Gabriel sat at the bar, watching the humans celebrate their Christmas as he sipped on a never-ending glass of heavily spiked eggnog. He hadn't intended on staying with them, wanting to leave as soon as he brought everyone back to where they belonged. But Sam had almost begged him to stay for the holiday, claiming that he wanted to spend it with 'all the people he cared about'. Damn the kid.
A fond smile was on his face as he watched the brothers tear into their presents at the tree, the two of them practically glued at the hip. They had woken up to a surprisingly large amount of presents under the tree that the adults didn't have an explanation for, but Sam had sent him a knowing and grateful smile as soon as he saw the precise and expensive looking wrapping.
Honestly, they were lucky that he even took their presents seriously; the part of him that still responded to Loki had wanted to put many things in those boxes that would've had him banished. But he figured that the humans had been through enough.
Besides, it was worth it to see Sam so happy. The boy's soul was brighter than it had been in a long time… Even brighter than when he had met him at his high school all those months ago, before Azazel had tried to make a claim on him. Gabriel had thought Sam's soul was bright then, but it held nothing against the almost blinding light that was coming from him now.
He looked away as he took another sip of his drink. Once he had spent enough time with them, Gabriel would have to go continue his search for Max. The boy had escaped while everyone had been huddled around Dean. Gabriel wasn't too worried about the kid, but he also didn't like loose threads that could move things with their minds. He knew for a fact that Max wouldn't be going back to Hell anytime soon though; with Azazel gone, the demons were all making a grab for the throne and none of them were too open to the idea of a human child sitting there instead. During his trip down there to get the rest of the children Azazel had stashed, he overheard many of the demons talking about how much they all hated the idea of it. Only Azazel and his inner circle seemed to really support the idea. It was a relief to know that no other demons would be gunning after Sam, not even the few that knew what his real purpose was.
If it could even be called his real purpose anymore. Gabriel had seen the threads of fate weaving a new future while Sam and Dean were hugging it out in that abandoned building. True vessels they may be, that future was no longer in existence. Sam and Dean were safe from the meddling hands of Heaven.
A smile pulled at Gabriel's face as he watched the young angel that hovered near Dean. Safe from meddling hands, but not concerned ones.
Dean caught his eye, his back straightening. He sent Sam a smile, shoving his shoulder as he stood up and started to walk over to the bar. He took a seat one over from Gabriel, grabbing a glass from over the counter and looking over at him with a raised brow.
Gabriel smirked, snapping his fingers as the glass was filled with the same spiked eggnog as his.
"Thanks," Dean smiled, awe in his eyes as he watched the drink swirl in the glass. The awe quickly left though, replaced by something close to embarrassment as he wouldn't meet Gabriel's eyes. "And thanks for yesterday… For healing me. I'm glad that I didn't have to leave Sam alone."
"Don't mention it," Gabe waved him off, laughing lightly. "I'm serious, I have a reputation to keep. I can't have monsters think I'm going soft on humans now."
"Monsters?" Concern flashed through Dean's eyes. Gabriel had to choke down a laugh; this kid was hilarious, his eyes alone were an open book! How he managed to be the infamous poker player he was known as was beyond him.
"Oh, I'm sure Samshine will tell all of you the whole story soon. But I guess I can give you the highlights to save the suspense." Gabriel shrugged, his glass swirling to the brim again. "I normally go by the name Loki down here. You know, Norse God of Tricks? My social groups are pretty far from human."
Those green eyes turned to confusion, narrowing slightly as he tried to understand. "But… You're an archangel…? Why are you pretending to be a god?"
"Puh-lease…!" Gabriel leaned back in his chair, rolling his eyes. "And be stuck with all the politics and ethics of Heaven? No, thank you. I'm happy down here where I can call the shots on what I want to do."
The angel hovering over Dean's shoulder bristled with agitation, the little ball of Grace bravely swooping closer and brushing past Gabriel's ear. The archangel easily batted him away.
Dean's head tilted, an eyebrow raising in question at the motion. Gabriel chuckled as he flicked his youngest brother away after he made his second pass.
"Your angel is annoyed with my viewpoint on Heaven."
"My angel?"
"Your guardian angel, to be precise. He's been hovering very closely since yesterday, worried that you'll endanger yourself again. Knowing the Winchesters, that worry is very warranted."
