I wrote this for @archangelgabriellives for the Sabriel Secret Santa run by @sabrielevents
Rated: T
Word Count: 2,205
Pairing: Sabriel
Description: There's only one thing Sam really wants for Christmas and that's to have Gabriel back. Little does he know, in another universe, Gabriel is working really hard to make that happen.
Sam sat outside watching snow start to drift lazily to the ground. Things had finally worked out. Chuck was gone, Jack was home, and their lives were finally their own to live… but something still felt like it was missing.
“Sam.” Eileen’s voice broke Sam from his dazed gaze at the sky and he looked over at her.
“Thinking of him again?” She signed knowing from their previous talks exactly where Sam’s mind laid. He nodded.
“I thought maybe… When the other things Chuck messed up got fixed… he’d have been brought back. Maybe all those Christmas movies are getting to my head.” He chuckled sadly and she gave him an understanding look.
“It’s okay to miss people you love Sam.” She told him before patting his shoulder. “Dean is making hot chocolate, told me to get you. He still thinks we’re dating.” She grinned and Sam rolled his eyes.
“You can do way better than me.” Sam said and her grin widened.
“I know.” She replied with a laugh heading back into the house knowing Sam would follow when he was ready.
“Gabriel… I miss you.” Sam murmured to the sky, taking one last long look at the snow before going inside to get some hot chocolate before everyone else drank it all. What he didn’t know was in another universe an archangel was expressing very similar sentiments for him.
Gabriel pulled his jacket more tightly around his body as he trekked through the snow looking for some stupid plant. “Are we sure this thing will even be growing right now? Its fucking cold out here.” He complained to that Universe’s Raphael who had taken over after Michael’s demise.
“I know you want to get home to your world already Gabriel, but cursing at the plants aren’t going to make them spring back to life of they are dead. Even if we can’t get a live one, I might be able to propagate some fruit from the seed of a dying plant.” They said following after him more calmly.
“Easy for you to say, you still have more grace than will fit in a pop can. I can get frostbite now! How will anyone want me if my toes and ears are falling off?” He whined making his sibling roll their eyes.
“At least we know that even between universes you don’t change very much. I don’t know how I’ll manage here once I don’t have you complaining at me all the time… I might even get work done.” They replied kneeling down spotting something that looked like what they were after.
“Here… Its weak but alive enough for our purposes. Help me gather it.” They instructed and Gabriel knelt down helping carefully dig up the wilting plant so they could bring it with them to heaven.
They had a spot already prepared for it in the garden when Raphael flew them back and Gabriel tucked it gently into it’s new home.
“I think I will be able to harvest enough oil from it by tomorrow evening if it survives. You might even be with your Samuel by Christmas.” Raphael told Gabriel who blushed.
“Who said anything about returning to the Winchesters?! Those boys are the reason I’m trapped here now!” He said but Raphael wasn’t blind or stupid.
“You love him. Its all over your face every time your speak. Your every being is drawn to him… I think it’s sweet. Everyone deserves a purpose and Samuel gives you yours. Plus I know you, what more dramatic way to return to them, than arrive Christmas morning like a present?” They laughed and Gabriel pouted.
“I knew there was a reason you were my least favorite sibling. So rude reading people like that.” He said but Raphael just grinned at him.
“Lets see if we can’t charge your grace up some for the trip. It’ll still take time for you to be fully healed but I don’t want you defenseless when you get there. Who knows what might be going on in your universe now, better to be prepared.” They said leading him towards the throne room.
“Knowing Sam and Dean... Probably another apocalypse if they figured the last one out already.” Gabriel laughed but he stopped as Raphael shoved him down on the throne.
“I’m going to miss you... When I have to go back. My Raphael is gone. I’ll be the only one left over there.” He murmured and Raphael nodded.
“Which is why you need to return, most of all. Your versions of our siblings will need a leader. Someone has to sit on the throne Gabriel. They are made to be lead and if not by someone kind then they will let someone unsuited take that role instead. Plus if your heaven is as bad as your Castiel told you... angels will need to be made. Father won’t do it but if you take the mantle fully... you can. It’s a heavy weight to bare but you weren’t named strength of heaven for your buff vessel little brother. I have faith in you.” Raphael said honestly and pressed a kiss to Gabriel’s forehead as the younger archangel sighed and started to let heaven do it’s work at restoring his grace.
The next afternoon Raphael was able to get the rest of the ingredients they needed to open the rift one last time. “Be safe Gabriel. Don’t over extend your grace. Take your time and let it heal properly okay?” They said fretting over him and Gabriel smiled at his older sibling before tugging Raphael into a tight hug.
“I promise. I won’t do anything stupid with it for at least a few weeks. You be safe too. And don’t be a stick in the mud either. Have a little fun sometimes. Don’t make me come back here... I’ll do it if I have to.” He threatened playfully, both of them putting off their inevitable separation. Neither wanted to be alone but both of them knew Gabriel belonged back in his own world.
“Maybe your version of me is still out here somewhere... If he is, go easy on him okay? I probably wouldn’t be so cheerful without my Sammy around to have knocked some sense into me.” He added and Raphael gave him a gentle smile.
“It’s time Gabriel. We can’t put this off any longer. I love you little brother.” They said gently and with one last hug Raphael let him go and began the spell to open the rift. Once the rip in the fabric of that universe opened Gabriel bit his lip taking a deep breath and giving Raphael one last waved before walking through. It shut behind him just moments later.
The good news was Gabriel could feel that he was back in the correct universe. Not only was angel radio sadly silent, there was rightness that washed over him. He had always felt slightly uncomfortable in the other universe, this one didn’t feel like it was trying to shove him out.
The bad news was that Gabriel had ended up along some random highway in what he guessed by the sight of the cactus all around him, was probably Arizona. He had promised Raphael he’d let his powers rest for a few days and his wings were in no shape for flying so that only left one other option... walking.
“Well this is crapola.” He grumbled and looked up at the sky to figure out which direction he needed to go before heading off. Since he was in the middle of no where, there wasn’t really cars around to hitchhike but he was surprised when he noticed a coyote watching him in a way that no simple coyote would.
“Coyote?” He asked and the canine came closer morphing in a man with long white hair and sparkling brown eyes.
“Gabriel. It has been a long time since you’ve entered my lands. I heard tales you were killed... quite a few times actually.” He chuckled and Gabriel grinned back.
“Yeah, well, it didn’t take. How about you old man? Last I heard there was a spider looking for your guts.” He said and Coyote shrugged.
“She hasn’t found me yet and if it’s up to me, she never will. But we both know she’ll get bored after a few decades and find something else to do. What brings you out this far west?” He asked starting to walk alongside Gabriel who began to tell him everything.
“Ah... So it’s love then. I don’t celebrate Christmas but I can see the deeper meaning it might have to the angel who sung the first hymn that night. You can take my truck.” He said leading him over a wash to where a white pick up truck was sitting and Gabriel laughed unable to help it.
