It took 13 hours from the time Sam found Gabriel for the archangel to wake up. In that time, Dean, Castiel, and Nemamiah had gotten a motel room in town. Sam had left Gabriel once to get food, and he'd slept a broken 9 hours next to the unconscious archangel. Angel comatose was probably one of the most frustrating things Sam had to sit through. He had his computer and Bobby put him to work on some hunting research while he was there. Sam couldn't just leave Gabriel. Not with Bobby unable to go upstairs and check on him. Even then, Sam couldn't leave Gabriel just in Bobby's care.

Sam was reading when it happened. He had grown so used to the stillness that his whole body jerked when he felt a warm, dry hand grasp his wrist. Sam was lying next to Gabriel on his side; turned towards him, just to make sure he was still there every couple of pages. This time Gabriel's dark gold eyes were opened tiredly and a slow smile creased Gabriel's mouth as he gained Sam's attention.

"So, this what it's like when you wake up next to me?" Gabriel asked slowly and Sam's heart was thudding in his ribs. Sam held very still and wondered if he moved too much, Gabriel might fly off. Or maybe he'd wake up from dozing off and find Gabriel still enough to be dead again.

"With a little less worrying if you're alive, maybe." Sam swallowed uneasily and closed his book. "Are you okay? What happened back there?"

"Mm... Back up plan of my back up plan." Gabriel took a deep lethargic breath and made a great effort to sit up. Gabriel groaned, and his hand moved up to his chest, where Sam had taken advantage of the coma to clean and patch the glowing wound; it was all Sam could do was treat it as any normal injury. Sam sat up quickly, as though there was something he could do to help but Gabriel waved a hand, chuckling a bit. "I'm okay, I'm okay. Lucy got really close to stabbing my main grace." He laid back down and when his body relaxed and so did Sam; at least a little bit. For once, Gabriel looked his size, a little smaller and less able than Sam, and Sam didn't like that look on his archangel.

"You sure?" Sam's hand slid into Gabriel's. Gabriel nodded, a forced smile coming into play.

"Well, I could always look forward to a little sexual healing," Gabriel said and Sam rolled his eyes. Gabriel was fine enough if he was making those kinds of jokes.

"What happened?" Sam sat cross-legged next to Gabriel. Gabriel let out a slow breath, as though pain was ebbing and he squeezed Sam's gently. It wasn't as strong as Sam had hoped. It wasn't angel-strong.

"Lots of stuff happened," Gabriel said. "I jumped in, saved the day, nearly got stabbed in the heart for it." He closed his eyes, "I'm just really glad Lucifer loves to have the last word." Sam squeezed Gabriel's hand, gaining his attention back.

"But, you crash landed at Bobby's house," Sam told him. "Literally. How did you get here?" Gabriel took a deep breath.

"Okay, this is my 'back up of my back up plan' for a reason." Gabriel eyed Sam with a weary smile. "You see, this isn't exactly the first time I've been 'killed'. I mean, Dean's stabbed me, you stabbed me, Kali." He waved a tired hand, as though gathering his thoughts. "I have this little spell set up. It's rather simple really. When ever my vessel gets stabbed fatally. I get zapped back to a safe spot and a double plays out the death role. Cause well, being an archangel, it's really hard to fake a vessel being dead." Sam frowned.

"But... you seem really out of it this time." Sam remembered every other time Gabriel just waltzed up, like nothing happened to him. This time was different.

"Well this time a real angel blade was involved." Gabriel's thumb rubbed against Sam's knuckles. "Usually it only takes a bit of grace to get flung back. It's sort of like a sling shot. The rubber is always ready to snap back, but the spell needs to be triggered to happen. And this was Lucy, I couldn't just pull a simple trick on him." Gabriel adjusted as he was laying, looking uncomfortable. "Do you know how much grace it takes to fake an archangel death?"

Sam took a deep breath. "A lot?" There wasn't exactly solid measurements of grace that Sam knew of.

