Gabriel approached Sam as he screamed from a nightmare. It had been almost a nightly occurrence for Sam. It was understandable. Sam had gone through hell in that basement. Gabriel didn't know all of it, but he'd seen enough when he found him to know that the kid had been in his own personal hell for days, if not longer. It made sense that he'd have nightmares.

Usually, Gabriel would take Sam's nightmares away as soon as he heard him screaming. He knew nightmares were a way of getting through things, but the kid had suffered enough. He didn't need to relive it all in his head every night. Tonight, however, when he went to touch him, Sam bolted awake.

"No! Get away from me!" Sam screamed as he started flailing to get away.

Gabriel held Sam down on the bed tightly. "Hey, it's okay, Sam. It's Gabriel. You're okay. You're not there anymore."

Sam started to come down a bit as he listened to the Trickster's words. He felt like they shouldn't relax him, but they did. Being there with the Trickster was better than being in that basement. Anything was.

Gabriel slowly let go of the hunter when he saw that he was calming. "You alright?"

"Yeah. Sorry for waking you," Sam said.

"You didn't. I don't sleep," Gabriel told him.

"Oh. Well, sorry for disturbing you. You can go now," Sam said. He actually wasn't trying to be rude. He just hated that someone saw him like this, so weak he couldn't handle his own nightmares. It was bad enough that he felt weak and helpless even before this, unable to even make it out of the room without assistance. He didn't need this too.

"There's nothing wrong with having nightmares, Sam. It doesn't make you weak," Gabriel said, easily figuring out what the hunter was thinking.

Sam almost snorted at the way the Trickster seemed to know what he was thinking. Then it occurred to him, maybe he did. "Can you read my mind?"

"I can, but I'm not now. Your face and voice gave away what you were thinking. Nightmares are normal for people who have gone through what you have. It was an incredible trauma. I'd be worried if you didn't have some kind of issue with it," Gabriel said.

"I guess. Um, thanks for saving me from them," Sam said. He'd been too angry to be thankful earlier, well, except for the initial gratitude he'd showed the first night, before he knew exactly who had saved him. All he could feel towards him was hatred for what he did to Dean. That anger had started to wear off some. He still didn't like the Trickster, or Gabriel. He should probably start thinking of him as Gabriel since that was his name. He still didn't like him or what he did to Dean, but he understood much better now. In a very twisted and cruel way, Gabriel was trying to help. He just wanted Sam to find another way to learn to let Dean go, to not go down the revenge path. Again, Sam still didn't like him, but he could at least admit that Gabriel wasn't as bad as some other things Sam had dealt with.

"Your welcome," Gabriel said.

"I still don't get why you did it," Sam said.

"Because you don't think you deserved to be saved?" Gabriel asked with a sigh.

"That and the fact that you can't think much of me. I released the Devil from his cage and started the apocalypse, something you were trying to prevent. Why would you care enough to help me?" Sam asked.

"I told you, nothing you did makes you deserving of what those dicks did to you. Yeah, you were an idiot for trusting a demon and going so far off the rails as to drink her blood. Hell, I was so pissed, both at you and your brother, that should the opportunity have presented itself, I would've forced the two of you to finish what you started," Gabriel told him.

"You mean the apocalypse? You wanted to make us say yes?" Sam asked in disbelief. Yeah, he knew he was Lucifer's vessel. As if the torture in that basement wasn't enough, Lucifer had come into his dreams. He had even before that, but he didn't really know it until the torture began. Then he told him he was his vessel.

"Yep. There didn't seem to be a way to stop it, so I figured we might as well end it quickly," Gabriel said. Of course it was more complicated than that, but it was a long story that Sam didn't even know a quarter of.

"Is that even possible now?" Sam asked. He wasn't sure what his blindness meant if Lucifer took over his body. Would Lucifer be able to see in his body.

"Not the way they want it, no. An angel has all their powers in a vessel, but they can't use a sense that's not there. Now, normally, that wouldn't actually be a problem. It would be a matter of healing the vessel. Unfortunately for Luci, your sight was destroyed by a mixture of acid and holy oil. It can't be healed by any angel," Gabriel explained.

"They were hoping for that. They did their research. I guess you have too. And I guess it doesn't work for you either," Sam said. He knew that Gabriel could heal. He'd healed all his other injuries, but couldn't this one. That had to mean that the holy water affected his kind too.

Gabriel hesitated as he contemplated telling Sam. He'd never told anyone his secret before. It was called a secret for a reason. You don't go around telling people. But Sam was in his home and he was asking the kid to trust him enough to depend on him for a while. That meant he couldn't simply not lie to Sam. He had to tell him the truth. "The reason I couldn't heal your eyes is because I'm an angel too."

Sam's mouth dropped open. "What?"

"You don't have to worry. I have no intention of turning you over to Lucifer or any other angel," Gabriel assured him.

"You're an angel. Wait, your name is Gabriel. You're an archangel," Sam said as he thought back to everything he learned about angels as a child.

"You know your religion," Gabriel commented.

"My father had a friend who was a pastor," Sam said. Pastor Jim had always tried to teach him and his brother about God and angels. Dean never really paid attention, but he had. He always wanted to believe angels were real. "Cas never mentioned you though."

"Not surprised. I haven't been around for thousands of years. I left Heaven around the same time Lucifer was cast down," Gabriel said.

"Was that why?" Sam asked. He got the feeling that it was. He could tell just by Gabriel's voice. This conversation wasn't the happiest for him.

"It's more complicated, but, yeah," Gabriel said quietly.

Sam could tell he was upsetting the archangel, so he decided to change the subject just a little. "So that's how you knew where I was. You heard my prayer."

"Yeah. You're lucky I came too. Every angel would've heard your prayer and found you, including Lucifer," Gabriel said seriously. Not that he blamed Sam for praying. At that point, it was his only option. But it really could've ended badly for Sam. It was pure Luck that Gabriel answered first.

"I didn't expect anyone to respond. It's just something you do when you think you're screwed. It didn't occur to me that any angel could hear me. I could've become more screwed. So thanks for answering.

"No problem. Well, you should go back to sleep. I'm gonna leave you alone."

Sam nodded and soon afterwards heard the angels footsteps move away from him and presumably to the door.

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