Chapter 4
Gabriel cursed, barely keeping himself invisible to the hunters while they tried to find a ritual which would summon him. The only thing that would stop them from being able to find something would be if he took the feather away from Sam. It was what he should have done, remove the trace of his grace and they wouldn't have anything to work with. Gabriel never even considered it. There was something there, something building between them, and the archangel wanted to see through. The more Sam touched the feather, the more his grace responded and wrapped the human in an embrace.
For hours Gabriel stood there invisible to the hunters, but unwilling to leave Sam. By the time it started to get dark, they had managed to figure out a ritual. Wanting to wait until they had every weapon they could think of ready; all three hunters decided to turn in for the night before trying the ceremony in the morning. Gabriel, for his part, waited until everyone was in bed before he made his move. Pulling the text toward himself while taking a seat at the table, the archangel looked at the old and yellowed pages. It would work, from the notes Bobby had stuck between the sheets, his feather and a bit of blood from Sam and they would be able to summon him.
Thankfully they didn't know who they were summoning.
Gabriel could pretend to be anyone, there were thousands upon thousands of angels, and coming up with a name wasn't an issue. Oddly enough, even the thought of lying to Sam wasn't appealing in the least. Shoving the book aside, Gabriel huffed. This wasn't going to go how he wanted; if they mixed a few more things, they could even bind him to the truth. Not that he didn't earn the name Silver-tongue for nothing as Loki, still it would be hard to lie if his feather was used.
Glancing up at the stairwell, Gabriel rose from the chair and made his way to the bottom of the stairs. He could go up there, could be close to the human his grace had chosen to protect. Sam had mentioned how he hadn't been sleeping; it wouldn't take much for his blessing to keep the nightmares at bay. While Gabriel's feather would prevent others from entering Sam's thoughts, it wouldn't do anything about the human's own mind. Spreading his wings, the archangel lifted his vessel to the top of the stairs, placing a hand on the door leading to Sam.
It wasn't locked.
While he knew the other had probably left it unlocked in case he needed to get to someone quickly, Gabriel couldn't help but see it as an invitation. Using his grace to keep the door silent, Gabriel cloaked himself as not to be seen before he entered the room. It was dark, the single window covered in thick drapes to shut them in darkness. There was only the slightest glow from a small crack in the curtains, letting a sliver of light through. Not needing the light to see, Gabriel closed the door behind him, muffling the soft 'clink' of the door shutting.
The archangel wasn't surprised to learn the brothers shared sleeping space, from what he could tell during his hours watching the two they were dangerously co-dependent. Having not the time nor will to enter their minds too deeply, Gabriel had to assume they had been on the road with nothing but each other for most of their lives. Conditions like that would mess you up; it would cause a stronger bond than most and make them inseparable. Still, the archangel had been careful to look for any signs they were more than brothers and work partners, seeing none lifted a weight off his chest. One that should not have been there in the first place.
Ignoring the firstborn who was turned toward Sam even in sleep, Gabriel looked at the taller of the two brothers. Sam was beautiful, his long brown hair creating a halo effect on the cream-colored pillowcase. Sam's mouth was open slightly, causing little puffs of air to escape with each breath alongside a soft snore. One arm was thrown above his head while the other lay to rest on his flat stomach. He was shirtless, Gabriel could see his shoulders and the top of his chest before the comforter covered the man. Sam wasn't the most handsome man Gabriel had ever seen, nor the most attractive he had slept with -being a god had its perks- but with Sam, there was a pull like no other Gabriel had experienced.
Something was happening between them.
It wasn't quite angelic, though the longer Gabriel stood there, the more his grace longed to surround the young soul and wipe away all his trouble, to protect Sam in a way only an angel could. While it wasn't as powerful; the side of Gabriel which was created when he ran away, the part of him who was Loki longed for the younger Winchester as well. That side of him was more primal in his desires, wanted to taste and take and own the Winchester in every way imaginable. Yes, it also wished to protect him, but not nearly as innocently as his angelic side. The part of Gabriel which was Loki wanted to form a bond with Sam as consort; it wished to have Sam as his own and only his own.
Even when he fell in love with Sigyn, Gabriel hadn't felt this possessive need run through him. Sure, he desired her, but never like this, never as dominant as he was feeling now. This was every part of Gabriel wishing for the human, and it was only after Sam hummed in his sleep that the archangel even noticed how he was now touching the man, softly trailing his fingers through the other's hair. Small bits of grace was leaving his fingers where Gabriel was caressing the human, leaking into the others mind to sooth away any nightmares, blocking away the pain so the man could have a comfortable night's rest.
He should stop. Gabriel almost jerked back his hand when he saw the soft smile on Sam's face, the way he was now tilting his head in Gabriel's direction. How could he pull away from the man when they were both enjoying the contact? Making sure not to use too much grace, just enough to ease away the aches of hunching over books all day and to keep away the nightmares, Gabriel took a seat on the edge of the bed and continued to sooth the other.
Sitting there invisible hours later, having watched as Dean rose and silently left the room, Gabriel came to a decision. He wouldn't lie to Sam though he planned on evading as much as possible. Something inside his grace rebelled at the idea of outright lying to the human, but it wouldn't stop him from at least trying to keep his secrets. Sadly, if he was going to protect Sam, Gabriel would have to tell him something, so the other two hunters trusted him.
Gabriel knew what the demons and angels were planning for Sam. While he didn't know the details, the archangel knew enough to make him need the hunter's trust. Because there was no way Heaven or Hell was going to harm Sam, not if he had anything to say about it. Perhaps it was time he gave a thought of being His archangel once again.
