Chapter 22

"Sam," said a familiar sing-song voice, and Sam tried to move. How long has he been stuck in this room? He felt like he was tied down to something, but he was unable to test his restraints. He swam in and out of consciousness as though he were lost in a drug maze. "Sam, you have to open your eyes," said the voice in his ear and Sam strained to respond.

"Wh….Who?" His voice sounded like dripping mud. What had happened? He was walking from the vampire cave, triumphant and proud, and then suddenly…what?

"Open your eyes, Sam! You can do it."

"I…c…ca…" Sam started to swim. Consciousness was slipping.

"Sam, wake up!" shouted the voice and Sam's eyes flew open. He was in a place that seemed oddly familiar. An old warehouse, long since abandoned and emptied. He was standing in the middle of the sun streaked concrete, and appeared to be there alone. Sam looked around for the source of the shouting. He had just heard shouting had he not? Was he just asleep? How the hell did he get there? Why did it look familiar? Memories and thoughts swam around each other; comingling in Sam's mind and spurring his confusion.

"Hello, Sam," said a voice from behind him and Sam spun around. He could hardly believe what he was seeing. A short distance away and dressed in a slate grey button down with black pants stood a man with his brown locks slicked back against his head. A half smile adorned his face, and his intense gaze bored into Sam with large hazel eyes.

"G…Gabriel?" Sam exclaimed. He recalled the last time he saw Gabriel, battling Lucifer in that staged hotel, and from Gabriel's own message he knew that the angel had not survived the assault. He recalled Castiel mentioning something about him later but…"How…how can you be here?"

"You mean, why am I not dead?" Gabriel asked with a smirk and he strutted towards Sam with an arrogance all his own. "Oh Sammy boy. There is so much you don't know."

"Like what?" Sam countered dejectedly. Gabriel has been toying with Sam and his brother since the first time they met. Showing up in this warehouse, which Sam remembers now to be the location of another enduring encounter with the angel, was just one more nuisance for him. He had a war to fight, and hunters to protect. He really had no time to deal with this pesky angel. Suddenly, horror flooded through Sam and he looked down to his hands.

"My bow!" Sam's breath came out in shallow bursts as his eyes scanned the floor around him. "Where is it?" Dread squirmed into his stomach and left him lightheaded from his recent efforts to recover from his mysterious stupor.

"Calm down," Gabriel said sternly, "your bow is here." Immediately Sam grew suspicious. So now the angel was toying with him yet again, holding him hostage; hiding his bow.

"Fine." Sam was in no mood to play the game. Especially without Dean there to help him through it. "Where is it then? What do you want from me?" Gabriel, only a few feet away now, studied the younger brother. Sam was surprised to see Gabriel's expression which seemed somewhat dejected and hurt.

"It's not what I want from you," Gabriel said cautiously, "it's what I can give you."

"At what cost? Will it cost your life again? Will it cost mine? How are you even here, Gabriel?"

"Oh Sam, Sam, Sam," Gabriel said turning away from him. He looked around, admiring the warehouse rafters as though he were here for the architecture. "I am not here, Sam. Not really. This is the place your mind chose to meet me." Sam thought about this for a minute and then realization mixed with relief in his mind.

"This is a dream," he stated, not a question, but Gabriel nodded. "And you aren't real."

"Oh no, Sam," Gabriel said, turning back to him again, "I am very much real."

"Then explain it to me, I don't understand." Gabriel smiled at Sam with an odd sense of affection and held his hand up to snap his fingers. Suddenly the warehouse was gone and both men were sitting comfortably in the corner booth of an upscale strip club. This was a place Sam definitely did not recall from his memories.

"Ah that's better," Gabriel said stretching out in the plush seat and heaving a sigh, "now we can talk. You see Sam, I did die on that night so long ago. My horrible brother, Lucifer, doing me in. But…this is the way of the world, my friend. Nothing ever stays dead for long."

A waitress showed up with drinks on her tray even though they had not ordered any. Gabriel took them, nodding his appreciation to her, and handed one to Sam. Then he turned and admired the atmosphere.

"While Heaven has an infinite ability to bend all worlds as it sees fit, it requires energy to accomplish such a task. Human energy…angel energy…Eros," Gabriel took a sip of his drink and his eyes rolled in the pleasure of it, "Eros is a chemist."

"I have heard that before," Sam said dryly, remembering Dean mentioning as much.

