low_key_angel | A Choice

"So that's how you end this Sam." Lucifer has never looked quite so smug as he laid out his proposal. "Have sex with my brother and I'll make all of this go away."

"Lu, don't do this."

"He can do this my way Gabriel, or he can watch you die."

Gabriel turned away from the ruined face of his brother's vessel. He was willing to give up ending the world for the sake of breaking his heart, of destroying any chance Gabriel might have had with Sam. Tainting every future interaction with this.

"Sam.. just go. You don't have to do this."

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From:

worldfelldown

Sam's expression softened. He wasn't a stranger to that... how easy it was for brothers to hurt one another. When you knew someone so well... you knew which parts to hit that would hurt the worse. Sam still didn't like that it had to be him that was used in all of this... didn't enjoy being the one to hurt Gabriel. It was... difficult to picture too, Lucifer being anything other than what he was now.

Actually joking, caring about someone other than himself, his own ends.

"See?" he huffed out a laugh that was so far from amused. "It's just... the guy who came up with the platypus is the same guy telling me he loves me. I mean, you're an angel. I used to pray to you guys, pray to God-- before I knew what a lot of you are like." Before he realized most of them probably weren't listening to him anyway, because he's been tainted since his crib, set on one destiny.

He shook his head and cradled his coffee cup in his hands, not quite drinking from it yet. "I'm not doing anything yet. We don't even have all the rings."

From:

low_key_angel

That’s what made all of this so difficult for Gabriel, really. Resolving the brother he’d known and adored with the twisted and frozen grace of the brother he’d just seen. He hated what he’d become, what Hell had twisted him into, but he was still his brother. Gabriel had fled heaven before Lucifer had been cast down. Watching Michael shatter his wings, curse them, it had been his own breaking point. Heaven stopped being home.

Gabriel snorted. “I’m a runaway. An archangel who abandoned Heaven because I couldn’t stand the fighting anymore and spent the next few hundred years hiding out as a Trickster. Not really an angel, not really a pagan. Humans.. you guys are better than us. You always have been. I know we’ve got the whole ancient and non-corporeal thing going on, but there’s a reason humans have always been Dad’s favorite. You adapt, you learn, you forgive – things we never learned how to do.”

“Angels were given free will, just like people. The problem was, it was different. So only a handful of us ever figured out what to do with it. The rest.. they’re stuck. Statues frozen in ice. They’ve forgotten what our job was. That we were created in love to act as shepherds. Not look like accountants from hell.”

And he’d argue about that percieved taint. Sure there was a hint of demon blood in him, but the fact that he was still a good man, a bright soul, that only made him more remarkable in Gabriel’s mind.

.. but he was probably biased anyway.

From:

worldfelldown

"But still... most humans don't get this and yeah, I know my life isn't exactly normal. It's still... I don't know." But it was good to hear the vote of confidence in humans as a whole, to know that Gabriel was really on their side this time and not insisting they play their roles. They were roles Sam didn't want to play. He didn't want to fight Dean, didn't want any more death on his hands than necessary... certainly not half the earth.

"Maybe after all this... maybe they can change too." Sam wasn't as hopeful, but he'd seen Cas change for the better. He'd seen Gabriel change as well. Maybe they could help them or maybe it was a fool's hope. Either way, if they really locked Lucifer back up and God really didn't care enough to come back? They were going to be lost.

"What do you think you'll do after all this is over?"

From:

low_key_angel

"Maybe they can, yeah." He'd like to think so. "Pretty sure Dad isn't coming back. Maybe I can help some of them out."

He'd meant what he had said to Lucifer, that humans got it right, in ways that angels never would. "If they want to listen anyway."

"And if everything goes right, if we stuff him back and everyone comes out in one piece, the ultimate Scooby Doo ending, what do you want to do?"

From:

worldfelldown

If that actually happened? Sam hadn't really considered it ever really playing out like that, but fine... why not just focus on something pleasant for once tonight? But it does require some thought for a moment or two while the waitress refills their coffee.

"I'd like taking a break. Dean deserves it, I think I need it." He shrugged. Their breaks didn't usually work out, but this was just in an ideal scenario, right?

