They made their own choice. They chose family.

For a while after Gabriel was awoken, the battle against the Fallen turned in favor of the Hunters. The Fallen hadn't been expecting it, after all, thinking all the Daughters and Sons had faded away. That, along with the fact that the town that surrounded Gabriel's temple had now become a sanctuary for Hunters meant that the Fallen had been taken by surprise.

For a time.

Eventually, though, the Fallen seemed to learn that there were only two Sons who had awakened and that their powers were still limited. Whether they had realized that Castiel and Gabriel really only appeared around Dean and Sam, Sam didn't know, but it certainly hadn't stopped the Fallen from attacking the brothers. Though they only called upon the Sons in the most dire of circumstances as both were still regaining their power.

Finally, though, all four had agreed that something needed to be done.

Which is why Sam pulls up his horse before the gates of the great City, looking up at the walls built and worked with the power of the Sons and Daughters from long ago to protect the inhabitants from the Fallen and the dark creatures that lived in the wilds. Gabriel rides pillion behind him, body warm against Sam's back and arms around his sides. No doubt the Son could have made it to the City on his own just fine, but he's reserving power for the moment.

Sam looks back to the group of Hunters that are following him. He knows that Dean and Castiel and other Hunters are coming into the City on the other side, since they don't want to make people nervous about a large number of Hunters in the City, but if this works, they want the extra Hunters close.

He drops his hand to Gabriel's on his stomach, giving it a squeeze. "You ready to go into the City?"

Sam needed some air.

Ever since he'd been hit by this curse, his brother was alternately even more stifling than usual and giving him all sorts of shit over it. Bobby had pointed out, gently, that this was his brother handling things badly, as usual. Which Sam couldn't disagree with, but it did mean that he needed to take a walk away from Bobby's house and out beyond the junkyard toward the fishing pond.

He rolled his shoulders, feeling the weight of the two extra appendages there -- a set of brown and golden wings whose span was easily three times his own height. The curse had given them to him, had at least changed his body so that it accepted them as though he had always had them. It was just...awkward.

Especially when, as now, there seemed to be an itch just beneath his shoulder blade and he really, really couldn't reach it.