The Cradle Will Fall
Part Seven
Sam woke to sunlight streaming through his bedroom window. He rolled over with a groan and glanced at the clock by his bed. It was nearly noon. Gabriel had left sometime while he slept and Sam felt indescribably lonely.
The Archangel's actions towards him were confusing. He had been adamant over the last few months that what they were doing was for fun and pleasure and that was it. Sam had agreed. The last thing he'd been looking for was a relationship.
Sam should have known better. He'd never been all that good at casual sex, especially in the long term.
That being said, he honestly never thought his feelings would grow so strong, so fast for the ex-Trickster. The man drove him nuts, was certifiably insane at times, oh, and had killed Dean hundreds of times to prove a point.
Needless to say, falling for the Archangel had come as a surprise, a rather unwelcome one. He knew Gabriel had some pretty heavy issues, ones that would insure that Sam's feelings wouldn't be returned, and really, he'd been kind of okay with that.
Only now, Gabriel was changing the rules, and Sam was having a hard time keeping up.
He pulled himself to a sitting position and winced when pain exploded in his temples. The room started to tilt and Sam had to take several deep breaths to keep him from puking. What the hell? Eve hadn't hit his head so why the hell did he feel like he had a damn concussion?
He screwed his eyes closed to block out the spinning room and continued his deep breathing until the urge to throw up subsided. A few minutes later and the throbbing in his head dulled to a weak ache. He carefully stood up and sighed when nothing was made worse by the action.
He quickly dressed and made his way down to the kitchen. Once the nausea faded, he realized he was starving.
He walked into the bright eating area and smiled at the scene he found. Dean was sitting at the small table trying to coax a very reluctant Daniel into eating some kind of green goo.
"Come on, kid, you gotta eat your veggies," his brother muttered to his son.
"Never thought I'd hear you say that," Sam commented. Dean sent a glare his way.
"Laugh it up. You'll get your turn some day."
Sam felt the smile slide off his face.
"Doubt it," he whispered before taking his seat. "So, what's for lunch?" he asked just as he stomach gave a loud growl.
Dean smirked at him.
"Cas popped over to Ava's," he told Sam, mentioning the name of one of their favorite diners. They had the best pie in all of South Dakota.
"Awesome," Sam told him, imagining one of Ava's special cheeseburgers and a giant order of onion rings. His mouth started to water.
Cas walked into the kitchen just as Sam was about to ask how long the angel was going to take. The smell of the food sent his stomach growling again. His headache seemed to fade as his hunger became foremost in his mind.
"Good morning, Sam," Cas greeted with a small smile.
"More like afternoon," Dean spoke up, laughing at Daniel as the kid made a horrid face at his green goop.
"Hey, it was a busy night. I'm starving. Whatcha got?" he asked, eyes glued to the take out containers the angel set down on the table.
"I ordered your favorite. I know how you love the Cobb salad from Ava's," the angel responded as he pushed one take out container towards the hunter.
Sam stared at the container incredulously. Salad? Seriously? He glanced over at his brother's container and scowled at the greasy burger and extra large helping of fries it contained.
"Is something wrong?" Cas asked, opening his own container, which of course held a large burger and slightly smaller order of fries.
"Why the hell did you get me a salad?" he blurted out, voice a bit harsher than he intended. He watched a startled expression appear on his friend's face.
"You always order the cobb salad from Ava's," Cas pointed out.
"So what? That's the only thing I'm allowed to like now?" he demanded. He could feel his anger growing.
"Dude, what the fuck?" Dean asked, shock evident on his face.
"Fuck!" Daniel spouted off.
"Daniel! That is not a word we say. Daddy knows better. Dean," Cas warned.
"Sorry, Danny. Papa's right, we don't say that word, but... seriously, Sam, what is your problem?"
"Who says I have a problem?" Sam bit out. "Maybe I'd just rather have a burger than a salad and I'm mad because Cas assumed he knew what I'd want instead of actually asking me."
His brother and Castiel just stared at him. Sam's anger was slowly giving way to frustration. He could feel his chest tightening and his eyes were beginning to burn with unshed tears.
"Dude, you were asleep when he left. Maybe he was trying to be nice by not waking you up," Dean pointed out, spoon hanging in mid air, dropping green goo onto the tray of Daniel's highchair.
Cas cautiously reached over and pulled the salad away from him. He pushed his own container towards Sam.
"Here. I don't mind eating the salad. You can have my burger." Sam felt his lip tremble. Fucking hell, he was about to burst into tears over a stupid cheeseburger. What the hell was wrong with him?
"I don't want your burger. I'm not hungry," he muttered, pushing roughly away from the table and all but fleeing the kitchen before he embarrassed himself further. He took the stairs by twos and threw himself into his room, slamming the door behind him. The pain in his head grew once more as he dropped down onto his bed. He laid his head down on his pillow and forced a sob down. Curling up tight, he ignored the headache and tried to will his body to calm down.
