In the thicket near the pine trees where Cas and Gabriel had stood only hours before, a different kind of angel appeared. His black, soul-less eyes stared at the beautiful Victorian home, honing in on the one window on the second floor with the candle glowing like a beacon in the night. Somehow he knew that Gabriel Whitelaw was asleep in that room, and that she was dreaming about Sam Winchester. A strong wind blew through the pines as Belial, Lucifer's second in command, departed.
Sam was having trouble sleeping, images of Gabriel Whitelaw filled his mind, his thoughts, his very soul was intent on this girl he'd known for one day. What's wrong with me? Why is this girl keeping me awake? There's something about her, I just don't know what it is yet...Sam drifted off into a troubled sleep.
An hour later, Sam jerked awake to the sound of a door creaking open, the same door he had locked after he came home. He remained motionless, and heard shuffling footsteps coming closer; Sam felt an evil presence...something he had not felt in a long while. Without warning, whatever it was jumped onto Sam's chest pressing him into the bed! He couldn't breathe, couldn't move, no matter how hard he tried, he could not shake the "thing" from his chest!
Sam sat up in bed abruptly, gasping for breath and sweating profusely. What the hell was that? Was it a dream? Sam jumped out of the bed and ran to the door, turning the knob. It was locked! He turned around and leaned against the door, willing his heart to slow down. Walking to the window, he moved the curtains just a bit and looked down onto the street below him. Nothing was there. No fanged, winged demons, no black eyes, just street lamps and a few cars going by. It was only a dream, not a demon from hell. Sam breathed a sigh of relief...but he did not go back to sleep that night.
The storm Sam had thought might be coming had arrived. Rain poured down from the skies, running in rivulets on the windows. Lightning flashed and thunder boomed, the rain showing no signs of letting up soon.
Sam was already at work when Gabriel came in. She was wearing a red plaid sleeveless shirt, gathered at the middle with a little flare of material at the hip, and a pair of black jeans tucked into her cowboy boots. She sought and found Sam's eyes and smiled at him. He smiled back. I've missed her. I've only been away from her for 12 hours and I missed her!
"Hi Sam! My aunt brought me into town earlier so I could get my tires replaced. She also had them install a car alarm so maybe nothing like that will happen again."
"I would've put the tires on for you, Gabriel." Sam picked up a tray full of beer mugs and started stacking them behind the bar.
"I know you would have, Sam, but Aunt Helen insisted on the car alarm, too, and when she insists on something, you might as well give in. I've never known a more stubborn woman in my life!"
"You got that right," Jack said as he put new whiskey bottles on the shelf. "Helen would argue a black sheep was white, even if she saw it in front of her."
"Oh, now Jack...you know you love Aunt Helen!" Gabriel laughed, and the sound was musical to Sam.
He rolled his eyes at himself, still disbelieving what was right there in front of him...he had feelings for this girl with an angel's name. "Jack, you didn't tell me you were smitten with Gabriel's aunt."
Jack's face turned bright red and he spluttered, "I am not smitten...just telling you she is a stubborn woman..."
Gabriel hugged Jack and kissed him on the cheek. "Don't worry, Sam and I won't tell your secret."
"Aw, hell, you two are just plain crazy." Jack stomped off to the stockroom.
Sam stood there, watching him go. He blinked, Gabriel's voice was asking if he was okay.
"Yeah, I' m fine. Jack just reminds me of an old friend of mine. Name's Bobby Singer. About the same age as Bobby, too, and stubborn to a fault, won't admit to anything."
"Sure describes Jack to a 'T'...I'd like to meet your friend, Bobby sometime. He sounds like someone I'd like." Sam grinned at her, making her sigh inwardly as the dimples creased his face. She wanted so much to touch those dimples, to kiss them...
None of them noticed the man enter the bar...not Jack, Sam, Gabriel, the cook...not even the other patrons. He glided in effortlessly and took a seat at the bar.
"Good Evenin', what can I get you?" Jack walked over to the man who had just sat down.
The man was a stranger, Jack had never seen him in the bar before. He waited for the man to answer.
"I'll have a whiskey on the rocks," replied the stranger, removing his hat and shaking the rain from it. "Not good weather out there today at all."
"Nope, not good at all. Not gonna get any better any time soon, either." Jack nodded at the TV, where Flash Flood Warnings were being shown at the bottom of the screen. " Jack set the whiskey down in front of the stranger and turned to leave.
Gabriel just finished cleaning table three, and glanced out the window at the rain. It's as if all heaven is crying, she thought. If it doesn't stop raining it will surely flood.
"Looks like you got your tires fixed," a sarcastic voice snarled behind her.
Gabriel turned and looked at Tony, who'd just come in the door. "No thanks to you. Why'd you want to do something like that, Tony?"
"You think you can tell me to hit the road and it be over, just like that?" Tony snapped his finger close to Gabriel's face. "I guess you don't know me at all. I don't give up what's mine easily."
"I've never given you a reason to believe that I belong to you. We dated a few months at best, Tony...nothing more serious. Apparently you didn't want me because if you'll remember I came to your place one morning to pick you up and a strange woman answered the door in a bath towel. That was enough for me." Gabriel tried to move past him, but Tony stepped in front of her.
"Oh, no...no, you don't get off that easy, " Tony had a nasty smile on his face. "That was just a thing, nothing to me. You know I love you."" Tony grabbed Gabriel by the arms and tried to kiss her.
"Get off me, you big jerk!" Gabriel shook free and slapped Tony squarely across the face. "I'm not yours, I never was, now leave me the hell alone!" People in the bar were looking at them now.
Sam came out of the stockroom just as Gabriel slapped the man across the face. He didn't know who it was, but if he had to guess, he would say it was Tony, the asshole ex-boyfriend. Then the guy made a big mistake: he slapped Gabriel back, bloodying her lip and almost knocking her down. Sam was across the room in seconds! He grabbed Tony, turned him around and hit him in the jaw. Tony was strong because he didn't go down, and he countered with a punch of his own. By the time the patrons had moved out of the way and Jack came running over with the little baseball bat he kept under the bar, both Sam and Tony were rolling on the floor, hitting each other. Tony broke free and kicked Sam hard in the stomach, causing him to double over on the floor.
What happened next seemed like it was in slow motion. Gabriel was standing on the other side of Tony and she saw what no one else could see...Tony pulling a switchblade from his belt. Sam was standing, and getting ready to punch Tony again when he lunged at Sam with the knife.
"Noooo! You can't hurt him, Tony, nooo!" Gabriel screamed and in that second the knife flew out of Tony's hand and clattered across the floor. Sam hit Tony so hard he heard the bone crack in his nose, and Tony fell to the floor, unmoving. Gabriel ran to Sam, tears in her eyes, wiping the blood from his face.
"Oh Sam, I am so sorry! I didn't mean for this to happen." Gabriel's voice shook with emotion. "Are you okay?" She was still dabbing at the cuts on his face.
Sam took the towel and held her. "I'm okay, Gabriel, it's going to be okay. Calm down."
The patrons were going back to their seats and Jack was on the phone dialing 911. The stranger watched Sam and Gabriel closely. He had seen Tony produce the knife and swing it toward Sam...he had seen an unseen force knock the knife from Tony's hand at the same time Gabriel screamed. Standing , Belial put on his hat and threw a ten dollar bill on the counter. He left as he came in, unnoticed by all. He'd gotten what he came for.