Chapter 5: The Clock Ticks
Arch Angels didn't sleep. However, humans did. So when Dean returned that night and both Sam and him fell asleep, that left Gabriel up all night with nothing to do.
He had flipped through the TV channels for a bit with the sound on mute before the flickering bright light gently roused Sam around 4am and he opted for turning it off and plunging the small hotel room into a comfortable darkness.
With no distractions all he could do was lay there next to Sam, feeling his warm breath on his shoulder and hearing his heart beat so close to him. It was a moment of blissful peace that he didn't remember ever feeling, not even when he had been with Sigyn or Kali. It was that peace that lulled him into a sleeplike state, almost like a catnap, or a long daydream at night. Probably the closest Gabriel could ever get to a dream. His mind had been so relaxed that when one thought lead to another they started morphing together until they toke paths of their own. And it was that light catnap that hid the hushed sound of a hunter making plans on the phone a few doors down from them.
And that very morning Gabriel roused himself from his rest to the sound of Dean waking up. The older hunter was dangerously quiet and alert, even when waking up in the morning and he cracked one olive eye open to watch the human slide out of bed, stretching and peeking out the window to check on his beloved car parked outside.
Gabriel silently slid completely under the covers, kissing Sam on the chest as an apology as his movement caused him to murmur in his sleep. Sure Dean had told him no more creative hunting on his own, but when he'd said that he probably hadn't implied that he could stay all night cuddling with his kid brother. He'd probably expected Gabriel to go 'home' to his own 'apartment'. But what fun was sitting around an empty apartment when there was a perfectly good looking human all alone in a motel room? After all, two halves do make a whole.
He heard Dean's footsteps move around the room, then go past the bed towards the bathroom and felt a sharp slap on his thigh as the hunter punched him through the covers on his way past.
"Come on Gabe, I'm not stupid." Dean muttered, slightly slurred with sleep before he heard the bathroom door shut with a click. So maybe hiding under the covers hadn't been one of his best ideas when he could have just vanished for a few seconds and pretended he'd never been there in the first place. But why would he want to waste all that effort when he was so snuggly warm next to his Sammy?
He felt Sam's warm breath on him and couldn't help but reach out and wrap his arms around the still sleeping human. Sam was so tall that although their ankles were now touching, Gabriel's head rested on his chest, fitting perfectly under his chin, as if it was exactly where the angel belonged. Something about his 'dream' had him on edge, almost anxious like a lion pacing it's cage and gave him the urge to cling to Sam and vanish into thin air to somewhere far far away. A creeping panic on the tip of his spine that screamed danger and brought out his running and hiding reflex.
He heard the bathroom door open again and smirked at the hurmph noise from Dean as he passed by to sit on his own bed, the worn springs in the mattress giving away his movements.
"You're not...giving him a blow job or anything under there are you?"
"No Dean. Trust me, if I were giving him a blowjob he wouldn't be still asleep."
Gabriel eased himself out from under the covers at Dean's disgusted groan before he started a fight that would wake Sam. Poor kid needed all the sleep he could get outside of the cramped Impala. And frankly, it worried Gabriel that the pair of hunters only seemed to get 3-4 hours of sleep a night. He was an angel, he didn't need sleep. They were humans. And he really didn't think that it was healthy to be digesting that much coffee. There was probably more caffeine in their veins than blood. This was better than demon blood, but still worrisome all the same.
As he sat up he fought back the urge to gag as his stomach churned, threatening to heave bile up into his throat. He leaned back against the headboard and closed his eyes, his dark ginger hair in disarray around his face.
He couldn't remember the last time he'd felt like vomiting. He never needed to eat; he just sucked on sugar all day because he liked the taste and why not enjoy the finer points of living among the humans? It brought back memories of Asgard among the Norse Gods, when Balder had pointed out that he, as Loki, never ate anymore. A point that Odin had been trying to help him hide but obviously failed and Gabriel had to force himself to choke down a few bites of lamb before he spent the next week on the floor of his bedroom he shared with Sigyn dry heaving long after he'd thrown up everything Loki had ever digested in his life. It wasn't an experience he was willing to relive. Not consuming one of his daddy's creations was kind of an unspoken rule in the Arch Angel guide book and the effect left a lasting impression on him both mentally and physically.
