A/n: Hi everyone, sorry this took so long. It's been a long couple of days. I know, I'm a horrible person. I don't update for days and then I come back and slap you in the face with angst. Why do you people even come back?
So, fun fact: I swear I listen to Arms by Christina Perri (either normal or nightcore version) at least once per chapter. Since this fic started, I could not figure out which one of them it was about. It didn't hit me until I was writing this chapter and put it on, that the song really fits Sam. Almost painfully so.
Sam hummed softly as he lovingly trailed his fingers through Gabriel's hair. The tender touch had the angel mewling sweetly. Sam smiled sadly as he watched Gabriel's sightless eyes flutter open. The hunter's heart broke a bit as pain registered on his companion's face, Sam had hoped his angel would sleep a bit longer.
"Hi Sweetheart, have sweet dreams?" He asked gently even though he knew the truth. He frowned deeply when Gabriel didn't respond, the angel just kind of laid there.
"M-my wing hurts." Gabriel whispered as he hesitantly moved his good hand to gently touch Sam's chest. He swallowed hard at the feel of skin against skin. He shivered slightly at the realization.
"Shh… You're okay." Sam soothed him gently with a stroke to the side. He worriedly watched his bedmate for bad reactions. Earlier had been traumatic but his companion's fractured mind had seemed to completely block out the event, but it seemed that his body couldn't.
"W-were we supposed to do s-something?" Gabriel asked weakly, shifting slightly in pain, "I-I feel like i-it was important."
Sam swallowed uneasily and shut his eyes for a second. Just thinking about what he had done was making him nauseous. His eyes started to prickle with tears as he had to clench his fist at his side to keep from reaching out and touching Gabriel's back. He felt the need to trace his fingers over his carved initials and beg the angel for forgiveness.
"Don't worry about it, Gabe. We already took care of it." He said instead. He shifted closer and pressed a tender kiss to the angel's forehead. He shuttered his eyes and felt like filth just for having his skin touch Gabriel's, "Just rest, Sweetheart."
"W-we did?" Cloudy eyes blinked slowly in confusion, "I-I don't remember."
Sam's heart stuttered fearfully. He didn't want to remind the angel of what had been done but he also refused to lie. Since he had gotten here, Gabriel's ability to trust was as fragile as his mind. Sam had worked hard, with a great deal of help from Cas and Gabriel's own ingrained training, to get Gabriel to trust him this much. If Sam screwed up, his little angel might start to act like he did when he first showed up a few days ago.
"You were pretty out of it for most of it, Babe. Your wing got hurt during it, that's why it's in pain."
"W-what did we do? I-I can't remember…"
"Some requirement. I-I don't know if there's a name for it." As much as Sam didn't want Gabriel to remember, the memory loss was a little scary. He was starting to get really worried.
"Oh." There wasn't much of anything in Gabriel's voice other than pain. The agony lacing up his wing, into his already sore back, was mind-numbing to say the least. It was so hard to focus on anything besides it. He didn't even know he was crying from it until he felt Sam brushing away the tears.
"No, no, Sweetie. Please don't cry." Sam begged desperately as he sat up. He was glad that he had gotten dressed in his pants again while Gabriel slept, "Shh… Shh… I know." Sam gingerly scooped up his angel, supporting the bandaged wing, and cradled him close. Fear spiked in Sam's heart as the only response he got was the angel stiffening slightly.
"G-gabe?" Sam whispered desperately, trying regain the angel's attention while pulling up a sheet around him. He swallowed thickly as he gently stroked shaking fingers along the angel's cheek. Sam's guts felt like they were twisting and churning as he got no reaction, his angel simply blinked slowly, "G-gabriel, can you h-hear me?" Sam's quivering fingers gingerly began to stroke the angel's golden hair, trying to get his companion's attention. The hunter began to pet a little faster, whispering broken pleas under his breath. Good lord, what had he done?
"Gabriel!" He hissed the angel's name frantically while grabbing the smaller man's jaw, gently shaking his head.
"S-sam…?" Sam almost choked on a sob of relief at the sound of his companion's weak voice.
"Oh, thank God!" Sam cried out as he hugged his limp armful close, burying his face in Gabriel's hair.
"Y-you shouldn't c-call to D-dad like that u-unless you mean it." Gabriel's whole sluggish warning came out slurred.
"I-I did mean it! I swear." Sam reassured him while nuzzling and kissing his cheek, "I-I was so scared, Gabe." Sam still wasn't liking how there was a still a severe lack of reaction from Gabriel. Usually the angel was quivering in discomfort by now. Just how bad had he snapped this time?
"W-why?" Sam's heart stuttered at the question. It was not the word or the question itself, no, it was Gabriel's voice. The broken Trickster sounded like every other angel, there was no inflection, no tone.
"Y-you spaced out w-while we were talking, Sweetheart." Sam pressed a quivering kiss to Gabriel's lips, the angel obediently opened his mouth. Sam shut his eyes at the feel and pulled away, using his hand to gently shut Gabriel's mouth, "Not right now, Sweetie."
"I'm sorry." Gabriel whispered, frowning slightly. Sam shook his head even though the gesture was not seen. He rapidly blinked back his growing tears as he pressed his forehead to Gabriel's.
"No, Gabe, don't ever be sorry." Sam soothed gently, not wanting him to be upset as well as in pain.
"W-what were talking about again?" Gabriel was still struggling to focus. The agony clawing its way up and through his muscles was making it so difficult to hold a thought. That was not the only problem he noticed either. His mind felt fuzzy, void in places where random snippits of thought or personality kind of broke off into nothingness.
"I-it's not important." Sam tried to reassure him but the angel whimpered weakly.
"S-sam, please don't l-lie to me." Sam winced at this and sniffled, nuzzling him.
"Sorry, Gabe." He sighed, feeling so tired suddenly as he pressed his cheek to Gabriel's, "Alright, the thing we did, Cas called it a requirement."
"Oh." Gabriel flinched slightly, legs shifting slightly with the ache in his lower muscles, "T-that's right. W-we needed to fix your h-head. C-can't have my S-sammykins' brain melting, now c-can I?" Gabriel was slurring again as he blindly reached up and gently tapped the fingers of his good hand against Sam's head once.
Sam's closed eyes snapped open at the question as he froze. His throat felt like it was closing up, he couldn't breathe. He stared down at his angel in horror, his heart stuttering.
Gabriel had lost the entire day! He still thought it was the previous night. To make matters worse, Sam had no idea what to do. Did he let Gabriel keep thinking that or did he tell him the truth that they took care of that requirement the night before?!
"H-how's your h-head?" Gabriel asked softly, worry was the first real emotion that Sam had heard out of his mouth since the angel woke up.
"I-It's good. D-doing so much b-better. T-thank you for saving me, Gabriel." Sam whispered brokenly and kissed Gabriel's cheek as the angel's fingers shakily stroked through his hair. It was as if the spark of worry had returned a bit of Gabriel's emotions and Sam's reply had started to mend them. The lethargic angel actually gave the hunter a quivering yet sincere smile.
"I'm glad, Sammy." Gabriel hummed happily, even if he seemed a bit dazed still, "I-I don't like it w-when you're h-hurting."
Sam felt like something inside his spirit cracked and shattered as Gabriel tiredly linked his arms around the hunter's neck. The angel nuzzled his head under Sam's jaw and sighed happily despite the pained tinge to the tone. Sam hesitantly wrapped his arms around Gabriel's waist, careful not to bump any wings or the healing carvings on his lower back. He didn't break down sobbing until Gabriel's most healed primary wing wrapped around him in a symbol of pure love.
~*~Chapter End~*~