“Getting to old now to run with your pack all the time?” He teased and Coyote smacked the back of his head.
“Or maybe I just like sticking my head out the window and feeling the wind on my face.” Coyote said grinning as he gave Gabriel the keys. “Swift travels Messenger... and good luck with your hunter.” He added morphing back into a coyote and howling to call the others to him as Gabriel hurried to get into the cab of the truck. He never really drove before but how hard could it be... he was really hoping Coyote wouldn’t want the truck back.
It was Christmas morning. Sam was smiling as Jack worked with Eileen to use the Lego kit Sam had bought him to make a model of the Death Star from Star Wars, what appeared to be a chihuahua tucked to his side. Dean and Michael were arguing over whether Rowena sending Jack a hell hound was an appropriate gift for a nephilim. Castiel had changed into the fuzzy blue slippers Jack had gifted him and was watching the TV with more seriousness than Frosty the Snowman deserved or needed. If not for the empty feeling in Sam’s heart, he would have said it was a perfect Christmas. But he knew that Gabriel was missing and it was just too soon for him to be able to push the feelings aside.
Jack’s head perked up before anyone else’s and he hopped up, his new hell hound, properly named Cinnamon Roll, on his heels.
“What’s going on Jack?” Sam asked and Jack grinned widely.
“We have another guest! Come on!” He said hurrying out of the room and the rest of them followed curiously which only grew when they heard the sounds of sirens getting closer to the bunker. Sam’s mind immediately went to Jody and Donna but they were supposed to be going to visit them tomorrow so he didn’t think it would be them. They all got outside in time for Michael to start laughing, which was a shock in itself since the archangel had yet to laugh once since they met him. Jack was trying not to laugh himself and Castiel looked a mixture of shocked and amused. Finally Sam could see why.
There was some idiot in a white truck doing donuts in their yard while a cop made multiple commands for him to stop and get out of the vehicle. When the idiot did finally stop the truck Sam’s jaw nearly him the ground. It wasn’t just any idiot. It was his idiot. Gabriel.
“Put your hands up!” The cop ordered and Gabriel rolled his eyes getting out of the car with his hands in the air.
“Oh come on! It’s was just a little fun! I didn’t hurt anyone!” He whined but thankfully Michael stepped in before anyone could be hurt and snapped his fingers making the cop and his car vanish.
“Sent them back to a coffee shop in town. No memory of this. Gabriel... how are you alive?” He asked walking over to this brother and Gabriel’s expression was nothing short of radiant as he took in the sight of his older brother.
“Mikey! You’re alive! Fuck yeah! Your asshole clone from the other universe shanked me good but that universe’s Raphael managed to scoop up my grace before I actually died and helped me heal for a while then come back.” He admitted hugging Michael tightly before Jack ran over and took his turn hugging Gabriel.
“Hey kid. Glad to see you still all glowy and cute.” Gabe said ruffling Jack’s hair.
Eileen elbowed Sam in the ribs and signed for him to go get him already and Sam ducked his head suddenly not sure what to do but Gabriel grinned at him.
“Hey Sammoose, don’t I get a hug from you too?” He asked playfully opening his arms and Sam walked over and grabbed him by the shirt pulling him in for a bruising kiss instead, only somewhat aware of Dean’s confused yelping and more laughing going on since most of his attention was on how the archangel melted against him and he finally felt whole.
As Sam pulled away snow started to drift lazily from the sky and Gabriel grinned. “Looks like a Christmas miracle huh?” He asked and Sam nodded before kissing him again. A Christmas miracle indeed.
The first time Gabriel came into Sam’s room, Sam nearly shot him.
It had been nearly six months since they’d returned from the apocalypse world. Nearly six months since Sam had pushed Gabriel aside and killed his brothers for him, since the bunker had filled with alternate-universe hunters and one depowered archangel, since relative peace had been restored. The only things they’d had to deal with since thanksgiving had been a small pack of rogue werewolves and a run-of-the-mill haunting.
But a lifetime of hunting had left Sam’s nerves frayed to the quick. So when his ears detected the minute creak of his door opening, the padding of footsteps, the strange pressure of another person’s stare, Sam was pointing his gun before he was fully awake. His finger twitched on the trigger as the light flicked on. Gabriel was standing next to his bed, hands raised in surrender, eyes fixed on the barrel.
Sam huffed, lowering the barrel. “Gabriel? What the hell, man?” He whispered loudly.
“Hey there, Sam. Are you pleased to see me or is that a pistol in your pj’s?”
Sam loosened his grip on the gun, rubbing at his eyes. Fuck’s sake. “Could you not have picked a better time to come annoy me? I know angels don’t need to sleep but...”
He looked up and trailed off, getting his first proper look at Gabriel. He was looking distinctly… worn. More threadbare than Sam had ever seen him. Even when he’d come back from Asmodeus, Sam could have sworn that the bags under his eyes hadn’t been quite that deep. His skin was pale.
Sam had known that Gabriel had used nearly all his grace to fend off Michael and close the rift behind them, but Gabriel had waved him off when he’d asked if he was okay, deflecting with a witty quote, and Sam hadn’t had the energy at the time to grill him further. Come to think of it, they hadn’t been seeing much improvement. But Sam had never actually asked what was going on with him these days. Now, looking at the way Gabriel was visibly sagging where he stood, he regretted that.
Gabriel’s eyes darted to his, then away again. The thin veneer of joviality slipped. “Just thought, maybe… Doesn’t matter. Sorry. I’ll let you get back to sleep.”
He turned to go.
“Wait.”
Gabriel stopped, one hand on the door. Sam sighed, setting his gun down on the table. “Was it a nightmare?”
Gabriel’s shoulders visibly tensed, and to Sam, that was answer enough.
“No,” he lied tersely, “I’m cold.”
And oh, Sam knew that look- the edgy glancing down, the slight tremor in his hand. The way his eyes kept darting to the corners of the room like he was expecting his nightmares to bleed out of the darkness. He’d been like that, after the cage. When they’d still been sleeping in motels. He’d crept out of his bed in the night, cold and shivering, and slipped in with Dean like he was a little kid again. And Dean had grumbled, but he’d always let him in, shared his warmth.
Gabriel had nobody. And he’d woken up from his own personal hell, terrified and alone and unable to sleep in case he was there waiting for him. And he’d come to the only person who knew what if felt like to go through even a fraction of what he’d been through, desperate for any sort of comfort even if he thought he’d be turned away.
He was still hesitating there, so close to bolting out of the door. For a second, Sam looked at him and felt a terrible pity.
But Gabriel would hate that. Nobody wanted to be pitied.
Sam flicked back the edge of the blanket. “Okay, get in.”
Gabriel visibly perked up. He whipped around, hiding the tiny hope in his eyes behind the usual smirking confidence. “Oooh, Mister Winchester! Didn’t you know you’re supposed to buy a girl dinner first?”
