Searching Purgatory [COMPLETED]

Chapter Four

Sam was sitting at the table, doing research for a hunt. A cup of steaming coffee was sitting on the table in front of him and he was picking at a muffin. Lauren came in the room then, a big smile on her face and her wet hair pulled up in a tangled pony tail. She made herself comfortable in the chair next to Sam, sending a smile Sam's way. 

"Good Morning, Sam," Lauren said. 

"Good morning." Sam sipped his coffee and looked back down at his book.

"How did you sleep?" But it wasn't Lauren's voice and Sam's head snapped up to see a smirking Crowley. 

Sam jolted then, walking up at the war room table, and almost falling out of his chair. Everyone else in the room was looking at him, eyebrows raised in shock. He shook his head, signaling for them to ignore him and go about their business. 

Unfortunately for Sam, Zoe wasn't going to let the poor boy sit at the table a second longer. Before Dean could say anything--and he was going to say something--Zoe shut Sam's book closed, causing him to look up at her in surprise.

"Zoe, what--"

"You, Sam Winchester, are much too tired for this." Grabbing his arm, she hauled him to his feet. "We're going to bed." She began leading him down the hallway to his bedroom despite his many loud protests.

"Don't do anything I wouldn't do," Dean called to them.

"Wouldn't dream of it," Zoe called back, throwing a wink over her shoulder.

Dean smiled. Zoe had stepped up this last month as Sam's...well, Dean wasn't sure what she was exactly, but she was taking really good care of him and that was all that mattered. Dean loved his little brother more than anything but it was nice to have someone else worry about him for once. And that's not to say Dean didn't worry. Dean worried, he just was glad Zoe was around to help worry with him.

Zoe pulled the blanket back on Sam's bed and he walked back in the bedroom in sweats and a t-shirt. He frowned when she patted the mattress, signaling for him to get his butt in bed.

"I really am fine, Zoe," Sam insisted.

Zoe glared at him and crossed her arms. In the past month, her and Sam had argued back and forth about whether or not he was fine. Zoe typically won because Sam realized what a liar he was, but she still seemed to have to convince him of that every night that she had to drag him to bed or force him to eat a meal.

"Sam, I understand--sort of--how badly you want to find Lauren. I miss her too. But you'll be no good in a fight if you're so tired you can barely walk. You need to take care of yourself so that you can take care of her. I know that it seems that we aren't making any progress, but since Gabriel and Sage came up with this idea, I really feel like we've got a chance." Zoe sighed. "Will you please just get in bed?"

Sam was giving her that puppy dog look that just showed how sad and lost he felt. She hadn't realized he had felt so strongly for Lauren and every time he looked at her like that she wished she could be of more use to the cause of finding her. Sam finally nodded, understanding Zoe's point, and got in bed.

He pulled the blanket up around him and, for a split second, Zoe could see him as a little kid. She smiled at the thought. "Go to sleep, Sam," she instructed. "And if you wake up, go back to sleep." As she was leaving, she turned to shut off the light. Sam was laying in his bed, staring up at the ceiling, probably deep in thought. "And Sam?" He looked over at her. "If you can't go back to sleep, wake me up, okay?"

He seemed confused by this, his eyebrows knit together as if deep in thought. 

"I'm serious, Sam. If you need someone to talk to--or rant to--I don't care what time it is, I'm always available, okay?" Zoe was serious. She wanted Sam to know that he had someone to talk to. She didn't figure that Dean was too talkative and not too keen on sharing his feelings. But Sam seemed to be completely different despite his constant insisting that he was fine.  If he wanted to talk, Zoe was willing to lend an ear. 

Sam managed to force a small smile on his face, something that had been absent from the Bunker for far too long. Zoe smiled back at him before shutting off the light and leaving the room, shutting the door behind her. 

* * * * * * * * *

Dean and Zoe eventually trailed off to bed and Meg dragged Cas off to Germany to traick down a demon who might know something about Crowley's whereabouts. This left only Gabriel and Sage to sit at the war room table and stare at book after book of Scottish census'. 

Gabriel's boredom finally surpassed his maximum tolerance and he yawned dramatically, stretching his arms far over his head and then looking over at Sage who was still furiously flipping pages in her book. Gabriel understood that all of them wanted to find this Lauren chick and, her bing an anti-christ and all, he probably could've cared a little bit more about finding her. Mostly, he just wanted to figure Sage out. 

Sage was an angel, that much Gabriel was certain of. Gabriel even knew that he'd met her before the great flood of Noah. They'd made it rain alongside each other and helped get rid of all that water when the forty days were over. But it wasn't like they talked much and it was only a few thousand years after the flood that she disappeared along with God. 

He looked at Sage now. She had a different vessel with long brown hair braided over her shoulder. Her green eyes scanned the pages as she read over names, dates of birth, addresses. Her elbow was on the table and her cheek was laying in the palm of her hand. She was definitely bored but she was just as determined as everyone else to find Lauren. 

"Read anything interesting lately?" Gabriel asked, a stupid grin spilling onto his face. 

Sage looked up at him, smirking. "Not really. Just a lot of names and dates that mean nothing to me. How about you? See any Fergus MacLeod's around?" 

Gabriel shook his head and slammed his book closed. He always one for theatrics--one of the many reasons he became known as the Trickster. "Just a lot of William Stills and Agnes Grays."

Sage smiled. 

"I remember you, ya know," Gabriel said suddenly, earning a look of surprise from Sage. "I remember how awesome you were during the Flood. Seriously, you know how to make it rain."

Sage's face flushed and she looked down. "Thanks," she muttered. "I wish I could remember."

"Wait, you can't remember the Flood?"

Sage shook her head. "I don't really remember anything from before I left Heaven. I've tried to remember but...it's all just empty space."

Gabriel sighed. He wished he could say he knew the feeling but he really had no clue what that felt like. "You're beautiful, you know that?" 

Sage coughed. "What?"

"You're beautiful. And not just your vessel although I'd give you a ten," he winked for fun. "But you yourself have more compassion than any other person--or angel--I have ever met. And you're one of the most powerful ones I've ever met too."

Sage smiled sweetly at him. "You're too sweet."

He pulled a huge, raindbow swirly lollipop out of thin air. "I"m just the right amount of sweet." He presented the candy to Sage. 

"Well, thank you," she smiled, accepting the treat. She pushed herself out of her chair. "I'm going to return these books to the Scottish History Library before it opens and they realize that we've stolen their whole census collection."

"Fly safe," Gabriel said. 

Sage smiled before bending down to kiss Gabriel on the cheek. "Always do."