Gabriel fidgeted around in his seat, trying to get comfortable in the hard wooden chair he was sitting on. Cas shot him a glare and he stuck his tongue out, but sat still. Around him, the underground cavern was teeming with witches and familiars, twenty five of the former and ten of the latter, including Sam, Dean and their familiars.

The four members of the ruling coven were sitting behind a table in the front of the room, all of them looking incredibly somber. Sam, Dean, Gabe and Cas were sitting in the front row of the room. They were all waiting for Lucifer to arrive so that the trial could start, but Gabriel had never been known for his patience.

He sighed dramatically and Sam shot him a bitchface.

Sit still, you're making me nervous.

Sorry, but I can't help it. This chair is so uncomfortable.

Do you want to change and sit on my arm?

No, thanks. I think I've spent more than enough time as a bird in the past few days.

Sam chuckled and Gabe allowed himself a small smile. He leaned his head on Sam's arm (he couldn't reach the shoulder) and closed his eyes, intent on at least getting some sleep if he couldn't do anything else.

He must have drifted off because the next thing he knew, Sam was shaking him awake. He sat up and rubbed at his eyes, looking around the room. It had gone incredibly quiet, the murmur from before dying down until you could hear a pin drop. Lucifer was being led down the aisle in between the two sections of seats by the huge guard from the witch bar.

Everyone watched in varying stages of disbelief as he passed, as if it was incredibly hard to believe that he was being held on trial for something. He smiled at Gabriel and Castiel as he passed them, a small smile that contrasted sharply to the hate in his eyes. And then he was sitting in a chair facing the coven and Gabriel didn't have to see the promise of revenge shining in his blue eyes.

Chuck Shurley, the head of the coven, stood up and gazed out over the crowd. The murmuring stopped instantly and he nodded, satisfied.

"Now begins the trial of the witch Lucifer Heylel*," he said. "He has been accused of the following crimes by witches Sam and Dean WInchester." All eyes turned to them and Gabriel stared back defiantly. "Attacking and attempting to kill the familiar Gabriel Novak, casting a spell on the familiars Gabriel and Castiel Novak that inhibited their transformations and attacking the witches Sam and Dean Winchester in an attempt to discern the location of their familiars in order to kill them."

By the time Chuck had finished talking, almost every witch and even some of the familiars were shouting in outrage. Chuck glared out over the crowd but no one paid him any attention. Bobby, Crowley and Ellen stood up, too, pushing their power out. The crowd fell silent and the trial continued, albeit with a much more tense air.

"Do you deny any of these claims?" Chuck asked Lucifer. The witch was sprawled lazily in his chair, looking almost bored.

"No," he answered. A huge gasp rippled through the crowd.

"You have also been accused by the familiar Raphael Israfil** of murdering at least nine Unbonded familiars," Chuck continued. "Do you deny these claims?"

"Nope," Lucifer said. There was no outburst this time. All the witches and familiars were silent, watching the trial with bated breath.

"Do you have anything to add in your defense?" Chuck asked. Lucifer shook his head. Chuck looked at the other coven members and they all shook their heads. "This has been an unusual trial," he announced to the room. "The accused hasn't denied any claims and therefore offered no evidence to disprove said claims. As such, we find you guilty of all accusations. Your sentence is execution by beheading and will be carried out at dawn."

No one moved as Lucifer was led out by the same huge witch that escorted him in. He had a lazy smirk on his face and held his head proudly. Those in the aisle seats cringed back as he passed, as if afraid of catching some disease. After he had left, the four members of the coven exited, also. Bobby winked at Sam and Dean and Ellen gave them a huge smile.

Almost as soon as they had left, the chatter started up again. Sam, Dean and their familiars slipped out before the witches and familiars could corner them with questions. Gabriel felt a wave of relief wash over him as they stepped out into the fresh air and made their way over to where the Impala was parked.

He and Sam slid into the backseat, Sam having to fold his legs up in order to fit comfortably.

"So," he said once Dean had pulled out of the parking lot, "I'm glad that's over."

"You and me, both," Dean said. "Dawn can't come soon enough for me."

"Dean, look at the damn road," Cas said exasperatedly. "I swear, one of these days you're going to crash."

"No, I won't," Dean answered cockily. "I'm too good of a driver to crash."

Gabriel scoffed a laugh. "Yeah, and besides, even if he does hit another car his inflated ego will be enough to protect his big head."

"Ha ha," Dean said sarcastically as Sam and Cas cracked up. "That was hilarious."

Gabriel chuckled and leaned his head against the car door. Sam grabbed his hand and rubbed small circles onto the back of it with his thumb. It was soothing, and Gabe once again found himself falling asleep.

