The next morning, Gabriel was in the kitchen making breakfast for Sam. He'd made a few adjustments to the place that had been made for him and Sam. Before, it had only contained a living room, a hallway, and Sam's room. Now it had everything a normal house did.
Normally, Gabriel just snapped up food when he felt like eating, but he wanted to cook for his son the first morning he was with him, so he snapped up uncooked food and used his Grace to make human appliances work in Heaven.
Gabriel had made every breakfast food imaginable. He knew what Sam liked, but he wasn't sure what the boy would want today, and he wanted his child to have what he wanted, given that he knew things were going to be hard for the boy for a while
Gabriel soon heard footsteps. He turned around to see his son peering into the kitchen in disbelief. "Hey, kiddo. Did you sleep well?"
"This wasn't here before," Sam said as he looked at the kitchen. There had been no kitchen when he was brought there last night.
"You're right, there wasn't. I made it while you were sleeping. "Are you hungry? You can have anything you want," Gabriel said.
As if on cue, Sam's stomach started to growl. He looked around at the food in awe. There was practically everything there. "Can I have the French toast?"
"Of course you can. Go sit down and I'll bring it to you. Do you want some orange juice too?" Gabriel asked.
"Yes, please," Sam said before going to the other side of the room where a glass round table and chairs were located.
Gabriel soon came over with Sam's plate and a glass of juice. He then grabbed himself some pancakes and sat down next to his son.
Sam took a bite of his food and quickly went for another. It tasted so good, better than he'd ever tasted. He was used to mostly diner food, which could be good sometimes, but this was so much better.
Gabriel chuckled as his son went to town on his breakfast. "Careful, buddy. Don't eat too quickly. You don't want to get sick."
Sam nodded and slowed down just a little bit. "Can I go home after this?"
Gabriel sighed. The question didn't surprise him. He knew it was coming, but he was not looking forward to answering it. "Finish eating, and then we'll have a talk about it.
Sam didn't like the answer, but he didn't argue. He just went back to his breakfast.
Gabriel waited until Sam was finished eating before turning to him and speaking. "I know this is really weird and scary. All of a sudden, these strange people come into your life and take you from your home. We say we're your family, but you don't know us."
Sam nodded. That was exactly how he felt. They were all nice and everything, but he didn't know them. He wanted to go back to his family. "I wanna go home."
"I know you do, kiddo, but I can't let that happen. I want you to know that it's not a punishment. You haven't done anything wrong. I can't let you go back there because I can't let you get hurt," Gabriel said as gently as he could. He knew it wasn't much help though.
"But it won't happen again," Sam promised.
"It's already happened more than once, and even once is too much," Gabriel said.
"But I'll be good from now on. I won't give him a reason to hit me," Sam cried.
Gabriel reached over and ran a hand through his son's hair. He wanted to grab him and pull him into his arms, but worried that would just frighten the boy. "No, Sammy. I told you, you didn't do anything wrong. You are not responsible for someone hitting you."
"But if I did what he wanted…"
"Nothing you did or didn't do gave him the right to hit you. I'm sorry, Sammy. I know you're upset, but I can't let you go back there," Gabriel said.
"Please," Sam begged through his tears.
Gabriel sighed. He hated seeing his son so miserable. "Sam, the way John treats you isn't okay, and I don't just mean him hitting you. That's why we had to take you away, but he does other things that aren't right. He leaves you alone with no adult to take care of you, sometimes for days, and the things he's teaching you and your brother are dangerous."
"But he has to to stop the monsters," Sam said. He still wasn't sure how he felt about becoming a hunter, but he knew his dad helped people by doing what he did.
"A parent is supposed to put his kids before anyone else. Anything else, like fighting monsters, needs to come second," Gabriel explained.
"But I don't want to leave them. I need my dad and Dean," Sam said. He especially needed Dean. He didn't want to leave his dad either, but he couldn't leave Dean. Dean took care of him. His big brother was always there no matter what.
Gabriel winced. He knew losing Dean was even worse than losing John for Sam. And it wasn't fair. Sam didn't deserve to lose Dean, nor Sam him. Gabriel wished he could give Sam his brother. He'd watched those boys grow up for the past eight years. Neither would do well without the other.
