AN: This is the last chapter of Bad Choices! Hope you all enjoyed it! My beta reader, Percy, is writing alternate endings which will be avilable to read some time after Christmas, if you feel that you want closure.
Gabriel's days had been a blur of worry since the night Castiel had not come home. For four days he had waited with bated breath, watching the news, hardly daring to move lest he miss something important. The minute the Winchesters became suspects he had been wanted for interviews. But all he'd wanted to do was be alone. Alone with the TV.
His family had been of little help. Every since Michael had caught Castiel with that boy in his room and told their father, it had become rather taboo to talk to him. Gabriel's decision to move in with him had been an act of pure desertion. Poor kid needed a friend. And now he had no one. Gabriel had imagined him tied up and scared. He kicked himself
He had played the events of that morning, the last time he'd seen Castiel, through in his mind a thousand times. He had teased him. Castiel had left for work in a huff, cheeks flushed with indignation as he pulled his collar free of his stupid blue sweater. If he hadn't been angry, if Gabriel hadn't made him angry, maybe he would've come straight home.
Then he got the call, four days in. The plane ride, the taxi to the hospital, the seconds seemed maddeningly slow.
"Where is he?" He demanded the minute he reached the front desk at the hospital. "Where's Castiel?"
When the clerk told him to go to the intensive care unit, Gabriel almost flipped his shit. No. It must be really bad then.
The halls of the ICU were deathly quiet and Gabriel's pounding footfalls raced his heartbeat as he looked through doors to rooms, sickeningly sterile and cold. There it was, there was Castiel's room. The curtain around the bed was half drawn but Gabriel knew.
According to the doctor that met him at the door, it was a matter of willpower now. They had done all they could for him, they'd gotten the bullet out of him, but the damage was severe. It was up in the air. Of course Gabriel had reacted poorly to this, but in the end there was nothing he could say or do to change the facts.
Castiel looked like hell. He was white as the sheets except for the bruises that blossomed on his cheek, his broken nose, beneath his eyes. There was a cut on his cheek that looked like it came from an especially heavy blow. Tubes extended from his wrist and nose, like roots, or veins, some of them connected to plastic sacks of liquid and others to machines that, for all their supposed promises of giving life, looked dead and uncaring.
"Oh God, Castiel." The words fell out of him, heavy. "I'm so sorry, I'm so sorry."
No response.
"I should've been there for you." Gabriel went on, "you're my baby brother. I should've looked out for you." Gabriel remembered Castiel as he had been when they were kids. Second youngest of the ten children, the one small enough to be picked on and old enough that it was permissible, at least as far as their father was concerned. He had always been kindest to Samandriel too, taking on the role of big brother as if it was meant for him. Too much heart, they all agreed. Too much for his own good, too much for that body of his to contain. And Gabriel loved him. He loved his little brother more than he would ever admit to his face. But when Castiel wakes up, I'll tell him. Gabriel promised himself that.
"I was so scared, Castiel." He took his brother's limp hand. An IV stuck out intrusively from the back of it. "I'll take better care of you from now on. I promise. I'll be nicer, I'll be the best big brother. Just wake up…"
Still nothing. With a sigh, Gabriel pulled out his phone and began the call he knew he'd have to make eventually. The phone rang three times.
"Gabriel." The voice was clipped and utilitarian.
"Michael." Gabriel replied with no more courtesy than his brother had afforded him, then relented. "Hi. Is… is Dad home?"
"No."
"Figures." Gabriel decided to stall. Why jump straight into the thick of it? "How are you?"
"We're fine."
"How's Samandriel?"
"He's doing well. He applied to colleges earlier this year." Michael's voice did not break its monotone once.
"Oh, oh good. The last Novak boy to leave the nest, huh?"
"Gabriel, you didn't really call to ask after all your siblings did you?"
Gabriel paused. "Well no. Not exactly. I guess you've been watching the news, so you probably know already but… they found Castiel."
"I heard." Gabriel hoped he really had heard a small softening of the voice.
"I'm in the hospital in Nebraska with him now. Just got here this morning."
"And?"
"He… he's not doing so well, Michael."
"I'm sorry to hear that."
"They said he might not make it. I thought you'd want to know."
