Author's note: Thanks so much to Larkafree, Maknatuna, Maddy Love Castiel, Keefer, CherylB1964, FireChildSlytherin5, eiahlaie, random yet loveable, XxZessxX, Lewlou15 , Kirabaros, PercyJfan1802, kb18142, Chichi-10018, baileylovesyou0400, keacdragon and one guest for last chapter's reviews!
Special thanks to Treeni for beta-reading!
This story has been favorited over a hundred times and is on the alert list of over 150 people... Wow! So, I hope you guys are happy to hear that there will be a sequel after this one is finished.
17
It was a good thing that the archangel had thought of giving the younger Winchester two pumpkins to carve lanterns from, because there had been enough pumpkin puree for two big pies. Dean – with just minimal help by Sam and Gabriel – had managed to eat an entire pie the previous day, so there wouldn't have been any left for their Halloween breakfast, if they hadn't had the second one on stand-by. The younger Winchester hadn't been completely on board with the idea of a breakfast that consisted only of dessert, so the archangel had found an alternative for him. Gabriel had toyed with the idea of putting some red food coloring into the milk for Sam's cereal, but the thought of seeing the younger Winchester consume something looking like blood had turned from funny, to creepy and outright uncomfortable in a millisecond.
They spent the greater part of the day with watching Halloween specials of various shows on TV and playing a couple of board games. As it turned out, the older Winchester was a bit of a sore loser, but he always forgot everything about the previous lost game as soon as things were looking up for him in the next round. Besides, Dean's very colorful and creative use of a wide range of swearwords amused Gabriel to no end.
"Hey, munchkin, look!" the archangel stated later that evening, pulling two plastic tubes from his pocket, "Glow sticks! For the pumpkins."
Granted, Gabriel wouldn't have had to worry about the fire hazard of putting real candles in the Jack O' Lanterns, but the archangel had a feeling that Sam would have called him out on putting the apartment into danger with open flames. Besides, real candles didn't come with blue and red light, which was just perfect for the angel/devil combination lanterns, anyway.
"Awesome!" Sam exclaimed, bouncing with excitement as he took the red glow stick from the adult. The eight year old had been looking forward to the Halloween experience ever since the idea had first crossed his mind and every little addition made him just a little bit happier.
Gabriel couldn't decide if the irony of the younger Winchester instinctively taking the red glow stick, to light up the devil lantern with was hilarious, or somewhat tragic. In the end, the archangel decided to be amused. Life was so much easier if you chose to go with the fun option, whenever there was one.
Once they had lit up the lanterns, Gabriel went to the kitchen to get a big bowl filled with sweets to put in front of the door, just in case any trick or treaters were going to come by while nobody was at home. The archangel winked at the younger Winchester and got out a piece of paper with bright red text on it.
"One piece per customer, an angel and a devil are watching you!" Sam read out loud, his mouth twitching in amusement. So, they were going to put the bowl and the two pumpkins in front of the door later. For some reason, the younger Winchester really liked the idea of having decorations he had made in front of the door. Maybe, he pondered, it was like carving his and Dean's initials into the cover over the hidden compartment in the trunk of the Impala, a sign stating that he belonged into this place.
"That's never gonna work," Dean commented with a snort, nodding toward the sign. As if to prove his point, the older Winchester grabbed two pieces of candy, unwrapped them and put them both into his mouth. His satisfied grin was stretched a little wide with the candy in his mouth, but he had successfully proved that the sign didn't keep anyone from doing anything.
"We'll see, Dean-o, we'll see," Gabriel replied casually, "I bet you the last piece of pie that there'll still be candy in the bowl when we get back home."
"Deal, but you're not allowed to make us go home early just to win!" Dean agreed, offering his hand to the adult to seal the deal. The older Winchester had seen the things Gabriel had put into the bowl and there was nothing in there so disgusting that nobody would take it. Dean had made the one other condition that had come to mind to make it more likely that he would win. Chances were some kid would come along and take the entire bowl.
"'Course not!" Gabriel promised, shaking the older Winchester's hand. It was too bad for Dean that he hadn't thought of saying 'No cheating whatsoever', because there was nothing in their bet that kept the archangel from using a little mojo to make sure that the bowl would always refill itself about halfway as soon as something had been taken out and nobody was around to see. To be fair, Gabriel had intended to do exactly that before he had ever thought of making a bet with Dean. Besides, he also had the intention of making sure that the older Winchester still got pie, just not the last slice of pie.
"It's about time we get ready," the archangel announced a few minutes later. The sooner they put on their costumes and went out to, the more good sweets would still be there for them to pick up. Not that Gabriel expected that he was going to get many sweets. For some silly reason adults didn't seem to want to give other adults candy. This wasn't about him, anyway. It was about giving Sam and Dean a childhood experience they had obviously missed. It was about giving the munchkin something he has asked for. Sadly, it also was about giving the week they had spent together a good ending.
It was a few minutes later, when all of them had changed into their costumes and they met in the living room again. As expected, Sam looked absolutely adorable in his long green tunic, the matching cap, brown leggings and boots. The Link costume had been a good pick, Gabriel had to give Dean that. Not that the older Winchester hadn't done a great job picking something fitting for himself. The twelve year old looked nearly menacing in his black long coat, black shirt, trousers and boots. The black hat Dean had found, plus the various plastic weapons strapped to his back, arms and legs, completed the outfit.
"Dude, what's with the horns?" the older Winchester asked as soon as he laid eyes on Gabriel's costume, "Are you compensating for something?"
The archangel raised an eyebrow at the preteen. Gabriel was tempted to ask Dean what exactly a kid whose balls had yet to drop, knew about compensating for things, but the older Winchester knew too much about sexual innuendo as it was. There was no need for the archangel to give the kid even more information on the topic.