Biting back a groan, he could feel the familiar shifting Sam made as he woke up. First his hand would twitch and then his head would nuzzle closer to whatever it was against, usually a pillow or Gabriel. Sometimes an awkward feeling Dean or Castiel. He'd be still for a few seconds before making a mumbling sound as he flexed his shoulders and let out a deep sigh before opening his eyes. Sam wasn't one of those humans that slowly blinked their eyes into awareness. As soon as he'd let out that breath his eyes would flash open and his body would tense as if he was preparing himself for anything and the seconds before were his last bit of safety and comfort before he drew himself from his sleep and into the cold hunting world full of monsters and danger.
Gabriel had Sam's waking routine memorized as ran a hand over Sam's shoulders as he stretched them, letting his fingers linger on his neck where the long locks rested as he opened his hazel eyes.
"Morning sunshine."
Sam rolled over on his back, staring at the ceiling with an unamused expression as if it were the reason for him waking up from his peace.
"Is that what you say every morning?"
"Call it my morning catch phrase. Helps remind me it's a new day." The angel shrugged. Back before he'd gotten attached to the Winchesters, or before they were born even, he hated the night. The darkness was cold to him even on the warmest summer nights and the crickets seemed to mock the silence. As soon as the sun would start to set he'd pop off to a different spot on the Earth where it was still bright and sunny. The down side to this however, was that sometimes he'd go weeks and not even notice that a single day had passed.
It seemed only appropriate at the time that he followed the sun around, the Morning Star, which shared a nickname with his younger brother Lucifer. With Lucifer locked in the dark recesses of Hell, he felt that if he could keep away from the darkness and follow the light he could remain close to a part of his brother, no matter how corrupted both of their souls had become over the years. A habit that faded a long time ago when he stopped feeling remorse for his actions. As Gabriel came to accept the darkness inside of him, he began to find a new beauty in the night skies and stopped chasing the sun.
Sam looked up at him from his spot on the bed.
"You look like shit." He stated bluntly.
Gabriel chose to ignore him, knowing that if he felt like crap he probably looked like it too and bit his bottom lip thoughtfully.
"I'm thinking about giving you a new nickname." He said, changing the subject.
"I don't need a nickname."
"I'm thinking a Disney princess."
"How about Rapunzel?" Dean spoke up from the other bed.
Sam glared at his older brother. "Dude. You're not helping."
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Phil was at work a few doors down in room #7. He'd deliberately chosen the room for his lucky number, as he'd need all the luck he'd need.
The Winchesters and the Trickster were mere feet away in room #5 and he'd stayed up all night fueling his body with coffee to keep and eye on the Impala in case they tried to go anywhere. Of course, if they were in league with the Trickster then they may not even need the car, but he'd also needed to make a few phone calls.
He was almost positive the Trickster was an angel. He didn't know if he was a fallen angel or an avenging angel, or a member of the Grigori even; but with the apocalypse upon them, more and more hunters had been running into or witnessing angels. And finally, after all these years, they'd found a creature whose powers matched the Tricksters. He still seemed to be a bit more powerful than most that had been encountered, but he'd just have double or triple up his protection and plan of attack.
He'd been going through every contact he knew, pulling in every favor he had, and finally, he'd found somewhere who could get their hands on holy oil. He just had to hope that it'd be the real deal or he may find himself snapped into a million pieces because he doubted the Trickster angel played nice with those who held a real threat to his true identity. Not that he considered what he'd fought before as 'playing nice.'
He knew getting his hands on an Arch Angel's blade was out of the question so he now focused his energies on trying to find the symbol that he'd read mentioning of that could banish an angel if it was drawn in blood. It was a shame he couldn't find any way to summon an angel like you could summon a demon but he probably needed the damn things name for that.
Which he had been working on. He had a few ideas down, but couldn't put his finger on which one was more likely to be the ginger-haired trouble maker that had descended to Earth to wreck havoc. He'd been going through every mention of every angel in alphabetical order and while it had been painstakingly slow- almost torturous- he now had a list that he read over from time to time to see if anything popped out that he may have missed before.
