Title: Five Times Gabriel Took Sam on a Date and the First Time Sam Realized It
Rating: PG-15
Pairingand/orCharacters: Gabriel/Sam
Spoilers: None
Warnings: None
WordCount: 3,133
Summary: Gabriel takes Sam to different places seemingly based on his own whims. Sam enjoys the experience but takes quite a while to realize what Gabriel is up to.
Notes: Written for the Sam/Gabriel Everlasting Birthday Challenge over at sabriel_bday on LiveJournal and for Mithrel, whose birthday is today!

ONE

The first time Gabriel snapped Sam to some exotic place on Earth, the hunter was caught completely off guard. One minute he'd been frowning at an old, obscure book Bobby had lent them for a hunt and the next he was on his ass on the ground and having a mild heart attack. Then, before he could really freak out, Gabriel was crouched in front of him and looking slightly embarrassed.

"Sorry 'bout that, I didn't take into account that you might have been sitting," was all the angel said in introduction and stuck out a hand to help him up.

Sam took it and glared at Gabriel, "What do you think you're doing?"

"Relax, Sammy. I'm just giving you some time to take a break. You've been staring at those books for hours, haven't you?"

It was true; the research had been left to Sam while Dean and Cas were out doing their thing interviewing victims. If they were actually interviewing at all. Sam had his doubts about that. So all in all, Sam didn't really feel the need to get too worked up about Gabriel's sudden kidnapping of him.

"Yeah, alright," Sam said with a shrug and Gabriel beamed. "So where are we anyway?"

"This, Sam-I-am, is Oia, Santorini, Greece," Gabriel said with a flourish of his arms as if to encompass everything around them.

Sam looked around, taking in the heat and dust and pale stone buildings and colorful, sun shielding tents and gave Gabriel an incredulous look. "You're not kidding me are you?"

Gabriel only smiled, looking very pleased with himself. "C'mon, Sam." He grabbed the hunter's unresisting hand and began to pull him into the crowds of unintelligible chattering people.

When Gabriel dropped him back off at the hotel later, Sam was dusty and slightly sunburned but happier then he could remember being in long time. There was also a book on the table beside his laptop that was not a part of Bobby's collection but was exactly what they'd needed to kill the monster of the week.

TWO

A little over a week later Gabriel appeared to Sam while the younger Winchester was in a small town library looking through archives that couldn't be found through the internet. He just appeared in the chair beside Sam, chewing on a long flat piece of red taffy and already looking bored.

"Gabriel," Sam said in greeting, looking side-ways at the angel.

"Sammy," Gabriel returned, smirking around the red sweet. He took a look around the quiet and practically empty building and sighed, "I take it I won't be able convince you to ditch this scene until you find what you're looking for?"

Sam laughed softly and nodded. "Pretty much."

"That's what I figure." Gabriel leaned back in the chair and put his feet up on the desk beside the piles of articles and papers Sam had accumulated, gesturing for Sam to continue as he was. Sam studied him warily, obviously wondering why Gabriel was behaving so well, before shrugging and focusing back on his work.

Luckily, Sam was able to wrap things up and form his theory within the hour and Gabriel wasn't made to wait too long. And as soon as Sam had made the call to inform Dean of what they were looking for, just a typical woman in white, and getting the affirmation from Dean that he and Castiel could handle this one, Gabriel grinned and snapped his fingers.

This time Sam was standing when they landed and if his head felt a little off from the sudden angel travel, well, he didn't really mind. Sam could feel Gabriel at his side but was slightly more preoccupied with looking around to try and guess where they were. He saw a long, long stretch of water bordered by tightly trimmed grass and tall, neat hedges. Then, Sam turned and dropped his jaw. He may not have ever left the United States but even Sam knew what he was standing just outside of. It was the freaking Taj Mahal Palace. The beautiful, majestic white marble structure that resided only in India. And best of all? They were in time to see the sun set and it washed the water and white marble with breathtaking hues of pink, orange and hints of purple.

Sam was literally struck speechless.

"You like?" Gabriel asked, standing at Sam's side.

Sam turned to the angel, smiled brightly at him and nodded happily. "Gabriel, this is amazing!"

Gabriel smiled softly back and looked away, up and out over the water. If Sam stared at him for a moment longer, admiring him in the colors of the sunlight, well, whose business was it but his own?

THREE

Sam was fucking exhausted. This hunt had put him through the ringer, Dean too really but Castiel was busy in the next room over helping him feel better. And yes, Sam knew exactly what that stood for and no, he did not care to think about it anymore. What he really wanted was to take a shower and crash for the next twelve hours. Course of action decided, Sam gathered appropriate sleep wear, namely a pair of sweats and a tank top and locked himself in the bathroom. And since Dean wasn't there to bang on the door every five minutes, Sam decided to indulge himself and stayed in the hot water until he was nice and prune-y and his muscles felt a little more relaxed.

Then he stumbled out of the bathroom and threw his dirty clothes in the general direction of his duffel before face planting onto his bed. He'd no sooner then fully relaxed when he heard the distinctive sound of wing beats and feathers. Sam knew who it was without looking and when the bed dipped slightly at his side and a hand slid down his back, Sam only sighed.

