Sam walked downstairs with his teddy bear clutched to his chest. He was supposed to be sleeping, but he had a bad dream and he wanted Gabe. Well, he did, but he didn't. His dream was about Gabe.

Sam stopped at the bottom of the stairs and peered over to the couch where Gabe was reading a book. He wanted to run to him, but he was scared because of his dream. He thought about running back upstairs.

Before Sam could do anything, Gabriel looked over at him. "Hey, buddy. What are you doing up? Are you having trouble sleeping?"

Sam nodded as he hugged his teddy bear, Imp, tighter. He'd named his bear after his big brother's car, the Impala.

"Come here," Gabriel said as he scooted over and opened his arms up.

That was all the prompting Sam needed. He ran over to the man and climbed on the couch with him.

Gabriel laid Sam next to him and ran a hand through his hair. He could tell the boy was upset. He was trembling just a bit and he caught a few whimpers from it. "It's okay, kiddo. You're safe. Did you have a bad dream?"

Sam nodded.

"Was it the monsters again?" Gabriel asked.

Sam shook his head, but didn't say anything.

Gabriel could tell that Sam wasn't ready to talk about what was bothering him, so he just held him and tried to comfort him. After a moment or two, he started humming a lullaby that he sang whenever Sam woke from nightmares.

Sam felt his eyes start to droop and immediately popped them up. "No! I don't wanna sleep!"

"Shh. It's okay, Sammy. No one's gonna hut you. You don't have to be afraid to sleep," Gabriel promised.

"I don't want to!" Sam cried again.

"Okay, you know what? It's pretty late, but what do you say we break the rules just this once and have a little snack? Does that sound good?" Gabriel asked. Normally he wouldn't all that, but the kid was seriously upset, and he needed to get him calm enough to tell him what was wrong, because he had a feeling this was not just some normal nightmare about monsters or even the ones he still had occasionally about his brother. Something was seriously bothering this little boy.

Sam nodded and climbed off the couch.

Gabriel got up and took Sam's hand before leading him towards the kitchen. "We're just going to have some fruit and a glass of milk, and just this once. Do you understand?"

"Uh huh," Sam replied.

"Okay, you go sit down at the table," he said.

Sam immediately went over and sat down in his usual chair.

Gabriel came over a couple of minutes later with two small bowls of grapes and apple slices and a glass of milk for Sam.

Sam immediately grabbed an apple slice and started munching on it.

"How are you doing, little one? Are you feeling a little better?" Gabriel asked after a couple of minutes.

Sam shook his head and hugged his teddy bear. He was still really scared about his dream and he didn't want to go back to sleep.

Gabriel sighed. "You know, nothing's going to hurt you, Sam. We've talked about that. I promised to never let anything hurt you."

"What if it's you?" Sam asked a bit hesitantly.

"I…I hurt you in your dream?" Gabriel asked in a worried tone. He wondered if Sam had dreamed about one of his encounters with him as an adult. If he had, he didn't know how he would explain that. How could he make any of that okay for a five-year-old?

Sam nodded. "You said mean things."

"What kind of mean things?" Gabriel asked.

"You said I was bad, and stupid and worthless and useless," Sam said. There were tears streaming down the boy's cheeks.

Gabriel immediately got up and picked Sam up into his arms. He rubbed circles onto his back, all the while seething inside. Those words that Sam had dreamed him saying were very specific. Someone had said those things to him and Gabriel was pretty sure he knew who.

Sam calmed down after a couple of minutes and started sniffling and rubbing his eyes.

Once he was sure Sam was well enough to speak to him, Gabriel put him down on the floor and knelt down to his level. "Who called you those mean things, Sam. I mean in real life, not your dream."

"My other daddy," Sam said quietly.

With that one statement, Gabriel understood the problem. He'd had a feeling that John was the one that had said those things, but when Sam said it was his 'other daddy', Gabriel understood why Sam would associate him with it in his dreams. It wasn't too long ago that the kid asked him if he was his new daddy. Sam seemed to associate the word 'daddy' with someone who was mean to him. He was afraid Gabriel would be no different. "John used to say those mean things to you, huh?"

Sam nodded. "Not all the time, but sometimes he was really mean. He liked Dean better."

Gabriel was disgusted. No child should grow up being called those kinds of names by their own father, and they certainly shouldn't grow up believing they were loved less than their sibling. It was a miracle Sam didn't grow up to resent his brother. It was very clear to Gabriel why adult Sam had had so little self-esteem. How could he not after having grown up under John Winchester. "Sam, I need to ask you a really important question. Has your daddy ever hit you? I don't mean a spanking, like I've given you. Has he ever smacked you anywhere else or maybe hit you with an object?"

"One time. He hit me here," Sam said as he touched his cheek. "Dean saw and he got really mad. He yelled at Daddy and said bad words."

"Do you remember how big you were?" Gabriel asked. He didn't think it would make a whole lot of difference. Mainly, it would just make it that much worse if Sam were still a child.

"Bigger than now, but still little," Sam said.

"Okay, buddy, I need you to listen to me. It was really mean of your daddy to say those things to you and to hit you the way he did. I would never hurt you like that. I've never said anything like that to you, even when you're in trouble, right?" Gabriel asked.

"No. You make me stand in the corner or give me a spanking," Sam said. He didn't like spankings, but it wasn't like that one time his daddy hit him. That was a hard hit and it hurt for a long time. "But if you're my new daddy, you might get mean like my other daddy."

"Not all daddies are mean, Sammy," Gabriel said.

"I know, but maybe they are to me. Maybe I'm bad," Sam said before ducking his head.

Gabriel gently lifted the boy's chin until their eyes connected once more. "No, sweetheart, you are not bad. You are one of the best little boys in the whole world. I love you very much and so did your big brother. Don't ever think you're bad. You may get in trouble once and a while, but all kids do. There's nothing wrong with you."

"Then why was Daddy mean to me and not Dean? Why did he think Dean was better?" Sam asked.

"I don't know. He was very messed up. He got really sad when your mommy died and it changed him. He couldn't be a good dad anymore. Sammy, you need to understand that that isn't your fault. I also need you to know that no one's ever going to treat you like that again," Gabriel said firmly.

"Promise?" Sam asked.

"Yes, I promise."

Sam immediately threw his arms around the man and hugged him tightly.

Gabriel hugged him for a couple of minutes and then pulled away and stood up. "You think you can go back to sleep now?"

Sam nodded.

"Come on," Gabriel said before leading him through the living room and up the stairs to his bedroom. "Jump into bed, kiddo."

Sam immediately climbed onto the bed and got under the covers.

Gabriel immediately tucked the boy in and kissed him on the forehead.

"You can sing now, Daddy," Sam said.

That one word made Gabriel's heart skip a beat. He didn't realize just how much he wanted to hear it directed towards him. This boy was his now. No one would hurt him and no one would take him away.

Gabriel sat down on the edge of the bed and started playing with the child's hair, all the while humming his lullaby until Sam was fast asleep.