He was woken up when the car stopped about twenty minutes later. He was too comfortable to move, so kept his eyes closed and tried to fall back asleep. He heard Sam chuckle and a moment later, the door opened and he was lifted out. He smiled and snuggled into Sam's chest, ignoring Dean's snickering as the witch carried him inside and up the stairs.

Sam placed him gently on a bed and pulled off his shoes, leaving his favorite jacket on. Gabe curled up on his side and smiled contentedly.

Thanks, Sammy.

No problem, Gabe. Why are you so tired?

I didn't get much sleep last night.

Why? Are you okay?

I'm fine, I just couldn't sleep.

Okay. Good night, Gabriel.

'Night, Sam.

Sam turned off the light and closed the door quietly. Gabriel cracked open one eye and checked the time on the clock on the dresser. It was only 8, but he was exhausted. He sighed and closed his eyes again, drifting off into a deep sleep.

...oO()Oo…

Bright light shone directly on his face the next morning, forcing him to wake up. Gabriel scrunched up his face and turned over to escape the sunlight streaming in through a crack in the blinds. He wasn't prepared to come face to face with Sam. His brow furrowed in confusion. What was Sam doing in his bed? He looked around for the first time and noticed that he was actually in Sam's bed. Sam must have put him here last night instead of in his room. Whatever. Gabriel scooted down until he could rest his head comfortably on Sam's chest and closed his eyes again. He tried to fall back asleep, but found it harder than he thought.

The fact that Sam's heart was racing right in his ear wasn't helping matters either.

Sam," he mumbled. "I know you're awake."

He glanced up and saw Sam open his eyes. The witch smiled sheepishly down at him and Gabe smiled back.

"Um, good morning," Sam said awkwardly. Gabriel chuckled and closed his eyes again.

"Why'd you put me in your bed instead of mine last night?" he asked. Sam didn't reply and Gabe looked up again. Sam was blushing furiously and seemed to not know how to respond. "Sam?"

"Uh," he finally bit out. "My room was closer and you were really tired, and I didn't want to make you wait for a bed."

Gabriel raised his eyebrow. "Sam, my room is literally right next to yours. Three seconds was not gonna make a huge difference. Now tell me the truth."

Sam blushed even darker and shrugged. Gabriel smirked.

"Sammy," he said in a teasing tone, drawing out the name.

"Gabriel, do you want to go out sometime?" Sam blurted out, then winced. He flushed again and looked down at the sheets. "I mean, on a date?"

Gabriel rolled his eyes and snuggled into Sam's chest. "Sam, we're practically dating already, you dork."

"Uh, we are?" Gabriel nodded.

"Yup," he said. "I love you, you moose."

Sam wrapped around Gabriel's waist hesitantly. "I love you, too."

"Good. Now can we go back to sleep? It's way too early to be awake." Sam chuckled.

"Sorry," he said. "But we have stuff to do today and we need to get up."

Gabriel groaned and mumbled into his pillow, but let Sam drag him out of bed. He walked to his bathroom and started a shower, brushing his teeth while he waited for the water to warm up. He felt much more awake once he was clean and dressed in fresh clothes. He walked downstairs and rummaged through the fridge, looking for something to eat.

"Morning," Dean said when he and Cas came downstairs. Gabriel grunted in reply and poured himself a cup of coffee, adding a ton of milk and sugar to it. He pulled out a bottle of 5-Hour Energy from the pocket of his jacket and poured the whole thing into the coffee. Dean's eyebrows shot up when he chugged the whole mug. "What the fuck, man? Are you trying to kill yourself?"

Gabriel could already feel the energy coursing through his veins and gave Dean a shit-eating grin.

"I needed energy," he said, talking a little faster than normal. "I'm usually still asleep right now, and Sam said we have stuff to do today and I knew coffee alone wasn't gonna be enough so I figured that with the 5-Hour Energy it would last at least six hours and that should be plenty of time for us to do what we need to do and come home so I can crash on the couch or something 'cause I know that this energy crash is gonna be really bad and-"

"Enough!" Cas shouted, slamming his hand down on the table. Gabriel lapsed into silence and watched his brother with wide eyes. "It's bad enough when you're on a sugar high, I can't even imagine what you'll be like today."

Gabriel smirked and placed his mug in the sink. He wolfed down a bowl of cereal before running back upstairs to Sam's room. He found the witch brushing his teeth and snuck up behind him, throwing his arms around Sam's waist.

"Sam!" he cried. "What do we have to do today? Why are you taking so long to get ready? Have you heard from the ruling coven yet? Did they tell you anything about Lucifer's execution? Where are we going? Do we have to go to the store? Can we get ice-cream on the way? Are-"

"Gabriel!" Sam yelled, slapping his hand over the familiar's mouth. Gabriel crossed his eyes and stared at the hand, then did the most childish thing he could think of: he licked it. Sam drew back his hand as though it had been burned and wiped it down the front of his shirt in disgust. "Why are you so hyper?"