Sam ignored him. There would be no asking him about what he’d dreamed. Not tonight. “You’d better not steal the covers,” he threatened.
Gabriel slipped in beside him, the two of them lying back to back. Sam winced as cold toes pressed against his shins. Okay, so maybe Gabriel hadn’t been entirely lying about the cold thing.
He closed his eyes, and faster than he usually did, he was drifting into sleep.
...
In the morning, Sam woke to the edges of the covers flipped back, and a cold empty spot next to him.
They didn’t talk about it.
.o0o.
The next time was the day that Dean decided that they were celebrating Christmas this year.
They had started decorating in the haphazard, disorganised way that people who have never stayed in one place for long enough to accumulate the intricate family rituals would. Sam hadn’t been convinced. But Dean had been determined to make an event of it.
“Think about it Sammy, it’s the first Christmas since you were four that our lives haven’t been a crapshoot. It’s not perfect, but we’re here, right? Me, and you, and Cas. Charlie, Mom and Jack will be back by then. Hell, even Gabe’s here. Nothing world-ending’s happening. We need to take advantage! Plus,” he looked at the hunters loitering around the library table and lowered his voice, “I think we could all do with a bit of holiday spirit. It’s been a hell of a year.”
So they’d cut down a small fir tree in the woods, and Dean had gone out into town, and come back with a victorious smirk and a hodgepodge of christmas ornaments from Goodwill. They were all awful, obviously, but that wasn’t what mattered, Sam, it’s the principle of the thing!
Cas had even contributed by making a string of paper chains, his brow furrowed as he sat at the library table and glued each ring closed with a level of concentration that suggested he was casting some reality-altering spell rather than making Christmas decorations. He didn’t seem to notice as Dean slipped a headband with a bouncy star attached to it behind his ears.
Gabriel wandered in as Sam was starting to feel particularly put-upon, reindeer horns perched on his head, tinsel draped over his arms as Dean searched for the next ridiculously tacky item from the box.
“Hey Gabe.”
“Sam! What’s Deano up to? I thought covering the bunker in glitter was meant to be my job.”
“Aha!” Dean straightened up, the pompom on his elf-shaped hat flopping comically as he brandished a large angel-shaped tree topper. “Perfect! Get it Sam? We’ve got fake angels and real angels! At least this isn’t gonna try and smite us!” Sam rolled his eyes. Out of the corner of his vision he saw Gabriel shift uncomfortably. Dean turned to Castiel, holding out the doll for a better reaction. “What do you reckon, Cas?”
“That decoration is a deeply inaccurate stereotype,” Cas commented without even looking up from gluing his fingers together. “Those wings would never support interdimensional flight.”
“Spoilsport. Hey Sam! Stick that up there, would you? It’s about your height. Or, wait,” Dean’s eyes lit up with humour, a teasing smile spreading across his face. “How about you, Gabe, this is your time of year-”
But Gabriel was gone. Sam turned just in time to see his heels vanish down the corridor towards the bedrooms.
Dean’s hand dropped to his side. Sam could have sworn he saw the tip of his hat droop. “What’s up with him?”
Cas’ eyes were fixed on the door. “He’s not what he once was.”
Dean scratched his chin where stubble was beginning to grow. “Yeah, but he’s getting better right? His grace’ll recover.”
Castiel’s face scrunched into a grimace. Sam felt his heart sink.
“He’s… he’s not getting it back, is he?” He said quietly.
“Possibly not,” Cas said quietly. “The longer it goes on, the less likely it is that it will start regenerating.”
Ah.
Eventually they went back to decoration, but even Dean was more subdued now. Neither of them had really considered that Gabriel’s grace might be gone for good.
Sam fully expected not to see Gabriel until the next day. Often, when he got into one of his quiet moods, they might not see him for days, or only his heels as he nipped to the kitchen to search for food at odd hours of the night. But when Sam stumbled to his room, rubbing glitter off his face and his stomach warm with Dean’s special brand of eggnog, there was a figure perched on the end of his bed.
“Gabriel?”
Gabriel crossed his arms. “Don’t look at me like that, Sam. Your room is the only warm one in this whole damn place. Dean can stuff his why-is-the-heating-on schtick, I can’t stay in that icebox you call my room another night.”
His tone was joking, but there was something tense as a bowstring underneath it. Something unsure. Clearly he didn’t want to be alone. Sam shrugged and went to rummage for a shirt to sleep in, hoping that being casual might alleviate the stress before Gabriel snapped himself in half with it. “Well you can stay with me tonight, it’s not an issue.”
“Why did you two have to set up shop in a concrete bunker?” Gabriel groused to fill the air as Sam got changed. “The whole damn place is a heat sink. My feet are cold as soon as they touch the floor in the morning.”
Sam hummed, still not commenting on the elephant in the room. He flicked off the main light, leaving only the dim illumination of the numbers of his alarm clock, glaring orange in the darkness. “We’ll have to get you a rug or something. Don’t want you losing toes just because we have concrete floors.”
Gabriel grunted in agreement, shifting a little closer. Sam lay still and closed his eyes. He could feel the tension in Gabriel’s body beside him. Like he was being pulled in two directions, hung drawn and quartered by his own indecision. The silence stretched. Despite the sensation of Gabriel’s attention fixed on him form just a few inches away, Sam started to dose.
“Hey. Thank you.”
Sam startled a little. He hadn’t expected Gabriel to say anything at all, let alone something that sounded so serious and sincere. He opened his eyes again, blinking up at the ceiling in the darkness. “No… No problem.”
“It’s not… I’m not used to it. Having people there.” Gabriel said quietly.
He didn’t elaborate, but he didn’t need to. Sam could read between the lines. Gabriel wasn’t used to having anyone there at all who cared about him. His brothers had tried to kill him, been sold into slavery by someone who thought he was his friend. Honestly it was a miracle he was here now.
“You know it doesn’t matter, right?” Sam whispered into the dark. “If you never get it back. You’ll always have a home here.”
Gabriel didn’t respond other than going stiff, but Sam hadn’t expected him too. Under the blanket, he let his hand find Gabriel’s, winding their fingers together in a gesture of unspoken solidarity. Gabriel startled as their fingers touched, but after a moment, he gave a hesitant squeeze, body relaxing a little. Sam hesitated for a moment, considering, then scooched over a few inches, until they were pressed together, just their sleep shirts between them. He could feel Gabriel’s toes freezing against his calf.
He felt a slow exhalation against his collar, but Gabriel didn’t move away. Sam closed his eyes, hiding a smile in the dark.
...
When he woke the next morning, Gabriel was gone again. But the depression in the mattress was still warm, and there was still a phantom sensation of fingers, holding tight to his.
.o0o.
The third time, Sam went to him.
Of course there had to be a call-out to a case on Christmas Eve. It was inevitable. It was even more inevitable that it would be a tentacle monster, and that it would be drowning people in a frozen lake.
