Searching Together {A Sabriel Fanfic}

3

For the next week, although Sam was still determined to find his brother, his late night googling sessions were interrupted by drinking a few beers with Gabriel and playing whatever stupid pastime game that came into their heads, and by stupid he meant grade school when the teacher was out of the room stupid. Papers scrawled with hangman with inappropriate answers written about, and various fortune tellers that Gabriel had made with an expertise that would amaze kids twelve and under would be absolutely astounded by, although the "fortunes" were usually things like "You'll suck my dick in the bathroom tonight" or "The boogieman will eat your brains at 5:37 a.m. on a day in March in 7 and a half years". It definitely lightened the mood, their tired laughs bouncing throughout the bunker that had been quiet for far too long. Sam would laugh until he was crying, unable to speak, while Gabriel watched him with a sparkle in his eyes.

God, Sam didn't know how much he had missed that sparkle until now.

Tonight was another one of those nights - as it had been for the past week - with Sam's whole body feeling loosened by the three beers he had already ingested. Gabriel sat across from him, leaning back in a chair with his feet propped up on the table, a newspaper lazily held in one hand and a pencil in the other.

"Okay Sammy, what's a four letter word synonymous with 'infatuation'?" Gabriel asked, lowering his paper and turning to Sam who spared a moment from his searching on the computer.

"Dude, really? 'Love', it's so obvious," Sam snorted, turning his gaze back on to another obscure news site pulled up.

"Okay, but what about lust? That works too," Gabriel pulled the nonprescription glasses he had conjured up down his nose bridge, cocking an eyebrow challengingly, but Sam's eyes were rapidly darting up and down an article.

"Wait, hold on, I think I got something," Sam turned the laptop and slid it over to Gabriel, how sat up straight and took off his glasses, eyes moving slowly from side to side as he read down the page, but Sam paraphrased it for him, "Leesburg, Ohio, three hours away from Cuyahoga Falls. Three missing people and one death with brutal bite marks, or as we know them, vampire marks. This could be where the kidnappers are."

Gabriel nodded slowly. "Let's get going," he stood and began to walk towards the garage, much to Sam's confusion.

"Can't you just zap us there?" He asked.

"Why don't you give me the full genuine hunter experience? Long nights on the open road, stuffing ourselves with fast food...pit-stops at strip clubs," Gabriel winked, and Sam rolled his eyes. Some times it seemed like all the archangel cared about was sex, and all it reminded Sam of was how long it had been since he had had sex himself. Maybe they would make that pit stop.

It still felt like sacrilege to sit in the drivers seat of the Impala while Dean wasn't around. It was his baby, and if he found one thing out of place, he'd throw hell down on Sam. Especially with Gabriel in shotgun, the risk of damage was doubled, perhaps tripled by his unpredictable powers. But Gabriel sat in the Impala complacently, feet planted firmly on the ground instead of on the dash like Sam had expected he would do. The old Chevy rumbled to life as the key turned the engine on, purring gently as they pulled out and on to the road, and headed off in the middle of the night, both anxious to follow the lead but also to have a late night adventure, already drunk so that the tedious driving seemed a bit less boring. For a long while, the two were silent, allowing the buzzing of the car to fill their minds, when a blaring neon sign of a back road they were passing through caught Sam's eye. He smirked. Gabriel would like this. He slowed the Impala and pulled into the parking lot of the stripper club, earning a reaction from Gabriel, but an unexpected one. He looked apprehensive almost.

"Woah, actually? I was only kidding, Sammy. I didn't think you'd actually...you know." He said, biting his lip and glancing at Sam, as though he wasn't telling him something, but Sam, for once, felt relaxed. Whether it was Gabriel's presence or the booze, he didn't know.

"I'm so tired Gabe, let's just have a little fun at the very least," Sam said, and without waiting for a response, stepped out of the Impala and slammed the door, walking towards the door with Gabriel coming up beside him. The club was dark, and would be pitch black were it not for the gleaming neon lights adorning the long and circular stages with beautiful women dancing about the poles in a risqué manner to the bass-heavy music and cat calls of dirty men who were either cheating on their wives in a loveless marriage or so lonely they had nowhere else to turn for comfort. And Sam sure as hell knew he wasn't married.

The two took a seat at a table near the very end of a stage, right near a woman with long blonde hair that reached down her back and swayed with her hips when she moved. Sam let out a low whistle, to which Gabriel answered with an annoyed glare. Isn't this what he had wanted? Why was he acting so pissed? While Sam thought of this, the whistle had caught the stripper's attention. She stepped off the stage and walked gracefully towards him, where she stood close with her hands wrapping around his broad shoulders with a tight grip.

"You look like a real sweetheart," she spoke words she had spoken to a hundred other men with fake passion that was real enough for Sam to be content as he drew in the words, "Why don't you come with me to the back?"

"I would love that," Sam nodded, standing so that he towered above the woman. She giggled and grabbed his hand, leading him behind the curtains that hid the backstage from prying eyes, though he could still feel Gabriel's following him until the curtain fell back into place behind them. She navigated to a dark, corner room, locking the door behind her with her and Sam inside, who watched her patiently as she approached.

"I can't reach my bra. Unhook it, will you?" It was such a practiced lie, but one that worked well as Sam went to reach up.

That's when the fire alarm went off and sprinklers rained down.

The woman looked up with a gasp and grabbed her robe, pulling it tight around herself. "Damn. I bet it was that fat bitch microwaving tinfoil or some stupid shit." The girl hissed, shedding her innocent act in a second. She stomped out of the room, Sam frowning, but he stood and walked out as well, following the crowd being pushed out of the building, not in much of hurry as drills in school had engrained it in their heads that this was probably a false alarm. Sam swiveled his head, looking for Gabriel, though it was difficult considering how short the archangel was. It didn't take long for Gabriel to find his huge figure though, as Gabriel nudged him with an elbow, his face slack and serious. They didn't speak until they got into the Impala and Sam revved up the engine.

"Of course, the one night I actually want to have fun," Sam muttered, running his hands through his wet hair, looking at Gabriel who was doing the same thing, "I wonder what set off the alarm."

"Don't know and don't care," Gabriel stated, shrugging, "Besides, there are a lot better places in Cali I could show you when we're through with all this. We may as well drive the rest of the way now."

"You may an archangel but I'm still human, and I'm exhausted," After the alarm, even with the chilling wet water making him shiver, Sam still felt like he hadn't slept in months. He stretched his hands over his head and let out a long, exaggerated yawn.

"You're just a pussy," Gabriel snorted, but his grin was teasing. Sam grinned back. He reached down and unbuttoned his plaid shirt, which was way too wet for him to be comfortable in, and threw it in the back, leaving him in a black t-shirt, and in bare feet as he kicked off his boots and sock. Gabriel looked away in silent embarrassment, not sure how far Sam would undress, but then he felt a heavy weight on his shoulder. Sam's head rested there, wet hair falling gracefully over his face and mouth hung slightly open, chest rising and falling in a familiarly warm way. He'd taken off his pants as well, perhaps because he was too tired to remember it's kind of odd to undress down to your boxers in front of another guy. Unless you were...

Gabriel glanced around as though someone would catch him, then placed a hand on Sam's partly bare leg, which he had tucked mostly up in the seat. Though Sam could not see them even if he were awake, Gabriel unfolded a pair of his golden wings and wrapped them around the two of them, and instead of joining Sam in needless sleep he watched him, savoring this moment for as long as he could.