A/N: The characters of supernatural aren't mine

~Chapter Three~

When the bright light disappeared, Gabe could have sworn he was blind for a second or two. He also couldn't believe something like that would have happened in the tiny warehouse that was vacant the majority of the time. Nothing exciting ever happened on Malcolm Avenue. He knew it. So that something like this turned up was starting to make him doubt that supernatural entities were just stories made up by parents to scare their kids. His father had blatantly said that anything but God and the bible were totally false. Of course he forgot to ask about the demons. He knew he should have asked him that.

He paused to see that the demon was staring over in shock and turning over; Gabe could have done the same thing. Shock kept him from standing back up but not from passing out. The demon on the other hand, seemed to think it was something else and seemed pretty vocal about it too.

"You can't be here! This isn't possible-"

"Really because I thought that you were a smart demon. Lilith always took a liking to you. Was it because you failed to do what she had planned that you suddenly gone down the food chain instead of being promoted?"

He wasn't just anybody; he was the stranger that Gabe had seen at the bar his father worked at. He was there for two whole hours too. He knew he wasn't human because no normal person would be of age and just sit there sipping on a coke. Of course his voice was also hoarse as if from misuse so he must not have talked a lot nor had many friends. Before Gabe could ponder it, the demon was heading for him again and Gabe let out a gasp of surprise. He thought the demon would be done with him since the other man shown up but he seemed to assume that taking out the weakest link was the best course of action.

It wasn't.

Gabe found himself beside the stranger and backed into the wall again, only this time he wasn't demon kibble. The demon looked angry that he didn't get him and glared at the both of them. The stranger's eyes narrowed and before Gabe could warn him that it probably wasn't the best to mess with the demon when he stepped forward.

"GET OUT!" he commanded hoarsely and the smoke coming out of the man's mouth was truly amazing and not in a good way. Was he suddenly going to have smoke billowing out of his mouth too? He clapped a hand over his own anyways and looked at the stranger in a new light. He dropped his hand when the man dropped dead on the spot, awe setting in that anything like that could truly happen. It didn't explain why the person the demon was possessing couldn't make it however.

"You might want to help my friends, they were knocked down and-"Gabe didn't get a chance to continue for he was already there and placing an index finger to their foreheads. It was like they were as good as new and Gabe's mouth dropped open at the little display of power shown.

"Your friends are going to be okay," He told him much to Gabe's appreciation. "They shouldn't remember the demon escaping and if they do, they definitely won't remember being thrown into a wall. But I've never had a problem so they won't remember the incident entirely. Now that that's out of the way, come here."

It was an order and yet Gabe found that he didn't do well with taking orders unless his father used that threatening voice he got when he was severely irritated with something Gabe had done. Also there was the chance of him listening when his father used his full name. That meant he was trying not to show how very pissed off he was.

"Jeez, it's ain't like I'm gonna hurt you now," he warned and Gabe shook his head, still remaining in the spot he took refuge at when he was transported from where he would have been demon bait.

Okay so maybe he wasn't bad because if he had really wanted to hurt him, he wouldn't have intervened but he gave off such weird vibes that Gabe was sure he would be walking into another trap. He shook his head instead and saw the stranger sigh and placed a hand over his head in irritation.

Seeing his hairstyle, Gabe thought of how cool it would be to have his hair grow out like that. Right now he had an annoying mop of dirty blonde/light brown hair that refused to lay flat whatever he did with it. Maybe if he tried to grow it out, he thought. His father told him he would have a better chance of controlling it that way but also warned him that he had scissors and he wasn't afraid to use them either. Thanks to that threat that has been in place, Gabe never had seen a reason to try. But now out of all times, he wanted to try. And the green eyes were very unusual. How weird. He didn't mind though. Girls were down with guys that had unique and rare eye colors that he wouldn't complain too much.

"So charming place to meet someone," Gabe finally said after a long enough pause.

The man still looked irritated and if there was ever an indication on how much of an annoyance Gabe was, this was it. The man's agitation rose if anything and he turned and looked like he was trying to keep his temper in check. It was funny to see him hold his breath like that at least.

"What are you doing, pretending to be underwater?" Gabe asked, giving into the temptation. "I mean who in the hell tries to calm themselves that way?"

"Anyone who has a habit of killing someone who annoys me by making them a pile of ashes," he admitted and Gabe gaped at him.

Okay so maybe he should watch what he said. He didn't want to be ashes on a carpet or something of that caliber and he knew that he was truly showing that he didn't want to hurt him either so he took a hesitant step forward and seen him stiffen. Was he that paranoid that he jumped even at the tiniest things?

"Why are you jumpy man?" Gabe asked with a frown. "If you want me to trust you, I need your name and the reason you helped me. I'll start I guess. I'm Gabe Wincaster."

