Author's Note: So I have some exciting news! Guess who was gifted a Skype call with Jason Manns? That's right ME! For Stageit the top supporter/tipper wins a Skype call with the man actors for the panel. The one who won it (Raven_Clarke) gifted it to me! So I got a 15 minutes phone call with Jason Freakin' Manns! So happy about that!

Chapter Five

Unlike the last time he awoke, Gabriel nuzzled into the warmth he could feel surrounding him. It was terrific having the security of being warm while he could still remember the painful cold from before. Not opening his eyes in case the softness he was surrounded by was an illusion. Gabriel shifted closer to the source, only to bump into what was undeniably a body. Eyes springing open, Gabriel first noticed the firm chest he was curled into, trailing his eyes up to look upon the relaxed face of one Sam Winchester.

Watching Sam sleep wasn't something Gabriel had the chance to do before. Even when he had trapped the hunter in the loop of Tuesdays, he didn't have much of an opportunity or desire to watch the human sleep. Something was calming about it, of watching one who had at one point hunted him down let go of his worries and breathe steadily while drifting in dreams. Not daring to move in case he woke the man, Gabriel reached inside himself to take inventory of how much trouble he was in.

His grace was all but gone, a single shred left from what was once an overflowing pool of energy. He could build on it, but it would take time. He wasn't entirely human, still enough remained to grow if he gave it time. Time he didn't have. Something was wrong in this world, something nagging at the back of his senses that made him stand up and take notice. The second thing he reached to find was how his vessel was fairing. What had been the beginnings of hyperthermia had been healed, his toes and fingers giving back normal readings. What was a bit surprising was that he was in only a pair of boxers and judging by the material, not the silk ones he had been wearing.

Groaning in embarrassment at having Sam see him so weak, Gabriel didn't think before the sound escaped. With a twitch, Sam woke, his eyes darting around the room as if looking for the source of the noise before those hazel orbs settled on Gabriel. There was a softness to Sam's gaze that had never been there before, and Gabriel wanted to lean into it, to allow Sam to comfort him.

"Hey, how are you feeling?" asked the hunter, shifting on the bed so that he was laying on his side facing Gabriel. The archangel tried to come up with something to put the seriousness of the situation to rest, but he didn't want to alienate Sam. Last time when he got better the hunter barely acknowledged his existence, forcing Gabriel to watch Sam once again from afar while they worked on trying to save their family.

He didn't want to be in the background again. "A hell of a lot better than when I showed up. Who knew that all I needed was for someone to strip me down? Speaking of, any reason why you couldn't wait until I was awake before you got me naked or is that a kink for you?"

The way that Sam's face turned red was comical, the human trying to explain why he had to strip the wet clothes off Gabriel if he was going to get warm. Closing the distance between them, Gabriel placed his hand on Sam's covered shoulder. "Easy Sasquatch, I know how body heat works, and I don't blame you. In fact, I wanted to say thank you for taking care of me. I don't know if I would have made it much longer out there without resorting to breaking my toes off."

Watching as Sam's fingers flexed on the blanket, the human jerking as if to reach out, Gabriel pulled his hand back. "Now you mind filling me in on what happened since I died? And before you ask, yes I actually died this time. The last thing I remember was my grace exploding, and then I was waking up in the middle of a field, soaking wet and frozen. I remember feeling Dad in the earth, so I'm guessing he picked me out of The Empty to help out in whatever mess you two managed to find youselves in this time."

Sam scrunched up his nose for a second as if to argue against the statement before Gabriel raised an eyebrow, and the hunter backed down. "After… after you sacrificed yourself for us, we fled back home. I didn't let Lucifer come back with us, told him it was his punishment for everything he did that he would have to stay in the other world. I thought that I was protecting Earth from him, protecting Jack from him… I saw the way he was trying to seep into his mind, and I didn't want Jack to fall into his trap."

Humming, Gabriel nodded. He too had seen how Jack was willing to listen to Lucifer. While he couldn't deny the kid the right to try and connect with his father, Jack was too innocent to see beyond what Lucifer was saying to figure out what he meant. "I would have done the same thing. Jack deserves better than Luci. He would have only used the kid for his power and then thrown him away once he was done."

