They made their own choice. They chose family.

“Considering how much trouble you two were already dodging? You kind of didn’t need me making both of you a bigger target. I’ve already got enough people hacked off at me, angel and pagan alike. If I showed up on your doorstep, they’d have followed.”

Not that he didn’t want to see Sam, to talk to him and tell him what he’d done and why. But given what he was dealing with? Distance seemed far safer.

Gabriel picks at the label on the bottle. “It’s not the easiest spell to put together. There are a lot of moving parts and it took time to get it working. Besides, you would have said no."

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"Well, you're entirely right about that." He still can't really believe it, that Gabriel carved out his own Grace to protect Sam. "I don't...I don't understand, I guess. I would rather have had you with us, enemies or not."

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He lays his hands flat on the table, looking down at them in a gesture oddly reminiscent of that last message he left on the DVD before facing down his brother. "I know Sam. And don't think that I didn't want to be there. Don't think that I didn't want to see you."

"It was the one way I'd know you were always safe. I needed you to be safe Sam. To get that chance to be happy."

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It takes a few moments, but Sam finally reaches over, placing his hands over Gabriel's. He's still hurt more than mad, but the urge to hit something is still there.

It's just that that something isn't really Gabriel anymore.

"I would have been happier knowing you were alive," he finally said. "Maybe not at first. There was...there was a lot of stuff going on about the time you were brought back. But I still would rather have known." It might have made other things so much easier.

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"Problem with being an average joe, even with the ridiculously high IQ. Sometimes I even make bad calls. No more power to poke at all the potential outcomes." Gabriel flips his hands so his palms are up beneath Sam's.

"It was enough for me to know that you were safe Sam. That whatever you were going up against, I'd be able to protect you."

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He probably doesn't have to tell Gabriel that, for some things, it was too late to protect him. Especially after the debacle with the last tablet. Instead, he squeezes Gabriel's hands and pulls his back.

"We were headed for Chattanooga," Sam says, reaching for his bottle. "At least, that's where the spell told us to go. Really weren't expecting to meet our quarry about half way." Even at Dean's driving speeds, he hadn't expected to reach the city until close to nightfall or just after.

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"Sometimes the aim on those things is a little wonky. I also messed with a few wards around the place, which probably muddled up where the spell thought I was." Hey, he's mortal now. Gotta be careful.

Gabriel lets Sam's hands go and leaves his on the table for a moment. "So now that you've found me, you two sticking around for a couple of days?"

And he wishes his voice didn't sound quite so hopeful at the question.

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"It was enough to put us on the right road. Though I'm pretty sure the spell you laid on me was the one that made sure what route we took." And the fact that they'd stopped at this bar.

Sam glances up, more to figure out where Dean is than anything. "I'd...I think I'd like that. I'm not sure what Dean will do, though. He might head back to Lebanon instead." It didn't hurt to let Gabriel know where they were. If anybody was likely to know where the Men of Letters bunker was, it was going to be the archangel who had spent so long among humans.

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"Back to the Batcave, hm? Yeah Dean's gotta be pretty stoked about that place. I'm glad you guys finally found it." He knew of the Men of Letters, their connection back to the Winchesters. They found their legacy and finally had a home. Win-win, really.

"I've got a place close by, more than enough room for two if you wanna crash there and not bother with the local no-tell motel?"

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Even if it has taken time for Sam to come to terms with the place as an actual home rather than a place to work. But he really does love the bunker now.

Sam takes a breath and nods. "That would be good, actually. Really good. Save a bit on the funds as well." Though that has been going their direction, too, when they're hustling. Or when Sam's hustling, mostly. He's not sure if that's the spell or just running into suckers, though.

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"Sure thing. Mi casa and all that stuff." It would be nice to have Sam nearby for a few days while they figured things out, or at least had some time to talk. He'd left him that message at the back of the dvd, but never had the courage to tell him how much he really cared.

Maybe they'd get that chance now.

"I can hand over the reins to someone else if you wanted to talk? Or are you two going to set up shop in a corner for a few?"

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The truth of the matter is, it's probably going to end badly. That's how it always ends for Sam, at least. It's just the way that his life is.

And yet, there's still a part of him that hopes. It's the reason why he's been able to survive when everything else has gone so wrong over and over again.

So he looks over again and catches Dean's eye, tilting his head back toward the table. "I think Dean and I need to talk at least for a couple of minutes. I'll let you know what the decision is, then."

