Transmission from the Trickster

Chapter 15

"Hey, Gabriel." Sam quickly joins him on the floor, where Gabriel has curled up in the corner, holding his arm protectively, as if it's wounded.

When he sees the hunter, he lets go of his arm and takes out his blade again instead. Sam's not sure whether he should be concerned about that or not, but Gabriel doesn't seem like he's going to use it, just twirling it around in his hands.

"Are you okay?" Sam asks.

"Aces," Gabriel replies, but his face doesn't show it.

"What's wrong?"

"Nothing," Gabriel says dismissively. As an afterthought, he adds, "And I've got my blade back, so that's nice."

"And you used your angel mojo to get it," Sam adds.

Gabriel raises an eyebrow. "Wow, Sammy, if I didn't know any better, I would have thought that was an accusation."

"What? No, of course not!" Sam says quickly, though even he's not sure if he believes that.

Gabriel scoffs. "Oh, sure. I'm definitely going to believe that you're completely ignoring everything Dean just said because these last thirty-six hours have been so wonder," he says sarcastically.

"Well, what do you want me to say?" Sam asks. "He did make some good points."

"Exactly!" Gabriel smacks his forehead with the palm of his hand in exasperation. "You can't just ignore that. You're smarter than that, Sam. So are you going to ask now or later?"

"Is there a point in asking?" Sam counters. "You're just going to deny it."

"Try it," Gabriel replies. "I might surprise you."

Sam cocks his head in confusion. This may not end well, but he has to try. "Are you working with Asmodeus?"

"I would rather die," Gabriel says, adding, "Literally," as an afterthought.

"What happened to the surprise?"

"Emphasis on might surprise you," Gabriel replies. "I just wanted to see how much you trust me — which is actually looking like more than I expected."

Sam isn't quite sure what to say to that. He's not entirely sure if he does trust him, so the fact that Gabriel thinks Sam trusts him more than expected must mean he set some very low expectations.

"Okay, look, come on out and we'll clear your name," Sam says finally.

Gabriel's grip tightens on his blade, but he seems unnaturally calm when he speaks. "I think I'd rather stay in here."

"But —"

"So I'm going to stay in here, and you can go clear my name for me." Gabriel offers him an overly enthusiastic grin.

"I can't clear your name because I don't know if your name should be cleared at all," Sam tells him. "This is gonna happen either way. Do you want to do it the easy way, or the hard way?"

"When have you ever known me to make things easy?" Gabriel replies with a playful smirk.

Sam just nods once and walks away.

~~

To say Gabriel's surprised to see the entirety of Team Free Will 3.0 return instead of just Sam is an understatement. His eyes go wide, and he instantly grips his blade tighter, almost like a security blanket. The look he sends Sam's way can easily be translated as traitor, and though the hunter feels slightly guilty, he knows things will be better when Dean finally realizes Gabriel doesn't mean any harm.