Dean looked around the air between them cautiously, though his eyes held a wonder to them. "Why can see you but not him?"
"No body, no see. He's just a guardian angel at the moment, so he doesn't get to have a vessel. But after guarding your soul yesterday he should be getting a promotion soon, and being the little rebel that he is I bet he'll pay you a visit once he's found the right host."
Dean's eyes brightened, a broad smirk spreading across his face. "My guardian angel is a rebel?"
"Deano, you have no idea…" Gabriel chuckled, remembering all the trouble that he had gotten into with his youngest brother when Gabe still stayed in Heaven.
Another set of footsteps sounded Sam's approach, perching himself on the seat between Dean and Gabriel. Dean's smirk melted away into a fond smile, ruffling Sam's shaggy hair and ignoring the squawk of protest.
"Samshine," Gabriel greeted, lifting his glass up, "Want a drink too?"
Sam eyed Gabriel's glass as he patted his hair down, his lips pushing together in a thin line. "No thanks… I know how you drink eggnog."
Dean looked confused at that, bringing his glass up to sniff it first before taking a more than generous sip of the drink. Sam turned to watch him, sympathy in his hazel eyes but unable to hide his laugh as Dean's eyes nearly bugged out of his head and he fought down a cough.
"You should never accept food or drinks from the God of Tricks," Sam smiled. "It never ends well for anyone but him."
"Hey," Gabriel bumped his shoulder against Sam's, "I seem to recall you enjoying yourself when I created a worm in your school bully's sandwich."
"That was you?" Sam's eyes went wide as he turned to Gabe.
"Kid was a dick," The archangel shrugged with a smirk. "He had it coming."
"I sup-" Dean's voice cracked as he still struggled to get over the alcohol, clearing his throat before trying again. "I support any acts of revenge against people who hurt Sam."
"You're biased, Dean, your opinion doesn't count."
"So what if I'm biased? I still get a say!"
Gabriel chuckled as the two of them playfully argued; even if it wasn't serious, he could still feel the boost of power he got from their chaos help to heal his wings. Azazel had done a number on him… They really should have anticipated Dean staying behind for the fight and took precautionary measures for it. Not being able to fight back against Azazel while he was in Dean's body had been a hard blow to their chances. It would take a while for him to fully heal as well, but with Sam and his family out of harm's way then he should be fine. All he needed was a nice beach and a lot of women… He'd heal in no time.
Or… There was always the possibility of him going back home. With Sam and Dean's destiny safely averted, his brothers wouldn't be looking for a hostile takeover anymore that would cause any more unnecessary fights. Plus, they no doubt already knew he was alive after all the Grace he was throwing around the past few months. And even if Heaven turned out to be blind, there was no doubt Dean's angel would report him to the higher ups. Gabriel could go up for a quick visit, see how they were doing, let Raph heal him up as they all laughed about the old times.
Beach. A beach sounded really nice. With a lot of women. A horde of women.
He took a long drink of his eggnog, trying to drown out the idea of Heaven.
Beside him, Sam nearly fell out of his chair while trying to get away from Dean's teasing, both his brother and Gabe grabbing his arms to keep him seated. Worry flashed through Dean's eyes for a moment, but Sam started laughing with his head tipped back and tears bubbling in the corner of his eyes. Dean glanced over at Gabriel, the archangel shrugging in return as he smiled at Sam. The boy's joy was infectious, quickly spreading to Dean and Gabriel, though they really didn't know what was so funny. With a hand on his shoulder, Gabriel could tell that Sam didn't get into his spiked eggnog by accident (he remembered when Sam mistakenly drank his whiskey that had a few drops of coffee in it. That had been a fun night…).
Sam soon calmed down, coughing occasionally as he wiped his tears with the back of his hand. Dean got up from his chair, going behind the bar to get Sam a glass of water. He placed it in front of Sam then leaned against the bar to watch him as he drank.
"You good, Samshine?" Gabe asked, an amused smile on his face. Sam looked at him with a large smile as he nodded.
"Yeah, yeah, I'm good." He nodded, "I'm just really happy."
"Oh, we can tell," Dean chuckled, propping his chin on his palm. "I didn't think that nearly falling would make you so happy though."
