Saya's Sabriel Week

Of Children and Protection

Title: "Of Children and Protection"

Rating: T

Warnings: A little blood I guess

Word Count: 1,891

Summary: Sam and Gabriel are partners in the Narcotics division and are on the job when things suddenly go wrong.

Prompt: General AU day

A/N: Cop AU (because it's kind of ironic and because I have a weakness for them thanks to Sanami Matoh's FAKE). Also I kind of wanted to continue the whole theme of "never trust the kids" in SPN, so somehow we got this…yeah…

"Hey Sammy!" called a familiar voice when Sam entered his office on Friday morning. He looked up, eyebrows raised in surprise to see his partner already sitting on his desk. To say that Sam was surprised would be an understatement. Gabriel Milton was notorious for being late.

"You're already here?" Sam asked incredulously, dropping a pile of files onto his own desk.

Gabriel pretended to look hurt. "You say that as if I'm never here on time," he whined, pouting around the white stick of the lollipop in his mouth.

Sam shot him a pointed look, which Gabriel waved away.

"Yeah, yeah. So, what's on the list for today?" he asked, leaning forward. Sam rolled his eyes and sighed before opening the file on the top of the pile and scanning its contents.

"Looks like the usual," he commented, "There were a couple guys brought in on possession last night, suspicious activity reported over on Twelfth Street, and someone called in a possible meth house."

Sam closed the file, looking up to find Gabriel staring intently at him. For a moment, it didn't seem as if the blond had heard a word he'd said. His eyebrows lifted suddenly though, dispelling whatever scolding Sam had been mentally preparing, and he let out a huff.

"Sounds like a busy day," he complained good-naturedly.

"For me," Sam snorted, "You're just tagging along."

"Sammy!" Gabriel responded indignantly, grinning, "I'm hurt! You think I would just leave all the dirty work to you?"

"No," Sam replied as he picked the less time-consuming cases out of the pile, "I know you would."

Gabriel just shrugged and slid off his desk, sauntering over to Sam's side of the tiny room. He peered around the taller man, studying the open case file with sharp golden eyes. Sam could hear him sucking at the candy in his mouth, humming softly. His shoulders tensed, trying not to let on how much his partner's behavior affected him. If his brother knew…But Dean was down the hall in Homicide; he couldn't see the two of them right now.

He shook the inappropriate thoughts from his mind as Gabriel straightened up, taking one of the files with him. Leaving Sam to clear his mind, he sauntered over to the door.

"Coming?" he asked when he reached it, holding up the file with an inquiring look on his animated features. Recovering, Sam nodded and grabbed his jacket, following Gabriel from the tiny, cramped room.

The ride in the cruiser that followed was uncharacteristically silent. Usually Gabriel was chattering away about things that neither he nor Sam really cared about, but it was a nice way to fill the silence. Today, however, the blond seemed to have something serious on his mind. His brow was furrowed and he stared straight ahead through the windshield. Unfortunately, he apparently wasn't so out of it that he forgot to annoy Sam by propping his feet up on the dash.