Gabriel honestly would take Dean if he could. The boy meant the world to Sam, plus Gabriel owed Dean's mother for agreeing to take care of his son. He would happily return the favor and raise her son. But he couldn't raise a human child in Heaven. Well, his father could probably make it happen if he wanted, but Gabriel doubted he ever would. His hands were tied.
"What… What's gonna happen to me?" Sam asked with both fear and hopelessness in his voice.
"Everything's gonna be okay, buddy. You're gonna stay here with me. I won't ever let anyone hurt you. I know it's really scary because you don't know me or anyone else here, but I care about you a lot. I promise, I'll take care of you," Gabriel promised.
"What about Dean? Is he gonna come too?" Sam asked. He was starting to think about it, and It seemed logical to him. If these people were his family, they had to be Dean's too. He should be coming and staying too. If they took him away, they had to take Dean too, right? Sam hoped so anyway. It was bad enough that he couldn't go home, but he couldn't live without Dean.
Gabriel was saved from answering by a knock at the door. He was both grateful and annoyed at the interruption. "I'll be right back, kiddo, and we'll finish talking."
Sam nodded.
Gabriel got up and went through the living room to the door. He found his older brother on the other side. "Michael, I'm busy right now."
"Have you seen Father? He hasn't come back since leaving here last night," Michael said. He seemed lost and scared. He was afraid his father had left them again.
"I can't say it surprises me if he took off," Gabriel said bitterly.
"He said he was staying," Michael said. He sounded like a little boy and he knew it, but he was upset. His father promised to stay, at least for a while.
"Yeah, he said the same to me, but words mean next to nothing from him these days. Look, I can't deal with this right now. I am in the middle of a conversation with my son, and he is very upset," Gabriel said.
"Right, I can imagine. Look, you're not gonna leave to, right? You're staying, like father wanted? It wouldn't be safe for Sam to be on Earth anyway. His power will start developing soon," Michael reasoned. It was true, but honestly, he was really saying it because he didn't want Gabriel to leave again. Plus, he'd already started to become fond of his nephew.
"He's been fine for the last eight years. His Grace is barely showing," Gabriel said. Of course, it had become a little brighter, but Gabriel figured that was due to being in Heaven. He assumed any real power Sam had wouldn't show itself until he was older. That being said, Gabriel knew he couldn't just leave if his father didn't want him to. He'd be stopped.
"That's probably because of the demon blood," Michael stated.
Gabriel narrowed his eyes at his older brother and practically hissed his next words. "The what?"
"The demon blood. One of Lucifer's disciples placed blood into his mouth as an infant. That's how Mary Winchester was killed. You didn't know? You didn't know you'd left your son with my vessel's family?" Michael asked surprised. He assumed Gabriel had all this knowledge. Although, he supposed Gabriel should be smarter than to knowingly leave his son with Michael's vessel if he wanted him hidden.
Gabriel was shocked. He'd had no idea that Michael's vessel resided in that house. It had to be Dean. That would explain poisoning Sam. Lucifer must have thought Sam was his vessel. He couldn't believe it. He'd left Sam with Michael's vessel. It was pure dumb luck that Michael didn't find out what happened. "No, I didn't know. Would I really leave him there if I did? I may as well have painted the word 'Nephilim' in bold letters on the door. "My son ingested demon blood?"
Michael nodded.
"I'm gonna kill the son of a bitch! He could've killed my kid!" Gabriel growled. Demon blood was dangerous to angels. If Sam hadn't been part human, that tiny bit of blood would've done much worse than suppress his Grace.
"Are you referring to the demon or Lucifer?" Michael wondered.
"Both," Gabriel said.
"Well, I can only guess that the demon blood has been removed, so Sam's safe now, and Lucifer probably won't be released anytime soon," Michael said. Normally this would bother him, but obviously this was his father's will. He didn't want the final plan to happen now.
"Hello, boys," a voice said from behind them.
Michael turned around and gasped. His father was there, but he was not alone. There was someone with him, looking both smug and angry at the same time.
"Lucifer," Gabriel bit out in a low growl.