All I need is a miracle/All I need is you

[fromfryingpantofire]

Things had been going well lately. Hunts just seemed to fall into their laps, the book Sam needed at the library had just been handed in or just been reshelved, the sheriff or local law looking the other direction when they needed to get to a cemetery for a salt and burn. It had been going really, really well.

It should have occurred to Sam that things were going a little TOO well, honestly. But he didn't even think about it until a knife that should have had his name on it simply ricocheted off his chest, as though he had some forcefield up around him.

Later that night, Sam pulled his overshirt off at the hotel, looking at the spot where the knife had definitely started to pierce the fabric. "Okay. There's definitely something weird going on here."

Comments

[fromfryingpantofire]

"Not on the road so much these days. Or...well, we are, but we have a central base now. A home." For two young men who had never really had a home at all, not since they were very small, it had taken some getting used to. More for Sam than Dean, of course. "But yeah, we're still hunting."

[low_key_angel]

"A home? Well wonder of wonders," he smiles at the idea. If anyone deserved something like a home, it was the Winchesters.

"Laying off the no-tell motels. I wonder how Dean survives without his magic fingers."

[fromfryingpantofire]

Sam still grinned at him. "Not entirely. I mean, we have jobs that we take fairly far from the bunker. So it does mean that we still see more motels than the average person." But it meant that, at the end of the hunt, they had somewhere safe to retreat to and heal. It was new, but good.

[low_key_angel]

Gabriel laughed. "Bunker. Given that it's you two? Somehow that's not surprising in the least. Something dug in, warded and prepared to fend off absolutely everything."

Not quite as safe as his house, but then again, he wasn't out there putting his ass on the line on a daily basis.

"That's good. That you have someplace to come back to."

[fromfryingpantofire]

"Uh, yeah. The Men of Letters' bunker. It was mostly warded and dug in long before we got there."

Not that Sam and Dean hadn't done some extra wardings of their own. After all, they'd learned more on the job than most of the Men of Letters had ever learned in just their studies. "We're probably better prepared than they were, though."

He smiles, shaking his head. "It took time. Dean took to it immediately. I...I spent a long time thinking it was just another place for us to work. But I've grown more accustomed to the place."

[low_key_angel]

Eyebrows loft. "Men of Letters? Not a bad set of digs after all. I'm sure they've done pretty good in terms of setup."

Gabriel grins in reply, leaning to steal another kiss. Now that Sam had kissed him, he's pretty sure he's not going to be able to stop. "A Winchester being bullheaded? Gee, color me surprised. But hey - if you guys happen to be closer, you can crash out here."

Any excuse to see Sam more often.

[fromfryingpantofire]

"Yeah. Apparently our grandfather was one. He sort of disappeared when Dad was little. Turns out he'd done a spell that sent him forward through time to meet us." Yeah. Their lives were just like that sometimes. "He seemed pretty disappointed that we were hunters, at least at first."

He doesn't startle at the kiss, smiling instead and shaking his head. "I wouldn't mind. I'm not sure about Dean, but...he might come around."

[low_key_angel]

"Hey, there's a pretty awesome grill out back. Meat plus fire equals a happy older brother? I'll even provide beer?"

"I heard of the Men of Letters. Smart bunch before they kind of faded out. Somehow I'm not surprised to hear that the love of all things bookish and weird wound up being genetic."

[fromfryingpantofire]

"Well, it would probably keep him occupied." Sam slides his thumb across the back of Gabriel's knuckles, relaxed as he's likely to get. Really, though, it's nice. "Yeah. I sort of figure that...well, we found out at one point that the Cupids were sent to put Mom and Dad together. I guess, after finding out about the Men of Letters that it made a little more sense, crossing the Campbell and Winchester bloodlines."

[low_key_angel]

"And look at you two now. Brains and general hunter kick-ass all in one." So much so that they still took something as large and broad as the Plan and beat it.

This is.. nice. Simply sitting close to Sam, being able to touch him and knowing that he won't pull away.

"Oh hey, speaking of books. I've been writing since I started the spell. Everything I know, everything I remember since the very beginning. I've filled up about fifty notebooks and probably would have done more but writer's cramp is a bitch. Can't think of anyplace safer for those to be than in a gigantic warded bunker."

[fromfryingpantofire]

"I sometimes think that the angels didn't really understand what they were doing when they were following that plan." Sam, on the other hand, had a feeling that God might have been behind more of it than they expected. It wasn't necessarily a bad thing, either. He sort of understood it better these days than he had at the time.

Sam shifts, settling a bit closer to Gabriel. "Yeah. I'm sure we could probably find space for them. And you should probably see it, anyway." Gabriel had invited him into his home. Sam figures the opposite was just polite.

[low_key_angel]

"They underestimated all humans. Didn't expect that you guys would look at something as immutable as the Plan and say 'no thanks'. Free will never even occurred to them. So you fought back and skewed their entire world view, which I have to say, was pretty awesome."

It's nice, how well he fits beside Sam. "Check out the batcave? I'd like that sometime."

