Transmission from the Trickster

Chapter 33

"Gabriel!" Sam calls out.

The angel doesn't look back, but when he hears Sam's voice, he pauses, giving the hunter the opportunity to catch up to him.

"Gabriel, man, what happened to you?" Sam asks, eyeing the blood coating his stomach.

"Nothing you need to worry about," Gabriel replies in a closed off tone.

"If something's after you, I think that's a good enough reason to worry," Sam says. "Who did that to you?"

"It doesn't matter," Gabriel replies. "Look, I just wanted to keep Jack out of Lucifer's hands. I didn't come for a social call. Now, if you'll excuse me, I was kind of in the middle of something."

Sam scoffs. "Seriously? You can't just show up out of the blue and then go running off again."

"Yeah? Watch me."

"Okay, so you can, but you shouldn't," Sam says. "Whatever's going on, let us help. You're clearly no match against whatever it is you're fighting."

"Hey, I'm doing just fine, thank you very much," Gabriel says indignantly. "I'm an archangel, Sam. I may be a little weak, but I can still handle a demigod just fine."

"You're fighting a demigod?" Sam repeats. "Why — they're the one that sold you to Asmodeus, aren't they?"

"One of them," Gabriel replies. "I had a kill list of five. It's down to four now — would've been three if you muttonheads could've stayed out of trouble for a few more minutes."

"Then let us make it up to you," Sam says. "We'll help you take 'em all on, and then you can come back to the bunker with us."

"I don't need your help, Sam," Gabriel says. "I'm more than capable of handling them myself."

"Yeah, well, clearly you're not, or your shirt would still be white," Sam replies. "You're going to get yourself killed."

"Maybe, maybe not," Gabriel replies. "What do you care?"

"What do I —" Sam scoffs. "Seriously, Gabriel? In the last week alone, you've saved my mom and Jack from the apocalypse world, and you've saved Jack from Lucifer twice. You've been nothing but helpful these last few days, ever since we grabbed you from Asmodeus. You've earned a spot on the team."

"I've never been one for teams," Gabriel tells him.

"Then you don't have to stay with us through everything," Sam says. "But at least let us help you out. We owe you."

Gabriel sighs and crosses his arms. "Look, Sam, I'm grateful that you're trying to help, but this whole partnership thing was never going to work out. I'm not going to ride this wave any longer than I have to."

"Why can't it work out?" Sam asks.

"Because we want different things," Gabriel tells him. "You guys want to save the world. I just want to live in it."

Sam scoffs. "Seriously? All your archangel powers, and you won't even use them to save the world?"

Gabriel sighs. "Sam, if there's one thing I've learned these last few years, it's that heroes don't get happy endings. I've done my part, and I got seven years in Hell for it. I'm clocking out."

"If that were true, then what are you doing here?" Sam challenges. "You can't just walk off and act like you don't care and then come in here and save us time and time again."

"Alright, fine," Gabriel says. "Consider this your last free pass."

He turns around to leave, and Sam instantly grabs his arm, anchoring him there. Gabriel reluctantly stays, but he pulls his arm free harshly. He groans in pain, covering the gash on his stomach with his hand.

"Look, we can finish this conversation later," Sam says, though he'd like to have it now. "Right now, we've gotta get you patched up."

"What do you mean? I'm fine," Gabriel says. "Never better. Nothing to worry about here."

"Your shirt is more red than white," Sam says. "You're not fine, you're hurt, and your grace has to be running low if you haven't healed yourself or disappeared yet. Just let us help you, fix you up a bit. Then you can ditch. Deal?"

Gabriel narrows his eyes, and, with a defeated sigh, says, "Fine. But that doesn't mean I'm going to help you out again. I've done more than my share."