Author's note: Thanks so much to Larkafree, Maknatuna, Keefer, MaddyLoveCastiel, FireChildSlytherin5, CherylB1964, random yet loveable, Kirabaros, kyokomisuto, PercyJfan1802, XxZessxX , Soulless666, Goober goo writes, RachelPhobia, Jossi-kun, Riceball-1989, keacdragon and Chichi-10018 for last chapter's reviews!
Special thanks to Treeni for beta-reading!
Special, special thanks to Larkafree for... reasons. You know what you did, girl! ;-)
11
The toy store Gabriel had chosen to take the Winchesters to wasn't exactly huge, but it had a very decent selection of Halloween costumes for younger and older children and their guardians. It simply was perfect.
"So, any ideas what costumes you're looking for?" the archangel asked around the lollipop he had popped into his mouth, right after he had parked the car. The shop really wasn't big enough for them to have every costume known to man, but if the boys told him what they were hoping to find, Gabriel could make sure that they incidentally had just that, with at least one in their size.
"Something cool," Dean answered with a shrug, looking at the clothes rails in front of them with a thoughtful expression. The only thing the older Winchester was sure about was that he wanted a costume that couldn't be called 'cute' under any circumstances. It'd have to be something awesome and manly. Most likely, with lots of weapons and fake blood.
"This was your idea, Sambo," Gabriel pointed out, after the older boy had left them behind to go on the search for the ultimate badass costume. It would be pretty damn hilarious if Dean, of all people, went for a werewolf costume or something alike. "I thought for sure you'd have your plan all made up."
Sam shook his head, looking at the floor, which made his bangs hang over his eyes. It was strange and almost laughable how half the time the kid seemed to only keep his hair longer, so he could hide behind it. However, Gabriel wasn't really willing to have another piece of his heart shattered by some issue or other the munchkin was dealing with in the middle of a toy store. So, the archangel decided not to get to the bottom of the boy's behavior this time and instead just put a hand against his back reassuringly, leading him toward the costumes meant for kids his age.
"Just say stop when you see something you like," Gabriel instructed, starting to flip through the plastic covered costumes on display. Though, he never took his other hand off Sam's back and without realizing it, even started to rub the kid's shoulder blade soothingly. The archangel still didn't know what was weighing down the tiniest Weechester this time around and he was hoping to resolve the situation without actually finding out. A kid as little as Sam shouldn't have to carry the weight of the world as he obviously did, but to be quite honest, the adult wasn't exactly built to do that, either. When God had handed out psychological resilience, he had clearly forgotten Gabriel. Though, it was questionable, if any of the archangels were adequately equipped in that department. They all had the tendency to crack under heavy pressure – not to mention the general anger issues - even if the way it showed was quite different for each and every one of them.
"I… dad never allows us to go out for Halloween," Sam suddenly mumbled, looking up at Gabriel from under his bangs. He was looking at all the costumes the adult was showing him, but was a little distracted by his want to explain why he actually hadn't thought any further than simply wanting to go trick or treating.
"So, you really just wanted to do something you knew exactly John wouldn't allow?" the archangel chuckled, ruffling the boy's hair affectionately. "Way to start puberty early, kiddo!"
In daddy Winchester's defense, it had to be said that he had had pretty good reasons to keep the boys away from all things Halloween. The fact that they had never been allowed to just go and be kids at one of those holidays that were just made for that purpose – the way it was interpreted by most people in this day and age, anyway – explained a lot about the younger Winchester's wish to do just that, however.
"No, no!" Sam protested weakly. He hadn't meant to rebel against their father, but the boy still had to admit that he had seen a chance to get something their dad wouldn't allow and had taken it. "I… I wanted to do something… normal… that looks like fun… didn't think further than that."
"Y'know, munchkin, most people enjoy Halloween, because it gives them an excuse to not be normal for a day," Gabriel pointed out, ignoring the disapproving look the eight year old shot his way for the nickname. The kid was a munchkin, if he liked it or not. The archangel would at least make an attempt to mostly stick to their agreed on nicknames as much as possible in the future, though.
