Chapter 8: A Plan in Action
"What the hell happened?" Sam asked in shock.
Gabriel was sitting at the kitchen table with a bloody rag pressed to his face. Bobby dabbed at the six inch cut the ran diagonally from the angel's hair line and down to his cheek. The angel gave him a weak smile as Bobby pressed a whiskey soaked gauze pad to the wound making him flinch. Bobby straightened up and turned to face the youngest Winchester.
"Angel boy here was outside practicing his flying and his wing gave out." Bobby said.
"It wasn't like that! I told you I got distracted!" Gabriel said, trying to defend himself.
"He crashed through the roof of the shop." Bobby continued.
"I said I'd fix it!"
"And when he finally managed to pull himself out of the rubble that used to be my garage I find that he's covered in blood."
"It wasn't that bad!"
"It was a lot worse considering that I had to have him change his clothes because they were covered in blood. Dean is out back burning them right now."
"I told you that I would do that!"
"So now I'm sitting here listening to him whine as I try and make sure he'll survive another day."
"Hello! Archangel here! I don't need to be doctored! I heal just fine on my own!"
Sam leaned down and cupped Gabriel's face in both hands, leaning in close to check the quickly healing cut before looking into those gold eyes to see if he had a concussion.
"Sam?" Came the nervous call, a small flush taking over the blonde's face.
"It doesn't look that bad now. I think he'll be alright on his own. Why don't I take over and you can go check on Dean okay Bobby?" Sam said, releasing the angel and turning and taking the gauze from Bobby. "Once he's healed I'll send him out to clean up his mess."
The elder hunter nodded and turned and walked out. Sam dumped a bit more whiskey on the gauze and turned back to the angel. Gabriel's face still had a faint blush on it and his gold eyes were trained on the floor. In the five days that they had been at Bobby's the angel had done everything in his power to give Sam his space, going as far as to sleep outside in the hunter's garage. He had even avoided meals with everyone else and spent his time between giving Bobby information on angels and learning to fly again. It made it hard for Sam to get the angel alone to try and have a serious talk with him.
Sam dabbed at the cut again, happy to see that in just the short amount of time the cut had healed to half the size it had been. "I'm glad to see that your healing better."
Gabriel nodded. "My Grace isn't focused on my wing anymore so I'm back to normal."
"And this crash of yours?" Sam asked.
"I'm not sure." Gabriel said softly. "For some reason I just got a bit dizzy. Like I pulled too much power at once."
"How are you now?" Sam asked wiping away the blood with the damp gauze.
"I'm fine. I should really go out there and fix what I did." Gabriel said, his eyes still fixed firmly on the ground. "Don't need to have an angry hunter after me."
"Can that wait a minute? I want us to talk." Sam said softly.
Gabriel tensed and his face went blank and it worried the hunter. "I know that I haven't been giving you the space you asked for but I'm trying okay? It's just...Michael gave me the order to stay with you but...If you want me to go I'm well enough that I can go to my house. It won't be a problem now. Just give me a few minutes to go fix things and I'll go okay?"
Sam grabbed the angel by the hands, causing him to frown and his gold eyes stared at their joined hands. "No. I want you to stay Gabriel. I've been wanting to talk to you for the past few days but you keep avoiding me."
The blonde shook his head. "I was just trying to-"
"Give me my space. I know." Sam said. "I'm glad you did and I've spent the past week thinking about us. Going over everything. Now I want us to talk."
Sam watched as Gabriel seemed to steel himself, his whole body tense. "Okay. We can talk."
"How about we start by having you relax?" The hunter said with a smile. "You are far too tense to be comfortable. Come on. Let's go up to my room so we an have some privacy okay?"
The angel nodded and Sam laced their fingers together and pulled him to his feet. Keeping a tight hold on Gabriel's hand, Sam lead the way up to his room, sure that the archangel would bolt the first chance he got. Once in his room, the youngest Winchester had Gabriel sit on the bed while he locked the door. Smiling he sat on the bed and rested back against the headboard and Gabriel turned slightly to face him and Sam took his hand once more.