“You know, when I said I wanted a white Christmas, this isn’t what I imagined,” Dean grumbled.
Even if Sam had wanted to respond, he wasn’t sure he could without his chattering teeth biting off his tongue. He shivered again under his mound of blankets.
As soon as they crunched their way to a stop Dean bundled him out of the impala and towards the warmth of the open door of the bunker. Sure enough, snow was falling in thick flakes around them, blanketing the ground as they carefully made their way inside.
Gabriel glanced up from where he was painstakingly carving a dick into the library table, then frowned.
“What the hell happened?”
Dean waved him off where he was halfway to standing, ushering Sam shakily down the stairs.
“Don’t worry, nothing serious. He’s just cold is all. Monster was a little more handsy than we’d thought.”
Gabriel’s worried eyes didn’t leave Sam all the way into the corridor. Dean guided him to the bathroom and shoved him in with a reassuring hand to the middle of his back.
“Go on, take a hot shower. I’ll get dinner going, God knows the rest of the hunters can’t cook and I don’t trust mom with more than heating up soup after the last time she tried to bake.”
Sam stayed in the shower for almost an hour, but as soon as the water shut off, he was shivering again. Cold. He cursed under his breath as he wrapped himself in the largest towel he could find and shuffled towards his bedroom. Sometimes this happened- he would be chilled to his core, and no number of drinks or hot water bottles could warm him up. As though his soul had been reminded of the chill of Lucifer’s touch, and couldn’t forget it again.
He rummaged until he found the thickest shirt he had, and then a sweater, sliding it over his head with shaking fingers. He could just get into bed, shiver to himself for hours until he fell asleep.
Or…
Could he? Would Gabriel mind?
Another tremor set his teeth chattering again, and that made his decision for him. Before he could doubt himself, Sam pulled his door open and marched himself down the corridor, pausing outside Gabriel’s room.
“Come on in!”
Slowly, Sam pushed open the door. He hadn’t been in here since Gabriel had claimed it. It was slightly cluttered, pictures on the walls, knick-knacks on every surface. The room was dimly lit by the buttery light of a lamp, enough illumination for Gabriel to read his book where he was curled up on top of the covers. The thick rug on the floor gave the place a homely look.
As he came in, Gabriel put his book down and quickly slipped off his reading glasses (he needed glasses? Sam hadn’t noticed), beckoning him in and pulling the covers off the bed so Sam could get under them.
“Dad above, Sam, get in before you freeze solid. I can see you shivering from here. You’re making me feel cold just looking at you.”
Sam stepped forwards, burrowing his way under the blankets, any embarrassment burnt away by the chill inside. He heard Gabriel tut next to him.
“Can’t get warm? Here, take this sweater off, it won’t help if you aren’t making heat. Basic laws of thermoregulation, Sammy, I thought you went to Stanford?”
Sam tried to help as Gabriel peeled him out of his sweater, but his arms were shaking too much to do more than be a nuisance, so eventually he gave up and let him do what he wanted. But it still came as a shock when Gabriel burrowed under the blankets with him, pressing them chest-to-chest. Sam tensed in surprise.
“Uh…”
Gabriel turned his head to look him sternly in the eye. “This is medical cuddling, Winchester, so suck it up. Body heat transfers are gonna warm you up faster than letting you shiver yourself into a coma. And don’t even think about lying and saying you’re fine- I can feel your fingers and they’re like fucking icicles.”
Sam hesitated. The warmth was amazing, as was the feeling of another friendly living body so close to his, but he couldn’t help feeling as though he was taking advantage. “You don’t… need to, you know. If it makes you uncomfortable. You don’t owe me or anything like that.”
Gabriel was quiet for a moment, and when he spoke, his voice was more subdued. “I know. But it feels good, doesn’t it? Helping. I realise now why you and your brother spend so much time on it.” He chuckled ruefully. “Being able to help… it’s a powerful thing. I might not be able to do much these days. But I can still do this.”
Sam relaxed. Gabriel was right. They would help each other and they would make it through. Together.
They’d been through so much, both of them, but they were here, and they were alive. Tomorrow morning they’d be woken by the smell of cinnamon rolls and warm laughter and Jack’s childish excitement, and Dean’s horrified shouts when he unwrapped the distinctly phallic package that Sam had seen Gabriel hide under the tree.
His family.
“Thank you,” He whispered. Gabriel slipped their fingers together and squeezed his hand.
And, for the first time in a long time, Sam was warm.
An Archive of Our Own, a project of the Organization for Transformative Works
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: Supernatural
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Relationships: Gabriel/Sam Winchester
Characters: Sam Winchester, Dean Winchester, Castiel, Gabriel (Supernatural)
Additional Tags: lawyer!Sam, lawyer!gabe, office Christmas party, Flirting, Miscommunication, Boss/Employee Relationship, it's as ethical as it can be though
Summary:
He wondered if he should regret speaking so casually to someone who could snap his fingers and ruin his career, but the anxiety train was cancelled as soon as Gabriel winked at him. Again.
Or, Sam figures out that the office dick that's been following him around and insulting his boss...is, in fact, his boss' boss, slash older brother. And as it turns out, maybe Gabriel Novak isn't such a dick after all.
My fic for the Sabriel Secret Santa by @sabrielevents. I’m so glad I got to take part in this event, it was really fun. My giftee was @mightywolves23 so I wrote her this... whatever this is.
Pairings: Sabriel/Destiel
Rating: Teen
Additional Warnings: Mutual Pining, Sam and Gabriel are idiots, so much Christmas fluff, Destiel are fucking gross, vulgarity, swearing, stuff like that.
Word Count: 4,599
December 1st
Dean is- Dean is jumping on his bed. Dean is jumping on Sam’s bed, holding his phone, which is connected to a Bluetooth speaker, blasting All I Want for Christmas at maximum volume. And grinning. Like a maniac. And singing along. Like a dork.
How could Sam possibly be related to this idiot?
He grabs one of his pillows and smacks his brother in the chest with it before burrowing underneath the other one and hiding from the world. Dean resurfaces quickly, pauses his song (blessedly), and grabs Sam’s arm. “Sammy!” he’s shouting, and Sam has never wanted anything more than he wants to be dead right now. “Sammy, come on, I have to make you a Happy December breakfast.”
“Dean, there’s literally no reason for you to make a ‘Happy December breakfast’. You just want an excuse to cook.”
Dean nods excitedly. “Hell yeah I do! Now come on, get your overgrown Goliath ass downstairs so that I can make you food.”
Sam groans but does as he’s told, pushing himself out of bed as soon as Dean leaves the room (he sleeps naked, no way is Dean getting the covers off of him while he’s still in Sam’s bedroom) and forcing himself to forgo comfortable clothing – he does stare longingly at his pajama pants for a minute, though – in favor of his usual combination of tank top under t-shirt under flannel under jacket. And he makes his way downstairs.
