Several beats of silence followed Crowley's proclamation, broken only when Bobby placed the book back onto the motel's table. The hunter was frowning deeply over at the demon, his eyes portraying his obvious scepticism, arms folded over his chest. Finally, he spoke in an utterly deadpanned tone that did next to nothing to hide just what he thought of Crowley's suggestion.
"Fairy tales."
Crowley shrugged, hands resting in the pockets of his blazer. "If you've got a better suggestion, love, let's hear it."
Without waiting for an answer, the demon swept across the room to Sam's bed, gathering up the missing persons reports. He slapped them onto the table just in front of the hunter before retreating and replacing his hands in his blazer, waiting. Still looking highly cynical, Bobby flipped open each of the folders and read through the details of each disappearance. His expression didn't change until he opened the one containing Lea Osmond's details. He performed a rather comical double-take, and then wrenched the book open again, ignoring the way Crowley's lips twitched into a triumphant smirk.
"Balls." Bobby muttered as he stared at the image of Gabriel pointing angrily at his tail while a speechless Sam peered at him over the edge of a ship.
"You're a man of many words, darling." Crowley said dryly with a slight shake of his head.
The hunter ignored him once again. "But why would anyone want to stick those idjits in two fairy tales?"
"My best guess is that they pissed off someone pretty powerful, although they don't seem to be in much danger. In any other circumstance, I'd blame him." The demon gestured towards the Gabriel in the picture. "But either he's a phenomenal actor, or -"
"Or it's another angel." Bobby finished, using the golden ribbon to mark the page before closing the book with a snap. "And Sam already tried asking him. I think we can safely rule him out, and I can't see Feathers trying this any time this century. Well, great. That really narrows it down."
Crowley shook his head. "Would it kill your boys to involve themselves in cases that resemble situations that are less like needles in a stack of needles every once in a while?" And with a sarcastic salute in Bobby's direction, he vanished.
It was fully dark when Gabriel felt it was safe enough to return to the surface. Sam was no longer by the edge where they had last spoken, and the archangel was surprised to feel a jolt of disappointment at that. Which was ridiculous. What had he been expecting? To find the hunter waiting for him, so they could talk more? How exactly would that help? But talking with Sam, no matter how briefly, had succeeded in one thing; he felt strangely more at ease than he had before. Yes, he was still stuck with a stupid tail and without his Grace, but now he had found someone he knew and recognised. It was.. Comforting.
And wow, just how far from his glory had he already fallen? He was no better than a child, clinging to their parent.
A loud rumble high above his head caught his attention. Dragging his eyes away from the ship, Gabriel turned his gaze skywards instead. The dark clouds were rolling wildly high above him, heavy with rain. Several flashes lit up the murky areas inside them, and a harsh wind had sprung up. It whistled around him where he bobbed in the now choppy water, chilling his now much weaker body to the bone.
Gabriel felt and involuntary shudder pass through him as the first rumble of thunder rang out in the distance; a heavy, loud roar that struck something at the very centre of Gabriel's chest. He had always detested storms, particularly the ones that filled the world up with noise. The sound just affected him in a way that was hitting a little too close to home. Because in that moment he was back in Heaven, listening once again to the very thing that had driven him from it in the first place; Michael and Lucifer screaming at one another. Thunder always reminded him of his elder brothers' voices.
In an attempt to distract himself, Gabriel turned his attention back to the ship once more. Just above the thunder, he could hear the sounds of many pairs of feet rushing around, but it didn't sound like the party atmosphere he had listened in on before. There was urgency and panic in the men's shouts now as the sails were raised, their pounding footsteps on the deck as they hurried about A burly-looking man was shouting orders to the crew, but his voice was being buffeted by the wind and drowned out by the thunder, making it impossible for the archangel-come-merman to hear what was being said.