[fromfryingpantofire]

He slides his free arm across Gabriel's shoulders, stroking his upper arm. "There aren't a lot of people who know about it, of course. But we have a few friends who have found us there. And Cas knows about it, of course." He pauses a moment, then, "But I'd like you to see it. And be able to find us, if you want to."

[low_key_angel]

"That might just break little brother's brain seeing me up and about." Or not really, considering Cas had turned death and resurrection into something of a hat trick.

He smiles up at Sam, something warm and maybe a little relieved. "I'd like that Sammy. Who knows, maybe you'll need something ridiculously obscure translated some day?"

"Or I could just stop in to see you." Because that would be nice too.

[fromfryingpantofire]

"It might, but...I think he wouldn't mind it, either. Considering the fact that you might be the only member of the family not mad at him these days." If Gabriel had only recently lost his Grace, then he knew enough about the shit that had happened to know why. "Even if he might not entirely believe it at first."

He laughs softly, rubbing his hand over Gabriel's upper arm. "I'd like you to just come by and see me. But if we ever have anything really obscure to be translated...can you still do that even without your Grace?"

[low_key_angel]

"Well, I think I can count on one hand the number of angels who've willingly let go of their grace. Add in archangel to that and yeah, wouldn't be surprised if he cocks his head like a confused puppy for a week or two."

Gabriel hums pleasantly at the touch. "I'd like that too."

"So far, translation hasn't been an issue without the ol mojo. Everything I've seen, everything I've known hasn't faded. Yet. But that's why I'm writing it all down. Just in case."

[fromfryingpantofire]

"Well, yeah, but that's just Cas." In that it was pretty normal for him to look like a confused puppy.

It's the yet that bothers him, but Sam doesn't say anything. Because he's pretty sure it's going to bother Gabriel, too. "Well, there's all sorts of books at the bunker you could sink your teeth into, if you liked. Nothing that needs immediate translating, of course, but there's a lot of old texts there that could be up your alley."

[low_key_angel]

"True."

It bothered Gabriel, but not enough to regret what he'd done. So every day for at least two to three hours, he wrote. Everything he'd seen, done, learned. Nothing had faded so far, but he was pretty much blazing new territory. There were no rule books to check to see how he'd adapt to his new form over the years.

"Sounds like you're going to have all kinds of ways to keep me amused there. Tell me you at least have a little fun too."

Because if he didn't? Gabriel was going to have to change that.

[fromfryingpantofire]

Sam lifts a shoulder and lets it drop. "I'm pretty sure hustling pool and poker doesn't quite count as 'fun'." Even if Sam did enjoy it more these days. "But there's time to watch movies and TV, too. Dean's found out he's a pretty good cook, actually."

[low_key_angel]

“Dean’s a good cook?” His eyebrows loft. “Well well. Wonders never cease.” Oh he was absolutely sending Dean an apron and pearls. He couldn’t make them appear on the older Winchester, but there was no way he was going to pass up an opportunity like that.

“And I was referring to actual fun. Not just hustling to make a few extra bucks before you go out after the next monster du jour.” Clearly Sam needed some help in that area.

[fromfryingpantofire]

"Well, he did the cooking for us both when we were kids. Most of that was pretty simple, really, but you give him a proper kitchen and he's great." Sam had never really mastered much in the kitchen, but Dean was a hell of a lot better. "And don't tease him too much about it. He really enjoys cooking and there's been little enough of that these past few years."

It was something that they both had, though. Not enough things to enjoy, not enough enjoyment, period. "And no, probably not. Though I think you wouldn't agree with me that research is fun."

[low_key_angel]

"Okay. I'll behave and try not to poke at him too much." But he has to. Just a little. Dean's too easy not to needle once in a while.

Gabriel grins at him. "So clearly I need to start sending you better books if reading is your thing. Because you can read for fun you know. Not just work."

Books for Sam, cooking stuff for Dean. Soon as he had an address, he had himself a little side project.

[fromfryingpantofire]

And he won't ask Gabriel not to needle just a little. Because it's Gabriel and that's how Gabriel does things. Especially when it comes to things like affection, which Sam is pretty certain he has for both Winchesters. Even if Sam's the one he's in love with.

He laughs, though, shaking his head. "I do read other stuff! And we have a pretty decent theater system in the bunker. Which is good, because I don't think Kevin would forgive us if there wasn't."

[low_key_angel]

He's always liked both brothers, even if he'd never come right out and admit it. Dean was a good guy, which meant he was going to get his fair share of poking at. It was just how he did things.

"Good. Now tell me you watch more than documentaries." Head tilt. "Kevin? Picking up more hunters as you go?"

[fromfryingpantofire]

Sam's mouth twists slightly into a frown. "Kevin Tran. Not exactly a hunter, he...well, he's a prophet. Able to translate some stuff that God apparently left sitting around. Starting with the one that explained how you send a Leviathan back to Purgatory."

Not that Sam likes thinking overmuch about Purgatory or how badly he'd messed that up. To this day, he's still not entirely certain what happened with Amelia. "Anyway, yeah. Of course we watch more than documentaries. Do you have any idea how many movies we haven't really had a chance to watch over the years?"