Freedom

5. what now

Sam groaned as his alarm beeped at him. He turned it off, not moving from his spot at his desk. He had been up all night, trying to sort through his thoughts. Up to this point, all he had focused on was getting Gabriel out of that place. He had tried to go back to see him after their last session, but he had been told that Gabriel had quit. He knew that was bullshit, but he had no idea where he had gone.

He had spent a week digging into the angel club until he found the man who went by Death. It took him another week to track him down and convince him to talk. Death told him about how he left almost 20 years earlier when Castiel had taken over. He was the son of the previous owner, only 19 when he took the reins. He had immediately started buying new workers, forcing them into sexual slavery. He would find teenagers around his age at first, 18 or 19 years old, bus pretty soon he started to go younger. 15 or 16, sometimes as young as 13 for his more lucrative clients.

He would buy them young, train them, and then put them to work. He would offer them a way out, save up the meager money he paid them to make it legal, and they could buy their freedom.  He called it a contract price. As long as he paid them and they had a way to stop if they wanted,  it was in the grey area of legal. They were essentially freelance workers on paper, contracted in for an indefinite amount of time.

What he didn't advertise though was that if any of the workers lost popularity with the clients, or caused problems, like telling a client they were forced to stay,  they were taken to one of the many auctions that were held, and sold to the highest bidder.

Death told Sam about his work with local police, how he would go to the auctions as a buyer, and 'purchase' the children being sold, to bring them to safety,  either back to their families,  or to child services where they would be helped. Sam felt sick when Death told him that they had managed to pull over 400 kids out, most under the age of 15.

When he said that he was going to the auction that was happening the next week,  Sam begged him to get Gabriel out too if he was there, claiming that he was a friend that he had been looking for since he disappeared years ago. It had taken some persuading,  but eventually Death and the police had agreed, as long as Sam and Gabriel would both testify in court if they could get the angel club to trial. Sam had agreed, figuring that Gabriel would have no problem doing that.

Now that his plan had worked, though, he didn't know what to do. He didn't exactly know Gabriel that well. He had no idea where to go from here, and he wasn't exactly the best at dealing with emotions.

He needed help. Sam decided to call one of his teachers, whom he had kept in close contact with. She taught psychology, which he had not been good at, but she also counseled students who were having a rough time adjusting to college. He hoped she would be able to help.

Sam didn't go into detail with her on the phone, just saying that he had a friend who needed some help adjusting back into normal life. She agreed to stop by later that week to meet him and see what she could do.

Sam decided to make breakfast and coffee while he waited for Gabriel to wake up. He busied himself with pancakes and eggs, his mind wondering to all the questions he kept himself from asking last night.

Sam heard the door to his guest room creak open. He watched from the corner of his eyes as Gabriel peaked out, slowly stepping into the hall. He had a blanket wrapped around him. He pulled it tighter as he saw Sam standing in the kitchen, slowly walking in and taking a seat at the table.

"Morning."

Gabriel eyes him, suspicion clearly in his eyes.

"Morning."

"Are you hungry?"

Gabrshook his head no, his stomach grumbling, showing he was lying.

Sam arched his eyebrow, setting a plate of pancakes and eggs in front of him.