"We're not most people," Sam huffed. He was only repeating something he had heard from his father and brother numerous times before, however. Every time the younger Winchester brought up something he really wanted to do because everyone else was doing it too, he usually got shot down with those words or a variation of them. In this case, the argument worked in his favor for once.
"No, you really aren't," Gabriel agreed with a half-smile. It wasn't like Sam would know it that moment, but they were even further from most people than he believed and definitely not in a way that was good for their mental or physical health.
"Hey, Sammy, look! I found something for you!" Dean suddenly exclaimed. He had sneaked up behind his younger brother and the adult, only announcing his presence when he had been very close already. It sure had helped that the two had had a conversation going, otherwise the older Winchester might not have gotten the chance to get this close to his brother without being spotted.
Sam turned around, startled by his older brother's sudden appearance. Coming face to face with the little 'surprise' Dean had prepared for him, the eight year old nearly jumped out of his skin. The scream that came from the younger Winchester's throat wasn't very loud, but the way he hid behind Gabriel, grabbing fistfuls of the adult's shirt made it perfectly clear just how much his older brother had just managed to scare him.
Dean of course looked smug and very satisfied with the outcome of his little prank as he pulled the clown mask from his head. Gabriel just couldn't help himself, he had to laugh. Dammit, the archangel had been a trickster for ages and he always could appreciate a good prank when he saw one! Unfortunately, neither Dean nor Gabriel managed to stop laughing until Sam had already stormed off.
"He'll come back in a minute," the older Winchester commented casually, even though his eyes never stopped scanning the place for any signs of his brother, "He always does."
Dean knew that Sammy never ran away for long. Hell, he never even ran far. Sometimes it still worried the older Winchester that his baby brother was running at all; it obviously didn't worry him enough to stop him from giving Sam reasons to run, however. Dean was sure that his brother would learn to be harder and not let things get to him that much eventually. The older Winchester had learned that lesson years ago, after all.
After a short conversation during which the archangel found out that Dean was thinking about dressing up as a monster hunter – oh the irony – Gabriel went looking for the younger boy, anyway. The older Winchester was most likely right and the archangel was certain that Sam had never even come close to leaving the building, but for some reason he couldn't – and didn't want to – explain, Gabriel felt a little guilty about laughing at the kid when he had been obviously scared.
The archangel would have been blind not to notice that the boy was latching on to him whenever he could, so really Gabriel shouldn't have been surprised by Sam's strong reaction to being laughed at by both his older brother and their babysitter. The archangel had never claimed that he was particularly mindful of other people's feelings, but he really wished he could have been in this case. Gabriel usually wasn't one who felt guilty easily, but he had a soft spot for small children and Sam seemed to be able to tug at all his heartstrings even more easily than most.
"Hey, munchkin," Gabriel said silently, giving his voice a rueful note.
The eight year old might have looked like he was angry, sitting on one of those benches the shop provided with his arms crossed in front of his chest, but the energy he gave off spoke another language entirely. There was very little actual anger, instead Sam mostly felt betrayed, sad and a little left alone. All in all, the younger Winchester was clearly angsting, but putting up the façade of righteous anger to make himself look stronger.
"It's Sam!" the boy replied petulantly, turning away from the adult when Gabriel approached him and sat down next to him. The pout that had appeared on Sam's face was quite adorable actually, not that the archangel would have voiced that thought.
"So, you don't like clowns, huh?" Gabriel asked casually, twirling the fresh lollipop he had pulled from his pocket between his fingers. He had to drop the candy just a moment later when Sam shot up from his seat to storm off once more, however.
"Woah, kiddo, I'm not making fun of you," the archangel stated seriously, grabbing the boy's arm and pulling him back down again. So, Gabriel had chosen the wrong thing to say, but that didn't mean that he deserved to have to go on another search for the younger Winchester. "Everybody is scared of something, it's only normal."