“Heya there, Samsquatch,” Gabriel calls cheerfully from where he’s sitting with his feet up on the dining table, eating chocolate pie a la mode with whipped cream. (How he can stomach that for breakfast still mystifies Sam) “Sleep well, princess?”
Sam makes a show of pulling his middle finger out of his ‘bra strap’ and applying liberal amounts of ‘lipstick’ to his lips with it. Gabriel cracks up, and Sam hides his smile. He does like making the Trickster laugh.
He makes his way through the kitchen, grabbing a piece of bacon from where they’re cooling on the counter and receiving a punch in the shoulder in return as he goes. He holds it between his teeth as he opens the fridge with one hand and grabs a glass from the cupboard next to it with the other. He pours himself some orange juice and then tears into the meat with his teeth.
He settles down at his usual place beside the archangel who’s somehow managed to become a permanent fixture in their lives at the bunker and strikes up an idle conversation with him about a book he read about Grace the previous day. Cas, sitting across from Gabriel, has quite a few interesting insights, and it’s only a few minutes before Dean’s carrying plates of waffles and bacon into the kitchen, and Sam smiles gratefully up at his brother before he digs in.
Once the table’s been cleared, Dean announces, “I thought we’d get a tree today.”
“Doin’ it early this year?” Sam teases, grinning at his brother. Every year that they’d been on their own, when they actually had a place to decorate, Dean was so lazy they’d always ended up getting their tree a week or so before Christmas. December first was new, to say the least.
“Shut up, bitch,” Dean shoots back without heat. Cas looks ready to step in if they really go at it, but Sam just laughs.
“Jerk,” he mutters, then adds, “Christmas tree shopping sounds awesome. If we have time, we can even go get gifts for each other, too.”
“We won’t have time,” Dean tells him wisely.
(He’s right, of course. They do not have time.)
#~+~#
They don’t leave for the farm until just after 1, because someone (coughGabrielcough) took about two hours to be composed enough to go. Which is ridiculous, because Gabriel can just snap himself up some clothes whenever he wants, he doesn’t have to take ten years to get ready and make everyone else wait for him.
Ah, well. Dean made a remark about Gabriel acting like a girl and Sam got to go on one of his feminist rants until Dean scoffed and walked away from him, so it was okay.
When they finally arrive, they hook themselves up with the complimentary hot chocolate that they always serve at those places, jump into one of those cart things, and drive off to the far reaches of the many acres of land reserved just for Christmas trees.
“So how tall we wanna go?” Dean asks as they climb out, Sam with the axe slung over his shoulder.
“I’m thinkin’ tall,” Sam suggests with a smirk in Gabriel’s direction. “I’m thinkin’ taller’n me tall.” And Gabriel- Gabriel honest-to-Chuck flushes, ever so slightly, under the heat of Sam’s gaze. Sam stares at him in amazement, because that can be summed up with one phrase. “Holy shit,” he whispers to himself before turning to his brother.
“I mean, we have the space for it, don’t we? Only problem would be getting it back to the bunker, although we do have angels who can do that for us.”
Gabriel, having regained his composure, smiles sweetly at them.
#~+~#
It takes Sam and Dean another half an hour to pick a tree, chop it down, get the angels to fly it back to the bunker, pay, grab another round of hot chocolate, and get in the car, and then the drive back home is forty-five minutes. Because of all of that, they don’t make it back to the bunker until 3:15 or so, by which time Castiel and Gabriel have already erected the tree in the spot they’d previously picked out and are now color-coding the month of December in their Biblical calendar (a joke gift from Dean that went right over Cas’ head, although he and Gabe got quite the shared-laughter bonding moment out of the way Cas so clearly didn’t understand it) with the various activities they’re planning to do on various days. They’re all spread out so as to be flexible in case they get hunts that go a little longer than expected.
Sam and Dean’s angels are nice like that.
(Oh, fuck. Cas has always been Dean’s, that much was clear from day 1, but the scary part is that Sam has started thinking of Gabriel as being his. That’s not good for him or his mental health, and it spells DANGER in big block letters across his life. He tries to heed the warnings, he really does, but… Gabriel’s perpetual sugar high and his… mostly… positive energy and his infectious sugary-sweet smile just get to him, warm up parts of him he’d forgotten existed, and eventually he is forced to realize that he was gone long before he ever had a chance to identify it. There’s no going back now.)
It’s mid-afternoon and none of them feels like doing anything, so they leave the eight-foot-tall tree alone, undecorated as it is, and collapse onto the two couches in the den. Unsurprisingly, Dean gets a faceful of black hair as an extremely cuddly Castiel presses himself against Dean’s side. Slightly more surprisingly, Sam gets a golden archangel’s head in his lap, and even more surprising is the way that Sam starts to card his fingers through Gabriel’s hair. However, what takes the cake is how natural that feels.
Sam hates this feeling.
Dean selects a Christmas movie at random – they end up watching The Holiday – and they all relax and allow themselves to enjoy the peace and serenity and Jack Black singing badly on screen.
Sam hates that feeling, but he loves this one. This is family and warmth and home, this is love and peace and happiness, and this is security like he’s never known. They’re a bit of a fucked-up family, but they’re a family nonetheless, and Sam wouldn’t trade it for the world.
He falls asleep on the couch.
--
December 5th
Sam pays his brother back in kind, and he justifies it by saying that Dean asked for this.
Dean wakes up to a pie in the face, and Sam knows he won’t stop bitching about a waste of perfectly good pie for several days. He could care less.
He lets Dean eat cherry pie for breakfast, and Gabe eats his chocolate pie for breakfast, and Sam has a donut because he kind of doesn’t care at this point, and Castiel doesn’t eat anything. Which disappoints his boyfriend greatly, but he keeps pointing out that I do not need to eat, Dean.
And then at 10, Sam finds Dean’s Bluetooth speaker, connects it to his phone, and queues up a three-hour playlist of Christmas music on Spotify. “Hey, get your lazy asses in here, we got work to do!” he announces joyfully, grinning into the dining room. Dean snorts and pushes his chair back from the table.
“Fine, Sammy, if you’re gonna be like that. I’ll be right back with the lights and ornaments,” he shouts up before disappearing into the storage room.
Gabriel and Castiel join Sam soon after, helping him plug in the power strips and figure out where they want their miscellaneous decorations to go. When Dean returns, Sam smacks the ‘play’ button on his phone, and they start to dance around the common space to ‘Jingle Bell Rock’ as they wind the lights around the tree.
Sam ends up standing on a stepstool at the base of the tree while Gabriel goes up the stairs and stands right next to the top and Cas stands halfway up the stairwell. They pass the end of the string around, singing and grinning, and Dean ‘supervises’. Which, of course, is just a fancy way of saying he stands there, watches them, and drinks a Chuckdamn blueberry smoothie.