"It's not that," Sam rolled his eyes, though the smile was still there. "It just… I'm here. I'm back with everyone again, and we're all alive." He let out a sigh as he leaned back a bit, looking up at the ceiling to avoid meeting Dean and Gabe's gaze. "While we were traveling, I thought about the fight with Azazel a lot. I knew that no matter how much I trained, and how much we prepared, we would get hurt. And I thought that if I got strong enough, then maybe I could keep the casualties to just…"
"You?" Dean asked, his voice quiet.
"Yeah…" Sam's eyes shot to his brother, hesitant at first but then turning into a playful scowl. "I should have known you'd find a way to mess it up though."
"Damn right." Dean grinned as he reached over to ruffle Sam's hair. "Nobody hurts with my brother, not even himself."
Sam swatted Dean's hand away with Dean swatting right back, the two of them getting into another playful fight. The fight took a turn when Sam dipped his hand into his water and flung a few drops at Dean before taking off. Dean blinked in surprise before letting out a laugh and giving chase to Sam around the room. There were shouts from the others, mainly Ellen warning them not to break any of her furniture, as the boys weaved between tables and posts and people until Dean finally caught up to his brother and tackled him to the ground. There was squealing laughter as they wrestled, Sam putting up a good fight but ultimately no match for his older brother.
Gabriel lifted his drink, turning in his seat to watch them with a fond smile like the rest of Sam's family. Unlike the rest of the family though, Gabriel could see the brightness of the brothers' souls as they interacted. The little angel came to hover near Gabriel's shoulder as he watched them as well, admiring the beauty of soulmates being together. The light show was better than any Christmas decorations a rich person in their fancy neighborhood could put up, and the joy that flowed from the bond was warmer than any fireplace could hope to be. Gabriel could almost feel the cavity forming in his mouth from how sweet the scene was.
I do not believe that Archangels can get cavities. But if they can, then I would think it was from the copious amounts of candy that you eat, The angel prayed to him, his Grace flickering slightly in confusion. Gabe could almost see his head tilted and eyes narrowed as he tried to understand.
You have got to hang around me and the humans more often, Cassy. No little brother of mine is going to be ignorant of sarcasm and sass if I have anything to say about it.
And be corrupted by your hedonistic ways? No, thank you.
Gabriel rolled his eyes. You sound like Naomi. Hey, did you know she used to have a thing with this one dem-
Someone sat next to Gabe, breaking him out of his teasing mental conversation. He looked over to see Mary smiling at him, hesitance hidden deep within her determination.
"Hi," She started, her hands fiddling with a present that was still wrapped. "We didn't really get a chance to talk earlier in Cold Oak, but I wanted to thank you for watching over Sam all this time. I don't think watching over a teenager is a part of your job description as an Archangel, but I'm glad that you did it."
"Please," Gabe waved her off, an embarrassing amount of heat rushing to his cheeks. "I haven't done any Archangel duties in quite a few centuries."
"Even more reason then." She held the present to him, giving him the patented smile all loving mothers had. "It's not much, but Merry Christmas, Gabriel."
Gabe blinked down at the present, eyes wide as he slowly reached out to take it. He glanced back up at Mary as she passed it over, half expecting her to take it back. But she only smiled at him warmly. He carefully unwrapped the colorful paper from the box and opened the lid. Inside was a rounded piece of wood attached to a braided cord necklace. His eyebrows furrowed as he felt a powerful magick coming from it, lifting the necklace to get a better look.
His eyes widened more as he saw the runes carved into the wood that he could now tell was birch. The Norse rune of protection was on one side of the wood while the binding rune to send ill will back to the source was on the other. Around the edges of the wood were smaller runes swirling together in an intricate design that almost seemed like a floral pattern. Woven into the cord of the necklace were two small Tiger's Eye stones every two inches with an onyx stone in the middle.
Gabriel held it up, admiring the craftsmanship of it; whoever made it must have put a lot of effort into it. This wasn't something that could be manufactured – despite what many gift shops in Norway thought.
"I braided the cord while John carved the wood, I hope we did okay. Sam told us last night that you used to go by Loki for a while before you found him. John and I aren't too fluent in Norse runes, but Bobby has a few books that he let us borrow. It might seem silly since you're an Archangel, but you protected our boy when we couldn't. We wanted to at least try to return the favor."
