Transmission from the Trickster

Chapter 11

Sam returns to the war room to find Gabriel still huddled up against the wall, looking absolutely petrified. Sam raises his hand in a halfhearted wave, and Gabriel flinches. Sam quickly puts his arm down and pretends he didn't notice.

"Hey," Sam says quietly. "How are you holding up?"

Gabriel shrugs, a small movement that Sam almost doesn't notice.

"Can I get you anything, or...?" Sam walks closer to him, moving slowly so he doesn't scare the angel. Whatever progress he's made since they busted him out has completely reversed thanks to Dean. He must have ruined the supposedly safe atmosphere here.

Gabriel just shakes his head.

"Mind if I sit?" Sam asks, gesturing vaguely to the floor.

Gabriel shrugs, and Sam assumes that's permission and takes a seat in front of him. Gabriel doesn't meet his gaze, just staring at the floor.

"This is your new home, you know," Sam tells him. "Temporarily, at least. It's not Hell or Heaven or the Empty. You're safe here."

"I don't know if I can believe that," Gabriel says quietly.

"What do you mean?"

Gabriel looks up, meeting his gaze. "I'm just a monster to you guys, and you don't help monsters. You use them up until they can't help anymore and then you throw them out and they die."

"That's not true," Sam says firmly. "You're not a monster. Not to me. You went against your brother and helped save the world. If anything, you're a hero, and we help heroes." He reaches out to put a hand on Gabriel's arm reassuringly, but the angel flinches and quickly jerks his arm away.

"I'm about as far from a hero as you can get."

"You're the only reason this world is still standing," Sam tells him. "I've seen the world where the apocalypse did happen. All I'll say is that it's horrible. That's what our world would look like if you hadn't told us about the rings. You saved the world, Gabriel. You're a hero, no question about it."

"I don't feel like a hero," Gabriel mutters under his breath, and Sam can't tell if he was supposed to hear it or not.

"Heroes never feel like they're a hero," Sam tells him.

Gabriel doesn't answer, so they don't speak for a while. As bored as Sam is, he doesn't want to leave Gabriel alone. It's not necessarily that he doesn't trust Dean, but he doesn't want to risk his brother coming back to the war room and getting Gabriel alone again. Maybe it's not even that. He's almost hesitant to leave Gabriel to his own devices just in general. Even without factoring in the other people living here, there's no guarantee Gabriel would cooperate when there's no one around. In theory, he could just get up and leave at any moment.

That's actually a good point, Sam realizes, and probably something he should check on. He has no idea if they should consider Gabriel a flight risk or not.

"Do you want to be here?" Sam asks, which must seem random after so long sitting in silence.

Gabriel just shrugs.

"No, really," Sam insists. "Would you rather leave?" He's not offering to let it happen, but if he did want to go, they might have to let him.

Gabriel hesitates, then shakes his head. "I don't have anywhere else to go. It's either here or with Asmodeus."

"What about the Pagan gods?" Sam asks curiously. "Aren't you guys all friends or whatever?"

Gabriel scoffs. "Friends? More like unwilling acquaintances. It was one thing when they thought I was one of them, but they have to know the truth by now, and they aren't big on outsiders."