Gabriel

It might not have gotten the response that Lucifer wanted. Sam's temper was legendary, but he'd had much better control over it since he'd reached his twenties. "See, that's the problem. You see it as 'despite being an Omega', without realizing that protection is one of the basic desires of both Alphas and Omegas. That an Omega concentrates their protection on home and family doesn't make it less than an Alpha's protection."

He took a breath, letting it out slowly. "I'm not going to kill Michael. I could. I might not even get locked up, even if it's definitely past the point of it being considered anything other than premeditated." He looked at Lucifer seriously. "For the moment, I'll trust my father and grandfather to make the decision best for the pack. But if anybody comes around Gabriel looking to threaten him and our children, I will take matters into my own hands. No matter how much Gabriel still loves them."

Which was warning to Lucifer as well. Because while Lucifer might not have fully participated in the abuse that Gabriel had received because of his Omega status, he hadn't stopped Michael, either. Which, to Sam, meant he was every bit the danger to Gabriel that any of Gabriel's old pack could be.

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He wasn't there to debate pack politics or status. Gabriel should have been born an Alpha and he should have taken Sam as his years ago. But there was nothing for it - Gabriel was the Omega and he'd chosen Sam as his. Michael still posed a danger to both of them, and it seemed that it would be a danger he may have to deal with on his own.

Sam's reaction seemed to satisfy Lucifer. The threat didn't bother him, what mattered was Gabriel had someone to protect him. An Alpha who would tear apart anyone who threatened his brother. Reaching into his pocket, he extracted a cell phone, bending to set it at his feet.

"Tell Gabriel I'd like to speak to him one day. When he's ready."

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Sam glanced down at the phone, noting it was a pre-paid one. Probably something that Michael wouldn't have access to. Given everything, probably a good idea. His nostrils flared, breathing in and trying to detect if there was a trick involved.

Finally, though, he nodded. "I'll give it to him and let him know. The only promise I make is that if he wants to talk to you, I won't stop him." He had a feeling that, yes, Gabriel would probably reach out to his brother eventually. Lucifer was the one he'd always been closest to, after all. But Sam wasn't going to force anything either way.

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A pre-paid phone going to a number that Michael knew nothing about. Lucifer was careful about such things, especially as he started to make his move. A move that would either see him in control once and for all, or a move that would mean his death.

Either way, he owed his little brother that much. A chance for Gabriel to have some peace.

The Alpha glanced up at the building again before turning his eyes on Sam. "That's all I ask. A chance to talk to him." His lips curled in a dark smirk. "I suppose I don't have to offer up the cliche 'hurt my brother and I'll rip you apart', so I'll be on my way. Take care of my brother Sam."

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"If I ever hurt him, Lucifer, I'd let you do it." He shook his head. He knew that was the nature of the bond talking. While it wasn't impossible for one side of a destined bond to harm the other side, it was rare. "All I want is the same that you do. For him to be safe and happy. For our children to grow up the same way."

He had no doubts that Gabriel was watching them. Probably with Dean ready to jump in and stop it if things came to blows between him and Lucifer. "He's pack and my bonded mate. To cause harm to him would be to cause harm to myself."

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While Lucifer didn't know about the bond before coming, he honestly didn't care. What mattered was his brother safe and far away from Michael. Where he belonged. For a long moment he simply looked at Sam, blue eyes assessing before giving a single nod.

"Not how I expected any of our lives to turn out, really. But here we are." Another glance towards the building, the faintest nod at a shadow that was most likely his brother.

"I'll do what I can to keep Gabriel safe from Michael, Sam. As I always have." His smile darkens. Keeping him safe meant challenging his brother, which meant that one of them would likely wind up dead. "So long as you do the same."

And without another word, he turned and started down the sidewalk, away from the building.

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Sam watched him go, hands in his pockets until the man was far enough away that he felt safe stepping forward to pick up the phone. He turned it over, checking it for anything untoward. He'd have to give it to Dean for a better looking over, but for some reason, he didn't think Lucifer would actually endanger Gabriel.

It was an odd feeling, the fact that he and Lucifer might be on the same side. Especially after all the worry that he'd take this even worse than Michael had. Sam frowned, watching the direction Lucifer had gone before he headed back inside, telling security to keep an eye out for Lucifer but that they could stand down.