Then, when he wants to put the angel on top of the tree, Sam gleefully informs him that since he didn’t help, he doesn’t get to do that part. He bestows that honor upon Gabriel, who practically vaults over the railing to put the little bauble on top, clings to the branches of the tree (while Castiel holds it in place with a very unamused expression) as he plugs it into the strand of lights, and then drops right into Sam’s arms.
Sam grins and winks at him before depositing him on the floor.
Rockin’ around
The Christmas tree
At the Christmas party hop
Dean grabs Cas’ hand and drags him down the stairs to the place in the doorway where he’d fastened the mistletoe earlier.
Mistletoe hung where you can see
Every couple tries to stop
He dips his boyfriend and kisses him loudly, and Sam scoffs and turns away, rolling his eyes. “Those two are gross,” Gabe murmurs to him, and he makes a noise of assent.
“They really are,” he agrees.
--
December 8th
Sam sneaks out for his morning run at four and when he’s done with his three miles he walks over to the Fred Meyer-slash-Starbucks that’s barely a block away. He spends several hours there, trying to figure out what the fuck to get his brother (who never wants anything) and two angels (who basically have everything) and feeling a little guilty that he’s paying for it all with stolen money.
He figures it out eventually, but by the time he gets back it’s almost nine o’ clock and – predictably – nobody’s awake yet. (Actually, he’s not quite sure that’s true. Cas is a bit of an early riser and even if he wasn’t, Dean’s probably gotten into his pants by now. Predictably, he supposes he should say, Gabriel isn’t awake.)
He shoves the double-plastic-bagged gifts into a duffel bag that he then buries in the bottom of his closet to wrap later and decides to get started on making breakfast for everybody because, however much he loves his big brother, he really can’t cook for shit.
He spends a while staring at the pantry and then a while longer staring at the inside of the refrigerator before silently wishing he’d bought some ingredients when he went out. He’s just decided to make breakfast burritos (scrambled eggs, bacon, tons of cheese, secret sauce. They have all of those things. At least) when suddenly an archangel appears behind him.
“Whatcha doin’, Sammich?” Gabriel asks, far too loudly and cheerfully in comparison to his normal early-morning disposition. Sam jumps about ten feet.
When he calms his racing heartbeat, Sam replies, “I was about to make you some food. But now that you’ve scared the shit out of me, I think you can do it yourself.”
Gabriel looks at him evenly for a moment, then shrugs, snaps himself up the biggest, most phallic lollipop Sam has ever seen, and walks past him to sit at the table. “So you didn’t want my help with anything?” he asks.
Sam glances back at the pantry and something clicks.
When did Dean buy frosting? And… woah, there’s a lot of stuff in there.
“Want to make Christmas cookies while our brothers try to buy gifts for each other and end up just screwing in the middle of a grocery store?” he suggests. Gabriel almost chokes on his lollipop, and Sam’s not going near that with a goddamn barge pole.
“I’m on board for Christmas cookies,” Gabe replies, deliberately and obviously avoiding the second half of Sam’s sentence. He jumps out of his chair and the lollipop disappears.
Sam starts to knead out the premade dough they had in the fridge while Gabriel goes to color the icing. They work in comfortable silence, weaving around each other in a well-coordinated dance like they’ve been doing this forever.
Sam is so fucked.
Once the dough is a flat sheet on the counter, he lets Gabriel take over so he can cut them out into festive Santa Claus and Christmas Tree shapes and Sam grabs the bag of flour to put it away and drops it. It kind of explodes, sending up a veritable mushroom cloud and lightly dusting Gabriel’s arm while somehow miraculously missing Sam. Gabriel doesn’t seem to find this acceptable and he reaches into the bag without looking away from his carefully oriented cookie cutter and flicks a little flour onto Sam’s hand. Sam laughs, coats his hand in the stuff, and wipes it down Gabriel’s shirt.
That gets his attention. He grabs a handful and drops it on Sam’s head, coating his hair in white. Sam gives him a flour-ball to the face, which prompts Gabriel to leave white handprints all over Sam’s new shirt and then Sam picks up the bag and dumps it on Gabriel’s head.
Gabriel’s staring at him with this betrayed look that is, frankly, just absolutely adorable, and Sam wants to kiss it off his face, which. Fuck. FUCK.
He wasn’t supposed to do this, he tried so hard not to do this. He’s so completely ass-fucked it wasn’t even funny.
He’s glad Dean cleared his throat when he did because if they’d been left alone for one more second Sam’s 100% sure he was going to kiss him. Archangel mojo be damned, Sam had been about to kiss that self-satisfied smirk right off of his face and accept his death with gladness.
“Havin’ fun, you two?” Dean asks, not concealing his laughter at all. Sam shrugs.
“I mean, yeah, it was pretty fun. Hey Gabe, stick those cookies in the oven and then we can watch another Christmas movie.”
Gabriel grins and taps him on the shoulder. He turns. “Yeah?”
“We should probably shower and change first,” he mutters, and Sam tries so hard not to flush because that sounds like he means together and oh, shit, is he in deep.
“Yeah, put the cookies in the oven, I call dibs on the first shower.”
Gabriel smiles at him as he slides the baking sheet onto the top rack of the oven, and Dean rolls his eyes before disappearing back into the hallway. Sam nods awkwardly several times and then sprints toward the bathroom before he can embarrass himself further.
--
December 17th
Sam needs a hunt. Sam needs to get the hell away from Gabriel before he makes a mistake, like shoving him against a wall, pinning him there, and kissing the living shit out of him.
So he finds a hunt for himself. And for Dean. Cas if he wants to. And not Gabe, because if he gets stuck in a room (or a car, or a motel, or a diner, or a…) with Gabe again he isn’t going to be able to restrain himself.
He ends up running through a big emptyish building at 11pm trying to figure out where the fuck these vamps have tied up his brother. Eventually he kicks down a door and finds Dean leaning against a wall swinging his blade in lazy circles and grinning. Gabriel’s standing in the middle of the room looking slightly spent but otherwise completely fine surrounded by a huge circle of corpses, and Cas is watching Dean worriedly.
“Heya Sammy,” Dean says. “Nice’a ya to drop in. Missed the party.”
Sam fights the urge to stick out his tongue. “You suck,” he tells his brother.
So. Hunting is out.
--
December 20th
They set up an assembly line. All the presents for each person are put into that person’s bedroom, and then each person goes around to everyone else’s bedrooms to wrap their presents for each other.
It’s all very complicated and it takes the whole day, but Sam and Gabriel end up talking and laughing as they wrap their gifts for Dean and Cas and Cas, Dean, and Sam have a wrapping-paper fight while they all wrap their gifts for Gabriel. All in all, it ends pretty well.
That night, they all get drunk on heavily spiked eggnog and sing carols together and pass out in various states of undress in the living room together as While You Were Sleeping plays quietly on the TV behind them.