Gabe stood and waited for the man to share information on whom he was and finally after a nod, he did.

"I'm Caleb Michaels and I think it's obvious the reason I saved you-"

Gabe snorted.

"You followed me around smart ass," he told him. "I saw you at the bar for two hours and I saw the looks you gave my dad. If you even think of touching him I'll-"

"First off I don't think I would pursue anything with him even if he did try to initiate one," Caleb stated calmly crossing his arms. "Second of all, I followed you because you are trouble. I'm your uncle kid and-"

"Lies," Caleb corrected him again. "I only have one uncle and my father doesn't talk about him ever."

"I'm talking about the parent you never got to know kid," Caleb warned him. "I'm your other father's brother and not a very good one obviously since you obviously suffered much of the same things but there's a difference. The demon came earlier for you. My fault again but I'm hoping that it is a good thing-"

"I don't understand," Gabe told him with a frown.

Caleb matched it and quickly shook his head and put his index and middle finger against Gabe's forehead. Gabe's frown deepened quickly at that. He didn't want to forget any of this but as soon as he opened his mouth to tell him off, he felt a sudden jolt. That couldn't be good. Then his head exploded and his knees buckled. The pain was searing hot and he knew he was foolish to trust someone claiming to be a long-lost relative when he himself wasn't exactly around much. His father told him there was only one and said that he wouldn't have to worry about meeting him and Gabe never questioned him but experiencing the pain now, he cried out and almost screamed, feeling everything fade out.

Sam rushed into the house with every intention of killing the boy. He turned on the lights as soon as he reached the tiny kitchen that connected from the front door and lead into the living area. The house was quite small and only had two bedrooms. The first one placed a washer and a dining room table that he got cheap in a yard sale. The second room his son shared with him and it wasn't bad since they both had a large bed and Sam made a point never to bring anyone home. In his mind, anyone he brought in could end up being violent and turning the violence onto his kid. With a baby as small as Gabe was, he didn't want to risk it. Especially since he was always admitted for severe illnesses. The meningitis at two months old scared him the worst yet.

Coming into the living area, he saw his son leaning forward on the worn out love seat and was going to shout at him when he saw that he was holding his head tightly and moaning deeply. Coming forward, he quickly felt it with the back of his palm and was relieved that he didn't have a fever. Leaning his son's head back onto his lap, he frowned and wondered what caused it.

"Baby?"

Gabe just moaned and curled up tightly into a ball. Sam felt bad about the thoughts he had about grounding him now, especially since he was suffering so much. Hating them, he pushed the thoughts back to beat him up mentally another time and quickly pulled Gabe closer. He was glad that he had an understanding boss that put up with him because he was sure anywhere else he would have to come to an issue when it came to communication. But then again, who else got extra payment for sleeping with their boss, he thought wincing at the thought alone.

"It hurts dad, it hurts so much," Gabe whined.

Sam nodded and pulled him closer so that he could quickly think of an alternative. What could he do to give his son some relief? He didn't like the idea of his son not calling him though even when he was feeling bad and decided that he could yell at him later. Right now his son was in pain and he wanted to help him as much as he could.

"Baby what is going on?"

Gabe just moaned again and Sam tried not to freak out. He knew he still had some Tylenol somewhere but didn't know if he could get the boy to swallow it. Sighing, he grabbed the phone and dialed his work to let his boss know that he'd probably not be coming back for the night. With that, he called him and explained the situation. Thankfully his ass wasn't fired on the spot although he had said that the man had said that Sam could make it up to him. Sam shuddered at the thought but quickly hung up and placed Caleb back on the beat up pillow. Just as he was about to go find some, Gabe grabbed a handful of his shirt causing Sam to look back down.

"Please don't leave me," he whined and Sam's eye brow rose in question.

Why would he ever think that Sam would leave him? Especially being as hurt as he was, Sam wasn't going to be leaving him anytime soon. But he knew that on most days, he had troubles even getting Gabe to admit what he was feeling. Now he was obviously fearful and wanted his daddy to stay close to him.

Sam let out a soft smile at that thought.

Who would have thought that his baby still needed him this much? He knew he loved him but since the teenage years hit, he wasn't very forthcoming with information he thought would hurt his dad. Call it hormones or just being a normal growing teenager but for a while Sam felt like the times he bonded with his son was nothing more than a young child idealizing his parent. He brought his hand through Gabe's hair and that simple motion seemed to calm his agitated son down some.

"I'm not leaving baby, I'm getting you some Tylenol," Sam told him but Gabe still wouldn't release a hold on his shirt and after much coaxing, Sam laid down beside him instead.

