softiesabriel

She gasped, panic flooring through her system, freezing her for a moment. Only her eyes moved, and they noticed she was outnumbered. Four able-bodied, drunk or high, or possibly both, men surrounding her. Snap out of it! Her mother’s voice screamed at her, and of course she obeyed. She pushed her hand through the grip and grabbed the assailants wrist, turning it to the right further than it should naturally go. He yelled in pain, letting go of Sam’s wrist, and she kicked him backwards in the stomach. A choked cry escaped her own throat as six hands grabbed her from behind, clawing at her throat and shoulders before throwing her to the ground. For a moment, her vision went white, as the back of her head slammed against the concrete. The men scrambled at her messenger bag, tossing aside papers in favor of her money, then trying to tug at her laptop. Sam lunged forward, head-butting into one of the men and knocking him back on his ass, but that made more pain shoot across her skull. Bile crept up her throat as the dark world spun and blurred for a moment that felt like forever. In retaliation, another man kicked her in the stomach, and that finally pushed the bile up. That did not deter these hungry scavengers. More kicks were delivered, and that’s when Sam accepted it. She’d die, wind up on the news for a few days or less, and then fade from the memories of everyone.

Then a different kind of light blinded her, because the assaulters reacted too. They looked up, then began shouting frantically at each other to run, tripping over themselves as the rumble of wheels on pavement grew frighteningly close. Dazed, all Sam could do was tuck her head under her arms. All she felt pass by her was air, and the buzzing of a truck engine ended up on the other side of her. She was miraculously fine.

Boots kicked open the drivers door, and the next moment a woman was leaning over Sam, who squinted against the obscenely bright headlights. Her hair was long, practically forming a golden curtain around Sam’s head, as she observed her with whiskey colored eyes, that Sam swore were glowing. “Boy did they rough you up,” she murmured, brushing the back of Sam’s head lightly, and the pain was subtly alleviated. The mysterious woman cast her glowing gaze backwards and snapped. A faint yell of pain went up in the distance, then fell back into the silence. She turned back to Sam. “Let’s get you home.”

“Thank you,” Sam murmured, thinking still cloudy so she didn’t even remember to tell this girl where she lived. The girl looped an arm under Sam’s and helped her into the passenger’s seat of her blue truck, before jumping (literally jumping - she was too short for her own vehicle) into the driver's seat. She didn’t remember doing her own seatbelt, or the woman leaning over to do it, but she was already strapped in and leaned back in the seat, obscuring her vision of the girl. Clunks of shifting signalled they were going in reverse, and the woman backed out, turning onto the mostly quiet road without issue.

“What’s your name?” Sam asked, feeling out of place with the stranger.

“Gabriel.”

Sam’s eyes widened with worry for a moment. Had she been misgendering them this whole time? “Gabriel? What are your pronouns?”

Gabriel grinned, laughing a little. “She/her, well as of right now. It’s what I prefer anyways. Let’s just say my father was a fan of more masculine names. You can call me Gabe for short.”

“Not like...Gabbie?”

“I mean, you could. I hadn’t thought of that nickname. Gabbie…” Gabriel, or Gabe or Gabbie, said thoughtfully.

There was a beat of silence. “Thank you...you saved my life. How could I repay you?” Sam asked.

Gabbie waved a hand dismissively. “Don’t worry about that. I see someone in danger, I help them.”

“I’ll pay you back somehow.”

Her honey gaze glanced back at Sam, and there was a bittersweet look in them. “I’m sure we’ll see each other again one of these days. Maybe then.”

“Do you live around here?”

Gabbie shrugged, oddly pondering the question. “Eh, well, I’m...around. I travel a lot. I don’t really live in one place.”

“Well that’s cryptic. Where’s your mail sent to then?” Sam pressed. She wanted to at least mail a thank you card.

“I don’t get mail.”

“What?”

“It’s a long, long, long story. And I’m sure you’ve heard...something...like it before.”

A decipher code would be handy right about now. But perhaps she was being creepily pushy. “Sorry, I don’t mean to be pushy or anything.”

Gabbie waved her hand dismissively. “I don’t blame you. I’ve been told I’m pretty mysterious. And troublesome.” She smirked back at Sam.

They pulled up to the college campus, and Sam sat up, unbuckling. “Thank you so much for the ride, I promise to make it up to you,” She pledged.

Gabbie’s eyes shot around cautiously. “Actually, why don’t I walk you in? Just in case.”

“I can handle myself.” Although Sam did have to admit she missed having another person watching her back, she could usually keep a good eye out for herself.

“It’d put me a lot more at ease if you let me.”