--
December 24th
It’s Gabriel jumping on his bed this time.
Sam buries his face deeper into the pillow and grabs the archangel by the ribcage, dragging him to one side and pinning him under Sam’s own long limbs.
“You, my good sir,” he announces without moving his face (which means his words are slightly muffled by his pillow), “are an asshole. For waking me up at seven in the am on Christmas Eve when you know I like to sleep in. For your transgression, you are now trapped.”
Gabriel laughs heartily and squirms, but doesn’t fight too hard, just kinda wriggles in the sheets until they’re suddenly lying practically chest-to-chest, basically cuddling, and oh. Shit. Right.
Sam had almost forgotten that that was the reason he was avoiding Gabe in the first place.
He smiles a little awkwardly and pulls away from him, trying not to look like he’s disappointed. He almost misses the way that Gabriel’s expression slams shut and most certainly does not miss the way his eyes follow him sadly as he stands up and walks over to his closet. “Well, congrats,” he says as cheerfully as he can. “You got me. I’m up. What did you want?”
He grabs a tank and a flannel and pulls them on over his bare chest, turning to look at Gabriel expectantly. The archangel just shrugs at him, and Sam scoffs and rolls his eyes.
“You’re tellin’ me that you woke me up for no reason?”
Gabriel nods, smirking widely now.
“I’m gonna get you, you son of a bitch,” Sam mutters, slipping his left arm through the flannel and then jumping onto the bed, on top of Gabriel, trapping him there with his whole body.
Gabriel is basically shrieking with laughter and Sam’s smiling genuinely because he always forgets how much fun they have together, and he swears to himself he’ll never avoid Gabriel again because it never gets him anywhere. All it does is make him miserable.
They roll around on Sam’s bed, wrestling and play fighting, and Sam’s still in his pajama pants and neither of them cares. Somehow it devolves into a tickle fight, because Gabriel’s always brought out the most childlike parts of Sam, and they’re both screaming by the time the person in the doorway clears his throat.
They freeze.
“Hey, Dean,” Sam mutters, trying to hide his face. Gabriel shoves his shoulder, forcing him to look up at his brother, who’s watching him with amusement concealed not at all.
“Havin’ fun, Sammy?” he asks. Sam doesn’t answer. He just stands up, off the bed, and brushes off his clothes.
“What’s up?”
“Cas bought burgers. For breakfast.” Dean seems extremely excited about this prospect. Sam laughs.
“Let me guess. He also bought you pie, your favorite pie, because he knows your simplistic, animal brain like the back of his hand and loves you more than anything in the universe. Right?”
Dean nods enthusiastically. “Yeah! Now c’mon, there’s somethin’ for everyone.”
Sam rolls his eyes fondly before following his brother out of his room, but he does feel guilty for leaving Gabriel there. However, Gabe jumps up and follows him instantly, so he doesn’t feel too bad.
His is a veggie burger with lettuce and tomato slices and cheese etc. etc. It’s exactly his kind of thing, and he smiles at and hugs Cas before he digs into it. Considering their family and the lives they’ve led, he doesn’t even think it’s weird to be eating burgers for breakfast anymore.
After breakfast, they all chill in the living room for a while. People say ‘evil never rests’, but apparently it does, at least for Christmas. Phineas and Ferb lied to Sam!
It starts snowing around 3pm, and Sam suppresses his groan when he sees it, because he knows Gabriel will go into full-on child mode and want to play in it, and he also knows that the stupid archangel will be so adorable that he’ll submit without complaint because he can never deny him anything.
And surely enough, Gabriel glances out the window, sees the white powder beginning to dust the streets, and grins wide enough to light up an entire city block. He turns to Dean, who’s also smiling huge, and Cas, who looks indifferent, and finally Sam, who forces enthusiasm he wouldn’t fake for anyone else because it’s Gabriel, and he just can’t.
Gabriel snaps them all up winter coats and gloves and hats and scarves until they’re wrapped so tightly that they’re barely mobile and they make their way out into the snow, and it’s immediately an Angels VS. Winchesters all-out no-hold-barred snowball fight. And somehow the fake enthusiasm becomes genuine, and Sam laughs with the rest of them and builds Dean a big mound of ice to hide behind and dumps snow down the back of Cas’ coat and hits Gabe in the crotch with a snowball. (He doesn’t feel it, immortal archangelic bastard.)
It takes them two hours to finally wear themselves out, and they go back inside for hot chocolate with (in Gabriel’s case) far too much whipped cream and definitely too many marshmallows. Dean cooks them up a nice, big-ass Christmas Eve dinner, promises even more on Christmas Day, and they eat together in the dining room like a real family, surrounded by candles and a fire crackling in the hearth.
(Cas insisted on both.)
After dinner they curl up on the couches again, and this time Gabe isn’t even trying to hide how clingy he is. He’s in dog mode now, jumping all over Sam and not even caring what Sam thinks of it. Dean and Cas are cuddling in the other armchair like the sickeningly adorable couple they are, but Gabriel can’t seem to stop moving. One minute he’s in Sam’s lap, the next he’s on his shoulders, then he’s laying across the whole couch with his head on Sam’s thighs.
(Sam doesn’t mind, and he hates that he doesn’t mind.)
Sam leaves the room before the end of act one of Die Hard because he knows if he stays he’s going to do something wrong.
--
December 25th
It’s Christmas morning, and Sam wakes up to White Christmas from- wait, is Cas singing?
He pulls on a pair of pajama pants and makes it halfway down the stairs before he nearly falls over, because Dean and Cas are singing a duet in the kitchen as they make the coffee cake, dancing together like fucking dorks and smiling softly at each other. Dean laughs at Cas at regular intervals and readjusts to show him how to do something, be it ‘the note is here’ or ‘no, the steps are like this’ or ‘hold the spoon like that’.
They’re so in love, and Sam is… Sam is jealous. He’s man enough to admit it. He wants that for himself, and he’ll probably never get it, because he’s a coward.
But he’s happy for them, too, because they deserve it after everything that’s happened to them.
They finish the coffee cake. Sam gets Gabriel up and makes alcoholic eggnog because that’s what they all need at 10am on Christmas morning. And then they do gifts.
Dean gets a lot of records and cassette tapes and DVDs of various things. Sam gets books upon books upon books, some books he asked for and a lot he didn’t but wanted anyway. Cas gets a ‘How to Be Human’ starter kit from both Sam and Dean, as well as a promise ring from Dean (goddammit, those two are too cute) and a portable DVD player from Sam, plus something special from Gabe he says he’ll give him later. Gabriel gets a photo album from Sam, because he said he wanted one. He claims to love it. He gets chocolate-covered cherries from Cas, and when he runs into the kitchen to put them into the fridge, Dean stops him on his way back.
“What’s up?” he asks, and Dean is quite obviously fighting back his smirk as he replies.
“Sammy, couldja go stand next to him?”
