Chapter 13

Dean had been expecting a lot of things when he and Bobby made their way to the haunted town in which Sam was trapped. After losing The Roadhouse, he couldn't help the sinking feeling in his gut that they wouldn't be in time, that they would lose Sammy as well. The only thing keeping him from a full panic attack was the training drilled into him by his father. If Dean let the panic consume him now, he would lose, and if there was one thing Dean wasn't willing to lose, it was his brother.

Bobby was right beside him, matching Dean stride per stride as they made their way through the woods surrounding the town. Chancing a glance at the older man, Dean could see the same determination in the other's eyes, along with the same fear. Neither would be able to survive losing Sam. While not their father, Bobby had just as much to lose here, he had just as much heartbreak on the line.

There was a time before John came and took them away when Dean had considered Bobby his real dad. When they were younger, and John would leave them at Bobby's, letting them have a chance of a home without hookers and drugs next door; Dean had started to consider Bobby the father John never was. It hadn't lasted long before John was pulling them away, taking them away from the only adult in Dean's life who seemed to give a damn. If there was one thing, Dean had never forgiven John for it was the last night he had seen Bobby as a kid.

Now they were both racing to find their missing family member. Dean had tried praying to Gabriel, had silently begged the archangel to help his brother. The silence of his unanswered prayers was both encouraging and damning. Dean hoped the shorter man was too busy saving Sam's ass to answer and not that the archangel was ignoring him. As they cleared the woods, Dean could see the shacks which made up the town. It wasn't pretty; the place looked like it could be a set for a horror film.

It wasn't just the run-down houses or the creepy feel to the place, but the whole town stunk of rotten eggs. Sulfur. Raising his gun, Dean slowed his steps as they approached the area. If the place reeked this bad, it should be crawling with demons, and if they hadn't noticed two hunters entering their village Dean didn't want to make them aware. All thoughts of stealth were ignored as heard a human scream coming from the middle of the town.

Swiftly Dean and Bobby ran toward the scream, their guns ready and bags with more ammo slung over their backs. It didn't take long before they were facing a scene Dean knew he wouldn't soon forget. Sam was standing with his back to one of the houses, his eyes trained on the two men in front of him. In the middle of the town was Gabriel, a long sword in his hand glowing with a faint golden light.

There was another man opposite him, holding a long lance, its blade moving quickly toward the archangel. The lance was longer than Gabriel's sword, giving the man a better reach and advantage. Dean came up behind Sam, who thankfully saw them coming as he didn't attack defensively. Dean didn't even have to ask what was going on, as soon as he and Bobby were close Sam began to speak.

"Azazel brought all the special kids here as a kind of showdown, last one standing would take over his demon army," Sam said, his eyes trained on the two fighting figures. "Gabriel came when I prayed and sent Andy and another one, Jake back home. Ava was here, Dean. She was killing anyone who stood in her way."

There was a grunt of pain from Azazel as Gabriel managed to dodge a strike and cut the demon on his arm. Still, the archangel was forced away as the lance nearly speared him. "Azazel showed up before Gabriel could bring us home. They said a bunch of things I don't think I get but… they made a deal." Another clash rang through as lance and sword came together.

"What kind of deal?" asked Bobby, his eyes darting between Sam and the fight in front of them. "A fight to the death, if Azazel wins; what remains of Gabriel's grace belongs to him to do with what he will. If Gabriel wins…" Hearing a grunt of pain, Dean watched as the lance finally cut into Gabriel causing the archangel to stumble for a minute. "If Gabriel wins then Dad's soul will be released from Hell."

Dean turned widened eyes to Sam, mouth slightly agape as he tried to process Sam's words. Thankfully Bobby had the thought process to speak. "Why would an archangel fight for John's soul?"

Neither Bobby nor Dean were expecting the answer from Sam.

"Apparently… to save the world."

It had been a long time since Gabriel had to fight. His last battle had been with the Nephilim, a war he often pushed to the back of his mind. Now as he faced off against Azazel, the archangel wished he had kept up with his training. While no pushover, Gabriel wasn't the warrior he used to be. He wasn't as ruthless and cunning as he had been when he delivered The Word, or when he worked under His command.