Dean stared at the doorway his brother had just disappeared through. He was sure of it now. Eve had done something to Sam. Sure, he called Sam a girl, made fun of his emo shit, but that? That wasn't his brother. That was pushing it, even for Sam.
Cas stood up and picked up his cheeseburger container.
"What are you doing?"
"Sam was obviously hungry. I'm not sure why he is acting the way he is, but I am going to see if I can find out, and take him lunch while I'm at it," the angel explained before leaving the kitchen. Dean just rolled his eyes. Way too much drama for a house full of men.
He wondered if he should go with Cas. Bobby had come back that morning so he could leave Daniel with the older hunter in the living room for a few minutes if he needed to.
If something was wrong with Sam, Dean didn't want to be sitting down there in the kitchen, he'd rather be up there, figuring out what the bitch had done to his brother.
On the other hand, he really wasn't any good with a highly emotional Sam, he never had been. Maybe it was better to let Cas talk to him. He could trust the angel to report back to him immediately with anything he discovered. That seemed to be Dean's best bet.
Sam took deep, measured breaths, begging his head to stop hurting but it wasn't working. Not only was it not working, but his stomach was starting to cramp as well. Deep aching pains, as if he'd been punched in the gut repeatedly, pulsed through him.
He fought back a whimper when he heard light knocking on his door.
"What?" he called out, torn between whether he wanted whoever to come in and help or just go away and let him suffer.
"Sam?" he heard Cas call out quietly from the doorway. He pried his eyes open and glanced at the angel.
"What?" he asked gruffly.
"I know you are hungry. I'm sorry I didn't ask what you would like to eat. I don't actually require food, so, please, take the burger," he said, moving further into the room.
When the smell of the greasy cheeseburger hit his nose, Sam nearly lost it. He felt his insides heave and it took every bit of willpower not to barf all over Cas.
"Get it away," he pleaded, voice wavering slightly. Cas eyed him curiously for a minute before making the container, and thankfully the smell as well, disappear.
"Sam, what's wrong?"
"I don't know," he admitted. "Can't you figure it out?"
Cas came over and carefully sat down on the bed. He reached out and placed a cool hand on Sam's forehead. The angel frowned for a minute before finally speaking to him.
"I can't sense anything," he told the hunter, confusion lacing his words.
"My head feels like it's going to explode and my stomach feels like it's been run over by a truck," he told his friend.
"I'm sorry, Sam, but I can't fix it either," Cas told him, brow furrowing as he spoke. "Perhaps Gabriel will be able to help." Sam knew Cas wasn't as powerful as Gabriel, but after his resurrection, Castiel was a pretty damn powerful angel and if he couldn't fix this… what was wrong?
"He's busy. He's trying to find out more info on Eve. I'll just try to sleep it off and ask him when he gets back," Sam told the angel. He could see that Cas was skeptical about that plan.
"If you're sure..."
Sam nodded and buried himself deeper into the covers.
"Please call me if it gets worse," Castiel requested. Sam just nodded, then cringed when the motion caused the pain in his head to shoot up again.
Cas squeezed his shoulder once before standing up and exiting the room.
Gabriel walked through the desolate wasteland. The smell of rage and despair was strong here and it mixed with the smells of blood and sulfur that permeated the dark depths of Hell. Desperate times called for desperate measures. He had no idea who he could turn to that would have the first inkling of how to control Eve, aside from his Father, and he knew that was a lost cause.
He really didn't hold out hope that this plan would work, either, but his brother was the only person who had ever been able to control and manipulate Eve in the slightest. It was a long shot, but at the moment, it was his only shot.
Gabriel had to do something. He couldn't watch history repeat itself. He wouldn't allow Castiel to go through the same pain he'd endured, and Sam... Sam had fought so hard to be free from the darkness Azazel had tainted him with. He would do everything in his power to insure that the younger hunter wouldn't fall back into that destructive cycle.
If Sam had a chance at a happy family, a daughter, something he knew Sam still wanted, no matter how many times he denied it, then Gabriel would make sure the hunter got it, no matter how much it would hurt to sit back and watch.
As he neared the place he sought, the screams of the damned intensified. He let his wings stretch out, allowed his grace to pour into the land and souls around him. He could hear their pained whispers as the pureness of his grace touched the darkness tainting them. It should be enough of a warning to keep them away.
When he came to the edge of a deep chasm, an invisible wall stopped him from progressing. This had to be it. He walked along the edge of the precipice until he could sense him. Stopping, he stared out into the abyss and waited.
"Hello, Brother," came a voice, broken and mangled, but still recognizable. Gabriel watched his fallen brother step into the light. Broken and burnt wings dragged behind his once beautiful brethren. The other angel's grace flickered feebly in the presence of Gabriel's own radiant grace.
"Hello, Lucifer," he answered.
"What brings you to my humble abode?"
"I have a proposition for you."