"I may or may not have poured a bottle of 5-Hour Energy into my coffee," Gabriel replied, rocking back and forth on the balls of his feet. Sam facepalmed passionately, watching the memory in Gabriel's mind.

"You're an idiot," he sighed.

"Yeah, but I'm your idiot," Gabriel said, throwing his hands around Sam's waist again and hugging him close. "Right?"

"Right."

Sam finished getting ready and went downstairs for breakfast. He ate agonizingly slowly, talking with Dean and Castiel all throughout breakfast. Gabriel fidgeted impatiently the whole time, absentmindedly playing with anything he could get his hands on. When they finally finished, he bounced out to the Impala and slid into the backseat with Cas.

"Where are we going?" he asked after about two minutes of driving.

"Ask Sam," was Dean's response. "In your head," he added Gabriel opened his mouth again. Gabriel stuck his tongue out at the back of Dean's head but complied.

Where are we going?

Sam chuckled a bit before answering.

It's a surprise.

I hate surprises.

I know, I can read your memories, remember? But you'll like this surprise, I promise.

Gabriel poked around Sam's mind, trying to find any information on where they were going, but the witch had a firm hold on every memory starting from last night, and was singing to himself in his head to prevent himself from accidentally thinking about it.

Gabriel huffed and crossed his arms, pouting. He could hear every person in the car laugh when he did and it just made him pout harder. He couldn't sit still, though, from the energy buzzing through him. He fidgeted in the seat, alternating between jiggling his leg, humming to himself and tapping his hands on every available surface.

After an hour of driving, he was going insane, and so was everyone else. He was debating the pros and cons of opening the door and hanging out of a car doing eighty on the interstate when Dean announced that they had arrived. They pulled into a parking garage in the middle of nowhere and exited.

There was nothing but trees around them, bustling with life. Gabriel looked around with a smile on his face. He had always felt more at ease in a forest than in the city, like Cas. He supposed it had something to do with the natural habitats of their animal forms.

"So, what's the surprise?" Gabe asked.

"Wait and you'll find out," Sam teased, laughing when Gabriel frowned. He led the way into the woods, following a path beaten down into the ground by thousands of people before them. Gabriel couldn't help running ahead or off the path every time he heard an interesting noise or saw a tree he just had to climb.

"Gabe!" Cas called as he ran off into the forest in pursuit of a strange-looking bird he had seen. The familiar just waved his hand and continued on. "Gabriel Richard Novak, if you don't get your butt over here this instant I swear to God I'm going to burn every piece of candy in the house when we get home.

Gabriel froze and slowly turned around, a glare fixed on his face.

"You wouldn't," he said, his voice low.

"Wouldn't I?" Cas retorted. Dean smirked and Gabriel crossed his eyes at him. "Why are you such a child?"

"Because being a child is fun," Gabriel answered. "Hey, is my heart supposed to be beating this fast?" He stopped and pressed a hand to his chest. His heart was pounding painfully in his chest and he was panting hard. "And I'm feeling super anxious. Maybe I shouldn't have mixed a caffeine shot into my coffee."

Sam rolled his eyes and Dean snorted.

"Ya think?" Dean asked sarcastically. "I swear, Gabriel, you act like a child and sometimes you think like one, too. That has to be the stupidest, bravest thing I've ever seen in my life."

Gabriel winked at him. "You know it, Hotshot."

"Alright, we're here!" Sam announced, cutting off whatever reply Dean was going to make. Gabriel looked around at the clearing they had stepped into. It was huge and lit up with sunlight, but the most prominent feature was the pond in the middle. The water was clear and sparkling with reflected light from the sun, but there was another figure standing by the edge.

Gabriel frowned and looked closer. That guy looked a lot like… but that was impossible, he was dead.

"Oh, I assure you that I am very much alive, Gabriel," the witch said, his voice carrying over the sound of nature all around them. Gabriel's blood turned to ice and his already racing heart beat even faster as fear spiked through him. There was a gasp from Castiel and Dean cursed as the man turned around, letting the small group by the edge of the clearing see his face. "Miss me?" Lucifer taunted. Gabriel scowled.

"I hate surprises."

*Heylel is another name for Lucifer.

**Israfil is the name for the archangel Raphael in Muslim culture.

Guys, I just finished reading Twist and Shout. It was really cute, but I was expecting it to be super heart-wrenching. I swear, with the reviews I've heard, I was expecting to break down sobbing in the middle of the story, but I didn't even feel sad, which is really weird cuz I'm a super emotional person.