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Waking up to Dean’s singing in the shower, loud enough to be heard over almost the entire bunker, shouldn’t be as comforting to Sam as it was. But it was home. It was proof that things were finally back to somewhat of a normal state. Swinging his long legs over the edge of his bed, he got up to go make some coffee for the two of them, or three if Cas was awake yet.
He entered the kitchen, pulling a shirt over his head, and gasped in surprise. There was every single type of food Sam could ever imagine to eat for breakfast, and some he had never seen before but that still looked unfairly delicious, lined up on their kitchen-table. How on earth it all fit, Sam had no idea, but he didn’t really give it any thought as a small note caught his attention. Frowning in confusion, Sam stepped up to the table to grab it.
“I’m sorry”, was all it said and the hunter’s frown deepened.
He didn’t have much time to think any further on it though, as Dean came into the room just then, Castiel trailing behind him.
“What’s this?” His brother asked curiously. Sam looked up at him, brows still furrowed in confusion, and shrugged.
“I have no idea, it was here when I got here”, he said and then looked at Cas, who looked a bit like he was laughing at some type of a private joke. Raising a questioning brow, he stared at the angel until he noticed him. Castiel had just opened his mouth, presumably to give Sam’s unvoiced question an answer, when Dean interrupted.
“Well, I for one will not be looking this gift-horse in the mouth. Let’s eat.”
And just like that, the subject was dropped.
***
Sam had almost forgotten about the incident. But then, when a week later he woke up from apparently falling asleep at the table whilst doing research for the case they were currently on, to a book he’d never seen before sitting beside a fresh cup of coffee. Sam grabbed the cup and took a tentative sip of its content, just barely able to muffle the moan that wanted to escape his lips as the liquid reached his tastebuds. He was just about to call for Dean to ask where on earth he’d gotten this heavenly beverage from, when a note caught his attention.
“Hazelnut Latte. You need to take better care of yourself, Kiddo! PS: The information you need is on page 107”
Sam looked over at the book resting in front of him curiously before grabbing it and flipping to page 107, and just as the note had stated there was the information about the demigod that he needed. Sam found himself even more intrigued to find out who his mystery-helper was and picked up the note again.
“Who are you?” He murmured. Who could it be that would leave him culinary gifts and help him with cases, and somehow thought they needed to apologize to him? Deciding he needed help, Sam went to look for the one man in the bunker that might have any idea as to who this was.
“Cas?” He called out softly as he opened the door to the angel’s room. Castiel was already up, sitting on his bed and reading a book of some kind as Dean snored lightly beside him. Looking up, a panicked look flew across the angel’s face as his eyes fitted between Dean’s sleeping form and Sam standing in the doorway. The taller hunter let out a small chuckle at that. The two of them really weren’t as good at hiding their “secret” relationship as they thought, especially since Dean was a very tactile person once in a relationship and couldn’t stop grazing Castiel’s lower back with his hand when they walked, or letting their hands touch when they were watching a movie. It had taken Sam approximately 2 minutes to figure out they’d finally gotten together, after they’d shared their first kiss. He was grateful they were taking it slow though, and not actually having sex just yet. Mostly because he wasn’t sure if the bunker’s walls were thick enough and he really didn’t want to hear that, thank you very much.
Smiling at Cas’ reaction, he waved his hand dismissively, indicating he already knew and was very much fine with the two of them sleeping in the same bed. He had a rather important question to ask the angel, after all, and decided to interrupt Cas when he, despite Sam’s dismissal, started stuttering out an explanation as to why Dean was sleeping in his bed.
“Cas, do you know who could possess the ability to leave… well… Gifts, I suppose, and notes in the bunker? I thought it was warded against most beings?” He asked, a bit unsure about whether this was really such a good idea when Cas’ earlier panicked expression changed into one of mirth.
“Oh! You liked them?” The angel asked, quite enthusiastically. Sam frowned at him.
“You know who did it?” He asked, and suddenly the smile that had been gracing the other man’s face disappeared and was replaced by a look not unlike that of a child getting caught with their hand in the cookie-jar and he was hastily shaking his head.