"Thank you for telling me." Still the coldness in his brother's voice.
"That's it?" Gabriel's patience could not hold forever. "That's all?"
"All what?" Michael asked, voice still cold. "I'll tell Dad what you said. I don't know what more you expect us to do given the circumstances."
That was it. All Gabriel could take. He was shouting before he could help himself. "Fuck Dad! And fuck his ignorant, religious bullshit! Don't you care, Michael? Your brother's dying here. Castiel's still the sweet little kid he always was. He's still your brother, and if it was you in his place Castiel would be the first one over here to help take care of you."
A long pause, "of course I care, Gabriel. You know when I told Dad about Castiel, I never thought he'd react that way. I've always loved him. I love all my siblings. But it doesn't matter what I think. Dad's been rigid on the issue. As far as he's concerned Castiel's already dead. I can't just disobey, Gabriel."
"You're a thirty four year old man," Gabriel insisted. "Buy your own damn plane ticket. Tell everyone else to do the same. Someone in this fucking family needs to act like an adult and stop blindly following Dad. He's not God or anything."
"I wish I could, Gabriel. But I can't risk my standing with Dad. I owe him everything, especially since he's promised me the company when he retires. But look, if he …doesn't make it… I'm sure Dad will pay for the funeral."
"Pay for the-" Gabriel sputtered, "you're all a bunch of spineless bastards, you know that? You're all so afraid of Dad that you'll abandon your little bother who was just fucking kidnapped and shot! You're just a great big bag of dicks Michael. And you can tell Dad to go fuck himself." And with that, Gabriel hung up.
His breathing was still heavy, and his mouth tasted like anger. Fuck Michael. He didn't need to call the other siblings. If Michael said no then that was it. It was just him and Castiel. If his brother did die, he would be the only one here to hold his hand when it happened. Their absent father would pay for the funeral, whoopty fucking doo.
He looked down at the unconscious figure in the bed. He was still breathing softly, bottom lip swollen from a blow to the face. The fucking Winchesters did this. They ruined his life, ruined his brother. The police report had said that he was hit by one of the SWAT guys. Dean Winchester had shoved him in front of the bullet to save his own stupid life. If Gabriel could get his hands on Dean Winchester… But that wasn't how these things worked.
Outside it had gotten very dark. Gabriel heaved a heavy sigh. He supposed he'd be sleeping here tonight. A sullen nurse in a star-print smock came in to check on Castiel.
"Is he doing okay?" Gabriel asked.
"He's stable." Said the nurse. "But he was stable before."
"Oh."
"I'm sorry."
"It's okay." Of course it really wasn't.
"Is there anything you need? I can run and get you a coffee?"
"That sounds awesome. Thanks." Gabriel tried to smile convincingly.
After the nurse left the room, he returned his gaze to Castiel. He did something then that was strikingly out of character. He prayed. Clasping his brother's hand between both of his, and closing his eyes, he prayed.
Dear God, I'm new at this. Damn, I don't even know if anyone's listening. But if you are, you gotta save Castiel. That's all I'll ever ask for. Please, just save my baby brother. If anyone deserves to live, it's him. Please! I don't… I don't know what I'd do without him. Please. Please. Please.
A soft moan. Gabriel's eyes shot open. Castiel had stirred! His lips were parted slightly and his eyelids fluttered.
"Castiel!" Gabriel exclaimed, unable to fight the grin that spread across his face.
"G-Gabriel?" His voice was rough and weak, but there. He was speaking. Nothing else mattered.
"Yeah, it's me. Oh God, Castiel, I was so worried!" Gabriel pushed the hair off Castiel's forehead with the hand that wasn't already occupied with his brother's. His heart was racing, his mind doing somersaults. Castiel was alright! He was okay! He was alive! Everything was going to work out!
A soft pause as Castiel squinted up at him. "Dean… wh-where's Dean? What happened to Dean?"
"What?" Gabriel demanded, "Dean Winchester? He got away. Him and Sam. After you got shot they must have escaped. Castiel, why do you-"
But a small smile was spreading over Castiel's lips, so rarely inclined to smile. "I'm so glad." He sighed, and his eyes closed again.