"About all of it." Gabriel rested his eyes for a moment and when he opened them he chuckled dryly. "Don't give me that look." Sam shook his head, closing his mouth.

"Does... this mean you're graceless?" Sam asked worriedly. One fallen angel was enough to handle, but two would be maddening.

"Nah, I'm not a simple angel." Gabriel squeezed his hand warmly. "I'm just on empty and my core needs to recharge..." Gabriel frowned. "But... well, may take a few weeks."

"Weeks?" Sam's brows rose high.

"Alright, so I've never burned up this much before. Might be a couple months for all I know." Gabriel rolled his eyes upwards, as if frustrated. "Nn, you know, this pain thing sucks." Sam smiled sadly and leaned down, giving Gabriel a soft kiss on his lips.

"You scared me. I thought you died back there," Sam said. Gabriel looked up at Sam, face sobering.

"Nearly was, truthfully." Gabriel sank into the bed more. "But you can't get rid of me that easily."

"Well Bobby might finish the job once he sees what you did to his roof," Sam joked uneasily. At least Gabriel wasn't in immediate danger.

"Yeah?" Gabriel's brows rose. "I guess I took a sky dive. I figured appearing in his living room would pretty much get me killed." Sam shrugged awkwardly, because Bobby already had a dislike for the archangel; and Bobby was paranoid. He was alive for a reason. Gabriel smiled. "Ever see that movie, Grumpy Old Men?" Sam slowly nodded, it was one of those movies about two old men that were best friends but worst enemies. "Put them together and you've got Bobby Singer." Sam smiled a little.

"You're a grumpy old man too," Sam reminded him and Gabriel grinned.

"Ah, now it all makes sense," Gabriel said wistfully. "In the end of the movie, I'll put the dead fish in the back seat of his truck and I'll dump the snow from his roof onto his head." Sam patted Gabriel's hand, because Gabriel just sounded delirious now.

"This isn't Show Time, Gabriel," Sam reminded him. Sam didn't want another TV Land experience.

"It could be." Gabriel squeezed his hand back. "Guess I made it this far because Kali released everyone's blood spell." Sam nodded.

"Yeah, she smoked up the Impala and disappeared," Sam told him.

Gabriel smiled fondly. "That's Kali for you. All fire and smoke." Sam's smile dropped, pursing his lips. He hadn't liked Gabriel's scheme to seduce Kali into getting their blood back. And Sam could only take so many death scares in one night.

"You and Kali... you were really attached to her," Sam said quietly.

"Years ago." Gabriel shrugged. "You could say she was an old flame." Gabriel's smile lost a little of it's shine when Sam still felt uncomfortable. "Hey, look, it was a century or two ago. It didn't work out. What's done is done."

"You don't... you know, still love her." Sam couldn't help but feel a little insecure. Kali was a deity. She was long lived, and Sam had to admit, she was aesthetically attractive. Gabriel sighed, closing his eyes a moment.

"Do you know what happens when a moth touches a flame?" Gabriel asked and Sam nodded, the cliche metaphor was obvious.

"They get burned," Sam said.

"Bingo." Gabriel smiled. "And when that moth is an idiot, he'll keep getting burned til he learned his lesson." He paused. "In theory anyway, but I don't think I did." Gabriel squeezed Sam's hand again, giving a brighter smile. "You're a much worse addiction." Sam's face flushed, but a little smile wiggled onto his face. Gabriel never failed to be a charmer.

"I don't know whether I should take that as a compliment or a blame," Sam said mildly. He'd done a lot to Gabriel. And Gabriel had done a lot to Sam. Good and Bad. They were anything but perfect. Gabriel pulled Sam's hand towards him and kissed Sam's fingers.

"I threw all my chips in with you, Kiddo," Gabriel told him. "And thanks for not killing me while I was out of commission." Sam nodded, face warm. Gabriel was giving the distinct impression that he wouldn't have expected the same with Kali.

"Of course not," Sam said. "I want you around as long as possible." Gabriel smiled easily.