On the top of the list was Puriel, the angel of punishment who had high standards for judging souls before allowing them into heaven. He was said to be ruthless when dealing with the wicked and although he couldn't find much more information on the elusive angel that he'd never even heard of before beginning this research, it almost fit the Trickster's persona exactly.
Ataliel was one of the twenty-eight angels of the moon but he had a love for hindering travelers and creating discord, divorce and the destruction of homes of both families and enemies. He was also pushed to the top of the list as one of the more likely options. Azeruel, Aziel, Requiel and Scheliel were just as bad and also part of the twenty-eight moon angels. While they had their good points, they were also the five of the twenty-eight that enjoyed screwing around with humans and that just didn't sit right with Phil. No matter what good intentions someone had- angel or human, if they ended with evil they needed to be put down.
Aeshma, Amnixiel, Crocell, Focalor, Forcas, Harut, Lahash, Marut and Xaphan, were fallen angels that he couldn't find much lore on, but he kept them on the list all the same and kept an eye and ear open for any further information on them.
Michael, Gabriel, Raphael, Haniel and Orifiel were all angels that were supposed to play a part in the apocalypse. This was the apocalypse after all, so maybe one of them had descended to Earth ahead of schedule.
Michael, Gabriel, and Raphael were also mentioned along with an angel named Uriel in Gnostic tradition, as Archons. Possibly a similar version of Arch Angels, they were supposed to have a concept of demonism and correspond with the seven deadly sins. Thinking back on all the Wrath and Pride the trickster seemed to hold, he kept this note closer to the top of his list as well.
Asmodeus and Kasbeel were unlikely but he kept them on the list regardless and still wrote down whatever he could find on them- which wasn't much.
Then of course there was Lucifer, Beelzebub, Ahriman, Eblis and Mastema, who were debated to be devils or Satans that were once angels. He thanked the God that apparently existed that he could cross these names off his list. Since Sam Winchester was the one who released the devil, if the trickster was one of them there would have been no way he could have been free all this time. Although, a nagging feeling in the pit of his stomach wanted to believe that was why he saw Sam and that creature together.
What was Sam's connection in all this? And more importantly; Dean. He hadn't heard anything bad about the older brother, but if he was wrapped up in this and turning a blind eye to his evil brother than Phil felt the need to prepare himself to fight both the Winchester brothers.
He tapped his pen against the worn desk in his dump of a room and stared at the papers until the words started to bleed in together until they were just blobs of black ink that made no sense. That seemed appropriate considering Phil was just as lost now as he was before. He thought that when he finally figured out what sort of supernatural monster the Trickster was this would get easier. Instead it only got more complicated.
He now had an even longer list of angel names than he did of creatures that he could have been and he had no way of narrowing it down. And even if he did, he had no guarantee that he could kill the damned thing.
He started thinking that maybe this was hopeless after all when he felt a soft gust of wind blow through his room.
"You really are pathetic for a hunter, aren't you?" A quiet voice behind him spoke.
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"So explain one more time why you can't just poof in there and snap that thing to dust?" Dean was sitting on his bed leaning forward with his head held in one hand that was trying to physically hold in a headache.
"I already told you. I can't fight all your battles for you kiddos. It'd take away all your adventure. Just consider me...a trump card." Gabriel literally bit his tongue. As much as he wanted to murder every single living thing that had the ability to hurt Sam, if he let Dean have his way all that the hunter would do was sit around and eat pie and bacon and get fat. Besides, he liked following them around on the action and adventure. As much as he knew Sam wanted a normal life, he'd miss watching the young human hunt and the alluring scent of testosterone that always seemed to cover him when he came back after successfully killing something.
Sam was sitting behind him on the bed going over Vetala lore and didn't bother taking his hazel eyes off the material during his brother and lover's small argument that happened before almost every single hunt.
"Chill, it's not like this will be hard. Just pop in and read some burial rites." He mumbled.
Dean rolled his eyes. "When has an easy hunt ever actually been easy Sammy?" He broke out the childish nickname for his younger but not smaller brother knowing that it struck a sentimental chord deep down and usually allowed him to get his way.
