Gabriel hadn't been back in three days now. Two days used to be his record; the time he'd taken a bus for twelve hours in the wrong direction while drunk, but Sam suspected this wasn't like that.
The hints were the smaller things Sam only noticed because he had been living with Gabe for two years, things even such thoughtful people like Cas would glance over. The fact that his gaming phone sat on his bed, groaning that it was at fifteen-percent charge and decreasing faster and faster; Gabriel never left his gaming phone behind, and it was always charged. Maybe it was that the gold chain that held the wing necklace Cas gave him was left behind. He never wore it on a silver chain. He hadn't even taken one of his lollipops with him for the road. Something was very wrong.
Sam's car was Dean's old one. Dean had named it KITT after the car from the show Knight Rider he'd loved as a kid. It was the same brand and color and all things about it were perfect. He loved KITT. It had all the lights and sounds and all the buttons he had no idea were even there, so it confused both the Novak's and the Winchester's when Dean chose Baby. Baby was everything KITT wasn't. She was normal, clean, shiny. She didn't have bells and whistles and flashing lights and a screen on the inside, but Dean drove his father's car with more pride than he ever could have with KITT.
KITT had been given to Sam even before he could drive, fourteen years old to be exact. Dean had been driving the thing since before he was legally allowed to, but their father couldn't care less about that, so Dean didn't either.
Now, as KITT raced down the empty road through the pine barrens of New Jersey, Sam's mind was racing, racing faster than the very car he drove. Where could Gabe be? Was he safe? Was he alive? Questions, questions, questions. One thing was certain: this was about Cas. It had to be. Why else would he leave so soon and with such little care?
The first three bars Sam checked were empty; only two or three people each as it was only mid-day. They were the only three bars Gabe ever went to, as each had their own special drink he loved. Fruity at two, bitter at the the third. None, though, held Sam's best friend.
To be honest, Sam didn't really believe he would be there. Firstly, he had left his car, which meant he would have had to walk all the way, maybe two or three hours, minimum. Secondly, the thing he wasn't so sure about, was that the bars didn't mean enough to leave the gold chain and gaming phone and cherry flavored bubble gum-filled lollipop. Lately though, Gabe had changed drastically. He began to drift from his habits, forming ones that made Sam worried and scared for the man. However, there didn't seem to be much that could be done.
It was the heat of the moment!
Sam's ringtone suddenly blared through the car, causing him to jump. He re-adjusted the car into the lane, calming himself before glancing down at the phone.
The contact I.D couldn't be right. Why would Gabriel leave and then call suddenly? Sam answered carefully, pulling the car over to give his full attention to the conversation.
"Sammy. I'm thirty minutes in on the eastern trail. Someone is trying to sabotage my brother. Come quickly." The message itself was urgent. Gabe was audibly choking on his own tears, using much of his strength to keep the diminishing act up.
The eastern trail was one of the many hiking trails through the pine barrens. The woods surrounded their house and much of New Jersey. Known greatly for their slightly unpleasurable smell, the trees in the pine barrens tended to create their own paths that people soon conquered. The eastern trail was just one of many that twisted its way into the lives of people who lived around it.
"Gabriel, don't you dare hang up this phone! I'm on my way."
So off he went, now the second confused, scared, and lost Winchester to be chasing after a Novak.
Cas held the small gift box, his eyes strangely dry as Dean's hands fell away from his own. The wrapping paper was coated in tiny pink and yellow stripes. It was bent in places, obviously folded quickly and not by a very steady hand.
Dean sighed, glancing down at his watch. Tick Tick Tick, a mockery of endless seconds. How many more of those seconds would he see? How much would the world change in those short 31,622,400 seconds?
"That's-" Dean started, guiding the small box towards Cas' chest "that's for you. Open it when… when life doesn't seem like it could get any worse," Dean grinned warily at him, "When you need to be reminded that I love you to Saturn and back, open it, and remember. Can you do that for me?"
Cas' small smile was the purest thing in the universe; so yellow and pink like the wrapping paper, green and blue like the sea. Small, cool lips slightly molded. They were thin and fragile, and grasped this happiness weakly, but the faded pink lines told much.
Dean exhaled, nodding his head and yawning to stop from tearing up, "I'll see you next week, okay?"
And in some crazy, crazy way, Cas' heart didn't sink as much… and neither did Dean's. It was comfortable. This small little gift was a piece of Dean that Cas could now hold on to, and Cas' smile would warm Dean's sleep for many weeks to come. Each held on to that silence for much more than that moment though, dangling their fingers in the ghosts of their memoir.
Time did freeze for a moment, as if the whole hospital just stared at the two young men intertwined so deeply in each other's questions. Cas' smile illuminating all with joy, and Dean's teary smirk reminding the wounded to laugh. Across two paths rang out true the single ding of a triangle, leaving that painful ring in ears much longer than necessary.
