Author's note: Thanks so much to Larkafree, Maknatuna, Ninjakittee, Maddy Love Castiel, FireChildSlytherin5, CherylB1964, Pizzapig, Yana5, FictionalNutter, Keefer, XxZessxX , ruvy91, Nikkilouise, Lovely Rain Dancer, witch20, kb18142 and Bowie36 for last chapter's reviews!
Okay, okay... this chapter ran away with me... so... I have to take my last announcement back and change it to 'this story will be finished with chapter 40'. Let's just pretend that's what I said from the start. ;-)
38
Sam wasn't entirely sure how long he had been sitting on the edge of the bed Gabriel's vessel was sleeping in. He had tried very hard not to think about the fact that the man in front of him basically just was a Jimmy Novak of another time period, however. Honestly, the moral implications of that on top of everything else were just too much to deal with.
The younger Winchester had only just leaned forward to brush a strand of hair out of the other man's face when his eyes suddenly snapped open. Sam had just enough time to wonder if he should call Hel to put him back to sleep before the shorter man sat up, wrapped his arms around his neck and kissed him deeply.
"Gabriel?" the younger Winchester breathed once he got a chance to speak. He really didn't think that the archangel's vessel would have nothing better to do than kissing him silly, if he woke up for the first time in ages, but he needed to know for sure, anyway.
"Did you expect someone else?" Gabriel asked with an amused smirk, throwing the blanket off his body so he could get more contact. After being tortured for a day and then spending some time as a not completely corporeal being he felt a little cuddly, but it didn't look like Sam was going to complain about that, anyway.
"I… uh… sort of feared that your vessel might…" the younger Winchester tried to explain, ending his statement with a meek shrug. In fact, he had feared that he would have to face Gabriel's vessel. To be honest, he wasn't sure how he would have reacted, if the man had told him that he absolutely didn't want to be a vessel anymore like Jimmy had done with Dean. After everything they had been through, losing Gabriel simply wasn't an option to Sam. Hell, he had come close to killing Lilith and breaking the last seal just so he could at least keep the archangel with him while the world around them burned. It clearly hadn't been one of his proudest moments and he still felt bad about it, but he couldn't change it all the same.
"Samsquatch, no offense, but kissing you senseless wouldn't have been quite as high up on his list as it was on mine," Gabriel replied teasingly. Not to mention all the other things he wanted to do to the younger Winchester once they got the chance. There were other things they had to deal with first, however. It looked like these days there was always something else that was higher up on the list, not because it was more pleasant or subjectively more important but rather because it was objectively more important. Duty be damned, as soon as he got the chance Gabriel was going to snap a cabin in the Swiss Alps or somewhere in Norway into existence and then they were going to take an extended vacation.
"It's not like you ever told me anything about him," Sam shrugged. He hadn't thought of learning something about the archangel's vessel as very important before they had met Jimmy Novak to be honest, but now it just seemed like there were a few things he should know. The younger Winchester had to admit that he was a little afraid that he was going to hear things he wouldn't like too much, however. He wasn't completely sure how he would deal with hearing that the man Gabriel walked around in was as much of a reluctant vessel as Jimmy was.
"Mhm, that was on your list of things I need to explain," the archangel agreed, running his fingers over the side of Sam's neck. The idea about going on vacation was starting to sound better and better. They'd also get a chance to talk about all the things that undoubtedly were on the younger Winchester's brilliant and curious mind that way. It wasn't like they couldn't just zap back to the US within seconds, if the world needed saving once more.
"So, you heard that," Sam smiled, leaning into the touch. Good to know that he had chosen the right way to try and communicate with the archangel, even though he really hoped he wouldn't need to use it exactly like that ever again. He'd very much prefer it, if Gabriel stayed in his body in the future, after all.
"Every word," the archangel confirmed, leaning in until their noses were nearly touching, "Hurried back as fast as I could."
Their lips met in an unhurried kiss that grew more passionate as the seconds ticked by. In the end, Gabriel was straddling Sam's lap before they even parted to breathe. The younger Winchester leaned his forehead against the archangel's as they both panted, trying to get their breathing under control again.
"As much as I hate to say it," Gabriel sighed after a few long moments, "There are other items on the to-do list, too."
Silence had fallen over Bobby's living room after Jimmy and Dean had decided that they really didn't want to speak to each other anymore.
The older Winchester hated the fact that the other man was – for all they knew – preventing Castiel from returning, but he had to admit that it was unfair to expect the man to give up his own life completely just so Dean could have his friend back.
While Jimmy suspected that those things were going through the older Winchester's mind, the reason for his somewhat angry silence was a different one. He only wanted to get back to his family as quickly as possible, but he had been forbidden to make contact just yet. What really annoyed him about the situation was that he had to admit that Dean had been right when he had said that they should be certain what was going on and what was going to happen before he dragged Amelia and Claire into it.