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"Sure. Talk it over, lemme know what the deal is before you two skedaddle." Gabriel pushes away from the table and heads back towards the bar. Focusing on simple, mundane tasks like work while Sam is sitting right there won't be easy but he can fake it reasonably well.

Dean slides back into the booth, peering back at Gabriel with a frown. "What the hell is he even doing alive?"

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Sam shakes his head, focusing on Dean because it's easier than trying to deal with what's in his head right now. "He doesn't know. Woke up in the same place where he'd died and just...sort of did his best to stay low. Didn't want to come to us when he'd only bring more enemies to our door."

Which, honestly, Sam thought was a bit bullshit. All the Winchesters have ever done is deal with enemies. It isn't like it would have been new or different, even dealing with the Leviathans or Crowley.

He takes a breath, letting it out slowly. "I'd...kinda like to stay for a few days."

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"Mhm." Dean pulls a face as he glances over at Gabriel. "Yeah because he's been so good at looking after more than his own ass in the past."

But hey. It's not his call to make. Dean shakes his head. There was always something a little different between those two and better that they sort it out now, inbetween disasters. "All right Sam. 's your call. You want me to stick around?"

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"I'm pretty sure we've got proof of at least one time when he's looked after more than his own ass." Because Sam's now Superman or something. He's not too certain he should look too deeply at it.

Sam shakes his head after another moment of thought. "No, you don't have to. I should be able to get home on my own if you'd rather not hang around."

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It doesn't make a damned bit of sense, and one day soon he and Gabriel are going to Have Words about what he'd done. But not today. Whatever's going on, Sam wants to handle it and Dean has to let him.

"All right Sam. I'm gonna grab a bite to eat, hit the road in a couple of hours. You change you mind or anything, you call." If Gabe was really mortal now, he could trust Sam to handle things.

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"Yeah. Eating would probably be a good idea, no matter what." Especially with most of a beer in his stomach. Though he realizes belatedly that Gabriel had drank most of Dean's beer.

He looks up at Dean and nods. "I will. I don't think this is likely to go all that badly, but I'll let you know if I need anything."

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Dean moves to pick up said beer, grimaces and puts it back down. "That dick drank it, then I'm not paying for it." He doesn't like leaving, but that's Sam's decision to make. Dean clapped a hand on his shoulder.

"Call if you change your mind Sam. I'll.. let you two figure this crap out."

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Sam reaches up, squeezing Dean's hand before nodding. "I will, promise. I'm not too sure at the moment how much there really is to figure out, but I'll do my best."

Because talking about this is not something that Sam's great at. Call it being a repressed Winchester, but some things were a lot easier before he started hunting again. "I'll let you know how things are going, no matter what."

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Dean gave him a final clap on the shoulder before getting to his feet. "All right Sammy. Give me a call tonight before I head out, let me know how things are going."

Gabriel doesn't come over right away after Dean leaves, but he does eventually wander back. "So should I be checking my car for boobytraps on the way out?"

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"Unless your car is full of candy bar wrappers, I think he'd have trouble figuring out which one is yours." Sam takes a last sip of his beer and shakes his head. "No, I think you're safe enough. We've had our issues, but I think he's trusting me to be able to handle this on my own."

Even if it was going to hurt like a son of a bitch. He'd had years to come to terms with what was on that DVD, with the fact that neither of them had ever had the chance to say what they meant or what they could have meant. It didn't make it easy in the least, but he'd dealt with it. Or so he thought, until now.

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Gabriel shakes his head, giving his midsection a pat. “Had to give that up when I went native. Can’t exactly live on sugar alone anymore.” It had been an odd adjustment but all things considered? He was doing pretty good. Even stupid little things like running in the park with his dog, an afternoon nap in the sun, he explored every aspect of mortality he could.

“Handling it, huh? That doesn’t sound ominous at all.” He slides back into the booth that Dean had vacated. “So. What now? Do we talk this out or do I get yelled at for doing this without your say-so?”

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"Gabriel, if I got pissed off every time you did something to me without my say-so...Well, it would probably look a lot like our relationship so far." Because that was all Gabriel had ever done for a while there. In all honesty, though, Sam wasn't sure he could be too mad at him for what happened. "I think you and I can talk this out like adults. I know you don't have a lot of experience with that, but we can try."

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