"Yes but my point is, how he can come up with some of the amazing stuff he does. He does not have the energy to create magical angelic fulcrums out of thin air. There has to be a source of energy." Sam studied Gabriel, and their eyes held each other for a long time.

"You…he used your energy to create the Recurve?" Sam asked at last in a small voice.

"No," Gabriel said with a laugh, "I am the Recurve, Sam. I am the bow that you carry even now, in the husk of a body your heart still beats in." Sam shook his head, not wanting to believe.

"That doesn't make sense. Why would he make dead archangels into bows?"

"They aren't all archangels," Gabriel said dryly, as he stirred the ice in his drink. Sam left his own drink untouched. "The others were made centuries ago by angels that have long since been written out of the history books. No, the only bow that is new, that is special, is me, Sam. He made me just for you."

"Why you? Why not Zacharia or…"

"Opportunity? Who knows. Are you complaining?"

"No," Sam said begrudgingly. He would hate the idea of listening to Zacharia in his dreams like this all the time. Actually, he was pretty glad it was Gabriel.

"Sam," the angel said in a soft voice, and the bar around them faded to silence. The sound of his voice gave Sam a chill but he met the angel's eyes. "Whatever reason he chose me, you must have noticed the result. You and I, we have a connection. We were destined for each other."

"I don't know what you are talking about," Sam said, suddenly feeling extremely uncomfortable with the direction of the conversation. Gabriel laughed.

"Not in that way, human. Our stories, for whatever reason, were written side by side. We are Soul-bound, Sam. I was meant to be your angel the way Castiel is bound to Dean. I am meant to be your protector, because you are a Sentinel soul: destined for greatness. Why do you think I kept popping back into your life? I just wish I had a chance to tell you before Lucifer ..." Sam broke his eyes away and dropped his gaze to his clenched fists. He most definitely did not want to think Gabriel to him was like Castiel to Dean. He did not fault his brother for his choices, but he certainly wasn't going to follow them. Sam had to seriously question how insane Gabriel was at this point because all the stuff he was saying sounded pretty flipping crazy. And yet…

Even in this dream state, Sam could feel the tug of Gabriel sitting in front of him. He felt the need to look at the angel. To stare at him. To acknowledge that yes, he was there and they were together. He thought about how Dean always did the same thing with Castiel and he cringed.

"Sam," Gabriel said, his voice soft and soothing, "the things you can do when you wield me…even Eros didn't know it was possible. It's the bond that we share that can make it possible. Do you understand?" Sam nodded quietly. It made sense. It seemed too unnatural that he could just pick up the Recurve and instantly know how to use it far beyond anything Eros showed him. But for him to tap into Gabriel's very spirit that way was enough to make his skin crawl. He couldn't explain why it also left him breathless and excited. He could not stop thinking about the way Dean looked at Castiel.

"There is just one small problem," Gabriel said and he reached over to trail a finger along Sam's cheek. Sam, lost deep in his own thoughts, recoiled from the touch. He was most definitely not going down this road with Gabriel. He couldn't even imagine how it would be possible considering their circumstances and the fact that Sam was very much into chicks. Gabriel shook off a slight shrug and went on. "The problem is, you give too much of yourself to me. Even as a Sentinel, when a human soul comes in contact with a pure angelic presence, it rips away at you. It rips at your skin; rips at your soul. The human soul was just was not equipped for anything other than subservience to angels. When you dare to stand up to one, when you dare to challenge one as your equal, or…in your case, when you dare to tap into that angel Grace and funnel it through your very being to make it into something of a weapon…well. Let's just say it's been a while since you have laid eyes upon the conscious world." Gabriel's gaze was intense. He seemed to be trying to lay Sam open and process every ounce of his being. He willed Sam to know; to understand what was going on between them. Sam swallowed hard and tried to digest all of it. So many things seemed to fall into place. So much of it made sense.

"How…what do we do to fix the problem?" he said at last, and Gabriel smiled.

"Well, you'll need an angel to mend your soul. Hopeful Castiel will be up for that challenge once he gets his Grace juiced up, but in the meantime, I think you and I have plenty of work to do here."

"Doing what?" Sam asked and Gabriel's smile widened.

"Just as you thought earlier, Sam, we have a war to fight, and I am going to show you how to use me in a way that won't tear at your soul. I will show you how to bend arrows in ways you cannot imagine. You will be the strongest Marksman the earth has ever seen, and I will be by your side, guiding you every step of the way."