"Good to hear." Gabriel sighed easily, sinking into the mattress. "So, where's the nesting pair?" Sam blinked, remembering Dean and Castiel.

"They got a motel room for the night," Sam said. "They're still recovering from the hotel. Especially Miah." Gabriel nodded thoughtfully.

"She puts up a good bluff for a fledgling," Gabriel said with air of pride.

"Dean and Cas have been training her," Sam said, remembering that Nemamiah had gone with Dean and Castiel to get the rest of the guests out of the freezer. She'd torn off the handle with a little prompting from Castiel and when one of the deities denied them an exit, she'd flared her wings and kept him at bay for at least a few moments with a wooden stake. Of course, several deities against one young nephilim didn't go well for their side. All 4 of them -Sam, Dean, Castiel, and Nemamiah- ended up on lock down with blood spells.

"Half assed training." Gabriel grimaced. "She didn't utilize any grace in there."

"Cas can't exactly teach her to use it. He's graceless, remember?" Sam defended. He remembered what Castiel looked like the last time he'd tried to teach Nemamiah to heal someone. He looked like he could have keeled over at any moment and ashened to an unnatural grey color. "Cas gets really bad migraines when he tries to transfer any angelic knowledge." Gabriel frowned, as though that didn't make sense.

"What?" Gabriel asked.

"Cas says because he's graceless. I mean, he is human now." Sam shrugged. He didn't know exactly how it worked, he could only translate the bits that Castiel has said. To Sam is sounded like there was a wire in Castiel's huge head that was shorted. Sam sometimes thought angels were like computers and sometimes the analogies matched up. "Maybe he doesn't have the psychic connection he did to his grace. Or maybe because he's cut off from Heaven?"

Gabriel thought about it, seriously, and finally shook his head. "Personal experiences and passing down knowledge should not be hindered if he's naturally procreating..." Gabriel trailed off, thinking deeply about it. Sam was glad Gabriel at least seemed to take the situation seriously and knew something was wrong with it. Gabriel laid back, and rubbed his temples; as though a thought occurred to him. "Oh, duh."

"What?" Sam raised his brows curiously.

Gabriel slowly sat up, finding more strength the more he was awake. He propped himself up, crossing one leg under the other. "I know Michael and Raphael are still running the show. They control who breeds and who does not. Except for moi of course." Gabriel gestured to himself, because he was the one who escaped the system of Heaven before the first Heaven war broke out. "I know there was a department in Heaven being trained to alter a rogue angel's thoughts." Gabriel paused, looking at Sam. "Michael said it was for angels on the verge of falling like Lucifer. But it also sounded like a load of bull." Sam thought about that.

"Didn't you alter those angel's memories back in Indiana?" Sam asked.

"Blocked their memories, added some new ones, yeah." Gabriel's mouth twitched a little into a bitter smile, "But I don't do it willy-nilly. It's dangerous poking around in another angel's head." Gabriel tapped his temple with his index finger. "Us archangels, God made us to have authority over Heaven. Keep our children safe and happy. So that humans could do their human thing, and we're to love you." Gabriel smiled a little. "And you know, I don't think it's a bad plan sometimes. But there's something about plans than never quite go as they should. Sometimes I see what the old man saw in all of you though." Sam felt more like a child when Gabriel talked about Heaven. Because normally, Gabriel didn't look or act that old. He acted ten years old and maybe looked ten years older than Sam. But when he talked about Heaven, in the fondest of ways, Sam felt the age gap of 10 thousand years. Especially as he talked about humanity as a whole.

"So what do you think they did to Cas?" Sam asked, not feeling energetic enough to talk about God's plan. About the God that had basically told Dean and Sam to give up their search for him. The God that he prayed to for years and turned out he never even listened.