Gabe put his head on his shoulder, not being able to hold a sniffle from the pain in his head. Sam allowed him that and brought one hand to run it through his son's hair and the other hand kept him secure from falling off this ratty old thing. He may not have had the life he imagined it being when he tried ensuring his baby would be safe but he did what he did for the very baby he had only been trying to protect. He loved his son and would do anything for him even though he sometimes didn't like it.

Now noticing that the pain seemed to ease some since Gabe was practically passed out now, Sam was able to frown at the thought of his son being in that much pain openly. Now that he had time to sleep, he found himself unable to do as he worried about an illness he probably picked up. He wasn't supposed to be sick. He was sick a lot as an infant and he didn't want to go through that ever again. Gabe was fine though, he also told himself. He had seen him grow and continued to grow into. He could say it was thanks to him raising Gabe but the kid was doing fine all on his own too.

As he lay there holding his son to him, his thoughts turned to darker things. The things in the past he told himself he was never going to go back to. He couldn't. Lucifer would probably still want him to say yes after all these years and finding Gabe who was the byproduct of his vessel and brother, there was no telling what he would do. Sam never wanted Gabe into the life of a hunter either and he knew if Gabe found out then there was no turning back but he wouldn't be happy. The life of a hunter was difficult and Sam knew that hunters normally only became hunters because someone of the family discovered it through tragedy or someone had experienced the tragedy themselves. For Gabe to actually begin to hunt he would have to be found out by Dean or something would have to happen to Sam. Because as long as he was alive, Gabe would not hunt, he told himself firmly. He would keep him safe and there was nothing Gabe would be able to do about it either.

Thoughts slowly turned over though to how much he was already looking like Gabriel. Of course he had his other father's name because Sam thought it would fit the baby who was already giving an unfair chance at life already. Gabriel had always done what he thought was right and he never wanted to fight with his brothers. So having named his son after him, he hoped that having been given a choice in any circumstance, Gabe would make them thinking with his heart and not logic nor his head. His baby was looking so much like Gabriel though that Sam could hardly believe that fourteen years had gone by. He could remember for what seemed like yesterday that his son had been a little infant crying every time he was startled. He was a good baby and Sam was truly blessed to have a son like him.

Oh yeah, he thought. Gabe was definitely one of the best things he had ever done.

Gabe woke up with a small groan and noticed his headache was now at a dull ache in the back of his head. He groaned again and put the old fleece blanket over his head as the sun peaked through the windows. He almost didn't care that he wasn't attending school today when a dry voice commented to him wryly.

"Just so you realize your daddy left a note telling you that you were excused and then went off to pay some bills. Guess he realized that you needed some more time to recuperate."

Gabe jumped up and backed to the other end of the couch. He didn't know what his game was but Caleb wasn't innocent in anything. As soon as the man touched him, he was hurting really bad and couldn't even think let alone deck him one for causing it in the first place. Glaring, he tried to approach this carefully because he still hadn't forgotten that he had quite a bad temper when he actually did get upset.

"I don't suppose you'll tell me what you're doing in my house?" Gabe asked with a pointed look.

Caleb sighed.

"Try to do the nice thing and bring you home so you didn't have to suffer and have daddy worried at the same time-"He trailed off seeing Gabe's look of disbelief.

He snorted.

"Thought I'd abandon you kid?" He asked snidely.

Gabe found himself shaking his head before stretching his arms above his head. Getting up from the couch, he quickly made his way around him and into the tiny kitchen, grabbing some poor substitute for orange juice that he was sadly used to. Sometimes when they had extra money on them his dad would buy him candy. Maybe with his luck, they'd have extra again soon. Until then, all he had to look forward to was this nasty watered down juice.

"You didn't explain a thing to me and I'm still wondering why I have to trust you exactly. I mean you didn't really show you were helping me. For all I know you could be trying to get close to me so you could hurt my dad-"Gabe quickly bit his lip seeing something that he never thought he'd see.

Caleb looked really upset at what he had just said and Gabe knew there was no way he'd be able to take it back. But he did think at one time that he had it in for the man at one time. Now he knew he genially cared what happened to him. Glancing at his darkened look at just the thought of Gabe's father being in harm's way actually gained him some trust. It wasn't easy, he knew it because some of the things he did were questionable but he was the only one that didn't look down at the man who raised Gabe nor thought of him as scum because of how he went about doing that. He was showing his father more respect than the man had received from anyone other than Gabe in a while.

That was something.

"Okay so maybe you aren't," Gabe finally said with a sigh. "But why are you here. I don't have any idea and I want to know so-"

"I was just keeping you out of harm's way," Caleb mentioned with a shrug.

"But why?" Gabe asked with a frown.