With a particularly loud clap of thunder, the heavens finally opened. Rain began to pour in seemingly endless icy torrents, caught by the wind and sending it flying in all directions. The pitch black sky became illuminated by the sudden flashes of lightning that sprung free, spearing down towards the ocean in their jagged bright lines. As one struck particularly close to the ship, the cabin door was flung open and Gabriel spotted the unmistakeable mop of dark hair and Gigantor figure of Sam Winchester.
"What the hell are you doing, Kiddo?" Gabriel muttered to himself.
The man who had been bellowing orders before seemed to share Gabriel's sentiment. Even though the noise of the storm was still too great for him to hear what was being said, both men were gesticulating clearly enough for their messages to be crystal clear. The man was physically trying to shove Sam backwards whilst jabbing his index finger back towards the door the hunter had just burst through, but Sam was shaking his head and refusing to budge.
In the next five seconds, all hell broke loose.
First, a bolt of lightning forked its way straight into one of the sails, which instantly caught fire. As the flames began to spread at a furious pace, the deck became suddenly full of men shouting and running for the boats that Gabriel had taken refuge in only minutes beforehand. He scanned each one carefully, looking for Sam, but the young Winchester was still by the edge, ushering others on before himself.
"Get off that thing, Sammy!" Gabriel snarled under his breath, trying to ignore the horrible roiling in his stomach.
As the first of the lifeboats began to be lowered into the churning water, a loud creaking caught the archangel's attention. The fire had already spread to the mast, which was cracking. It teetered for a moment, before falling with an almighty crash through the middle of the deck where the fire continued to spread hungrily. Whatever crew members still aboard, Sam included, were thrown off their feet by the impact.
The other lifeboats had already been tugged a fair distance away from the ship by the powerful waves, making them useless as rescue vessels. And unless Sam got his sorry backside off that ship soon, it was going to be wholly consumed by the fire. Gabriel forgot all about how the other humans would try and spear him the moment they lay eyes on him. He forgot how vulnerable and weak his new body was. He forgot that he wasn't supposed to care about the hunter. All he could see was Sam struggling to his feet, hacking and coughing, flames licking at the wood near his boots.
Gabriel had gone no further forwards than a few yards when the ship blew apart from a lower level, scattering flaming wood in all directions with an accompaniment of bright, vivid colours and bangs. Only just in time Gabriel dived into the water to avoid the initial explosion, before quickly returning to the surface, a very heavy feeling growing in his chest. Before him was a scene of anarchy. There were only bundles of flaming wood left on the surface of the water, already drifting away on the powerful waves. The sky was tainted red with the fire, and the heat felt almost painful on his face.
"Sam!" Gabriel screamed, swimming right into the centre of the debris, searching urgently for any sign of the hunter. There was no reply. "Sam!" He tried again, but still nothing. He twisted frantically in the water, eyes scanning every bundle of wood, desperate for a glimpse of something human. "SAM!"
He was halfway through another turn when he spotted a flash of skin amongst the flaming wood; a hand sinking into the water. Without hesitation, Gabriel dived underwater and – thank Dad – there, unconscious, was Sam. Relief unlike any other Gabriel could remember feeling gripped him, and the heavy sensation that had been weighing him down suddenly vanished when he grabbed the human and felt his heartbeat still pumping a steady rhythm. Winding his arms around Sam's chest, Gabriel tugged him back to the surface, thankful for his powerful tail for the first time since acquiring it.
"Come on, Sam. Open your eyes." Gabriel ordered.
The hunter lay on a sandy beach with the archangel leaning above him, tail tucked up underneath him where his legs would normally go. Gabriel had carried the unconscious Winchester through the stormy weather, going in the same direction the ship had been heading in when he'd first found it. Before long, he'd found land; a stretch of white sandy beach backed by a sheer cliff, with a grand looking castle in the distance.
"Sam, come on. Wake up."
