They made their own choice. They chose family.

"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.

From:

"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?"

From:

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.

From:

"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?"

From:

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."

From:

"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?"

From:

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."

From:

"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?"

From:

"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."

From:

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.

From:

"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."

From:

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."

From:

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."

From:

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?"

From:

"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.

From:

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?”

From:

"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."

From:

"I'd almost think you were accusing me of being childish." And for good measure he sticks out his tongue at Sam before getting to his feet. "Come on. Frank said he'd close up tonight and something tells me this isn't something you wanna air out in public."

From:

Sam snorts, pushing himself to his feet as well. "Yeah, this probably isn't something for the public ear." Considering all the stuff that they had to go over. Nobody in the bar was near drunk enough to forget it, after all. "Lead the way."

From:

Gabriel leads him out to a bright yellow Mustang. "See? No candy, and with any luck, no car bombs."

His house wasn't far, only a few short blocks. A modest two story on the corner with a slowly blooming garden and a handful of dog toys stacked on the porch. Completely average, unless you count the warding worked into the wood around the doors and windows, the iron nails in the windowsill and protection charms at the four corners of the house.

Hey - he's human, doesn't mean he's going to stop being thorough.

"You don't have a thing against dogs do you?"

From:

Yellow would really not have been Sam's choice, but for some reason, it fits Gabriel really well.

The house is more of a surprise, really. Sam blinks, looking up at it and noting the things done to make it safer. At least, the things he can see so far.

The question brings his attention back to Gabriel and he blinks. "Ah. No, no. I love dogs."

From:

"Built the place before I did the deed. Worked all kinds of magic into the crossbeams, foundation, everyplace I could ninja in a little discretion. If anyone looks too hard, they're not going to see anything but the local barkeep." He unlocks the door and gives a sharp whistle.

"Good. Because they're gonna sulk like there's no tomorrow if they don't get to say hi."

Three dogs come barreling down the hallway in a scrabble of claws, jingling of collars and elated barks. A giant golden retriever, a small terrier and a round little bulldog puppy that arrows directly at Sam's feet. "Guys? Sam. Sam? Guys."

From:

Sam nods, still looking it over. Really, it's probably one of the best jobs he's ever seen. Which makes sense, considering who did it.

He follows up to the door, then takes a step back to avoid being bowled over. Then he crouches down, rubbing his fingers over the head of the bulldog pup. And immediately getting licked by the golden retriever. "Hey, hey! Not in the face, dude!" But he's grinning, so he can't be taking it that badly.

From:

"Thor, back off." A simple command and the dog drops down at Sam's feet, tail thwapping furiously at his shins, waiting for his turn with barely repressed doggy glee. "Always had a feeling you were a dog person."

It's nice, just seeing Sam relaxed for the moment, smiling as he delivers equal time and attention to all three of his dogs. Simple pleasures as a human. He wasn't sure he'd ever get tired of finding them.

"Okay gang, back in the house. C'mon guys lead the way, we'll head into the backyard, let them run some of the excess energy off."

From: