Transmission from the Trickster

Chapter 9

Sam is searching through the books for anything on the Seal of Solomon that night when the ringing begins. It starts out loud, but with each passing second, it becomes more and more unbearable. Sam clamps his hands over his ears, but it doesn't make much of a difference.

It takes a few moments to realize that this is the sound of an angel's real voice, so he calls out to the first angel that crosses his mind, though he's not sure if it's because he thinks he's the one speaking, or if he's expecting him to help whoever it really is.

"Cas?" Sam yells, but he's not surprised to not receive an answer.

Sam is beginning to think he's going to go deaf when the ringing finally stops. He hesitantly removes his hands, and he can almost still hear the sound echoing in his mind, despite knowing it's stopped.

"What the..." he mutters to himself.

Suddenly, a thought crosses his mind that he should have had earlier, and he jumps up, nearly knocking his chair over in the process, and sprints to the war room. Dean is lying on the floor, hands still clamped over his ears, and a knife on the floor a few feet away, in a pile of shattered glass. Castiel crouches next to him, trying to get his attention.

Sam kneels with them, checking for a pulse only to find that his brother's heart is racing. He looks to the angel for some type of information — a recovery time, a cause, anything — but Castiel just shrugs, looking at him sympathetically.

"Cas, what the hell was that?" Sam demands.

Castiel just gestures behind them with a jerk of the head.

Sam looks over to see Gabriel huddled up in a fetal position on the floor, his eyes wide. Sam's never seen him more frightened before.

"Gabriel did that?" Sam says in awe. That little angel managed to talk so loudly, it rendered Dean nearly unconscious?

Castiel just nods.

"Why?"

Castiel shakes his head. "I don't know. I heard him yelling and I ran. This is all I saw. Dean is obviously in no position to explain, and Gabriel won't talk."

Sam lets out a long breath. Things had been going so well — or as well as they can in this type of situation, housing an archangel in the bunker. He actually had faith this wouldn't be too bad. He should have learned by now that his faith is usually misplaced.

"Alright, well, let's get Dean out of here, at least," Sam says. "On three?"

Instead of waiting for Sam to count down, Castiel picks the hunter up easily on his own.

"His room?" Castiel guesses.

Sam nods. "Yeah, that's probably best."

Castiel begins to leave, but when he notices Sam isn't following, he looks back, confused. Sam just waves him ahead. Castiel can carry Dean by himself. Sam wants to have a chat with Gabriel — even if it's entirely one sided.

When Cas is gone, Sam slowly approaches Gabriel, who watches him with wide eyes but doesn't move. Sam makes sure to hold his hands up so Gabriel can see that he's not going to hurt him, just in case he flips out.

Sam manages to get fairly close to Gabriel until he tries to move away, and Sam instantly takes a step back to calm him down. He sits down on the floor, crossing his legs like a little kid, and Gabriel just stares at him in silence.