Sam shrugged. She didn’t see what harm this girl could do. If she tried anything by herself, Sam was sure she could easily overpower her. “Alright then. Come on.” She stepped out and walked around to the other side onto the sidewalk, meeting with Gabbie and finally getting a clear look at her. She was slightly chubby, with a round face framed by wavy, dirty blonde hair. She wore a navy denim jacket with scattered pins, including a halo, bluejay, and a little candy jar, among other things. Suddenly self-conscious of what she was wearing and then realizing it must be covered in vomit, she looked down quickly, only to discover her clothes were crystal clean. Huh. It must have been a lucky break.

They walked up to the door together, and Gabbie opened it, giving a bow as she let Sam walk first. Sam laughed at her antics, and Gabbie grinned as she joined her. Gabbie looked around curiously. “So this is where you bougie law students live huh?”

Sam snorted. “Yeah, we’re super bougie. We have pure gold chandeliers in each room, which are also all suites.”

“Wow, impressive.”

“And the coffee we drink to pull all-nighters every night is shipped fresh from Brazil and ground by hand. Only the best beans for us.”

“That’s sooo cool, tell me more,” Gabbie used a Valley Girl voice, batting her eyelashes and clinging to Sam’s arm. Normally being touched by a stranger like that would feel uncomfortable, but Sam didn’t mind it. Not when it was Gabbie.

Sam went on like this as they walked up the stairs, eventually developing a British accent, and they giggled at each other, forgetting the encounter that had brought them together. In time, Sam came to her doorway, and she found herself feeling sad at the arrival. Gabbie looked the same.

“Again, thank you -”

“Ah, don’t say it one more time,” Gabbie put her hand up. “I have your back.”

Sam smiled softly. She pulled her keys out of her pocket. “I hope you’re right, about us seeing each other again soon.”

That same bittersweet look crossed Gabbie’s face. “Something tells me I am.”

Sam opened the door and stepped inside. “Goodnight Gabbie.”

“Goodnight Sam.” And with that she turned and left.

When Sam walked in she went straight to the bathroom, splashing some water on her face then looking up in the mirror. Again with that lucky break - no bruises marked her up, not on her face or arms or legs, not anywhere she could see. The only mark she was left with was the smile Gabbie gave her. The one that made Sam question this feeling in her chest for the first time. The same kind of feeling that strengthened as she walked into her bedroom and saw her boyfriend passed out, arm draping over the side. She slipped in beside him, arm curling over his side, but as she glanced up at the ceiling a part of her expected her honey-haired rescuer to pop up.

“Whoa! Easy there!” Gabriel coaxed him like a horse. Sam still didn’t lower his weapon. “It’s me, Sam, it’s Gabriel.”

Sam tightened his grip. “Gabriel’s dead.”

“Gabriel” tightened his jaw. “Come on, don’t make me prove it, you know how little grace I have left.”

The Winchester said nothing, gun still trained right on his heart. Gabriel sighed, and in a swift blink his eyes began to glow. Behind him, three sets of wings bloomed from his back, shifting from a golden shimmer to a blue tip. Sam couldn’t decide if he should relax or be even more tense, but regardless he lowered the gun, tossing it casually onto the nearby library table.

Gabriel’s eyes stopped glowing, and he swayed in place a moment before steadying. He raised his arms back up in a showing gesture. “See? It’s me.” When Sam didn’t respond, he continued. “It’s good to see you again Samuel.”

What the archangel expected was a warm reception, wide smile of disbelief and maybe, if he was lucky, a hug. Instead what he got was hard knuckles across the face. Catching him off guard, the blow knocked him down the library stairs and into the map room. Before he even had the chance to lick the blood from his lip, Sam yanked him up by the shirt collar and shoved him into the wall. Sam went for another punch, but being prepared this time, Gabriel caught it and pushed Sam backwards. “Jesus Christ Sam, chill out! What’s wrong with you!?”

“What’s wrong with me!? You faked dying in front of me, again, that’s what’s wrong, how the hell did you even get back here?”

“Yeah, again, I thought you’d know I’d be back by now. Didn’t you see me wink?”

“You didn’t wink.”

“Pretty sure I did.”

Seeing Sam raise his fist again, Gabriel waved his hands in front of him. “Okay I didn’t wink, fine!”

“So how did -”

“I escape, yeah, I got it, let’s just rewind for a second here.” Gabriel interrupted. He snapped his fingers and suddenly they were back in scarily familiar territory. The dead trees, the coarse dirt, the gray skies - Apocalypse world. Except he and Gabriel were standing to the side of the group of escaping refugees, turning to see Michael approaching. Sam looked at himself, and then at Gabriel, standing side by side. Is that really what he looked like from the side?

“I thought you said you didn’t have a lot of grace still,” Sam pointed out, looking around at the obvious illusion.

“I don’t, but pulling something straight from memory is just like copy and pasting. It’s a lot less effort,” Gabriel explained. “Look, I’ll show you what happened.”