"Work a normal job for awhile, you know? An honest job that doesn't have us hustling pool or running credit card scams." He smiled a little it at the thought. Dean could go find Lisa if he wanted... he could settle down and get that life he always wanted -- that Sam was never sure he was personally cut out for anymore.

"I'd, uh... I'd like to do more of this, with you. When you're not playing Trickster, I actually really like talking with you." That might have been a little more awkward to confess to. It was hard to not think about earlier. The sex hadn't been bad at all... far from it, but the thought that they were forced into it still made his skin crawl a little.

From:

low_key_angel

Hey, he was human. He was allowed to dream, right? While Sam mulls over his answer, Gabriel started shoveling sugar into his coffee cup until it's roughly the consistency of caffeinated syrup. A slow nod. "The simple life. Not a bad dream. You two've earned it that's for damned sure."

His smile echoed Sam's. Faint and touched with wistfulness. "Average Joe life coupled with coffee with an ex-Trickster? Doesn't sound too bad for a happy ending, Sam."

He inclines his mug at Sam, tapping them together briefly. "To happy endings."

From:

worldfelldown

"Yeah..." He laughs under his breath at the toast. "Maybe we'll be surprised."

He wasn't getting his hopes up about that, but... damn, it would be nice to be wrong in this case and actually get that happy ending, even if he probably didn't deserve it.

"And just for the record--" There's a lighter, more teasing note to his tone this time. "I think what you're drinking stopped being coffee awhile ago."

From:

low_key_angel

An impish wink followed that tease. That's the Sam he wanted to see. A hint of humor, a moment of happiness. "Hey, didn't they tell you in any of those big books you spend most of your life reading that archangels are nothing more than giant hummingbirds?"

"Look Sam. The big dance is off the table. Lu is a dick, but he's an angel of his word. Take a couple of days. Catch your breath. I can try and get a bead on the horsemen while you rest."

From:

worldfelldown

"I missed that one, I guess." He chuckled, shaking his head. It was nice to have this, for however long it lasted. It was good to see some hint of teasing from Gabriel back as well.

"Yeah, alright. You got a deal." The apocalypse was off the table, Gabriel was right. He hoped anyway. They had a minute to regroup and figure out how to get Lucifer back where he belonged... however they'd manage that.

From:

low_key_angel

After everything they'd just been through, it meant more to Gabriel to get that smile out of him. Satisfied, he sat back with an easy grin of his own.

"Good. Now you think your brother's pride will stand me putting you two in better digs for a couple days? No lumpy beds and dodgy hot water while you rest up?"

From:

worldfelldown

"Maybe? It's been a while since either of us have had a good night's rest." His expression was warm as he looked over at the angel grinning back at him. Yeah, tonight had... sucked, but in the end, he still stopped an apocalypse and had someone who cared about him enough to help him out with the rest that needed to be tied up.

He was considering that a win, even if it still irked him that Lucifer ended up using his body anyway -- just not in the way he'd ever thought.

"You know you don't have to though, right? We'll be fine."

From:

low_key_angel

"Quit complaining and let someone do something nice for you, kiddo." Gabriel waggled a finger across the table at him. "I'm not talking putting you two up at the Ritz, just some place with a mattress that isn't lumpy, pillows that aren't flat and honest to god coffee in the morning."

He sat back, finishing off his coffee in a single swallow. Lucifer had tried to sabotage things, and he couldn't help but relish the idea that just maybe.. he hadn't.

"Couple of days off to catch up on lost sleep and regroup. You could use the break Sam. Let me.. let me do this for you."

From:

worldfelldown

"Okay, okay." He holds up a hand in defeat, that fond look lingering on his face. It's a good offer and really, he thinks Dean could use the break at least. Sam? He's never been so good at resting when there's work to do, when something is hanging over their heads that needs to be done.

He'll try it though, because Gabriel is asking him and for once, it feels like they could win. Putting his now empty mug down he tilts his head. "Do you want to walk back with me? I guess I need to go... tell Dean something. Let him know that at least Lucifer's not bringing the apocalypse."

He's not sure what reaction that will bring, when he gets whatever details Sam can bring himself to admit to, but... he did it so his brother could quit fighting, so Gabriel didn't die. It was worth whatever happened after this.

From:

low_key_angel

Gabriel pulled out a handful of money, leaving it on the table. A three hundred percent tip for a struggling young lady who needed the break. Not much in the grand scheme of things, but it mollified his sense of justice to take care of people who needed it now and then.