"Are you comfortable? You still seem a bit tense." Sam said softly.
"I'm okay." The blonde said, his voice just as soft. "So we're talking right?"
Sam nodded. "I'd like to talk but you act like I'm about to give you bad news."
Gabriel let out a strained sounding chuckle and looked towards the window. "Aren't you? In my experience this is the part where I get told thanks for everything and don't let the door hit you on the way out. I've been waiting for this since you left our room that night. I just figured that you were trying to be nice and let me heal first so I'd be able to protect myself once I'd left."
Shaking his head the human reached out and grabbed Gabriel and pulled the startled angel tight against his chest. "I'm sorry that I made you think that this was going to be over Gabe. I said I needed some time to think and I have. I realized that while yes I was angry, it doesn't matter."
"It doesn't?" Came the confused question, muffled by Sam's shirt.
"No it doesn't. Every relationship has it's up and downs Gabriel. That's just what happens. Every couple fights. Even Dean and Cas. This past week made me realize just how lucky I am to have you." The youngest Winchester admitted. "While I wish you had come to me first with your concerns I can understand why you didn't. I understand it even better since you told me about your past. I still have your feather. I want us to pick up where we left off."
The angel pulled back suddenly and Sam found himself staring into a pair of curious and shocked, warm golden eyes. "You...You're serious?"
Sam nodded. "Yes. I want there to be an us again. I want you. I miss you."
Gabriel looked away. "Never had this happen before. Never had someone want me back."
Sam chuckled and leaned in and kissed the angel's cheek. "I'm not letting you go again. Just promise me that if you have doubts or questions that you'll come to me first instead of running off."
"Promise." Gabriel said with a smile.
"I do love you Gabe. Just so you know." Sam said.
Gabriel opened his mouth to reply but the words seemed to stick in his throat. His mouth snapped shut and the archangel felt like kicking himself. It was just three little words. Why was he having such a hard time saying them out loud? The brunette smiled at him, knowing that the angel was trying. Now that he understood his angel a bit better he knew why Gabriel hadn't said the words back to him. Sam knew now that th archangel did love him, even if he couldn't say the words yet.
Leaning in Sam kissed him once more. "It's okay Gabe. I know. Now that we've talked I understand. I know why you aren't saying those words yet. I can wait until you are ready."
Gabriel gave him a half smile. "Some Messenger I am huh? Can't even say three little words."
Sam shook his head and pulled the angel back for a deeper kiss before pulling away. "Your actions speak louder then your words anyway."
Gabriel's smile grew and pressed in close to the hunter. Lips met and tongue dueled. There had been a few kisses like this before but this one felt different to Sam somehow. It was like they had reached a turning point and the hunter wasn't sure what was waiting for him now. The blonde pulled back from the kiss and stared at his hunter, his gold eyes slightly dilated and filled with both love and lust. Sam swallowed hard at the look and watched as those eyes trailed down his body before stopping at his waist. They darted back up and Sam could clearly see the question burning in the archangel's eyes.
"Gabe?" Sam questioned, knowing that the angel wanted to do something more.
"May I go a bit further with you? I would really like to taste you."
The brunette could only nod as his brain began to short circuit. He felt Gabriel's warm hands descend on him and his pants were slowly opened. Sam realized that the angel was going slow in case he had a sudden change of heart. Without thinking about it he bucked drawing a chuckle from the blonde before his boxers were tugged down enough that he was free from the confining material. Gold eyes locked with green and an almost burning tongue reached out and caressed him, pulling forth a moan from deep in his chest. There was a chuckle from Gabriel and Sam let out a choked scream as he was swallowed whole and all thought fled from him as he found heaven in the mouth of his angel.
SSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS
"Dean we need to talk about-" Castiel paused, taking in the damage of Bobby's garage, having just noticed the damage since he appeared. "What happened? Are you okay?"
Dean looked around at the mess. "What happened was your big brother got dizzy and crashed through the roof while we was flying. Cut his head open a bit but he's okay. Bobby cleaned him up and I cleaned up the blood."
