Just a warning, this bit has smut in it. Enjoy!

They arrived in Branson in the early evening. Sam carefully parked the Impala in a motel lot where Dean had told them to meet him, the car grinding to a halt. Dean was outside a room waiting for them

"I booked the two of you a room, you can babysit him while i get some sleep for once" Dean said haughtily, moving around them to inspect his car with an eagle eye, "Huh, not a scratch. Good job, Sammy."

Sam rolled his eyes as he got out of the car and slammed the door shut, "No sleep for now, we got to take care of that coven. What's the story?"

Dean began explaining while he led them to their room, "There have been three deaths so far. A teenage girl was the first, she was found dead in an abandoned warehouse with her heart ripped out of her chest. There were some symbols carved into her body. Same MO with the other two, a thirty year old man and woman. I think it's for some kind of offering, maybe some pagan god they're worshiping."

Sam agreed, "Yeah, sounds like it. Have you looked at what those symbols were? It could help us find them."

"Nah," Dean said casually, "was waiting for you to do that. You're better at research anyway."

Sam sighed and went to find his laptop but before he could open it Gabriel spoke up, "Was it brutal?"

Dean looked at him, "Huh?"

"The hearts. You said they were ripped out of the victim's chest. How bad was it?"

Dean shrugged, "D'know. Coroner said that it might have been when they were alive. Sounded pretty brutal to me."

Gabriel looked thoughtful, "This might not be a coven you're dealing with."

Dean frowned, "What do you mean? Looked witchy to me."

"There's a cult, usually based in Michigan, they call themselves the God-Hunters. That's what they do, hunt down pagan gods and capture and kill them. I had a run in with them once when I was still Loki. Nasty SOBs, thought they could best me. I was pretty sure I fried them all, but there may be some left."

"What makes you think it's them?" Sam questioned, "I mean, there's really not a lot to go on."

Gabriel grabbed a piece of paper and a pen from the motel bedside table, "The symbols, did one of them look like this?" He sketched out a slanted line with three other lines through it and a dot on top. Dean nodded, "Yeah, just like that."

"Then it's them. I can track them down using what I remember from last time I met them."

"Why are you helping us?" Dean asked brashly, "There's nothing in it for you."

Gabriel shrugged, but did not answer, instead he sat down on the bed and pulled up a map if Branson on Sam's laptop, "I'll have their location in a sec."

SPNSPNSPNSPNSPN

The cult was harder to deal with than expected, their numbers having grown over the years. Gabriel had to use more of his angel power than he should have, leaving him tired and cranky during the car ride back to the hotel. His main target of grumpiness was Dean and he insulted him the entire time.

"Thank God," Dean sighed gratefully when they reached their destination, "I was about to shoot that God damn archangel."

"Can hear you." Gabriel griped from the back seat.

"Shut up for a bit, won't you?" Dean said, slamming the car door behind him roughly and turning to Sam, "Hate to just dump you with him. Sure you don't want to just kick him out?"

Sam huffed, "As much of an asshole as he's being right now, you have to admit we couldn't have finished that case without him."

Dean threw his hand up in the air, "Whatever. See you in the morning."

"Yeah, see you." Sam grabbed Gabriel's collar as the archangel exited the Impala and dragged him into their hotel room.

"What the hell, Sam?" Gabriel protested, wriggling easily out of his grip.

San turned on him angrily, "I've vouched for you this entire time, but if you keep being such a dick, I will let Dean kick you out again!"

Gabriel took a step back, "Okay, okay, I deserved that. But it doesn't mean I don't think your brother's an idiot. How you two are related..."

Sam glared at him and he raised a hand in surrender. The hunter sighed again, "Let's just go to bed, it's been a long day." He shrugged off his shirt and climbed under the cover of his bed, changing into some pyjama bottoms under there.. Gabriel stood there awkwardly for a little while before approaching Sam.

"Can I sleep with you again?" He mumbled insecurely, fiddling with his jacket sleeve.

Sam opened his eyes half way, "Sure, whatever."

Gabriel smiled and clambered in next to the taller hunter, curling his body around Sam's. Sam felt him move after a while, the short archangel's leg going over him. Sam opened his eyes tosee Gabriel leaning over him, eyes dark with heat and intent and something that Sam almost recognised, something that sent warning bells off in his mind, but before he could process it, Gabriel turned and began mouthing his way down Sam's naked torso, and Sam, who hadn't had so much as a wank in weeks, lost himself to sensation. Sam had never been with someone so skilled. Any thoughts of refusal went out the window when Gabriel's lips touched him, and when his fingers brushed feather light down his neck all the way to the edge of his trousers and slipped teasingly under the edge, Sam suddenly found himself reaching down to untie the drawstring.

He didn't get that chance though before his pants were gone with a snap of Gabriel's fingers and Gabriel's lips were kissing their way down his groin to land on half-hard flesh. Sam bucked up off the bed as Gabriel did things to his body that no angel should know how to do, things that made him gasp and curl his toes, throw his head back and clench his fists in the sheets. Then, suddenly, after several glorious minutes, he stopped.

Sam's eyes shot open to see Gabriel kneeling over him buck naked with one knee on either side of Sam's hips, looking at him with that same expression from earlier, the one that he could not identify, before his eyes closed and he impaled himself on Sam.

"What the fuck?" Sam gasped even as his eyes widened and lightning shot up his spine, because Gabriel was so tight, he couldn't have prepared himself much, and it shouldn't feel so good but fucking hell it did, and Sam was helpless to do anything other than surrender to the sensation as Gabriel moved, his eyes scrunched up and his jaw set in what had to be pain. The rhythm was slow but deep, and it felt amazing, no girl had ever felt like this, but then, no girl he'd ever had was this -

Masochistic.

Even in the throes of sexual bliss, it hit Sam like a ton of bricks, and he sat up, locking his arms around Gabriel and rolling them over, pinning Gabriel underneath him and pulling out slowly.

"What are you doing? Stop it!" Gabriel snarled, struggling against Sam's grip.

"I'm not letting you use me to hurt yourself, Gabriel." Sam's voice was low and dangerous. "If you want to feel something, the least you deserve is pleasure, especially from the one you saved."

Gabriel looked hard at Sam for a moment, eyes flickering between his as he searched for the truth, before closing them and swallowing. "I apologise," he conceded. Then his lip quivered."I feel - my entire life there's been pain: anger or sadness, but...this hurts more, this emptiness. And I have to fill it with something. I thought that would work. But it didn't."

Sam thought back to the four months that Dean was in Hell, the things he did to demons and anything that got in his way, the things he considered doing to himself, probably would have done if Ruby hadn't been there to stop him, and the way he lost himself in her, using her, her body, her blood, to make himself forget. "I know," he said. "I've been there. And I can tell you that hurting yourself is just fighting fire with fire. But it gets better if you're willing to accept comfort."

Gabriel huffed, not quite a laugh, and narrowed his eyes at Sam. "Why would you offer me comfort? Look what I've done to you."

Sam quirked a backwards smile. "Yeah, I should hate you. But..."

"Hey, I get it. Gift horse, right?"

Sam nodded, letting go of Gabriel and backing up to sit against the headboard. Whatever happened now would be Gabriel's choice. The archangel sat up slowly and approached the hunter, cuddling up beside him and laying his head hesitantly on Sam's shoulder. He lifted his hand and snapped, magically bringing the covers to rest on top of them, "I'll take the comfort."