"Sure thing. And.. I'm okay with not telling him exactly what went down. Tell him I talked my brother down if that'd be easier."

"And tomorrow night, you guys will find a better place to crash. Someplace you can rest for a few days."

From:

worldfelldown

He arched a brow at that tip Gabriel left behind, but didn't question it. Getting to his feet, he headed out the exit, keeping himself close to the angel for now. "I'm very okay with not getting into the details. Some things, my brother really doesn't need to know."

Even if Dean was the master of sharing too much information about his sex life. Sam wasn't so much into that -- especially when it was under coercion from the devil himself. His hands went to his pockets idly. "Sounds great. It's been a long time since we've had decent rooms. Don't really get the option all that often."

From:

low_key_angel

"You tell him what you're okay with. I'll back you up," he lingered outside the diner for a moment.

"I'll hook you guys up for a few days. Call it a mini vacation." And really, after that, they'd find nicer hotels out of nowhere, good coffee, and Sam would find that even crap diners started serving decent salads.

"Sam. I.. I'm sorry you had to find out that way. From Lucifer."

From:

worldfelldown

"Were you planning on telling me yourself?" He couldn't help the question. He was curious and he wanted to know if there had been a chance of a more pleasant way to hear it. Not that it really mattered now when the damage was pretty much already done.

From:

low_key_angel

"When this mess was over with," he waved a hand vaguely. "Not something I figured you needed to hear in the middle of trying to save the world."

A lame excuse, but at least it was honest. "You had enough to worry about without hearing how I felt on top of it."

From:

worldfelldown

He nodded at that. Well, at least he planned to tell him eventually... even if there had really been no promise of him surviving the apocalypse. Even now, there really wasn't.

Sam gave him another look. "For how long?"

From:

low_key_angel

Gabriel rocked back on his heels for a moment, trying to come up with an answer that didn't sound ridiculous and sappy.

.. and failed. He shoved his hands back in his pockets and met his gaze evenly. "Since I laid eyes on you Sam. That first job. Watching you work. I was a goner."

From:

worldfelldown

"Really?" Since he first saw him... Felt like forever ago and really, Sam would have never guessed with the way that whole situation went.

"That's a long time, you know."

From:

low_key_angel

"Really," Gabriel offered a vague shrug. It didn't seem quite as long ago to him. Bright, smart and with a dimple to die for, how could be not fall for Sam?

"So, ah, do you want me to wait out here while you talk to Dean? Or.." He'd stay as long as Sam wanted him there, careful never to press.

From:

worldfelldown

"You can do whatever you want," he answered, not wanting to keep him here if he'd prefer being by himself for now. He didn't blame him. Besides, this might take a while to explain to Dean...

"If you stay, I'll try to come back out soon."

From:

low_key_angel

This was going to be a somewhat awkward dance for both of them. Gabriel wanted to stay, but at the same time, he didn't want to crowd Sam. "I'm good, I'll hang out for awhile if you want to poke your head back out after talking to big bro. Can sit here and watch the stars for a bit."

He'd already decided to linger all night, even if Sam went inside, showered and collapsed from sheer exhaustion. Just to keep watch.

From:

worldfelldown

"Yeah, okay. I'll be back out in a while then." He smiled a little, strained. Not really because of Gabriel this time, but this was a conversation he wasn't looking forward to having with Dean right now... well, not entirely anyway.

He was glad to tell him the apocalypse wasn't looming over them for the moment, that he could relax for a couple days.

With another brief look, he headed inside. The talk... didn't start out all that easy. Nothing starting with, 'I spoke with Lucifer' was going to settle right with his brother though. He explained as much as he could - while leaving out as many of the intimate details as he could. Dean didn't like it, didn't trust it at first... Sam couldn't blame him for being worried or not trusting the devil of all people though.

It was a long talk and a lot of yelling before Dean calmed down enough to actually accept it... and agree to gathering the last of the rings and locking Lucifer up for good in any way they could. Sam was exhausted by the time he poked his head out, but he was looking forward to sitting out for a bit, getting some space from Dean while they both cooled down and really thought about what they were doing here.

They were going to stop Lucifer, somehow, some way.

"You still out here?"