked with a raised eyebrow a couple of moments later and held out his hand for his lover to take.

Gabriel smirked, but let his partner pull him half on top of him as soon as he had kicked his own pants off.

"Just took a second to admire the view," the archangel chuckled before he captured Sam's lips in a passionate kiss that only managed to get more heated when he managed to fit one of his thighs between his partner's.

The younger Winchester moaned quietly and wrapped his arms around Gabriel to keep him as close as possible as they simply moved against each other for a few long moments.

Sam only noticed that he must have closed his eyes at some point when they snapped open as the archangel sneaked his hand under the waistband of his underwear. The younger Winchester raised his hand to stroke his partner's cheek softly and smiled just before Gabriel pressed their hips together at a perfect angle and forced another moan from his human with it.

"I'd think it's about time you get on top," the shorter male whispered into his partner's ear.

After that, Sam rolled them over faster than he had anticipated which made the archangel grin. Somebody was getting very impatient here and Gabriel could not deny that seeing how much of an effect he had on his lover was a huge turn on.

A well placed squeeze of Sam's hand wiped the grin off the angel's face, however. The human was not the only one who was getting very excited, after all.

Their boxer shorts landed on the other side of the room in a hurry after that.

The younger Winchester leaned his forehead against Gabriel's. He couldn't help wondering if his own pupils were blown just as wide as the archangel's were. He'd bet everything he possessed that they were, though.

The shorter man ran his fingers through his partner's hair and pulled him into a deep but very gentle kiss before he stroked over Sam's sides and rest his hands over his hips.

He wasn't quite sure if he liked the slightly unsure expression that crossed the younger Winchester's face, but he was pretty sure that he knew where it came from. Those were the joys of being someone's first – if only first male partner in this case – but then again, he enjoyed knowing that nobody else had been with the human like this immensely.

"'S okay, Sammybear, I'm ready. You can't hurt me. Promise," Gabriel whispered gently, rubbing his thumbs over the taller man's hips reassuringly.

Sam didn't need any more encouragement after that.

This right there was why he had never looked for one-night stands as much as his brother had. Everything purely physical might feel great for a couple of moments, but adding a deep emotional connection to the mix was what made sex really mean something.

The younger Winchester couldn't help the startled sound that escaped him when he suddenly found himself lying on his back with Gabriel above him, but he couldn't say that he minded, because they found their rhythm just a moment later and that made having any coherent thoughts a thing of the past.

"I love you," Sam exhaled against the archangel's neck once they were both lying on their sides, still pressed up against each other.

"Love you, too," Gabriel replied with a lazy smile as he drew elaborate but completely meaningless patterns all over the younger Winchester's chest with his fingers.

Sam didn't particularly want to fall asleep, but as worn out and relaxed as he felt, he couldn't help it for long.

The archangel smiled at his lover sadly and leaned in to brush his lips against his forehead.

"I'm sorry, Sammy, but I can't let you go," he whispered far too silently for the human to hear before he settled in for a sleepless night in his human's arms.