He kind of hoped Dean hadn't actually called the police. That was going to get awkward.

Instead, he headed upstairs, going back to his apartment and thinking things over on the way. He rapped the door in rhythm to the opening of "Ramble On" before he opened it. It was an old signal, but mostly used so Dean knew it was actually him at the door. "Hey. You guys can stand down."

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Expression tense, Gabriel opened the door, letting Sam inside before closing it swiftly behind him and turning the lock. “Dean’s in the bedroom, on the phone with your Dad about what’s going on, what the plan is.”

There hadn’t been a fight, and the relief had nearly dropped him as he watched the entire confrontation from the window. He’d been closest to Lucifer and he didn’t want to see his mate and his brother battle over him or any other point of stupid pride.

“He left. Is he.. okay? I mean, what did he say?”

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Sam nodded, holding out his arm to Gabriel. Letting him be close if he wanted to, despite the adrenaline that was probably burning off through his pores. "He's...well, I'm no sure how happy he is about the whole thing. But he's more angry with Michael about it than you." He reached into his pocket, pulling out the phone. "I want Dean to have a look at this, but...he left this for you. If you ever wanted to talk to him. I'm assuming it's because Michael doesn't know anything about it."

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If they hadn’t been mated, Gabriel might have hesitated at the offer. An Alpha with that much tension bleeding off him was usually a dangerous thing. But this was Sam, his bonded mate, so he tucked himself in close without a thought, raising up to nose at his jaw in an attempt to soothe him as the stress wore off.

A phone from Lucifer. Gabriel picked it up, turning it over slowly in his hand. One day he’d pick up that phone and call him. See if they could really be brothers again. “Maybe. If he could just walk away from Michael.. I think that’d be good for him too.”

Lucifer would never walk. He’d fight or he’d die, he was too stubborn to do otherwise.

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Because they were mated, having Gabriel close helped to alleviate some of the tension, letting himself be soothed by Gabriel's closeness. He raised his chin a bit, giving Gabriel more room to press against his neck.

"I think...I think it probably would be," he admitted after a moment. "I hope he's not going to do anything stupid, but I suppose it's possible he will." He wrapped his arm around Gabriel's shoulders. "Though we need to have a talk about you keeping things from me, baby. Like the fact that Michael would have killed you if Dean hadn't been there."

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Gabriel huffed against his neck, leaning in closer. "It's Lu. Doing something stupid is kind of what he does." The scent of his mate helped to ratchet down his own tension, something the doctor had already advised against. But he didn't know his pack, his brothers. Tension and family sort of went hand in hand.

Busted. He snaked an arm around his waist. "That was my idea, don't get mad at Dean. He showed up in time and kicked the crap outta Michael. When I got to the hospital and found out that I was.. that we were.." he sighed. "I didn't want that to taint it. I wanted to tell you the good news without leading off with 'so my dick brother nearly killed me in my own store today'."

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"Baby. Nothing could have tainted that," Sam replied, rubbing Gabriel's shoulder. "Though, I'll admit, it might have ended with me heading straight back home to challenge him instead." Because there was no way that Sam would have let it stand, normally. "Though I probably would have calmed down enough not to have done that by the time I got there."

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"I know you would have. And you might have calmed down and not gone after him, but there's a pretty good bet he would have gone after you or Dean. I know challenges are part of being an Alpha, but I didn't want that to happen."

He relaxed a little more into him, at the reassurance that he wouldn't have gone off and done something rash. Because if he hadn't been so torn up, Dean probably would have gutted Michael on the spot.

"We both came out of it okay. That's what matters."

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"So, getting you out of town and keeping us both away from town gives Michael time to get over himself. Probably a good idea." Sam sighed, shifting so that he could kiss Gabriel's forehead. "And I'm glad. I'm more than glad that everybody came out of it okay." The next few months would be worrying enough without that hanging over their heads.

He turned with Gabriel toward the bedroom. "Let's check in with Dean. Let him have a look at the phone, then see about grabbing an actual nap." One that wouldn't be interrupted by Lucifer.

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"I have my moments." Gabriel grinned up at him, leaning into the kiss. "Hopefully a few days away will smooth things over with everyone."