"Yea, well, we didn't have an Arch Angel for a 'trump card' before either."
Gabriel nodded and shot Dean a sarcastic grin that was supposed to have been charming. "Yea, if you get into trouble just pull the Ace out of your sleeve."
"...your not..LITERALLY going to be in my shirt are you?" He could almost see Dean twitch at the idea and heard Sam snort behind him, which seemed to be the closest he could get the young hunter to laughing. These days he was lucky to even get a smile much less an honest laugh.
"Dean, you know Rupunzel's the only person I want in the pants of."
"SHIRT." Dean said at the same time Sam said "SAM.", both of them arguing different points from the same sentence.
"Whatever." He rolled his eyes and ignored the sharp jab as Sam elbowed him in the side after his remark about both his new unwanted nickname and the sexual reference. He was really going to have to break him out of this shyness that he seemed to have for any form of affection.
Maybe it was just because the pain from Jessica and Madison was still raw, or maybe it was just because his brother was in the room or because Sam was new to homosexuality. But the human sure made him fight hard for physical contact and whenever he whispered endearments to him, he never had anything to say in return and just got a distant look in his hazel eyes as if he hoped the silence would change the subject.
Well if Gabriel couldn't play his old games, he'd just have to start a new game. And the prize would be getting Sam Winchester to open up to him - both his mind and his arms.
He watched the hunters pack what weapons they had brought into their hotel room with them and head out to the Impala as it grew darker outside. As soon as the door shut behind them, he allowed him body to collapse onto the hotel bed, curling into the fetal position.
He'd been holding in the discomfort for hours and if Sam and Dean hadn't finally left he might have had to break down in front of them. The sickening feeling was still in his stomach, worse than ever, almost painful. Churning and making his spine tingle as if his body was begging him to recognize something was wrong.
Gabriel kept fighting the impulse to vanish to somewhere else, to hide until it was safe...but safe from what he didn't know. All he knew was that something felt threatening and he could feel it pressing in on the air around him. He tried focusing his mind on any nearby threats but it felt like there were mental blocks up around him, as if something was trying to hide its presence.
This only escalated the feeling of paranoia and Gabriel rolled off the bed to crouch on the floor. There was something powerful nearby, much more powerful than the Vetala and much closer. The shadow of wings flashed on the ground as he summoned more strength than he had in years to shatter to invisible barrier that was shielding the unknown enemy but as soon as the wall broke, he felt the presence vanish.
But not before he recognized the imprint of the aura with a surge of anger. Something he'd recognize anywhere.
An Angel. And not just any angel.
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Phil grabbed his knife and spun around, the chair clattering to the floor in his rush.
Behind him, he came face to face with a tanned man with bright green eyes and dark brown hair that hung in straggly curls around his face and stuck out in disarray. He stroked his five o'clock shadow and the gaze that the person had on Phil was beginning to unsettle him even more than his sudden appearance into his locked hotel room.
He wore a white button up with a red striped tie and tan slacks in contrast to Phil's own Black t-shirt on ripped up jeans and spoke with a Middle Eastern accent as he brushed past Phil, barely acknowledging his drawn weapon to look at the research laid out on the desk.
"Hey!" Phil shouted, "Who are you and what the fuck do you think your doing in here?"
The man simply flickered his eyes to Phil before returning his attention to the research and brushing several of the papers off the desk, leaving only two on top.
"Quiet now. Do you want to alert your neighbors?" He spoke in his hushed accent.
Phil risked a look out the window in time to see the black Impala pulling away but before he had a chance to react the man verbally restrained him.
"It's not them you should worry about. Let them go."
Phil glowered in full hatred at the person in front of him now. "And how do you know? Do you even know who those guys were? And you still haven't answered who YOU are or WHY you are in my hotel room!" He started to shout again, regardless of his neighbors.
The man clicked his tongue, tsking at the human's impatience. "Of course. They are Dean James Winchester born January 23rd 1980 and Samuel Francis Winchester born May 2nd 1984 both in Lawrence, Kansas to Mary and John Winchester." He raised an eyebrow to Phil's dumbstruck expression.