Azazel, on the other hand, was no pampered prince. Typically, even on a lousy day, Gabriel would have been able to smite the bastard and wipe him from the world. Up until Azazel revealed Michael's Lance. It wasn't a weapon the archangel had thought the other would be able to get a hold of let alone to wield. It took everything the archangel had not to be cut by the cursed blade, as while it wouldn't kill him outright, it would cause a slow and painful death.

Hard to believe it was a weapon designed for an archangel.

Noticing as Dean and Bobby came to help protect Sam, Gabriel lost his focus for a split second. A split second was all Azazel needed. Pain like no other shot through Gabriel's vessel and grace. It was nothing like he had ever felt before, the white-hot agony causing the blond to stumble even in the middle of a fight. Having no choice any longer, the archangel let go of the hold he had on his grace.

Initially, he had decided not to release it to keep his presence hidden. Gabriel had been shielding his grace since he first left Heaven. Now, the youngest archangel twisted the hand holding his blade and pushed his grace through the Holy weapon. Azazel didn't have time to think before the archangel twirled out of the way and shoved his sword into the demon's chest. There was a moment of stunned silence as Gabriel watched Azazel die.

The second the Azazel the ground, Gabriel twisted his wrist again, and his blade vanished. Placing his hand on the wound on his arm, the blond looked at the fallen body. His knees were weak, and he didn't think he would be able to remain standing much longer as the poison ran through his system, but the archangel had to make sure the deal was honored. No sooner did his legs finally give out when there was the spirit of a man in front of him.

The image was clear, Gabriel could make out the scruff of the man's beard and the soft brown of his eyes. For a second, they stared at one another until a sharp cry from beside Gabriel made the archangel turn around. Sam was coming toward him, his worried gaze not taking in the form of his father as Gabriel remained kneeling on the ground.

"Gabe!"

Hearing the shout from the taller man, Gabriel tried to give him a small smile to reassure Sam everything would be fine. It must have come out as more of a grimace; as instead of looking relieved, Sam hurried his pace and knelt beside Gabriel. The archangel could still feel the poison flowing through him; he would have maybe a couple of hours before his grace would be all but gone. If he survived that long.

"H-hey Sammy… t-told ya n-no demon was a m-match for m-me."

Sam removed Gabriel's hand from where it had been holding onto the wound. While it looked shallow and had stopped bleeding, Gabriel could see the dark black of the curse in the flesh tearing at his grace and vessel at once. Looking up into Sam's worried hazel eyes, the shorter man tried to smile at his human. Reaching up, the blond hoped Sam would ignore the blood on his hand while he cupped the others face.

"S-sorry we're gonna h-have to rain-check the celebration date I had p-planned." Sam seemed even more worried now, and while Gabriel could hear both Bobby and Dean talking to John, not once did Sam look away from him.

"Gabe come on, talk to me… what can we do? What is this doing to you?" Instead of answering, Gabriel heard John speak for the first time since his soul was released from Hell. His voice was soft, most likely since even as a spirit he wouldn't want to draw attention to himself after so many years on the rack.

"It's poison. To a demon, it would have killed him, for an angel it slowly leaks into their grace and makes them suffer. The Lance of Michael."

Dean spoke up next, while he couldn't keep his eyes off his father he also seemed troubled by what was happening. Gabriel wondered when he had started to hallucinate, as all four hunters seemed worried about him. "Well, how do we fix it?" Sam started to run his fingers through Gabriel's hair, having maneuvered them so the archangel was reclined against his chest.

"I heard a rumor once," began Bobby who walked over to take the lance. Looking along the carvings, the older hunter trailed his hand over the lance, careful in his inspection. "That the magic of Michael's lance was in the woodwork. I can't make out any of these markings to know what we're lookin' at."

John held out his hand toward Bobby who hesitated for a moment before passing the lance to the spirit. For a second, only a moment Gabriel wondered if the man was going to run him through. There were enough rumors to support that John Winchester slaughtered anything that wasn't human, it wouldn't have been much of a stretch to add angels to his list of kills. Instead of killing Gabriel, John looked at the lance for a moment before taking it in both hands and breaking it.

The instant the lance was broken, Gabriel felt like he could breathe again. His grace was still wounded, he could feel where there were almost chunks of it missing, but it was no longer spreading. The whiskey-eyed angel only had a few minutes to think about the fact he was just saved by his brothers' vessel before he lost his battle with consciousness. As his world turned dark, Gabriel let Sam's strong arms support him. Hopefully, they wouldn't drop him on the way to the car.