He nods and let Sam guide them back towards the bedroom where Dean was just getting off the phone. Shoving it into his pocket, he cocked his head at his brother. "That was.. unexpectedly civil. The hell did he want if it wasn't to haul Gabe back?"

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"Believe it or not, he wants Gabriel safe. And far away from Michael, though he didn't say it in so many words." Different words, maybe, but not exactly that. "He apparently thinks that Michael will do his best to kill Gabriel and the baby if he has another chance. So when we get back, we're going to have to make sure Gabriel's not alone at the bakery." Since that was pretty much the only time Gabriel was alone and off pack property.

He holds out his other hand, the one with the burner phone. "I'd like you to take a look at that, though. Just to make sure there's nothing hiding there that could make life difficult."

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a_righteousman

He took the phone with a thoughtful grunt, turning it over in his hands. "Gimme a few. Basic phone, shouldn't be hard to check it out." Pushing a few things on Sam's desk aside, Dean flicked on the lamp and gently snapped the case of the burner phone open.

"Doesn't surprise me much. Dad and Grampa are out trying to talk to him now, set up some kind of meeting on neutral ground. Dad might have to call in Crowley to set the meet and you know he doesn't like messing with him one damn bit."

But whatever needed to be done, they were going to do it. Gabriel needed to be protected while he was vulnerable and the Winchester pack took care of their own.

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"Dad never did like cats much." The sorts of shifters that turned into cats were even worse, as far as John Winchester was concerned. Still, Crowley had his uses. Being outside of the pack structure and technically neutral at a time like this was definitely one of them.

On the other hand, Sam knew that Crowley had no love of Michael, either.

"He did tell me that Michael came a lot closer to killing Gabriel at the bakery than I'd been told," Sam replied, then glanced down at Gabriel at his side. "I think he was kinda hoping I'd lose my temper enough to go tearing after Michael and do his job for him." Though Sam wasn't certain he could take Michael. Not entirely.

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Dean grunted again, peering at the wiring of the phone. “Cat or not, I wouldn’t trust him any further than I could drop kick him and his fancy tailor.” He might be useful, but everything about the cat rankled him right down to his core and Crowley knew it. Exploited it when he could. “But if he can shut Michael down or at least get him to stand the hell down, then good.”

He looked up long enough to eye Gabriel. “I told you that was gonna happen.”

“Bite me, Dean.” Gabriel swallowed hard. “Lucifer may not be able to take him. I think if he was sure of that, he would have done it a long time ago.” Which means before it’s all over, Gabriel is going to lose a brother. “Michael will talk through Crowley, but there’s no way he’s going to let this go. Not unless Lucifer takes him down.”

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"I'm sure Dad or Bobby have already let Sheriff Mills know what's going on." She was a friend of Bobby's and therefore of the Winchester pack for years. But if there was going to be a pack war in her town, she had better know about it.

He looked between the two of them, then rubbed his hand over Gabriel's shoulder. "Lucifer might decide to cut his losses and leave. You're in a safe place now, once we deal with things with Michael. He'd be better off without Michael at all right now."

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Gabriel nodded at the reassurance, even though he wasn't quite as sure as Sam was. If Lucifer wanted to cut his losses, he would have done it years ago, or even when he'd finally left the pack with Sam. But no, Lucifer was too stubborn. Taking the phone back from Dean, he fired off a text.

It wasn't much, but it was a start.

"I'll double check with her on my way in, swing by the station." Dean clapped his brother on the shoulder. "The phone's clean."

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Sam sighed, looking down at Dean. "I don't suppose you'd actually try laying down and trying to get some sleep again, huh?" Because after driving all night, Dean really did need to get some sleep.

He glanced over at Gabriel, but as he promised Lucifer, he didn't try to stop him.

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There wasn't an immediate reply to the text, but it had been sent. A slow start to maybe being able to speak to his brother again. Gabriel pocketed the phone and slid out of Sam's arm long enough to snap off the lamp. "Sure he will. Because if he doesn't, I'm gonna sit on his chest and sing Lady Gaga."

The crack is enough to break up the last of the tension in Dean's shoulders and he huffed out a laugh. "You're a dick, Gabriel."

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