Just a Baby in a Trench Coat

Chapter 12 ~ Sam Really Should Get Paid to Deal With All This BS

A week later Sam was still unfathomably done with Dean's love crisis. Castiel had been reclusive, staying in his room until Gabriel would drag him out to go flying or sparing. Gabriel would go from jolly to murderous the second Dean walked into the room. And Dean? He was sulking hard-time. He left at all times of the day to go to bars and hit on poor unsuspecting women. Sam's only saving grace was that Dean at least never brought a woman back to the bunker. Weirdly enough, Sam thought he was the only person having to deal with an emotionally stunted relative until Gabriel marched into their research room one morning muttering and laying on the table with a loud, "Castiel is hopeless. Utterly hopeless."

"You go flying again?"

"No, Castiel was 'too tired' to go flying which is bullshit. If there is one thing Castiel would never give up it's flying." Gabriel sat up, still perched on the table in front of Sam, "He's just so--" Gabriel looked as if he was choking an invisible person in front of him, "deadset about Dean. He thinks all Dean's problems stem from him being around, and if that isn't the most depressing shit I have ever heard I--"

"Wait," Sam cut off Gabriel's tirade, "Cas thinks he causes all of Dean's problems?"

Gabriel paused, "Yes? I mean, it's pretty obvious."

"Dean thinks he causes all of Cas's problems."

Gabriel stared in silence before letting out the loudest laugh that startled Sam enough he dropped a book from his lap.

"Those two are fucked aren't they?"

"Oh yeah, one hundred percent."

After that, Sam found himself gossiping with Gabriel. It was fun to find someone who agreed with you, but also a little unnerving since the topic was his brother who was too scared of commitment to act on his emotions. Plus, the little insight into Gabriel's past, and his past relationship with Cas, intrigued Sam. He loved making connections, playing detective (thank you, Sherlock Holmes), and he privately had an entire doc on his computer dedicated to notes on the archangel. So far, he concluded that Cas and Gabe had been pretty close before Gabe left due to the fight between Lucifer and Michael, and that despite Gabriel being off heaven's radar, Gabriel has some contact that allowed him to be in the know. So many mysteries kept surfacing and it delighted Sam to some extent. Gabriel was relatively private about his past (with the exception of his sexual exploits which he loved to brag about) and would change the conversation or straight up stop talking to avoid certain topics. It really was fascinating. Unfortunately, the world keeps turning and soon Sam had stumbled across hunt material.

"So get this," started Sam one day as he tilted his laptop towards Dean who was sipping a Budweiser and browsing old magazines he found stashed away. Castiel and Gabriel had gone out grocery shopping after Gabriel declared he wanted to cook something (which meant he was up to something and honestly Sam was too scared to find out), "Twenty people have gone missing, five of those have showed up in random places with severe blood loss and horrible marks on their necks. Some completely decapitated. Sound familiar?"

"Fuckin' vamps..." muttered Dean as he leaned closer, taking in the info from the article Sam had pulled up.

"It's a five hour drive away, max, and it seems like it's a new nest considering they only found five vics."

"They're recruiting."

"Exactly."

Dean sighed and rolled his shoulders as he stood, "Saddle up then, guess we're headed to Overton."

Sam closed his laptop and said, "Do you want to call Cas and Gabe to see if they want to come?"

"It's a simple vamp hunt Sammy they don't need to come."

"Yeah, but Gabriel's become restless and if we don't give him something to do he could create a problem out of boredom."

Dean grimaced, still sore about the fight Gabriel and he had gotten into. The topic of the fight still remained a mystery to Sam.

"Fine. I'll ring Cas and let him know what's up."

Sam knew Dean would wait until the very last minute and use that as an excuse to leave the angels behind so Sam rolled his eyes and sent a text to Gabriel as he stood to get ready.

Twenty minutes later, Dean was completely packed and getting stuff put into the Impala when Gabriel and Castiel strolled in.

"Where are the groceries?" asked Sam as he noticed the very distinct lack of bags in the guys' hands. Gabriel paused and then spun to face an equally stunned Cas, "Oh fuck we forgot the food!"

A resounding, "You owe me fifty bucks!" came echoing from Dean's direction and Sam pinched the bridge of his nose. They were the most dysfunctional band of idiots he'd ever met.

"Yeah, yeah Captain America I'll get ya your money." yelled Gabriel as he went towards his room to, presumably, get his stuff together. Sam couldn't figure out why Gabriel used his powers sometimes and not others. It was another mystery.

"So where are the groceries?"

"I believe they are sitting on the ground in front of the store."

"Ah."

Cas stood there, and Sam worried that the guy had just mentally transported to another plane of existence until Dean walked back in the room.

"Woah, Cas, you alright?"

That seemed to snap the guy out of his sumo-coma.

"I-Yes. I am...fine. Dean."

Dean wasn't satisfied with that, and neither was Sam, but neither decided to press the issue. When Cas wanted to talk, he would talk. When Sam heard a loud, "Hey Samwich, where do you keep your hairbrush?" he immediately darted from the room to try and salvage whatever Gabriel had gotten his hands on.