"If I know my brothers, and I do, they blocked off his knowledge-passing because they chose him to go through severance," Gabriel said thoughtfully, coming down to a more human sounding answer. "Heaven's back up plan of their back up plan. Since they put him in severance to go keep Dean in check, why not make sure if he doesn't do as told, make it so he can't teach an new angel, or nephilim, how to protect themselves." Sam stared for a moment. Heaven sounded conspicuous, with mind altering departments and cupids making humans breed to keep blood lines going. But preventing a parent to teach their child the essentials of their race sounded ridiculously evil for a species that was supposed to be good.

"Why are they so against nephilim?" Sam asked. Gabriel shrugged.

"The product of a human and an angel." Gabriel smiled slowly. "Terrible for some angels who think they're above watching over humans. Because you know, it might make some realize we're not that different." Gabriel shrugged. "Maybe that's just the poet in me. I just think Michael is a massive prick and Raphael doesn't like to see mixed blood. Raphael is a bit racist." Sam stared at Gabriel a moment and ran his hand down his face and Gabriel chuckled at Sam's mixed reaction. "Ironic, don't you think? From a human's point of view anyway."

"Let's not get into that," Sam said and Gabriel nodded.

"Fine, fine." Gabriel took a slow, deep breath. "So, did you watch that DVD?" Sam slowly shook his head. Dean had gone off to find his little family a place to nest for the day. He liked the way Gabriel had said it. Castiel and Dean nesting.

"No, it's in the Impala still," Sam admitted. "Should I have? I sort of forgot about it when I saw you here." Gabriel waved his hand.

"Nah. It was sort of a last will and testament sort of thing. In case my spell didn't work with Lucifer." Gabriel shrugged.

"It... was in a porno case," Sam said slowly.

Gabriel smiled tiredly. "I wanted to go out with a bang."

Sam didn't find the joke all that funny. Sam swallowed as it occurred to Sam that Gabriel might not be there. His spell may have not worked and he could have been dead. Sam took a deep, shaky breath and wrapped his arms around Gabriel, squeezing him as tight as he dared while Gabriel was injured. Gabriel's arm reached around and he rubbed Sam's back.

"No crying. I'm alive, so you're supposed to be happy," Gabriel assured him with a small laugh.

"Shut up," Sam told him. "I'm not crying." He refused to let his tears fall, blinking them back. He was relieved more than anything.

"Yeah, sure. Okay." Gabriel hugged Sam back. Sam breathed more easy after a few moments. Gabriel was alive, so no worries there. But Gabriel didn't beat Lucifer. They still had two rings to find. And the only long run plan Sam still had was fighting off Lucifer's possession to stick him back into the cage. Sam didn't have a 'back up of a back up plan'. Just the one.

"You're coming with us," Sam said when he pulled back and Gabriel made a face of uncertainty.

"I'm not sure I'd be approved for company," Gabriel said cautiously.

"I don't see why." Sam picked up his phone. He needed to call Dean and tell him Gabriel was awake. Bobby certainly hadn't appreciated harboring Gabriel for a few hours in his bed, and they'd already asked so much of Bobby. Leaving Gabriel here to heal would do more harm than good. Though having two handicapped old men in the same house would make an interesting comedy. Sam thought it would be more practical for Gabriel to go with them; Dean, Castiel, and Nemamiah.

"I'm pretty sure Castiel and Dean would see me as a liability," Gabriel said. "I'd rather lie low somewhere."

"You'll lie low with us," Sam insisted. Surely Castiel wasn't still bitter towards Gabriel after Gabriel saved them from Lucifer. Gabriel had also saved them from angels that had been after Nemamiah. Dean on the other hand may not be as welcoming because it was a new addition to his car. Besides always having Gabriel near him, Sam thought it would be a great advantage against Heaven and Lucifer. "And you let me worry about talking to Dean and Cas." Gabriel heaved a heavy sigh, a tired one.

"Well, since you're so dead set on it," Gabriel relented and Sam dialed Dean's number, preparing himself for a small argument with Dean over Gabriel's company.

Though Sam did have a back up argument from Bobby for Sam's case. Gabriel already trashed his roof and Sam could count on Bobby's anger to shut Dean up.