Sam reaches out, taking Gabriel's hand and threading their fingers together. It takes another moment, but he forces himself to look Gabriel in the eye. "I'm not afraid of pain, Gabriel. Especially not if it means staying closer to you."

Because it's not like he hasn't felt the pain of raw Grace against his soul before. But Lucifer and Michael hadn't had reasons nearly so good for doing it. That had been torture, something Sam was only glad enough to go through if it meant that they left Adam alone. It didn't always work, but he'd done his best.