"Hey, Gabe," he muttered into his pillow and he heard the angel laugh softly.

"What's got you all tuckered out, Sammy?"

"Hunt."

"Of course, when is it not?" he heard Gabriel say softly. "I take it all you wanna do is sleep now, huh?"

Sam struggled to flop onto his back and look at Gabriel, "Sorry but yeah, I'm pretty beat. You don't mind skipping our mutual get-off session for another time, do you?"

Gabriel grinned at him and shook his head. "I guess I can control myself from jumping you for the time being."

"Thanks," Sam said, rolling his eyes.

The angel shifted to lean over him and pressed a hand over Sam's eyes. "Sleep, Sam. I'll take a rain check for now."

And sleep he did.

THREE AND A HALF

"Rain check time, Sammy!"

The bright, enthusiastic call startled Sam and he turned from the trunk of the Impala to see Gabriel standing by the passenger door of the car. Sam tossed in his other pack and closed the trunk. "What are you talking about?"

Gabriel grinned. "You owe me a rain check so I'm cashing in!"

"In case you hadn't noticed we're kinda busy, Gabriel. I don't really have time to...you know," he trailed off uncomfortably with a slight blush.

"Have sex with me?" the angel filled in for him, looking highly amused.

Sam muttered something dark to himself in response and Gabriel snorted, "Relax Sam, that's not what I mean. Let's take a trip!"

"A trip?"

"Yup."

"I dunno, man, Dean and I were just headed out for another hunt."

Gabriel waved a dismissive hand and pointed over his shoulder toward their motel room. "Relax, Castiel will ride with Dean and the two can bond more while we go have some fun."

Sam looked doubtful just as Dean appeared in the motel doorway. Gabriel saw him and lifted a hand toward the elder hunter. "Hey, Dean-o, I'm borrowing your brother!"

Even from the distance between them, Sam saw Dean's eyebrows rise and a decidedly unhappy look take over his face. But before his brother could complain or nix the idea Gabriel snapped and Sam was somewhere else. Again.

"You know," Sam started, tone mostly mild, "you should probably stop doing that in attempts to piss off Dean. He might just get angry enough to break out the holy oil."

Gabriel snorted, "Yeah, I'd like to see him try. He might be boinking Castiel but Cas is my brother and he won't let Dean do anything like that unless I truly do something to deserve it. I don't think this counts."

Sam let himself laugh at that, glad to hear the two angelic brothers had reconciled over their many issues. Now, he took a look around, surprised at the sights. No, scratch that, surprised at all the water that surrounded them and the beautiful mountains easily seen in the distance. It was warm but not overly hot and Sam's t-shirt and jeans felt comfortable. The buildings here were elegant and on the other side of the island, that's right, island, Sam thought he could see what looked like a castle-ish structure.

"Uh, where are we?"

"Isola Bella of Taomina, Italy," Gabriel responded with an airy accent undoubtedly Italian.

"Italy?"

"Italy."

Sam looked around and thought for a moment, "You know what this place makes me think of?"

"What's that?" Gabriel asked, looking at him curiously and Sam only smirked.

"Pizza. Pizza and spaghetti."

"Hint, hint?"

Sam laughed like he hadn't in a long time, laughed in a way Gabriel had never had the pleasure of hearing before. He rather liked it.

"Alright, Sammy, you win. I know the best place here, too." Gabriel held out a hand for Sam to take and the hunter did without thinking. The only things stirred in the wake of their passing were a few leaves that tumbled on an invisible wind.

FOUR

They were at Marrakech in Morocco this time and Sam wasn't even sure where that was. All he knew was that these people were celebrating something and whatever it was, they were partying hard. Gabriel wouldn't tell him much, either because he didn't know or didn't care, but the archangel was dragging him from one colorful tent to the other and buying things left and right. Sam thought about asking if the money was even real or if it would turn into ducks later or something equally idiotic but he didn't really think Gabriel would do something like that, not any more.

As it was, Sam had tried a ton of food shoved at him by the enthusiastic archangel. He'd eaten a really good pastry stuffed with almond paste and topped with sugar, a strange salad mixture made mostly of eggplant and tomato and a really amazing green mint tea, which Gabriel seemed to take particular amusement in him drinking.

Gabriel on the other hand ate nothing that wasn't some sort of dessert or snack. A curious looking coconut fudge cake called 'zucre coco' appeared to be his favored treat from this place as far as Sam could tell. Not that he was surprised or anything. Gabriel may be an archangel but the Trickster was just as much a part of him as anything else and with that followed his insatiable love for things of the sweet sort.

Eventually, after a few hours, Sam began to tire and the side of the world they were on was starting to get dark. He looked down at Gabriel, who was crouched in the dust petting an old multicolored dog and feeding it a strip of meat. "Hey, Gabe."

"Yeah?"

"What time is it back at the motel?"

"Same time as it is now," Gabriel responded cheekily, rubbing the dog's head before standing up. "Shouldn't you know that?"

"That's not what I meant." The hunter rolled his eyes and Gabriel shrugged.

"It'll be whatever time you want it to be."