Castiel gave a wave of his hand the the garage was fixed and everything was back in it's place. "Angels do not get dizzy for no reason. Where is Gabriel now?"
"He's inside." Bobby said coming into the garage. "Thanks for cleaning up the mess Cas. I'd tell you to go on in but Sam just took over cleaning Gabriel up so you might want to give them some space. I think they are finally going to have their long overdue talk. About time too. I was getting tired of watching those two dance around each other like nervous virgins."
Dean frowned. "Sam is a nervous virgin Bobby. He's never been with a guy. Hell it's taken them a year just to work up to second base."
Bobby looked shocked. "Really? You'd think Gabriel would move quicker then that."
"I know right? Leave it to Sam to make and angel wait to get the goods." Dean said with a smirk.
"While I am glad that they are making up I have news. I have spoken to both Michael and Lucifer. We have a problem. A very big one." Castiel said. "If they are right then right now Gabriel is in grave danger from Crowley."
"Grave danger?" Dean asked. "How so?"
Castiel shook his head. "We need to get Sam and Gabriel. I would rather only explain this once."
Dean nodded. "Alright. Let's go disturb the lovebirds."
SSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS
"You are out of your fucking mind Castiel." Gabriel said staring at the younger angel with his arms crossed over his chest and a glare on his face. "So are Michael and Lucifer. There is no way that's possible. None."
"Gabriel you are the last archangel. You should have known this. Why did you not think to tell us that this was a possibility?" Castiel asked.
"Because I'm no one's leader! I left heaven! I ran! I'm not-I can't-I refuse!" Gabriel snapped, putting a hand to his head, feeling slightly dizzy again. "I refuse to sit on the throne. Ever."
"So wait...You can legitimately rule heaven?" Dean asked. "And it never occurred to you that you could have put an end to the war that was going on? That you could have helped Cas out?"
Gabriel turned to glare at the hunter. "I was branded a traitor Dean! Every angel in heaven had orders from Michael to kill me on sight! They were told that I was in league with Lucifer! If I went back to heaven I would have died! So while yes I did want to go help Castiel out I knew that I would have ended up dead if I did!"
Dean's face fell. "Sorry. I didn't know."
Sam stepped forward and wrapped his arms around his boyfriend. "It's okay Gabriel. Calm down. We can get through this."
The angel nodded. "I know. I just...I was never like my brothers. I wasn't taught how to rule because I never cared to know. My job was to watch over the younger angels. I left everything else up to my older brothers. I don't even know the phase needed to ascend to power."
"Too bad that. I would have liked to have had that kind of power at my fingertips." Crowley said, appearing in the kitchen and pouring himself a drink, as he looked up at Gabriel. "You're stubborn."
Gabriel let out a growl before his dizziness returned. Sam helped steady him watching carefully as the angel got his balance back. Sam let out a panicked noise as he noticed the blood coming from the archangel's nose. Crowley let out a chuckle drawing their attention back to the demon. He twirled a single blood-stained golden feather between his fingers pulling shocked cries from the Winchesters and Castiel. Gabriel's glare was enough to kill.
Castiel's blade was in his hand. "How did you get that?!"
"It was easy." The demon said. "I snagged it when I took him back to the motel after he broke his wing. He didn't even realize I took it. Now come here Gabriel."
The archangel shook, his whole body trembling, and more blood came from his nose.
Crowley let out a chuckle. "Really now? Are you that stubborn that you're willing to damage your vessel just to resist me?"
Sam pulled out his gun and pointed it at the demon. "What are you doing to him?!"
"I gave him an order." The Scotsman said simply, taking a drink. "He's the one resisting me. The more he resists his Master, the more he's going to hurt."
"What the hell are you talking about?" Dean snapped, his gun also pointed at the Hell King.
"Angelic Law." Castiel said, his voice rougher then normal. "An angel can be controlled using one of three things. Blood, feathers, or Grace. That is Gabriel's feather and it has his blood on it. That gives Crowley power over Gabriel and makes him his slave."