"They are a part of the costume," Gabriel stated instead, even if what he had just said was obvious, anyway. It wasn't like he usually ran around with helmets with big horns, even in his escapades as a god. Actually, he didn't wear that much green usually, either.
"Yeah, you're the incredible… horny dude," Dean smirked, crossing his arms in front of his chest with some difficulty, because of the plastic knives he had strapped to his forearms. So, it wasn't practical, but it looked damn awesome!
"Dean, did you just…?" Sam quipped, looking at his older brother with big eyes, even as the corners of his mouth twitched, despite being merely eight. The younger Winchester was pretty sure that Dean hadn't meant to say what he had just said. It was too funny, anyway.
"Shut up, Sammy!" Dean hissed, punching his brother's upper arm to get him to stop laughing. Thinking his previous statement through, the older Winchester realized his mistake, but it was too late to take it back, anyway. All he could do was put up the attitude to stand completely behind what he had said, even if he knew that it had been badly worded.
"I am Loki, god of mischief and chaos, ignorant human," Gabriel clarified, giving his voice the note of arrogance and superiority he usually added to make people know that they had just screwed with the wrong person. In this case, the archangel only did it for the sake of showing off, of course. Both boys only looked at him uncomprehendingly, however. Gabriel clicked his tongue and shook his head sadly. "Kiddos, you need to read more comic books."
"Loki is from…?" Sam asked, as they took the Jack O' Lanterns and the bowl of sweets to put them in front of the door. The younger Winchester had already seen a few younger kids running down the street earlier, so it was about time that they headed out too. The eight year old still wanted to know the reasoning behind the adult's costume, though.
"Marvel comics, he's Thor's archenemy," Gabriel explained. The archangel couldn't help chuckling from a joke neither one of the boys would understand. The relationship between the real life Loki and Thor was actually much simpler than the one in those comic books. They didn't exactly like each other, so they avoided each other. Of course, in real life, Loki wasn't trying to take over or destroy the world.
Gabriel handed the bags he had gotten for the boys over to them as soon as they had arranged the two lit up pumpkin lanterns and the sweets in front of the door. There was no doubt that Dean could eat the sweets just as quickly as he received them, but Sam probably really needed the bag.
"Thor," Sam repeated after the adult in a thoughtful tone, "I've heard that name before."
It bugged the younger Winchester a little that he couldn't remember why the name sounded familiar to him, but he was sure that Gabriel would tell him what he wanted to know. The adult never seemed to mind Sam's questions and they had a little time while they walked up to the houses Gabriel was directing them toward, anyway.
"Norse mythology, munchkin," the archangel answered, "The god of thunder."
"Why didn't you dress up as that guy? Sounds much cooler," Dean stated with conviction. Not only was Thor a comic book hero that the older Winchester had heard of before, he also had a big ass hammer and not some stupid horns on his helmet! Judging by the covers Dean had seen, anyway. He couldn't say that he had ever read a single issue. Whenever their dad actually was in the mood to allow him to buy a comic book, the older Winchester went for Batman.
"Hmm, the jerk who shoots thunderbolts at everyone standing in his way, or the trickster who's dishing out just-deserts to people who deserve it? Yeah, why did I choose the latter again?" Gabriel replied sarcastically. So, the archangel really didn't have the highest opinion of Thor, sue him. Not like Thor wouldn't and hadn't gone around badmouthing Loki.
"Loki sounds great," Sam mumbled, his ears already turning red again. The younger Winchester looked up to the adult and smiled widely when Gabriel put a hand on his shoulder, just a second later. As much as Sam didn't like feeling this embarrassed around the adult, he couldn't deny that he liked how Gabriel always reassured him with a smile or a touch.
Dean huffed out a breath, but didn't comment on his younger brother's behavior. Their dad was going to pick them up in just a day – or, knowing John Winchester, a little more than a day – and then the older Winchester wouldn't have to think about what the closeness between his baby brother and the adult meant anymore. Granted, Dean hadn't seen or heard anything that gave him a reason to worry that Gabriel had ulterior motives for his friendliness, especially to Sam, but the older Winchester still had to stay vigilant at all times. Their father wouldn't expect any less of him.
Just a minute later, Dean had something else to think about, as they reached the first house that had Halloween decorations. A group of children had just walked away from the place, looking happy and content, so chances were that somebody was home and willing to hand out sweets.
In all honesty, the older Winchester would have preferred the 'trick' part of trick or treating, but he supposed that Sam had different ideas on the matter. It would be nice to start the evening with a sugary treat, anyway.
"Trick or treat!" both boys said together when a woman in her fifties opened the door for them. Though, it had to be noted that Sam was much more enthusiastic about it than his older brother. The younger Winchester also was the one who took the cheek pinching with more dignity. However, Dean's nearly scandalized reaction was much funnier for Gabriel to watch.
"Should totally egg her house for that one," Dean muttered, rubbing his cheek where it had been pinched, while his brother looked at the chocolate bar he had gotten happily.
"Dean! That's not okay!" Sam objected immediately. Of course, it was called trick or treating, but they had gotten their treat, so a prank of whatever kind was completely uncalled for. Not to mention, the younger Winchester wasn't sure if throwing eggs at somebody's house was funny under any circumstances.
"Your brother is right, it's not," Gabriel agreed, smirking. The glint in his eyes clearly said that the archangel had something up his sleeve, however. As it turned out, what the adult had up his sleeve was a bag of bang snaps that he handed over to the older Winchester just a moment later. "But they're only for the doormats of the people who don't hand anything over or for those who are total jerks about it."
Sam opened his mouth, but snapped it shut again without saying anything. What the adult had just said sounded reasonable enough, the younger Winchester supposed. He could still argue his point later when they got to the first house where they didn't get anything.