Transmission from the Trickster

Chapter 41

"What?" Dean stares at his brother incredulously. "That was Freddy. We saw him ourselves. He didn't look or sound like Gabriel at all."

"No, after he closed the door, I swear to god, it was Gabriel," Sam insists.

"You're telling me you recognized Gabriel's voice through a door?" Dean says skeptically. "Right after we saw who was actually in there? And, oh yeah, after Gabriel died? Yeah, sorry, Sammy. I don't buy it."

"Look, I know it sounds crazy, but I swear, that was Gabriel," Sam says.

"I think you just miss your new little murdering friend," Dean says.

"Exactly!" Sam practically yells.

Dean stares at him uncomprehendingly. "I'm — what?"

"He's a murderer! Someone just died! It's got to be him!"

"No, Sam, he's the one who died," Dean says. "He doesn't have to kill every single person for them to die."

"No, think about it," Sam insists. "A poacher dies at the hands of one of the animals she killed? Either karma's in a really bitchy mood, or..."

"Or the trickster struck again," Dean finishes with a sigh. "Fine. Let's pretend, just for a second, that Gabriel did kill her — which he didn't, but let's say he did — and he's now in that house, fucking some random chick. What do we do about it? He doesn't seem to want to play the game right now. For all we know, he's going to ditch the second he realizes we're onto him."

"I have an idea..."

~~

Dean kicks the front door down, gun pointed in front of him. "You're under arrest!"

"What? What did I do?" Freddy's voice comes from the living room, not very far away.

"You know what you did," Dean replies as they march into the room.

Freddy's sitting on the couch, desperately trying to get his underwear back on. There's another man sitting next to him, with curly hair that's about as long as Sam's was a decade ago but a few shades lighter. He's just frozen, completely naked but seeming unphased by it. Sam and Dean quickly look away. God, this is so not what they thought they were going to walk into.

"What — what do you want from me?" Freddy squeaks.

"Well, first, I want you and your boy toy here to get dressed," Dean says. "I don't want to see anyone's junk hanging out right now."

Freddy nods, and, his whole body shaking, he collects both boys' clothes, dropping his shirt and pants on the couch and handing the other man's clothes to him. As Freddy tosses his clothes on as quickly as possible, the other boy slowly puts his shirt on, his hands shaking so much, it's visible from the other side of the room.

Freddy sits on the couch with him and presses a kiss to his cheek. "It's okay, Alex," he whispers. "Whatever happens, you're going to be fine." Freddy stands up again and faces the Winchesters. "Look, I don't know what you think I did, but I promise, I haven't done anything wrong."

Dean glances at Alex, whose eyes are glued to the two of them as he slowly slides his clothes on. "Yeah, nothing wrong at all."

Sam elbows him in the ribs. Now is not the time. "I think that's up to the judge to decide," he says. "Put your hands up, and don't move."

Freddy does as he's told, and Sam walks over, pulling one wrist behind his back and slapping the cuffs around it. He does the same with the other arm, then pushes the man towards Dean. He handcuffs the other man, just to be sure. One of them is an archangel, and Sam isn't taking any risks when it comes to finding out who it is.