But the younger Winchester's eyes remained closed, his mouth slightly open as he breathed low and deep. If it weren't for the fact Sam was breathing, Gabriel would have been in the middle of a full-scale panic by now. After all, he was used to being able to heal injuries with a single touch. He simply didn't know how to deal with somebody who had almost drowned, only that if they weren't breathing it was a very bad sign. Yet, despite respiring quite normally, Sam just wasn't coming to.
"Sam!" Gabriel had now resorted to shouting at him.
Despite how much he hated to admit it, he needed Dean's help. Dean knew how to deal with stuff like this. Dean would be able to help Sam. After skinning Gabriel alive for allowing his brother to get into such a situation, of course. Gabriel curled his hands into fists in frustration. He hated feeling this damn helpless, dammit! He hated being useless!
"Sam, I swear to Dad, if you don't wake up pronto, I'm going to -"
But he trailed off, because just what was he going to do, exactly? Gabriel uncurled his fists, and then laid his head against the Winchester's chest, ignoring the wet press of his soaked to the skin shirt. The sound of the human's steady heartbeat was slightly reassuring. In his current body, Gabriel was worse than useless in any sort of situation, save for swimming. If Sam died in this world, there'd be nothing Gabriel could do about it. Hearing Sam's heartbeat reminded Gabriel that the hunter wasn't going anywhere just yet.
"Come on, Sammy. If you die on me, it's just going to be me and our brothers. And I don't have your patience. All that eye-fucking? Yeah, you can keep that to yourself; I'll pass thanks. You can't leave me with those two chuckleheads; I'll go nuts."
He felt the slightest vibration run through Sam's chest at that, and he sat up. Sam's eyes were open the tiniest crack, and a small, rather dazed smile curled his mouth. "S'all about you, right Gabe?" He said slowly, voice croaky and weak.
Gabriel couldn't help it. Immense relief bubbled up inside him, and he felt a wide grin breaking out onto his face as he shrugged casually. "Naturally. How you feeling, Kiddo?" The concern was so plain in his tone; Gabriel couldn't help but grimace a little. But Sam didn't seem to notice; he was still wavering on the edge of consciousness, which Gabriel was thankful for. After all, he reasoned silently to himself, he didn't care about Sam's welfare. Yes, the kid was okay. Yes, he was better than his brother, although that wasn't saying much. But that didn't mean Gabriel actually cared. It was just because without Sam, he'd be left in this crazy place all by himself. Yep. That was totally the only reason his relief was still extreme.
Before Sam could answer, there came a shout of the hunter's name from further down the beach. Gabriel threw his head up and resisted the almost overwhelming temptation to swear. Dean was easily recognisable despite his distance, and he was coming right towards them. Throwing Sam an apologetic look, Gabriel twisted on his tail and launched himself back into the sea, swimming to a nearby rock which he hid behind and peered out from. On the shore, Dean had reached Sam and was helping him to sit up; he was obviously still very weak.
"Gabriel."
The archangel started and placed himself fully behind the rock, pressing his bare back to the cold stone. Balthazar floated in the water just behind him, looking uncharacteristically serious. As Gabriel watched, the blonde's gaze flicked to Sam – who was being half carried along the beach by Dean – and then back again. His expression didn't soften any. In fact, if anything, it intensified.
"Our Father wishes to see you."
Gabriel was so shocked by the revelation that their Father was actually there that he just followed Balthazar underwater without a single question. But he did give Sam one last glance over his shoulder just before disappearing under the surface, just in case. But it wasn't because he cared. It wasn't.
Author's Note: I'm not exactly thrilled with how this one turned out, but I couldn't think of any sort of alternative way of writing it, and I hadn't updated for a while, so yeah.. I hope you guys enjoy this all the same ^_^''
Oh, and a massive thank you to everyone who's read, reviewed, followed and faved so far :) You guys make me want to keep writing, despite how much Uni is trying to crush my spirit xD I'll try and get the next chapter up as soon as I can, but I really can't say when that'll be. Maybe over Easter? I'll try and get it done before that, but there's a lot on my plate right now, so I just don't know.