He looked at her in awe, his eyes flickering behind her to see John watching them from his place by the tree with a small smile. Gabriel knew that it had to have been handmade, but he didn't expect it to be handmade by them…
He looked back to Mary, seeing the warm shine to her soul that was so similar to Sam's. Their soft features were always a giveaway for their relation, but looking past that Gabriel could see where Sam got his kindness from. The warmth in Sam's smile, his gentle spirit, his love of knowledge, it all came from Mary.
"Thank you," Gabriel smiled as he slipped the necklace over his head and let it hang against his chest. For a moment, he let the last of his Loki persona slip away so that the Archangel hiding behind it could come up with the words he needed to convey just how happy that he felt. "You Winchesters… You're something special. Heaven has been watching your family for a while, but I don't think even they could predict how outstanding you all turned out. It truly was my honor getting to know you, and I can't wait to see what other things your family accomplishes."
Mary's soul brightened with her smile, awe in her eyes. With the Archangel at the front, Gabriel could see her faith burning like a candle next to her soul. He could see all the times she had prayed in her life and all the times that she had unknowingly but willingly followed her Life's Plan, plus all the good that she did as a Hunter. She would be a very welcomed soul in Heaven.
"Come sit with us, Gabriel," She asked, offering her hand to him. "Join the family. I know a lot of those presents came from you."
Gabriel glanced at the other humans that sat around the tree with their glasses of much less spiked eggnog, chatting and laughing and admiring their new gifts. Sam and Dean had stopped their wrestling and were instead just laying on the floor with large smiles (Sam's faith was almost just as strong as his mother's, Dean's quite less so).
He took her hand, letting her lead him to the group. Ava pulled another chair over, sending him a shy smile. He smiled back as he sat, taking a last sip of courage from his drink before letting Loki slip back into the front of his personality.
"Alright, show of hands," Gabe called, sending a smirk towards Sam. "Who wants to hear Samshine's most embarrassing training adventures? I have a whole list, do you want it alphabetical or chronological?"
"No…!" Sam shouted, jumping up from the floor. "Gabe, don't you dare!"
"I'm sure Dean would love to hear about the crush you got on a convenience store worker and lost control of your powers because she was so cute, causing several sodas to explode."
Sam's face burned red as the group all laughed. "Gabriel!"
"Oh, or what about when you were trying to work on your visions and saw-"
A wad of crumpled wrapping paper hit him in the face, Sam's desperate attempt to stop the conversation causing Gabriel to break off into a laugh. The damage had been done though, Dean latching onto the story and trying to guess what Sam had unintentionally seen, Jo and Ava throwing their suggestions in as well. Some of them got pretty close, causing Sam to grow more frantic in his denials. He wasn't fooling anyone though, and they all knew it.
Gabe sat back and watched as they all laughed. He was only mildly shocked to find that the chaos of their laughter was enough for him to get a boost in his healing. A part of him wondered if it was really from their 'chaos' or if it was something deeper. But he shoved the thought aside for another time. For now, he would enjoy the moment with these humans who all had such bright souls.
And maybe, just maybe, he would visit them again after the holidays.
A/N: Oh man… wow… I'm going to get emotional. This is the end of this series… Sam is home, Azazel is gone, Gabriel has a new family with the humans, and the Winchesters are free from Fate. This all started on a whim last year because I read a oneshot of Sam and Dean being raised separately. That first story I wrote wasn't even going to be more than a oneshot itself! But thanks to all the wonderful and supportive comments I got, it turned out to be the longest series I've ever worked on. A huge thank you to everyone who stuck with me through the year, even when I went on breaks that lasted a few months. This series would not have been possible without all the support and encouragement I received. I hope you'll all look forward to other spn stories I write in the future as well. 3
Speaking of other stories, I already have an idea I'm playing around with for a new series! It'll be set around S4 and have more separated Sam and Dean! Quite a bit of angst and a frantic Dean will be involved. And just last night I came up with another oneshot idea too. So there will be a lot more Sam and Dean in the future!
Also, I do have a few spin off ideas for this series... There's a few loose threads I need to tie up and a couple background ideas I want to flesh out. So keep your eyes open for that in the future!
I hope that you all have a wonderful day, however you celebrate today. Thank you all so much for reading my silly little stories and enjoying them so much. I'll be sending Gabriel and Castiel vibes your way! XD Merry Christmas!