"Exactly. You see I got tired of playing fair. I knew the mouse wouldn't leave his moose even with my courting so I decided to cheat." Crowley said.
Sam cocked his gun and as he did Gabriel doubled over letting out a grunt of pain.
"Not so fast moose. Try anything and you'll only end up hurting your mouse." The King of Hell said with a smile.
Sam turned back to Gabriel, who was still shaking. "Gabe are you okay?"
Gabriel suddenly pulled Sam close and the hunter felt something warm and hard slide into the sleeve of his jacket. "Take my archangel blade Sam. I know you don't want to hear this but my blade is the only thing that can kill me if it comes to that. I trust you Sam. I'm giving you this as a last resort. I know you'll save me." Came the hurriedly whispered words from the angel.
"Gabe no. Please." Sam begged. "We can fight this."
Gabriel suddenly pulled the hunter down and kissed him soundly. "I trust you Sam. I know you'll save me."
The archangel suddenly shoved his boyfriend away and walked over to the demon, making Crowley smile. "Smart mouse. I was afraid I was going to have to order you to hurt him. Now are you ready to come with me?"
Gabriel glared, his hands balled into shaking fists. "Do I have a choice?"
"Not really." The demon said reaching out to touch the angel only to have Gabriel pull sharply away, making Crowley laugh. "I'm going to enjoy this."
"Not on my watch." Dean said, taking aim.
The hunter suddenly found himself pinned against the wall by by Gabriel. The archangel was refusing to look at him and his whole body was shaking. Dean glanced around and realized that Gabriel was doing more then just holding him against the wall. Sam and Bobby were also pinned against the wall, held in place by nothing more then the angel's power. Castiel was on the ground his body twisted in what looked like a painful way. Looking back at Gabriel, Dean realized that the angel had his hand balled into a fist and was struggling, fighting against himself, not to hurt him, not to hurt them, and blood was streaming from his nose.
Crowley stepped forward with a grin, taking in the prone hunters and angel. "I could get used to this. Having this kind of raw power at my command. It's addicting. Now I have more pressing matters to attend to so we'll be taking our leave. See you boys around."
Just like that Dean felt himself drop to the floor and heard Sam and Bobby hit as well. He jumped up and looked around but the house was empty. Crowley and Gabriel were both gone. Crowley had taken Gabriel and was going to use the archangel's power for his own gain.
"SON OF A BITCH!" Dean screamed. "CROWLEY YOU BASTARD!"
Sam sat where he had landed, tears of disbelief running down his face. Feeling something warm against his skin he reached up and pulled Gabriel's archangel blade from his sleeve. He held the blade close and felt his heart ache. His boyfriend was in the hands of a demon who was going to force him into a mating bond. Gabriel had given him his angel blade, the only thing that could kill him. A last resort.
Castiel knelt down next to Sam eyeing his brother's blade held tight in the hunter's hand. "Sam? Sam are you injured?"
The youngest hunter shook his head. "Gabe...Gabe said...To use it as...As a last resort. I can't do it Cas. I can't kill him."
"As you won't have to." Castiel said. "We'll get Gabriel back. I promise. I will not leave my brother in the hands of that demon."
"Damn straight we won't!" Bobby said. "We're going to make him pay for this!"
"Don't worry Sammy. We'll get him back. I promise." Dean said. "And I'm going to give Crowley a bath in some holy water. This time he is dead."
"So how do we find them?" Sam asked, trying to dry his tears. "They could be anywhere."
"We start by doing a scrying spell." Castiel said. "We look for blank spots. Places we can't see into. I'll search every place that we find like that."
"And when we find them then what? Gabriel is still going to be obeying Crowley. How do we break that control?" Sam asked.
Castiel shook his head. "I am unsure. I assume that if we can destroy the feather then it will break the hold. We just have to find a way to get it away from Crowley."
"So we have a plan then." Bobby said, pulling out his maps. "Let's find ourselves an archangel."
