Transmission from the Trickster

Chapter 2

It happens again the next day. The three of them are taking the day off, just chilling and watching tv when it he sees it.

It's the same, but it's not. The cage, the bloody face, it all looks the same on the surface, but it's different.

Gabriel's face pressed against the cage. Gabriel rattling the chains around his wrists just to make some noise. Gabriel smacking the walls over and over and over again, as if he's expecting them to crumple, but each time is weaker than the last.

"Sam. Sam!"

He flashes back to reality to hear Dean yelling his name, shaking him, trying to get some reaction, some proof that he's still aware of the real world.

"I'm — I'm fine," Sam stammers, pushing Dean away gently. He places a hand on his racing heart, feeling his breath start to slow to a reasonable speed.

"What the hell was that?" Dean demands.

"I don't know," he says. "I just —" He sighs. "I don't know. Nothing. Forget it."

"'Forget it'?" Dean repeats. "You just had a freaking supernatural seizure or something, and you just want me to forget it?"

"It's nothing," Sam insists, and though he's not sure he really believes it himself, he can't tell Dean what actually happened. A flashback to the trickster? Twice? Dean would definitely not enjoy hearing about that.

"That didn't look like nothing," Castiel remarks.

"Yeah, Sam, we can both clearly see that that's not nothing," Dean says. "Talk to us. What the hell is going on?"

Sam sighs. "I don't know. I just saw — or I think I saw — the trickster."

"What? Where? What are you talking about?"

"It's like — like he's in my head," Sam says. "I don't know how or why or if it's even possible, but... I don't know."

"And you're sure it was him?" Dean asks. "Not some lookalike, or...?"

"No, that's the thing is I'm not sure," Sam says. "Like, at all. It barely looked like him."

"What?" Dean just stares at him uncomprehendingly. "Okay, start over. You think you saw the trickster in your head, but he actually looked nothing like the guy, and he's been dead for years anyway? That doesn't even make sense. Did you have a stroke or something?"

"Look, I know it doesn't make sense, okay? Hell, I don't even understand it. But I'm telling you, that's what I saw."

Dean just looks at him for a moment. "Okay, so, let's say he is alive — even though we both know he's not. Chuck told us that himself. But let's say he is alive. He just, what, decided to hit you up by physically inserting himself into your brain just for kicks?"

"Well, that does almost sound like something he would do," Castiel says.

"But — yeah, actually, that's fair," Dean admits.

"But it's not like that," Sam says. "It's like..."

"It's like...?" Dean gestures for him to continue.

Sam sighs, knowing this is going to sound stupid, but he already started the sentence, and Dean won't let him leave it half finished. "It's like he's asking for help."

Dean doesn't answer at first, then bursts out laughing.

"I don't — I don't understand why that's funny," Cas says.

"I gotta agree with you there," Sam adds.

"I'm sorry, it's just... The trickster is asking you for help? Is this some type of weird early April Fools joke or something?" Dean asks, his laughing calming to just an amused smile. "That's the stupidest thing I've ever heard."

Sam hadn't been very confident about it, but just hearing Dean talk about it that way makes him more defensive of it.

"No, seriously, Dean," he insists. "I think he might need our help."

"How could we help a friggen archangel? How could he even think we could help a friggen archangel?"

"I don't know, okay?" Sam admits. "I don't know what's going on. I don't know what he wants from us. Hell, I don't know if that was him at all. But you didn't see it, Dean. If that was him, he's not in good shape. He's..." Sam shakes his head, curing himself off and ridding the image of the archangel from his mind. "He's just not. And if that really was some type of message from him, he needs help."

Dean scoffs. "Okay, let me get this straight. You're trying to say that Gabriel — the trickster — got into your head, basically the same way Lucifer did to trick you into meeting up with him, and your solution is to hunt him down and try to help him, despite the fact that he would rather do just about anything else than help us? Oh, but we can't forget the best part. Gabriel's also dead. For eight years. God told us that one himself. Look, Sam, I'm not saying you're crazy, but right now, you're definitely not sounding like the most sane person in the room."

"Maybe, but I mean it, Dean," Sam insists. "I think he's alive. I don't know how or why, but I think he is, and I think he's in trouble."

"Even is you're right, that's not our problem," Dean says. "I don't care if he's choosing you to be his — his Virgin Mary or whatever with these vision things. We don't owe him anything."

"Well, he did die for you," Castiel points out.

"Can you just..." Dean gestures for him to go away before turning his attention back to Sam. "He's one of the most selfish sons of bitches we've ever worked with. Anything he did, he did it for himself. He may have pretended it was for our sake, but it wasn't. You have to see that, man."

"So let's do the same thing right back to him," Sam replies, confusing both his brother and the angel, who did not, in fact, go away. "What do we need right now to open the rift and get Mom and Jack back?"

"I mean, I guess the big one would be..." Dean trails off, finally seeing what he means.

"You want to he Gabriel to open the rift," Castiel surmises.

"Exactly."

Castiel just looks at him skeptically.

"It's easier than hunting down Lucifer," Sam adds. "It's been weeks, and there's been no sign of him. Why not multitask?"

"Yeah, except we don't even know if he's alive," Dean reminds his brother. "At this point, I'm willing to try just about anything, but come on. This is a bit of a reach, even for us."

"Well, what are our other options?" Sam challenges. "We're no closer to finding Lucifer than we were a month ago, Michael is still in the cage, and Raphael is dead, but Gabriel... we might have a shot with him."

By now, Sam is past the point of reasoning with his brother. He's begging now. He may not like Gabriel, but seeing him like that hurt. If that's really happening, it doesn't matter how much they may have fought. No one deserves that — and definitely not someone who gave their life for the greater good.

"Fine," Dean says finally. "So where do we find him?"

Sam hesitates. "I don't know."

Dean throws his hands up in exasperation. "Great. Thanks, Sam. Real helpful. So you're telling me the only difference between finding Gabriel and finding Lucifer is that we actually know Lucifer's alive, and you still want to go for Gabriel instead?"

Sam just looks down at the floor, carefully avoiding his brother's gaze.

"But, I guess you're right," Dean adds. "We're not getting anywhere with Lucifer. So, because we're clearly in the long shot mood, let's check out the only resource we've been ignoring."

Sam and Castiel look at him expectantly.

"Ketch."