Dang it Castiel, Dean could only shake his head in shock, you always take my breath away.
Sam was used to jumping the fence to the eastern trail. The lock on the gate had rusted many years ago as no one really ever cared to open it. No one really needed to either: very few walked this trail. It wasn't filled with wild blueberries like the creek trail, didn't oddly smell like apple pie, like the hill route. It was really just a rocky, muddy trail.
Sam began his quest through the dirt by running, but soon found that twisting his ankle was an unpleasant experience. The rest was his odd mix of a run-jog-walk, like when you're crossing the street and the cars are waiting and you don't want to run but don't want to hold them up by walking. The blackjack oaks and red cedars did not know or care how Sam traveled through their paths.
When Sam was about twenty minutes into the eastern trail, shrubs and young bushes were replaced by stone carvings. Statues of brightly scaled fish and quick-to-buzz dragonflies now lined the footpath, eyeing Sam. They started out small, at first only about the size of his foot. Small critters like rabbits and rats, but they soon grew. They grew to be octopi and servals, silver-lined tigers and faded out demons. People with horns or wings or spiked lizard tails. And Sam, never having really gone too far into the eastern trail, could only stare in awe at the sculptures before him.
Like one streak of lighting in a rainy, midnight sky, Gabriel's golden hair shone out through the pines. He was slumped on the ground, head down and elbows dirty and bloody. Before him, a large figure of an angel. Not one with a harp and small wings, but one with a blade held high, eyes staring lovingly down at Gabe. Its wings were molting and rattled, yet they hung nicely with the cloak that enveloped its mighty form.
Sam approached cautiously, attempting to make his voice known to the shaken boy in front of him, "Gabriel?"
"Sammy?" Gabe's voice was painless in its speech, smooth at first, but hiccuped towards the end. He swallowed, at first eyeing the ground in front of him but soon turning his head. He lifted up a bit, using only enough willpower. He was now facing Sam, still sitting, yet a bit more lively than before, "Sam."
Sam looked down at him, smiled slightly, and then walked nervously over. Gabe seemed to be trying to smile, a glint of hope tugging at his lips, but the sheer force of the situation before him forced it to collapse in on itself soon after.
Gabe eyed Sam, a mix of pleading and deep regret apparent in his perception. Sam moved slowly, facing the quivering Novak, "Gabe, what happened?" He dropped to his knees, now eye to eye with Gabriel.
Gabe pulled back his lips, nodding as to reassure himself. He sighed and glanced at the statue before responding, "This statue has… it's always been special for… for Cas and I," he stammered a bit in the middle, breathing heavily afterwards, "Cassy… he came out to me under these wings…"
Cas stared up at the wall of clouds that covered the sky that day. He and Gabriel were side by side, both laying in a patch of grass. The angel statue that sat next to them was a fairly new discovery, found only about two months ago by the brothers. It was a beautiful angel, one not bound by gender or age, just there. Pure and selfless, kind and bold. It watched them lazily, staring down at their conversations, listening closely to their thoughts. Now Cas wondered if it knew what he was thinking.
"Gabriel?" Cas pushed himself up on his elbows. Gabriel quickly did the same.
"Yes?"
"I… I have something to tell you," he looked down at the blades of grass.
"The floor is yours," Gabe joked.
Cas swallowed and grinned slightly, still not ready to meet his brother's eyes, "I… I'm gay," but it was muffled by his fear.
"Say that again?" Gabe questioned, now confused and staring at his brother.
"I'm gay. I like boys," Cas seemed angry and also very frightened. It showed in how his hands began to rip up the weeds in the ground, and his eyes became a light shade of red.
Gabe smiled, "Cool."
Cas was baffled for a moment, almost laughing, "You- you're not mad?" He sniffled.
"Of course not. You do you. I'm glad you feel comfortable talking about it."
"Y-yeah. I guess… I don't know."
Gabe smiled, now turning his attention towards the angel, "It seems to be happy about it too."
Castiel turned, looking up at the stone eyes of the guardian. It held that same peaceful expression, the one that bared moss and small pink flowers. It seemed to always be saying, 'I love you,' in a way only a still frame could. Cas bent his head down, "I guess so, huh?"
Gabe smiled at the memory, "He seemed so much more free after that. It was also where we built his angel halloween costume, and where we would create stories where we were demons or lions or… or anything really. This angel has seen it all." He reached out for the statue, just barely sliding his hand over the base.
Sam nodded, his hand now resting on Gabe's back.
Gabe continued, "But when I got here yesterday morning, someone. . . someone had ruined it."
Sam's eyebrows furrowed, now following Gabriel's line of sight. At the very bottom of the statue, a pair of wings sat, and Sam recognized their design as the type Cas always drew. These wings though, were not a puffy and joyful white. They were dripping with deep red, parts scribbled over in black ink and beside it… one small phrase.
You're welcome, Castiel.