They watched for a moment as Michael came forward. Sam desperately wanted to look away knowing what happened next. Hearing his voice warning Gabriel not to do it, not to risk his life for a mere few seconds, was surreal because he could not only feel the pain but hear it, as though it were a tangible thing, that if he were to reach down his own throat he could rip it out and toss it in a chest before locking it away forever. 

“Watch me closely,” Gabriel instructed. He took Sam’s hand and walked him in front of Gabriel. Even knowing it was an illusion did not take the anxiety of moving closer to the threat away, worsening still as he turned his back to Michael. Gabriel’s confidence did little to ease it, but he did as he was told, and watched Gabriel. He looked at Sam, saying he was tired of running, and Sam was shocked to see as he looked away, trying to keep one eye on Michael, Gabriel did indeed flash a quick grin and wink. 

“Told you so.”

Still, Gabriel walked forward, blade in hand feebly, and everything looked the same. Then Gabriel reached forward and touched something, revealing a hidden aspect of the memory.

It was Gabriel. Standing there, hands in his pockets, shifting stealthily towards the back of the crowd as he got ready to run.

“How?” Sam breathed. “How could I not see you?”

“I turned invisible just as my duplicate took my place. I did the same thing to Luci at the hotel. Impressive, right?” The archangel smirked, a little twinkle in his eyes, but Sam was too busy watching him walk right through the portal. Even now, he had a hard time believing it.

The illusion ended, putting them back in the map room. Gabriel sat on the table, arms straight as they pushed against the edge of it, him leaning towards Sam. “After all that I just needed some time to...think. Being so close to Luci like that again, seeing Michael kill me - and I haven’t had the chance for some downtime ever since Ketch rescued me. So I chilled in LA for a bit.”

Gabriel had grown a scruffy beard in the time he’d been gone, much like Sam’s, making him look tired and roughed up. But he straightened his posture, looking up at Sam. “So is that enough to stop you from punching me again?”

Sam’s shoulders slumped, the exhaustion of the night and the previous ones hitting him. “I still had to watch you die. Again.”

The archangel blinked, somehow confused at Sam’s sadness. “Sam?” Was all he could say, tone questioning.

“I care about you Gabe,” Sam glanced down at the ground, and he could just see Gabriel’s corpse lying in front of his feet. “Seeing you die was...hard. Especially since I just got you back.”

Gabriel’s mouth turned into a soft ‘oh’ of surprise, his eyes slightly wide. “I didn’t know I...I’m sorry.” He stood, but wasn’t sure what to do from there. He reached a hand out. Retracted it. Looked down. Looked up. Opened his mouth. Closed it. For once in his very, very long life, he was speechless even with the full ability to speak.

He didn’t have to. Sam walked up to him and slowly put his arms around him, before squeezing him into a hug. If only he could see the shock on Gabriel’s face softened into a bittersweet smile and watery eyes. If only Gabriel could notice Sam breathing in his honey scent and closing his eyes as he squeezed Gabriel tighter.

“I’m happy you’re okay.”

Gabriel only no rescinded the hug, sinking into it and squeezing back. “Yeah. I mean, thanks,” He choked out.

Neither of them wanted to let go first. So neither of them did. Sam simply pulled back a little and looked down at Gabriel, the archangel looking back up at him. A little voice in the back of Sam’s head told him not to squander this chance, as he leaned in and planted his lips on Gabriel’s.

It was brief, because even with the scare Gabriel gave him he was more scared of kissing him than he was of Gabriel dropping dead again. He pulled away to see the archangel’s reaction, which was still utter shock. “Wow,” He breathed, then grinned. “Saaaaaam, what a softie you are!”

Sam rolled his eyes and looked away, face burning up. “Shut up.” He couldn’t believe he was doing this. Gabriel punched his arm jokingly.

“You have to at least buy me dinner. Tomorrow though. You need some sleep.”

“You sound like Mo- Mary. I’m fine.”

He’d had the bright idea of walking up the questionable wooden stairs to the top platform of some water slides, in order to get a birds eye view of the area. When he stepped near the entrance of one, however, a gray hand shot from the darkness and wrapped its fingers around his ankle, pulling him down into the dark tube. The consuming darkness, the descent that was somehow slow and too fast at the same time, it made Sam’s heart stutter. 

Then he came shooting back out into the moonlight, briefly illuminated, until he plunged into the disgusting algae-ridden water collected in the deep pool.

Sam forced his eyes open, yet still he was unable to see anything. The layer of plants on the surface blockaded any chance of life developing here. He tried to move. He tried so hard to swim to the surface and take a big, gulping breath of that sweet summer air. His limbs wouldn’t listen. They twitched weakly at the most, paralyzed by an unseen force. Panic pumped his heart against his will, and the oxygen in his lungs was quickly seeped out. Despite his best efforts, he opened his mouth, and drank the infectious water, inviting it in unwillingly. His lungs - no, his whole body - burned helplessly. His vision began to fade, and all his muscles relaxed, no longer held because he didn’t need to be. In acceptance, he looked upwards again, wondering if that’s where he would end up. If that’s where he deserved to end up.