So the two men were sitting on the couch and armchair respectively, every now and then throwing a glance at the other. The silence was clearly loaded, but neither one of them wanted to break it either.
In the end, Gabriel was the one who spoke the first words in minutes. "Be greeted, mere mortals, I have returned!"
Next to the archangel Sam shook his head with an ever so slightly amused snort. While the caring, gentle and attentive Gabriel was the one he loved, he couldn't deny that the archangel's trickster side could be quite amusing, too. At least, it was when he didn't take it too far.
"Oh great, of course he doesn't have any problems waltzing back," Dean groaned. To be honest, he was quite glad that at least one of the angels had made his way back and he was happy for his brother, but it'd still take quite some time until he would be able to openly acknowledge that having Gabriel around wasn't among the worst things that had ever happened to him. It didn't help that the archangel's return most likely meant that Castiel could have returned as well, if Jimmy hadn't been stubborn, which was in his good rights because it was his body after all, even if Dean wished that things were different, which wasn't exactly nice of him for the aforementioned reasons of Jimmy having the right to decide over his own body. Yes, the entire situation was maddening!
"Don't get your panties in a bunch, Dean-o," Gabriel replied nonchalantly, "Castiel is fine. Michael is on our side and gave him quite the promotion. Soon as he comes to an agreement with Jimmy-boy, he'll be back down here, too."
Jimmy wasn't entirely sure if he had just been threatened in some way, but he gave the archangel a defiant glare, anyway. The only understanding he and Castiel were going to come to was that he had the right to pick up what was left of his life. Unless of course there were yet unknown reasons that spoke for saying yes once more, but the way Gabriel had spoken didn't make it sound like they had an emergency of apocalyptic proportions on their hands yet again. He wasn't entirely sure what to make of the amused smirk the archangel threw back at him, but it looked nonthreatening enough.
"We'll have more time to talk later," Gabriel decided, "After I check on my poor wounded puppy."
Once the archangel's grace had been mostly healed he had been able to detect all three of his children which had been a relief, but he had also noticed that Fenrir was in pain. Luckily, his son was clearly getting better, but that didn't mean that he didn't want to check for himself.
"Fine, but your ass has a lot to answer for!" Dean stated in a demanding tone. It was good to know that they were at peace with Heaven for the moment being, but there were still a lot of things that needed to be addressed. Most of all, they really needed to find a solution to Castiel's problem, whatever that solution might be in the end.
"Am I still a ventriloquist, if I talk with my-?" Gabriel wondered. He never got to finish his statement before Sam grabbed his arm and pulled him toward the staircase leading to the basement, however.
"Hiding Thor's hammer," Fenrir snickered which really took away from his next words, "Worst. Idea. Ever."
Luckily, Thor had never found out who had been behind the prank, so there hadn't been hell to pay for it, but it had been pretty damn close.
Hel wasn't exactly sure how speaking to Bobby Singer about more or less ancient lore had turned into a recollection of the most stupid pranks they had ever pulled on someone, but it seemed like the lighthearted topic distracted her oldest brother from his still aching bones and muscles, so she was all for it.
"Oh, I don't know," Hel retorted, "What about spreading 'dog' hair all over Kali's stuff?"
True, enraging Thor was a spectacularly stupid idea, but as far as bad temper was concerned the Indian goddess was giving him a run for his money. Actually, the three of them had never understood what their father had seen in her. Then again, they couldn't have seen that much in each other to begin with, because the relationship had been rather short lived.
"Hey, she was acting like a little bitch, she deserved it," Fenrir huffed.
To tell the truth, before Sam had entered their lives they had only seen their father every now and then, but even that had been too much for the goddess. After Kali had openly sneered at Fenrir's pacifistic nature, the wolf had decided to show her that he still was the son of one of the greatest tricksters ever. Hel, of course, had helped to the best of her abilities while Jörmungandr had been their lookout. His brother might have acted like he couldn't care less about their father's personal life and who he was dating, but he had jumped at the opportunity to piss Kali off just a little too quickly to make that claim believable.
"She damn near skinned you alive," Jörmungandr commented with a slight smirk. Pinning the entire thing on Fenrir had admittedly not been that hard, considering that the wolf had rolled around on all of Kali's clothes she had left at their father's place, but he had taken it like a real man – in wolf form – and hadn't ratted the other two out.
"Worth it," Fenrir chuckled, gingerly getting up from his bed made out of a bunch of pillows and blankets to rest on his other side for a while.