Why was everything happening to him? Why did he have to be bullied and told he was a cheater because other students thought he was too poor? Why did his father have to do the things he did just so he could feed Gabe when he could have given him up at birth and then he would be so much better off? Why was this man more caring than the old woman he had known that died recently?

So many questions and so many unanswered.

Gabe hated that a lot more than he hated school and that was something. Glaring at Caleb who didn't seem to find it inherently bad at all, he banged his fist on the counter and tried to get him to talk with one look. Apparently he needed some work because Caleb burst out laughing.

"You are so funny!" He managed in between laughs. At Gabe's heated glare, he calmed down and started to explain. "I forgot you are at the point in your life where you think that you need to know everything when you will soon find out that it will tear your world apart. I keep wishing every day that you were able to hone some of what I just released for so long that I practically blamed myself. But I released the lock in place so the only thing holding anything in is you now kid. You have something that I didn't growing up and you will be able to make sure you are ready because if you aren't I know that it won't end well for either of us."

"Why though?" Gabe demanded. "You keep telling me half-truths and you won't even explain yourself to me! Maybe if you were open then I'd be able to know what I do so that we could prevent whatever it was from happening! Besides what are you, from the future or something because you keep trying to tell me about something I have to change-"

"I'm from the future," Caleb answered as though Gabe just asked a stupid question. "Fifteen years in the future in fact. That's not important at the moment though. What is important is the fact that in twelve years' time you are too little too late. The mark of a hunter is that you lost someone to something you never thought existed. Namely it was the demon that was after you last night. In my time, it got away and I know it was something that couldn't be prevented just like we couldn't save the poor sod that it possessed. Right now though, you have to keep your eyes open and try to tap into those abilities I unlocked for you. I know it's too soon to have them but if you don't then your father will die."

It was then that Gabe finally understood why Caleb was always so mad whenever Gabe blamed him for messing everything up. Just like it explained why his eyes darkened and he looked put out at the same time when Gabe talked about him trying to hurt his dad. Caleb must have known his father sometime in the future and the man had been murdered.

Gabe dropped his hands and glared at the floor. It was no fair. His school life sucked and nobody liked him. He was a poor student with only a scholarship helping him out and the only thing he had in this life was going to die unless he did something about it. How unfair was that? It wasn't like he had chosen to be the one to screw over his dad in the end. The man worked so hard and sacrificed so much for the son who was going to be the reason that he died. He wanted to cry and another part of him just wanted to throw things. He wasn't ready to go without his father. He still needed him so much and he knew in the future he would need him just as much because he had been the one that cared when no one else gave a damn.

Glancing up, he looked to see that Caleb looked empathetic. Gabe nodded finally and sighed, turning over to him and realizing that if he was going to save his father, he might as well trust this man now.

"What do I do to tap into this ability?"

Caleb scratched his head.

"It will take some time but let's be lucky that the demon is probably wallowing in self-pity right now. He is just about the moodiest demon out there and I swear if demons were allowed, he would be one pmsing bitch."

"I can't wait to grow up and use profanity that sounds so cool it'll make others wish to be just like you," Gabe couldn't help it, he was sarcastic by nature and by the looks of it, Caleb already knew.

"I can't believe I had to choose to come here when you were at your height of being a smart ass. I almost forgot about all those lame sarcastic remarks and jokes at every opportunity. Let me tell you something, it stop when you lose your dad."

Gabe sobered immediately.

"I know I would have. Don't get me wrong because I love him so much but after so much pain I thought we would have been able to turn it all around. Was he ever at all happy?"

Caleb frowned and nodded.

"He was. It got better kid and then it got worse," he shared somberly. "Just remember that if he asks you anything, don't complain because there will be a time that you wish he was actually there to do that. You'll miss it so much and there will be so much you won't be able to take back."

"I say some mean things before he dies? How typical of me." Gabe had connected the dots and with that realization, shook his head. He hated what he had looking forward to. He didn't want to live in that life and if he would be able to stop it, he wish that Caleb would just tell him now.

Just as he was about to open his mouth, the front door opened up and Caleb nodded in farewell before he left. Gabe blinked and thought it to be a joke but he really just went poof in a way because he didn't just walk right through the kitchen. Turning his head and seeing his dad, Gabe smiled sadly. The man was the same as he always was. He was bringing in a brown paper bag which he knew had to have something in it to try to 'make' Gabe better. The sad thing was not that he would have to someday realize he was going to lose him to something he never thought was real.

No.

It was realizing that he would lose him after saying something he would regret for the rest of his life that brought Gabe down.

If he didn't fix this and his father still died, he just hoped that it wasn't on bad terms because dying was one thing but a life full of regret of something he could never take back?

He wouldn't ever be able to live that down.

And he would never be able to try.