Instead of an answer, he saw a golden light, bursting through the invading plants and illuminating the water. There was a splash, and bubbles covered a dark figure, with golden wings flying behind his back. An angel. He was hallucinating, he realized. The figure grabbed his arm and yanked him upwards. This his how they take you, Sam thought quietly, and closed his eyes, letting the sensation of inevitable death wash over him.

“Sam, hey.” A hand patted against Sam’s face lightly. “Wake up, ya bum.”

Sam, believing this was some odd post-death dream, kept his eyes closed. The same hand slapped him hard across the face at his lack of response. He winced and his eyes flew open, rolling his head back over to see who hit him.

It was Gabriel, kneeling over him, eyebrows knitted together.

“Gabe -?” He got halfway through the name before more water came up his throat. He coughed, chest hurting with each heave, and he felt like he was going to throw up.

“Damn it, sorry Sam, I thought I got all that out,” Gabriel snapped his fingers and the water ceased, though Sam continued to cough, rubbing his throat as he sat up.

“What the hell are you doing here?” Sam asked in between coughs. He didn’t remember swallowing a cheese grater, but he must have for his throat to feel this scratchy.

“What’s it look like? Saving your ass,” Gabriel motioned to the water, “Death was getting ready to walk out the door and come to you. I stepped in and took care of that ghost for you.”

Sam looked at Gabriel, confused. “Why?” The last time they’d seen each other, Sam had found out Gabriel’s true identity. A second time. He wouldn’t be surprised if Gabriel now revealed he wasn’t a trickster or an archangel, but some other superior power. 

It took Gabriel longer than expected to answer. “You still need to play your role in all this. I can’t have you dying before then.”

Part of Sam didn’t believe that. Part of Sam heard a faint trace of worry in his voice, in the shifting of his eyes and the fiddling of his hands. Why Gabriel would worry about him, he had no idea, so he took his word for it. “How genuine. Thanks.”

“No problem.”

Sam stayed sitting, looking down at himself, catching his breath. “I thought I was going to die,” he whispered to himself. The thought sent an icy chill down his back, unbalanced him in an indescribable way. He had died once before - back in that ghost town, when that knife was jabbed into his spine, so one might think he wouldn’t be as scared the second time around. The experience had just the opposite effect. He knew what was coming now, and it was more terrifying than he or anyone else could imagine.

For a moment, he was scared he lost control over his body again as he started shaking, and his throat tightened up. Gabriel placed a hand on his leg, and although Sam couldn’t see it, he felt a wing curl around his back. The archangel’s fingers glowed gently, and a calming warmth flowed through him like nothing he’s ever felt before. It was like laying out in a summer sun times a million, a hundred million. He looked at Gabriel, who sat beside him. The archangel didn’t look at him, only forward, his jaw tight and his cheeks rosy. Sam looked back down at his hand. By no means did he trust Gabriel, not after all of his tricks and lies. On the other hand...he just saved Sam and stuck around to comfort him. Or maybe it was just the angelic grace that made him more trusting. That allowed him to place his hand lightly on top of Gabriel’s, and eventually, lean into him. Well, onto him, considering how much shorter his vessel was.

Eventually, after sitting like that for God knows how long, Sam’s eyelids drooped and his breathing slowed. Gabriel finally turned his head to look at him. “If you ever need any help Sam, you know, just uh...call me. Or pray. Just think my name really hard or something and I’ll hop on over if I can.”

Sam nodded. “Thank you again Gabriel. Really.”

Gabriel nodded back. “No problem. It’s my job. Or was supposed to be my job, anyways.”

At those words, Sam felt compelled to return the favor. But he was so exhausted, and before he knew it, he was asleep.

“Sammy? Sammy!”

Dean shook Sam awake, his eyes fluttering open. Dean stopped and let out a heavy sigh of relief. “Jesus Christ Sammy, I thought you were dead. What the hell happened to you?”

Disoriented, Sam looked around. The sun was beginning to come up, and he was alone on the broken concrete. Alone. Yet the warmth of his grace still bubbled in Sam’s chest.

“I...fell asleep,” He answered as he stood up, still looking around.

Dean narrowed his eyes. “Wha - Fell asleep? Really?”

Sam nodded. He pointed to the top of the slide. “The ghost, he yanked me down that and I...I almost drowned. But I took care of him.”

“Took care of him?”

“Yeah he was attached to...something. I burned it, we’re all good.”

There it was - Dean’s naturally distrusting bitchface. “Uh huh?”

“What?”

Dean waved his hand dismissively. “You know what, never mind, I’m just glad you’re okay. Let’s get out of here, this place gives me the heebie jeebies more than usual.”