"And the rest of my questions that your still avoiding?" Phil managed to choke out, starting to get suspicious of the human in front of him...if it was even human which he was starting to highly doubt as he tightened his grip on his knife.
He looked down at the blade Phil was gripping and chuckled. "That won't do you any good Phillip. I'm an angel."
Phil's eyes widened. What was it they said about to not go looking for trouble? Well he had gone looking for angels and now there was one standing in his cheap hotel room. The knife he held in his hand was completely useless, the holy oil was probably still somewhere in England, and he had never found that banishing sigil. Fuck.
The dark skinned angel turned to him, handing him the remaining papers from all his hard research. The papers about the Angels of the Apocalypse and the Archons.
"My name is Dubbiel. And I'm going to help you kill Gabriel."
For a moment Phil had forgotten how to speak as his mouth opened and closed wordlessly. He looked down at the papers he'd been handed. Gabriel had taken note of more than once along with Michael and Raphael and had been mentioned as God's main messenger and the one to sit on God's left hand side. In the Angel of the apocalypse notes, it was said that he was to sound the trumpet that declared the end of the war, but it never mentioned that he was going to be IN it. And while he was known as the Angel of Mercy, he was also known as the Prince of Justice. Justice...so that's what that thing thought it was doing when it murdered sinners. Somehow Mercy must fit into his reasoning but Phil didn't want to dabble in the thoughts of an angel. An ARCH angel, no matter which version of the Bible you looked at and one of the most powerful angels that existed.
Dubbiel waved his hand dismissively. "Close your mouth."
"How...Gabriel? Why would you...?"
"How is Gabriel on Earth? Why would I want him dead?" Dubbiel finished his sentences that were left hanging and crossed his arms, contempt and anger flashing in his green eyes. "I used to be the guardian of Persia. Until Gabriel couldn't carry out the simple task of killing the Jews by pouring burning coals on them. God's direct orders you know...but ever since the thing with Michael and Lucifer...that brat had been stubborn about taking orders from him. He still did it though, but he found a loop hole. He found the laziest angel that should be cast into Hell for his sloth to pass the coals to him so that they were cold and harmless when he cast them onto the Jews. All just because he felt sorry for the Israelis, can you believe that?" Dubbiel huffed and started to pace around the room.
"And THEN, as if that weren't bad enough, he went and got involved in the human war! He actually convinced the Babylonians that it was better to force the Jews into Israel than to kill them. After God specifically wanted them dead!"
"So you hate Gabriel for that?" Phil found his voice to speak up and instantly regretted it after receiving the green glare that was now directed at him.
"No. Not that." He smirked, a cold smile. "That got me a promotion. God was furious at him...but I suppose he didn't want to disown a second son or something...so he just demoted Gabriel. And I got his original position." His green eyes sparkled at the prideful memory. "I finally had the power to help my Persians so they could expand their country and conquer others. I finally had POWER! And then it was all taken away again when that brat convinced dear old daddy to give him back his job! Not only did I loose my power, I lost my country! I was lower than before! I was marked as a fallen angel because of HIM and I've spent the past two-thousand years in Israel having to record all of their sins! All because of Gabriel! And then he didn't even KEEP the job he stole from me! He abandoned his own family and ran away to Earth!"
Phil suddenly fully understood the meaning of 'wrath of heaven' as he watched the fire burn in the furious fallen angel's eyes.
"I want him dead. If he's dead, I can go back to God. I can show him all the sins of the Israelis. I can wipe that miserable country off the map and take my rightful place in heaven. And you, Phillip. You are going to help me. I know you want revenge on him as well."
Before Phil could consider a response, Dubbiel winced.
"Crap. He's on to me..." He muttered, glaring at the wall as if he could see Gabriel on the other side, through the room in-between them. "I'll be back. Think about your answer Phillip." He visibly winced again and shuddered as he stumbled backwards as if he were punched by something invisible and vanished into thin air.
End chapter 5
Sorry this toke so long, but the reason is because that entire angel stuff up there - that's legit. The list, Dubbiel and the whole heaven and Israel ordeal, everything. I did a ton of research on this chapter to make it believable. Hope you enjoyed.