"You can do that? Wait, stupid question."

Gabriel laughed and leaned into Sam's side. "I guess I've tired you out then?" he asked with a suggestive waggle of his eyebrows.

"I had fun," Sam said, ignoring the expression as he looked around at the people he'd never met and would probably never see again. "Thank you."

"Well, kiddo, you're pretty interesting to be around when you don't have that stick shoved up your ass."

Sam waited a moment before giving Gabriel a smirk that surprised the angel. "You mean besides all those times it's been you in my ass?"

Gabriel's shocked, freeing, laugh resounded across the celebration and the party didn't actually end for a long time after.

FIVE

"Trust me," is what Gabriel had said to Sam when he came to supposedly kidnap him away from Dean. Not that Dean was around to witness the offense given that he'd only left to grab some pie. But Gabriel always seemed to know these things and Sam just figured it was an angel thing. It wasn't exactly a stretch that a being of his 'phenomenal cosmic powers' could sense when Sam was left on his own.

"You're a history geek, you'll love this place," is what Gabriel had followed up with and just like that Sam was intrigued, hooked on what the angel could show him. He wasn't sure why Gabriel insisted on taking him to all these exotic and frankly amazing places but the archangel was fickle at the best of times and Sam didn't have it in him to question. The truth of the matter was that Sam enjoyed their outings and he didn't want to do anything to jeopardize that.

So when Gabriel asked (asked him, didn't just snap them away), Sam agreed and found himself standing on top of the world. Or at least that's what it felt like. He was standing at the very top of a stone point and there was nothing but rock and desert stretched out before him for as far as he could see. Gabriel was at his side (when wasn't he at this point?) and Sam latched onto his sleeve, staring with wide eyes at the endless blue above them.

"Is this...am I...a pyramid?"

Gabriel was smiling at his inability to articulate and nodded, curling his hand over Sam's wrist. "Sure is, Sammy-Sam. One of the great pyramids of Cairo, Egypt." He paused and gave Sam another few moments to look gobsmacked before slipping an arm around the human's waist and gently turning him around. "And that is one of the Sphinx."

Sam honestly didn't know how to react. This was one of the things he'd always wanted to see, ever since he was a small boy and didn't yet know that his life was already set for a path that didn't include getting to see the world. All he could do was stare; rake his eyes over the ancient, man-made beauty before him and feel the awe generated by something so glorious.

Then he turned to Gabriel and swept the angel into an embarrassingly tight hug as he tucked his face into the other's neck. Gabriel, who he only dared to call his friend in his head and was simply a bed partner outside of the safety of his own mind. Gabriel, who probably had no idea how much all of this meant to Sam but was giving it to him anyway.

"Thank you, Gabriel," Sam muttered. "For this...for everything."

Gabriel only rubbed his back soothingly until Sam could regain himself and politely ignored the human's embarrassment afterward. He snapped them up a blanket, some pillows, a basket of food and they stayed for lunch.

AND ONE

It happened in a diner, of all places. Not a special place in any way shape or form, no different from any of the thousand others Sam had nearly grown up in. Just a random diner they'd stopped in because Gabriel had demanded it before he'd let Sam go back to the motel after spending over an hour at the morgue listening to bleak reports.

But Sam had looked up from his menu, caught the eyes of Gabriel seated comfortably across from him and had the realization of a lifetime. He knew he was staring, looking about as shell-shocked as he had ever felt (like that time he learned Dean had sold his soul for him but oh, so different).

"Sam?" Gabriel asked, looking worried.

"Oh my God," the hunter breathed with a voice weakened by an intense blast of feelings he'd only pushed away until now.

"What's wrong? Sam!"

"We're dating."

Gabriel blinked, once then twice and twitched oddly like he suddenly wanted to be anywhere but there. Sam's hand snapped out and caught his wrist, just in case, not that Gabriel's left him very much now that Sam was thinking about it.

"We are, aren't we?"

The angel slowly lifted his eyes from where he was staring at Sam's grasp on him and laughed weakly, "Took you long enough, Sammy."

Sam let him go and sat back, unaware of the pout turning his face as he looked at his angelic boyfriend. "Why didn't you say anything?"

Gabriel only shrugged one shoulder, looking out the diner window and suddenly Sam knew everything, exactly why the angel didn't say anything. Mainly because they'd both been thinking the same thing; what if it wouldn't last? What if he didn't feel that way, even if it looked like he did?

What if it all went wrong?

Sam only hesitated for a moment because he could vividly remember everything Gabriel had done for him in the passed months. "Gabriel," he said seriously, demanding the angel's attention. He got it in the form of those intense amber eyes wary against his own. "Say it."

Gabriel's mouth tightened. "It can't be taken back, Sam. You accept and there is no going back. You and me and that's it."

"I said say it," stubborn and so very sure of himself in a way Sam hadn't ever felt.

"Sammy...Sam, would you be my mate?"

He said yes, something he'd always had to fight against, couldn't ever let himself say. He said it and meant it.

They kissed over a worn diner table top scratched with the memories of all those before and left it with something new. Something precious to keep forever and ever, despite every apocalypse that would challenge it.