“No. I have no idea. I just… You… Ehm… You said you’d gotten gifts and I thought it was customary to ask if you enjoyed them. I have no idea who gave them to you. None at all. So, what were they?” He babbled and Sam just barely resisted the urge to roll his eyes. Cas was many things, but a good liar was not one of them. The angel obviously knew what was up. But since he didn’t seem distressed about it, Sam figured it couldn’t be anything dangerous. Right now they had a case to take care of, so Sam opted for figuring out who his mystery-helper was at a later date.
***
“SAM! GET DOWN!”
Sam’s body reacted before his mind even had the possibility to process what had been said and Sam found himself lying chest down on the dirty barn-floor as a knife flew into the space where his head had been not a second before. Jumping up, he turned and glared furiously at the woman who’d thrown it. She was smiling sweetly at him, flashing her black eyes, and Sam shivered in disgust. He opened his mouth to start chanting the exorcism, but was interrupted by the barn-door suddenly flying off of its hinges. He heard Dean gasp somewhere behind him as the opening was suddenly filled with what looked like 20 demons.
“You didn’t think I was all by my lonesome, did you?” The female demon said, a giggle escaping her perfectly painted red lips. Sam snarled and grabbed his knife to drive it through her before anyone had a chance to react, relishing in the light that emitted from her vessel as she died.
“Sammy, any brilliant plan?” Dean hissed at him, panic clear in his voice. Sam shook his head as he turned to stand beside his brother. Dean cursed under his breath.
“Cas? You think you’d be able to help us out here?” The older hunter yelled out, clearly forgetting the small fact that Castiel was currently very much stuck inside a ring of holy fire. Sam was just about to point that little detail out, when a voice called out:
“CLOSE YOUR EYES!” And he opted for covering his eyes with his arm instead, relief filling him when a bright light filled the barn.
Looking up again, two brothers frowned at each other in confusion. Dean shrugged as Sam lifted an inquiring eyebrow at him.
“Cas? That you?” The older hunter called, with no answer.
“He was stuck in the holy fire, Dean. There’s no way he would’ve gotten out without help”, Sam reminded him. Dean nodded at his logic and looked around the barn for any clues as to who, or what, had saved them. After a couple of seconds, he bent down with a chuckle.
“Well, seems like it was you they were trying to save, not us.” He said, handing over the small note he’d found, before asking with a smirk:
“Friends in high places, Sammy?”
Sam frowned at him, confused, as he accepted the note.
“Samsquash! You owe me a date for this” it said and Sam felt his cheeks heat up. His mystery-helper had saved them? But who was it, and why would they want Sam to go on a date with them? Sam hadn’t met anyone particularly powerful lately, at least no one that could also be interested in him. Looking up to make sure Dean had gone to get his angel out of the ring of holy fire, Sam shrugged before saying out loud:
“Well, if you ever decide to let me know who in the world you are, then maybe we can talk about that?”
In answer, a golden feather appeared seemingly out of nowhere, landing on Sam’s right shoulder.
***
Sam was sitting on his bed, studying the feather in his hand. His mystery-helper had to be an angel, and there was no longer any doubt in his mind who the angel was. Especially since there was only one angel in heaven rumoured to have golden wings. Gabriel.
What he couldn’t quite figure out though, was why. Why would Gabriel help him? Why would Gabriel worry about Sam’s health? It made no sense to the hunter. The last note the angel had left made, if possible, even less sense. But then again, this was Gabriel and there was every chance he’d just been messing with him with that one, knowing Dean would see it. His heart hurt a little at that thought, but Sam chose to ignore it.
***
“You should tell him, especially since I’m pretty certain that he’s figured it out already”, Castiel said, giving his brother a pleading look. Gabriel groaned, he hated it when Cas was right.
“I know… It’s just… What if he doesn’t want it? I mean, I’ve been watching him all this time and he barely knows me, Cas. I don’t know if I can take that chance”, he answered with a sigh. Sam Winchester. Gabriel had been stuck in limbo after Lucifer had stabbed him, too weak to actually help the brothers, but still able to look after them. He’d watched Sam go through life, seen how strong, courageous and beautiful the man truly was, how much he deserved to be loved and happy. He’d seen that rare, honest, smile and decided that he wanted that to grace the hunter’s lips every day. He’d decided that he wanted to be the reason for that smile, as selfish as that may sound.
