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

[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?"

[low_key_angel]

A low whistle. "Thought I felt one get tapped not too long ago. Sucky job, being a prophet." And he should know, having been the one usually sent down to do all the talking. Some were able to handle the 'gift', some went insane, and most of them died early. Gabriel had stood beside one too many human graves before walking away from Heaven. Even after the fact, he still visited them.

Mention of Leviathans gets a startle out of him. "Leviathans? Holy Jesusfuck who was dumb enough to let them get out?"

[fromfryingpantofire]

"Yeah. Being a prophet who gets tossed in with us." Being connected to the Winchesters was never an easy thing. Kevin had, in a lot of ways, gotten it worse than others. "He seems to be handling it okay. Most of his prophet mojo seems to be in reading the Word of God and there aren't that many tablets."

Just the three they knew about, at least.

Sam frowned, looking away a bit. "To be fair, I don't think he knew that would happen. The longer I've had to think about it, the more I can see it from his side, but...Cas."

[low_key_angel]

"He was more of a talker than one who liked to give dictation," Gabriel offers after a moment. "So there were never that many to begin with. And without me to whisper in his ear, he's doing the lion's share of reading."

Not that he'd spoken to many prophets in the last few hundred years.

A few choice Enochian curses slip free. "Cas. Cas cracked the door to Purgatory and let those fuckers out. Of course he did, he was too young to remember how hard it was to stuff them back in there in the first place."

It had been the last battle all four archangels had fought together. Shoulder to shoulder, taking on the creatures until Purgatory had been created to hold them. Not a good memory really, but not terrible either.

[fromfryingpantofire]

Sam isn't surprised by that, really. Castiel had always struck him as a bit young in some ways. "He was desperate," Sam finally says. "Raphael was trying to find a way to reopen the Cage and start things up all over again. And Cas wasn't strong enough to really oppose him. It was civil war and he was looking for any way to finish things fairly safely."

Not that it had gone well. Maybe, had Castiel shared the souls as he'd first intended, it wouldn't have overwhelmed him as much. But Sam can't be certain of that.

[low_key_angel]

"And I wasn't in any damn shape to help him," Gabriel frowns, his expression distant. He didn't feel quite the same sense of relief when he learned about Raphael's death as he did about Lucifer and Michael falling into the cage.

"Safely and Purgatory don't exactly go hand in hand. So 'm guessing you two couldn't talk him out of this completely cracked scheme of his?"

[fromfryingpantofire]

"We didn't even know about it until close to the end." Which is embarrassing to admit. They'd always trusted Castiel, hadn't had a reason to believe otherwise. "Cas...he was trying to follow my last wishes, trying to keep Dean out of hunting, letting him lead a normal life. Which was why he didn't go to Dean when he was having trouble to start with. Heck, he even tried to pull me out of the Cage. Didn't work, but he tried and I can't imagine it was easy at all."

Sam leans against Gabriel, trying his best not to let his memories turn back to that point. "I'm pretty sure the original idea wasn't his. Pretty sure that one came from Crowley. He was having trouble keeping a handle on Hell, too, trying to keep those who wanted Lucifer back in charge at bay. But...I think we at least talked Cas into not trusting Crowley, because he tried to take all the souls of Purgatory himself and...it ended badly."

It ended in the deaths of a lot of people. "He realized he couldn't hold them all and tried to send the souls back to Purgatory, but the Leviathans were too strong. They held on, then tried to drown Cas in a reservoir and got into the water."

[low_key_angel]

Gabriel looped his arm around Sam, listening to just how badly things had gotten with a distant frown. Sweet merciful fuck had they gone wrong.

"'m sorry kiddo. I wish I could have talked Lu into standing down, backing off or something. But it sounds like things just went from bad to worse to holy shit after I kicked it."

He smoothed a hand down Sam's arm absently. At least he was safe now. Small comfort against what had already gone down, but Sam would be okay. Safe.

[fromfryingpantofire]

Sam let out a breath and nodded. "Interesting side effect of the spell you did? I'm not getting nightmares any more. It's like the shield is doing its best to keep me from mental harm as well as physical."

If only he could give that sort of peace to his brother, too. But there were limits to everything.

[low_key_angel]

"Kinda meant for that to happen," Gabriel leaned to brush the hair back from Sam's forehead. "Because you need all the protection I could possibly put together for you."

He can't give it to Dean, as much as he really did like the older Winchester. All he could do is wrap Sam in as much protection as possible for both of them.

[fromfryingpantofire]

And being able to sleep without dreams meant that at least one of them was always rested. It could make a hell of a difference in their lives.

Sam turns his head, following instinct and kissing Gabriel's wrist. Since it's there. "Thank you. I think I'd still rather have had you, but the protection is good."

[low_key_angel]

The affectionate gesture is met with a pleased smile and Gabriel shrugs, "And who said you don't have me, kiddo?"

Hell, Sam had always had him really. Just this time it was a slightly less powered-up version. But the feelings were still there.

"I'm glad it worked. That you can sleep a little closer to normal."

[fromfryingpantofire]

Sam frowns slightly, turning back to Gabriel. "Would you ever have tried to find me? After dropping your Grace on me, that is?" Because, yes, it bothers him a bit that Gabriel didn't seem to look for them before doing so.

[low_key_angel]

"I wanted to Sam, I really did. But considering how things went the last time you saw me, I wasn't entirely sure if I'd be greeted with a hello or a shot to the face. So I, just kept putting it off. First I had to recover. Then it was the spell."

Because it was safer to love Sam from a distance than get closer and realize that it was completely and utterly one-sided.

[fromfryingpantofire]

"Considering everything, I think we could have at least stayed neutral." Whatever dick things Gabriel had done before--and there had been some spectacular ones--dying to save Sam and Dean and give them the key to dealing with Lucifer was enough to at least give him a chance. "But...I get it, I think. It's hard, when you don't know what your reception will be and there are so many other things to concentrate on."

Not entirely one-sided, but Sam was still sorting out his own feelings. But he still thought it could be good.

[low_key_angel]

"You're a veritable ray of sunshine, you know that?"

Gabriel gets it though, so all Sam gets is a little teasing in return. It wasn't easy, adjusting to a human life and he really had been preoccupied for a long stretch of it, even if his thoughts were never far from the big hunter.

"Anyway. You're here, we'll figure the rest out as we go along." Not a guarantee, but at least a promising sort of start.

[fromfryingpantofire]

Sam snorts, leaning in to kiss Gabriel's temple. "Yeah. We've got time. And we're both smart guys. We'll sort it out."

[low_key_angel]

He grins at the kiss, squeezing his hand. "Yeah. I think we'll figure it out Sammy."

"There's a guest room at the top of the stairs, you can crash there tonight. Fair warning, couple of the dogs might decide you need company and crash on you."

[fromfryingpantofire]

Sam laughs softly and grins. "I think I can handle sleeping with a couple of the dogs." And it's probably easier than trying to figure out any other sleeping arrangements. Especially this soon after the mutual admission of feelings.

ooc

[low_key_angel]

((Hm. Anything else you want to do with these guys? Fast forward it a bit or have something happen?))