Bobby wasn't sure what he had expected when he had started to talk to Hel, goddess of the Norse underworld, Fenrir, the great wolf and Jörmungandr, the world serpent, but they clearly were the Trickster's children, no doubt about it. Hard to explain why he found all of them quite likeable, though.
"No whoopee cushions in this house," the hunter stated seriously, giving all of them a look, "And if I ever see any of you near the bathroom with cellophane…"
The threat was left hanging like that, but the way all three pagans stared at Bobby in silence for a moment before they started to laugh heartily told him that he might just have given them ideas. Oh well, how much worse than a young Sam and Dean having a prank war around the house could it get, really?
Hel was at her father's side the very second the panic room door was opened, hugging him tightly. There had been no real doubt in the goddess' mind that her father was alive and would eventually find a way to return, but the waiting time had been hard nevertheless.
Bobby was tempted to say how lucky the Trickster was that his children hadn't taken after him too much and thus had made a pretty good argument for their father being allowed under his roof. Seeing how relieved they, and that included Sam, were to have Gabriel back made him hold his tongue, however. Instead he just grumbled something about too many people and too little space and left to see how Dean was doing with not-Castiel.
"Careful, you're squeezing the grace out of me," the archangel joked, rubbing his daughter's back for a few long moments until she was ready to let go again.
Jörmungandr only nodded toward his father, he was smiling slightly, however. He might have had to reconsider some things recently, but that didn't make jumping over his own shadow that much easier. Gabriel took the gesture for what it was and smiled back, anyway.
"You look like you bit off more than you could chew," the archangel commented, sitting down next to his oldest son, stroking his fur. Healing other angels or in this case a three-quarter angel wasn't quite as easy as healing mortals, but since his grace was working with full power again it was doable.
"I had a craving for chicken wings and only Raphael was around," Fenrir quipped, moving closer to his father. He felt a little better already, but that didn't mean that he wanted the contact to stop just yet.
Sam considered leaving the panic room as well for a moment. He was beginning to feel like he was invading on family time, but before he could make a move Hel put a hand on his shoulder. The sign was clear enough and the younger Winchester couldn't help feeling good about the fact that they obviously accepted him completely.
"There's something I should tell you all," Jörmungandr suddenly spoke up, drawing everyone's attention to him, "I put a tracker on Sam."
"You what?" Sam asked, instinctively patting himself down. If that tracker still was on him, it wasn't in his clothes. He had changed those after they had gotten back, after all. Chances were that the other man hadn't talked about anything he would be able to find by himself, however.
"I put one on Dean, too. Just in case we got separated and look what happened," Jörmungandr added with a light shrug.
"Okay, point taken. You did the right thing at the time," Sam replied conciliator, "But please tell me you removed them again!"
The younger Winchester wasn't entirely sure what to make of the smirk on Jörmungandr's face, but he supposed it didn't matter too much, either way. One, or all of Gabriel's children knowing where he was at any given time wasn't exactly the worst thing that could have happened and history had already shown how useful something like that could be. However, Dean would most likely throw a fit about it, especially if he heard that they could follow his every step, too.
"No shit, Sherlock," Hel snorted amusedly, "That was pretty obvious after you just disappeared and reappeared with Sam and dad."
Granted, she had been busy tending to Fenrir's wounds to the best of her abilities at the time, but that didn't mean that she hadn't tried to locate the younger Winchester or their father. Both of them had been too well hidden to be found just like that, however.
"You're just mad that you didn't think of it first," Jörmungandr stated in a smug tone, crossing his arms in front of his chest before he spoke on more seriously again, "What I'm trying to say is that I had to decide, if I'd tell you about it, or if I'd keep it to myself."
To tell the truth, he had had every intention to let his siblings in on what he had done at first, but then he had put it off until things went haywire and he hadn't had the chance anymore. Of course, the final decision against bringing Hel with him when he had zapped himself to the place where he knew the younger Winchester was being held, even though he had had no idea what he would find there exactly had been made later still.
"After what Raphael did to Fenrir I just… I couldn't bring you into another fight," Jörmungandr admitted, "I just wanted to keep you safe, even if things might have gone wrong and you all would have been mad at me forever afterward."
After he was finished speaking Jörmungandr sought for eye-contact with his father. He might not have been in the same spot Loki had been in when he had decided to let the death of their mother go, but he had a better understanding for it as things were, anyway.
Sam smiled when Gabriel left Fenrir's side to hug his second born tightly. The way Jörmungandr squirmed because of it didn't make the scene any less heartwarming, but it added a funny edge to it. It also reminded the younger Winchester of his own brother's rule about chick flick moments and manly hugs, too.
It took all of them by surprise when the light suddenly started to flicker. Moments later the entire house seemed to vibrate ever so slightly.
"We should go upstairs," Gabriel suggested in a calm tone, "Castiel has opened the negotiations."