“Gabriel. That is the whole point of a first date, to get to know one another. You can never know the answer to your questions if you do not ask. Besides, he’s been carrying around and staring at that feather of yours for three days straight. I’m pretty sure if he didn’t like you, he would have thrown it away already.” The younger angel put a hand on Gabriel’s shoulder and squeezed it lightly, silently offering his own strength. Gabriel smiled up at him and nodded.
“You’re right, thank you Castiel!” he said before flying off to go find Sam. Better to just rip off the bandage and get this over with, rather than worry over what if’s.
***
One second, he was lying on his bed, fiddling with the feather, and the next the other side of the bed dipped with a golden-haired archangel.
“Hey Samoose!” Gabriel smiled up at him and Sam knew he was supposed to answer, he knew there were words that were supposed to come out of his mouth. But for some reason, it seemed as if his mind had been wiped and all he could do was stare at the smaller man in front of him. Gabriel fidgeted slightly under his stare and Sam finally snapped out of the trance he’d been in.
“Gabriel” he breathed. He’d known. He’d known it was Gabriel, but still it seemed impossible for the angel to be sitting here with him. Because Gabriel was dead, Lucifer killed him.
“What… Why… How are you here!?” he eventually got out, still staring at the angel as if he’d disappear the second Sam blinked. The smaller man gave a sheepish smile and sat up straighter before answering.
“Well, as for how: I was in limbo after Luci stabbed me, so I couldn’t exactly get here earlier. I could only watch and wait.” he winced slightly at how the words sounded, before continuing:
“That sounded way more creepy that I intended. Anyway, when I finally got my grace restored fully, I kind of needed to ease my way back. You know, since you Winchesters aren’t exactly known for your warm and fuzzy welcomes”, he raised his eyebrows pointedly at that and it was Sam’s turn to look a bit sheepish. But then the words registered, and Castiel’s strange behaviour when he’d asked if he knew who the mystery-helper was came back to him.
“He…! Cas, he knew, didn’t he?” the hunter exclaimed, and Gabriel nodded awkwardly.
“Yeah… He… He sensed me and decided that he knew the perfect way for me to get back into ‘the gang’, as he calls it. My brother has turned into a complete dork, and I fully blame yours for that. He was one of the fiercest soldiers of heaven once, you know” he accused, but the smile still on his lips told Sam that the angel wasn’t actually angry about the change in his little brother, and the hunter couldn’t help but smile at that.
“So, why are you here? I figured you’d want to get back into your witness-protection, avoid heavenly duties and all that” he asked, still confused about Gabriel’s presence.
“Yeah… I was, actually. But then… When I was in limbo, I didn’t exactly have very much to do. Watching you guys was pretty much it. So that’s what I did. I watched you, Sam. I watched you and I… well... “ Sam’s brows furrowed as he watched the other man struggle with his words, not quite sure what he was trying to say. Then, the feather still resting in his hands caught his eye and with a surprised gasp he locked eyes with Gabriel.
“Wait, you… That wasn’t a joke?” Was all he got out, too surprised to really grasp what was going on. Gabriel interrupted his stuttering and scrunched his face up in confusion.
“What? What wasn’t a joke?”
Sam held a finger up at him, as if to tell him to hold on a second, and reached over to his nightstand to reach for a small piece of paper that he threw at Gabriel’s lap.
“That”, he said. “That, it wasn’t a joke after all, was it?” he asked, his eyes alight with something Gabriel couldn’t quite figure out what it was. The angel looked down at the note in his lap before raising one hand to grasp at the hunter’s jaw, forcing the taller man to look into his eyes.
“No, Sam, it wasn’t a joke. It wasn’t a demand either, if you’d rather not” he said, uncertainty lacing his voice. Sam would have none of it. He may not be sure about what he felt for the angel, but he knew he’d always found Gabriel attractive and the rest would surely come in time. So, he leaned into the touch slightly and smiled as he answered:
“I would like to.”
The smile Gabriel gave him was one of the most beautiful things Sam had ever seen.