Sam is supposed to be the smart one. Sam is supposed to be the one who figures it all out and is always one step ahead… it’s Christmas, and he’s with his family, and there hasn’t been a case in a while, and everything feels too peaceful. He’s off his game.
So he walks right into the trap – literally, he supposes. He goes over to stand next to Gabriel, and when he turns back around, Cas has already left the room.
“My gift to Gabe is really a gift to you both,” Dean tells them. “Look up,” is all he adds before he disappears.
Sam and Gabriel look at each other dubiously before craning their necks to figure out what he’s talking about and-
Oh.
In the doorway, hanging from the frame above them, are a few green leaves. Sam cringes internally and wants to punch his brother in the face. And then he looks at Gabe.
Gabe looks… different than he has in a while. He looks more confident, more sure of himself, and Sam hadn’t thought that was possible, but apparently he is. “Samsquatch,” he says firmly, “if you’re gonna kiss me, then just kiss me already.”
So Sam does.
And when he has an archangel’s legs wrapped around his waist and an archangel’s hands in his hair and an archangel’s tongue practically shoving its way down his throat, he thinks maybe he won’t punch his brother in the face the next time he sees him, after all.
Summary:The apocalypse will be started, one way or another, as Gabriel and Castiel learn. The demons have gotten what they wanted, and the hunters are helpless to stop the beginning of the end of the world. Luckily for them (and the world), they've got a friend in high places.
Pairing: Sam Winchester/Gabriel
Words: 2273
Read it on AO3
This is my gift to Julie for the Sabriel Secret Santa 2019! I hope you like it :)
Okay. I know, I know. I said the other one was for this, but there was a mix up and I have the request for @rainey! Enjoy!: Sam Winchester X Gabriel!
Changes: Gabriel isn't dead. And Sam and Gabe were able to settle down a little.
Warning: This is gonna be the fluffiest thing I have ever written. I mean it. They want fluffy, I'm going to make it as sickeningly sweet and Christmas-y as possible.
•▪•▪•▪•▪•▪•▪•▪•▪•▪•▪
Sam was baking, with the help of his archangel. Well 'help' isn't exactly the right word. Especially since he can't find the whip cream he had made. Well, he couldn't until he turned to ask his boyfriend for help and found it in his arms with him eating it.
"Gabriel! That was for the pie!" Sam said, with a voice of distress. Gabriel scooped up another spoonful with a playful smile.
"It's your fault-" Gabriel started before slinging the spoon to gesture at Sam, only to hit Sam's shirt with whipped cream. Sam pressed his lips together and looked back at Gabriel. Sam grabbed a handful of powdered sugar tossing it at the angel as Gabriel threw the bowl and spoon onto the counter. He didn't even reach the edge of the of the tile before Sam lopped an arm round hips hips and dragged Gabriel flush against him.
"Stop eating the food for the Christmas dinner!" Sam growled playfully as Gabriel squealed and giggled.
"Okay! Okay! I'll only taste test what you tell me to, let me go!" Gabriel pleaded. Sam relented and let the giggling Gabriel go with a smile.
"Clean up the sugar, please." Sam said. Gabriel pouted then snapped. Sam was please when he turned and didn't see a massive cloud of powdered sugar settling behind him. Sam grabbed his phone and turned on Jingle Bell Rock to play in the background while he tried to salvage the whipped cream. There was a ding from the oven. So Sam checked the cookies. Satisfied by their consistency, he pulled them out.
"They are done yet." Sam said as soon as he felt Gabriel behind him. He smirked as he got a huff. He placed the pies in the fridge and started decorating the gingerbread cookies. "Try this, tell me if it tastes good or bad." Sam said as he began making the danish butter cookie batter.
"It tastes really good." Gabriel said around a mouthful of cookie. Sam smirked to himself before swatting a hand away from the decorated cookies. "Sam! Please?" Gabriel begged. Sam huffed and rolled his eyes before handing the cookie to Gbariel without looking. He didn't need to look to see the pouty face. He did have to swat a hand away again just as he completed the batter. "Please! Just one more!" Gabriel whined.
"No! You'll eat all the cookies!" Sam said turning to face his boyfriend. Gabriel stuck out his bottom lip like he was about to cry. "No! Just magic ups some cookies for you to eat!" Sam said. Gabriel huffed and stared at the cookies behind Sam.
"But I like your cookies better!" Gabriel pleaded. He honestly clasped both his hands in front of his chest begging. "Please! I need them! I'm going to die!" Gabriel said dramatically. Sam let his head fall back and groaned.
"You are too dramatic for your own good! Fine take the gingerbread cookies but you touch nothing else." Sam said. Gabriel giggled excitedly and snatched the plate of cookies, before hopping onto the counter. Sam shook his head as he watched Gabriel with a smile. He walked for to Gabriel. Gabriel set the cookies down and threw his arms around the back of Sam's neck. Sam grabbed his waist as Gabriel gave him a sugary kiss.
"Thank you. I knew you loved me." Gabriel said. Sam pulled him back into a kiss to stifle his own laughter. He truly couldn't deny Gabriel anything for long. Sam pulled back and continued baking as Gabriel watched him happily munching on cookies. As soon as Sam put the final final dish in the fridge he turned to clean up the mess. It was gone and Gabriel was still on the counter. Sam smiled.
"Thank you. I knew you loved me." Sam teased and walked over to Gabriel. Gabriel chuckled as Sam helped him down. It wasn't intentional that Sam fell asleep watching Polar Express, cuddled up to Gabriel, but he certainly didn't regret it. He also loved waking up to Gabriel kissing him. Gabriel pulled back with a smile.
"Dean and Cassie will be here in an hour, babe thought you would want to know." Gabriel said. Sam stretched and yawned as he got off the couch.
"Thanks, I'll go get ready-" Sam started but paused as a strange sensation covered his body. He looked down. He was out of his plaid shirt and jeans and into a Christmas sweater with little angels on it and black slacks. Sam grinned at Gabriel. Gabriel had a Christmas sweater that had little moose all over it. Sam pulled him into another kiss as a knock came to the door. Sam groaned and sighed. "I thought you said an hour." Sam said softly. Gabriel pouted.
"They came early." Gabriel said. Sam nodded towards the door and went back into the kitchen. Sam checked the goose and smirked. Gabriel had taken care of it. Sam began setting the table as Gabriel came in with a cookie tub. Gabriel gave him a look. "Dean and Cassie made gingerbread cookies." Gabriel stated. Sam shrugged.
"I know you always make sure no one else is making gingerbread cookies if you make them. Because of last time." Gabriel said. Sam took a deep breath remembering it. There were at least a hundred gingerbread cookies. It was a nightmare. Still Sam shrugged like he had made an honest mistake. "Thanks, sweetie." Gabriel said and kissed Sam's cheek before storing the cookie s in the fridge. Sam let the big dimpled grin shine through. All of those cookies had been for Gabriel from the very beginning.