"I was wrong though," continued Sam. "Instead of killing him, Michael used Lucifer's knowledge on how to open a portal, and they both came over. It was a mess. Lucifer stole Jack's grace and was going to kill him. He had me too. Michael who was pretty beat up at the time from Jack gave Dean the idea that he could defeat Lucifer, pointing out that he had already done so before.

"Dean agreed to be his vessel, only agreeing that Michael could use him for as long as it took to get Jack and me back to safety and defeat Lucifer. It worked; by using Dean, Michael was able to kill Lucifer. But he didn't keep his end of the deal and walked off using Dean. It took a while, but we eventually got Dean back. During his time away, though, Michael started making these monster hybrids. Werewolves that aren't killed by silver, a djinn who can create projections instead of mental illusions, it's a mess."

Giving Sam a chance to breathe, Gabriel tried to absorb their new threat. It wasn't looking good. While he could have handled getting Jack trained up to attempt and take on Michael with the kid, Lucifer taking his grace put Jack in the same boat as him with having no powers. He was no match to Michael alone with his mojo; he couldn't even contemplate defeating him in his current state. "How has Jack come around to recovering his grace? Cas mentioned that Heaven was strained before I died. It would be hard for him to be able to pull from the dwindling power source unless he figured out alternative means."

Sam sighed, his hand twitching again and reaching a fraction of an inch closer. "Not good, he's pretty low on power and it's messing with his head. We're doing what we can, teaching him to be a hunter by human means but all we can do is wait. Cas hasn't been back to Heaven in a while. He says it takes too much power to keep the portal open, and they need to conserve what they can. At this point, it's only a matter of time before they can't keep the souls there contained any longer."

Gabriel shook his head, not comprehending how things could have turned so rotten. "Once I get my grace back together, I should be able to get the Heaven situation sorted out. Any idea who is running Hell these days? I might need their help." At the bashful look Sam gave him, Gabriel cocked his head to the side in question.

"I ah, the last demon who wanted the title… I might have killed him and had his underlings spread the word that anyone wanting to be king has to come through me?"

Gabriel blinked, stunned into silence before cracking up laughing. Tears came to his eyes at the thought that Azazel's prize Boy-King was finally embracing his role. "That's perfect. Well congratulations at gaining the crown. Once I'm a bit more stable, we can go down together and pick up a couple of souls to sacrifice to power-up Heaven for the next century or so."

At the shocked expression Sam was giving him, Gabriel smiled. "It would never occur to an angel to use the power of a soul to keep Heaven open. They are programmed to preserve the innocent souls, to never to give them up or sacrifice them. The souls of Hell though? No more than a handful every century or so would be enough to power up Heaven so long as the angels aren't doing anything stupid like using up the reserves, but I can teach them other ways of gaining their grace besides the home office."

This time Sam didn't resist the urge to reach out and place a large palm on Gabriel's arm. "You can do that?" The hunter's tone was hushed as if he spoke louder it would take away his salvation.

"Well yeah, I mean I wanted everyone to think I was dead. I couldn't do that if I'm still plugged up to the main power source. The lower ranks wouldn't have noticed, but you better believe Michael and Raphael would have."

Yawning, Gabriel pouted at the human need to sleep. Sam must have noticed as he pulled the archangel a bit closer, letting Gabriel rest his head on the firm chest he had been eyeing since he woke up. It was comforting to have Sam hold him close while he closed his eyes and let himself relax against the hunter. "Sleep, Gabriel, we can talk more when you're a bit better. Everything can wait a few hours while you recover."

Nodding his agreement, Gabriel decided against questioning why Sam was so cuddly and instead enjoyed the moment. He would soak up all the affection from the hunter while he still could. Maybe if he was lucky, dying for him the second time might have let Sam know that there was something between them. It would suck to have to do it a third time to get through to the tall man.

P.S. If you want to keep up to date on my writing add me to Facebook, Tumbler, Twitter or Instagram as CrowNoYami ;-) Also, if you want to see what I'm reading (I always review so you know what you're getting into) I'm on Goodreads as well, the same name as always.