Sam pressed his lips into a thin line. He turned his head to look back at the adult for the first time since the archangel had found him, though.
"Yeah, I'm deadly scared of horses for example," the archangel went on speaking. It was clearly a good sign that the younger Winchester was willing to listen to him, so he might as well give the boy a reason to keep listening. "Stallions, actually. Not on pictures or on TV, but real ones. They absolutely give me the creeps when they get close to me!"
It scared Gabriel a little that he had come very close to admitting that he was deadly afraid of his older brothers – as much as he still loved them – but he quickly pushed the thought away. He was only trying to make Sam feel better and bringing up a family more screwed up than the one the kid had would have been a great way to do that. That was the only reason why he would have shared something like that with one of the Winchesters! Not touchy feely caring and attachment towards the Winchester brothers, not that at all.
"Really?" Sam asked with a deep frown. He hadn't seen many horses up close, but he had never thought of them as scary. He also didn't quite understand why a stallion would be scarier than a mare, since they basically looked the same. The younger Winchester wanted to believe that the adult had just told him something meaningful because they were friends, however. He had wanted to be Gabriel's friend ever since the first day they had met and that wish hadn't gone away over time. If anything, it had become stronger.
"Promise and it's by far not the only thing I'm afraid of," the archangel admitted with a light shrug. He wasn't going to go into any details unless he had to, however. There were a few more of his more or less harmless fears that he could have shared with the kid, but he wasn't too keen on doing that if he didn't have to.
"I just," Sam sighed deeply before speaking on, "Didn't wanna look weak."
The younger Winchester wasn't all that mad at his brother for playing that prank on him, but it had completely surprised him and the clown mask had scared him enough to make him act like a little scared girl in front of Dean and Gabriel.
"I swear to all that's holy to me, munchkin, I didn't think you were weak for a second," Gabriel stated seriously, wrapping an arm around Sam's shoulders and squeezing for good measure. "I just thought Dean-o's prank was funny."
"That's so much better," Sam huffed. He didn't pull away and didn't protest against the use of the nickname however, which let the archangel know that he wasn't all that upset anymore. The younger Winchester could admit that he might have laughed too, if Dean had pranked anyone but him with the same thing. Hearing that the adult hadn't laughed at him and his inherit fear of clowns as much as he had laughed at the prank definitely made Sam feel better, too.
"Oh, it will be once we get your bratty bro back for this," Gabriel smirked, waggling his eyebrows suggestively. "What do you think?"
The archangel had every intention of helping the eight year old come up with something to take his revenge on his older brother, if Sam wanted him to. Granted, the Trickster's brand of humor might not be applicable to their little brotherly prank war, but there were enough things Gabriel could come up with that were essentially harmless.
A few moments later the younger Winchester gave the adult a small grin and nodded his consent. He liked the idea of having some help and he also liked the idea of working with Gabriel, so it hadn't been a hard decision to make.
"Hey, Sammy, look! I found something for you! It's freaking awesome!" Dean yelled excitedly as soon as he spotted his younger brother and their adult companion; He then waved the plastic bag with the costume he had found around in front of his brother's face. The twelve year old had spent some time looking for something Sammy would like before he had gone to look for him, taking his peace offering with him. "C'mon, you like 'Legend of Zelda'!"
"It's cool," Sam admitted, looking at the Link costume his older brother was offering to him. In fact, it was pretty damn perfect.
"Yeah? Awesome!" Dean exclaimed, grinning from ear to ear when his brother took the bag from him and accepted the apology with it. It was an unspoken rule between them that apologies didn't have to be spoken as long as there was a peace offering that got accepted. "Just gotta get you a sword now. I need some weapons too, anyway."
They left the shop an hour later. The two boys were very happy with their chosen costumes and Gabriel was satisfied with another day's work of giving the kids some of the childhood experiences they had been lacking before.